Dorset Cricket Society

Dorset Cricket Society

Résumé of events 2009-10

Year

Month

Day

Speaker

Topic

2009
Oct
1st

Bob Stephenson

Bob opened the batting for the new season. His life has spanned three careers; as professional footballer, cricketer and finally teacher. Bob moved to Hampshire CCC in 1969 after his football career ended. He kept wicket for Hampshire throughout the 1970's and was captain before retiring in 1980. It was fascinating to hear of his experiences playing with the likes of Barry Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts amongst many others. His last career was as a sports teacher and he coached Jimmy Adams, the Hampshire opener, an annual visitor to the society. His views on keeping wicket and life in general were well received by the appreciative members.

8th

Penny Spink

Penny, our first lady speaker, is the daughter of Colonel Binney, the manager of the Dean Park cricket ground in the years immediately after the 2nd World War. He maintained a visitors book for those who played at Dean Park to sign and also used to slip his own autograph book onto the table as well. As a result many famous autographs were available for display, with considerable interest shown in the match in which HRH the Duke of Edinburgh played. With Alan Rayment available to provide a contemporary commentary and Richard Mockridge's research of score cards of the relevant matches, a nostalgic afternoon was enjoyed by members.

15th

Keith Booth

Keith returned to the Society to tell us about Ernest Hayes, of Surrey and England. Ernest was one of the very early tourists, visiting South Africa three times, West Indies and Australia. This included trips at his own expense, rather unusual for a professional. He was a free-hitting batsman and a heavy scorer for Surrey, though his England career was much less successful. It was interesting to see a very early example of the batsman's 'wagon-wheel' in Keith's book and to note scores of 5 and 7 almost certainly all run, but no 6's. At that time a six had to be hit out the ground and the Oval was a very big ground. The 1st World War interrupted his career, but he returned to the county game after the war. After retirement he coached, produced cricket equipment and score-books, then finally ran a pub for over 20 years until his death at the age of 77.

22nd

Fred Daldry

Fred told us of the history of the YMCA and particularly the Bournemouth branch of it. At present it has over a thousand members of both sexes and is an organisation structured from the bottom upwards. Both Bournemouth and Winton YMCA's have provided strong sports teams over many years. Fred also told us of his work with disaffected youths and how cricket was sometimes useful for providing them with a disciplined structure. Fred has also been a climber for many years and showed some of his photos of recent climbs.

29th

Mike Taylor

Mike played for Nottinghamshire and then Hampshire in the 1960's and 70's. He regaled us with stories of Gary Sobers, Andy Roberts, Barry Richards, irritating umpires and bubblecars. He played, of course, in the Championship winning side of 1973 and members were delighted to hear his version of events. After he retired from the county game, Mike then became Assistant Secretary at Hampshire and remained with the club until he retired some seven years ago. A wonderful afternoon, enjoyed by our best attendance of the year.

Nov
5th

Lionel Fynn

Lionel, whose father played for Hampshire as an amateur, took us through the careers of both his father and himself. His father took two wickets in his first over in county cricket, with a third chance spurned by the (professional) captain. Lionel had dvd copies of many films taken from 50 years and more ago, including a Lords Taverners game at Hambledon featuring Harry Secombe and many games from the old Northlands Rd ground. In addition to the nostalgia induced, the technical quality of the films was extremely good.

12th

Jon Andrew

Jon, whose son Stephen played for Hampshire and Essex, is a multi-passport, multi-talented man. From his early days in New Zealand as a motor mechanic, welder and engineer, he became a professional opera singer in Britain in the 1960's. He has sung in English, German and Italian in performances around the world. Two years ago he rode solo from Lands End to John O'Groats, a distance of 949 miles, at an average of 70 miles a day. He is planning to sing in Otello next year in Christchurch and do a 12 hour endurance ride at Winton Oval on a bike he is making from steel and wood, with rear-wheel steering. He finished his talk with a storming rendition of Nessun dorma - what a performer!!

19th

Christopher Martin-Jenkins

Our largest-ever attendance for our highest-profile speaker! Christopher is of course one of the voices of Test Match Special as well as a former chief cricket correspondent for The Times & The Telegraph. He related many tales, indicating the difficulty of broadcasting for over 30 hours in a Test match without occasionally putting a foot wrong, from Tony Greig famously running out a player at stumps to stories of John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Fred Trueman and of course Geoffrey Boycott. In addition, questions from the audience managed to discover how Christopher was out for 99 in an innings at Lords. A superb afternoon, with grateful thanks to all involved in Christopher's visit.

26th

Barrie Wellman

Barrie has been a local sportsman for over 40 years, playing football for Bournemouth Gasworks and cricket for Wessex Wanderers and latterly with Wayfarers for over 35 years. His early life was heavily influenced by his father's example, who was a top amateur footballer with the Gasworks pre-World War 2 and then taught himself to bowl left handed after horrific injuries at El Alamein. Barry played for Poole Grammar School before moving into adult cricket and had many tales to tell of trips to Amsterdam and matches with celebrities at Dolman's Farm. It was good to hear of local cricketing personalities like Harry Woodman and Mike Barnard. A great afternoon for our local sportsmen to re-live games of old.

Dec
3rd

Mike Dwyer

Mike told us all about 'The Cricket Society', as opposed to our cricket society. Founded in London in 1945, there are now over 2000 members. The Society organizes monthly meetings in London, spring and autumn dinners, a twice a year journal and another 8 News Bulletins. There is also a playing side with about 30 matches annually as well as a quiz. The Society makes highly-regarded awards to cricketers, has a Cricket Society Trust which makes financial donations and there is a book competition, of which one of our members, Chris Finch, is a judge. If you would like to join, membership is only £19 a year and there are branches in the North-East, the Midlands and the West Of England.

10th

Peter Marinello

Peter was a record signing for a teenager when he moved from Hibs to Arsenal, aged 19, for £110,000. He was London's answer to Georgie Best and in his debut scored at Old Trafford as Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1. Immediately he was in great demand off the field, as catalogue promotions (with Lulu) and adverts for milk beckoned. Sadly Peter's career at Arsenal didn't match the early promise, despite playing in the double-winning side of 1971. Peter's 90 minutes (+ overtime) talking to us was as magical as his performances on the pitch and we were left begging for more. We hope he will return next year to complete his story, meanwhile we will have to content ourselves with his book 'Fallen Idle'.

17th

Xmas Lunch

The annual Christmas buffet was enlivened by a murder most foul, as Buttons bit the bullet, or didn't, actually. Seasonal reparteé abounded as we sought to solve the murder amongst the mince pies. Cinders wasn't the only cracker, as a Fairy Queen resembling Jimmy Saville and a ugly sister with a walking stick were all part of the fun, while Pete Frampton took the best bra award! We break now for Christmas, see you on January 14th!

2010
Jan
14th

Tim Tremlett

Tim is the current Director of Cricket at Hampshire CCC and a member of a rare cricketing family with three generations who have played first class cricket. He gave us an instructive account of the many facets of running a modern county side, from details of the newly laid outfield at the Rose Bowl (costing £750000) to the whereabouts of the county players during the winter:- they are truly spread far and wide. Tim also answered questions about his playing days and the experience of playing with the likes of Barry Richards and Malcolm Marshall, before completing an entertaining afternoon with observations on county life with Shane Warne.

21st

Dr David Allen

David Allen is the Heritage Curator for Hampshire Cricket Club and also the editor of the Hampshire handbook. He brought with him many artifacts from the history of Hampshire and linked them with the production of the new handbook. In particular, it is 60 years this year since Roy Marshall first played at Northlands Road during the West Indies tour. Everton Weeks scored 246 no against Hampshire and David met him many years later in a small bar in Barbados. One of David's aims is to create an authoritative list of Hampshire capped players, an easy task since 1946, but much more problematic pre-War. Once again, a very entertaining afternoon and I'm sure we will look forward to David's return in the future.

28th

Jack Winn

Jack had early success as a schoolboy cricketer, he was the winner of a certificate for the best all-rounder in the country. He played initially for Old Bournemouthians and then Bournemouth Amateurs before joining the newly-formed Wayfarers club. There he played with a number of local professional footballers, including Ted MacDougal and John Bond. In later years he helped to arrange charity matches using his contacts in the local theatrical world and even arranged a charity netball game on one occasion. An enlightening and nostalgic afternoon for locals from one of our own members.

Feb
4th

Mike Thompson

Mike told us of the best amateur cricketer of the late 18th Century, Lord Frederick Beauclerk. He was a descendant of the illegitimate child of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn and his career spanned the late 1700's and into the 1800's. In a meticulously researched talk, Mike took us back to the times when bowling was underarm and neither pads nor gloves were worn either by batsmen or wicket-keepers. By quoting books from the time, Mike managed to impart the language of the day, while telling us of matches played for money and games thrown to win a bet. It seems that some aspects of cricket don't change!

11th

Michael Williams

Michael Williams, shown here in club colours, related the history of the Dorset Rangers cricket club. Founded in 1906, they were the 'new boys' compared to teams like Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Dorchester. Their players were invited to become members and they were a wandering side in the manner of Hampshire Hogs and Devon Dumplings. They play all-day games, predominantly mid-week fixtures, though they have toured abroad, in Portugal, Holland and Germany. In earlier days their membership contained many from the gentry, the military or professions such as teachers. Today their membership is somewhat wider as they embark on their 105th year.

18th

Johnny Dennis

Johnny Dennis, the ECB's Voice of Cricket, is the announcer heard at all Test Matches and ODI's around the country. He has managed to marry his two loves of acting and cricket, so that he has the bliss of watching and commentating on cricket all around the world. He has had a varied career in film, television and on stage, including a two year run in the West End, but for the past decade and more he has had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with the greats of cricket, both on the field and in the commentary box. Johnny, thanks for a hilarious afternoon, we are still laughing at the stories and memories!

25th

Alan Graham & Richard Mockridge

Alan is the manager of the Dorset Cricket Centre, which started at Stanpit in a converted lean-to garage in the 1980's, but has had a purpose-built centre since the 1990's. At present the Dorset Cricket Board also use the buildings for their administration, but they are moving out to Wimborne later in the year. Richard Mockridge was the the instigator of the centre and, with Alan, he explained the running of the centre, the challenges it faces and importantly the link to our own Society, which was created to widen the base of people available to assist in its running.

March
4th

Oval Visit

The Society embarked on its fourth visit, this time to the Brit Oval, home of Surrey CCC and venue for the series deciders in the 2005 & 2009 Ashes Series. Another superb day out was once again magnificently organised by David Hain, as lunch at the Roebuck was followed by a guided tour of the ground and museum. We were blessed with great weather, as 53 members and guests surveyed the stands, press box, television studio and the indoor school. A final visit to the club shop ensured there would be some momentoes of the day, while Derek Hopkins kept us entertained on the coach! Pictures of the visit are here.

11th

Barry Lewis

Barry, who comes from the village of Marnhull, told us of his varied career in amateur cricket. From the village side in Marnhull, he progressed to Shaftesbury and then to Sherborne. In his schooldays he was selected for the ESCA U-15 side and in due course for Dorset CCC, which he was later to captain. One of his earliest county experiences was to keep wicket to the great Derek Shackleton, who played for Dorset after retiring from Hampshire and Derek expected him to stand up to the wicket! Barry also kept in the match in which Dorset conceded 60 wides in an over, to attempt to resurrect an otherwise drawn game. More recently Barry has played for the Dorset Over 50s side and is Chairman-Elect of the Dorset Cricket Board.

18th

John Wolfe

John told us about the Southern League, which has been in existence for forty years. Although there are a few sides from outside of Hampshire, the majority of sides come from within its boundaries. The competition is the top of the pyramid for sides in this area and is played over two formats, with 50 over-a-side played in May and August, while more conventional matches with a maximum of 120 overs are played in June/July. The requirements for league status can be onerous in terms of grounds, 2nd XIs, youth set-ups etc and there can be a dilemma as to whether this is a competition in its own right or a means of developing young cricketers.

25th

Dickie Dowsett

Dickie, who is a DCS member, told us of his days in professional football. His first club was Tottenham Hotspur for whom he scored against Aston Villa in the only match he played for the first team. He brought along fascinating memorabilia, including the players' handbook from Tottenham, showing the club rules, fixtures and the thoughts of the manager! His next club was Southend and from there he came to play for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic FC. Manager Freddie Cox bought him as a winger, but Dickie soon convinced him that he should be an inside forward. He has a proud record of 79 goals at a rate not far short of one every two games. He was sold on to Crystal Palace where he kept up his scoring rate, before ending his career with Weymouth. A great afternoon for the many Bournemouth football fans in the audience.

April
1st

Derek Hopkins

32 members gathered for the final meeting of the season. Another fine Derek Hopkins quiz caused us to rack our brains and pore over pictures of cricketers, ancient and modern. We wrapped up proceedings for the year with our traditional cream tea and a presentation to Richard Mockridge in appreciation of his 8 years as speaker secretary and organiser. De Zoete day at Dean Park is the first Thursday in August and we meet again the first Thursday in October.

To see memories of the previous year's programme click here
Click here to return to home page

	© Copyright 2010 The Dorset Cricket Society. All rights reserved Last revised 4th April 2010 <- Click on DCS to return to Home Page Send comments to Webmaster

Year	Month	Day	Speaker	Topic
2009	Oct	1st	Bob Stephenson	Bob opened the batting for the new season. His life has spanned three careers; as professional footballer, cricketer and finally teacher. Bob moved to Hampshire CCC in 1969 after his football career ended. He kept wicket for Hampshire throughout the 1970's and was captain before retiring in 1980. It was fascinating to hear of his experiences playing with the likes of Barry Richards, Malcolm Marshall and Andy Roberts amongst many others. His last career was as a sports teacher and he coached Jimmy Adams, the Hampshire opener, an annual visitor to the society. His views on keeping wicket and life in general were well received by the appreciative members.
		8th	Penny Spink	Penny, our first lady speaker, is the daughter of Colonel Binney, the manager of the Dean Park cricket ground in the years immediately after the 2nd World War. He maintained a visitors book for those who played at Dean Park to sign and also used to slip his own autograph book onto the table as well. As a result many famous autographs were available for display, with considerable interest shown in the match in which HRH the Duke of Edinburgh played. With Alan Rayment available to provide a contemporary commentary and Richard Mockridge's research of score cards of the relevant matches, a nostalgic afternoon was enjoyed by members.
		15th	Keith Booth	Keith returned to the Society to tell us about Ernest Hayes, of Surrey and England. Ernest was one of the very early tourists, visiting South Africa three times, West Indies and Australia. This included trips at his own expense, rather unusual for a professional. He was a free-hitting batsman and a heavy scorer for Surrey, though his England career was much less successful. It was interesting to see a very early example of the batsman's 'wagon-wheel' in Keith's book and to note scores of 5 and 7 almost certainly all run, but no 6's. At that time a six had to be hit out the ground and the Oval was a very big ground. The 1st World War interrupted his career, but he returned to the county game after the war. After retirement he coached, produced cricket equipment and score-books, then finally ran a pub for over 20 years until his death at the age of 77.
		22nd	Fred Daldry	Fred told us of the history of the YMCA and particularly the Bournemouth branch of it. At present it has over a thousand members of both sexes and is an organisation structured from the bottom upwards. Both Bournemouth and Winton YMCA's have provided strong sports teams over many years. Fred also told us of his work with disaffected youths and how cricket was sometimes useful for providing them with a disciplined structure. Fred has also been a climber for many years and showed some of his photos of recent climbs.
		29th	Mike Taylor	Mike played for Nottinghamshire and then Hampshire in the 1960's and 70's. He regaled us with stories of Gary Sobers, Andy Roberts, Barry Richards, irritating umpires and bubblecars. He played, of course, in the Championship winning side of 1973 and members were delighted to hear his version of events. After he retired from the county game, Mike then became Assistant Secretary at Hampshire and remained with the club until he retired some seven years ago. A wonderful afternoon, enjoyed by our best attendance of the year.
	Nov	5th	Lionel Fynn	Lionel, whose father played for Hampshire as an amateur, took us through the careers of both his father and himself. His father took two wickets in his first over in county cricket, with a third chance spurned by the (professional) captain. Lionel had dvd copies of many films taken from 50 years and more ago, including a Lords Taverners game at Hambledon featuring Harry Secombe and many games from the old Northlands Rd ground. In addition to the nostalgia induced, the technical quality of the films was extremely good.
		12th	Jon Andrew	Jon, whose son Stephen played for Hampshire and Essex, is a multi-passport, multi-talented man. From his early days in New Zealand as a motor mechanic, welder and engineer, he became a professional opera singer in Britain in the 1960's. He has sung in English, German and Italian in performances around the world. Two years ago he rode solo from Lands End to John O'Groats, a distance of 949 miles, at an average of 70 miles a day. He is planning to sing in Otello next year in Christchurch and do a 12 hour endurance ride at Winton Oval on a bike he is making from steel and wood, with rear-wheel steering. He finished his talk with a storming rendition of Nessun dorma - what a performer!!
		19th	Christopher Martin-Jenkins	Our largest-ever attendance for our highest-profile speaker! Christopher is of course one of the voices of Test Match Special as well as a former chief cricket correspondent for The Times & The Telegraph. He related many tales, indicating the difficulty of broadcasting for over 30 hours in a Test match without occasionally putting a foot wrong, from Tony Greig famously running out a player at stumps to stories of John Arlott, Brian Johnston, Fred Trueman and of course Geoffrey Boycott. In addition, questions from the audience managed to discover how Christopher was out for 99 in an innings at Lords. A superb afternoon, with grateful thanks to all involved in Christopher's visit.
		26th	Barrie Wellman	Barrie has been a local sportsman for over 40 years, playing football for Bournemouth Gasworks and cricket for Wessex Wanderers and latterly with Wayfarers for over 35 years. His early life was heavily influenced by his father's example, who was a top amateur footballer with the Gasworks pre-World War 2 and then taught himself to bowl left handed after horrific injuries at El Alamein. Barry played for Poole Grammar School before moving into adult cricket and had many tales to tell of trips to Amsterdam and matches with celebrities at Dolman's Farm. It was good to hear of local cricketing personalities like Harry Woodman and Mike Barnard. A great afternoon for our local sportsmen to re-live games of old.
	Dec	3rd	Mike Dwyer	Mike told us all about 'The Cricket Society', as opposed to our cricket society. Founded in London in 1945, there are now over 2000 members. The Society organizes monthly meetings in London, spring and autumn dinners, a twice a year journal and another 8 News Bulletins. There is also a playing side with about 30 matches annually as well as a quiz. The Society makes highly-regarded awards to cricketers, has a Cricket Society Trust which makes financial donations and there is a book competition, of which one of our members, Chris Finch, is a judge. If you would like to join, membership is only £19 a year and there are branches in the North-East, the Midlands and the West Of England.
		10th	Peter Marinello	Peter was a record signing for a teenager when he moved from Hibs to Arsenal, aged 19, for £110,000. He was London's answer to Georgie Best and in his debut scored at Old Trafford as Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-1. Immediately he was in great demand off the field, as catalogue promotions (with Lulu) and adverts for milk beckoned. Sadly Peter's career at Arsenal didn't match the early promise, despite playing in the double-winning side of 1971. Peter's 90 minutes (+ overtime) talking to us was as magical as his performances on the pitch and we were left begging for more. We hope he will return next year to complete his story, meanwhile we will have to content ourselves with his book 'Fallen Idle'.
		17th	Xmas Lunch	The annual Christmas buffet was enlivened by a murder most foul, as Buttons bit the bullet, or didn't, actually. Seasonal reparteé abounded as we sought to solve the murder amongst the mince pies. Cinders wasn't the only cracker, as a Fairy Queen resembling Jimmy Saville and a ugly sister with a walking stick were all part of the fun, while Pete Frampton took the best bra award! We break now for Christmas, see you on January 14th!
2010	Jan	14th	Tim Tremlett	Tim is the current Director of Cricket at Hampshire CCC and a member of a rare cricketing family with three generations who have played first class cricket. He gave us an instructive account of the many facets of running a modern county side, from details of the newly laid outfield at the Rose Bowl (costing £750000) to the whereabouts of the county players during the winter:- they are truly spread far and wide. Tim also answered questions about his playing days and the experience of playing with the likes of Barry Richards and Malcolm Marshall, before completing an entertaining afternoon with observations on county life with Shane Warne.
		21st	Dr David Allen	David Allen is the Heritage Curator for Hampshire Cricket Club and also the editor of the Hampshire handbook. He brought with him many artifacts from the history of Hampshire and linked them with the production of the new handbook. In particular, it is 60 years this year since Roy Marshall first played at Northlands Road during the West Indies tour. Everton Weeks scored 246 no against Hampshire and David met him many years later in a small bar in Barbados. One of David's aims is to create an authoritative list of Hampshire capped players, an easy task since 1946, but much more problematic pre-War. Once again, a very entertaining afternoon and I'm sure we will look forward to David's return in the future.
		28th	Jack Winn	Jack had early success as a schoolboy cricketer, he was the winner of a certificate for the best all-rounder in the country. He played initially for Old Bournemouthians and then Bournemouth Amateurs before joining the newly-formed Wayfarers club. There he played with a number of local professional footballers, including Ted MacDougal and John Bond. In later years he helped to arrange charity matches using his contacts in the local theatrical world and even arranged a charity netball game on one occasion. An enlightening and nostalgic afternoon for locals from one of our own members.
	Feb	4th	Mike Thompson	Mike told us of the best amateur cricketer of the late 18th Century, Lord Frederick Beauclerk. He was a descendant of the illegitimate child of King Charles II and Nell Gwyn and his career spanned the late 1700's and into the 1800's. In a meticulously researched talk, Mike took us back to the times when bowling was underarm and neither pads nor gloves were worn either by batsmen or wicket-keepers. By quoting books from the time, Mike managed to impart the language of the day, while telling us of matches played for money and games thrown to win a bet. It seems that some aspects of cricket don't change!
		11th	Michael Williams	Michael Williams, shown here in club colours, related the history of the Dorset Rangers cricket club. Founded in 1906, they were the 'new boys' compared to teams like Shaftesbury, Sherborne and Dorchester. Their players were invited to become members and they were a wandering side in the manner of Hampshire Hogs and Devon Dumplings. They play all-day games, predominantly mid-week fixtures, though they have toured abroad, in Portugal, Holland and Germany. In earlier days their membership contained many from the gentry, the military or professions such as teachers. Today their membership is somewhat wider as they embark on their 105th year.
		18th	Johnny Dennis	Johnny Dennis, the ECB's Voice of Cricket, is the announcer heard at all Test Matches and ODI's around the country. He has managed to marry his two loves of acting and cricket, so that he has the bliss of watching and commentating on cricket all around the world. He has had a varied career in film, television and on stage, including a two year run in the West End, but for the past decade and more he has had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with the greats of cricket, both on the field and in the commentary box. Johnny, thanks for a hilarious afternoon, we are still laughing at the stories and memories!
		25th	Alan Graham & Richard Mockridge	Alan is the manager of the Dorset Cricket Centre, which started at Stanpit in a converted lean-to garage in the 1980's, but has had a purpose-built centre since the 1990's. At present the Dorset Cricket Board also use the buildings for their administration, but they are moving out to Wimborne later in the year. Richard Mockridge was the the instigator of the centre and, with Alan, he explained the running of the centre, the challenges it faces and importantly the link to our own Society, which was created to widen the base of people available to assist in its running.
	March	4th	Oval Visit	The Society embarked on its fourth visit, this time to the Brit Oval, home of Surrey CCC and venue for the series deciders in the 2005 & 2009 Ashes Series. Another superb day out was once again magnificently organised by David Hain, as lunch at the Roebuck was followed by a guided tour of the ground and museum. We were blessed with great weather, as 53 members and guests surveyed the stands, press box, television studio and the indoor school. A final visit to the club shop ensured there would be some momentoes of the day, while Derek Hopkins kept us entertained on the coach! Pictures of the visit are here.
		11th	Barry Lewis	Barry, who comes from the village of Marnhull, told us of his varied career in amateur cricket. From the village side in Marnhull, he progressed to Shaftesbury and then to Sherborne. In his schooldays he was selected for the ESCA U-15 side and in due course for Dorset CCC, which he was later to captain. One of his earliest county experiences was to keep wicket to the great Derek Shackleton, who played for Dorset after retiring from Hampshire and Derek expected him to stand up to the wicket! Barry also kept in the match in which Dorset conceded 60 wides in an over, to attempt to resurrect an otherwise drawn game. More recently Barry has played for the Dorset Over 50s side and is Chairman-Elect of the Dorset Cricket Board.
		18th	John Wolfe	John told us about the Southern League, which has been in existence for forty years. Although there are a few sides from outside of Hampshire, the majority of sides come from within its boundaries. The competition is the top of the pyramid for sides in this area and is played over two formats, with 50 over-a-side played in May and August, while more conventional matches with a maximum of 120 overs are played in June/July. The requirements for league status can be onerous in terms of grounds, 2nd XIs, youth set-ups etc and there can be a dilemma as to whether this is a competition in its own right or a means of developing young cricketers.
		25th	Dickie Dowsett	Dickie, who is a DCS member, told us of his days in professional football. His first club was Tottenham Hotspur for whom he scored against Aston Villa in the only match he played for the first team. He brought along fascinating memorabilia, including the players' handbook from Tottenham, showing the club rules, fixtures and the thoughts of the manager! His next club was Southend and from there he came to play for Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic FC. Manager Freddie Cox bought him as a winger, but Dickie soon convinced him that he should be an inside forward. He has a proud record of 79 goals at a rate not far short of one every two games. He was sold on to Crystal Palace where he kept up his scoring rate, before ending his career with Weymouth. A great afternoon for the many Bournemouth football fans in the audience.
	April	1st	Derek Hopkins	32 members gathered for the final meeting of the season. Another fine Derek Hopkins quiz caused us to rack our brains and pore over pictures of cricketers, ancient and modern. We wrapped up proceedings for the year with our traditional cream tea and a presentation to Richard Mockridge in appreciation of his 8 years as speaker secretary and organiser. De Zoete day at Dean Park is the first Thursday in August and we meet again the first Thursday in October.