Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

22 to the field again, hoping that he might get a chance to bowl, but Bertie Wilson, the captain, did not call upon his services as Northamptonshire eased to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory. Jack did though get his name on the scoresheet when he caught Albert Wright. By mid July some of the more seasoned Sussex professionals were released by the armed forces; later, ‘August amateurs’ became available. So this proved to be Jack’s only first-team appearance in 1919; for the rest of the summer, he played in Second Eleven matches, and Club and Ground fixtures in friendlies against local clubs, besides spending long hours in the nets. At the time, the latter were usually erected close to a wall beyond which was a gooseberry patch. As Jack later recalled, lofted drives and slogs over the wall were banned by the coaches until Arthur Millward shouted out ‘time for the gooseberry shots’ to the batsmen towards the end of their allocated time. There was much competition and friendly banter to see who would be the first to strike a ball over the wall, with the unlucky bowler being ‘fined’ by having to venture down to Church Road the next day before nets to collect the milk and other refreshments for the nursery and groundstaff. 15 Despite his limited opportunities, Jack was well regarded by the coaching staff, but there were plenty of highly promising youngsters around, including Arthur Gilligan who, despite still being a student up at Cambridge, was already being talked about as a future Sussex captain. Arthur had made three appearances for Surrey in the Championship in 1919, but was qualified by residence for Sussex. With Gilligan’s studies continuing in 1920, Jack was able to get a further taste of first- class cricket as he appeared in nine of Sussex’s Championship matches in mid-season in what, in hindsight, proved to be an extended trial. His first chance to bowl came against Essex at Hove, but under clear blue skies, the conditions were not conducive to swing and he met with little success. When his turn came to bat, Jack marked his home debut with a duck as he edged into the slips. The Essex fielders proved to be more adept than their Sussex counterparts as half an hour later, George Cox dropped an outside edge from Jack Russell’s bat to deprive Jack of a maiden wicket when he took the new ball in the pre-lunch session. The next match, against Surrey at The Oval, proved to be a steep learning curve, as Jack Hobbs and Andy Ducat added 202 for the second wicket, with Ducat hitting Jack for three successive fours as he reached his hundred to the delight of a crowd of around 10,000. Jack’s sixteen overs went wicketless as Surrey rattled up 479 before twice dismissing Sussex. But in their second innings, Jack had a chance to display, briefly, his batting skills when he shared in a last-wicket stand of 32 with George Street which helped the visitors avoid an innings defeat. Jack’s maiden first-class wicket eventually came in the following match, at Hove against Worcestershire, when to the delight of his family sitting Debut for Sussex 15 Gerald Brodribb, Maurice Tate , London Magazine Editions, 1976.