Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

53 Playing Cricket At Oxford: A ‘Nearly’ Man were bowled out for just 214. This was not enough to prevent the Eastern Daily Press from a rare piece of criticism of Raikes “as his prowess is of the flash-in-the-pan order, I don’t much fancy his chances of final honours this year, although at school he was the perfect demon.” This piece was so unusually negative that one wonders if it was written by a journalist who did not normally cover Raikes’ deeds on the sports field. Raikes must have been lucky to have been chosen to play against Lancashire in Oxford’s third first class match, which turned out to be a heavy defeat after three consecutive draws. Given that he only took one wicket and registered nought (a ‘golden duck’) and three – admittedly, being dismissed twice by Johnny Briggs on a wicket damaged by rain is no great shame – he was even luckier to retain his place for the visit of the MCC to the Parks. He was now entering the realms of ‘last chance saloon’ – he had reached the month of June in his second year and, though the regulations would permit him two more years in which to win a ‘Blue’, he was unlikely to receive many more opportunities, given that his contribution to the first-class scene had been almost negligible. Things did not look promising for Raikes as the match was to be played on another damp wicket similar to that used against Lancashire. It was entirely possible that Oxford’s front-line bowlers would bowl the MCC out without any help from Raikes and that he would be unable to shine with the bat on an unfriendly surface. As it turned out, this XII-a-side match turned out to be his big break. As predicted, Oxford did give their front-line bowlers every chance and at first they prospered, reducing the visitors to 85 for six. Alas for Oxford, the MCC dug in at this point and eventually C.B.Fry, who was already bowling, decided that he might as well give Raikes a go at the other end. Almost immediately the new pairing struck and the MCC collapsed from 129 for six to 140 all out; Raikes final figures were 6.1-3-9-3. Oxford also fared badly with the bat, being bundled out for just 81, before the MCC built up a respectable lead on the treacherous wicket. Again the leading bowlers were given lengthy spells before Raikes was called upon to see off the tail (note 2) and he was again incisive as the MCC collapsed from 186 for seven to finish on a total of 193. This time he returned figures of 9.2-3-18-3 to give him 15.3-6- 27-6 in the match, which the Daily Telegraph described as “a very good analysis”. Admittedly, his victims were largely tail enders obliged to bat on a bowlers’ wicket but one can only do what one is asked to do and Raikes could hardly have been more successful. The Eastern Daily Press returned to its habit of praising him: “The many friends of G.B.Raikes in Norfolk will appreciate his recent return to form, and may be pardoned if they still foster the hope that the old Shrewsbury boy will be included in the Oxford team to meet Cambridge next month. His bowling against the MCC team proved very welcome to his side … His batting on a difficult wicket was favourably mentioned by the critics.” Although Raikes scored just ten and twelve, he was the only Oxford bat to reach double figures in both innings. His fate remained unclear however, the Eastern Daily Press stating “It is still an open question whether Raikes will get his ‘Blue’ next month. In all probability he will play in the Oxford team to play Lancashire and it is to