Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

82 Raikes’ Metamorphosis As A Bowler 255 for five, then helped bowl out Manor for 167 but returned somewhat profligate figures of 9-0-62-6. Later in the same season, against MCC, the not exceptionally talented Captain Herbert Harington was responsible for Raikes having an analysis of 10-0-54-1 against his name. There was also the danger that the ‘radar’ might ‘switch off’, as happened against Oxfordshire in the Championship: in 1906 “Raikes found the pitch to his liking [but] after the first three wickets fell to his bowling [he] failed to keep his length”. However, there was a second chink in Raikes’ armour. Playing against Hertfordshire in 1911, he found that “Both batsmen [J.O.Anderson and Jack Golding] rapidly left their crease to hit Raikes’ slow ball before it pitched.” He does not appear to have any effective response to what Norfolk’s modern-day slow left-armer Ryan Findlay would call ‘rude moves’ and finished with the final analysis of 17-1-85-0. Although he did take some other batterings in 1911 – perhaps the ‘bush telegraph’ on the way to play his spinners had reached batsmen in other counties (see chapter nine) - this was the only time that he suffered such a pasting with no wickets to show for it. The evidence of this match suggests that Raikes was a ‘slow, flighty’ leg-spinner who strove to deceive batsmen both in the air and off the pitch but who was vulnerable to the quick feet. Most spinners of this type have been diminutive in stature but Raikes was, at 6ft 2in, positively gigantic for his time. To Bowl Or Not To Bowl: A Skipper’s Dilemma Like many ‘bowling’ captains before and since, Raikes could struggle with the problem of when to bowl himself and when to turn to others. Some ‘posers’ will give an impression of the problems that he had to solve: Against Oxfordshire in 1905, Raikes took the new ball; turn was available but the ball “came slowly off the pitch” – a gamble was taken. In 1909 against Cambridgeshire: “… Raikes was punished rather freely … but, as the game stood, wickets were of more importance to Norfolk than runs and he secured … eleven …” – a classic case where the match was crying out for leg spin. In 1910 on a dodgy pitch against Suffolk when runs were at a premium, he was attacked by Captain F.T.D.Wilson, at one point conceding four, six and four off three consecutive deliveries – more accurate bowlers should have been operating on such a pitch. More generally, it was thought that Raikes may have been guilty of under- bowling himself. “If Raikes had not been captain he would probably have enjoyed a longer share of the attack …” and: “Captaining the side, G.B.Raikes may have had some diffidence about availing himself of his own bowling. He stuck the batsmen up more than any other bowler, and did not, in our opinion, bowl an over too many.” Given his successes as captain of Norfolk, Raikes would seem to have got the balance more-or-less right most of the time.