Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

69 the second four-day contest with Jamaica. The following game, against the full Jamaica side at Sabina Park, saw Jack dismiss the great George Headley, then aged just nineteen, for 17, but the man who went on to be one of the first legendary West Indian batsmen was his only victim in 32 overs as the home side posted a formidable 462. Jack failed to add another scalp in their second innings and then sat in the shade of the Sabina Park pavilion as Lord Tennyson scored an unbeaten 105 to save the game. A couple of days of sightseeing then followed, plus a two-day game at Port Maria against theMelbourne Clubwho had acted as their hosts and had overseen the tour which culminated the following week against a West Indies XI, with two Trinidadians and a Bajan reinforcing eight Jamaicans, at Sabina Park. The game at Port Maria proved to be further decent practice, with Jack taking two wickets in a lively eleven-over spell and after another short period of rest and sightseeing on the island, there was great optimism in the Englishmen’s ranks as they went head-to-head over five days against a side including Headley, Learie Constantine and several other Test players. The game – watched each day by crowds in excess of 8,000 – ended for Jack on the opening day as after eight overs he further aggravated the calf muscle in his left leg which had dogged him the previous summer and, wary of causing further damage ahead of the new season, he watched from the pavilion as J.K.Holt scored a century before Headley added a graceful hundred in the second innings to leave Lord Tennyson and his side a target of 494 to win. Despite half-centuries from Ewart Astill, Andy Sandham and Jack Iddon, the task was too great and although Jack hobbled out to bat on the final afternoon in the hope of saving the game, Constantine’s bowling was too good as the Caribbean side won by 144 runs. The tour ended with a few days of rest in Kingston, where the touring party were able to further enjoy the Jamaican hospitality and meet several of the wealthy plantation owners at a couple of lavish functions. It proved to be the perfect tonic, although Jack was still limping when the professionals boarded their boat for the homeward journey to Avonmouth. As they headed across the Atlantic, there was plenty of banter about the forthcoming season, but unlike the outward voyage, there were also plenty of opportunities to mingle with the first-class passengers. In fact, Jack was in great demand to perform his conjuring tricks, but as time went on, some of the first-class passengers made rather caustic and snobbish comments in the direction of Jack and the other professionals. So irritated was Jack by their boorish behaviour that on the last night on board ship he played a trick on them, getting them to hold up a napkin in one hand above their heads and to stroke it up and down with the other. After encouraging them, Jack left the room with the passengers continuing to caress their napkins for several minutes until realising that they had been duped! A tour to Jamaica