Lives in Cricket No 23 - Brief Candles

111 this period, Essex did not even bother to engage a second specialist keeper. Thus Bob was never taken on to the county staff, though he recalls that the prospect was floated at one time, but came to nothing because of shortage of funds. So he was particularly proud when he was awarded his second eleven cap in 1969, a rare achievement for a non-staff player. He recalls that Taylor would ring him occasionally, to check that he was keeping himself ready if the call should come: ‘Don’t forget, if I get crocked, you’re in.’ But Tonker never did get crocked, or if he did, he never let anyone know about it; and Bob remained purely a second eleven player. 180 He was happy to be so, even turning down an approach to play for Hertfordshire so that he could continue to be available for Essex. There was one especially bright moment during this period. In 1967 a strong International Cavaliers side were playing a series of 40-over televised Sunday afternoon matches against the counties, a precursor to the John Player League that began in 1969. On 9 July 1967, their fixture was against Essex at Bob’s home ground at Westcliff. Godfrey Evans was originally picked to keep wicket for the Cavaliers, but shortly before the game he had to drop out, and Taylor swapped sides to take his place in the Cavaliers XI, alongside the likes of Garry Sobers, Rohan Kanhai, Hylton Ackerman, Jim Laker and Neil Hawke. Taylor invited Bob to take his place in the otherwise full-strength Essex side, and he leapt at the opportunity. Before a ‘sun-drenched crowd of 4,500’ at Chalkwell Park, as reported by the Southend Standard , 425 runs were scored in 80 overs, the Cavaliers winning a tight game by nine runs, scoring 217 for seven to Essex’s 208 for eight. Bob made a catch and a stumping, and allowed no byes. The stumping was G.Sobers st Richards b Bailey, but sadly for posterity, the batsman was not Garry Sobers but his older brother Gerry. 181 Later, batting at No.8 for the county side Bob was dismissed by the Ackerman- Laker combination for eight, though in the less likely form of ‘ct Laker b Ackerman’. His innings included a clout over mid on for four as he tried to increase the scoring rate – he was conscious that the winners received £100 and he wanted his share – but he was then caught trying to repeat the dose. For Bob this match was the high point of his playing career. He remembers well his leg-side stumping of Gerry Sobers: ‘A very, very fast stumping. As I took the bails off I spun to the umpire, shouting at him for the stumping and I remember the whole crowd went up behind the umpire; everybody jumped just like they’d seen a goal scored.’ As a batsman he didn’t face Garry Sobers, but he stood behind him while he made 38, playing ‘some beautiful shots’, and he also recalls Rohan Kanhai playing his crowd- pleasing ‘falling over hook shots’. Home ground, sunny day, big crowd, big names, close finish, and on 180 When pressed, and only when pressed, Bob reckoned that, in his prime, he was a better pure keeper than Taylor, and felt that this view was shared by some players who dropped into the second eleven for the odd game. But of course Taylor had secured the first-eleven berth before Bob arrived on the scene, and at county level had considerably more to offer as a batsman 181 Garry Sobers was also dismissed in this match by Trevor Bailey, his future biographer. Bob recalls that Garry allowed himself to be bowled through the gate, as this was a benefit match for Bailey. A Life in Cricket