The
Cricketer Who Wore Glasses to Hear
When I joined
the club in 1968 Alec Tassell was the oldest playing member at Rainham,
being well into his sixties at the time. One member of the club
said that he was the only player who was capable of opening the
bowling for Rainham Cricket Club and Gillingham Bowls Club with
the same action at the same time. This was because his action was
round arm and with every season that passed his arm seemed to get
even lower. However, he was an effective bowler who regularly took
wickets for both the First and Second XI. Like most successful bowlers
he was very accurate on line and length with varied pace and flight.
Alec was a wily old bowler.
Alec first played
for Rainham in 1940 after a long spell with Upchurch, beginning
in the 1920s when he was a 16-year-old. After serving in Singapore
with the Royal Engineers in 1941 he rejoined Rainham at the end
of the Second World War and became First XI captain in 1946. In
the same season he had one of his best bowling displays of 8-18
against Dulwich Crescent Under his captaincy Rainham had one of
their best ever seasons in 1948, losing just one match.
Although he
remained a recognized bowler throughout his playing days he also
started as an opening batsman but as he aged he worked himself down
to number eleven in the batting order. Even as a player of seventy
years old opposing bowlers found him very difficult to dismiss as
he left his bat upright in the crease, in front of the stumps, allowing
the ball to hit it. This meant that his only scoring shot was off
the edge.
The thing that
was peculiar about Alec Tassell which made him unique at the club
apart from being the oldest player was that he had to wear his glasses
to hear as he was almost stone deaf. He had a hearing aid built
into them. When bowling he didn't wear his glasses as he could watch
the umpire's reaction after he had made an appeal but when batting
he had to wear them. There was one exception to this in 1970 in
a Second XI away match against Woodstock. After a collapse of wickets
Alec was called upon at number eleven to join opening batsman Austin
Barrett who had survived at the wicket. The problem was that he
had forgotten to bring his glasses and to complicate matters Austin
Barrett also had a hearing problem. After a series of calling mix
ups where one player had run halfway down the wicket only to be
sent back by the other, Austin Barrett played a shot and shouted
"no," Alec set off. Austin Barrett also set off with both
meeting nose to nose halfway down the wicket, both shouting "no."
With Woodstock fielders making several unsuccessful attempts to
throw down the wicket at both ends the two Rainham batsmen ran back
to their respective ends, both diving full length in clouds of dust
to regain their ground. The calling comedy continued with the whole
Rainham team in fits of laughter at the edge of the pitch. Eventually
Austin Barrett lost patience, tried a big hit to score runs and
was bowled. The conversation that took place between the two men
as they left the pitch wasn't heard.
In my first
full season for Rainham in 1969 Alec was still an effective bowler
and I remember him taking 7-36 against BP Kent, 6-20 against Phoenix
A and 5-8 against Loose, all for the Second XI. In the same season
he took 5 wickets in a First XI match against Cobham. Even as late
as 1971 he took 7-14 against Minster.
Alec was a character
of the club, cheerful and always turned up at and left the ground
on match days wearing his cricket gear. Alec left the club in the
early mid 1970s and played out his final season with Upchurch before
retiring. He was probably the oldest player to play for the club
on a long-term regular basis. His wife Mary who still lives in Rainham
celebrates her 102nd birthday this year and is possibly the oldest
resident in the town.
David Wood 2004
