Although Glamorgan defeated the Indian tourists by an innings at Swansea, 1936 saw Glamorgan slide back down the Championship table with their sole victory coming against Leicestershire, also at St. Helen’s, during July. The reason for their modest form was mainly because several batters were out of form. Maurice Turnbull was one of the players who had an indifferent season with the bat, and all having started the summer with centuries against Kent and Yorkshire. His purple patch saw him selected for the Lord’s Test against India, but after making 0 and 37*, the selectors looked elsewhere as this proved to be his ninth and final appearance in Test cricket.
Dick Duckfield also made a flying start to the summer, before losing form and confidence. The summer began with the Maesteg-born batsman scoring an unbeaten 280 at The Oval and striking the Surrey bowlers for 39 boundaries. His five and a half hour stay won him many plaudits with one journalist writing “there was that indefinable something that also registered class. The immaculate flannels, the fastidiously whitened and secured pads, the clotted cream colour of his shirt, the daffodil emblem glowing from his cap – all this allied to his confident stance, with that broad beam on his face which was somewhat disheartening to the bowlers.”
By the end of the season, Duckfield had completely lost form, ending the summer with just 895 runs to his name. He also lost confidence whilst fielding, to the extent that he developed a psychological inability to catch a ball. Turnbull tried his best to hide Duckfield in the field, but his phobia resurfaced the following summer, and had become so acute that he left the playing staff in 1938, leaving many to wonder what might have been after his monumental innings against Surrey bowlers in 1936.
1936, or more particularly 29th July, was a red-letter date for Jack Mercer as in the game at New Road against Worcestershire he became the first, and still only, bowler to take all ten wickets in an innings. His remarkable feat came during a two and three-quarter hour spell on the opening day after overnight rain had delayed the start. It was still quite humid when the contest began, but with a decent-looking surface on which to bat, Bernard Quaife, the home captain, had no hesitation in deciding to bat after winning the toss. His side were soon in trouble, collapsing to 59-6 before lunch with Mercer bowling a superb spell of 13-7-7-5 as he gained lavish away and in-swing in the conditions.
The only batters to play with any certainty were Roger Human and Sandy Singleton, with the latter trying to disrupt Jack’s progress by hitting him off his length. But the veteran was not cowed by these tactics and, after being hit to the ropes several times, he asked wicket-keeper Tom Brierley to stand up to the stumps. Soon afterwards, Mercer had Singleton deftly stumped as he overbalanced whilst swishing wildly at a perfect away-swinger. Mercer then removed Dick Howarth and Reg Perks, and with all nine wickets to his name, Turnbull and the rest of the Glamorgan team realised that the veteran was on the verge of a Club record.
At the other end, Emrys Davies – who had benefitted so much over the years from Mercer’s advice – deliberately sent his next few deliveries wide of the stumps and out of the reach of the batsmen in order that his colleague would get a chance of claiming all ten. The tension started to mount and a couple of half chances were spilled in Mercer’s next couple of overs, but Peter Jackson then skied a ball high into the outfield and George Lavis set off to get underneath the descending ball.
Mercer, in typically jovial manner, responded by standing at the end of his follow through with his hands raised up together, praying to the heavens. As the ball swirled around, Mercer also turned to umpire Ernie Cooke and said “Its six bob to four that George will drop it.” Cooke took the odds, but Mercer was happy to settle his debts as Lavis, after juggling with the ball for a few heart-stopping seconds, held onto it with an audible sigh of relief echoing around the ground.
As his delighted colleagues gathered around, Mercer nonchalantly shook the hands of the two batsmen and then walked off with his sweater swung over his shoulder as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Soon afterwards the rain clouds returned and the following day’s play was interrupted by showers. As a result, Mercer added just more victim to his match haul, but the interruptions were a blessing in disguise as the Glamorgan team had celebrated long into the night with the popular bowler saying “it’s the greatest thrill of my cricketing life” to the long line of players, journalists and well-wishers who throughout the evening bought him a congratulatory drink.