Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephen Musk was born in Norwich in 1961. Twelve years later his father suggested that he cycle the four miles to the County Ground at Lakenham to watch Norfolk play. He has rarely missed a home day’s play since. Educated at the Norwich School and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, he was awarded a doctorate in cell biology in 1987 and a career in scientific research beckoned. Unfortunately, Stephen has always suffered from psychiatric ill health, his condition varying from the merely distressing to the downright disabling. In 1996 he decided that unfettered capitalism was incompatible with mental well-being and withdrew from society for several years. An article in the Cricket Statistician on the Minor Counties Championship scores project, led by Tony Webb, awakened his interest and he duly became the Norfolk representative just in time to contribute to the inaugural 1895 book. Stephen became interested in Norfolk cricket beyond the project and finds research in Norwich Library a welcome distraction from the everyday agonies that come with mental illness. He is the author of Michael Falcon: Norfolk’s Gentleman Cricketer (Lives in Cricket: 15) and Lionel Robinson: Cricket At Old Buckenham (Lives in Cricket: 38). This volume on George Raikes is a logical continuation of his interest in cricketing matters in Norfolk. There are several other ‘research irons’ in Stephen’s fire but progress may be slowed by his conviction that it would be unethical not to campaign actively for a fairer Socialist future in the United Kingdom. The undoubted highlight of Stephen’s life was on 12 August 1978, when he was ‘plucked’ from the crowd at Lakenham as a substitute fielder for Norfolk against neighbouring rivals Suffolk. Although he had always been an appalling fielder, fortune smiled that Saturday, despite the murky light and drenching rain. He even had a favourable mention in the press.