Lives in Cricket No 14 - Jack Bond

Played Won Lost Drawn Points Glamorgan 23 9 6 8 218 Kent 22 8 5 9 206 Lancashire 22 6 2 14 200 Derbyshire 24 7 7 10 199 Sussex 24 5 7 12 199 Warwickshire 23 7 6 10 198 Surrey 22 6 4 12 196 Yorkshire 23 7 5 11 196 Lancashire, Kent and Surrey all had a game in hand on Glamorgan, whose programme was about to be completed with a visit from Lancashire, whose players were hastening from Old Trafford to catch their train for the showdown at Cardiff once stumps had been drawn in the Roses match. Though both sides were eager to start, heavy overnight rain and squally showers into the afternoon kept the players in the pavilion, and only 90 minutes’ play was possible on the first day. Resuming at 59 for no wicket and needing to make up lost time, Lancashire batted with great enterprise the following day, rattling up 243 for three by lunch. It was Clive Lloyd who set the initial pace with a run-a-minute 59, Pilling and Sullivan weighing in later. With six batting points in the bank, Jack declared on 303 for five at the end of the 85th over. His bowlers then set to work. By close of play they had kept the dream of the grand slam alive by reducing Glamorgan to 138 for seven, still in need of 16 runs to avoid the follow on. Next day there was the perfect start. Shuttleworth took the last three wickets in five balls and, after Jack had enforced the follow- on, Glamorgan were soon in deeper trouble. At 50 for two they had lost both their overseas players, Bryan Davis and Majid Khan, and Geoff Ellis had been forced to retire after being hit on the head. As Lancashire began to scent victory, Peter Walker joined forces with his captain Tony Lewis. Watchful at first, the pair moved quickly through the gears after lunch, Walker at one point scoring 67 off his own bat in 25 minutes and going on to 114 as the partnership reached 195. Jack seemed powerless to stem the flow, causing John Woodcock to wonder if he was saving his bowlers for the next day’s Lord’s final. Or, with the pennant flying at Sophia Gardens for perhaps the last time, had Jack foreseen the Quixotic and desperate gesture Lewis was about to make to keep it in Wales for one more year? 92 ‘They stormed the gates to get in’