One of England’s greatest all-rounders, Trevor Bailey, died in February 2011. His Wisden Almanack obituary reappraised his career.
Bailey, Trevor Howard, CBE, died in a house fire on February 10, 2011, aged 87
Trevor Bailey may have been the least glamorous of the names sprinkled through one of England’s finest teams. He was not blessed with the stately elegance of May or Cowdrey, nor the fast–bowling fury of Trueman. He did not enjoy the profound affection inspired by Hutton, nor write his name into history with one performance, like Laker. And he certainly lacked the matinee-idol flamboyance of Compton. Yet he was never less than an essential component of the side that was the best in the world for much of the 1950s, especially during their rare crises.
There were not many of his 61 Tests between 1949 and 1959 when he was not, as Wisden put it, “doing something useful”. A final analysis of 132 wickets at 29.21 and 2,290 runs at 29.74 was just that.
Bailey made his first appearance on TMS in 1967 and gradually became a regular summariser. “It was Trevor who had the idea for Call the Commentators,” said former producer Peter Baxter. “Initially, it was called Cricket Clinic and was answering technical questions from club players. That arose from the amount of mail Trevor received with such questions.”
He became known for his short sharp summaries. In Madras in 1992-93, Jonathan Agnew asked him for his thoughts on the trio of spinners who had been responsible for England’s downfall in the previous match. Bailey had not seen that game so Agnew helpfully handed him the bowling figures. Undeterred by not having his glasses, and barely able to read the names of Venkatapathy Raju, Anil Kumble and Rajesh Chauhan, he barked: “Ragi: ordinary. Kimble: good bowler. Shoosson: chucker.”
In 1999 his and Fred Trueman’s TMS contracts were not renewed. The BBC suddenly faced competition from commercial radio, and it was not until changes had been promised in the commentary box that the BBC’s exclusive deal to cover England Tests was confirmed. “Trevor said the thing that disappointed him most was that he was not able to say goodbye to the listeners,” Baxter said.
To mark his 80th birthday, the Cricketers Club of London had to hold three lunches to accommodate all those who wanted to pay tribute. The manner of his passing, in an early-morning fire at the flat he shared with Greta, his wife of 62 years, added to the dismay of friends and admirers. There were many tributes, but perhaps his best epitaph had been written, years before, by Trueman. “That man,” he said, “was such a fighter he should have been a Yorkshireman.”