Lives in Cricket No 50 - Tom Emmett

90 ‘Owd Evergreen’ 1884-1888 carried away in his report by reassuring readers there was no truth in the story that he had tripped the light fantastic with ‘the merry mill lasses’ on the grass after the match. A large crowd turned out for what proved a disappointing contest, with Emmett top scoring with 14 in a Bradford total of 55. He was cheered to the wicket and had clearly lost none of his enthusiasm as he ‘jumped about with the liveliness of a young Englander instead of a crabbed-aged international.’ Shortly after, he made 64 not for Bradford against Keighley (his third decent not out innings of the season so far), and took five wickets against Halifax. Despite his lack of a regular place in the county side, Yorkshire clearly considered Emmett was still a popular attraction and he was included in the side that took on the Australians at Sheffield towards the end of May. He opened the bowling with little success in a match which the tourists won by an innings. Emmett was cheered as he came on to bowl which seemed to fill him with ‘youthful agility’. At the close of play, a presentation was made to George Ulyett of £1,000 from his benefit, and the speeches were rounded off with a few words of praise from his old friend, Emmett, who was his usual genial self despite the state of the game. As defeat loomed he came out to bat ‘with a jaunty air’, but any hopes he would retrieve the position were dashed. It is unclear how Emmett felt about finally slipping out of the county side after all these years. There were some suggestions that he re-appeared slightly reluctantly for Yorkshire in 1888, reportedly keen that younger players had a chance. On the other hand, one reporter claimed he had met Emmett just after his last Yorkshire game and ‘he made no secret of his opinion that the county had dropped him too soon.’ Others clearly agreed. The newspaper Athletic News held a competition for the ‘model’ Yorkshire team and received 400 responses, many of which wanted Emmett back in the side. He was, however, not included in the team to play the Australians at Bradford in late June, but was instead engaged as an umpire. On this occasion, a friend dared him to wear unusual headgear during play, which he duly did, walking out in a ‘chimney pot’ hat. Then having shown that ‘he dared risk such a breach of custom, Tom exchanged the silk pot for a white one, in which he buried his head for three days.’ Away from the county scene, in June, Emmett assisted a Pickering side in two matches and in July, he and Peate appeared for Filey. Shortly afterwards, he played for Lincoln Lindum against Harrow Wanderers. He also came on as substitute in the Yorkshire v Derbyshire match when Joseph Hunter injured his thumb. In July, he appeared for the county side that played Scotland in Edinburgh, taking 6-20 and 4-15, ‘the deliveries of Emmett being such as to cause quite a stampede in their ranks’. However, not everything went to plan. At the start of August, Emmett’s benefit match between Bradford and Keighley was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to rain, although tickets had been sold beforehand so that he did get something out of the event. The same month, Emmett and Edmund Peate played three games in Wales – at Swansea, Llwynpia and Llanelly – where Peate was on top form with the ball.