Alan Rayment

The son of Samuel Rayment and his wife, Wennerloef, he was born in May 1928 at Finchley. He was educated at Finchley Grammar School.^[1] Whilst undertaking his National Service with the Royal Air Force,^[2] Rayment his debut in first-class cricket for the Combined Services cricket team against Northamptonshire at Northampton in 1947.^{[3] [4]} A club cricketer for Finchley Cricket Club, it was while playing for the Middlesex Second XI in 1948 that he first came to the attention of Hampshire,^[1] then rebuilding under the captaincy and secretaryship of Desmond Eagar following the 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.^[2] His debut for Hampshire followed in the 1949 County Championship against Glamorgan at Cardiff. Having made eight first-class appearances in 1949, he further established himself in the Hampshire side in 1950, with fifteen appearances.^[4] Rayment played two notable innings late in the 1950 season against Gloucestershire at Bournemouth. With Sam Cook and 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 described his performance as “the two best innings” he saw “by a young cricketer”.^[5]

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.^[5][6] He made a third century in 1953 at Bristol, making 126 runs in a fourth wicket stand of 246 with Clifford Walker.^[2] He made his fourth and final century in 1955 against Somerset, which was arguably his most notable due to the difficult batting conditions at Weston-super-Mare. He made an attacking unbeaten 104 in Hampshire's second innings of 245 for 7 declared, after Somerset had been dismissed for 37 in their first innings; Hampshire went on to win the match by an innings.^[5] He made exactly 1,000 runs in 1956 (without making a century),^[6] 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.^[7] Rayment played first-class cricket for Hampshire until 1958, making 198 appearances.^[4] In these, he scored 6,333 runs at an average of 20.36; alongside his four centuries, he also made 23 half centuries.^[8] He was noted for his quick feet as a batsman and as a cover fielder, which was attributed to expertise in ballroom dancing.^[7] As a fielder, he took 86 catches.^[8] 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.^[2]