Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

13 Chapter One To Russia, with love Jack Mercer was born on 22 April 1893 in Southwick, three miles to the west of Brighton. Jack, or John as he was registered, was the second of nine children born to Walter and Mary Mercer. Walt was a farrier by trade and had lived most of his life in Sussex, having been born just a mile or so away in Shoreham-by-Sea. The Mercers lived at 2 Southwick Street, near the railway station, and a five-minute stroll from the village green where the local cricket team – formed in 1832 – played their matches. It was in Southwick Street that their first five children were born – Winifred Catherine (in 1891), Jack, Wallace Ernest (1895), Victor William (1897) and Donald Wallace (1899). In the mid-1900s, the Mercers moved a mile to the west, to Kingston-by-Sea, and a larger, semi-detached property, ‘Cranleigh’, which overlooked the harbour opposite the lighthouse. Built specifically for the Mercer family, it was at ‘Cranleigh’ that Frank Grey (1907), Gwenda Marie (1909), Stanley George (1913) and Gordon Walter (1915) were born. Both Southwick and Kingston-by-Sea were thriving suburbs, within easy commuting distance of Brighton, yet at the same time each still had a rural character, nestled between the chalk of the South Downs and the beaches of the English Channel coast. Both were very pleasant places in which a young family could grow up during the late Victorian and Edwardian era, although Wallace died in infancy when Jack was barely four years old. Despite the loss of his younger brother, Jack soon had plenty of brothers and sisters with whom to play ball games. Like the other young families in this genteel resort, the young Mercers had plenty of healthy exercise. Together with Winifred, Victor and Donald, Jack swam in the harbour opposite ‘Cranleigh’, and in later life, he looked back fondly on this regular physical activity as it strengthened his shoulders and legs, allowing him to bowl long spells Cricket featured prominently in the lives of the young Mercers as Walt was a leading figure with the Southwick club. A decent batsman and a capable bowler in his own right, Walt was the Southwick captain in the mid-1900s when Jack was old enough to play in senior games. 4 Indeed, it was his father who acted as Jack’s first coach, although that is probably too grand a word as Walt gave encouragement rather than instruction to all of his boys, whether it was in the large garden at ‘Cranleigh’ or on Kingston beach opposite their home. In fact, the best piece of advice Walt gave to his children was always to have a rowing boat nearby when they played on 4 Shoreham Herald , 31 July 2003.