jack bannister

H
the pca address book
this issue we land on an ‘H’
Reuben
Herbert
Fringe player during
Essex glory years now
successful businessman
in the sports clothing
industry
You played for Essex in an
era when they won their
first major trophies. What
was that like?
It was an interesting dressing room to
be in!
When I joined in 1975 Essex wasn’t
a successful club. We won our first
trophies in 1979 which opened the
floodgates as the belief which grew
out of the achievement fed into further
success.
Although I didn’t play many games,
it was obvious how important the
camaraderie was as the club evolved
into a period of sustained success. We
had people with common objectives
who got on very well together, some
great characters but also some really
good professionals.
What was it like playing
for Essex in the mid-1970s?
When I started we didn’t even have
indoor net facilities on the ground, we
used to go to leisure centres at Harlow or
Ilford for indoor nets. We didn’t have a
coach until Mike Denness was appointed
in 1980 so it was a very different world
then. Essex was more of a community
club back then, and I think this fed the
soul of the club and helped the team stay
more bounded during difficult periods of
a match or season.
We coached ourselves and
everything we did was self-motivated.
We didn’t have anyone organising
nets when the first team were playing.
Nothing was easy back then, but it
helped me to become wiser to the ways
of the world probably ahead of time
for my years.
How do you remember your
Essex career?
The big disappointment for me was
that I played only five Championship
games in seven years. I would like
to have played more Sunday League
games to get myself into the feel of
playing at that level, but the excellence
of the team, and Keith Fletcher’s
admirable loyalty to his first-choice
players meant it didn’t happen. The
same team played virtually every game
in every competition, and the trust they
built between each other became a key
factor in their success.
Despite joining the staff as an
opening batsman, Essex wanted me
to become a spinning all-rounder to
take over from Ray East or David
Acfield. But when I tried to develop
my bowling my batting dipped and it
took me a couple of years to really get
both sides of it together. Just as I felt I
got the whole thing together and I was
playing decent cricket I got sacked.
How did you find out you
were being released?
I got called in to the office at the close
of play on the first day of a Second
XI match at Chelmsford and was told
they had decided not to renew my
contract. In fact I got a hundred and
six wickets in that game and topped
the Second XI batting and bowling
figures in 1981.
What did you do then?
I went proing in Holland and Scotland
and played Minor Counties cricket
for Suffolk. I had trials lined up with
Somerset and Gloucestershire in 1984
but I broke my cheekbone batting
for Suffolk and missed most of that
season. I couldn’t see myself getting
back into county cricket so I decided
to set up a sports clothing company
with my mum. She had the technical
skills of making garments and I did
the sales and marketing. We started
by selling cricket shirts in Essex but
expanded into hockey and other sports
and then moved the manufacturing
business to Rotherham which is where
I am based now.
Are you still in the same
business?
We have now made a link with a
factory in China. They were looking
for a sales and marketing arm of
their business. We worked together
on setting up what is now the Zeon
brand. Our production is now done by
our partners in Hong Kong.
We have developed product ranges
in 30 different sports. Our main
sports at the moment are swimming,
athletics, rowing and netball but we
are launching a cricket range next year
which is very exciting for us.
What skills learned from
professional cricket have
helped your business
career?
Self-motivation which is vital for
running a business, teamwork because
trust is a key, learning from mistakes
and resilience.