Should Trevor Bailey Have Been England's Captain?

Press, Volume C, Issue 29623, 20 September 1961, Page 13

Should Trevor Bailey Have Been England's Captain?

(Specially written for “Th* Press” by NORMAN YARDLBV. former England test captain]

T was not taken seriously a x few weeks ago when I suggested that Trevor Bailey should be recalled to the England team—and made captain. Yet, in this last look-back on a disappointing season, I still believe that the Ashes would have left Australia had the English selectors summoned up the courage to make that one vital move. The main argument against Bailey, of course, has been that he is too dogged, that he is defensive, that he would dampen down rather than liven up the spirits of the England team. So it is particularly interesting to record that in Bailey’s first year as captain of Essex, the county has become the fastest scoring team in the country! At the end of their championship programme, Essex had a season’s run-rate of 2.89. an over, which works out at 48 a 100 balls. Even the hard hitters of happy Hampshire did not match that. This Essex return is also faster and better than anything recorded last season Top of the poll then was Sussex with 2.82 runs an over (47). And Yorkshire won the title with a run rate of 2.76 (46).

This Essex triumph seems to prove that while Bailey cannot claim to be the fastest batsman in the business himself, he is a shrewd

enough leader to recognise the demands of any situation. And he can obtain the right response from his team. Looking back. I am sure the astute Bailey would never have allowed that Manchester test to slip out of England’s hand* a* it did. He would have been shrewd enough to stem that last-wicket stand of 98 by Davidson and McKenzie and would have been sufficiently old-fashioned to recognise and counter that round-the-wicket leg-break stratagem Benaud used for the shock break-through that finally won the game. Bowling I think, too, that Bailey’s bowling might have won us the Lord’s match when the pitch so favoured seamers. So altogether you will gather that Trevor Bailey, who is already away past hi* sixth “double” in seven years, is on my list of 1961 ’s top cricketers. Colin Ingleby-McKeozie. the Hampshire captain, is also near the top of the list. Many people have underestimated this remarkable young man’s influence. But I suggest that his record with the very limited Hampshire side over the last three or four years puts him nearer the class of Richie Benaud as a captain than any other man in the country.

Some people are afraid of the irrepressible humour of this former Etonian who gaily says that he expects hi* men to get to bed before breakfast during important matches and who openiy loves a gamble on the horses.

What they underestimate are the natural qualities of leadership that are in him, and the respect that he commands from his side. These are difficult things to define, but you have only to look at Hampshire’s results to see the proof of them. Ingleby-McKenzie may not be up to test standard either as batsman or fielder but he is not so far as many think from being the leader English cricket needs right now. Peter Parfitt, of Middlesex, is my young cricketer of the year. This hardhitting left-hander has made eight hundreds this season. But it is not so much hig figures as his manner of getting runs which appeals to me. He believes in taking time to get a fair sight of the ball and then obeys his skipper’s directions to hit hard. He’s got shots and uses them. When he gets into the England team his captain must tell him to keep on using them. There are too many players who clam up as soon as they put an England cap on their heads. John Murray, the Middlesex and England wicketkeeper, is also on my list. He could be another Les Ames. Already Murray is a

better wicket-keeper than Ames, and from the shots I have seen him produce he could be almost as good a batsman. In his first year as Godfrey Evans’s successor he has done a fine job. Going back to the other end of the scale, I also include Hampshire bowler, Derek Shackleton, in my list who has been bound up like a mummy to keep him going on a nastily-pulled muscle behind the knee. More able and more faithful cricketers than “Shack” don't come very often.

From the Australian camp, I pick Richie Benaud for his magnificent leadership, Lawry for his persistent success as an opener, and Mackay for the splendid way he pitched in as a bowler when Australia needed him so badly. The general picture then: a disappointing test series for England, a triumphant one for Australia; and a goodish county season. The season's main lesson? Simply that boldness pays off. Ask Benaud. Ask InglebyMcKenzie.