Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

41 Chapter Six Turning the corner Jack was full of optimism for Glamorgan’s fortunes in 1925, but the Welsh county had an appalling summer, losing thirteen consecutive matches between 9 May and 14 July. Time and again their batsmen failed. 45 It spoke volumes for the weaknesses higher up the order that, in one end- of-season review, Jack – who regularly batted at nine – was referred to as Glamorgan’s premier allrounder. On several occasions Jack produced some delightful batting cameos: an example came at Swansea where he unleashed a volley of furious drives as he raced to 57 in three-quarters of an hour hitting seven fours and two massive sixes. But as so often in 1925, his lusty blows were to no avail as for the umpteenth time that sorry summer, the batting failed as they chased 199 on the final day. As if their modest form wasn’t bad enough, the weather wrecked a series of home games in the second half of the summer, 46 but the poor form which saw Glamorgan lose 20 out of 27 matches by mid-August meant that when the sun eventually shone, the gate receipts were far less than anticipated. This loss in revenue meant that much of the talk during August in the professionals’ changing-room was about the reduced terms which Glamorgan offered for 1926. Initially, Eddie Bates, Emrys Davies and Helm Spencer rejected what they saw as inadequate terms. Bates and Davies subsequently accepted a revised offer, but Spencer looked else- where for employment in 1926, whilst Tommy Abel and George Harrison were released. The club’s poor form also meant that Jack once again lost his place in the side, albeit briefly, at the end of July. Having bowled poorly in a couple of matches, he missed the visit to Manchester but immediately returned to the side for the next match at Swansea. As before, he responded positively to being dropped and was soon amongst the wickets, taking five for 31 in Northamptonshire’s first innings as he found the overcast conditions and maritime location very much to his liking. A couple of weeks later Jack enjoyed himself at another seaside location as he produced a devastating post-lunch spell in Wales’ game against Ireland at Llandudno. The 45 In Championship matches in 1925, Glamorgan’s batsmen scored their runs at 14.93 runs per wicket, almost three runs apiece cheaper than the next lowest side, Worcestershire. 46 The Glamorgan treasurer rued the loss of several lucrative gates, not least in the match with Surrey who had travelled to Cardiff directly from Taunton after Jack Hobbs had scored a century against Somerset to beat W.G.Grace’s ‘record’ of first-class hundreds. As it turned out, Hobbs was too fatigued after his efforts in the West Country to play in the match at the Arms Park, but there were still many leading names who the sporting public in South Wales were keen to see in action, only for the weather gods to have other ideas.