The unusual scenario which today unfolded at the ancestral home of rain seemed to throw in to question the way in which a win can be achieved. The trouble is that nobody should be surprised. Compared to the excited proclamation by Brian Johnston in 1953 when Dennis Compton scored the winning runs at the Oval, today was marked by a virtual anti-climax.
Jokes about the certainty of rain in Manchester are as old as the hills but are not without substance. The first test of the 1961 rubber was brought to a standstill by rain at 2.40pm on the first day. This event meant that since the second world war ended in 1945, no less than 103 hours of cricket had been lost to the rain at Manchester test matches. It only begs the question why England persist with its use as a Test match venue. For a start, our record there against the Australians isn't exactly talismanic!
Of course in those days rain and bad light were dealt with rather more sensibly than now. Bad light was always offered to the batsmen such that they could decline to carry on batting or elect to carry on as they saw fit - but it was their prerogative. To any rational human being, this seems a perfectly reasonable way to handle it. After all, it's their look out if they choose to carry on batting. Clearly, if it was bad light and Michael Holding was bowling at one end with Andy Roberts at the other, only somebody of limited mental capacity would elect to carry on - if the bad light was offered to the batsmen. In 1976 at Old Trafford it wasn't and the old guard of Brian Close and John Edrich had to face just such a barrage of hostility. In those days of course, there were no helmets, thigh guards or arm guards. Having said that, the redoubtable Close probably wouldn't have worn them anyway. In this the latest test at Manchester though, the Australians would clearly have carried on batting whomsoever was bowling because they were well set and carried the momentum. For one thing, there is not one current England bowler who could petrify a batsmen as those two West Indians could - and did.
The bowling feat of Jim Laker in 1956 was helped enormously by a wet Manchester wicket. Without it, he might not have taken the mind boggling 19 wickets that he did. The wettest of them all though was arguably the Manchester Ashes test of 1953. It was so bad that only 13 hours and 50 minutes play were possible in the entire match. Suffice it to say that the spinners did alright. As the match petered out to another boring draw, the Yorkshire slow left armer Johnny Wardle put the cat among the pigeons with a spell of 4 wickets for 7 runs in 5 overs. Then as now, the rain saved the day for England because they would have been lambs to the slaughter against the leg breaks of the Australian Jack Hill.
The first Old Trafford test since the war against the old enemy was drawn. It was not without incident and marked the England debut of the Gloucestershire batsman Jack Crapp. A famous story always does the rounds about Crapp. In the early years after the war, rationing was still in full swing so any ways to save fuel were encouraged. As such, after the Surrey versus Gloucestershire match one year, the Surrey bowler Alec Bedser and Jack Crapp travelled to the test match together in a car. While Alec Bedser parked the car, Jack Crapp went to check in at reception. Seeing him approach the reception desk, the receptionist asked, "bed sir?" to which he replied, "no, Crapp". She replied, "second on the left"!
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