I played for Stage a couple or so years before 1962 and it was only after an apprenticeship of proving I could bat, bowl, run and catch was I deemed trustworthy enough to be told I was an assistant match manager.
The swanky Welbeck telephone number shown against my name on the fixture card here was that of a telephone answering service used in those days when you carried a bleeper with which the service bureau alerted you to call the service to collect your messages: considered posh in those days and raised many an oooh!
When I did my first few stints of match managing I was in awe of some of the names I phoned and often, when trying to persuade some of the starry names to appear for us, I would address them as, “Sir!” It worked to a degree but I don’t reckon on the chances of that style today.
Brian Jackson
