Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

39 said that if Jack did not cut the mustard again as a bowler in 1925, the county committee might have to review his contract. Aware of his lack of success, Jack spent time during the second part of the summer talking to several opposing swing bowlers about their skills. He also had a chat with his friend Maurice Tate who by now was one of England’s finest bowlers, and during the winter months back at Hove, Jack worked on a number of subtle variations especially bowling off- and leg-cutters. His hard work paid off as, right from the first net session, he was bowling with much greater effect, as shown by ‘Nomad’s’ report on an occasion when Johnnie Clay put a series of half-crowns on top of the stumps as an incentive for the professional bowlers. ‘No-one succeeded in winning them,’ ‘Nomad’ wrote, ‘although Mercer bowled his swingers remarkably well, tying up all the batsmen.’ 42 In the opening match of the season, against Yorkshire at the Arms Park, Jack began in fine style dismissing Herbert Sutcliffe – fresh from his batting heroics in Australia during the winter – for a duck; he bowled the opener in his second over with a superb leg-cutter which sent the off stump cartwheeling out of the ground. The contest itself was ruined by rain and the Welsh county then travelled to Leicester, still rather short of match practice. It proved to be their downfall in a remarkable contest during which George Geary and Ewart Astill bowled unchanged in each innings, with the home side also not conceding any extras as Glamorgan batted for modest totals of 60 and 36 in a total of just three hours. Clay’s team then headed to The Oval, and Jack immediately raised morale with a superb pre-lunch spell on the opening day. After a fruitless opening salvo with Arnott, Jack switched ends and bowled off-cutters in tandem with Ryan’s spin. His clever changes of pace and variety were rewarded with six wickets, but he enjoyed less success in Surrey’s second innings, as Jack Hobbs and Alfred Jeacocke added 216 for the second wicket to leave the visitors a target of 314. It proved to be way too stiff a target, but as the Glamorgan team headed by train to the Sussex coast for their next match, Jack was able to take some consolation from his first-ever ten-wicket haul in a Championship match. The following day he maintained his prolific form, claiming four relatively cheap wickets with his out-swingers. But the Glamorgan batting remained in the doldrums on a dramatic second day which saw them dismissed for 41, before slumping late in the day to 25 for eight as Maurice Tate completed an exemplary spell of swing bowling, returning remarkable match figures of twelve for 37. It was a similar story in June, firstly when Lancashire visited Swansea, where Jack returned a six-wicket haul as he exploited the maritime conditions in a fine pre-lunch spell, swinging the ball both ways. Later in the month, he added another six-wicket haul on a firm and dry wicket at Northampton where the home batsmen fell to a series of rash strokes An approach from the north 42 Western Mail , 18 April 1925.