by A. W. Pullin
When Lockwood took to cricket in its more serious sense, the method of practising at Lascelles Hall was to let each man receive 40 balls at the wickets, and then go from one position in the field to another with every change of batsman. Thus a fielder starting at point would go next to cover-point, and so on all round the field until he came to the wickets to bat.
Asked as to the first practical results of his proficiency, Lockwood said his first engagment was as a "Saturday man" at Kirkburton in 1864-65. In 1866 he was engaged at Meltham Mills, in 1867 at Lockwood, and in 1868 at Cheetham Hill, Manchester. When at the last-named place he made his first spring up the ladder of fame. He shall narrate the circumstances in his own words:—
"There had been a 'bus accident at Derby, and George Freeman and Luke Greenwood were injured. The Yorkshire team arrived in London on the Saturday night to play Surrey at the Oval on the following Monday (August 24, 1868). It was found that Freeman and Greenwood would be unable to play. My uncle, the late John Thewlis, on hearing the question of substitutes being discussed, said in a modest and hesitating way that he had a nephew who, he thought, was quite good enough—referring, of course, to myself. Tom Emmett backed up Thewlis's recommendation. The result was that I was wired for to travel up to London for the match. The wire was sent to Cheetham Hill, but I had come on to Huddersfield, as I had arranged to play in a two days' match with Lascelles Hall at Yeadon. However, the message was sent after me, and I set off on the Sunday to London and played.
"My uncle and I opened the Yorkshire innings after Surrey had made 195, and we scored 176 for the first wicket. This proved a record for the Yorkshire first wicket, which was not broken until Brown and Tunnicliffe made their first remarkable stand at Sheffield in the match with Sussex in 1897. We were each not out the first night, Thewlis being 51 and myself 57. I was a raw lad, and was said to be a collier, a farm labourer, and what not. I can remember, on leaving the wickets when stumps were drawn, going to the pavilion through the crowd, who had rushed to see the lad! One voice I heard above the others making the remark, 'Why, he's more fit to eat a penny cake than play cricket.'
"However, I got to 91 before I was out next morning, and my uncle made 108. It was very hot the first day, and I remember Tom Emmett bringing me a drink from the pavilion, and encouraging me by saying, 'Remember, tha's on thi merits.' I was."
It may be added here that Lockwood's uncle, and partner in this famous performance, John Thewlis, was popularly supposed to have told Ephraim when he went in with him to bat, that if he did not do something worthy of the company in which he found himself he would not be allowed to go back to Lascelles Hall alive! It was the cheery way one relative had of encouraging the other.
Charles Ullathorne, one of Lockwood's contemporaries, who played in the match, gives to the writer the following excellent account of Ephraim's debut:—
"Eph. Lockwood was much talked of that day for more reasons than one. The Cockney crowd giggled and grinned when he stepped on to the field with a pair of trousers that had run up in the washing, and a shirt with red, black, and green squares like a church window. Ephraim looked a raw country lad, and had gone up to the great metropolis to play for his county, carrying his trousers and shirt in a parcel, and his bat in his hand. The statement has been often made that he swooped down upon the city in clogs, but that is not true. The crowd that laid themselves out to grin and giggle soon began to realise that the lad was not as raw as he looked. Their good-natured chaff turned to ungrudging praise, and when Ephraim left the wicket with 91 to his credit, his fame was established. Yet he came down to Cheetham Hill the following Saturday, and was bowled round his legs by a lob for a 'duck'!"
Lockwood says that as his career developed he got "a lot of runs against Surrey, and had a bigger average on Kennington Oval than any other visitor, while no Northern cricketer was a greater favourite there." This is no idle boast. The year after he made his debut he again played for Yorkshire against Surrey at the Oval (August 5, 6, 7, 1869), and led off with a score of 103 (his first century in first-class cricket), which he followed in the second innings with 34 not out. In 1870 he scored 24 and 38 in the corresponding match; in 1871, 67 not out for the North v. the South; in 1872 August 1, 2, 3, 121 against Surrey; in 1874, 67 not out and 48 for Gentlemen v. Players, and 96 v. Surrey; 1876, 78 v. Surrey; 1877, 97 and 20 for Gentlemen v. Players—and so on. These scores are quoted in justification of Lockwood's claim that he "got a lot of runs " at Kennington Oval.
The innings of Ephraim Lockwood's life was his 208, made for Yorkshire against Kent at Gravesend on August 16, 1883, in what was practically his last year of first-class cricket, from which he retired in 1884. This innings stood as a record for Yorkshire batsmen in first-class cricket until 1896, when Robert Peel headed it by 2 runs in the famous world's record match between Yorkshire and Warwickshire at Birmingham. Peel's score was 210 not out. Lockwood may resume his Talk with a reference to his own great performance.
"What are my remembrances of that innings? Well, I haven't much to say. The score, as you know, was 208, and it was made against Kent at Gravesend. Self-praise is no recommendation; all the same I may be allowed to say that it was the finest innings I ever saw. James Wootton was bowling his best, but the wicket was very fast, and I seemed able to get the ball away like lightning, no matter how well it was bowled. I could cut 4's off the middle and off stumps; indeed, Wootton said he had not seen anything like it before. My partner for a portion of the innings was my townsman, the late Mr E. Lumb, who died in 1891. Mr Lumb showed very steady defence while I was getting boundary after boundary, and as we crossed each other for runs on the wicket, he kept remarking that he had never seen such an innings before. In later years, when we were talking of past times, he often used to speak of that innings, and say how much he enjoyed it.
"I may mention a match as being among the most interesting that Yorkshire have ever played, and perhaps the most exciting. It was against Nottingham at Trent Bridge on June 23, 24, and 25, 1870. George Freeman had broken down; his arm had given way, and though he came out a second time he could not bowl. The match became so close that Notts only wanted three runs to win. Roger Iddison was the Yorkshire captain, and at this stage of the match he made me bowl two overs in succession, one from either end, and in the second I managed to get the last wicket, and we won by 2 runs. Iddison said afterwards that he made the change because he was afraid Tom Emmett might bowl one of his wides, and the game was too close to risk it.
"In the match with Surrey at the Oval on August 23, 1876, Yorkshire looked a beaten side when, on a bad wicket, Surrey headed our first innings score by 51 runs. In their second innings I managed to score 78, which at the time was described as 'steady and sound a display of batting as was seen during the season.' In the end we gave Surrey the task of scoring 101 runs. It had to be essayed in a bad light as well as on a bad wicket. I remember Allan Hill and Tom Emmett sitting in the pavilion just before the commencement of the last innings, and in his dry humorous style Tom said, 'Come on, Allan; thee flay [frighten] 'em aht, and I'll bahl 'em aht.' They did: Yorkshire won just before the call of time by 24 runs, Hill taking 4 wickets for 18 runs and Emmett 5 for 45.
"There is another little circumstance which, I think, may be mentioned. In the Gentlemen v. Players' match at the Oval on July 2, 3, 4, 1874, I went in first and carried out my bat for 67. That was the first time such a feat had been done since the establishment of the games early in the century (1806). In the second innings I made 48. In the other Gentlemen v. Players' match at Lord's in the following week, Allan Hill took 3 wickets in successive balls. That was also the first time the feat had been accomplished. I was told afterwards there was no little conversation in the pavilion upon the fact that these things should have been done by two men who lived next door to each other in the same village. It certainly was a singular circumstance, when one comes to think of it.
"Perhaps my most perfect innings was the one at Bramall Lane against Lancashire on Ju
ly 4, 1881. I got 73, and can remember hearing Mr Hornby say, 'Dang it all' (I am not sure 'dang' was the word, though), 'it doesn't matter where we place the men, he puts the ball somewhere else.' 'W. G.,' however, was never excelled in this. I have heard J. C. Shaw say that he could put a ball where he liked, but 'W. 6.' could put it where he liked also. Once in the Gentlemen v. Players' matches Jimmy Shaw missed a most simple chance of dismissing 'W. G.' c and b. I asked him why he didn't catch it, and he coolly replied, 'Oh, I like to see him bat'!
"I captained the Players of England against the Australians at the Oval in August 1882. That was Mr Murdoch's team, which defeated England by 7 runs. The Players won by an innings and 34 runs, and I remember I got a great many compliments paid me for the way in which I changed the bowling. M. Read of Surrey scored 130 for us in that match, Barnes and he making 158 for the fifth wicket Read's 130 was the highest hit against the Australians on the tour, and it brought him a collection of over ^40.
"As a side incident in this match I may repeat a story which my wife still chuckles over. She was sitting in company with her sister in the reserved seats at the pavilion, near where three gaily-attired society young ladies were seated. The young ladies criticised the poor players with unblushing f ranknesa * Do you know who that is?' said one. 'Yes; that's Punch,' was the reply. Punch was Tom Enimett. *Who's that one there?' 'That's Big Feet.' 'Big Feet' was your humble servant, whose wife was taking the conversation all in. 'Who's the other?' 'That's the dashing young Yorkshireman.' The player thus favoured was the late Billy Bates. My wife enjoyed the situation hugely when Punch, Big Feet, and the Dashing One walked from the field to the pavilion to talk to her. The young ladies made a hurried departure.
"How was it I never went to Australia 1' Well, I was asked to make one of W. G. Grace's team, which went out in 1873, but somehow I didn't fancy the outing at the time, and I did not accept the offer. Subsequently when D. W. Gregory's team came over to England in 1878, he and Spofforth told me the public in Australia had been much disappointed that I did not go out there. Gregory's team, I may mention, came to Huddersfield immediately after they had got the M.C.C. out for 33 and 19, and I scored 33 and 16 against them. We got them out in the first innings for 118, but they won finally by 6 wickets. I made the most runs of any one in the match.
"I had several invitations on other occasions to go out to Australia, and I did sign an agreement to go out with Shaw's team in 1881, but I was obliged to cry off in consequence of suffering from acute rheumatism. That was really the reason, though some of my friends chaffed me and said I preferred to stay at home and get married.
"Though I did not go to Australia, I did take a trip to America. That was in 1879, when I formed one of Daft's eleven to visit the land of the Stars and Stripes. Oscroft, Bates, and I came out as top scorers. The trip was much enjoyed, but we had a plaguey time with the mosquitoes. Some mornings I might have created the impression that I had been 'in the wars,' my eyes and face being so much swollen from the bites of these troublesome insects.
"I met old George Parr for the first time at Nottingham in 1869, and had the satisfaction of running him out. I was acting as long-stop, and possibly thinking I was a bit green, he commenced to run immediately the ball had passed Stephenson, the wicket-keeper. But I managed to send in a hot return, and Parr lost his wicket. He treated youngsters more warily afterwards.
"I met Ned Willsher first at Canterbury in a match between the North and South. Mr J. W. Dale and I went in first, and I remember Willsher bowled so well that he led off with 16 successive maiden overs. Yet we kept our end up by watchful defence, and finally I scored 60, and Mr Dale 50. Willsher was present when I played my big innings some years afterwards at Gravesend, and he said he was delighted with the performance.
"When W. G. Grace had made his famous score of 400 (not out) for the United South of England Eleven v. Twentytwo of Grimsby in July 1876, he came on to Huddersfield to play, and he was out in three innings (a scratch game being also played) for a total of 16 runs. I got his wicket once, and Allan Hill and My croft followed suit"
Most cricketers and followers of the game will know that Eph. Lockwood had a reputation for off-strokes unrivalled in his day. Asked to explain his pet cut, he said—
"I cannot say that I practised it specially. It came to me naturally. It was a hard chop, square with the face of the bat, and with full force behind it, yet it was all from the wrist; a quick turn of the wrist on to the ball, and away it used to go to the boundary. It was all a matter of wrist play and timing of the ball. I never was a powerful man; it was simply a natural action."
Naturally this led up to a question as to the methods of some modern batsmen, and on this Lockwood, like many other old cricketers, holds very decided opinions, as may be judged from the following:—
"Now they let them go on the off-side. I have seen when I would have given two shillings a dozen for them. They would have been worth it; I should have got some talentmoney. There is no cricket in allowing such balls to go by. I don't believe in men holding their bats up to let such balls pass, nor do I believe in the practice of using their legs to protect their wickets. They have their bats to defend their wickets with, and they should hit the ball. I should have smiled at such balls at one time, for men used to bowl at the wickets in my day."
Asked if methods had not changed, and if men did not now lay more traps on the off-side than formerly, Lockwood would not alter his views. "They used to crowd men on the off-side for me also, but I used to get runs all the same."
"Then, twenty-five years ago there were a number of better bowlers than there are now. I do not believe there is a bowler living to-day to equal George Freeman. George was, in my judgment, absolutely the finest fast bowler that ever lived. I have both batted against him and long-stopped, and
E
therefore could see what he was doing. He used to make the ball come back 6 inches, whipping like lightning from the pitch. It was all done with a remarkable whip of the wrist.
"Then, what a marvellous bowler Alfred Shaw was! What accurate pitch and length! He once had the following wonderful analysis: 52 overs, 47 maidens, 5 runs, 7 wickets. There's bowling for you! They used to play then to bowl you out. Shaw could alter his delivery a yard or so in height, and the batsman could not discern it from his action. He had more control and was better able to 'humour' a ball than any man I ever knew."
Asked when and why he ceased playing for Yorkshire, Lockwood said: "They left me out in 1884. Perhaps I made one mistake. We issued, too, a challenge for Lascelles Hall to play the Rest of Yorkshire for ^500 a-side, and I don't think the Sheffield authorities liked it. I was in good form at the time, and could have gone on playing. I had my benefit in 1882, and got ^591. I remember that as my benefit match was spoiled by the wet, Lord Londesborough sent for me at the Scarborough Carnival and gave me a ^5 note. Lady Londesborough, who, by the way, has always taken a keen interest in cricket and cricketers, used laughingly to say that I should run faster if I had not such big feet to carry.
"I must tell you about the famous match between Lascelles Hall and Sheffield, played on September 19, 1870. It was commemorated in a song which was very popular in Yorkshire cricketing circles twenty-five years or so ago. The refrain ran—
'The Sheffield lads, they are the lads
To play at bat and ball;
But they couldn't beat those eleven lads
That came thro' Lascelles Hall.'
I made that match with Jim Darley, of the Green Dragon,
Fargate, Sheffield, which used to be our cricketers' head-
quarters. These were the circumstances that led up to it: We were driving in a cab up to Bramall Lane, with Luke Greenwood, and talking about local rivalries. I said Lascelles Hall would play Sheffield for £50 a-side, and backed my confidence by putting down a ^5 note into Luke's hand. Darley promptly covered it, the match was made, and we made him stakeholder. The contest duly came off, and Lascelles Hall batted first and made 210.
Sheffield scored 106, and had to follow on, finally leaving us with only 82 to get to win. Of course it seemed an easy task, but we looked blue when we had 4 wickets down for 6 runs, including my own. David Eastwood and Luke Greenwood, however, practically rubbed the score off, and we won by 5 wickets.
"What a reception we got on reaching home! Mr Walter Haigh, who has been president of the Lascelles Hall Club for thirty years and more, met us with a waggonette and four, and we were received like conquering heroes. That will show the rivalry there was between Lascelles Hall and Sheffield. The score of the match is printed in letters and figures of gold, and still hung up at the Tandem Inn, the club's headquarters at Lascelles Hall. The men who formed the Lascelles Hall Eleven were E. Lockwood, J. Thewlis, L. Greenwood, A. Greenwood, D. Eastwood, D. Pollard, A. Hill, G. Shotton, T. Redfearn, J. Brook, and J. Ambler. In the match Ambler brought off a wonderful catch. Cuttell, father of the present Lancashire cricketer, was batting, and made a stroke high through the slips, where Ambler was fielding. Ambler was a very tall, long-armed fellow, and, springing up, he brought the ball 'from the clouds,' as the song goes.
"There is something in the hereditary principle of cricket, surely. The Lockwoods, Eastwoods, and Bateses on the 'top of t'hill' are all related. The Thewlises, too, were my uncles and cousins. I remember that once eleven Thewlises played at Chickenley, and got about 250. Then my wife is a niece of the famous Fuller Pilch, and a keen cricket enthusiast."
Most of our popular cricketers are rechristened by their associates and intimate friends. Thus Lockwood was more frequently addressed by his colleagues as "Old Mary" than by the baptismal Ephraim. This Talk may conclude by the tracing of this sobriquet to its source.
"I owe my name of 'Old Mary,' " says Lockwood, "to the late George Freeman. We were playing in a match on the Leeds Clarence Ground at Kirkstall, the sides being, I think, the United North v. a local Twenty-two. I was fielding at long-slip to Freeman's bowling, and as the ball shot towards me, George shouted out, 'Look alive, Old Mary.' I became 'Old Mary' from that day."