Rain Man: The Life and Times of John Thomas Tyldesley
Martin Chandler |Published: 2024
Pages: 112
Author: Brodkin, Stuart
Publisher: Red Rose Books
Rating: 3.5 stars
It won’t convince everyone, but you can put forward a decent case for Johnny Tyldesley, the famous ‘JT’ or ‘John Tommy’, being the best batsman Lancashire have ever produced. A star of the ‘Golden Age’ who played 26 times for England against Australia between 1899 and 1909 it has always surprised me that neither he nor his younger (by 16 years) brother Ernest who, in purely statistical terms, is the best Lancashire batsman ever, have never previously been the subject of a biography.
In the case of ‘JT’ the gap in the annals of the game has now been filled, albeit with what might more appropriately be described as an extended monograph rather than a full biography. I stress however that is intended as a positive rather than a negative observation. Had author Brodkin sought to pad out his narrative with reports of many more of the 608 First Class matches in which his subject appeared he would have had a full length book, but almost certainly not a better one.
Rain Man gets off to an unusual start, for a biography, in that it deals with JT’s death, at the relatively early age of 57 in 1930. That approach does however enable Brodkin to put the life and career of his man in context, and to underline his greatest strength, his ability to succeed where others failed on difficult and spiteful wickets.
From there the narrative goes back to the beginning of the JT story and his family’s origins in Roe Green. There then follows a season by season look at firstly JT’s county career, and then his international career. This is where the story could have become repetitive as it becomes clear as the story progresses that JT, non-smoker, non-drinker and thoroughly sensible in all things, was not a man to court controversy.
The heart of the book is the three chapters that deal with the best examples of JT’s genius on difficult wickets.The three matches are Lancashire’s clash with the 1899 Australians when JT scored 56 and 42 in a match when just two of his teammates and extras crept into double figures. Another Lancashire match is the 1910 Championship encounter with Notts at Trent Bridge when he scored 77 and 25. Both of those were in losing causes, but a famous win was the result of the third match, the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 1903/04 series.
One subject that does not get much of an airing is JT’s life outside cricket, although there are occasional references to that throughout the book and, I suspect, Brodkin tells all there is to tell. The abstemious nature of the man gives a clue to why he did so little that was newsworthy, and he was also a canny businessman. JT did not amass a great fortune over his life time, but a share in a sports outfitting business and his income from playing and, latterly, coaching, ensured that by the time of his passing he was, valuing his estate in 21st century terms, worth not far short of a million pounds.
Notwithstanding, and indeed in large part because of the accounts of JT’s batting by Neville Cardus, the absence of a biography of JT has, until now, been a substantial gap in the literature of Lancashire cricket. Stuart Brodkin’s breezy and entertaining look at JT’s life, coupled with numerous other Red Rose Books publications that touch on his life, is a welcome addition to the library of anyone who remains, over a century on, entranced by the ‘Golden Age’ of cricket.
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