Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

37 Jack opened the bowling on a regular basis for the first half of the season, but whilst delivering some accurate spells and adding a slower ball to his armoury, he rarely ran through the top order. By mid-summer, some of the county’s selectors – like those at Sussex before – started to question whether Jack deserved his place in the line-up. For the visit to Somerset, Jack was omitted in favour of an extra batsman – a decision which was vindicated by an innings victory. He made way again shortly afterwards for the game with Derbyshire at the Arms Park, which also ended up with Glamorgan winning by an innings. It was typical of the man that Jack responded positively to being omitted. When he returned to the side at Cheltenham, he gleefully exploited the damp conditions at the Victoria ground, by topping and tailing the Gloucestershire first innings in a return of five for 44. Then in the next contest, against Yorkshire at Bradford, he unfurled some furious blows in a vibrant innings of 57* after Glamorgan had slumped to 38 for seven, smiting his first two deliveries – from the legendary Wilfred Rhodes – for six, with the first dislodging slates on the roof of the Park Avenue football stand. In Rhodes’ next over, Mercer added two more sixes, lofting the Yorkshireman over square leg and into the adjoining road, before despatching him straight into the football stand. In all, Jack played fifteen scoring strokes, reaching his half-century in just 26 minutes, but his cavalcade of blows could not prevent Glamorgan from subsiding to a heavy defeat. In the following match, at Leicester, Jack revelled again in the damp conditions, taking five for 30 in Leicestershire’s first innings, before heading to Swansea for the next contest against Lancashire. The Red Rose county had an unbeaten record and it looked as if this would continue as they dismissed Glamorgan, who included seventeen-year-old schoolboy Maurice Turnbull, for 153. But the home bowlers then turned the tables with Ryan and Spencer sharing the wickets between them in a remarkable final session, as Lancashire were dismissed for just 151, much to the delight of the home supporters, two of whom sustained nasty injuries in their exuberant celebrations, with one gentleman badly spraining an ankle after jumping up and down too vigorously, whilst another ricked his back as he tumbled down the pavilion steps when he tried to run out onto the outfield to congratulate the Glamorgan bowlers! 38 Rain washed out the second day’s play but the sun was out on the final morning as Glamorgan looked to build on their slender lead. Their hopes were scotched by the Lancashire bowlers as they quickly made inroads into the home batting. But Jack produced another little gem of an innings when, in the space of what proved to be an important twenty minutes, he struck a defiant 36 with a mix of well-timed drives and lusty slogs. When he was finally dismissed by Parkin, Lancashire were left with a target of 146 and with most of the afternoon in which to chase the target, it looked a An approach from the north 38 Western Mail , 14 August 1924.