Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

father was a former chairman of the club. He led the second eleven as if it was a military operation. He tried to instil a vast amount of discipline in people, but a number of the older players didn’t take a lot of notice of him.’ It was Parr with whom Jack shared a room at the hotel. ‘He was virtually looking after me and when we went down to dinner he ordered trout. I don’t think I’d ever had trout in my life, and it was the most expensive meal that he could order. The club were obviously paying for it, and it was because he was under a bit of a cloud and felt he should have been in the first team. I said, “Frank, what are you doing?” He said, “Well, I might as well make the most of it. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here!” I’ll never forget that.’ Jack made a solid start to a season in which he was to play in 19 of the 20 matches. Second top scorer in the first innings, with 44, he followed with an undefeated 23, the only knock of any substance in setting a declaration target. Then, in the next match, he played a lone hand for 37 in a second innings total of 77 against Surrey at Old Trafford. When he made 71 against Derbyshire at Old Trafford, it was his first half-century for a county side, and towards the end of July he passed three figures for the first time, making 107 not out against Surrey Second Eleven at Beddington Park. With high scoring always difficult in the two-day matches, Jack’s 735 championship runs were the team’s highest individual aggregate, while his average of 29.40 was comfortably above most of the other specialist batsmen. Jack’s century was timely. It came just a week before Surrey’s first team, champions for the previous three years, were due at Old Trafford; so, when Geoff Edrich suffered a lapse in form, it was to Jack that the selectors turned as his replacement. ‘With me being 23 they probably thought we’d better have a look at him at the first opportunity to make a decision about me at the end of the season,’ he says. But his promotion was merited. The other batsmen in the second team – Barcroft, Bowling, Smith and Pullar – were all below him in the averages, and he always added keenness to the fielding. Jack could hardly have asked for a tougher introduction to first-class cricket. The visitors’ principal bowlers – Alec Bedser, Peter Loader, Jim Laker and Tony Lock – were all current or recent choices for England, and that year they would ensure that no ‘You’re a professional cricketer now’ 27