Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

13 Early days (1841-1866) against Tarrant, Jackson and Willsher, who took 24 wickets in the match. He had no chance to bowl, with most of the All-England Eleven wickets falling to the ‘given man’ Ike Hodgson. Then, at the start of June 1863, Emmett was in the Halifax and District XXII which took on the same All- England opposition. There was a large crowd (including 8,000-10,000 on the second day, with gate receipts of £204 over the three days) to watch Halifax and District reach 188. Emmett made just five before he was bowled by Tarrant, who took 10 wickets. Then Emmett was first change after Hodgson and Swain had opened the bowling, and he managed to get some form of revenge over Tarrant by taking his wicket. Halifax secured a first innings lead and won by 54 runs. Pollard and Hodgson took all the wickets, giving Emmett no chance to impress. A third opportunity to play one of the touring sides came in August of that year, when Emmett appeared for Otley against the United All-England Eleven in a match for the benefit of local professionals Caleb Robinson and William Swain, the former professional at Halifax Trinity. Again, Emmett did not get the chance to bowl. Nevertheless, the experience was not wasted and he had had opportunities to get a close view of two of the sides he would know well in the not too distant future. The following season, 1864, Emmett again played for Halifax in local cricket, including in matches mid-week, suggesting he took time off work. In a Tuesday game against Keighley he was in ‘fine form’ with the ball and made 24, which ‘were very nicely obtained’. Against Burnley Wellington, he took four wickets in the first innings and eight in the second in a match at Turf Moor, as well as being one of only three Halifax players to make double figures. The Halifax Courier referred to the ‘capital bowling of Emmett’, and reported that he and his partner has never been in better form. At one point he took three wickets in four balls. The game was also notable for two unnamed Halifax players being injured afterwards in a vehicle collision so that they had to be taken back to Burnley, before returning home the next morning. In June, Emmett was part of a Halifax team that turned up an hour late for the game with Todmorden, but took eight wickets in the match. The next month, Emmett played for Halifax in a match against the All- England Eleven. The Halifax side included Ike Hodgson, John Thewlis and other notables, whilst Emmett was described in glowing terms as one of ‘four steady cricketers, far above the average, and worthy to encounter the Eleven.’ Hodgson and Luke Greenwood bowled All-England out for 58, before Emmett opened for the local side. He bowled in the second innings with some distinction, taking the wicket of George Anderson. In the second innings, he again opened and was top scorer with 18 in a match that ended early so that Eleven could catch their train. Later, at the end of the summer, the United All-England Eleven played Halifax and District for the benefit of William Swain, who had done much to raise the profile of Halifax cricket. Emmett did not, however, play in an earlier game between XXII of Todmorden and the United All-England Eleven. He later recalled that a