Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

114 grandstand to sound Worcestershire’s doom.’ 105 Jack gave one chance early in this feisty innings, and a somewhat straightforward one it must be said, as he drilled the ball straight to mid off where the visiting captain, Hon Charles Lyttelton (later the tenth Viscount Cobham), spilled the chance. The Worcestershire man was angry at his mistake and he continued to fume as Jack unleashed a volley of blows to take the game away from the visitors. Shortly afterwards, Lyttelton called time before marching up to the stumps and vented his anger by hurling the stumps in the air and uttering a few choice phrases at which some of those working at Cardiff Docks would have blushed. Jack also produced some furious blows in the first week of August to win the game against Gloucestershire at Bristol. The contest had a little bit of needle as earlier in the season at Newport the home match had ended in a high-scoring draw, with Wally Hammond employing rather negative tactics in the closing overs in order to prevent Emrys Davies from becoming Glamorgan’s first triple centurion. The yeoman opener ended up with a Glamorgan record 287* but there was dissatisfaction in Glamorgan’s ranks about Hammond’s tactics, and the way that the Gloucestershire captain, who himself had scored 302*, put most of his The last hurrah The Glamorgan side of 1939, Jack’s last season with the Welsh county. Standing (l to r): P.B.Clift, C.C.Smart, H.G.Davies, P.F.Judge, E.C.Jones, T.L.Brierley (wk), A.J.Watkins. Seated: A.H.Dyson, D.Davies, M.J.L.Turnbull (capt), J.Mercer, D.E.Davies. 105 Western Mail , 17 June 1939. At the time this set a record for the most runs scored off an eight-ball over in first-class cricket; it has remained the Championship record for the longer over.