Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

23 Such gloom proved to be unfounded, and the coverage of the next day’s play reported that Emmett had been able to field, and his accident was unlikely to be as bad as anticipated. He did not need to bowl anyway as Surrey only batted once, but he was fit enough to score 13. Two days later, he turned out for Werneth, near Oldham, against the North of England Eleven, opening the bowling. There appeared to be little long-term damage. The county season continued at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire, where Iddison, Freeman and Emmett dismissed the home side for 60 to force the follow on. Nottinghamshire fared better in the second innings but Emmett, with figures of 39.1-22-45-6, led the attack to set up a nine wickets win. After a trip to Dudley with the United All-England Eleven, where he took 11 wickets in the second innings of the district side, he returned to the Yorkshire side for the match with Lancashire at Holbeck. Turning up late, Lancashire decided to bat, but within a short period were all out for 30 before lunch, Freeman taking 8-11 (‘one of the finest specimens of bowling’) and Emmett 2-11. The wicket had been watered repeatedly and ‘the artificial moistening did not tend to make it in such playing order as might have been expected.’ Yorkshire then amassed a lead of 220, before Lancashire capitulated again for 34. Emmett this time took the bulk of the wickets with 6-13, Freeman adding 4-12. The home side thus won by an innings and 186 runs inside two days. Three days later at Sheffield, Emmett and Freeman continued in the same vein of form against Middlesex, the first ever game between the two counties. Emmett was again slightly overshadowed by Freeman, who took 7-29, but between them they dismissed the visitors for 79. Then, in the second innings, Freeman (5-32) and Emmett (22-16-16-3) bowled Middlesex out for 59 to secure an easy innings victory. Emmett was in fine and fast form, hitting Jupp in the neck at one point before sending R.D.Walker’s bails flying with ‘a regular ripper’. He also bowled twelve successive maidens, during which time he took two wickets. Together, Freeman and Emmett ‘defied the efforts of the best amateur batsmen in England’, helped by fine fielding. The Middlesex players were apparently ‘perfectly nonplussed’ by the bowlers, who were not changed throughout the match. Emmett had further added to his reputation in the south of England. After playing for his county, Emmett returned to local cricket, top scoring with 63 in Keighley’s total of 254 against Otley, and taking eight wickets in the opponents’ first innings. The following weekend, he travelled down to Egham in Surrey with United All-England, where he took 18 wickets in a match in which there were 23 ducks in the two innings. The game finished on 22 July, and the following day Emmett and Freeman appeared on opposite sides in Todmorden against All-England, after an arduous overnight journey. Despite these efforts, Emmett took 5-48 before it was his turn to play for a side where not one batsman reached double figures, with Freeman – for All-England – taking 10-22 in 41 overs. Emmett delivered another 42 overs to take 5-47 in a heavy defeat for the local side. A man in demand (1867-1871)