Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

27 A man in demand (1867-1871) in cricket’. There was a large crowd at The Oval to witness the match and one report suggested ‘we shall be surprised if they do not tell their friends at home that it was never played before a more impartial ring.’ Bell’s Life considered the match was ‘the finest ever witnessed’, with Emmett making a significant impact, but he still returned north immediately, initially to Malton, where he and Freeman bowled All-England out for 89, and then to Sunderland and Hull for local matches. In the middle of July, Emmett was back in the Yorkshire side which took on Cambridgeshire at the Woodhouse Hill ground, Hunslet, a venue which was not well suited to professional cricket, with the field very rough only 30 yards from the wicket. It had not been expected that Cambridgeshire would compete during the season, but Carpenter received a request for a match from the club at Hunslet, which he accepted. They were, however, clearly a poor match for the home side, particularly with Tarrant missing through illness (inflammation and pleurisy picked while playing in Hull earlier in the month). Winning the toss, Yorkshire batted well right down the order, led by Roger Iddison who scored 112 and earned a collection of over £5 on the ground. Emmett was the second highest scorer, despite batting at 11, with ‘a very creditable’ 47 not out (‘a very lively and spirited affair’), made in front of a crowd of around 3,000, who watched in warm sunshine. Play on the morning of 13 July – arguably Emmett’s greatest day - started at midday with Iddison on 94 not out and Emmett on 11 not out. After 40 minutes, Iddison reached his century, and Emmett continued to score quickly, hitting Hayward back over his head from the third ball of the first over, and adding significantly to his score. He also hit Smith into the refreshment tent for three, and played the ball to all parts of the ground, batting ‘remarkably well’ according to one report. The two were together for another hour before Iddison was dismissed after batting for over five hours. He received £5 for his contribution. Emmett, who was missed at the wicket on 28, batted well in a last wicket stand of 72, his innings including 11 threes. Overwhelmed by Yorkshire’s score of 352, Cambridgeshire collapsed to 40 all out against Emmett and Freeman, who were described as ‘positively dangerous’ on a wicket that had got very worn during the high scoring Yorkshire innings. Emmett began bowling at 1.30pm, but lunch was taken after 15 minutes with the score 15-3. Smith then fell to a ‘terrific break-back’ in Emmett’s first over. Browne was caught at mid-wicket by Atkinson, and Tom Hayward was clean bowled by Emmett for a duck. Play resumed at 3pm but the Cambridgeshire batsmen found the bowling hard to get away, and scored just seven from the first 12 overs. Carpenter was then bowled by Emmett off his glove, and only Pryor made double figures. By 3.55pm, Cambridgeshire were all out in just 136 balls amid scenes of great excitement amongst the crowd of 5,000 people. Emmett had figures of 17-11-15-7. At 4.25pm, the visitors reappeared for their second innings. There was some resistance from John Smith (the only other visiting batsman to reach