Lives in Cricet No 33 - Jack Robertson and Syd Brown

50 a Man of the Match award. England were left 141 to win at a run a minute. In normal circumstances this would have been a reasonably simple target, but conditions hadn’t been easy, dark clouds were gathering, and the early loss of Fishlock suggested that England might struggle. However, Jack who had come in to join Hutton, made a confident 37 and helped steady the innings, leaving Edrich and Hammond to take control and ensure victory. Jack kept his place for the last big match of the season, England against the Dominions, captained by Learie Constantine in his last first-class match. Wisden referred to it as ‘one of the finest games ever seen’. It was played in lovely weather in front of large crowds and ended with eight minutes to spare in a 45-run victory for the Dominions who had set England 357 to win in four and a half hours. The match was memorable for some great batting. For the Dominions the stylish New Zealand left-hander Martin Donnelly made 133 in three hours in their first innings, whilst in the second Miller scored 185 in two and three quarter hours, a dazzling innings that included seven 6s and thirteen 4s. The Times thought he was intent on demolishing the Lord’s pavilion. For England the majestic Hammond hit centuries in both innings, the seventh time he had performed this feat – the then record, only since beaten by Zaheer Abbas and Ricky Ponting. The bowlers had a pretty hard time, but mention must be made in particular of wrist-spinners Wright, who took five wickets in each innings for England, and Pepper, who took eight wickets in the match. Sadly, among all this grandeur Jack was a failure; in the first innings, however, he had the honour of being the last of Learie Constantine’s 439 first-class victims, leg-before to a cunning slower ball. Jack had given a good account of himself during the season and shown that he was worthy of higher honours, a particularly commendable performance given that he had little time for serious practice. He got his practice in the middle. He was of course not the only batsman in this position, but it was hardly ideal preparation for meeting Keith Miller! 67 67 According to his Cricketer of the Year citation in Wisden 1948 , ‘His only means of practice at his Norfolk station was to induce fellow-officers to send down a few balls to him on the lawn in front of the mess.’ Victory Summer