Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

went on to win by an innings. Both Wisden and the Guardian made it clear that Michael Falcon was a more dangerous bowler on the day than Douglas, the Essex captain, whilst the Daily Telegraph described his action as ‘practically perfect for a fast bowler’. Playing for MCC against Yorkshire, Falcon started promisingly by dismissing Herbert Sutcliffe for six and David Denton and Roy Kilner for ducks, but then suffered some punishment from the Yorkshire lower order. A re-match with the AIF was his last game of the season: he didn’t figure prominently as a bowler but helped to ensure a two-wicket win for C.I.Thornton’s XI by blocking out whilst Wilfred Rhodes knocked off the ten runs needed for victory. All in all, not a bad season, excepting that his wickets against the Players cost him over 50 runs apiece. 33 1920 The Minor Counties Championship made its reappearance, albeit in truncated form, and the all-rounder of the season was undoubtedly Michael Falcon. In a season of six games his performance was as pre-eminent as that of George Raikes in 1910. He scored 480 runs at an average of 60.00, including a career-best 205 against Hertfordshire (in which he hit two sixes and 20 fours in an innings characterised by his usual powerful driving), and took 46 wickets at 8.54 each (including 6 five-wicket returns). Unlike Raikes, however, Falcon was unable to guide Norfolk to the title as a couple of batting collapses resulted in defeats. In longer seasons to come Michael Falcon would score more runs and take more wickets, but 1920 marked the statistical summit of his dominance of the Minor Counties Championship. As well as his 205, he scored 134 against Essex II in an innings containing three sixes and 14 fours, described by the Eastern Daily Press as a ‘brilliant display, driving with great power’. With the ball it was also a story of almost uninterrupted success, with ten-wicket hauls against Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire: his two analyses of five for 39 against Bedfordshire on a lifeless wicket at Allen Park, Biddenham, stand out. Norfolk were operating with a two-man attack in 1920 as, apart from professional Harold At His Peak: 1919-1929 59 33 Luck was not with Falcon when bowling against the Players at Lord’s (the most prestigious of the fixtures) as his fast bowling had no lesser batsmen than Jack Hobbs and George Gunn struggling to such a degree that their efforts were jeered by the crowd.