Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

enriched by playing for Learie Constantine’s XI and other teams in wartime matches that had taken him around Lancashire and given him a couple of appearances at Lord’s. Now Jack recalls the elderly West Indian with obvious respect and affection: ‘He was such a mild-mannered man, a real gentleman. He had time for everybody, time to talk and to listen. He was such a good bowler too. I admired his control, and it was from watching him that I first fell in love with the away swinger. Later on, as captain, I always liked to have an away-swing bowler.’ With Edwin St Hill’s technical help and encouragement, Jack prospered, averaging 43 for the season. One match stands out in his memory, when he was picked to play against Westhoughton. In the opposing side was Eddie Paynter, the Lancashire left-hander of pre-war years, whose 20 Tests for England had brought him an average of 59.23. He secured a place in the game’s folklore when he rose from a Brisbane sick bed to score 83 and steer England to an unlikely first-innings lead from which Douglas Jardine’s men established their crucial 3 – 1 lead in the Bodyline series in 1932/33. ‘I don’t know whether he was their professional or whether he was playing for money in his boots,’ Jack says, ‘but he was fielding quite close in and we got talking after the match. He said, “I’ll get you a trial at Old Trafford.”’ Jack heard nothing from the Lancashire club, and Paynter may not have followed up on his promise, but he had sown a seed. If Eddie Paynter thought he could bat, perhaps Jack ought to be seeking an opportunity to prove himself at a higher level. The runs he had made at Walkden led to suggestions that he should try his luck at Radcliffe in the stronger Central Lancashire League. His Kearsley birthplace, being within the required five mile radius of Radcliffe, qualified Jack to join his new club. He realised that he might be thought ungrateful to those who had helped him through his youth cricket at Walkden. ‘You’re upsetting everyone,’ he was told. ‘You’ll never make it,’ some tried to persuade him. But despite the carrot of a pound a match to stay at Walkden, the six-pounds-a-week clerk decided to make the move. ‘It was a lot of money in them days,’ Jack now jokes, but it didn’t dissuade him from making the move to a better league before it was too late. From the gentle Edwin St Hill, Jack now came under the wing of another man who was to prove a big influence on his 16 ‘ We thought you were nineteen’