Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

85 a resounding nine-wicket victory which lifted the West Country side into second place in the table behind Lancashire. Jack’s efforts saw him end the season with 104 Championship wickets – one of fifteen men in the country to reach the hundred mark in a season which had seen Glamorgan make forward strides under their new leader. Sadly, they were unable to maintain the headway in 1931 as they won only four games and the season ended with several players being released as finance reared its head again. There was no hint of the problem which lay ahead as the summer began, with Jack overcoming a slight twinge in his leg, to take twelve wickets in the opening match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Despite his leg trouble, Jack was in devastating form in the home side’s second innings, swinging the ball copiously in the breezy conditions, as he completed an exemplary spell of 6-4-3-6 which ripped the heart out of the Warwickshire batting. But, aware of Jack’s ailments, Turnbull did not want his star bowler breaking down in the opening match, so Bates joined Ryan in the attack and the two spinners polished off the tail to see Glamorgan to a 161-run victory. Their next match, against Middlesex, was their first-ever Championship encounter at Lord’s and after the excellent start hopes were high of a good showing at the St John’s Wood ground. But despite some steady bowling by Jack, still troubled by his left leg, Middlesex ran out the comfortable winners, as Glamorgan went down to the first of eleven defeats. It was a difficult summer both for the club and for Jack as, for the first time since 1925, he failed to bag over a hundred wickets. With his leg regularly causing discomfort, Jack was rarely at full tilt and he often switched early to cutters. Indeed, he obtained only two five-wicket returns in the ensuing months. The first came in early June against Northamptonshire at Kettering and the second a month later on a rain-affected surface against Somerset at Bath. In the former, it was his cutters which, once again, proved the downfall of the Northamptonshire batsmen. Only Fred Bakewell offered stout resistance against Jack and Frank Ryan, but the Glamorgan bowlers – on Jack’s advice – had been preparing a trap for the Northamptonshire man who, when four runs away from a century, hoisted Ryan over square leg and straight into Jack’s hands on the boundary’s edge. On seeing Jack complete the catch, Bakewell started to trudge off to the pavilion, but Jack’s feet were touching the boundary rope, and standing motionless, he waved to umpire Bill Parry at square leg to come over to see where he was positioned. Bakewell duly waited in mid-pitch as the umpire looked at Jack’s feet and agreed that Bakewell should continue his innings. He duly resumed his position at the crease and completed his century, before shortly afterwards being bowled by Jack. Both men shook hands in mid-pitch afterwards with Bakewell thanking Jack for his sporting behaviour – sentiments echoed a few seconds later as both umpires walked over to Jack and complimented him on his action. 85 I wish we had more like him 85 Western Mail , 9 June 1931.