by Mayukh Ghosh

May 1987.
Hampshire captain Mark Nicholas brought his mother into the pristine county club.
Upon entering, they turned right and began to climb the stairs when, at the first level, she stopped.
She was staring at a photograph.
"Lionel, Lionel Tennyson.....Lionel played for Hampshire?"
Nicholas looked embarrassed.
"Either side of the first war Lionel Tennyson was Hampshire. Surely you knew that. He captained the county for....er....well, for years."

Long before Colin Ingleby-Mackenzie's 'wine, women and song' slogan, it was Lionel Tennyson who instilled that culture in the Hampshire team.
When Hampshire played in London he went straight from the cricket to White's Club, of which he was a member for many years.
There he would dine well, play cards till morning, take a Turkish bath and return to the ground for the day's play.

And his rule on the field of play was absolute. No one ever had the temerity to oppose him.
On an occasion one of the batsmen was felled by a bouncer. As he sat on the ground a note was brought to him.
"What do you think your ____ bat is for? signed Lionel" !

On another occasion he tried to intimidate the umpire.
As a batsman came out to join him at the crease towards the end of the day, Tennyson, seeing the poor light, shouted out, "Are you there?"
The incoming batsman replied, "I can hear you, my Lord, but I can't see you."

He could have given the likes of Bill Edrich and Keith Miller a run for their money.
Both on the field and off it!
He was injured thrice during World War I and from that point decided to live each day as it was the last in his life.
Or else how could one justify selling off a new Rolls Royce to pay for a bad evening at the card table.

And long before Malcolm Marshall he batted one-handed in a Test match, that too against the likes of McDonald and Gregory.

Lionel Tennyson was born on Nov 7, 1889.