Golden jubilee of Old Trafford's perfect 10: The sun broke through and Gentleman Jim spun his way into immortality

At a Sussex school in 1956 our villain was Colonel Nasser. Our cricket heroes were May and Cowdrey with the bat - Trueman and Statham with the ball. We never considered that those certainties might be eclipsed by a mild-mannered off-spinner.

For us young Sussex fans, one of the exciting parts of the build-up to the Test match at Old Trafford was the selection of the Reverend David Sheppard, on the basis of only four first-class innings in the season. For our better-informed seniors, there was plenty of talk about the pitch, the nature of which had inspired the selectors to leave out Fred Trueman and to open the bowling with Brian Statham and Trevor Bailey. Had it been prepared for the England spinners? Jim Laker, after all had taken all 10 in an innings against these Australians in May for Surrey. He and Tony Lock had shared 19 wickets on that occasion with the division being 12 to 7.

Bailey described the pitch as "a beach" and Keith Miller, the great Australian all-rounder, remembered going out before the start with the umpires, running his hand across the surface and saying to them, "Gentlemen, we're going to have an early finish." Bailey's recollection was that Miller never felt it worth removing his sweater to bowl in the match.

England had a late injury problem when Tom Graveney pulled out with a damaged finger. His replacement was another Sussex batsman, Alan Oakman, who was to lurk at short leg for Laker's bowling and take five catches there. None the less, Lancashire's administrators were able to point at the England start - 174 for the first wicket for Peter Richardson and Colin Cowdrey - and say that they did not know what the fuss was about. Cowdrey was first to go for 80, but the exuberant, fair haired left-hander Richardson went on to a very popular hundred. At the end of the first day England were 307 for 3.

Already an often overlooked heroic story was unfolding, as Sheppard was 59 not out. Because of his calling to the church, he only ever played one full season of county cricket. That was as captain of Sussex in 1953, when he took the county from 13th in the Championship the previous season to being runners-up to Surrey. This season, at the suggestion of the England selectors, he managed just enough first-class cricket to get the call to Old Trafford and on the second day he repaid that faith with a century. Indeed, onlookers at the time suggested no sign of a lack of top cricket in his chanceless innings of 113.

With England reaching their final total of 459 just after lunch on the second day, the question has been asked why, on a pitch apparently prepared for spin bowling, the two Australian spinners, Ian Johnson and Richie Benaud, did not enjoy anything like the success that Laker was about to?

Benaud, after all, was to spin England to defeat here five years later. Bailey's opinion was that they were just not the right sort of spinners for this pitch. They had certainly done the bulk of the bowling, with 47 overs apiece - four wickets for Johnson and two for Benaud.

Peter May did not let his opening pair of Statham and Bailey have a very long bowl before he had to find out how Laker and Lock would prosper. Success only came when he switched their ends, moving Laker from the Warwick Road to the Stretford End, but by then Colin McDonald and Jim Burke had put on 48 together. Laker removed McDonald just before tea, caught at short leg and Lock, with the first ball after tea, had Burke caught at slip. It was to be Lock's only wicket of the match - a statistic of some considerable frustration to the left-arm spinner, who was to bowl quicker and quicker in his fury, causing the slips to move back further and further. This was a man with the temperament of a fast bowler.

The wicket he took, though, started an extraordinary procession. Over the next 35 minutes Laker removed the remaining eight, while only 32 runs were added. Less than halfway through the final session of the second day's play, Australia were following on, having been bowled out for 84. Laker had taken 9 for 37 in 15.4 overs.

By the end of the day McDonald had had to retire hurt with a bang on the knee and Neil Harvey had recorded a "pair" - out first ball to Laker, caught at slip when he replaced McDonald.

Three days stretched ahead of Australia - still needing 322 to avoid an innings defeat. But, as tales of extreme discontent over the state of the pitch emerged from the Australian camp, the Manchester skies seemed to hear their prayers. A wet Saturday morning gave way to three-quarters of an hour's play in the afternoon, but that was all. It allowed Laker the chance to capture one more wicket.

The rest day on Sunday was even wetter and in those days the pitch was lying open to the elements. Monday was not a great deal better. A couple of sessions of play amounted to no more than an hour and brought no wickets. Now Australia could see the escape hatch. Eight wickets still in hand - a day to survive and the weather looking likely to lend a helping hand.

There was little delay in the morning under threatening skies and McDonald, who had been able to resume his innings on Saturday afternoon, and Ian Craig survived until lunch. But just before the interval the sun broke through the clouds and that spelt Australia's doom.

May had been told by the local sages of the effect that the sun would have as it got to work on the saturated pitch and to his delight he now saw Laker start to extract vicious turn.

Craig, Ken Mackay, Miller and Ron Archer were accounted for in quick order and to the first ball after tea, McDonald, after a brave fight for 89, gave Oakman, lurking at short leg, his fifth catch. Had not Graveney had to withdraw and then Sheppard telling May that his reactions were not quite as sharp as they had been when he was playing more regularly, Oakman would not have been there at all.

The last three wickets took an innings that had started on the second evening into the last hour of the match. The wicket of Ray Lindwall gave Laker a new world record of 18 in a Test and finally he rapped the wicketkeeper Len Maddocks on the pads, wheeled on his heels to make his appeal as John Arlott called it immediately from the commentary box, "Laker's taken all 10!" The TV pictures show the hero quietly taking his sweater and tossing it over his shoulder as he walked off. He would recall in later years stopping on his long drive home for a bite to eat in a pub. They were showing pictures from the Test match on the TV in the bar and he watched himself take 19 wickets without anyone being aware he was there.

It was a scene I could certainly imagine in the days when Jim used to inhabit the BBC Television box alongside Test Match Special. He would stand in the doorway and leave us with a subtle piece of dry wit as he disappeared again. Like the Cheshire Cat it always seemed that the last thing to vanish was the smile.

Peter Baxter has produced the BBC's 'Test Match Special' since 1974

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19-90 JC Laker ENGLAND v Australia Manchester 1956

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10-53 JC Laker ENGLAND v Australia Manchester 1956

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