by Arunabha Sengupta
1957. The two speedsters were still raw.
Wes Hall picked up just 27 scalps in 15 games at 33.55. And did not play a single Test.
Roy Gilchrist did play four Tests but picked up just 10 wickets with his average in the unflattering mid-40s.
The attack was heavily dependent on spin, with Sonny Ramadhin at the helm. And West Indies did not too well in the series.
But as they progressed through the tour matches, the reputation of Hall and Gilchrist as a frighteningly fast pair of bowlers grew more and more ominous. They did not hit the wickets too often, but hit several batsmen rather painfully.
At the same time there was another raw youngster.
Ken Palmer was in the midst of his first full season for Somerset. He had hit his first fifty early that season against Warwickshire. There was not much success with bat after that. Batting was not really his main job, after all. However, while his medium pace had accounted for a few wickets, it had not really been very impressive.
Hence, when he was left out for the big match against West Indies at Taunton, Palmer was disappointed but not really surprised.
But then Peter Wight reported unfit. Palmer — greenhorn, just turned 20 — was drafted in. Largely unfinished as a product., he was eager to bowl at Clyde Walcott and Everton Weekes. There were other names in the line-up, such as Garry Sobers and Rohan Kanhai, but not too many knew of them yet.
Palmer, however, had no opportunity to bowl at the men from the Caribbean Islands. Under overcast skies. Bryan Lobb and the old Australian Bill Alley swung the ball around, dismissing the visitors for just 78. No bowling change was required. West Indies, down in the series and in morale, were not going through the best of phases.
When Somerset batted, Gilchrist struck several times and was almost unplayable. Hall proved to be a bit expensive, but he did castle the other Australian in the Somerset line-up, Colin McCool. The score read a precarious 27 for 4 when Palmer walked in.
By now the fast duo were firing in the scorching deliveries, striking excruciating blows on the arms, legs and chests of the batsmen. Against this torrid attack, Palmer played a steady hand that afternoon, remaining unbeaten on 5 when the day ended. Somerset tottered at 38 for 5.
The following morning Palmer was hit on the body several. But he braved it out to extend his score to 23. The first innings lead was obtained. At 87, he was the seventh out going for a run that was not there.
It had been a brave effort. Applause was aplenty as he walked back, and the glances admiring as he took off his pads in the dressing room.
When the bruises on his arm were noticed there were murmurs of appreciation. It grew louder when he took off his shirt and the welts and contusions on the torso came into display.
And then Palmer reached down his trousers to pull out his box.
A mass of red, blue and black across his body, now his face suddenly blanched into white.
Palmer had faced Hall and Gilchrist that morning, playing them confidently, taking numerous body blows. And he had done all that without wearing his box. He had forgotten that precious piece of equipment when he had walked out to bat.
He had never been more frightened in his life. In retrospect, we can perhaps say for Palmer it was a holding-willey moment.
Both the batting and the bowling of young Palmer improved down the years. Perhaps the incident made him stronger. He did the double in 1961, scoring his first hundred, against Northamptonshire and taking five wickets in an innings 7 times.
He was coaching in Johannesburg in the winter of 1964-65 when injuries to John Price, Tom Cartwright and David Brown together collaborated in a surprise call up by MJK Smith to bowl for England at Port Elizabeth. His figures, however, were 1 for 113 and 0 for 76; that was the end of his Test career.
Palmer finished First-Class cricket with 7,771 runs at 20.72 and 866 wickets at 21.34. Later, he stood as umpire in international matches for nearly a quarter of a century, from 1977 to 2001
But, one wonders how much of all these would have taken place had any of the many deliveries he faced from Hall and Gilchrist that scary morning sneaked in.
Would he have lived? One cannot be sure.
Son Gary Palmer was born in 1965, and went on to become a fast-medium bowler like his father, playing 54 First-Class matches for Somerset.
Well … let us just say that had Hall or Gilchrist managed to ping the unprotected jewels, Somerset County Cricket Club would have ended up at least two members short. Or three.
Ken Palmer was born on April 22, 1937