George Hollobone was associated with Lymington Cricket Club for more than 50 years. In that time he served the club as a player, captain, secretary and chairman, and latterly as a vice-president and keen supporter. When, in 1986, he stepped down as secretary and captain in order to take a well deserved rest, he received a standing ovation at the club’s annual dinner, such was the respect he’d earned from his fellow club members. 

George originally hailed from Coulsdon in Surrey, and after attending Whitgift school he joined the merchant navy as a deck officer and trained at Warsash school of navigation before working for Bowater Steamship Company transporting paper pulp to the UK from Scandinavia and North America. He married Sylvia in 1959 and left the navy a couple of years later to start his long career in the construction industry, including overseeing the building of the current ferry terminal at Lymington. He finished his working life as a part time court usher at the county courts in Christchurch. 

Alongside his love of cricket, which started in earnest after joining Merstham Cricket Club in Surrey during the mid 1960s, George had many other interests including sailing and walking. George’s son Bruce recalled how George and wife Sylvia, after moving to Lymington, bought a 16ft wooden sailing boat and spent many happy evenings with the family out in The Solent dodging the Isle of Wight ferry. George’s love of walking led to him forming, with a friend, a walking group that eventually became known as the ‘Onion Eaters’. The group grew and attracted new members through the years and they continue to this day. He learned Spanish, fell in love with the country and led around 50 walking groups in Spain. He was also a member of Lymington Historical Society, The New Forest Association, The Friends of the Lymington to Brockenhurst Line and the Lymington and District International Twinning Association.

Not long after joining Lymington Cricket Club George was instrumental, in 1976, in the formation of a junior section. He later recalled the difficulties he and his small committee had encountered back then: “We had very little kit - a few leftovers from the senior sides, an old holdall, some donated kit; and I well remember a fairly serious committee debate about whether we could afford to buy six junior cricket balls!” Fifty years on, Lymington’s junior section continues to thrive and prosper. George’s Sunday Second XI became popularly known as ‘Hollobone’s Heroes’. The team continued the development of many of those original juniors such as Tony Thorp, Luigi Di Maria and Ian Pearson, all of whom will no doubt always be appreciative of the help and encouragement they received from George. However, George’s quest to get the youngsters involved, sometimes at the expense of a victory, did lead to a remarkable amount of drawn matches, and while the mantra often associated with George: “why win a match when you can draw it?” was perhaps a little unfair, the records do indeed speak for themselves: 11 draws from 17 matches in 1985 alone. 

George liked the game to be played in the correct manner, and wasn’t shy to correct any individual or team who digressed from this philosophy. In one Sunday friendly fixture George felt the opposition weren’t playing the game in the right spirit and were giving their quick bowler a few too many overs at some of Lymington’s younger and less experienced batsmen. So when it came to the tea break, instead of declaring his team’s innings as was the usual practice, George opted to continue on batting into the post-tea session, much to the chagrin of the opposition. Heated words were exchanged apparently, and George even broke an age-old cricketing tradition by refusing to go back to the pub for a drink with the opposition after the match (which ended in a draw, naturally), and vowed that Lymington would never again arrange a friendly fixture against that particular team. And they never did!

George himself was a useful slow bowler, using his height to full advantage to bamboozle batsmen with his gentle dibbly-dobblies. In 1976 he took more than 20 wickets for the Second XI, but perhaps his finest hour came three years later against Penton when he took five wickets for no runs. Son Bruce recently discovered the Lymington Times report from that match glued into one of George's old notebooks with the words scribbled underneath: “My best ever bowling performance”. A stoical batsman, George was tough to remove from the crease, as his dogged half century against a decent Pylewell bowling attack in 1983 testifies. He was an integral part of The Elite CC, an evening friendly XI assembled of those too young or too old to face the rigours of regular Saturday league cricket, scoring 560 runs in 57 innings, including a best of 40.

In his latter years George was a familiar face at the Sports Ground on a Saturday afternoon, always keen to find out how the teams were doing and happy to discuss the latest developments in the game in general. Jerry Holt, who first came to know George when he joined the committee in 1982, said: “George had a calm demeanour and was always sensible and measured dealing with club matters. In recent years George would come up to the ground most Saturdays to watch and I would enjoy sitting and talking with him about the club which he still had a keen interest in. He was very active during our difficulties with the council, canvassing local support for the club in its battles with them. He will be greatly missed by his family and those of us who knew him”.

Perhaps the final words should be left to two of George’s proteges from those early days: Tony Thorp and Ian Pearson…

Tony Thorp: “George was a man who understood that cricket, at its heart, was never just a game, it was a way of life. At 90, he remained a true custodian of the sports finest traditions, embodying a grace and integrity that felt both timeless and rare. To George the spirit of cricket wasn’t a phrase in the rule book, it was his handshake, his quiet encouragement to a struggling youngster, and his unwavering belief in fair play. He belonged to an era where you walked if you nicked it and always clapped the opposition off the field, regardless of the outcome. George leaves behind a legacy as polished as a new cherry, and as enduring as the game itself. He played a magnificent innings, and although he has finally left the crease, echoes of his character will stay with us long after the bails are lifted. RIP.”

Ian Pearson: “George was, without question, a bridge between the traditional, “old school” approach to the game and the burgeoning modernism of the 1980s and beyond. His record as a Sunday captain shows a disproportionate number of draws - and not without reason. Under George, Sunday cricket was played for the game, not the outcome. Individual performances (including his legendary 5 for 0 on a drying wicket against Penton) were celebrated and encouraged, but the game was always bigger than the individual. Under his stewardship, a generation of young men were taught to embrace the wider meaning of the game: friendship, sportsmanship, and decency - all qualities George possessed in spades. He would often introduce young bowlers to give them experience rather than go for the jugular. Young batsmen were encouraged to value their wicket and play straight. Some even listened. One always came away from a game knowing that the outcome was right, and that a draw was often the polite thing to do. As a player, one could use a number of adjectives to describe George. ‘Swashbuckling’, ‘impulsive’, ‘fiery’, ‘aggressive’, ‘combative’ - George was none of these. He was, however, quietly competitive: studious, thoughtful, and respectful of both his team and his opponents. Best described as a cautious batsman, he was difficult to remove, capable of dispatching the ball to all parts of the square. Slowly. His bowling was like Chinese water torture: drip, drip, drip… wicket. As a captain, alongside the late, great Brian Rickman, he truly excelled. Rarely did a player go home without having been given a fair opportunity to shine. Rarely did a player go home without wanting to share a beer and a chat. Rarely did a player go home without being better for the day. That is George’s legacy, as a cricketer and as a person, to me: he made things better and inspired others to do the same. Well batted, George. Well batted.”

George’s funeral service will take place on Thursday 23rd April at 11.30am at New Forest Crematorium and Memorial Gardens, Stem Lane, New Milton BH25 5FH.