Twenty Years at the Top Remembered
John Morris, who spent the last two seasons of a twenty-year career in First-Class cricket with Notts, came back to Trent Bridge to entertain the first meeting of the Nottingham Cricket Lovers Society (NCLS) in the famous Long Room.
Morris was an engaging and lively character on (and off) the pitch in his playing days and proved to be just as engaging now, with a fund of memories and anecdotes from his eventful career.
He came late(ish) to cricket, inspired by watching the all-conquering West Indies side of 1976 to take up the game – with the enthusiastic and determined support of his father. “I owe so much to my Dad”, he said, “he saw that there was some talent in me and pushed me along – it was his suggestion that I try for the Cheshire under-15s”.
The boy making his way through age group cricket with Cheshire could not have imagined that he would one day share a dressing room with one of those all-conquering West Indians but he was to be a team-mate of Michael Holding during his time with Derbyshire.
John Morris had fond memories of Holding and many of his fellow players at Derby but was frank about his fractious relationship with skipper Kim Barnett, which lead to him joining his second county, Durham.
After more than 200 matches for his first county, he was ready for the challenge of helping Durham establish themselves as a force in County Cricket and John Morris recalled his first encounters with subsequent stars such as Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison. “First time I saw Harmy bowl, I didn’t know where to stand…second ball I was a lot further back!”
Whilst with Durham, John Morris played an unlikely part in a cricket record – it was from his occasional bowling that Brian Lara hit the four that took him to the world record 501!
“The game was only ever going to be a draw”, he remembered, “the only issue was whether Brian would get to the milestone – and the skipper asking me to bowl meant we were ready to help him.
“I bowled a short ball that hit Lara on the head and in the pause that followed, the non-striker reminded him that this was the last over, time was about to be called. So the next ball disappeared to the boundary!”
As with batters who only bowl occasionally, his few successes remain clear to him: “I took eight wickets and I can remember each and every one of them – I can’t remember all my hundreds”, he said.
Given that he made more than 50 First-Class hundreds, that is perhaps not so surprising. One that he certainly spoke about was the 132 he scored for an England XI v Queensland at the Carrara Oval in 1990 – but that innings did not earn him the expected place in the Test side, instead it was his last as an England player.
Having both been dismissed and with no likelihood of being required to field that day he and David Gower decided to take a short flight in a pair of Tiger Moth aircraft from a neighbouring airfield.
Morris told the story: “Gower persuaded the pilots – David wasn’t at the controls, despite what the stories say – to fly low over the pitch as England were batting.
“Lamby [Allan Lamb] was on strike as we flew in above the bowler’s head. He held up his hand to stop Rackemann from steaming in and as we passed he mocked a machine gun shoot at us with his bat.
“It was all in fun, but Gooch (England captain) and the tour management didn’t see it that way. We were threatened with being sent home and eventually fined £1,000 each. I never thought then that it was the end of my England chances, but that’s how it proved”.
Although still clearly baffled by the severity of the punishment, he clearly enjoys telling the story, along with many escapades and successes from his career.
The NCLS audience were obviously keen to hear about his time with Notts at Trent Bridge, a ground about which he said. “I loved playing here’.
Asked what prompted him to come to a third county at a stage when most players would have been looking to wind their careers down, he answered with one word – “Rice”.
His respect – and affection – for Clive Rice was apparent. “I knew Clive from the time I’d spent in South Africa – I’d played cricket and golf with him and against him and when he asked me to come to Nottinghamshire and help him re-build his team, it didn’t take long to say yes.
“And it meant moving back to the East Midlands, where I had spent most of my cricket career”.
John Morris spent two seasons at Notts and opted to retire after Rice was sacked. The highlight in batting terms was the 170 made,. Ironically enough, against Derbyshire in 2001. “I was on the cusp of something pretty special”, he said, “I could have had a double hundred for each of three different counties, something I don’t think anyone has actually done”.
He played last match, also against his old county, a month later. His post-match career included a successful period as an agent for other cricketers – he admitted that he had brought the mercurial Kevin Pietersen to Nottingham – and time as director of cricket at Derbyshire.
“When that ended – and not well – I went away from the game for years”, he said. “But recently I have begun to go to Former Players Days here at Trent Bridge and back to Durham and Derbyshire and to do talks like this – I am really enjoying meeting audiences like this”.
John Morris also revealed that his nickname on the county circuit was ‘Animal’, from his namesake, TV presenter and personality Johnny Morris who fronted the popular ‘Animal Magic’ programme.
The evening ended with a generous round of applause but Morris did not get the usual speaker’s gift of a bottle of wine. As interviewer Martyn Shaw explained, John Morris now owns a couple of wine bars – appropriately named ‘Bradmans’ – so it would have been somewhat superfluous.
John Morris was the first of the 2024-25 season of NCLS talks; the programme continues with Notts team members like Steven Mullaney and star sports names such as Ryan Sidebottom yet to come.
Before John Morris, Notts Heritage Manager Steve LeMottee told the story of the 1929 Championship winning side under the captaincy of the colourful (to put it mildly) Arthur Carr.
Membership of NCLS is £15pa or entry on the night for £5 per session. Full details of the 2024/25 programme from nottscricketlovers@outlook.com.
October 2024