Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

66 circuit, but it was during the following match, against the MCC winter touring party, that there was a souring of the relationship between Jack and Leveson Gower. It came about when he was fielding for C.I.Thornton’s XI and Leveson Gower was perambulating with several high-ranking officials around the edge of the boundary. As chairman of the selectors, Leveson Gower was keen to know which of the players in Thornton’s team might be available as reserves for the visit to South Africa. Jack was still very much in their thoughts, so Leveson Gower decided to have a word with him at the end of an over whilst Jack was fielding on the boundary’s edge. In mid- conversation, Jack realised that the next ball was about to be bowled so he said, ‘Excuse me for a moment, but I must watch this delivery,’ as he quickly turned around to walk in with the bowler. By the time Jack turned around, Leveson Gower and his entourage had moved on. He found it a bit strange that they had not waited for his answer or had wanted further conversation, so he mentioned it over lunch to Jack Hobbs who the year before had been co-opted onto the selection panel. Hobbs had also seen what happened with Leveson Gower and his distinguished guests, so he said to Jack, ‘But you were seen to turn your back on them in front of several thousand people. You’ll never get picked now!’ Jack was rather dumbfounded by this, and for many years he was at a loss at how such a seemingly innocent thing could result in a sudden deterioration of his relationship with the chairman of selectors. Indeed, the record shows that he never played again for Leveson Gower. Nevertheless, Jack still had many good friends in the cricket world, and towards the end of the 1928 season he accepted an invitation from Sir Julien Cahn to tour Jamaica with his side, led by Hampshire captain Lionel Tennyson, the following February and March. 70 No doubt his decision to accept the offer arose from tales that county colleagues Trevor Arnott and Dan Sullivan had told about previous tours to Jamaica under Tennyson’s captaincy, the superb Jamaican hospitality, and a few high jinks! The visit in March 1929 was the third successive visit that Tennyson had overseen to Jamaica. The grandson of poet Lord Alfred Tennyson, he had played in nine Tests for England between 1913 and 1921 and had led Hampshire since 1919. The Old Etonian was eager to promote and develop cricket in the West Indies having fallen in love with the islands during the MCC tour of the Caribbean in 1925/26. During his visit to Jamaica, Tennyson was A tour to Jamaica 70 Cahn was born in Cardiff and seems thus to have had an affinity with Welsh cricket. He later moved to the East Midlands where his father founded the successful Nottingham Furnishing Company, a pioneer of hire-purchase agreements, which subsequently spawned a series of chain stores. He became a very wealthy man and was a generous benefactor to Nottinghamshire, personally financing many ground improvements at Trent Bridge, and helped Leicestershire. In 1926 he developed his own cricket ground at West Bridgford where he raised his own team to play exhibition matches, whilst in 1928 he bought Stanford Hall where he financed the laying of another wicket, in addition to a nine-hole golf course, a bowling green and a trout lake. He was knighted in 1929 for his philanthropic and public services, and appointed a baronet in 1934 for services to agriculture and to charitable causes.