OLD ALLEYNIAN CRICKET CLUB Memoir from Trevor Bailey (Dulwich College, Essex and England)

Trevor Bailey: "Thank You Dulwich"

I have always looked back upon those five happy years I spent at Dulwich College, both as a boarder and as a day boy, with great affection and gratitude.

My one big regret is that four of my closest friends were killed in the war, one went down in a destroyer, one was blown up in a flak ship, and two had fatal plane crashes. Three of them were also good cricketers who would have gone on to play for the Old Alleynians.

The cricket facilities that existed at the College when I arrived in 1938 could scarcely have been bettered. The master in charge was " Father" Marriott, who was that cricketing rarity a really outstanding bowler who could neither bat nor field but who possessed the number one essential for any coach, especially at school level, a passion for the game. He taught us how to cope with legbreak bowling which so often destroys school and club teams. In the nets he gave the ball plenty of air and I learned the value of using one's feet against this type of bowling, and above all not to panic when I had been done by the flight. Out in the middle and in matches against the school he operated as he did for England and Kent, flat and quick, when to play back to his topspinner was fatal. I learned the value of the dead bat forward defensive, and he was the reason that throughout my career I always fancied wrist-spinners.

In addition to Father we had two professional coaches, the senior was George Brown who could be relied upon to drop the ball on exactly the spot he wanted at a steady medium pace and was an expert at picking and curing batting faults.

Two members of the teaching staff, Billy Griffith and Graham Parker were recent "blues" and still playing county cricket in the school holidays, while other teachers were of minor county standard. In addition the pitches in the middle were both fast and true and probably more important the nets were just as good if not better. I was indeed lucky to have been brought up in such a great cricket environment.

I went straight from school into the Royal Marines until the war ended and I returned to my hometown, Westcliff-on-Sea, where I have lived ever since. As I played first class cricket for the next two decades, my actual contacts with the OA Cricket Club were limited. However, I did take part in a memorable OA match against "Father" Marriott's XI in 1950. This was possibly the strongest team we have ever fielded, as it contained no fewer than nine who had experienced first class cricket. It was a side which would probably have done quite well in the Cricketer Cup, which was not then in existence.

However many, many years later after I had retired from Essex I did have the opportunity of playing for the OAs in this excellent competition. Without doubt although my arm was lower, my pace considerably slower and runs harder to come by, I enjoyed these matches, especially those staged on the grounds of schools where I had never been before, more than any other club matches in which I have participated.

Thanks for the memories.

Trevor Bailey
Westcliff-on-Sea
July 2001