Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

88 ‘Owd Evergreen’ 1884-1888 There was then an element of farce about Yorkshire’s tense match with Nottinghamshire at Sheffield. Thanks to Saul Wade’s 66, the home side took a first innings lead of 17, before Nottinghamshire were all out for 135. Yorkshire thus required 119 to win on the last afternoon in an hour and 25 minutes. Good progress was made to around 100, thanks to Billy Bates, who scored 63 in under an hour, so that when he was out only 28 was needed in half an hour, with six wickets still left. Wickets then fell amid great excitement and accusations of deliberate time wasting by the visitors, and Yorkshire ended on 116-8, with Emmett on 1 not out. Some years later, one observer remembered that: Seldom has a scene of continued enthusiasm been seen at Bramall Lane, as the batsmen who were out ran in, and the incomers ran their hardest to the crease, Tom Emmett setting the ring in a roar by emerging from the pavilion in all the bravery of his black clothes. At the time, one Sheffield paper wrote that ‘Emmett came out with his clothes on’, leading Athletic News to observe that he would have looked funny without them. Four runs were needed, but the clock struck six when Attewell started his over and although Wade, Emmett’s partner, attempted a sweep which could have finished things off, he missed, and the game was left as a draw. This sparked outrage amongst the crowd, who rushed on the field and surrounded the Nottinghamshire side, hooting and yelling accusations of time wasting. Flowers was badly kicked on the leg before the players could escape the fury. In late August 1887, Emmett played his last Roses match at Old Trafford, in front of a packed crowd. One report noted that, as always on these occasions, Emmett was accompanied by his wife, Grace (‘buxom better half’ was actually the paper’s description), who was seen shaking hands with A.N.Hornby. The reporter added that Emmett looked as ‘frisky as ever’, but it does seem that that summer, he was finally showing signs of deterioration and becoming more expensive, with his average in all games over 19 runs per wicket. There were rumours again that the committee had decided to rest him, but opted not to do so, although by the end of August he had bowled 68 wides. By late summer, Emmett seemed to recognise that his career was coming to an end. In an interview in the Athletic Journal , he advised that ‘I have had a long innings, but I am going to run myself out at the end of the season, and I shall play the part of the athletic don, and sport myself as a critic whenever my old county team are on the war-path.’ He still played yet again at the Scarborough Festival and during one game, ‘effected a wonderful hit whilst batting against the MCC and Ground. The first delivery he received from Mr Nepean, Tom sent in grand style to the on, where the ball bounding over the ropes struck the bowl of a spectator’s pipe, breaking it clean from the stem, leaving the latter part in the mouth of the astonished owner.’ He also had time to visit Burnley, who wanted his opinion about a new club professional, and turned out in a match in the town for the benefit of Frank Sugg.