Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

The first Sunday match at Old Trafford brought a comfortable win against Nottinghamshire, now deprived of Sobers. Then, in a match at Bristol truncated by rain, the winning run came from Jack’s bat in the final over to bring a third win in four matches. The next Sunday brought a still undefeated Surrey to Old Trafford. When Jack was fourth out with the score on 12, only a battling 60 from Harry Pilling enabled Lancashire to reach a barely defendable 130. But Surrey started almost as shakily as Lancashire, and with John Edrich, Micky Stewart and Younis Ahmed mustering one run between them, the score was 16 for three. Opener Mike Edwards then led a recovery. It was slow progress, but by the last over the league leaders had reached 126 for eight with Arnold Long and Geoff Arnold at the crease. First Arnold was run out. There was an ironic touch as the man to replace him was Jim Cumbes, who had transferred to Surrey on Jack’s advice, his way as a pace bowler at Lancashire blocked by Higgs, Lever and Shuttleworth. ‘It was my first Sunday league game,’ he now recalls. ‘I was tempted to take a quick single and got sent back and I slipped in the middle of the wicket. I was on my hands and knees when the wicket was broken.’ ‘That will be my everlasting picture of you in my mind – on all fours,’ Jack quipped as they all returned to the pavilion with Lancashire the fortunate winners by four runs, their closest call of the campaign. ‘To get two run outs like that with Arnold Long at the other end! I seem to remember him being quite upset about it,’ Jack now recalls. ‘If we’d lost that game it might have thrown a different complexion on things, but I doubt it!’ Lancashire, on the brink of ‘won 3, lost 2’ when Shuttleworth had begun his final over against Surrey, now had a season’s record of four victories to one defeat. Winning was soon to become a habit, successive match results reading: 1 June Old Trafford Derbyshire Won by five wickets 15 June Peterborough Northants Won by six wickets 26 June Blackheath Kent Won by 20 runs 6 July Old Trafford Somerset Won by four wickets 13 July Southport Glamorgan Won by nine wickets 27 July Old Trafford Middlesex Won by six wickets Jack now had a clear plan of attack and he found his bowlers responding week after week. ‘It wasn’t important just to keep the runs down. It was important to take wickets. For a good number of ‘And there was this new competition’ 75