Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

in and year out, his only hope of reward being that one day the boys would enjoy the best cricket they had it in them to give. Edrich went further: ‘He had the eye of a true falcon for any promising young cricketer, and nothing was too much for him to do so that the game he loved should benefit if the green youngster could be turned to something better … he patiently coached and advised me, helped and encouraged me.’ Bill Edrich and Michael Falcon were as one in agreeing that cricket was a game to be played for fun. To quote from Edrich’s biographer, Alan Hill: ‘For the crowds flocking back to Lakenham, said “Jim” Swanton, Edrich’s daring tactical approach struck a vein of reminiscence in accord with the exploits of his first county captain, Michael Falcon, in the great days between the wars.’ They were also alike in the loyalty and affection they generated in their team-mates – the relationship between Michael Falcon and his players has already been touched upon but, again, Bill Edrich throws further light on affairs: ‘none of us wanted reputation for itself that summer [1933]; we were absolutely set on getting the Championship, and mainly because we wanted Michael Falcon to have the thrill of leading us home after so many gallant attempts.’ It should not be thought however that, popular with their men as they were, either Michael Falcon or Bill Edrich were soft touches as captains. Both set high standards and woe betide any team member who failed to live up to them. David Armstrong remembers that Bill would not tolerate chatterboxes in his eleven, whilst Peter Harrison recalls Michael Falcon telling him that, on one occasion, a player turned up wearing muddy boots rather than the pristine white footwear demanded by his captain – as a punishment the scruffily-shod miscreant was banished to the third-man boundary at both ends for the duration of the innings. As an aside, it is of interest that these two stalwarts of Norfolk cricket were so different in their private lives. Their respective experiences in the World Wars may have had something to do with this difference; Michael Falcon served bravely but, through no fault of his own, relatively uneventfully in the Army and was rushed back from the front to be propelled straight into the House of Commons. A lifetime of public service and hard graft lay ahead. Falcon was a true amateur, making not a penny out of cricket (a fact of which his son is very proud) and insisting on making his living outside the game. He was also happily married to Kathleen Michael Falcon’s Legacy 127