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

91 ‘Good, now it’s Tremmy’. “We got to Lord’s and, when Denis Compton was out, Eaglestone came out to bat. Well, we didn’t know him and, when he took guard, he was left-handed. And the pros, they all just stood there. ‘Where do we go now, skip?’ Dear old Jack Meyer. It took him ages to sort it out. It was total chaos.” Meyer is described in a biography as giving a commentary on his own bowling whilst performing and this is akin to something we find with Johnny. I think he must have been some sort of influence on Johnny and certainly Johnny must have been influenced by his educationalist ideas in sending his eldest child, Miles, to his school. Jack Meyer may have been an inconsistent character but loved his pupils, treated them individually and always thought of innovative ideas for them. Note that this was before the days of comprehensive education, so Johnny’s choice of school for his son might still have been in keeping with his socialist ideas. And in any case Jack Meyer charged more for the pupils from richer families and gave discretionary free places. A first class career with Somerset The Lawrence family in their caravan.