Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

Michael Falcon, although he was 58, was still in fine shape physically due to his daily exercise routine, and he decided to lead Norfolk for one last season in order to try to get them off to a good start in the post-war world. It was as well for Norfolk that he did decide to soldier on, as his scores of 70 not out and 30 in the first match of the season against Hertfordshire at Lakenham were largely responsible for setting up a comfortable victory, which turned out to be the sole win of the season. He was then rested for the second fixture, 61 before pottering around to little effect for the next three games: he then signed off from Minor Counties cricket with an unbeaten 44 as Norfolk amassed a big score in a draw against Cambridgeshire. Surprisingly, Falcon was not the only player with experience of Minor Counties cricket before the Great War to appear after the Second World War. His old foe, Walter Franklin, who had first appeared in 1911, also played on for one more season for Buckinghamshire, aged 55. Even older than Falcon and Franklin was the great Buckinghamshire slow left-armer Frank Edwards, who had also played before the First World War. He was keen to resume his career, but his Committee were less enthusiatic and managed to limit him to one game in which rain prevented him from entering the field of play. (In passing, it is of note that only one player has performed effectively in the Minor Counties Championship at an age greater than that of Falcon’s 58. He was, of course, Sydney Barnes who in 1932, at the age of 59, took 56 wickets at an average of only 9.01 for Staffordshire. That was his swan song, however for, although he played for a further three years, he suddenly lost his ‘magic’ and ceased to threaten at the Minor Counties level.) Although two-day cricket put a bit of a strain on Michael Falcon physically, it would be incorrect to say that he was now ‘past it’. He was still fit enough to play more or less a full season of Saturday afternoon fixtures and, whilst some were more social events than competitive matches, he put in a number of highly effective performances, securing at least three five-wicket returns. With the bat he was steady rather than commanding, but still finished second in the Norwich Wanderers’ batting lists with an average of 23 or so. He was not a one-club man however, also turning out for Second World War and Beyond 105 61 Harold Theobald took over the captaincy.