Cricket Witness No 5 - Whites on Green

61 A place for all seasons nine runs in good style. After the resumption, he settled back in quickly and played in textbook manner. For ninety minutes, the express deliveries of [Ted] McDonald, the cunning slows of [Dick] Tyldesley and the subtle and varied deliveries of [Cec] Parkin were all played by this young lad with skill and confidence.” 3 With some delicate late cuts and leg glides, he reached 40 in faultless style before being deceived by a top spinner from Dick Tyldesley and trapped leg before. His efforts had helped Glamorgan to a more respectable total of 153. Professionals Helm Spencer and Frank Ryan then gave the Welsh county an unexpected but most well deserved lead of two runs before heavy rain on the second morning washed out play. When spectators gathered in front of the Swansea pavilion in glorious sunshine on the final morning of the match, they were keeping their fingers crossed that the home batsmen would not subside as meekly as they had in previous games that summer. The portents did not look good as within the first hour, Glamorgan collapsed to 28-4 leading some spectators, who were fearing the worst, to head across the Oystermouth Road to the adjacent station on the Mumbles Railway and going somewhere else on the steam-hauled trains for their afternoon entertainment. Those who stayed were richly rewarded for their patience and loyalty as for the second time in the game, the schoolboy and Trevor Arnott steadied the ship. After being impressed with Maurice’s strokeplay in the first innings, ‘Nomad’ was now impressed by his watchful defense, writing how “Turnbull watches the ball right onto his bat and this together with apparently inexhaustible patience was the secret of his success.” He had been at the wicket for exactly an hour, making a calm 16, before he got a spiteful ball from Parkin and was adjudged leg before for the second time in the match. A few wags in the crowd started to suggest that Turnbull’s demise signalled the end of Glamorgan’s resistance, but Jack Mercer, the jovial seam bowler and hard-hitting lower order batsman duly played a little gem of an innings as in twenty minutes he hit a valiant 36 with a mix of well timed drives and lusty slogs. By the time Mercer was dismissed, Lancashire had a target of 146 and most of the afternoon in which to chase the target. Harry Makepeace and Ernest Tyldesley gave the Northern side a solid start and on 84-3 they appeared to have the measure of the bowling. With Lancashire seemingly coasting towards victory, Johnnie Clay sauntered over to Frank Ryan, and said to the irascible spinner “Right, Frank. It’s now or never!” Much to Johnnie’s delight, he responded with one of the finest ever spells of his career, taking 7/23 and, with Lancashire falling 39 runs short of their target, Jack Morgan wrote: “the Lancashire batsmen must have thought they were in the coils of a serpent. Bringing the ball down from his fine height, Ryan spun it like a top on the dusty surface, and batsman after batsman groped and lunged in vain as the ball spun wickedly passed their bats.” 4