Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

48 The Great All-rounder (1872-1877) In the game itself, Australia won the toss and batted. Bannerman made 165 out of 245 before retiring hurt. Emmett was the seventh bowler used and did not take a wicket. His main contribution seems to have been his fielding, and he was applauded for his returns to Selby, the stand-in wicket- keeper. Jupp, Charlwood and Hill made the bulk of England’s response of 196, before Shaw and Ulyett bowled Australia out for 104. England then needed 154 to win, but with only three players making double figures, they fell 45 runs short. Emmett scored 8 and 9, and bowled only in the first innings, ending with 0-13 in 12 overs. In the course of the game, there was a further difficulty for the England side when Armitage was arrested one evening for attempting to rescue a prisoner from the custody of the police. He was let off with a small fine. After the disappointment of the first Test, the English players had a trip to Bendingo, where Emmett took 6-24 in the Twenty-Two’s second innings. At Ballarat, he scored 32 but did not bowl. They then returned to Melbourne for the second Test. Australia again batted first but tight bowling from Shaw and 4-27 from Hill led to their dismissal for 122. England started badly but contributions from five Yorkshiremen – Greenwood (49), Ulyett (52), Emmett (48), Hill (49) and Armitage (21) gave England a substantial lead. Australia batted well in the second innings to make 259, but England knocked the runs off with four wickets left, Ulyett again top scorer. Emmett – with what proved to be his highest Test score - and Greenwood batted particularly well, the former ‘showing as good form as any of them has exhibited here.’ He pulled balls from Spofforth and Kendall, and ‘displayed more ability in placing the ball than any of his companions’. The tourists returned to Adelaide on 10 April for one final game and an exhibition match against a team of 30, during which Emmett was ‘very amusing at the wicket’. They then sailed for home on 19 April, arriving in London on 2 June. Overall, Emmett had had a reasonable tour and established many friendships in Australia and New Zealand. In all games, he batted 38 times and scored 420 runs at 13.4, but only 94 of these were in 11-a-side contests. He also took 58 wickets at 5.1, but none were in 11-a-side games. As a result, one reporter suggested rather disparagingly that both Emmett and Hill ‘entirely disappointed the cricketing public of the colonies with their performances in good matches – and the only conclusion arrived at is that if theirs is the sort of bowling brought against the crack batsmen of England on good wickets, it is not difficult to understand the tall scoring which takes place.’ Life in Australia had been full of incident and amusement for the tourists, especially when travelling with Emmett. Allen Hill claimed to remember an occasion when he and Emmett occupied a double-bedded room, and ‘after we had been fighting the mosquitoes with towels until we were in despair, Tom. jumped up in a rage and shouted to the insects, ‘You little devils, if you don’t keep off my nose you’ll burn your feet.’ ’ Emmett returned home after seven months, a significant time away from his now large family, and a major commitment of time. Over the winter, his doings in Australia had been much publicised, and his achievements of