Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

67 by the fact that he was chosen by the Duke of Portland to serve as his personal chaplain and spent 15 years in a post where managing the Duke’s cricket rather than being ‘socially aware’ was the prime focus of his activity. This implies that Raikes might have been just another sporting vicar, albeit an especially talented one. (The word ‘just’ is perhaps unfair for a career in the Church was perfectly in keeping with contemporary social expectations.) However, when Raikes was appointed by the Duke, he was still an exceedingly junior cleric whilst Portland had the bluest of blue blood. Finding himself short of both a chaplain and a manager of ‘his’ cricket (as described in chapter eight), I propose both that the Duke deemed Raikes to be an ideal choice to fill both roles and that he was the sort of haughty aristocrat who would not have asked the youngster to take up the posts, he would have commanded him to do so. Raikes would have had no choice in the matter; he would have been a ‘pressed man’ and, hence, his time as Portland’s man, albeit lengthy, does not constitute firm evidence against his possible Muscular Christianity. Can the pattern of Raikes’ sporting career cast any light on the nature of his Christianity? He would have been obliged to attend chapel whilst at Shrewsbury School but there is no information as to when he decided to train as a clergyman – that he moved apparently seamlessly from Oxford to Wells might seem to suggest the decision was made whilst he was still an undergraduate, probably influenced by Cosmo Lang. Whilst it was not just possible but actually quite easy to satisfy Oxbridge examiners whilst an almost full-time presence on the sports fields, such licence to play does not generally extend to graduates as they embarked on their chosen careers and it is not surprising that Raikes, having fulfilled his commitments to the Varsity on the soccer field (1895-96) and the cricket pitch (1896), found himself with less time to spend on sporting activities. It was certainly at this point that he both brought the guillotine down on his career in ‘big’ soccer and drastically cut down his appearances on the cricket pitch for Norfolk (note 11) . The contrast between ‘big’ soccer, which he eschewed altogether, and ‘big’ cricket, which he merely cut back might be due solely to the fact that the former had become, more or less, a full-time occupation (note 12) whereas the latter was still able to find plenty of room for the talented part-timer; indeed Raikes was on at least two occasions so keen to turn out for Norfolk in Championship fixtures (and Norfolk were so keen for him to play) that the county started a match while he was still travelling to the game. If the marked difference between Raikes’ football and his cricket was merely one of time then it would inform us little but further analysis proves to be valuable. Although he did play with and against professional cricketers, the Minor Counties game in which he thrived had a very strong amateur ethos (note 13) – although it would be possible to over-romanticise this aspect of the ‘second-class’ game (note 14) - and both the tennis and the golf that he enjoyed into his middle-age were entirely amateur affairs. This leaves association football in isolation; Norman Vance has described the game of soccer, which had become increasingly professionalised since 1885, as having “desperate seriousness” and implied that it would The Curate of Portsea; Was Raikes A Muscular Christian?