A HAMPSHIRE cricketing legend has bowled his final ball.
Christopher Bazalgette, who spent decades with the Hampshire Hogs in Warnford, historic Hambledon Cricket Club and wandering cricket club The Forty (XL) Club, has died aged 84.
He was a life member of all three clubs, a founder of the European Cricketer Cup and advertisement manager for The Cricketer, a publication for which he was also a prolific writer.
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A larger-than-life character and hugely respected in club cricket circles, he appeared on tour for many amateur teams around the world and even taught Channel 4 comedian Ali G to play the game.
As a writer, he penned over 800,000 words, mainly for The Cricketer International. He has starred in a number of American, Australian and British television programmes on the game and wrote a book entitled Think Cricket.
In a long and distinguished amateur career, he took over 2,500 wickets including those of former Hampshire captain turned commentator Mark Nicholas (three times), Ravi Shastri, former head coach of the India national cricket team, former New Zealand cricketer Jeff Crowe and former Australian cricketer Doug Walters. 1,405 of these wickets were taken for Hampshire Hogs, for whom he made over 800 appearances, the last in 2017. He took five or more wickets for the Hogs on 49 occasions.
Christopher, who lived near Fareham, joined XL Club in 1977 and over the years was a match manager, chairman of the Cricket Committee, South District Chairman, and a member of the Executive Committee.
In some 138 matches for XL between 1978 and 2009 he took 205 wickets with best figures of 7-50. He achieved a five-wicket haul nine times.
In a throwback to cricketing yesteryear, Christopher often played with a Hogs tie holding up his whites and, bowling to his infamous 7-2 field, was so meticulous with his bowling gameplan that he would mark where his fielders should stand.
He bravely battled a long illness, which left him bedridden for the closing year or so of his hugely active life.
Christopher's funeral will take place at 1pm on Friday, January 20, at St James Church, Southwick, followed by a reception nearby.
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