Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

79 Chapter Six ‘Owd Evergreen’ 1884-1888 And old Tom Emmett’s hard to beat, Although of years have passed a score Since first he bowled with youthful heat, And at his wides his comrades swore, Cricket: A Weekly Record of the Game, 1895 By the time Hawke took over the captaincy of Yorkshire, Emmett was well into his forties. He was widely referred to as ‘Owd Evergreen’, and had been considered ‘a veteran’ for some years. He nevertheless continued to attract considerable attention, and at the start of the 1884 season, the Sheffield Independent profiled him under a heading of ‘Celebrated Athletes’, commenting that he is: popular on every cricket ground in England, and we are assured, is as greatly appreciated in the Colonies as he is in the English enclosures... None of the professionals who have helped to build up the reputation of Yorkshire as a leading shire, have rendered more consistent service, and that for almost a score years, than Tom Emmett. Despite such warm words, Emmett’s final seasons were overshadowed by lingering doubts as to whether he would maintain his place in the Yorkshire side at the end of each summer. It seems that some of the Yorkshire committee felt he, Peate and Grimshaw did not merit a full season’s engagement, and initially in 1884 he was on a reserve list (along with Lockwood). Athletic News reported in April that he had been relegated to ‘the cold shades of retirement’ and would be in the reserves with Peate, Lockwood, Hunter and Sugg. Hall would act as captain in the absence of Hawke. Subsequently, although the Huddersfield Chronicle thought his presence in the Yorkshire eleven was ‘doubtful’, Emmett was in the side for the opening county match of 1884 against Gloucestershire, and, despite being what the Yorkshire Post referred to as ‘the almost discarded veteran’, he showed yet again the value he could bring, making 46 runs for once out in a match which Yorkshire won by 41 runs. In addition, there was no doubting his dedication to the cause of Yorkshire cricket. Years later, Edmund Peate remembered a banquet held one evening during the match where W.G.Grace had spoken and sounded very sure of a Gloucestershire victory the next day. In response, Emmett retorted, ‘No, doctor; we are Yorkshiremen, and we have never lost until the last run is got or wicket taken.’ He was proved right. 56