Jake Seamer - County Cricket

County Cricket

On the completion of his extra year learning Arabic at Oxford, Seamer joined the Sudan Political Service. He continued to play cricket for Somerset during his periods of leave, but it dramatically reduced his availability for the county. During his time at Oxford, Seamer had become good friends with Mitchell-Innes; the pair both attended the same college, and played together for both the university and Somerset. When Mitchell-Innes graduated from Oxford the year after Seamer, he joined his friend in the Sudan, where the pair often organised cricket matches, despite the extreme heat. Seamer's duties prevented him from playing for Somerset at all during 1937, but he appeared eight times the following year through May and early June. His average that season was the highest he achieved after leaving university, recording 20.78 from his 14 innings, though his highest score was 47 runs, scored against Derbyshire. In 1939, the last season of first-class county cricket in England before the Second World War, Seamer played seven times for Somerset. However, unlike his appearances the previous year, in which he had generally batted as part of the top order, Seamer predominantly appeared in the middle order for the county in 1939, and his highest score was 28.

Somersetshire will be captained by three amateurs in rotation, N. S. Mitchell-Innes in May, J. W. Seamer in June and part of July and G. E. S. Woodhouse for the rest of the season.

After the conclusion of the war, county cricket resumed in 1946, during which year Seamer played two matches with little success. He did not appear in first-class cricket in 1947, but was named as one of three captains of Somerset in 1948. Jack Meyer had reluctantly captained the side in 1947, but stepped down at the end of the season: he was having problems with his sight, and required daily painkillers for lumbago. There was no obvious replacement for Meyer; like many counties Somerset would not consider having a professional captain, and finding an amateur with the time and money to lead the side was proving troublesome. So, with no single candidate suitable, the Somerset committee announced that the club would be captained first by Mitchell-Innes during his leave from the Sudan, then Seamer during his own leave. Once both of these had returned to their duties, George Woodhouse would take over. In his history of Somerset County Cricket Club, Peter Roebuck describes the situation as a "remarkable state of affairs", while David Foot suggests that the true number of captains was closer to seven. During his time as captain, Seamer carried an old train board saying "To Tonbridge" in his cricket bag, claiming that it brought good luck to the team. In the eleven matches that Somerset played under his captaincy though, only one resulted in a victory. Seamer claimed that some of his best friends at the club were among the professionals, who he praised for their team spirit, despite the strained leadership changes. His friendship with the professionals was in contrast to the attitudes of both the club's committee, and its captain for the previous season. Meyer had been unpopular with the professionals due to his attitude to the game, and the manner in which he utilised them, while the club's committee felt that the professional players deserved little recognition when successful, claiming that this was what they were paid for. Seamer's batting was no longer strong enough to support his inclusion in the team, and he played low in the middle order. He failed to reach double figures in any of his first seven innings that season, but recorded a half-century against Kent in his final match for Somerset, his first since 1936 in first-class cricket.

Seamer did not appear again for Somerset after his period as captain in 1948. In total for the county, he scored 1,405 runs at an average of 15.61. He made his final first-class appearance the following season, appearing for the Free Foresters against Oxford University. He later made three Minor Counties Championship appearances for Wiltshire in 1956, though without much success.