Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

safe from defeat. However, all the Free Forester batsmen made runs and Michael Falcon, promoted from nine to five, extracted some measure of revenge for the damage done to his bowling by making an unbeaten 77. In partnership with Montagu Burrows, he put on an unbeaten 94 in just 50 minutes to carry his side to victory with thirty minutes to spare. Success with the bat was welcome, but his form with the ball against the University did not suggest that the next first-class match in which he played would be the one which would would place his name up there with, if not the all-time greats, then at least with the exceptionally gifted. The story of the Archie MacLaren eleven’s struggle to defeat the previously invincible 1921 Australians is well known. However, given the crucial role of Michael Falcon in the victory, it is necessary to examine it in some detail. The Australians, captained by Warwick Armstrong, overwhelmed England 5-0 in the 1920/21 Ashes series down under. Within months, now in England, they progressed round the country, defeating Test and county teams alike, often in just two days. Meanwhile, the ex-England skipper Archie MacLaren stated loudly and repeatedly that he could pick a side that would beat the Australians. When he was given his chance, in a fixture arranged at Eastbourne on 27, 29 and 30 August, his eleven featured none of the thirty players who appeared in the Tests. He selected an all-amateur eleven based upon the attacking batting and brilliant fielding of four players from Cambridge University: the brothers Ashton (Gilbert, Hubert and Claude) and Percy Chapman. Accurate, hostile bowling would hopefully be provided by Michael Falcon, Clem Gibson (also at Cambridge) and Walter Brearley, now 45 and a team-mate of MacLaren at Lancashire who played four Tests before the War. 35 The team was completed by wicket-keeper George Wood, who had only recently come down from Cambridge; ex-Oxford University batsman Geoffrey Foster; and Aubrey Faulkner, once a Test-class all-rounder for South Africa, but by now many years from his salad days and out of shape; and of course MacLaren himself, almost fifty. On the big day, a large crowd of spectators and press gathered at The Saffrons Ground to see if the old-timer could make good on his promise to beat the Australians. MacLaren made a good start by winning the toss and electing to bat; but then it all went wrong. 62 At His Peak: 1919-1929 35 Originally C.S. ‘Father’ Marriott, a spin bowler, was due to play, but he was unavailable and Walter Brearley was called upon.