INNINGS CLOSED..
I was sorry to hear of the passing of Trevor Bailey yesterday in what were distressing circumstances. When you reach the age of 87, after a full and rewarding life, you really don`t deserve to die in a fire in your retirement home. It just made his passing so much more tragic and poignant.
Trevor was one of only two of the Test Match Special team who featured in this vinyl LP from years gone by. John Arlott, Brian Johnston and Fred Trueman had already passed away and now with Trevor Bailey going, only Christopher Martin-Jenkins remains - and long may he continue to do so.
Bailey played 61 times for England in a ten-year career between 1949 and 1959. He will be best remembered for his heroic partnership with Willie Watson at Lord's in 1953, that lasted four-and-a-half hours and secured England a memorable draw against Australia. The draw helped England to a famous Ashes series win, their first in 19 years. Bailey, who played for Essex throughout his career, was nicknamed 'Barnacle Bailey' for his determined, defensive batting. He scored 1,000 runs and took 100 wickets in the same season on eight separate occasions and was one of only 10 Englishmen to score over 2,000 runs and take over 100 wickets in Test matches. He later became a hugely popular pundit during his many years on radio's iconic Test Match Special programme.
He was one of the heroes of my boyhood, along with the likes of Harold Gimblett and Derek Shackleton. But there was something different about Trevor Bailey and it`s difficult to pin down what it might have been. I suspect it may have been because he represented something of a transition - a crossover even - between the days of the Gentlemen and Players to the more professional cricket we have today.
In many ways, for all his heroics on the field of play, he was something of a patrician character, blessed with a very `proper` vocal delivery and a bearing that was never condescending but which teetered on the superior. They were the days of the gentleman cricketers - the Doug Insoles, Freddie Browns, Norman Yardleys - who held sway in class ridden pavilions but who nonetheless played the game for the love of it.
The big turning point was when Len Hutton was appointed as England`s first professional captain and it always seemed to me that Trevor Bailey epitomised those few cricketers who straddled between gentleman and player with effortless ease, making him universally popular, admired and respected.
I am not only sorry that he has gone, but also desperately sad that he should perish in the way he did. He, his family, friends and admirers all deserved a more fitting end to a remarkable life.
Bailey played 61 times for England in a ten-year career between 1949 and 1959. He will be best remembered for his heroic partnership with Willie Watson at Lord's in 1953, that lasted four-and-a-half hours and secured England a memorable draw against Australia. The draw helped England to a famous Ashes series win, their first in 19 years. Bailey, who played for Essex throughout his career, was nicknamed 'Barnacle Bailey' for his determined, defensive batting. He scored 1,000 runs and took 100 wickets in the same season on eight separate occasions and was one of only 10 Englishmen to score over 2,000 runs and take over 100 wickets in Test matches. He later became a hugely popular pundit during his many years on radio's iconic Test Match Special programme.
He was one of the heroes of my boyhood, along with the likes of Harold Gimblett and Derek Shackleton. But there was something different about Trevor Bailey and it`s difficult to pin down what it might have been. I suspect it may have been because he represented something of a transition - a crossover even - between the days of the Gentlemen and Players to the more professional cricket we have today.
In many ways, for all his heroics on the field of play, he was something of a patrician character, blessed with a very `proper` vocal delivery and a bearing that was never condescending but which teetered on the superior. They were the days of the gentleman cricketers - the Doug Insoles, Freddie Browns, Norman Yardleys - who held sway in class ridden pavilions but who nonetheless played the game for the love of it.
The big turning point was when Len Hutton was appointed as England`s first professional captain and it always seemed to me that Trevor Bailey epitomised those few cricketers who straddled between gentleman and player with effortless ease, making him universally popular, admired and respected.
I am not only sorry that he has gone, but also desperately sad that he should perish in the way he did. He, his family, friends and admirers all deserved a more fitting end to a remarkable life.
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