Vince Mansell Chapell

Vince was another Elizabeth College boy (number 4441). He was born in 1932 and died in 2019. At school he played for the 1st XI from 1948 to 1950 and gained his colours in 1949. He also played 1st team football. After school he became a civil servant until 1954, then becoming a grower’s merchant until 1965. He turned grower until 1980 and then worked at the Guernsey Press until 1991 when he retired to France, but returned in 1995.

In 1948 he played 17 games for the 1st XI but rarely used as a bowler, sending down just a few overs in each match but still managed 17 wickets. In the following year in 21 matches he took fewer wickets, only 15, and had one good score of 53*. His final year at school realised 50 wickets in 20 matches and a top score of 76 although most innings were single figures. He received the fielding prize in his last two years, and bowled fast off-breaks but it was probably what we would now call off-cutters.

One particular match on 6th June 1949 he played for the GICC against the Guernsey Cricket League at College Field. The GCL scored 162-9 before declaring with Vince finishing with the figures of 11-3-26-7 but did not finish on the winning side as the GICC were 107-6 in reply.

He first played in the 1951 Inter-Insular in a rain-affected low scoring drawn game. In 1954 at the College Field Guernsey were dismissed for 115 with Vince scoring 11* and in Jersey’s reply of 117-5 he bowled 10-0-37-2

His last appearance for Guernsey was in 1955 at Victoria College when he had his best results. Guernsey batted first and scored 153 with Vince demonstrating his ability with 22 runs. His mammoth bowling spell of 20-3-57-3 was instrumental in restricting Jersey to 136-7. In the Star newspaper report of the match it was said that “it was mainly because of the steadiness and accuracy of the bowling that Jersey failed to make the required 18 runs to record a win”.