Famous Cricketers No 58 - Trevor Bailey

that “Boiley” would play at outside-right. The name stuck and was subsequently abbreviated to “The Boil”. In the 1948 season Bailey met the Australians for the first time. It must have been a chastening experience, bowling and fielding out at Southend-on-Sea whilst the tourists compiled a mammoth 721 runs. Still, as Trevor is still fond of pointing out to Test Match Special listeners “We did bowl them out in a day”. At the start of the 1948 season he had been offered the job of assistant secretary by Essex, thus enabling him to devote his time to cricket on a full time basis. Subsequently, in 1954, he was to become the Essex secretary, a position he was to retain for the rest of his cricket career. In 1949 came the breakthrough to the National team with selection to play for England in all four Test Matches against New Zealand. Opening the bowling, Bailey took 16 wickets at an average of 37.43, taking 6-118 at Headingley and 6-84 at Old Trafford. As a middle order batsman he scored 219 runs with two fifties including his first “rescue operation” when he scored 93 in the Lord’s Test helping Denis Compton to add 189 for the sixth wicket after five wickets had fallen for 112. At Clacton-on-Sea he took all ten Lancashire wickets for 90 runs, becoming only the second Essex player to peform this feat. He achieved the first of his eight “double” seasons taking 130 wickets and scoring 1380 runs. Not surprisingly he was chosen as one of Wisden ’s Five Cricketers of the Year. In 1950 he took 7 wickets for 0 in 31 balls against Glamorgan at Brentwood. In the return match at Newport he took a hat-trick, his victims being J.E.Pleass, N.G.Hever and D.J.Shepherd. In the winter of 1950/51 he was selected for his first overseas tour, to Australia, where he took 14 wickets in the Tests against a strong batting side and batted heroically at Melbourne and at Sydney until Ray Lindwall broke his thumb to end his resistance. Moving on to New Zealand he made his only Test Match century, 134 not out in the match at Christchurch. Although he only played in two Tests in 1951 against South Africa and none at all against India in 1952, Bailey was to become an integral part in the powerful England side of the 1950’s which was unbeaten in a series either at home or abroad between 1950/51 and 1958/59. Altogether he played in 61 Test Matches scoring 2290 runs at an average of 29.74 and capturing 132 wickets at a cost of 29.21.Amongst many notable performances were the 71 he scored at Lord’s against Australia in 1953, rescuing England in an epic partnership with Willie Watson when all had seemed lost on the final day. Twice he destroyed West Indies with the ball taking 7-34 on a perfect pitch at Sabina Park in 1953/54 and 7-44 on a less perfect one at Lord’s in 1957. Both performances set up England victories. In the First Test against South Africa at Johannesburg in 1956/57 he took 5-20 in the second innings. He probably permitted himself a wry smile when he won the £100 offered at Brisbane in 1954/55 to the first batsman to hit a six in the match. Bailey would not have been favourite to win this award when the game started. A performance for which he is perhaps unfairly remembered was the 68 he scored at Brisbane in 458 minutes in 1958/59, batting at number three. It was not his fault that the strokemakers did not score the necessary runs at the other end. Bailey was not selected for England again after the 1958/59 tour. He was past his mid thirties and the Selectors were looking for younger men. Nevertheless it is a difficult decision to justify in terms of performances as he continued to take 100 wickets or more every season until 1962 and in 1959 scored more than 2000 runs for the only time. Bailey went on five MCC tours, to Australia in 1950/51, 1954/55 and 1958/59; to West Indies in 1953/54 and to South Africa in1956/57. He played in three successive “Ashes” winning teams - in 1953, 1954/55 and 1956. Bailey’s performances at Test level make him one of the greatest of England all rounders. It is a subject for endless debate as to whether Trevor Bailey or Ian Botham has been England’s greatest all-rounder since the Second World War. Suffice it to say that during the 1950s 4