|
Year
|
Month
|
Day
|
Speaker
|
|
Topic
|
|
2012
|
Oct |
4th
|
Members
|
|
The season started with a brief general meeting, which reset membership
at £10 per annum, weekly meetings £3 and restored subsidies to the annual
trip and ladies lunch. We then started the celebrations of the 10th birthday for
the DCS. It was highly appropriate that the society's founder and now President,
Richard Mockridge, took to the floor to lead us through the history of the society
from its beginnings with 7 members through to the present day with over 50. Memories
were stirred by photographs and memorabilia from 10 seasons reminding us that as
well as cricket, we have had talks on football, boxing and mountaineering. As well
as star names such as Chris Martin-Jenkins, Vic Marks and John Barclay to name but
a few, we have had some classic moments from our own members. Who will ever forget
Pete Frampton's 'piece of the Meyrick Park pavilion' or his knitted jock-strap. We
remembered old friends no longer with us and concluded, appropriately, with a celebration
cake. |
|
|
|
11th
|
Frank Duckworth
|
|
Rain is the bane of all limited over matches. Initially, target scores
were based on average run rates - this was inherently unfair when the side batting
second still had all ten wickets available. Next came a suggestion from a South African
schoolboy, then a system from Australia backed by Richie Benaud. This system discarded
the least successful overs, penalising the side batting second if they had managed
to bowl maidens - the result - the fiasco at the 1992 World Cup semi-final, where
a target of 22 off 13 balls with 4 wickets standing became 22 off 1 ball, after a
short rain interval. Step forward Dr Frank Duckworth and later Tony Lewis who devised
a mathematical model to calculate what proportion of batting 'assets' had been lost
to rain. This considered not only the runs scored, but also the wickets lost and
the timing of the rain interruption. Frank explained his system, with some judiciously
easy mathematical examples and we came away with a much clearer understanding of
the system. It was thought that some cricket broadcasters could do with attending
the presentation, but then the entertainment value of their 'bafflement' would be
reduced! Many thanks Frank. |
|
|
|
18th
|
Ian Henderson
|
|
Ian is currently scribing his memories from a long career in sports
journalism and broadcasting, as he prepares a book for publication. In his talk he
concentrated on Hampshire cricket at Dean Park and football at what will for most
of us always be 'Dean Court'. He gave his opinions and recollections of all the Hampshire
captains, some of the players, then the various managers and some of the chairmen
of AFC Bournemouth. In the question and answer session we teased out of him his biggest
thrills -in interviewing Mohammed Ali and speaking to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He
also described the frustrations of the old Dean Court ground where he had to phone
in repeatedly to the studio, rather than having a more-expensive landline. The 11-0
win over Margate, when Ted MacDougal scored nine times was a particularly trying
example. In all it was an enjoyable stroll down the memory lanes of local sport. |
|
|
|
25th
|
Roger Knight
|
|
Roger had a career with three different counties, Surrey, Sussex and
Gloucester at a time when such movement was unusual. However he was combining a cricket
career with a teaching career and it can be fairly said that he reached the heights
in both. (Headmaster of Worksop College and captain of a one-day trophy winning side.)
Perhaps he will be best remembered as Secretary of MCC and latterly Chief Executive
for more than eleven years, during which the famous media centre at Lords was opened
and the 'Spirit of cricket' encoded for the first time. He was keen to emphasize
that the MCC was more than a collection of elderly gentlemen watching cricket. The
MCC is a very active playing club, with over 450 fixtures in a season (I pity the
fixture secretary). A lively question and answer session concluded the meeting. Many
thanks Roger. |
|
|
Nov |
1st
|
Warwick Rust
|
|
Warwick conveyed to us his love of art though the medium of sports
paintings. He eschewed the more famous paintings, while covering a broad range of
sports; American football, association football, badminton and billiards were all
dissected before he turned to cricket. There was local interest in the form of Canford
Manor, now Canford School and quizzical questions to determine the era of certain
paintings. Warwick concluded with paintings of two giants of the 20th century English
game, F.S. Trueman and I.T Botham. Although his alphabetical journey had only spanned
A - C, his enthusiasm for art had shone brightly. |
|
|
|
8th
|
Members
|
|
The annual 'bring a sporting item' produced another wide-ranging number
of items. In Olympic year, there were examples of the Royal Mail stamps commemorating
the Games. There was a scorebook from 1902 and details of Corfe Cricket club from
past decades. Poetry and passages from books were also heard and football programmes
from the 1950's displayed. Everyone had a chance to relive old memories, which is
the point of this particular meeting. |
|
|
|
15th
|
Dr Andrew Hignell
|
|
Andrew Hignell is the scorer, announcer and match manager at Glamorgan.
He was formerly a geography teacher. Combining all of these talents he managed to
amuse and educate us about cricket and it's dreaded nemesis - rain. After a quick
introduction to the type of air masses which we get in this country, he showed in
pictures and figures what happens when these air masses meet. Some counties lost
as much as four complete matches of game time in the county championship, particularly
those in the west of the country. He predicted, with reasons, why he felt that abnormal
weather events were likely to increase in the future and came up with a number of
solutions to minimise the problem: indoor T20 matches, more flexible playing hours
and 'pools' of ground-drying equipment which could be available at any ground hosting
a match were some ideas. In all, an educational and thought-provoking afternoon. |
|
|
|
22nd
|
Don Seaby
|
|
Don, who is one of our members, is an ardent collector of sporting
memorabilia. He displayed copious examples of footballing postcards and many football
programmes from games he had attended. Included in that number was the Wembley World
Cup final of 1966. There were a number of postcards of local interest, including
one of Bournemouth or was it Boscombe from 1908? His final section was of cricket
postcards, including signed examples of sponsors cards, such as Cornhill, which in
one case ran to 450 players! It was particularly interesting to note how carefully
some players, such as Robin Smith, signed their names. |
|
|
|
29th
|
Micky Stewart & Stephen Chalke
|
|
A near record attendance heard Micky Stewart and Stephen Chalke talk
about the changing face of cricket. Micky's career spans over 50 years, including
as a player in 5 consecutive Championship wins with Surrey in the 1950's, later becoming
captain, playing for England against Wes Hall, Charlie Griffiths and the other West
Indian tourists of 1963. He became England's team manager for five years, while his
son Alec played 133 times for England, somewhat surpassing dad's eight caps! We were
also reminded that Micky had played amateur and professional football and would even
have been selected for the British Olympic football team, but he was disbarred by
his professional cricket status! Stephen Chalke has recently helped Micky in the
writing of their book 'The Changing Face Of Cricket' and many autographed copies
changed hands at the end of a wonderful afternoon's entertainment. |
|
|
Dec |
6th
|
Brian Ford
|
|
Brian was chairman of Hampshire County CC before Rod Bransgrove. He
started on the Hampshire committee at the tender age of 27 (his father, Geoff, was
also a former chairman). He gave us an illuminating insight into the administration
of professional cricket, both at a county and national level. He oversaw the move
from Northlands Road to the Rose Bowl and was chairman when Shane Warne became captain,
which led to some interesting phone calls! While remaining discrete at all times,
Brian conveyed to us his obvious love for the game, which he still maintains. |
| |
|
13th
|
Xmas Lunch
|
|
Some 25 members gathered for our Christmas buffet, followed by one
of Derek's quizzes. He took pity on us this year and there were some questions we
had a 50-50 chance of answering! Many thanks to him again, we will meet at Canford
Magna on January 3rd for our ladies lunch, with our next Hurn meeting on Jan 10th. |
|
2013
|
Jan |
3rd
|
New Year's Lunch
|
|
Around 70 members and partners gathered for our 3rd annual lunch at
Canford Magna Golf Club. After a fine lunch, we were admirably entertained by Hampshire's
own Strictly Come Dancing star, Alan Rayment, as he recalled his time as a professional
ballroom dancer from the 1950's onwards. As Alan shimmied off the floor, he was replaced
by our President, Richard Mockridge, as he recalled events and personalities from
10 years of the cricket society. An excellent way to start the New Year and many
thanks to organiser David Hain! |
|
|
10th
|
Richard Mockridge
|
|
Our first meeting of the New Year gave President Richard Mockridge
the opportunity to display a few of the many pictures he has taken at the Ageas Bowl.
However he is not content with just snapping the picture digitally, but he then prints
a selection which he then persuades the players to autograph. Sometimes that involves
a long wait for opposition players to return to the ground, maybe the following season.
As with any large group of people, he encounters many different reactions from the
players. Some are enthusiastic to the point of requesting their own copies, while
others are much more taciturn. Perhaps his star picture of last season was Kevin
Pieterson's first ball dismissal. So far he has the signature of Liam Dawson, the
bowler, but he hasn't asked Kevin yet......! |
|
|
|
17th
|
Kevin Pike
|
|
A change of sport this week to football. Kevin is currently the Dorset
Referees' training officer. His route to this job was via refereeing, initially in
Dorset, then through the feeder leagues and on to the Football League, as it then
was, at the age of 27. He completed 17 years in top-flight football, including 10
years in the Premier League. His outstanding year was the 2000-01 season when he
was assistant referee at the Charity Shield (Wembley), League Cup Final (Millennium
Stadium) and FA Cup Final (Millennium Stadium). He completed a magnificent season
by obtaining promotion to the FIFA list to do international matches. He was able
to offer a fascinating insight into the pressures which match officials are placed
under, both on and off the field. One of his highlight matches was a pre-World Cup
'friendly' between Argentina and Brazil, where the 'friendliness' lasted less than
two minutes! The afternoon ended with a lively question and answer session. In all,
it was a fascinating look at a different professional sport. |
|
|
|
24th
|
Chris Finch
|
|
Chris Finch entertained us with another in-depth look at players from
Kent and Hampshire and their influence in matches between the two counties. This
time he concentrated on the postwar era up to 1969 and was ably assisted by our own
Hampshire player, Alan Rayment. As well as Alan, there was meticulously researched
analysis of Colin Cowdrey and David Halfyard amongst others. Chris could well have
continued until stumps, as members also chipped in. I'm sure there's plenty of mileage
left in this research before we come on to the modern era. |
|
|
|
31st
|
Dr David Allen
|
|
Dr David Allen, the Hampshire CC archivist and historian paid a welcome
return visit to the Society. His theme on this occasion was anniversaries. He revealed
that Hampshire intend to honour the team of 1973, 40 years on from their Championship
win. However, most significantly, it is the 150th anniversary of the formal foundation
of the Hampshire County club. Meetings in August and September 1863 led to the formation
of the club, though the first match was in 1864. David had brought many artifacts
with him, which were displayed or projected onto the big screen and members were
even able to assist in identifying the odd unnamed person in a photograph or suggest
the location. David's fluent delivery ensured an enjoyable afternoon for all. |
|
|
Feb |
7th
|
Don Crossley
|
|
Don first led us in a rousing rendition of 'Jerusalem'! It is an Ashes
year after all! He once again brought us a small section of his wonderful collection
of cricket memorabilia, but this time he tied it in with his experiences in the merchant
navy. From tales of being a wine waiter on cruise liners to travelling around the
world in 77 days on a cargo ship, where he was the chief medic - he was only informed
when he arrived on board, with no medical training! However it did afford him the
opportunity to see a young Barry Richards bat for Natal against the Australians.
Back on dry land and more up-to-date he told us stories of car boot sales and auctions,
bargains snaffled up, plus missed opportunities - and trains! |
|
|
|
14th
|
Warwick Rust
|
|
Warwick stepped-in admirably, at short notice, to continue his appreciation
of art in sport, started earlier in season. He began with croquet, which we learnt
was on show at the Great Exhibition of 1851, as we saw pictures from Homer, Green,
Manet and John Nash. The next sport was curling with pictures from Holland existing
as early as 1583, Robert Anderson's 'Curling on Duddington Lock' showed amazing detail
and finesse. A Flemish book then showed a form of golf played in the 14th & 15th
Centuries, on an alley rather than a course. The afternoon concluded with a look
at hockey, which might even have existed in the 5th Century BC! Once again Warwick's
enthusiasm for his subject ensured an interesting afternoon. |
|
|
|
21st
|
Derek Hopkins
|
|
Derek has run the De Zoete competition for 25 years, often single-handedly.
He gave us a history of the competition, which dates back to 1921. Although it was
played at weekends in the early days, it is best known as an evening knock-out cup
mainly based at Winton Recreation ground. In the 50's and 60's it was not uncommon
for an audience in the hundreds if not low thousands to ring the Oval ground, especially
for the final. A collection was taken for charity at every match and on one occasion
Billy Smart doubled the takings for the final. Godfrey Evans (Kent & England)
and Butch White (Hampshire) are amongst those who have played. In recent years, interest
has waned and although a one-day competition has been held at Dean Park, last year's
competition was sadly almost certainly the last, as Derek brought down the final
curtain. |
|
|
|
28th
|
David Swindells
|
|
David Swindells told us of the joys of touring. In 1999, having retired
from playing, he happened to be cruising in the Caribbean on the same boat as a group
of Fleet Street journalists. They were playing matches on every island they visited,
under the name of 'The Fleet Street Exiles'. After merely supporting them in the
1st match, he was quickly invited to play, as the tropical sun and rum laid many
of the team low as the week progressed. David himself has journalistic experience,
having written cricket reports in the Bournemouth Echo for some 15 years. The following
year David was invited to join the team on their tour to Dubai, playing matches on
fully grassed playing surfaces in the desert! In all he toured until the 2009 visit
to Oman, where he umpired. Truly a decade of marvellous experiences, all from a chance
encounter! |
|
|
March |
7th
|
SWALEC Stadium Trip
|
|
Our annual visit took us to foreign lands, where road signs are twice
as large, i.e. Wales. Our visit to the SWALEC Stadium had been organised by David
Hain with his usual efficiency and was hosted by Andrew Hignall, who had spoken to
the Society earlier in the season. In 2008 the old Sophia Gardens ground was massively
redeveloped to become the SWALEC Stadium in time for it to host the opening Test
of the 2009 Ashes series. Few will forget the match when Jimmy Anderson and Monty
Panesar unbelievably held out for 66 balls to deny the Aussies a win and set-up a
successful series win. We managed to visit the stadium and see the media centre,
Sky studio and the stands without being completely washed away, though the umpires
had surely signalled that no play would be possible today! Andrew led us through
the history of Glamorgan CC and the ground in an interactive display, before it was
time for tea and the long journey home. Many thanks to all those involved in the
day's organisation. |
|
|
|
14th
|
Ian Henderson
|
|
Ian kindly stepped into the gap again as he gave us further reasons
to purchase his book, once it is published! He related tales of the many well-known
journalists and broadcasters he has worked with in a career spanning more than 40
years. We heard of how John Arlott would have to clamber up a step ladder into the
broadcast box at Southampton, clasping his attaché case containing at least
two bottles of claret to see him though to lunchtime! Although he has enjoyed lunching
with IT Botham, David Gower, Mark Nicholas & others while covering cricket in
South Africa, he did agree with members who questioned how young broadcasters could
make progress in the profession when so many ex-players are in the media. All together
it was a who's who of sports broadcasting. |
| |
|
21st
|
AGM &
John Wellman
|
|
The afternoon started with the annual general meeting and buffet lunch.
Once procedural matters were out of the way, John Wellman then entertained us with
tales of the joys of touring, mainly within England. However his first tour was to
Berlin while in the Forces and this led to the odd raunchy tale. John played for
Poole OGs for many years and they were regular tourists to the Thames Valley, while
interspersed with occasional cricket weeks at Poole Park, which kept the costs down
for the younger members. As part of that cost-cutting John related the tale of a
guest- house owner who rose early one morning to find that there were a couple of
tents pitched on the back lawn, by those seeking to minimise the cost of touring! |
| |
|
28th
|
Graham Jones
|
|
The final meeting of the season wound the clock back in more ways
than one. In past years the society had occasional film shows and it was decided
to resurrect the idea. In 1987 the MCC celebrated its 200th Anniversary and a programme
was made about the club and Lords, going right back to its origins. Members saw vintage
footage of W.G. Grace, Sir Len Hutton and interviews with Sir Don Bradman and Gubby
Allen, interspersed with more modern exploits of I.T Botham, Viv Richards and Clive
Lloyd. A truly nostalgic afternoon was concluded in traditional fashion with a cream
tea. The new season will start on 3rd October 2013. |
