Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

23 proudly in the enclosures, he bowled Maurice Jewell before adding a second scalp as Fred Bowley sliced a drive to cover point. He later bowled Bill Taylor to finish with figures of 22-7-58-3. It proved to be a much happier match for the Sussex side as they dismissed Worcestershire for 173, before amassing 539 with debutant Kenneth Higgs scoring a century. Curly Roberts and George Stannard then rubbed salt into Worcestershire’s wounds by sharing a stand of 209 for the eighth wicket as Sussex secured a first-innings lead of 366. 16 Their efforts completely demoralised the visitors, who duly collapsed inside an hour and three-quarters, allowing Jack to add further to his tally. Sussex then travelled to the East Midlands to play Leicestershire at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, followed by Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge. In the first match they secured another innings victory as Roberts scythed his way through Leicestershire’s first innings. They fared better in the second innings as Sussex opted for a new-ball pairing of Roberts and Cox, with Jack coming on as first change, as Sussex completed back-to- back victories. They struggled though at Trent Bridge as Nottinghamshire won by 78 runs with Jack having only a brief four-over spell in the home side’s second innings as it became clear his trial as a new ball bowler was coming to an end. Jack was duly rested for the two friendlies against the students from Oxford and Cambridge – games which could have further boosted his confidence. But instead Maurice Tate, who had been mixing his off-breaks with medium-pace – his trademark fast-medium delivery was still a season or two in the future – was given a chance instead to open the bowling. Jack returned for the next Championship match at Horsham, but Bertie Wilson only gave him a short new-ball spell in Kent’s first innings, and with Jack unable to extract any swing or lateral movement, Wilson did not call upon his services in the second innings as Frank Woolley scored a match-winning century. 17 With Wilson leading the Gentlemen against the Players at The Oval, Harold Gilligan took over the captaincy for the second match of Horsham week, as Gloucestershire visited the Cricket Field Road ground. Once again, Jack only had a brief new-ball spell in the first innings and found little swing, but it was a different situation in the second innings, as he extracted lateral movement and claimed three cheap wickets late on the second day. The following morning he added another scalp to finish with his best analysis to date, 16-3-46-4, as Sussex completed an innings victory. Jack was delighted with these figures, but the talk in the professionals’ changing-room was the form of Arthur Gilligan who was enjoying a fine summer for Cambridge University. Jack knew that his place in the Sussex line-up would come under threat at the end of term and after his decent return against Gloucestershire, he was eager to further press his claims. Debut for Sussex 16 Roberts and Stannard’s partnership has remained the Sussex record for this wicket against Worcestershire. 17 Jack’s omission from the attack caused much debate in the press tent, and some critical words were written, see Sussex Daily News , 28 June 1920.