Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

75 for just 95 as he bagged eight wickets. Alas, no further details were given and it is unknown whether or not he sent down any ‘new-fangled’ googlies - it was, however, the first time that Raikes was stated explicitly to have bowled the leg break. note 1: Raikes seems to have been one of several young men who Lang “brought in…from Magdalen” - also making the trip from Magdalen to Portsea at around this time was Freddy Leveson-Gower who, like Raikes, played first- class cricket for both Oxford University and Hampshire. Any thoughts that Lang used his influence to ensure that these curates were appointed to ‘cushy’ jobs would be to insult the integrity of Lang as a Christian and would also be wildly inaccurate for the dockside area that was Portsea contained no fewer than 40,000 residents and has been considered in hindsight to be a ‘slum parish’. When Lang inherited the parish from Canon Edgar Jacob it was served by ten curates and he increased the number to 16. note 2: Lang is remembered, not always with approval, for his role in the abdication of Edward VIII. He also presided over the coronation of George VI, performed valuable work on Church Reunion and was unfortunate to be burned in effigy when struggling with the issue of the reform of Tithe. He left behind him several prominent theological works, among which were “The Miracles of Jesus”, “The Parables of Jesus” and “The Unity of the Church of England”. note 3: I have cribbed shamelessly from the works of Norman Vance and, to a lesser extent, Donald E.Hall and J.A.Mangan in writing the following passages. I have also simplified the discussion a great deal as a full treatment of Muscular Christianity would be inappropriate in a shortish biography dealing largely with the cricket-related doings of the subject. note 4: Some profound thinkers were involved in the Christian Socialismmovement. They include the Rev F.D.Maurice, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas Carlyle and Dr Thomas Arnold. note 5: Writing in 1929, the Rev Dr J.R.P.Sclater advanced the following demanding code: “In the first place, we would rather lose a game than win it unfairly. We would rather have respect to the spirit of the law than to its letter, in playing the game ... we would exact from ourselves and all associated with us a spirit of absolute obedience to the authorities set over us for the moment, never for a moment questioning the umpire ... we would, so to speak, play the ball where it lies – an entirely admirable attitude to have in respect to all life’s difficulties ... we would desire to be among the company who, having started either in a race or a game, go on if we can till we drop dead ... we would hope that that spirit would be developed amongst us which is not so very greatly concerned for itself, so long as the side on which we are is successful.” note 6: Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that “ greatness does not consist in winning wars, rearing ‘grand temples and beautiful palaces’ or in sponsoring great art but in the forming of men true and entire men.” note 7: Emerson stated that Jesus “realised more completely than anyone else the unity and oneness of spirit and flesh” whilst the highlight of Thomas Hughes’ novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays – and probably the high point in all the literature relating to Muscular Christianity – is the final ‘blending’ of the muscular Tom with the Christian Arthur. note 8: The killing of plants and animals was deemed cruel and was not permitted – strict followers had to exist on a diet of fruits and even then they felt the need to atone for the pain caused by plucking that fruit. note 9: Indeed, many of the Victorian dualists predate the Muscular Christians and would have certainly have outnumbered the adherents of Muscular Christianity in its early days. note 10: The high spirits that Cannon Jacob permitted were epitomised by the doings at Sunday dinner when , to relieve the pressures of a strenuous day, a party atmosphere prevailed. Lang described how bread was used as a missile rather than a foodstuff and how the vicar occasionally “found himself put under the table”. The new dean promptly banned the hurling of bread and made it clear that he would not be man-handled by over- enthusiastic curates. note 11: Although, at this time, Raikes was probably mastering the art of bowling the leg-break and must have spent much time practicing in the nets as well as turning out in actual matches. The Curate of Portsea; Was Raikes A Muscular Christian?