Three times an Ashes winner Trevor Bailey is regarded next to Ian Botham as Englands premier all-rounder since the Second World War. He was a schoolboy prodigy at Dulwich College & won cricket & soccer blues at Cambridge University & an FA Amateur Cup winners medal with Walthamstow in 1951-2. At the heart of the story is the fighting spirit of a loyalist that served England
- & his home county Essex
- so well in a crisis. He was at his greatest when the tensions ran high especially in one of the most celebrated of rearguard actions against Australia at Lords in 1953. Bailey played in 61 Tests in which he became then only the second Englishman after Wilfred Rhodes to score 2000 runs & take 100 wickets. His cricket acumen in retirement brought him to the attention of another listening public as a broadcaster on the BBCs Test Match Special programme.