Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

76 with credit to himself, and with satisfaction to the cricketers associated with him.’ Even if Emmett was about to be replaced by Hawke, it was clear that he had performed more than capably. The main reservation was simply that, as captain, he had increasingly only put himself on to bowl in an emergency. In 1878, he bowled nearly 4,000 balls in first-class cricket, but between 1879 and 1882 the average was around 2,300 a season. Only once Hawke was thoroughly in charge did Emmett again bowl over 4,000 balls a season, which he did for the rest of his career. Away from the county game, Emmett turned out for Pudsey St Lawrence against Lascelles Hall in a Pudsey Feast fixture, and then returned to the Yorkshire side to enjoy a hugely successful Scarborough Festival. Against MCC he was top scorer with 51 in the Yorkshire first innings. He also opened the bowling with Peate and with 30 on the board, C.I.Thornton hit a delivery from Emmett out of the ground, the ball going through the bedroom window of an adjoining house. Emmett had the final say, however, bowling Thornton shortly afterwards as he ran through the MCC side, taking 8-52. This was followed by 5-31 in 32 overs as Yorkshire won by an innings. A few days later, he bowled a further 69 overs in Yorkshire’s match against I Zingari, taking 3-53 and 5-58. Emmett still had time to pull together a side to play a benefit match for a local professional, Ted Hope, who had lost an eye in a match at Pudsey in August. Around 2,000 attended and nearly £80 was raised. After several winters away, Emmett remained in England after the 1882 season. The following year, his first-class season began at Lord’s, where he made little contribution to the North’s 170 run victory over the South. He did not bowl for Yorkshire against MCC a week later, but took part in a 118-run unbeaten opening partnership which secured a 10-wicket victory. The Yorkshire Post praised Ulyett’s batting and commented that ‘It is a long time, too, since Emmett has been seen to such advantage.’ The paper added that he deserved ‘great credit for the Job-like patience he displayed in securing his 35.’ The early part of the season also saw a tense three- run defeat at the hands of Sussex at Sheffield, but the remainder of the games under Emmett saw Yorkshire beat Middlesex at Lord’s, draw with Nottinghamshire, beat Lancashire by eight wickets at Old Trafford, and finally, draw with Gloucestershire. Hawke was captain in between for a game against Nottinghamshire, which Yorkshire lost. Standing aside as a bowler, Emmett was able instead to unleash the impressive line-up of Peate, Harrison, Peel and Bates. He did, however, maintain a gruelling schedule of fixtures. In June, for example, he played at Sheffield between 11 and 13 June, then appeared at Lord’s on 14-15 June, before returning to Bradford for 18-20 June. He appeared at The Oval for North v South between 21-23 June, and then – with a day’s break – returned to Bramall Lane for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire between 25-27 June. The following day he was back in London for the Players against the Gentlemen between 28 and 30 June. He thus played 17 days of top class cricket in 20 days, with five journeys between Yorkshire and London. In these circumstances he could be forgiven for not making too Yorkshire Captain 1878-1883