Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

60 Chapter Nine Swansea-by-the-sea St Helen’s was one of Jack’s favourite grounds, not least because its unique character, overlooking Swansea Bay, assisted swing bowling. 64 The ground, which had been laid out on a reclaimed sandbank during the 1870s, had several distinctive, maritime characteristics which could greatly assist bowlers, and there have been many occasions in Glamorgan’s history where, with the tide coming in, allied to a thick cover of cloud, swing bowlers have prospered. In fact, Wilfred Wooller, the legendary captain of Glamorgan, often consulted local tide tables before deciding whether to bat or bowl. In August 1927 Jack produced a couple of outstanding bowling performances at Swansea. The first came against a powerful Surrey side, where Jack gave a masterclass of swing bowling, taking five for 17 in a forty-ball spell that resulted in the visitors being dismissed for just 55. He also came narrowly close to claiming a hat-trick when he dismissed Charles Daily and Alan Peach in successive balls, only to produce another beauty to Maurice Allom which completely bamboozled the Surrey man and, in the process, brushed the bails but without dislodging them. Like so many matches that wet summer, the rains returned in the early hours of the final day, leaving the umpires with little option but to abandon the match as a draw shortly after the scheduled start time. By the time the Glamorgan players returned to Swansea a fortnight later, they had encountered further interruptions from the weather, leaving Glamorgan still seeking their first Championship win of the summer after 25 attempts. To make matters worse, Nottinghamshire – their opponents in the end of season encounter – travelled to Swansea with the county title virtually in their grasp. In fact, all that Nottinghamshire needed to clinch the title was a draw, and with Glamorgan having such a dreadful season, plans had already been set in motion for a civic reception in Nottingham to celebrate their title-winning season. But Glamorgan completely upset these plans, winning the game against everyone’s expectations. By mid-afternoon on the first day, Frank Ryan had taken five wickets, and if other catches had been held, Jack might also have claimed a ‘five-for’ as Nottinghamshire were dismissed for 233. Eddie Bates and John Bell then added 158 as the Glamorgan openers dominated the Nottinghamshire attack. There were contributions as well from 64 In his career as a whole Jack played 88 first-class matches at St Helen’s, taking 367 wickets there at 20.52. He played 84 games at the Arms Park taking, by contrast, ‘only’ 251 wickets at 25.27. He liked batting at Swansea too, scoring six of his ten first-class fifties there; at Cardiff his top score was 48.