Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

38 and is always steady – virtues not often possessed by left-handers.’ Across England, W.G.Grace was the pre-eminent batsman, with Jupp second, but the commentator suggested that the ‘only other professionals whose batting in the past season has been remarkably good are William Oscroft, of Nottingham, and Tom Emmett, of Yorkshire.’ Lillywhite’s also praised Emmett, commenting that his strides forward as a batsman were ‘simply marvellous’, and arguing that it was hard to know whether he or Andrew Greenwood was the premier batsman in Yorkshire. 28 Emmett’s all-rounder status made him an even more valuable acquisition for any team, and during the summer he was again the subject of interest from W.G.Grace as he tried to put together a side to tour Australia. Grace’s celebrity status meant that he was seen by Australian businessmen as likely to fill cricket grounds. Knowing this, Grace insisted on £1,500 plus expenses, the right to take his wife with him and, because of the difficulties in recruiting players – either amateur or professional - money up front. The original intention had been to take an amateur side, but a seven month trip was too long for them. With some reluctance, it was then decided that professionals would be included. 29 Grace and Emmett had a number of opportunities to discuss the proposal in July and August 1873 – during the Gentlemen v Players games, at Wakefield for a United South of England match, in the North v South fixtures, and during the Gloucestershire match at Clifton. But it was not to be, and as Grace put it in his memoirs, ‘Throughout the cricket season of 1873 I was busily engaged in preparing for the tour, and I soon realised the difficulties which lay in the way of the undertaking.’ A number of amateurs turned it down, and in addition, ‘I invited Tom Emmett and Alfred Shaw to include themselves in my combination, but neither could comply with my request.’ Whether they could not, or decided they would not, perhaps having got wind of the difficulties Grace was having with the arrangements, is not clear, but Emmett again missed the chance to make some money over the winter. In retrospect though, as Tomlinson has explained in some detail, it sounds like a tour that was best avoided. 30 The disputes that affected Yorkshire cricket throughout much of the nineteenth century and had dogged the county club during the 1860s, reappeared in a different form in the early 1870s. Over the winter of 1873/74, dissatisfaction with the perceived lack of opportunities in the county side for players from the North and East Ridings led to the creation of the Yorkshire United County Cricket Club. 31 An opening game between the North and East Ridings took place in Hull in May 1874, and Emmett was engaged to play. The club provided a number of other openings during the summer for many of the official Yorkshire side to earn additional money, including in Emmett’s case against Durham in July and three games in the second half of September, two of which were on Lord Londesborough’s estate in Hampshire. Emmett’s 1874 season began with games for the All-England Eleven, firstly at Oxford University on the Christ Church ground, where he did little, but made the acquaintance of Lord Harris for the first time. Harris later recalled The Great All-rounder (1872-1877)