Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

Jones just kept on hitting this spot on a length. It was evil, to be honest. It made batting very interesting and it made for an interesting game. It brings out character in people, I think, playing in adverse conditions.’ A loss to Nottinghamshire was now followed by a string of victories. Derbyshire went down by 124 runs, and Warwickshire were overwhelmed at Edgbaston by 188 runs, Jack scoring 42 not out and 48. Then, after a Lancashire League XI had also been beaten, Northamptonshire and then Somerset succumbed. The Northants match was notable for Jack’s decision to close Lancashire’s first innings when within sight of his first century since 1965. He was on 93 when Lancashire, with eight wickets down, were 61 ahead as stumps approached on the second day. Jack’s preference to attack the Northants batsmen for half an hour was rewarded with three wickets before the close and a ten-wicket victory before lunch the next day. ‘That’s the way I’d been brought up to play the game by people like Geoff Edrich,’ he says. ‘Mind you, we won with half a day to spare so it makes you wonder. Perhaps I could have got my hundred with no trouble and still won the game, but the thought of them having to bat for half an hour when they’d been fielding all day – you can’t miss that opportunity.’ At Weston-super-Mare the margin of victory against Somerset was just eleven runs, David Hughes making his mark with six for 61 as a target of only 123 proved beyond the home batsmen. This was the kind of win that comes for a team on a roll and it meant that Lancashire went into the Roses game at Old Trafford in good heart. This had long been earmarked as the farewell match for Brian Statham, his 430th for Lancashire, and it was also Ken Higgs’ benefit. A rampant Statham sent Red Rose supporters home in high spirits as Yorkshire, replying to Lancashire’s 162, stood at 34 for eight on the first evening. Their innings closed next day for 61, but in the end the game was nicely poised with Yorkshire still requiring 64 with five wickets intact. To Jack, this draw matched some of the wins over weaker sides. ‘We used to get beaten by Yorkshire regularly, so to come away with a draw was quite good for us.’ Glamorgan, destined to become champions the next year, were enjoying a fine season and now inflicted two defeats on Lancashire. There was an innings victory at Old Trafford, but two sporting declarations in the return match at Cardiff set up a nail biter before Jack’s men were beaten by four ‘You’ll have to have all your teeth out’ 69