Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

as a whole, referred to earlier. Playing for Norfolk from now on as a genuine all-rounder, he was to take over the captaincy from Raikes in 1912 and lead the county to further successes. 9 Good performances in a smattering of first-class games kept his bowling in the public eye and he was rewarded with several invitations to represent the Gentlemen against the Players. 1911 Although he had graduated from Cambridge in 1910, regulations permitted Michael Falcon to play for the University for one more season. It proved to be his best year for Cambridge. Not only did he top the batting averages but, after a slow start, he showed that his bowling for Norfolk in the previous season had not been a fluke by spearheading the University attack and becoming its leading wicket-taker. For the only time in his first-class career he had the credentials (and the averages) of a genuine all-rounder and he was a cricketer of real promise, a fact recognised by the invitation to represent the Gentlemen at Scarborough. Although it is impossible to date, it was probably at around this time that Falcon was approached to qualify for Middlesex by Frank Mann and ‘Plum’ Warner and turned them down, preferring to represent his home county. His first performance of note for Cambridge was an innings of 134 – his career-best in first-class cricket, marked by ‘clean, hard hitting’ in all directions – against Sussex which set up a victory by 41 runs after the University had been invited to follow on. In the absence of skipper John Ireland, Falcon was acting as captain, and it is a sign of how slowly that his bowling became established as an integral part of the Cambridge attack that he gave himself only eight overs in the whole match. Taking a break from University cricket, Falcon represented MCC against Leicestershire and was again successful, scoring 115. This was his fourth first-class century and turned out to be his last, although no-one would have been able to foresee that at the time. 26 Taking Over the Reins at Norfolk: 1911-1914 9 In the 20 games in which Falcon skippered Norfolk before the Great War, he led them to 11 outright victories and first-innings points in six of the eight drawn games. Norfolk’s only reverse came at Stoke where Sydney Barnes’ match haul of 12 for 61 was largely responsible for an innings defeat. Falcon dismissed Barnes for a duck when Staffordshire batted, but the compliment was returned when Falcon opened Norfolk’s follow-on.