Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

88 Raikes’ Second Spell for Norfolk: The Minor Counties Championship Won formed a strong Welbeck eleven, which was seldom beaten . ” Other players with first-class experience who turned out in the era of Raikes and Amory were George Walker, George Marples, Sam and Will Malthouse (all of Derbyshire) and Nigel Haig (of Middlesex, who went on to play in five Tests). Frustratingly, the Duke gives no details of any of the matches played at Welbeck but he did go on to comment that another player, Edwin Alletson, was born at Welbeck and that he presented the latter with a gold watch to commemorate Alletson’s famous 189 for Nottinghamshire in 1911 (note 6) . Portland was also in the habit of inviting the two sides playing in a Trent Bridge Test to a slap-up luncheon on the Sunday rest day, and, when Don Bradman was recovering from appendicitis in 1934, he and his wife, Jessie, were guests at Welbeck for a few days - the Duke remembers being surprised at how skilfully Bradman ‘tickled the ivories’. Clearly, Portland only had a passing interest in cricket; he was not in the same class as those somewhat obsessive patrons of the game, Sir Julien Cahn and Lionel Robinson, and he makes no claims to have ever played himself, but he did like to ‘rub shoulders’ with the sporting elite. As such, the appointment of George Raikes now looks much more understandable as he filled two positions for the Duke; as a chaplain and as a successful cricketer who would help ensure that the game would continue to thrive at Welbeck (note 7) . Indeed, is one not hard put to find a better candidate than Raikes to satisfy the Duke’s particular requirements at that time? (The possibility that Raikes was ‘railroaded’ into his post, not entirely willingly, by the haughty Duke has been discussed in chapter six.) Winning The Championship Outright for the First Time In 1905, Raikes managed to turn out in five of the county’s eight matches and, furthermore, was able to accept the captaincy for the first time, to general acclaim: “Norfolk is fortunate in having such a man to lead them on the cricket field”. When the season started, little was expected of Norfolk, who had had a disappointing few years. At the end of the 19 th century, Norfolk had largely relied upon three professional bowlers to take their wickets but, after 1899, Bert Relf left to further his career just as old age was calling ‘time’ on Charlie Shore and Tom Morley. This left Norfolk without anything resembling a bowling attack and they found themselves propping up the Championship in 1900 and 1901, failing to record a victory in either season. At this point the Committee called ‘enough’ and signed two professional bowlers: slow left-armer, Ted Gibson; and quickish right-hander, Billy Smith. Fully aware that both would have to qualify to play by virtue of two years’ residence, Norfolk chose to withdraw from the Championship in 1902 and 1903, only returning to competitive cricket on 1904 when their professionals were qualified. Even then, Norfolk struggled and their only win came courtesy of Raikes’ fine knock off 145 against Suffolk. Norfolk’s start to the 1905 campaign did not hint at things to come. First, vice-captain Legh Barratt led the county to first-innings points against Hertfordshire and then Raikes skippered Norfolk to a comfortable defeat against Suffolk. At this point it seemed likely that Norfolk would need to