England Test great Bailey dies in house fire

Former England all-rounder Trevor Bailey has died in a house fire, the England and Wales Cricket Board confirmed Thursday. Bailey, 87, who played 61 Tests during a 10-year international career, died early Thursday in a fire at his home, the ECB said in a statement.
Firefighters later said they had rescued Bailey's wife, Greta, from the blaze. Bailey, who also enjoyed a 21-year career with Essex before finding success as a cricket writer and broadcaster, was known as "barnacle" following several stubborn stints at the crease.
Arguably his most famous innings came in the Lord's Test against Australia in 1953, when along with Willie Watson, he helped stave off defeat which enabled England to retain the Ashes. "Trevor Bailey was not only one of the finest all-round cricketers this country has ever produced, he was also someone who made an enormous contribution to the game as an administrator and as a writer and broadcaster," ECB chairman Giles Clarke said in a statement Thursday.
"His loss will be deeply felt by everyone within the cricket community and we send our sympathies to his family and many friends within the game." ECB chief executive David Collier meanwhile paid tribute to Bailey's work as a pillar of BBC Radio's Test Match Special.
Bailey, who was also the secretary of Essex, was a mainstay of the England side from 1949 to 1959. As a seamer, he was good enough to open the bowling at Test level while circumstances saw him develop a reputation as an ultra-defensive batsman, with Bailey spending seven hours and 38 minutes making 68 against Australia at Brisbane in 1958/59.
But Richie Benaud, Australia's captain that series, would later write of Bailey that he was a "fine team man and one of the best all-rounders to play for England".
Bailey completed the then rare feat of making 2,000 Test runs and 100 wickets in Tests. He scored 2,290 Test runs at an average of 29.74, with a best of 134 not out against New Zealand at Christchurch in 1951, his lone century, and 10 fifties, while Bailey's right-arm fast medium bowling yielded 132 wickets at 29.21.