I can remember where and when my first ball was in
County and Test cricket but not who was bowling or how I played it. My debut in first class cricket was against Cambridge at Fenners, my County Championship
debut was against Notts at Trent Bridge, my Test debut against the West Indies
at Trent Bridge. I do however remember some second balls faced, in particular
my debut for Sevenoaks School 1st XI against Ardingly in 1969 at the age of 14.
I was probably batting at 7 or 8 and was in total awe of the situation. I
eventually walked out to bat against Paul Phillipson, the future Sussex
all-rounder. From the pavilion he looked awfully big and fast to me. I must
have survived the first ball, perhaps he was kind enough to bowl at my bat! He
was not so generous with the second ball which he bowled at the stumps, followed
by that horrible sound as the stumps and bails went flying.
From that point I seemed to get out second ball on a number of occasions over the years. I must eventually have got over that weakness but was reminded in no uncertain terms many years later when playing for Kent at Southampton, in 1987 I think it was. Malcolm Marshall was an outstanding overseas player. Whatever the match situation or the type of wicket you always had sleepless nights the night before as he never gave less than 110%. He was also known to bowl a bouncer second ball at a new batsman. Adrenalin usually aided avoiding action but, as was my normal approach, I had decided to play him standing tall with soft hands. I don’t remember the release of the delivery but there was a blur as the ball seemed to rear up of a reasonable length, hitting my soft hands and bat handle, then looping its way to gully. The second-ball jinx had struck again.
Memory added on December 14, 2020
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