Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

20 A man in demand (1867-1871) new and shining light from Yorkshire’, and in the second innings, he again lived up to his growing reputation as he and Grace dismissed Surrey and Sussex for 59, Emmett taking another 5-26 in 23.3 overs. In front of one of the largest crowds seen at The Oval, Grace and Emmett were described as being in ‘rare bowling fettle’, with the latter simply ‘irresistible’. Sporting Life described their bowling as ‘of a form quite worthy of an “England” Eleven’. The match was a triumph for Emmett, and brought him considerable publicity for the first time in the south of England. At the end of August 1867, Emmett returned to Yorkshire and appeared in a benefit match for Ike Hodgson, who was now unable to play cricket through the illness which would quickly lead to his death in November. The Nottinghamshire side was at full strength, but Greenwood and Emmett – who took 8-30 – tore through them for 57. After this first-innings performance, there was considerable disappointment in the crowd when it transpired that Emmett had left early to play in a match at Keighley against Lascelles Hall, where he took six wickets and dismissed them for 20. From Yorkshire’s point of view, the 1867 season was memorable not just for Emmett’s emergence but also for the creation of one of the great Yorkshire bowling partnerships - between Tom Emmett and George Freeman - which, for a short, but incredibly fruitful, period would provide the basis for Yorkshire’s county success. At Middlesbrough against Lancashire in September, they opened the bowling, taking all 19 wickets to fall to the bowlers (the other was a run out) as Lancashire were dismissed for 97 and 68. Freeman took nine wickets and Emmett 10. The Yorkshire cricket historian, Rev.R.S.Holmes, commented that in this season the two ‘startled the cricketing world with their wonderful bowling feats’, Freeman taking 51 wickets at 7.4 each and Emmett 30 at 5.2. 15 Wisden added that it is ‘quite safe to say that a more deadly pair of purely fast bowlers never played on the same side’. Their record together is included at the end of this book. George Freeman was born in Boroughbridge in July 1843, the son of a builder and contractor. In 1860, he left his home town for an office job in Leeds, and in 1863 he was a clerk to a publisher in Edinburgh. He then lived in Malton between 1864 and 1869, employed as a seedsman and later an auctioneer. He played cricket in Boroughbridge from an early age, and in July 1862 appeared for Twenty-Two of Morley against the All-England Eleven. Thereafter, he appeared in several such games for Leeds and Otley, including in 1863 when he and Emmett played together in a major match for the first time (although neither bowled). In spring 1863, he took an engagement with the Grange House School in Edinburgh, and in August 1865 appeared against All-England several times before making his Yorkshire county debut against Cambridgeshire in September of that year, taking 0-29 in 23 overs and 4 wickets in the second innings. He also opened the batting, making 18 and 1. The following season, Freeman appeared for the United All-England Eleven against All-England, and turned out regularly for the same side against local teams during the