Lives in Cricket No 22 - Jack Mercer

90 Edward Sheffield. Right from the start of the 1932 season, Jack was back to his best, having fully recovered over the winter months from the leg strain that had restricted him the previous summer and during May he recorded five- wicket returns against Northamptonshire, Lancashire and Warwickshire. The last came in another rain-affected contest at Ynysangharad Park in Pontypridd where, after the loss of the first day, twenty-two wickets tumbled on the second day, with Jack setting the tone with an opening spell of 14-6-25-5. He also produced a couple of outstanding spells in Glamorgan’s two games at Cowbridge – the first was in early June against Leicestershire and saw Jack return five for 33 as his in-swingers wrecked the visitor’s batting en route to a heavy defeat by an innings. Later in July, Somerset were the visitors to Cowbridge, and with the west-country side staying at The Bear Hotel, Jack was happy to spend Saturday night and much of the following day with his many friends in the Somerset side. Rain on Sunday scuppered any thoughts of a gentle stroll around the pretty market town, so Jack and his chums set up a card school in the hotel’s comfortable lounge and played throughout the day, and into the early hours. With the rain still falling the following morning, the visitors decided to stay at the hotel and continue playing cards. But the rain eased by late morning, and a host of local boys helped the groundstaff dry the wicket and surrounds. Bill Andrews, the Somerset allrounder, later recalled: ‘Around lunch-time, someone from the ground arrived at the Bear to say play would start soon. The news staggered us. When we got to the ground, we found every available blanket in the district had been used to take the water off the pitch.’ He added: ‘Unfortunately, we soon discovered the blankets had also taken the top off the wicket. We were soon all out for 88.’ 90 Somerset duly followed on, with Andrews opening the batting once again, but he faced a vintage opening spell from Mercer. ‘I shall never forget that first over to me,’ Andrews later wrote, ‘he bowled every ball in the book to me. An inswinger, outswinger, leg-cutter, off-cutter, and he threw in a slow one and a really quick one’. He went on: ‘I somehow survived ten minutes of Jack Mercer and then it was my turn to play Johnnie Clay. Promptly I was bowled. Jack proceeded to take six for 15 and I’m sure he would have loved to carry that Cowbridge wicket around with him!’ This mix of swing and cut were to the fore in late June at Swansea as Jack returned season-best figures of seven for 92 against Gloucestershire as Glamorgan successfully chased a target of 309 on the final afternoon. Turnbull led the way with a superb century, and with the clock ticking away, Jack came in with 35 needed in the final twenty minutes. The Senior professional 90 Bill Andrews, The Hand that Bowled Bradman , Macdonald, 1973. Rather later, Keith Andrew of Northamptonshire said that Jack could ‘manipulate a cricket ball just like he did a pack of cards’ and would confuse batsmen by changing his grip on the ball while running up to bowl.