Lives in Cricket No 15 - Michael Falcon

with 77 as the Free Foresters’ upper order flourished. This was not one of Falcon’s best innings; both The Times and the Manchester Guardian remarked that he was fortunate. A decent target was set and ‘Father’ Marriott, with figures of seven for 40 on a wicket now taking spin, ensured that Cambridge, who mustered only 152, went down to a 19-run defeat, their first loss of the season. In October, Michael Falcon was given a ringing endorsement by no less a player than Jack Hobbs, 43 who was at the peak of his fame, having passed W.G.Grace’s record number of first-class centuries earlier in the year. Visiting Norwich, he spoke at the Agricultural Hall Assembly Rooms, under the auspices of the YMCA, to an audience which included Geoffrey Colman and Geoffrey Stevens, who heard him praise the bowling of Johnny Douglas, Charlie Blythe, Ted Arnold and Sydney Barnes, before turning to Falcon. Referring to the match between Lionel Robinson’s XI and the Australians at Old Buckenham in 1921, Hobbs said: ‘I cannot understand why, in that match, we had not on our side one of Norfolk’s most talented cricketers, a gentleman whose aid would be welcome to any first-class county. I refer to Mr Michael Falcon – (applause) – a gentleman in every sense of the word, and a fast bowler of great merit.’ Hobbs went on to say that Falcon’s performances for the Gentlemen against the Players made one regret that he had been lost to the first-class game. 1926 The Australians arrived in 1926 and, although they looked strong in the first-class arena, they were still cannon-fodder for Michael Falcon when they met the Minor Counties at Maidenhead in the tour-opener. The two-day match was not awarded first-class status and the Australians were not able to get in much useful practice as there was no play on the first day due to rain and the second day was also truncated. The first three wickets fell to other bowlers but then, just after lunch, Falcon had Warren Bardsley stumped by Franklin with the score at 99. From then on, although Wisden described the turf as ‘sodden’ and ‘too slow to give bowlers much help’, he was far too cunning for batsmen not used to English conditions. He took the last seven wickets, including a spell of four wickets in five overs for just nine runs and finished with figures of At His Peak: 1919-1929 75 43 Perhaps not surprisingly. As can seen in the statistical appendix at the end of this book, Falcon had made dismissing Hobbs something of a speciality.