Michael Bailey (cricketer)

{{short description|English cricketer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}

{{Infobox cricketer

| name = Michael Bailey

| image =

| country = England

| fullname = Michael John Bailey

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|8|1|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England

| heightft =

| heightinch =

| batting = Left-handed

| bowling = Right-arm off-break

| club1 = Hampshire

| year1 = {{nowrap|1979–1982}}

| club2 = Wiltshire

| year2 = {{nowrap|1983–1984}}

| club3 = Herefordshire

| year3 = {{nowrap|1992–1997}}

| columns = 2

| column1 = First-class

| matches1 = 20

| runs1 = 228

| bat avg1 = 11.40

| 100s/50s1 = –/–

| top score1 = 24

| deliveries1 = 1,750

| wickets1 = 18

| bowl avg1 = 55.33

| fivefor1 = 1

| tenfor1 = –

| best bowling1 = 5/89

| catches/stumpings1 = 8/–

| column2 = List A

| matches2 = 3

| runs2 = 54

| bat avg2 = 31

| 100s/50s2 = –/–

| top score2 = 31

| deliveries2 = 156

| wickets2 = 1

| bowl avg2 = 116.00

| fivefor2 = –

| tenfor2 = –

| best bowling2 = 1/50

| catches/stumpings2 = –/–

| date = 21 October

| year = 2009

| source = http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/8940.html Cricinfo

}}

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

Bailey was born at Cheltenham in August 1954. He made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Essex at Bournemouth in the 1979 County Championship. He played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1982, making twenty appearances.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} Playing principally as a right-arm off break bowler,{{cite web|url=https://hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com/2017/10/19/a-z-b2/|title=A-Z (B2)|publisher=www.hampshirecrickethistory.wordpress.com|accessdate=6 August 2023}} Bailey took 18 wickets at an average of 55.33; he took one five wicket haul,{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/f_Bowling_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Bowling For Each Team by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} with figures of 5 for 89 against Northamptonshire in 1980.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/40/40555.html|title=Northamptonshire v Hampshire, Schweppes County Championship 1980|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} He scored 228 runs with the bat at a batting average of 11.40, with a highest score of 24.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} 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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=odhnDwAAQBAJ|title=The Judge: More Than Just a Game|first=Robin|last=Smith|author-link=Robin Smith (cricketer)|date=2019|publisher=Random House|location=London|page=36|isbn=9781473549630|language=en}}

After leaving Hampshire at the end of the 1982 season, he played minor counties cricket for Wiltshire in 1983 and 1984, making six appearances in the Minor Counties Championship and three in the MCCA Knockout Trophy.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/Minor_Counties_Championship_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Championship Matches played by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}}{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/Minor_Counties_Trophy_Matches.html|title=Minor Counties Trophy Matches played by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} It was for Wiltshire that Bailey made his debut in List A one-day cricket, against Northamptonshire at Swindon in the 1983 NatWest Trophy, with a second one-day appearance coming against Leicestershire in the 1984 NatWest Trophy.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6460/List_A_Matches.html|title=List A Matches played by Mike Bailey|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=6 August 2023|url-access=subscription}} He returned to minor counties cricket almost a decade later to play for Herefordshire 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 (102).{{cite news|url=https://www.herefordtimes.com/sport/15405304.herefordshire-may-make-changes-for-trip-to-berkshire/|title=Herefordshire may make changes for trip to Berkshire|first=Richard|last=Prime|work=Hereford Times|date=13 July 2017|accessdate=7 August 2023}} Bailey also made a single one-day appearance for Herefordshire against Durham in the 1995 NatWest Trophy.