Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

19 A man in demand (1867-1871) Immediately afterwards, the county side travelled to Old Trafford for the Roses match. Emmett’s batting performance at Sheffield meant that he kept his place high up in the order, although he failed in the first innings as Yorkshire reached 149. He then opened the bowling with Tom Darnton, delivering 43 overs for 3-57 in the first innings. In the Yorkshire second innings, he top-scored with 61, before being run out, as the team set Lancashire a target of 264, which the home side never got anywhere near. Cuttell and Emmett bowled throughout, both taking 5-46 as Yorkshire won easily by 165 runs. The only people disappointed by this were those who had hoped to see Emmett appear for Halifax against All-England, a booking made at the start of the year, when his county commitments were not known. The matches clashed and Emmett had to let down his home town. In July 1867, Emmett was engaged in local matches, first for Bury against the United All-England Eleven, where he took seven wickets in an innings and top scored with 36, and then for Hull against All-England, where he took five wickets, including that of Tom Hayward, bowled off his foot. He went on to play for Leeds against the United All-England Eleven (although he was also expected on the same days at Turf Moor for the Burnley v Bradford match) before making his way to Wisbech for the next county game. Freeman and Greenwood bowled Cambridgeshire out for 86 without the need for a contribution from Emmett, who also failed again with the bat as Yorkshire totalled just 70. In the second innings, however, Emmett (opening the bowling with Freeman for the first time for Yorkshire) proved hard to play against, taking 6-43. Needing 91, Yorkshire laboured for 100 overs before securing a one-wicket victory. The match was also notable for Hayward disputing his dismissal and demanding that the umpire stand down. Cambridgeshire then refused to continue and Yorkshire claimed the match. A meeting was held at the White Lion Hotel, at which ‘better counsels prevailed’, and it was agreed to resume on the following morning. The disagreement did not prevent a return game being played at the end of the month at Dewsbury. Here, Emmett made little impact until the second Cambridgeshire innings, when he took 6-56 in 40 overs to set up a four-wicket win. Much of late July and August 1867 was again taken up with matches against touring sides, including at Dudley, where Emmett took 8-68 and 8-36 against the United All-England Eleven; at Ashton, where he took 11 wickets in the match against All-England; and at Richmond, where he appeared on the All-England side in a feeble match in which the home side were all out for 14. He then played for Stockton in a match against Sessay, before making his way to London to appear in an England side against a combined Surrey and Sussex team for the benefit of Tom Lockyer, the Surrey wicket-keeper who was retiring. This was a further sign that Emmett was being noticed. On this occasion, Emmett opened the bowling with a young W.G.Grace, playing together for the first time, and the two took the bulk of the wickets, Emmett finishing with 5-52. The London Evening Standard called Emmett ‘a