Rob in the ‘Hood: Ted Morley: ‘A good innings and a life well lived’
He was both an active spectator as well active participant in cricket.
Morning, friends. Another week we have got through, just ‘staying alive’.
Can’t say it has been a good week: I received three messages from friends saying that their spouses had died. There’s never a ‘right time’ when someone you know has died, health- or age-wise.
None more so than being informed that one of the coast’s favourites, Ted Morley of Ramsgate, had died at the age of 84 on July 17.
What’s your drink? The Morleys were among the first people the CO and I met when we arrived here. In fact, Mary was the first woman to buy me a drink at the South Coast Striders clubhouse in Uvongo, making us feel welcome.
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In time we got to know the Morleys, and were privileged to attend Ted’s 80th birthday celebrations in March, 2016, duly reported in the Herald Bonus.
A memorable occasion, with several former South African cricket legends from yesteryear among the guests, paying tribute to Ted. A life well lived. The main heading in the Bonus was: ‘Ted Morley: This Is Your Life’.
With the kind assistance of Mary, who supplied what was a wealth of information, I was able to comprehend what a remarkable man Ted really was.
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1936, Ted, then just five months old, moved to Hampshire, England, where he was educated. As a teenager, Ted completed his national service in the RAF, which included an 18-month stint in Singapore, Malaya.
Upon being de-mobbed in 1956, Ted realised that living overseas was preferable to cold, grey, wet Britain. The former Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland beckoned, with Ted emigrating to the former Southern Rhodesia.
Ted made a career as a customs and excise officer, firstly in Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia, followed by spells in Ndola, Chirundu, on the banks of the Zambesi, Beira, Mocambique, Gwelo and Salisbury.
Ill-health and a serious motor accident curtailed Ted’s sporting activities, also affecting his working career. He retired from the customs service in 1969, at the comparatively young age of 36.
After visiting Japan, Ted took ‘more time off’ to follow his big love in life: cricket! He was both an active’ spectator as well active participant in cricket.
Besides witnessing some of cricket’s greatest historical moments, Ted joined the Cricketers’ Club of London, meeting many of England’s ‘greats, including Jack Young, Freddie Truman, Brian Statham, Denis Compton, Bill Edrich and Godfrey Evans.
Golden days to be a cricket follower, able to tour Australia with the CCL, including meeting the legendary Don Bradman, Lindsay Hassett, Ian Craig, and former England fast bowlers Frank Tyson and Harold Larwood.
Who remembers Le Matelot? In 1972, Ted returned to Rhodesia but found it difficult to get a job: prospective employers couldn’t believe Ted had taken three years off to follow cricket. He eventually became an assistant restaurant manager.
Heady days for those of us who can remember Flanagan’s restaurant and Le Matelot night club, Avondale. Small world, isn’t it? I didn’t know Ted in those days, unfortunately. It would be some 35 years later when Ted and myself would be able to talk ‘all things cricket’, and his beloved Southampton football team.
I used to refer to Ted as a ‘Walking Wisden’, as he knew everything and everyone in the world of cricket. His book collection was phenomenal, his love of the game never-ending.
Life is full of surprises. But life has many turns and surprises. None so more than when Ted managed Triangle Country Club, in the Rhodesian Lowveld. In need of renovations to the country club, Mary Jenkinson had travelled from Bulawayo as an interior decorating consultant.
A case of ‘When Ted met Mary’ or as Mary put it: “It wasn’t love at first sight, but…” The Morleys were together for 46 years, and ne’er a day too long. I seem to have heard that somewhere before!
The news of Ted’s death seems to have reached the four corners of the earth. A ‘Rhodesian Exiles’ newsletter, published online in the United Kingdom and the USA, respectively, attracted more than 270 tributes to Ted, worldwide.
Our condolences to Mary. To a life well-lived, Ted: I shall miss our little chats on cricket, football and that place ‘up north’.
See you.
Rob
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