Lives in Cricket No 32 - Eric Rowan

19 Yorkshire the little leg spinner took 8/99 from 29.2 consecutive overs, showing that he would certainly be ready for the contest at Lord’s. Louis Duffus gained an insight into Balaskas’ quirky character on the evening before the game. Walking along, Bally, as he was known, spotted a sign for ‘Greek Street’. He took this as a good omen because of his ancestry. He then saw a pregnant woman walking along the street. He said that if he patted her stomach he was assured of success. He persuaded the expectant mother to agree and walked back to the hotel secure in the knowledge that all would be well. Arriving at Lord’s the players were greeted by a field of desert- like appearance as the surface had been attacked by a plague of leather-jackets. It seemed certain to benefit the spinners as the pitch looked likely to crumble during the course of the match. With the surface only likely to get worse, Wade must have been delighted to call correctly. Even at the beginning of the match batting was no easy proposition and the South Africans could manage only 228. Eric battled his way to 40 before edging Verity to keeper Bill Farrimond, but the star of the show was ‘Jock’ Cameron. He made 90 and batted, in Eric’s words, ‘as if he were playing against schoolboys’. Balaskas was correct about his omens, taking five for 49 as England succumbed for 198, but it was crucial that the tourists bat well in their second innings. That they did so was almost entirely due to Bruce Mitchell who made a magnificent, unbeaten 164. He was assisted by Eric (44) in a partnership of 104 for the second wicket, and later one of 101 for the seventh wicket with Langton (44) on whose dismissal Wade declared at 278 for seven. The effort of batting on such a surface was noted by Louis Duffus who recalled Eric coming into the dressing room at tea and collapsing onto a couch, completely drained. Once again, it was the leg spin of Balaskas (4/54) and the medium pace of Langton (4/31) that did the job, removing England for 151 to leave the South Africans victors by 157 runs, their first Test win in England. There is a photo of Balaskas bowling at Lord’s which appears in this book. In referring to the arc of fieldsmen around the bat, the little leg spinner had written on the back of the image, ‘Just look at my field. Can you imagine the spin I was getting?’ Having gained a lead in the series, the South Africans were keen not to surrender it and with three-day Tests there was the thought that they would have to play quite badly to let England back into England 1935