Retro Sport with Roger Mann: Ted Dickinson falls for Sir Julien's donkey-drops!

When I was in my teens, cricket in Torbay was dominated by just one man.

Ted Dickinson was captain of Torquay Cricket Club, was the driving force behind the nationally acclaimed 1950s Torquay Cricket Festival, and owned the biggest sports shop in Torquay.

Everyone involved in local cricket knew Ted, who was a fine cricketer himself, and had played the game at first-class level for Leicestershire before the war.

When Ted was in his mid-70s, we found ourselves living almost next door to each other, and, of course, he was a frequent visitor to my cricket Mann-cave.

One night, we were reminiscing and he told me a story which you might enjoy.

Sir Julien Cahn, the son of a German Jew, had made a fortune selling mass produced furniture, and by the 1930s was lavishing his generosity on his favourite game of cricket.

Knighted in 1929, Sir Julien lived in the magnificent Stamford Hall, and owned his own sumptuous cricket ground at West Bridgford, Nottingham.

He hired some of the world’s finest cricketers, on a week-by-week basis, to play for his eleven, and took them on tour to Jamaica, Argentine, Ceylon, and America in the height of luxury.

The sheer number of Test cricketers employed meant that Cahn’s Eleven was often stronger than the national teams of the day.

Sir Julien had a deep theoretic knowledge of cricket, but absolutely no natural ability!

His eccentric behaviour while captaining his team has spawned many unbelievable stories, and this was the first of two which Ted told me.

One day, in 1936, Ted got an invitation to play for Leicestershire Gentlemen against Sir Julien’s Eleven at West Bridgford, and, of course, was delighted.

Before the match he sat in the dressing-room, a 22 year old, hardly believing that he would soon be playing against Test players Ian Peebles (England), and Bob Crisp and Denys Morkel (South Africa).

Ted, who usually opened the batting, watched as Sir Julien walked out to win the toss and decide to field first.

Within minutes, Ted was walking out to bat.

As he looked around the field, he was surprised to see seven fielders placed out on the boundary, and then realised... Sir Julien was going to open the bowling!

Everyone in cricket knew that Sir Julien bowled what we used to call 'sky high donkey drops', and today was no exception.

The first over to Ted was all over the place!

Two of the balls stopped halfway down the pitch, and Ted had to walk out and hit them towards the boundary to get his score underway.

After three overs, Sir Julien had had enough.

He called on Robson, his chauffeur, to buckle on a pair of leg guards, and took up a fielding position on the boundary.

Ted and his partner were now proving hard to dislodge, and soon after the score reached 50, Ted’s partner hit a ball high in the air towards Sir Julien.

It was an easy catch, but Sir Julien was frightened of a cricket ball.

As the ball sailed towards him, Sir Julien covered his head with both hands, and fell to his knees, allowing it to go for four.

“It was nowhere near me,” he shouted, and no-one chose to argue!

When Ted’s score had reached 48, Sir Julien was getting impatient, and shouted at John Gunn, the umpire: “It’s time we got this young man out! I’ll have to bowl myself”

At the end of the over, he grabbed the ball, went back to his mark, and began his four-pace shuffle to the wicket.

As before, his first ball went high in the air, and pitched halfway down the pitch.

Anxious for his 50, Ted strode down towards the ball which hadn’t quite stopped, and was slowly dribbling towards him.

As he lifted his bat back to hit it, his left boot brushed the ball first, and Sir Julien shouted: “Howzat?”

John Gunn raised his finger, and Ted had become one of Sir Julien’s rare LBW victims!

After the match there was a banquet in the pavilion, as usual, and during the celebrations, Sir Julien came over to Ted, patted him on the back, and said: “Don’t blame yourself, young man, the bias I put on that ball, would have fooled anyone!”