Univ Record 2018

1955
JACK ARTHUR BAILEY (Christ’s Hospital) died on 14 July 2018 aged 88. He read
Geography at Univ. We are most grateful to the Marylebone Cricket Club (M.C.C.)
for allowing us to reproduce this portrait of Jack, and also the following tribute, which
appeared on their website:
Members of the Committee of M.C.C. have expressed their sadness at news of the
death of former Secretary, Committee member and Honorary Life Member Jack Bailey.
Bailey began his career at Lord’s as M.C.C. Assistant Secretary with press, public
relations and commercial responsibilities in 1967. Seven years later, he succeeded Billy
Griffith to become the eleventh Secretary of M.C.C. – a position he was to hold until
1987.
It was an era characterised by a period of great change in cricket, as the game sought
to keep pace with changes in society. This included: the abolition of amateur status; the
creation of TCCB (now ECB); the advent of one-day cricket; the exclusion of South
Africa from world cricket; and the
challenges posed by Kerry Packer’s
World Series Cricket. All were tackled
with Bailey’s customary vigour. Under
his leadership, ICC launched the first
Cricket World Cup in 1975 and by the
time of his departure, M.C.C. was on
the cusp of its Bicentenary celebrations
and the completion of the Mound
Stand.
A regular contributor to the Sunday
Telegraph before his appointment to
M.C.C., Bailey later wrote for The
Times and authored a biography of his
© MCC
Essex teammate and namesake, Trevor Bailey, as well as a memoir of his time at Lord’s.
He returned to the Committee Room in 1995 to serve on M.C.C.’s General Purposes
sub-committee for seven years, the latter three coinciding with a term as an elected
member of the M.C.C. Committee. During all his time at Lord’s, he was a great stalwart
of the Club’s Members and its staff.
Educated at Christ’s Hospital, Bailey made his first-class debut for Essex in 1953.
He played 71 matches for the county and a further 31 for Oxford in a career spanning
112 first-class matches, in which he took 347 wickets with his right-arm fast-medium
bowling, at an average of 21.62.
He was elected as a Member of M.C.C. in 1958 and participated in tours to East
Africa, South America, Canada and the United States, Holland and Denmark.
He played in 63 matches for M.C.C. between 1956 and 1981, capturing 204 wickets
at an unusually low average of 11.64 runs apiece and including nine five-wicket hauls.
Playing for M.C.C. against Ireland in a First-class match in 1966, Bailey returned
amazing match figures of 13 for 57, taking 5 for 33 in the first innings and a career-best
8 for 24 in the second.
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