Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

62 Playing Cricket At Oxford: A ‘Nearly’ Man he was unlucky in that he was up at the same time as a number of bowlers who, if not all-time greats were at least more highly rated by their skippers than Raikes (evaluations which not always found favour with the press); as a result he was forced to battle for his place as a ‘Blue’ on his merits as a support bowler. This he did – just, taking 46 wickets at an average of 20.39. In 1894 his eye-catching performances came uncomfortably late whilst in 1895 only the injury to Bardswell enabled him to retain his place in the Eleven. In his final year his loss of form with the ball would certainly have contributed to the decision of Leveson-Gower to turn to G.O.Smith, with happy results for Oxford as described above. All-in-all, two ‘Blues’ were not an unfair return for Raikes. And as for his academic career? He elected to read history and, unsurprisingly given the amount of time that he spent playing sport, he received a third-class degree. This was not the class of the ‘dunce’ that it is today for, in the years before grade inflation, the majority of undergraduates were awarded thirds (note 10) . note 1: Lionel Palairet went on to play in over 250 matches for Somerset and featured in two Ashes Tests in 1902; see Lives in Cricket 44. note 2: It is possible that Raikes had a brief bowl earlier in the innings and was brought back for a second spell. note 3: Following on from the note in chapter one about his bowling being ‘difficult to see’ is this another early hint that Raikes would become a heterodox bowler? note 4: This was Raikes’ best first-class score to date and he partnered Harold Arkwright in adding 55 for Oxford’s sixth wicket in their second innings. The university still went down by nine wickets, Jack Mason scoring 142 not out. note 5: Only ‘keeper Reginald Baiss would lose out, being replaced by Richard Lewis. note 6: As for the violation of the Minor Counties Championship, the first-class game has a long and inglorious record of riding roughshod over its ‘junior’ counterpart. In mitigation, this was the first year that the second class counties had organised a competitive season and its importance was far from being established. note 7: Despite making 230 and 70 not out in his Freshmen’s Match, Clayton failed to win a ‘Blue’. note 8:Leveson-Gower did not do the match justice possibly because of its controversial nature. Batting first, Cambridge took advantage of Oxford’s four-man attack to score 319, despite Hartley taking eight wickets. Oxford batted poorly, although G.O.Smith contributed 37, and appeared certain to follow-on when Cambridge skipper, Frank Mitchell, gifted them just enough runs to ensure that the ‘Light Blues’ would bat again – exactly as the Cambridge captain Stanley Jackson had done three years earlier. Wisden recorded that some sections of the public and MCC members in the pavilion gave the Cambridge team “a very hostile demonstration” before jumping to the defence of the ’Light Blues’. Cambridge eventually set Oxford a total that was higher than any successfully pursued in the fixture but Smith successfully marshalled the run chase after Oxford had lost its three best bats for 60. The days of the compulsory follow-on were now numbered. note 9: ‘Pa’ could be a tad sentimental about the qualities of the amateur sportsman but Edward Grayson, writing in Corinthians and Cricketers , finds no reason to doubt this story. note 10: Magdalen archivist, Ben Taylor, informs me that Oxford was not the academic hothouse that it is today and it was typical for undergraduates to spend nearly all their time, not in studying, but in ‘social networking’ and playing sport. It was quite common for less academically gifted students to neglect to complete their degrees at all, with Leveson-Gower being a particularly high profile ‘drop out’.