Dorset Cricket Society

Dorset Cricket Society

Résumé of events 2007-8

Year

Month

Day

Speaker

Topic

2007
Sept
27th

Ian Henderson

Ian has been a sports journalist and broadcaster for many years, with, amongst others, the BBC, Radio Solent and in print. In a wonderfully irreverent afternoon he encompassed the sports of football and cricket, concentrating mainly on the local clubs, before ending with a 'hole-in-one'. An excellent start to the season.

Oct
4th

Tim Hill

Tim is the forthcoming chairman of the English Schools Cricket Association and a former cricket master at Bryanstan School. He took us through the development of cricket from its medieval times to the end of the 19th Century and especially the influence which the public schools such as Eton and Harrow had on the game. His talk included references to wicket-keeping without gloves, the influence of the developing railway system and the number of left-handers amongst the best-ever batsmen in a comprehensive review.

11th

Derek Nippard

Derek was the FA Cup Final referee in 1978, when Ipswich beat Arsenal 1 - 0. Pictured here with his Referee's medal from that game, Derek took us through his refereeing career, starting at the age of 19. Throughout his days on the Football League, he only dismissed three players and two of those were in one match! This was the infamous fight between Norman Hunter and Francis Lee, both England internationals, which followed their dismissal, all caught on camera by Match Of The Day. Derek also umpired local cricket matches, but only for two seasons!

18th

Derek Bridge

Derek "Mr Dorset Cricket" Bridge played cricket and rugby for Oxford as well as playing first class cricket with Northamptonshire. However most of this afternoon of questions and answers revolved around his years captaining Dorset in Minor Counties cricket and then administering Dorset cricket. Derek was cricket master at Sherborne School for many years. His remarkable memories provided a most insightful afternoon.

25th

Nick Dyke

Nick, a 2007 OSCA winner, told us of how the village team of Bradford Abbas has grown from its roots over twenty years ago, to become a major part of village life. From a farmer's field, the village ground has been transformed, with a magnificent clubhouse, incorporating a billiards room as well as club bar, tea room, skittle alley and changing rooms. Of course the players had to be developed as well and there are now several youth teams as well as the adult sides. Nick's vision of how to develop a club was an inspiration to those who have similar responsibilities.

Nov
1st

Ivor Evans

Ivor's story took us through the hard knocks of life as a professional boxer. From his schoolboy beginnings, to quell the bullies, via fairground booths, through an army career that he used desperate measures from which to to escape, Ivor fought - often at short notice. Despite a manager who didn't perhaps have his best interests at heart, he still managed to appear on BBC television in the days when boxing would appear in prime-time schedules.

8th

David Hutchinson

David is an avid collector of autographs, renewing in later life a hobby he pursued as a child. He has travelled the length of the country to visit a celebrity for their signature and he had a collection of signed photographs in published books, as well as a sheet containing all, bar Bobby Moore, of the 1966 World Cup-winning side. It was wonderful to see examples displayed on the big screen, as he told his stories and decried some of the modern stars, whose efforts are little more than a scribble.

15th

Stephen Green

Stephen was the Curator of the museum at Lords for 35 years. He entertained us with many tales of the ground from its earliest developments through to the modern day, assisted by a collection of slides. The present ground is, in fact, the third ground as the first two fell victims to the developers and this was in the 1800's! We also found out that the MCC wrote the original laws of lawn tennis, as opposed to real tennis and that the Nursery End of the present ground is so-called as it was actually a garden nursery in Victorian times.

22nd

John Wellman

John Wellman, editor of the Dorset Cricket Yearbook, led members in a discussion of their 2007 cricket experiences. As well as those who had observed cricket at every level, there were contributions from umpires, scorers, administrators and announcers. We heard how bowlers had gained admission to the Adelaide Test Arena, announcers had made unfortunate Spoonerisms with 'kit in the shop' and a captain asked "What would you have done?" Some of these examples will make the 2008 edition of the handbook.

29th

Keith Booth

Keith is the scorer for Surrey CCC as well as being an author in the close season. He told us of the career of George Lohmann, a name unfamiliar to many of the members - even our oldest, but Lohmann is regarded as one of the finest medium pace bowlers ever to play the game and is in the Top 10 bowlers in the all-time rankings. He took over 200 first-class wickets in a season for three successive years before his career was hit by TB, leading to his untimely death, aged 36 in 1901.

Dec
6th

Brian White & Richard Gulliver

Brian & Richard are two stalwarts of both South Wilts CC and Wiltshire the Minor Counties Side. Many of their old opponents were in the audience as they reminisced over club and County cricket. Brian revealed the thinking of a Minor Counties opener facing up to Andy Roberts, while we learnt that the Gulliver family was big enough to turn out a full XI.

13th

Derek Hopkins

The annual Christmas quiz came a week early this year, but was as taxing as ever. Members squinted at pictures of cricketers taken from various angles and scratched their heads over questions which ought to be on Mastermind! Once again a great afternoon of fun and many thanks to Derek from the winning 'Team Donnay'.

20th

Richard Mockridge

The last meeting of the autumn was our traditional Christmas Buffet, followed by a picture quiz from Geoff Miller and Richard, testing our knowledge of Dorset grounds and Hampshire exploits. Bill Kempton beat the rest of us with his encyclopedic knowledge! Meetings restart in three weeks time. Have a Merry Christmas - see you in the New Year.

2008
Jan
10th

Wilfred Weld

Wilfred Weld gave us a most entertaining afternoon, as he recounted tales of cricket on the Lulworth Estate, which often included well known cricketers such as Derek Shackleton, Leo Harrison, Gordon Greenidge and the Smith brothers Chris & Robin - all Hampshire stalwarts at some time. The description of tours to Berlin were most illuminating -you couldn't hold a candle to them!

17th

Chris MacNamee

Chris has a long history in the artificial sports-surface industry and gave an instructive talk on the many unrealized problems that have to be overcome when creating an artificial cricket pitch, whether indoors or out. From the problems of insufficient frost, the need to transport base materials halfway across England because we don't have suitable aggregate, to dealing with aggressive criminals, Chris covered them all in an amusing talk.

24th

Dr David Allen

David Allen revisited us to tell us more about the many books that chronicle the history of both cricket in Hampshire and Hampshire CCC. An in-depth afternoon included his own recent publication, which he jestingly suggested might be more valuable in the future if it was unsigned by the author. A welcome return.

31st

Stephen Chalke

Another big turn-out greeted the return of author Stephen Chalke. His talk was an illuminating insight into the craft of constructing a book out of interviews and stories. There were hilarious anecdotes and sobering moments from his books about Tom Cartwright, Geoffery Howard and Bob Appleyard, the forgotten man of the 1950's Ashes winning side to Australia, who took 200 wickets in his first full county season, before losing half a lung to TB. His return to cricket and selection for the touring England side to Australia is truly inspirational.

Feb
7th

Terry Warder

Terry has been Chairman of Shaftesbury Cricket Club for many years, as he tries to ensure the smooth transfer of the club from their former ground to a new venue out of town. The story stretches back as far as 1989, when the first approach was made. Original suggestions that the club could benefit by a million pounds gradually evaporated, as the problems of town councils and planning regulations regularly delayed the project. Even a celebratory bonfire on the square after a 'final' game didn't prevent them being back the following year for another 'last' season! A cautionary tale for other clubs, as Shaftesbury are still struggling to clear their debts and complete the clubhouse.

14th

Chris Mayne

Chris led us through the memories and experiences of his career in local cricket from the earliest days at St Paul's School, via Portchester School, into adult cricket. The members' collective memories were stirred as names and teams from the past were discussed. Venues that no longer exist, such as River Way and Fernheath Rd and teams like Kennedys which won the Evening League seven times in nine seasons, stirred the gray cells. Chris has been associated with Lloyds Bank CC for many years and his photos and pieces of memorabilia provided a nostalgic afternoon for us.

21st

Club Members

This meeting returned to the format of bring a sports item and we had many, mainly cricket-related, items. In the picture Bill Kempton displays his signed photograph of Shane Warne's 700th Test wicket. We also had personal momentoes of long-ago matches, with wickets taken and 100's scored. An afternoon to remember that most of the members were fine cricketers in their time and some still are!

28th

Ray Flood

Ray was a Hampshire CC player, whose career partially overlapped with our own member, Alan Rayment. Starting as a schoolboy putting the plates up on the scoreboard for his headmaster, he played for local sides including Pennington before getting his break in county cricket. After Hampshire he had a long and successful career playing in the New Forest area, often against some of our members. Many old memories were revived.

March
6th

Jan Bridle

Jan has played football for Bournemouth, when the AFC came after the town and cricket for Bournemouth Sports Club, Dorset CC and Hampshire Over 50s. In an entertaining talk he told us of his many overseas tours, with visits to Barbados, Kenya, South Africa and Sri Lanka amongst the highlights, he has even played in Las Vegas. He is still playing and looking forward to a projected tour to Argentina and Chile.

13th

Derek Hopkins & Richard Mockridge

The DCS now sponsor the De Zoete Cup competition, assisting at the ground on Finals Day. The meeting took the format of a photo-montage from last year's play at Dean Park followed by organiser Derek Hopkins giving a history of the competition. The records are fairly patchy but the competition dates from the 1930's and was traditionally played at Winton Oval whenever possible. Many of the members had competed themselves and there were memories of large crowds and even a tied final! Remember AGM 12.30 pm next week.

20th

Derek Hopkins

The season ended with a well-attended AGM with lunch, before another of Derek's famous quizzes. Proceedings were concluded with a cream tea, leaving members wondering what Thursdays would be used for until late September. However there's a projected visit to the Rose Bowl, the Dezoete Finals day at Dean Park on August 7th and an October trip to Lords to see us through the summer.

To see memories of the previous year's programme click here
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Year	Month	Day	Speaker	Topic
2007	Sept	27th	Ian Henderson	Ian has been a sports journalist and broadcaster for many years, with, amongst others, the BBC, Radio Solent and in print. In a wonderfully irreverent afternoon he encompassed the sports of football and cricket, concentrating mainly on the local clubs, before ending with a 'hole-in-one'. An excellent start to the season.
	Oct	4th	Tim Hill	Tim is the forthcoming chairman of the English Schools Cricket Association and a former cricket master at Bryanstan School. He took us through the development of cricket from its medieval times to the end of the 19th Century and especially the influence which the public schools such as Eton and Harrow had on the game. His talk included references to wicket-keeping without gloves, the influence of the developing railway system and the number of left-handers amongst the best-ever batsmen in a comprehensive review.
		11th	Derek Nippard	Derek was the FA Cup Final referee in 1978, when Ipswich beat Arsenal 1 - 0. Pictured here with his Referee's medal from that game, Derek took us through his refereeing career, starting at the age of 19. Throughout his days on the Football League, he only dismissed three players and two of those were in one match! This was the infamous fight between Norman Hunter and Francis Lee, both England internationals, which followed their dismissal, all caught on camera by Match Of The Day. Derek also umpired local cricket matches, but only for two seasons!
		18th	Derek Bridge	Derek "Mr Dorset Cricket" Bridge played cricket and rugby for Oxford as well as playing first class cricket with Northamptonshire. However most of this afternoon of questions and answers revolved around his years captaining Dorset in Minor Counties cricket and then administering Dorset cricket. Derek was cricket master at Sherborne School for many years. His remarkable memories provided a most insightful afternoon.
		25th	Nick Dyke	Nick, a 2007 OSCA winner, told us of how the village team of Bradford Abbas has grown from its roots over twenty years ago, to become a major part of village life. From a farmer's field, the village ground has been transformed, with a magnificent clubhouse, incorporating a billiards room as well as club bar, tea room, skittle alley and changing rooms. Of course the players had to be developed as well and there are now several youth teams as well as the adult sides. Nick's vision of how to develop a club was an inspiration to those who have similar responsibilities.
	Nov	1st	Ivor Evans	Ivor's story took us through the hard knocks of life as a professional boxer. From his schoolboy beginnings, to quell the bullies, via fairground booths, through an army career that he used desperate measures from which to to escape, Ivor fought - often at short notice. Despite a manager who didn't perhaps have his best interests at heart, he still managed to appear on BBC television in the days when boxing would appear in prime-time schedules.
		8th	David Hutchinson	David is an avid collector of autographs, renewing in later life a hobby he pursued as a child. He has travelled the length of the country to visit a celebrity for their signature and he had a collection of signed photographs in published books, as well as a sheet containing all, bar Bobby Moore, of the 1966 World Cup-winning side. It was wonderful to see examples displayed on the big screen, as he told his stories and decried some of the modern stars, whose efforts are little more than a scribble.
		15th	Stephen Green	Stephen was the Curator of the museum at Lords for 35 years. He entertained us with many tales of the ground from its earliest developments through to the modern day, assisted by a collection of slides. The present ground is, in fact, the third ground as the first two fell victims to the developers and this was in the 1800's! We also found out that the MCC wrote the original laws of lawn tennis, as opposed to real tennis and that the Nursery End of the present ground is so-called as it was actually a garden nursery in Victorian times.
		22nd	John Wellman	John Wellman, editor of the Dorset Cricket Yearbook, led members in a discussion of their 2007 cricket experiences. As well as those who had observed cricket at every level, there were contributions from umpires, scorers, administrators and announcers. We heard how bowlers had gained admission to the Adelaide Test Arena, announcers had made unfortunate Spoonerisms with 'kit in the shop' and a captain asked "What would you have done?" Some of these examples will make the 2008 edition of the handbook.
		29th	Keith Booth	Keith is the scorer for Surrey CCC as well as being an author in the close season. He told us of the career of George Lohmann, a name unfamiliar to many of the members - even our oldest, but Lohmann is regarded as one of the finest medium pace bowlers ever to play the game and is in the Top 10 bowlers in the all-time rankings. He took over 200 first-class wickets in a season for three successive years before his career was hit by TB, leading to his untimely death, aged 36 in 1901.
	Dec	6th	Brian White & Richard Gulliver	Brian & Richard are two stalwarts of both South Wilts CC and Wiltshire the Minor Counties Side. Many of their old opponents were in the audience as they reminisced over club and County cricket. Brian revealed the thinking of a Minor Counties opener facing up to Andy Roberts, while we learnt that the Gulliver family was big enough to turn out a full XI.
		13th	Derek Hopkins	The annual Christmas quiz came a week early this year, but was as taxing as ever. Members squinted at pictures of cricketers taken from various angles and scratched their heads over questions which ought to be on Mastermind! Once again a great afternoon of fun and many thanks to Derek from the winning 'Team Donnay'.
		20th	Richard Mockridge	The last meeting of the autumn was our traditional Christmas Buffet, followed by a picture quiz from Geoff Miller and Richard, testing our knowledge of Dorset grounds and Hampshire exploits. Bill Kempton beat the rest of us with his encyclopedic knowledge! Meetings restart in three weeks time. Have a Merry Christmas - see you in the New Year.
2008	Jan	10th	Wilfred Weld	Wilfred Weld gave us a most entertaining afternoon, as he recounted tales of cricket on the Lulworth Estate, which often included well known cricketers such as Derek Shackleton, Leo Harrison, Gordon Greenidge and the Smith brothers Chris & Robin - all Hampshire stalwarts at some time. The description of tours to Berlin were most illuminating -you couldn't hold a candle to them!
		17th	Chris MacNamee	Chris has a long history in the artificial sports-surface industry and gave an instructive talk on the many unrealized problems that have to be overcome when creating an artificial cricket pitch, whether indoors or out. From the problems of insufficient frost, the need to transport base materials halfway across England because we don't have suitable aggregate, to dealing with aggressive criminals, Chris covered them all in an amusing talk.
		24th	Dr David Allen	David Allen revisited us to tell us more about the many books that chronicle the history of both cricket in Hampshire and Hampshire CCC. An in-depth afternoon included his own recent publication, which he jestingly suggested might be more valuable in the future if it was unsigned by the author. A welcome return.
		31st	Stephen Chalke	Another big turn-out greeted the return of author Stephen Chalke. His talk was an illuminating insight into the craft of constructing a book out of interviews and stories. There were hilarious anecdotes and sobering moments from his books about Tom Cartwright, Geoffery Howard and Bob Appleyard, the forgotten man of the 1950's Ashes winning side to Australia, who took 200 wickets in his first full county season, before losing half a lung to TB. His return to cricket and selection for the touring England side to Australia is truly inspirational.
	Feb	7th	Terry Warder	Terry has been Chairman of Shaftesbury Cricket Club for many years, as he tries to ensure the smooth transfer of the club from their former ground to a new venue out of town. The story stretches back as far as 1989, when the first approach was made. Original suggestions that the club could benefit by a million pounds gradually evaporated, as the problems of town councils and planning regulations regularly delayed the project. Even a celebratory bonfire on the square after a 'final' game didn't prevent them being back the following year for another 'last' season! A cautionary tale for other clubs, as Shaftesbury are still struggling to clear their debts and complete the clubhouse.
		14th	Chris Mayne	Chris led us through the memories and experiences of his career in local cricket from the earliest days at St Paul's School, via Portchester School, into adult cricket. The members' collective memories were stirred as names and teams from the past were discussed. Venues that no longer exist, such as River Way and Fernheath Rd and teams like Kennedys which won the Evening League seven times in nine seasons, stirred the gray cells. Chris has been associated with Lloyds Bank CC for many years and his photos and pieces of memorabilia provided a nostalgic afternoon for us.
		21st	Club Members	This meeting returned to the format of bring a sports item and we had many, mainly cricket-related, items. In the picture Bill Kempton displays his signed photograph of Shane Warne's 700th Test wicket. We also had personal momentoes of long-ago matches, with wickets taken and 100's scored. An afternoon to remember that most of the members were fine cricketers in their time and some still are!
		28th	Ray Flood	Ray was a Hampshire CC player, whose career partially overlapped with our own member, Alan Rayment. Starting as a schoolboy putting the plates up on the scoreboard for his headmaster, he played for local sides including Pennington before getting his break in county cricket. After Hampshire he had a long and successful career playing in the New Forest area, often against some of our members. Many old memories were revived.
	March	6th	Jan Bridle	Jan has played football for Bournemouth, when the AFC came after the town and cricket for Bournemouth Sports Club, Dorset CC and Hampshire Over 50s. In an entertaining talk he told us of his many overseas tours, with visits to Barbados, Kenya, South Africa and Sri Lanka amongst the highlights, he has even played in Las Vegas. He is still playing and looking forward to a projected tour to Argentina and Chile.
		13th	Derek Hopkins & Richard Mockridge	The DCS now sponsor the De Zoete Cup competition, assisting at the ground on Finals Day. The meeting took the format of a photo-montage from last year's play at Dean Park followed by organiser Derek Hopkins giving a history of the competition. The records are fairly patchy but the competition dates from the 1930's and was traditionally played at Winton Oval whenever possible. Many of the members had competed themselves and there were memories of large crowds and even a tied final! Remember AGM 12.30 pm next week.
		20th	Derek Hopkins	The season ended with a well-attended AGM with lunch, before another of Derek's famous quizzes. Proceedings were concluded with a cream tea, leaving members wondering what Thursdays would be used for until late September. However there's a projected visit to the Rose Bowl, the Dezoete Finals day at Dean Park on August 7th and an October trip to Lords to see us through the summer.