Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

14 fours and which set up an innings victory, but after that he fell away and failed to pass 50 for the rest of the season. With the ball he twice achieved five-wicket returns against Hertfordshire, but the highlight of the season was undoubtedly the match against Staffordshire at Lakenham – a fixture still being described by the Eastern Daily Press as being akin to a Roses match in the intensity of its rivalry. Falcon won the toss and gambled by putting Staffordshire in. Bowling in-swingers (a new weapon in his armoury) he was mainly responsible for shooting out the visitors for a mere 105, taking six for 33. Norfolk then successfully saw off Sydney Barnes and went on to win by ten wickets. Fast inswingers were also seen to trouble the batsmen (and the wicket-keeper) against Kent II at Lakenham. At 37 years of age, Falcon was still employing new tricks and was still able to work up a fair pace when conditions were suitable. In June Falcon found time to skipper the Minor Counties North against the Minor Counties South, captained by Walter Franklin. It turned out to be one of his most erratic performances. Opening the batting, he failed twice and his figures of one for 89 (conceded in just 16.3 overs) in the South’s first innings of just 255 compared unfavourably with those of the other bowlers in his attack. In complete contrast, he fired out seven of the first eight batsmen in the South’s second innings and was largely responsible for their collapse to 124 all out in only 30 overs, a comprehensive victory being his reward. His first-class season was restricted to his annual appearance for the Free Foresters against Cambridge University and was an all-round triumph for the Norfolk captain. After the Free Foresters collapsed to 95 all out, Falcon replied by taking five for 65 to restrict the University to 193. 42 Batting at four, he then top-scored 74 At His Peak: 1919-1929 42 This was Falcon’s last five-wicket innings return in first-class cricket, and this is perhaps the right place to draw attention to the ‘clustering’ of his wicket-taking. He took 231 first-class wickets, of which 112 (48.5%) came in innings where he took five or more. This percentage puts him in the same ‘range’ as many top-quality spinners, for example, Charlie Parker (51.7%); ‘Charlie’ Blythe (51.5%); Hedley Verity (51.5%); Tom Goddard (51.1%) and Johnny Clay (46.5%), and considerably higher than most Test class pace bowlers, such as Harold Larwood (39.0%); Richard Hadlee (38.5%); Alec Bedser (27.9%) and Ray Lindwall (24.1%). Admittedly, Falcon appeared far less frequently than all these others and the range of players sampled for this survey was not comprehensive, but his high percentage appears to be genuinely noteworthy for a quick bowler. It seems likely that he scores highly because he was both genuinely capable of deadly spells even against the very best when ‘on song’ and also erratic, being expensive on ‘off’ days. The clustering of wickets was less pronounced in his Minor Counties career, where 42.2% of his wickets came in hauls of five wickets or more.