23/10/2025
It is with great sadness that I have to announce the passing of a club stalwart/legend and all round good guy, Graham Bassett. Many of you will remember Graham as the ‘50 Club Guy’, but he was so much more than that. He came to the club in the early 2000’s as Jon’s Dad, happy to ferry his fledgling bowler son to games as he made his way in the game. But he steadily got roped into playing, and we discovered that we’d found a cheeky little left arm sw***er, if you know what I mean!?
Graham became an integral part of our ‘Devon Dumplings’ touring side from 2006 onwards, even if his first tour involved not a single ball being bowled due to a non- stop deluge for the entire week! I roomed with him that tour and it was eventful, to say the least, possibly due to some rather long and heavy drinking sessions (what else were we supposed to do?)... Needless to say, Graham ended up ‘wearing’ a TV at 4am one morning when he took a tumble and pulled it off the table on top of himself. Scared the bejazus out me, who’d been tucked up in bed for two hours! It was also during one of the damn fine evening meals in an Italian restaurant on that first tour that we discovered Graham’s talent for story telling, as he had the entire table of around a dozen blokes literally crying with laughter! It still brings a smile to my face thinking about it now…
Over the last few years many of the older players have steadily left the club, and when the core of the 1st Team that included Jon Bassett, Alex Jones and Joe Holmes all left within a year or so Graham suddenly found that his reason for watching was no longer there, and he gradually started to drift away from the club.
Sadly, he became ill a little over a year ago, and though he was always in good spirits whenever he visited the club it was obvious that it was taking a toll on him. He made his last visit to the ground towards the end of this last season, and was there to see my last ever game for the club. I’ll miss him. His eternal optimism that the this is Blues’ year. His sense of humour. His passion for his son’s cricket. So long Bertie. RIP…
Iain Wingfield
