Michael John Bailey (born 1 August 1954) is an English former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. Bailey was born at

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

in August 1954. He made his debut in

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

against

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

in the

1979 County Championship The 1979 Schweppes County Championship was the 80th officially organised running of the County Championship. Essex won their first Championship title. Ten matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled and are not included in the table. The ...

. He played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1982, making twenty appearances. Playing principally as a right-arm

off break Off spin is a type of finger spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called an off spinner. Off spinners are right-handed spin bowlers who use their fingers to spin the ball. Their normal delivery is an off break, which spi ...

bowler, Bailey took 18 wickets at an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

of 55.33; he took one

five wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Taking ...

, with figures of 5 for 89 against

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

in 1980. He scored 228 runs with the bat at a batting average of 11.40, with a highest score of 24. He was noted by Robin Smith, who joined Hampshire in Bailey's final season with the county, as the dressing-room joker in the Hampshire team. After leaving Hampshire at the end of the 1982 season, he played

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in 1983 and 1984, making six appearances in the

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship (previously the Minor Counties Cricket Championship) is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national cou ...

and three in the MCCA Knockout Trophy. It was for Wiltshire that Bailey made his debut in List A one-day cricket, against Northamptonshire at

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

in the

1983 NatWest Trophy The 1983 NatWest Trophy was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 29 June and 3 September 1983. The third NatWest Trophy competition, it was won by Somerset who defeated Kent by 24 runs in the final at Lord' ...

, with a second one-day appearance coming against

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

in the

1984 NatWest Trophy The 1984 NatWest Trophy was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 4 July and 1 September 1984. The fourth NatWest Trophy tournament, it was won by Middlesex who defeated Kent by 4 wickets in the final at Lord ...

. He returned to minor counties cricket almost a decade later to play for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

in their first season in the Minor Counties Championship in 1992. He played minor counties cricket for Herefordshire until 1997, making 27 appearances in the Minor Counties Championship and two appearances in the MCCA Knockout Trophy. By July 2017, he stood as Herefordshire's third-leading wicket-taker in the Minor Counties Championship with 81, behind Kevin Cooper (221) and

Paul Humphries Paul Jonathan Humphries (born 10 October 1965) is a former English cricketer. Humphries was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm fast-medium. He was born at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Hughes made his debut for Herefordshire in the 1 ...

(102). Bailey also made a single one-day appearance for Herefordshire against Durham in the

1995 NatWest Trophy The 1995 NatWest Trophy was the 15th NatWest Trophy. It was an English limited overs county cricket tournament which was held between 27 June and 2 September 1995. The tournament was won by Warwickshire County Cricket Club who defeated Northampt ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Michael 1954 births Living people English cricketers Hampshire cricketers Herefordshire cricketers Wiltshire cricketers Cricketers from Cheltenham