Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

50 sightseeing. Between their arrival at Bombay and their eventual return to that city five months later, the team travelled almost 7,500 miles between fixtures. Playing on matting was also a novel and alien experience for many of the party. As Mervyn Hill, the Somerset wicketkeeper, wrote in a letter home, ‘this was my first experience of matting and I shall never forget it. The ball never came quite at the height one was expecting it. It is true the [Indians’ batting] style is not beautiful, for they have had no coaching and nearly all their runs were scored behind the wicket, just wide of second slip. They never looked like giving us a slip catch, as they would always cut the ball down.’ Within a fortnight or so, injuries and ailments started to take their toll and English professionals who were coaching in India were co-opted as replacements, including Yorkshire wicketkeeper Arthur Dolphin and his county colleague Morris Leyland. Gilligan had already expressed his concerns about the demanding schedule, but by early November it was clear that permanent reinforcements would be needed, especially to the bowling. With so many of the matches being played on matting, there was a need for another bowler, especially one who was wily and unflappable, and after Jack’s outstanding county season, Arthur Gilligan knew that the Glamorgan man would be the ideal bowler for the conditions. 53 By the time Jack met up with the tour party in Bombay in late November, they had already played twelve games, winning three and drawing nine, and for the next three weeks in Bombay, they were involved in a festival of cricket with a hectic round of matches, social events and receptions, including formal dinners at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Government House and the Willingdon Club, besides – much to Jack’s delight – a day at Bombay races. His tour debut came in the match against the Hindus, who had won the Quadrangular Tournament the previous year. Despite an early wicket, it was quite a steep learning curve for Jack as he tried to adjust to conditions besides overcoming some rough treatment from C.K.Nayudu, who struck Jack for fourteen in one over en route to a century. More frugal bowling performances then followed in the games against the Parsis, the Europeans, and a combined Hindu and Muslim eleven. This last match, though, was marred by an incident when Jack clean bowled Nayudu. However, the batsman at the other end, who was the captain of the Indian side, suggested to the local umpire that the ball had in fact missed the wicket and instead had cannoned off the pads of wicketkeeper George Brown into the stumps. The umpire said he couldn’t be sure, and after consulting with his colleague at square leg who was equally unsure, Nayudu was allowed to continue. Maurice Tate, who was fielding at short leg, was in no doubt and later wrote in his memoirs, ‘there can be no question that [Nayudu] was bowled. It was not his fault that he stayed A passage to India 53 It is likely that Jack himself was a substitute for Fred Root, whose county, Worcestershire, had refused him consent to travel. On the tour itself, he ‘often shared accommodation’ with Jack Parsons, according to Gerald Howat’s biography of Parsons, Cricketer Militant , published in 1980.