Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

61 Arnold Dyson, Joe Hills and Dan Sullivan, allowing Glamorgan to build up a useful lead of 142 runs. But with only a day to go, and the wicket appearing benign, the visitors knew that all they had to do to become county champions was to occupy the crease for the rest of the match. Jack, though, had other ideas; he dismissed George Gunn and Willis Walker with the new ball as Nottinghamshire ended the day on 23 for two and much depending on their remaining batsmen if they were to secure the badly needed draw. Their plight did not improve the following morning as Jack made further inroads, deceiving ‘Dodge’ Whysall with a clever change of pace, causing the batsman to spoon a ball to short leg. Soon afterwards he bowled Wilfred Payton with an off-cutter, before yorking William Flint and bowling Lionel Kirk as he completed an eight-over spell with figures of four for 23. At the other end, Ryan tricked and teased the visiting batsmen with his subtle spin, as seemingly every false stroke brought a wicket. The result was a steady procession of batsmen back to the Swansea pavilion, with each walking off in a state of disbelief, realising that their dream was turning into a nightmare. Indeed, there is a tale that one of the Nottinghamshire tailenders sat on the pavilion steps with tears flooding down his cheeks as his team-mates came back at regular intervals. Nottinghamshire were finally dismissed for 61 shortly before 12.15 pm, with Jack achieving figures of six for 31 and Lancashire being declared champions. Wisden thought the outcome ‘the most sensational feature Swansea-by-the-sea The St Helen’s ground at Swansea in the 1930s, with its nearby beach and railway. Jack thrived at this ground, taking five wickets in an innings on 28 occasions here.