For cricket buffs like myself, the names of certain players immediately invoke feelings of awe. Grace, Hobbs, Bradman, Hammond, Fry, the list goes on. After the Second World War, enmity on the battlefield was replaced with established enmity on the cricket pitch and there remains no enmity stronger than the one between England and her antipodean cousins in Australia. In 1948, the great Bradman and Hammond had bowed out taking with them a mountain of memories which had left the statisticians breathless and the journalists grasping for newer superlatives.
The 1950 winter tour to Australia saw a much weakened England team destroyed by an Australian side ably captained by the stylish Lindsay Hassett and featuring many members of the legendary 1948 team. Of the England players on that tour, only Hutton and the ageing Alec Bedser were true test class and England were lambs to the slaughter as they had been at home in 1948. The Albion returned home and looked ahead to the home series in 1953 with justifiable trepidation.
Against all odds, England drew the first four tests with Denis Compton famously hitting the winning runs at the Oval to reclaim the urn which had been in Australian hands since 1934. Alec Bedser claimed an astonishing 39 wickets at a miserly 17 runs each with Len Hutton once more dominating the batting honours with 443 runs averaging 55. In that series, a number of different spin bowlers were employed and one of them was the Yorkshire born Surrey off-spinner Jim Laker. He took 9 wickets in 3 tests at 23 runs each. Hardly the sort of figures to put the Aussies in a sweat. But by the end of 1956, the Aussies were sick of the sight of him.
The 1956 series saw England regain the Ashes and although one man never wins a series in a team game like cricket, Laker came about as close as you can get. They could have seen it coming when the Australians played a tour match against Laker's Surrey in May. Electing to bat, Australia struggled to 259 with Laker taking 10 for 88 off a staggering 46 overs! That was a warning shot but the best was yet to come. In the first three Ashes Tests of 1956 he took 3, 6 and 11 wickets respectively and then came Old Trafford. He took 9 wickets for 37 in their first innings and a jaw dropping 10 for 53 in their second. It is one of those records which will stand time immemorial. 19 wickets for 90 runs with poor Tony Lock bowling from the other end claiming a sole consolation wicket.
For the really astute followers of the game, Laker also took eight wickets for just 2 runs in a Test trial on this day in 1950. England's best ever off-spin bowler? Undoubtedly.
That year, Jim Laker received the Sports Personality of the Year Award. If there has been a more deserving recipient, I remain to be convinced.
