Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

captaincy to help ease in David Lloyd, his planned successor. The one bright spot was the Gillette Cup, where the team survived a rough passage to reach Lord’s and give Jack his chance to retire with a hat trick of wins. Somerset were defeated by seven runs at Old Trafford, then consistent batting brought a four-wicket victory over Hampshire at Bournemouth, after a Barry Richards century had set a target of 224. There was another close finish at a damp Old Trafford, where Kent went down by seven runs. Lancashire’s win came after Cowdrey and Denness had elected to play on in poor light on the first day. A crowd of 20,000 should not be disappointed, they had felt, a decision that cost them Cowdrey’s wicket to the last ball before the players left the field. Next day, fortunes fluctuated as Simmons gave Lancashire the initiative with three wickets in 15 balls, only to be hit for 17 in an over by Bernard Julien. But, in the words of The Times , ‘Bond by his field placings made twos as scarce as threes and fours,’ and it was Simmons who had the final say. Twelve were needed when Hughes began the final over and it was the safe hands of his spinning partner on the boundary edge that pouched a lofted drive from John Shepherd off the first ball, leaving the last pair with too much to do. So, for the third year in succession, Lancashire’s army of fans descended on Lord’s. Jack remembers this final for the mystery he managed to create over his team selection. Thirteen players and a twelfth man were taken down to London for the match against Warwickshire, but Jack was concerned about the fitness of Lever and Shuttleworth, who had both sustained injuries a month earlier. ‘I didn’t want to go into a final and have one or both quick bowlers breaking down with another ten overs to bowl or something like that. I didn’t want to be worrying about that all the time.’ The captains went out to toss, club captain Alan Smith undertaking the job for Warwickshire, although he was not himself playing in the match. It was at this point that Jack revealed his hand. ‘I had the coin and I said, “We’ve got 13 players, but Lever and Shuttleworth aren’t playing.” And Alan Smith didn’t know whether to look at the coin. I’d won the toss and I said, “You can bat.” And they came in wondering who was going to open the bowling.’ Jack’s choice was Clive Lloyd, who bowled his twelve overs on the trot for just 31 runs, and Lee. ‘The finest captain I played under’ 109