Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

8 win on their home ground that summer as, time and again, the Welsh batsmen struggled against the opposing attack. Their own bowlers, though spirited and enthusiastic, rarely produced match-winning performances, and Glamorgan were held in such low esteem that some teams would book into hotels for two nights only, rather than the customary three, believing they would wrap up victory inside two days! Yet despite their dreadful form, it was to Glamorgan that Jack headed in 1922, after receiving a decent offer from the Welsh county’s officials who were desperate for a young bowler to spearhead their attack. At least, he reasoned, he was likely to get a regular bowling place, and he couldn’t do any worse than the souls who had already had a go! Any doubts however that he, or the club, might have held, were dispelled as Jack became Glamorgan’s opening bowler from 1924, and after increasing his pace and further developing his skills, he was the county’s leading wicket-taker in nine of the next thirteen seasons. His seasonal tally topped the hundred mark on nine occasions and his haul would have been much higher had his new employers secured the services of more athletic fielders and agile catchers. Many times, a greying and portly amateur would spill a catch close to the wicket: unlike some modern bowlers Jack rarely lost his rag or went into histrionics if things didn’t go his way. Instead he was phlegmatic and jovial, saying, ‘Bad luck and well stopped, sir,’ to the red-faced fielder, before returning to his bowling mark. Jack’s outstanding success was based on three factors: the priceless ability to swing the ball either way; seemingly boundless stamina; and, once the shine had disappeared, some clever cutters as he reduced his pace. Even in his forties, Jack was always willing to shoulder the brunt of the bowling and as Roy Webber and Ken Arnott wrote, ‘when Mercer retired from Glamorgan in 1939, he had bowled over 5,000 more overs Introduction The Southwick village side pictured in 1905, with Jack’s father, Walter, seated centre and presumably captain.