The Golden Days of Cricket; Tom Graveney

The golden days of cricket, for me: the mid-1950's, about sixty years ago, when stylish batsmen like Tom Graveney played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, which I supported - and when I was a schoolboy cricketer in Somerset, not yet  -or only barely - in my teens, playing for my school's First XI.

I was a useless batsman (I was always put in at Number Eleven), but I could be a pretty mean opening bowler - medium fast pace - with an impressive bowling average, though I say it myself, now (I was very reticent and rather too modest back then); I recall taking a lot of wickets for very few runs. My father, his father and my brother were all good bowlers. It must have run in the family.

I should have studied the advice of W.G.Grace on how to score.

Collecting Tom Graveney's autograph didn't improve my batting...

I was a hit-or-miss slogger; I try to forget the ducks

I'd almost forgotten all about cricket, until I happened to see an unused cricket bat for sale in a local market, signed by all the members of the Gloucestershire County Cricket team, from 1978. On a nostalgic impulse, I bought it. A magic bat! Later on I thought, what on earth do I do with it? It's listed on Ebay now.  

I feel I rather let down the side, as far as cricket is concerned.
Earlier generations:

The real golden days

Good advice from W.G.Grace in the cricket prize book: