Lives in Cricket No 52 - Schooled in Cricket (2nd edition)

89 No more free lunches or free teas Such times are past and gone No need to worry anymore What ‘exes’ to add on Then fare thee well, our good old twelfth And put away your swinger. You’ll now be home on washing day To help to turn the wringer. No need to wonder what the team No need to ask what number And now hear you’ve got the job As groundsman at Stogumber. So get your car all spick and span In readiness for when Your testimonial is due And show who’s gaffer then (Note: Stogumber, a village in the Quantock hills of West Somerset with an historic cricket club and well-appointed ground.) Somerset’s captain for this one season was Jack Meyer who was certainly one of the better ones of the amateurs who in his career took over 150 wickets and scored runs too. He bowled at a lively pace. He could be an inspiring captain, though this did not help Somerset particularly this season. He was certainly a character. He was also an innovative educator and had set up Millfield School in 1936. His eccentricities included pulling the emergency communication cord on a train to Manchester at a station en route so his players could get some food, taking the field belatedly after a rain interruption under a large red umbrella, having a horse-racing form book with him in his head master’s study at Millfield and apologising to Arthur Wellard after dropping a catch off Wellard’s bowling by presenting Wellard with a pound note from his back pocket. Another tale told of him was one that Johnny related to his son Stephen who told it to me. Eric Hill had related A first class career with Somerset