Lives in Cricket No 46 - George Raikes

93 Chapter Nine Raikes’ Third Spell For Norfolk: The Championship Won Again For reasons that are unclear, George Raikes was unable to get away from his duties at Welbeck to represent Norfolk in either 1907 or 1908 and was only available for the final two games in August 1909. Originally he was only planning to play in the match against Cambridgeshire, which was to take place at King Edward’s Grammar School in King’s Lynn, but he was also persuaded to join the team as they travelled to the county town of Lincolnshire to fulfil the final fixture of their season. Cambridgeshire proved to be poor opponents, going down by an innings as Raikes took eleven wickets in the match (16-2-62-7 and 27-2-109-4). This meant that, in the last four Championship matches in which he had played, he had taken no fewer than 40 wickets – quite an achievement for an ‘occasional’. Sharp Practice At Lincoln The match at Lincoln turned out to be a most controversial affair, with Raikes, acting as captain (note 1) , very much standing up for his eleven and accusing Lincolnshire of sharp practice. The Eastern Daily Press reported: “The wicket, one end in particular, obviously held more moisture than could be accounted for by natural causes, and a statement that artificial watering had not been resorted to since Monday was discredited by both captains. Day, the chief groundsman, denied any knowledge of the wicket having been doctored, but the Norfolk players, after batting an hour and a half and losing nine wickets for 62, held such pronounced views on the subject that play was suspended, and after a consultation the Norfolk captain decided to enter a protest, which was telegraphed to Lord’s, and continue the match only out of consideration for the home county and the public.” The telegram in question read: “Lincoln wickets heavily watered one end, admitted. We protest to you, but propose resuming play for sake of gate. Signed, Raikes, captain Norfolk.” Neither F.E.Lacey, secretary of the MCC, nor Dr J.Earl Norman, secretary of the Minor Counties Cricket Association, seems to have found in favour of Norfolk, who were obliged to continue the match. Raikes had played a splendid defensive innings, accumulating 19 runs in 75 minutes on a wicket which was fast at one end and slow at the other, but he was forced to watch as the wicket improved and Lincolnshire, who had staggered to 44 for five, recovered sufficiently to win by nine wickets. Even then, there was chance for some further disagreement when Norfolk batted again. Having reached 41 for three in their second innings and with 13 minutes to play, Raikes and Geoffrey Stevens appealed to the umpires that they could not see the ball due to a