Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

money in consequence, Jack could understand his team-mates’ attitude. In truth, the professionals in the Lancashire dressing room wanted a captain from within their own circle. To compound his problems, Barber bowed to a committee edict that he should stay in a different hotel from his team, counsel that was opposed by no less a man than Major Rupert Howard, the former secretary and father of Nigel, whose view was that ‘it was out of touch with modern practice in first-class cricket.’ Jack strongly agrees: ‘Not staying with the team was a big mistake. I think you learn far more about people – and you need to learn about them – off the field.’ As success eluded the team in the final weeks of this first season, the captain had already become aware of off-the-field problems, where there was a disunited committee and a weak chairman. ‘There were at least two camps in the club,’ he says, ‘and I was not aware that I ever had a camp!’ A young, slightly introverted captain, with problems in his dressing room, desperately needed support, yet Bob was left exposed by his committee. He was most aware of this when, attempting to defend remarks made by Ken Grieves, he spoke naively to a journalist after Kent had failed to respond to his challenge in a match at Old Trafford. A supposed spat between Colin Cowdrey and a player who had made a disappointing Test debut under his captaincy earlier that summer made good headlines for the popular press! At the end the season the committee decided to offer vice-captain Alan Wharton the chance to lead the second team. Effectively this meant they were sacking him as a first-team player. And it happened without the captain being consulted. Moreover, without Wharton, who chose to extend his first-class career by moving to Leicestershire, Barber was deprived of the man who had been in charge of the players off the field. It also meant that only Grieves now remained of the batsmen from the early 1950s. With Statham, Higgs and Greenhough, Barber had a potentially strong attack in 1961, but Greenhough was destined to miss most of the season with a damaged finger, while the loss of Wharton meant that there was a more uncertain look to the batting, though it would be eased by Jack’s timely advance. One poor season spelled the end of Bob Barber’s captaincy. The news that he was to be replaced after just two seasons was conveyed to the deposed skipper through a cable sent to Tom ‘After all, it’s only a friendly match’ 41