# Alan Rayment > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Rayment > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alan_Rayment.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rayment > Source revision: 1287700370 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English cricketer (1928–2020)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use British English|date=October 2020}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Alan Rayment | image = | country = England | fullname = Alan William Harrington Rayment | nickname = Punchy{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/nov/29/alan-rayment-obituary|title=Alan Rayment obituary|first=Dave|last=Allen|work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)|location=[London](/source/London)|date=29 November 2020|accessdate=17 September 2023}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|5|29|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Finchley](/source/Finchley), [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex), England | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|10|27|1928|5|29|df=y}} | death_place = [Lymington](/source/Lymington), [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire), England | heightft = | heightinch = | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Unknown | role = | family = | club1 = [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) | year1 = 1949–1958 | columns = 1 | column1 = [First-class](/source/First-class_cricket) | matches1 = 199 | runs1 = 6,338 | bat avg1 = 20.31 | 100s/50s1 = 4/23 | top score1 = 126 | deliveries1 = 1,205 | wickets1 = 19 | bowl avg1 = 40.63 | fivefor1 = – | tenfor1 = – | best bowling1 = 4/75 | catches/stumpings1 = 86/– | date = 28 October | year = 2020 | source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/alan-rayment-19341 Cricinfo }} '''Alan William Harrington Rayment''' (29 May 1928 — 27 October 2020) was an English first-class [cricket](/source/cricket)er and social worker. Rayment played [first-class cricket](/source/first-class_cricket) for [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club) from 1949 to 1958, scoring over 6,000 runs in 198 matches. After retiring from playing, he held a number of occupations, most notably as a senior [social worker](/source/Social_work) for [West Sussex County Council](/source/West_Sussex_County_Council). From March 2020 to his death in October 2020, he was Hampshire's oldest surviving cricketer. ==Cricket career== The son of Samuel Rayment and his wife, Wennerloef, he was born in May 1928 at [Finchley](/source/Finchley). He was educated at [Finchley Grammar School](/source/Finchley_Catholic_High_School). Whilst undertaking his [National Service](/source/Conscription_in_the_United_Kingdom) with the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force),{{cite web|url=https://www.ageasbowl.com/cricket/news/hampshire-cricket-pays-tribute-to-alan-rayment/|title=Hampshire Cricket Pays Tribute To Alan Rayment|website=www.ageasbowl.com|accessdate=17 September 2023}} Rayment his debut in [first-class cricket](/source/first-class_cricket) for the [Combined Services cricket team](/source/Combined_Services_cricket_team) against [Northamptonshire](/source/Northamptonshire_County_Cricket_Club) at [Northampton](/source/County_Cricket_Ground%2C_Northampton) in 1947.{{cite book|title=The Shorter Wisden 2021|last=Booth|first=Lawrence|author-link=Lawrence Booth (cricket writer)|publisher=[Bloomsbury Publishing](/source/Bloomsbury_Publishing)|location=London|date=2021|pages=323–4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mMQpEAAAQBAJ|isbn=9781472994370}} {{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6816/First-Class_Matches.html|title=First-Class Matches played by Alan Rayment|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=17 September 2023|url-access=subscription}} A [club cricket](/source/club_cricket)er for [Finchley Cricket Club](/source/Finchley_Cricket_Club), it was while playing for the [Middlesex Second XI](/source/Middlesex_County_Cricket_Club) in 1948 that he first came to the attention of [Hampshire](/source/Hampshire_County_Cricket_Club), then rebuilding under the captaincy and secretaryship of [Desmond Eagar](/source/Desmond_Eagar) following the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War). Two months later, Eagar wrote to Finchley's secretary and Rayment's parents to request a meeting, in which he was offered a two-year contract to play for Hampshire. His debut for Hampshire followed in the [1949 County Championship](/source/1949_County_Championship) against [Glamorgan](/source/Glamorgan_County_Cricket_Club) at [Cardiff](/source/Cardiff_Arms_Park). Having made eight first-class appearances in 1949, he further established himself in the Hampshire side in 1950, with fifteen appearances. Rayment played two notable innings late in the 1950 season against [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire_County_Cricket_Club) at [Bournemouth](/source/Dean_Park_Cricket_Ground). With [Sam Cook](/source/Sam_Cook_(cricketer%2C_born_1921)) and [Tom Goddard](/source/Tom_Goddard) spinning Gloucestershire to an innings victory, Rayment made scores of 58 and 94, which were the highest scores across both Hampshire innings. [John Arlott](/source/John_Arlott) described his performance as “the two best innings” he saw “by a young cricketer”.{{cite news|url=https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/news/obituary-alan-rayment-hampshire-county-cricket-player-9150125/|title=Obituary: Alan Rayment|first=James|last=Henley|work=[Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser](/source/Lymington_Times_and_New_Milton_Advertiser)|location=[New Milton](/source/New_Milton)|date=13 November 2020|accessdate=17 September 2023}} Two years later in 1952, he recorded his first instance of making over 1,000 runs in a season, in addition to scoring his first two [centuries](/source/century_(cricket)).{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6816/f_Batting_by_Season.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Alan Rayment|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=17 September 2023|url-access=subscription}} He made a third century in 1953 at [Bristol](/source/Bristol_County_Ground), making 126 runs in a fourth wicket stand of 246 with [Clifford Walker](/source/Clifford_Walker_(cricketer)). He made his fourth and final century in 1955 against [Somerset](/source/Somerset_County_Cricket_Club), which was arguably his most notable due to the difficult batting conditions at [Weston-super-Mare](/source/Clarence_Park%2C_Weston-super-Mare). He made an attacking [unbeaten](/source/not_out) 104 in Hampshire's second innings of 245 for 7 [declared](/source/Declaration_and_forfeiture), after Somerset had been dismissed for 37 in their first innings; Hampshire went on to [win the match by an innings](/source/Result_(cricket)). He made exactly 1,000 runs in 1956 (without making a century), and was a member of the Hampshire team which finished third in 1955 and second in 1958 — these were Hampshire's highest finishes in the County Championship to that point.{{cite news|url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18856608.hampshires-oldest-surviving-country-cricketer-alan-rayment-died-aged-92/|title=Hampshire's oldest surviving country cricketer Alan Rayment has died aged 92|first=Lorelei|last=Reddin|work=[Daily Echo](/source/Southern_Daily_Echo)|location=[Southampton](/source/Southampton)|date=9 November 2020|accessdate=17 September 2023}} Rayment played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1958, making 198 appearances. In these, he scored 6,333 runs at an [average](/source/batting_average_(cricket)) of 20.36; alongside his four centuries, he also made 23 half centuries.{{cite web|url=https://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/6/6816/f_Batting_by_Team.html|title=First-Class Batting and Fielding For Each Team by Alan Rayment|publisher=CricketArchive|accessdate=17 September 2023|url-access=subscription}} He was noted for his quick feet as a batsman and as a [cover fielder](/source/Cover_(cricket)), which was attributed to expertise in ballroom dancing. As a fielder, he took 86 catches. Rayment was Hampshire's last professional to have solely played in three-day first-class matches, before the introduction of [List A one-day cricket](/source/List_A_cricket). ==Retirement and later life== Rayment retired from first-class cricket following the 1958 season to become an [evangelist missionary](/source/Evangelist_(Anglican_Church)).{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000290/19580905/236/0028|title=Repent in Leigh Park|work=[Portsmouth Evening News](/source/The_News_(Portsmouth))|page=28|date=5 September 1958|access-date=17 September 2023|url-access=subscription|via=[British Newspaper Archive](/source/British_Newspaper_Archive)}} From the 1940s to the late 1950s, Rayment and his wife, Betty, ran a dancing school in a hotel adjacent to [Northlands Road](/source/County_Ground%2C_Southampton).{{cite book|title=The Way It Was: Glimpses of English cricket's past|last=Chalke|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Chalke|publisher=[Fairfield Books](/source/Stephen_Chalke)|location=[Bath](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset)|date=2011|pages=114–16|isbn=9780956851116|language=en}}{{cite book|title=On Cricket|first=Mike|last=Brearley|author-link=Mike Brearley|publisher=[Little, Brown Book Group](/source/Little%2C_Brown_Book_Group)|location=[London](/source/London)|year=2018|page=133|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ydeDwAAQBAJ|isbn=9781472129451|language=en}} He also coached at [Lord's](/source/Lord's) in 1959 (where he was offered the role of head coach of the [Marylebone Cricket Club](/source/Marylebone_Cricket_Club){{cite news|url=https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/news/friends-of-milford-based-former-county-cricketer-step-in-to-9225202/|title=Friends of Hampshire county cricketer Alan Rayment posthumously complete his book|first=Chris|last=March|work=Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser|location=New Milton|date=12 November 2021|accessdate=17 September 2023}}),Chalke, pp. 274–75. and on occasion the Hampshire Second XI, with it being noted that he coached his fellow-cricketers through the perspective of a dance instructor. His missionary work was short-lived and he did not accept the head coach role at Lord's, with Rayment instead turning to teaching history, English, scripture and games at Princes Mead prep school in [Winchester](/source/Winchester), before setting up an estate agents business in Southampton, which he sold in 1965 to retrain as a community worker at [Westhill College](/source/Selly_Oak_Colleges) in [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham). His retraining gained him employment in the 1970s as an assistant warden at Abbey Community Centre in [Kilburn](/source/Kilburn%2C_London), and later as warden at Pollards Hill Community Centre in [Merton](/source/London_Borough_of_Merton). From London, he moved to [West Sussex](/source/West_Sussex) to become a senior community worker, and later [social worker](/source/Social_work) for [West Sussex County Council](/source/West_Sussex_County_Council). From 1982 to 1993, he was mostly self-employed as a [bereavement counsellor](/source/Grief_counseling) and [psychotherapist](/source/Psychotherapy). In 2013, he published his memoirs, ''Punchy Through the Covers, 1928-1949'', which detailed his early life. In later life, he retained his interest in cricket by watching Hampshire and Lymington. He was a member of various cricket societies, including the Dorset Cricket Society and [Hambledon Cricket Club](/source/Hambledon_Club). Away from cricket, he was a keen supporter of the [Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra](/source/Bournemouth_Symphony_Orchestra). With his wife, Betty, he had six children; they divorced in 1970, but remained good friends. His second marriage to Joan De Torre lasted until her death in 2005, with Rayment spending his final years with his partner, Elizabeth Lloyd. Following the death of [John Manners](/source/John_Manners_(cricketer)) in March 2020, Rayment became the oldest surviving Hampshire cricketer.{{cite magazine |title=John Manners, 1914–2020: The man who helped drive the Nazis from Norwegian soil|url=https://www.thecricketer.com/Topics/features/john_manners_oldest_living_cricketer_england_hampshire.html|first=Richard|last=Edwards|date=12 March 2020|access-date=16 March 2020|magazine=[The Cricketer](/source/The_Cricketer)}} Rayment died in [Lymington Hospital](/source/Lymington_New_Forest_Hospital) in the [New Forest](/source/New_Forest) on 27 October 2020, following a short illness. In tribute, then Hampshire chairman [Rod Bransgrove](/source/Rod_Bransgrove) said "what he embodied more than anything was the spirit of a Hampshire player and I have only ever known his as a warm and genial presence". At the time of his death, he had been working on the second part of his autobiography. This was completed posthumously by friends and was released in November 2021. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{cricinfo|id=19341}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Rayment, Alan}} Category:1928 births Category:2020 deaths Category:People from Finchley Category:Cricketers from the London Borough of Barnet Category:People educated at Finchley Grammar School Category:Royal Air Force airmen Category:English cricketers Category:Combined Services cricketers Category:Hampshire cricketers Category:English male dancers Category:English Anglican missionaries Category:English cricket coaches Category:Schoolteachers from London Category:English social workers Category:English psychotherapists Category:20th-century English sportsmen --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alan Rayment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rayment) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Rayment?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.