Dorset Cricket Society

Dorset Cricket Society

Résumé of events 2013-14

Year

Month

Day

Speaker

Topic

2013
Oct
3rd

Ian Henderson

Ian opened our season in his own inimitable style, with a free ranging talk that spanned such diverse subjects as the number of football managers at Bournemouth, Southampton & Portsmouth since his broadcasting career began (that's 73 managers in just over 40 years), to the Forty Club, a cricket team for those of that age and above - well that's the theory! He had us convulsed with some of the tales, particularly those involving bovine excrement both on and off the field! There was active audience participation, particularly when he came on to the subjects of disappearing cricket clubs and the disappointing results at Hampshire in the season just gone. In all, an excellent start with a good attendance.

10th

Douglas Miller & MJK Smith

Douglas Miller returned to the society with our first England former-captain, Mike Smith, otherwise known as MJK. Mike captained England on three foreign tours, as well as in England. He was the last Englishman to score over 3000 first-class runs in a season and exceeded 2000 runs for six consecutive seasons. In conversation with Douglas, we learnt that Mike achieved a double hundred batting for Oxford with Colin Cowdrey, having been missed by the wicket-keeper and first slip while on 0! Such are the vagaries of cricket! In a wide ranging afternoon of great interest, we heard of Mike's views on the length of county matches, covered wickets and experiences overseas and as an ICC match referee, as well as his book co-writtten with Douglas Miller. Another top-notch guest for the society.

17th

Simon White

Simon has written a book reflecting the trials and tribulations of being a club cricketer. Unfortunately his mistake was to have a period after his marriage when he played no cricket. This lulled his wife into false expectations! Now he is down in the Hampshire countryside, he plays for local sides including Damerham and as many of us know, it takes up an awful lot of time. His book 'the effing c-word' (his wife's description) includes a massive glossary of cricketing terms and is a thoroughly good read.

24th

Brian Scovell

Brian was born on the Isle of Wight. He progressed from local newspapers to Fleet Street where he was Sports Writer for the Daily Sketch and later the Daily Mail in a career spanning the best part of 40 years. He has written biographies of many of the sporting giants such as Brian Lara, Jim Laker and Gary Sobers. He has also written about Lawrie McMenemy, Bill Nicholson and Dickie Bird. His latest subject is himself in the intriguingly entitled 'Thank you Hermann Goering: The Life of a Sports Writer'

31st

D Clutterbuck W Rust J White

Dean Park is the local cricket ground tucked into the centre of Bournemouth, an oasis of calm amongst the houses. Many of the members have played there and had their own tales to tell, along with the contributions of David, Warwick and John who related county games gone by, Championships won and those that slipped away, along with club games, funny stories and concern for the future. Indeed the ground's very existence is threatened at present, with Bournemouth University's lease soon drawing to a close. The material proved so bountiful that there must surely be a part 2 in the near future.

Nov
7th

Alan Edwards

Alan took us back to the very beginnings of the game, with a talk about the 3rd Duke of Dorset. Now, he may never have lived in or even visited Dorset, but he was a very influential figure in the development of cricket and the MCC. In a time when bowlers chose where a wicket should be pitched, he was a top batsman and many were the notches on the scorer's stick. In love he was similarly successful and also acquired many notches! He was British Ambassador in Paris at the time of the French revolution and had to make a rapid retreat when an injudicious letter was found.

14th

Members

A novel event this afternoon, in the form of a debate, on the theme that youngsters have more sporting opportunities now, than in the past. President Richard Mockridge chaired the debate as Chris Finch and David Clutterbuck supported the motion on behalf of the cricket society, while Lionel Fynn and Keith Lomas opposed it on behalf of Bournemouth Rotary. Chris urged members not to look back nostalgically with rose-tinted glasses, as the opportunities in many sports were far greater, with better coaching, even if this was concentrated in mega-clubs. A lively response from the floor followed the main speakers and it was a close vote in the end, with only a two vote majority in favour of modern times.

21st

Dr David Allen

A large audience turned out to hear Dr David Allen, historian of Hampshire CCC. He has compiled a book to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1st match officially played by Hampshire in July 1864. To celebrate, the county have a week of cricket at Southampton, with games on almost every day. David dipped into various parts of the new book and brought photos of Ground & County matches from the 50's for his knowledgeable audience to help identify. David is pictured with Julian Shackleton and Alan Rayment.

28th

Johnny Barclay

John Barclay's eagerly awaited return visit more than lived up to expectations. A hundred minutes of pure entertainment, which ranged from the outright hilarious to the poignant, as John read a paragraph from one of his books referring to mental illness and his own struggles, whilst playing cricket. This was in reference to Jonathan Trott and his recent return from Australia. John then had us falling about laughing, listening to his experiences of playing against the likes of Jeff Thomson and Allan Border, the dire results of upsetting Malcolm Marshall and playing with Imran Khan and many others. The Q & A session which followed his talk brought some classic questions, enquiring about his 'international' career - with Hong Kong and, as a Sussex man, whether Monty Panasar's exploits in the summer would have equipped him to deal with the inevitable bouncers should he play 'Down Under'? John, bless him, rarely mentioned his books, his latest is nominated for cricket book of the year, but if he was ever to give up his day job, he could make a fortune as an entertainer. My idea of heaven would be to listen to an hour or more of Michael Parkinson and John Barclay in conversation - if only. Many thanks John, please come back again.

Dec
5th

Stephen Chalke

Stephen returned for his 5th visit to the Society. He is a cricket author, who specialises in less well-known characters, usually from the county championship. He told many tales of visits to old pros, with his tape recorder, to make a permanent record of their memories. "Bomber' Wells was a particular subject of this talk. Stephen has also been retained by the E&WCB to produce a history of the County Championship, ready for the 125th anniversary next year. No doubt that will be the subject of a welcome 6th visit!

12th

Neil Middleditch

This afternoon's meeting brought a new sport to the Society as Neil Middleditch, manager of the Poole Pirates speedway team paid us a visit. Neil and his father were riders for Poole in the past, Neil being an ex junior world champion. His enthusiasm for the sport shone through as he described the way the sport worked and the success which the Pirates had achieved in recent years. This past season had seen Poole rise from bottom of the table at one point, to reach the play offs and win the Championship despite finishing only 4th in the league. I think Neil was pleasantly surprised to find out just how knowledgeable many of our members were about the Pirates, having been long-time supporters themselves.

19th

Xmas Lunch

24 members attended the final meeting before the Christmas break. They were welcomed with a generous buffet and Christmas festivities before we settled down to watch a film re-living the Ashes triumph of 2005. (A welcome change from the Pommie bashing being received down under just now). We meet again for the Ladies Lunch on January 9th at the usual venue.

2014 Jan
9th

New Year's Lunch

63 members, partners and guests assembled for the 4th Annual Ladies Lunch at a rather soggy Canford Magna Golf Club. Once again the event was a great success, with funds raised for charity exceeding 100 pounds and an entertaining speaker in Ian Henderson, who recalled some of the famous people he had met during his long career in broadcasting and journalism. Once again our grateful thanks to our organiser David Hain and the staff at the golf club.

16th

Chris & Peter Pyemont

We restarted our winter programme with a visit from Chris & Peter Pyemont who gave an excellent and theatrical performance in relating the history of the Ashes. They started with the very 1st tour of England by Aborigine cricketers (pre-Ashes) and with great style brought us up to date, though mercifully they haven't updated their talk to include the present series! A very enjoyable afternoon, which many members missed through an accident closing one of the approach roads to the venue.

23rd

Peter Marshall

Peter went into journalism straight from school with the ambition to be a sports reporter. He was fortunate enough to get a job on a local paper and gradually worked his way up. On the way he assisted John Arlott in his commentaries, along with his own commentaries on radio. His first scoop was to interview Colin Cowdrey on the day he made his debut as a Kent 2nd XI player. Later he was heavily involved in the Buster Crabbe story. In 1960 he was offered the job of starting South Today on the BBC and many of the young team he assembled were still around for the recent 50th Anniversary. Peter is a keen supporter of the charity Dorset Blind Association and we were pleased to present a cheque for Dorset Blind Cricketers to assist them in playing during the 2014 season.

30th

Warwick Rust

In the final part of his trilogy, Warwick took us through a number of sports via the medium of art. Along the way he briefed us with interesting facts about the sport. We learnt that hurling goes back to 1272BC, that tennis was thought likely to surpass cricket as our summer game and that the number of players in a basketball match originally depended on the size of the gym. Polo, rackets, squash and rugby were the other sports to which Warwick imparted his usual enthusiasm, both factually and artistically.

Feb
6th

Members

The popular 'Bring An Item' afternoon produced its usual crop of goodies. There were cricket scorebooks, pictures with international cricketers' autographs, some readings from cricket books and poetry and a collection of football programmes collected in the space of eight days in London in the 1960's, showing that it was quite common for professional football to be played almost any day of the week. The item shown in the picture is an illustration of the 'Hampshire Song', from a time when many of the county cricket sides had their own songs. Many thanks to all those who brought items along.

13th

David Swindells

David recalled how a chance encounter on a Caribbean cruise in the 1990's had led to him playing with the Fleet Street Exiles, a group of journalists from the national newspapers. He was delighted to be invited to join them again and in 2002 the tour went to Kenya. As well as four cricket matches, there was a chance to go on safari, though somewhat bizarrely David found himself getting up one morning at 5.30 for the safari trip, only to be taken to the spot where British woman Julie Ward had been murdered. It seemed that the Kenyan authorities wanted to persuade the journalists that they were doing all they could to find the killer. With stories and pictures it was a most interesting afternoon.

20th

Anthony Gibson

Anthony escaped the flood plains of Somerset to tell us about his book, produced with Stephen Chalke, entitled Gentlemen, Gypsies and Jesters. It is a comprehensive overview of Wandering cricket clubs, those without their own grounds. One of the oldest is I Zingari, meaning gypsy in Italian. Its rules are famously odd, you can only play by invitation, you must never play against the club for another team and the President was elected for ever. In the audience we also had some Hampshire Hogs, Dorset Rangers and maybe even a Somerset Straggler, though apparently no Devon Dumplings, as local Wanderers were discussed as well. In all, a fascinating afternoon to whet the appetite for the book, with all profits going to the 'Chance To Shine' cricket charity.

27th

John Russell

John Russell has been a member of Chertsey Cricket Club for many years. This is a club with a very long history. It has records dating back to 1737. However its main claim to cricketing fame occurred some 39 years later. Originally the wicket consisted of two stumps and a single bail, but Chertsey had a very accurate bowler, one Edward 'Lumpy' Stevens. In May 1775, in a single wicket match against Hambledon batsman John Small, he bowled the ball through the stumps three times, without the bail being disturbed. Following his protests, the 3rd stump was added in 1776. John Russell's daughter Sally is curator at Chertsey Museum and very kindly accompanied her father, bringing with her all manner of cricket memorabilia from the Chertsey club.

March
6th

Ronald Allison

Ronald Allison spoke of his pride in being involved with three of the country's great institutions: local newspapers, the BBC and the Royal Family. After National Service and a university degree, he became a journalist on the Hampshire Chronicle, where five years experience led to a job working for the BBC in Southampton, often interviewing celebrities and politicians as they transited Southampton for America. He worked with John Arlott and became a sports reporter and broadcaster. He was then asked to become the BBC's Royal Correspondent, before being the first professional journalist to be Press Secretary to her Majesty The Queen. He did this job from 1973-78 which involved many trips abroad, but few of the Royal crises which his successors would have to handle. The members and many lady guests thoroughly enjoyed a highly entertaining afternoon.

13th

Canon Tim Biles

Tim was able to give us an amazing insight into Don Bradman, the person, as he related part of his life story. He grew up in Southampton, backing on to the county ground and accessing the ground through a hole in the hedge! This led to him discovering that Don Bradman was a life Vice-President of Hampshire having twice completed 1000 runs in May there. Fast forward to 1956 and Tim has gone to Australia to follow the England team as they attempt their 4th Ashes victory. Seeking work, he walked into an office in Adelaide, having seen a notice in the street. The boss was none other than Don Bradman and Tim was employed to work in the office. The Don was Chairman of Selectors by now and Tim had to relay messages to him. Tim even played in a 50th birthday cricket match against The Don and hit him for two all-run fours. Thus started a lifelong relationship with the Bradmans. Even after Tim returned to England, the Don was still writing to Tim right up to his death. This was truly a remarkable story.

20th

AGM & Quiz

The penultimate meeting of the season started with a buffet lunch which attracted 32 members to the AGM. Retiring President and founder member, Richard Mockridge, was elected a Life Vice-President in appreciation of all his work for the Society. The Society is financially stable and there has been a small increase in membership this year. Praise was also due to those who have assisted in our wonderful programme of speakers this year, By next week we shall have had 25 meetings and we are the only Cricket Society with weekly meetings. The afternoon was rounded off with one of Derek's signature quizzes, with much groaning as the answers were revealed. Many thanks to Derek for that!

27th

Graham Jones

The last meeting of the season involved a nostalgic tribute to two ledgendary TMS broadcasters. Programmes paying tribute to John Arlott and Brian Johnston were viewed. The Arlott programme was probably the more informative from a cricket point of view, with the Brian Johnston one looking at his overall career at the BBC, including 733 episodes of 'Down Your Way'. The afternoon concluded with our traditional cream tea and that completed another season. Meetings will resume on Thursday October 2nd.

Apr
4th

Members

30 society members and their guests descended on an unsuspecting Brighton. A speedy journey was punctuated by a stop for coffee in the agreeable surroundings of Arundel. Upon arrival in Brighton we were treated to a first-class guided tour of the Royal Pavilion.The splendour of the interior took everyone's breath away. The tour was followed by a very sociable lunch. The afternoon was devoted to further exploration of Brighton. It was reported that not only shops but also museums and even the Sussex County Cricket Ground had been visited. A most enjoyable day was had by one and all and grateful thanks were expressed once again to David Hain for his faultless organization.

To see memories of the previous year's programme click here
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Year	Month	Day	Speaker	Topic
2013	Oct	3rd	Ian Henderson	Ian opened our season in his own inimitable style, with a free ranging talk that spanned such diverse subjects as the number of football managers at Bournemouth, Southampton & Portsmouth since his broadcasting career began (that's 73 managers in just over 40 years), to the Forty Club, a cricket team for those of that age and above - well that's the theory! He had us convulsed with some of the tales, particularly those involving bovine excrement both on and off the field! There was active audience participation, particularly when he came on to the subjects of disappearing cricket clubs and the disappointing results at Hampshire in the season just gone. In all, an excellent start with a good attendance.
		10th	Douglas Miller & MJK Smith	Douglas Miller returned to the society with our first England former-captain, Mike Smith, otherwise known as MJK. Mike captained England on three foreign tours, as well as in England. He was the last Englishman to score over 3000 first-class runs in a season and exceeded 2000 runs for six consecutive seasons. In conversation with Douglas, we learnt that Mike achieved a double hundred batting for Oxford with Colin Cowdrey, having been missed by the wicket-keeper and first slip while on 0! Such are the vagaries of cricket! In a wide ranging afternoon of great interest, we heard of Mike's views on the length of county matches, covered wickets and experiences overseas and as an ICC match referee, as well as his book co-writtten with Douglas Miller. Another top-notch guest for the society.
		17th	Simon White	Simon has written a book reflecting the trials and tribulations of being a club cricketer. Unfortunately his mistake was to have a period after his marriage when he played no cricket. This lulled his wife into false expectations! Now he is down in the Hampshire countryside, he plays for local sides including Damerham and as many of us know, it takes up an awful lot of time. His book 'the effing c-word' (his wife's description) includes a massive glossary of cricketing terms and is a thoroughly good read.
		24th	Brian Scovell	Brian was born on the Isle of Wight. He progressed from local newspapers to Fleet Street where he was Sports Writer for the Daily Sketch and later the Daily Mail in a career spanning the best part of 40 years. He has written biographies of many of the sporting giants such as Brian Lara, Jim Laker and Gary Sobers. He has also written about Lawrie McMenemy, Bill Nicholson and Dickie Bird. His latest subject is himself in the intriguingly entitled 'Thank you Hermann Goering: The Life of a Sports Writer'
		31st	D Clutterbuck W Rust J White	Dean Park is the local cricket ground tucked into the centre of Bournemouth, an oasis of calm amongst the houses. Many of the members have played there and had their own tales to tell, along with the contributions of David, Warwick and John who related county games gone by, Championships won and those that slipped away, along with club games, funny stories and concern for the future. Indeed the ground's very existence is threatened at present, with Bournemouth University's lease soon drawing to a close. The material proved so bountiful that there must surely be a part 2 in the near future.
	Nov	7th	Alan Edwards	Alan took us back to the very beginnings of the game, with a talk about the 3rd Duke of Dorset. Now, he may never have lived in or even visited Dorset, but he was a very influential figure in the development of cricket and the MCC. In a time when bowlers chose where a wicket should be pitched, he was a top batsman and many were the notches on the scorer's stick. In love he was similarly successful and also acquired many notches! He was British Ambassador in Paris at the time of the French revolution and had to make a rapid retreat when an injudicious letter was found.
		14th	Members	A novel event this afternoon, in the form of a debate, on the theme that youngsters have more sporting opportunities now, than in the past. President Richard Mockridge chaired the debate as Chris Finch and David Clutterbuck supported the motion on behalf of the cricket society, while Lionel Fynn and Keith Lomas opposed it on behalf of Bournemouth Rotary. Chris urged members not to look back nostalgically with rose-tinted glasses, as the opportunities in many sports were far greater, with better coaching, even if this was concentrated in mega-clubs. A lively response from the floor followed the main speakers and it was a close vote in the end, with only a two vote majority in favour of modern times.
		21st	Dr David Allen	A large audience turned out to hear Dr David Allen, historian of Hampshire CCC. He has compiled a book to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the 1st match officially played by Hampshire in July 1864. To celebrate, the county have a week of cricket at Southampton, with games on almost every day. David dipped into various parts of the new book and brought photos of Ground & County matches from the 50's for his knowledgeable audience to help identify. David is pictured with Julian Shackleton and Alan Rayment.
		28th	Johnny Barclay	John Barclay's eagerly awaited return visit more than lived up to expectations. A hundred minutes of pure entertainment, which ranged from the outright hilarious to the poignant, as John read a paragraph from one of his books referring to mental illness and his own struggles, whilst playing cricket. This was in reference to Jonathan Trott and his recent return from Australia. John then had us falling about laughing, listening to his experiences of playing against the likes of Jeff Thomson and Allan Border, the dire results of upsetting Malcolm Marshall and playing with Imran Khan and many others. The Q & A session which followed his talk brought some classic questions, enquiring about his 'international' career - with Hong Kong and, as a Sussex man, whether Monty Panasar's exploits in the summer would have equipped him to deal with the inevitable bouncers should he play 'Down Under'? John, bless him, rarely mentioned his books, his latest is nominated for cricket book of the year, but if he was ever to give up his day job, he could make a fortune as an entertainer. My idea of heaven would be to listen to an hour or more of Michael Parkinson and John Barclay in conversation - if only. Many thanks John, please come back again.
	Dec	5th	Stephen Chalke	Stephen returned for his 5th visit to the Society. He is a cricket author, who specialises in less well-known characters, usually from the county championship. He told many tales of visits to old pros, with his tape recorder, to make a permanent record of their memories. "Bomber' Wells was a particular subject of this talk. Stephen has also been retained by the E&WCB to produce a history of the County Championship, ready for the 125th anniversary next year. No doubt that will be the subject of a welcome 6th visit!
		12th	Neil Middleditch	This afternoon's meeting brought a new sport to the Society as Neil Middleditch, manager of the Poole Pirates speedway team paid us a visit. Neil and his father were riders for Poole in the past, Neil being an ex junior world champion. His enthusiasm for the sport shone through as he described the way the sport worked and the success which the Pirates had achieved in recent years. This past season had seen Poole rise from bottom of the table at one point, to reach the play offs and win the Championship despite finishing only 4th in the league. I think Neil was pleasantly surprised to find out just how knowledgeable many of our members were about the Pirates, having been long-time supporters themselves.
		19th	Xmas Lunch	24 members attended the final meeting before the Christmas break. They were welcomed with a generous buffet and Christmas festivities before we settled down to watch a film re-living the Ashes triumph of 2005. (A welcome change from the Pommie bashing being received down under just now). We meet again for the Ladies Lunch on January 9th at the usual venue.
2014	Jan	9th	New Year's Lunch	63 members, partners and guests assembled for the 4th Annual Ladies Lunch at a rather soggy Canford Magna Golf Club. Once again the event was a great success, with funds raised for charity exceeding 100 pounds and an entertaining speaker in Ian Henderson, who recalled some of the famous people he had met during his long career in broadcasting and journalism. Once again our grateful thanks to our organiser David Hain and the staff at the golf club.
		16th	Chris & Peter Pyemont	We restarted our winter programme with a visit from Chris & Peter Pyemont who gave an excellent and theatrical performance in relating the history of the Ashes. They started with the very 1st tour of England by Aborigine cricketers (pre-Ashes) and with great style brought us up to date, though mercifully they haven't updated their talk to include the present series! A very enjoyable afternoon, which many members missed through an accident closing one of the approach roads to the venue.
		23rd	Peter Marshall	Peter went into journalism straight from school with the ambition to be a sports reporter. He was fortunate enough to get a job on a local paper and gradually worked his way up. On the way he assisted John Arlott in his commentaries, along with his own commentaries on radio. His first scoop was to interview Colin Cowdrey on the day he made his debut as a Kent 2nd XI player. Later he was heavily involved in the Buster Crabbe story. In 1960 he was offered the job of starting South Today on the BBC and many of the young team he assembled were still around for the recent 50th Anniversary. Peter is a keen supporter of the charity Dorset Blind Association and we were pleased to present a cheque for Dorset Blind Cricketers to assist them in playing during the 2014 season.
		30th	Warwick Rust	In the final part of his trilogy, Warwick took us through a number of sports via the medium of art. Along the way he briefed us with interesting facts about the sport. We learnt that hurling goes back to 1272BC, that tennis was thought likely to surpass cricket as our summer game and that the number of players in a basketball match originally depended on the size of the gym. Polo, rackets, squash and rugby were the other sports to which Warwick imparted his usual enthusiasm, both factually and artistically.
	Feb	6th	Members	The popular 'Bring An Item' afternoon produced its usual crop of goodies. There were cricket scorebooks, pictures with international cricketers' autographs, some readings from cricket books and poetry and a collection of football programmes collected in the space of eight days in London in the 1960's, showing that it was quite common for professional football to be played almost any day of the week. The item shown in the picture is an illustration of the 'Hampshire Song', from a time when many of the county cricket sides had their own songs. Many thanks to all those who brought items along.
		13th	David Swindells	David recalled how a chance encounter on a Caribbean cruise in the 1990's had led to him playing with the Fleet Street Exiles, a group of journalists from the national newspapers. He was delighted to be invited to join them again and in 2002 the tour went to Kenya. As well as four cricket matches, there was a chance to go on safari, though somewhat bizarrely David found himself getting up one morning at 5.30 for the safari trip, only to be taken to the spot where British woman Julie Ward had been murdered. It seemed that the Kenyan authorities wanted to persuade the journalists that they were doing all they could to find the killer. With stories and pictures it was a most interesting afternoon.
		20th	Anthony Gibson	Anthony escaped the flood plains of Somerset to tell us about his book, produced with Stephen Chalke, entitled Gentlemen, Gypsies and Jesters. It is a comprehensive overview of Wandering cricket clubs, those without their own grounds. One of the oldest is I Zingari, meaning gypsy in Italian. Its rules are famously odd, you can only play by invitation, you must never play against the club for another team and the President was elected for ever. In the audience we also had some Hampshire Hogs, Dorset Rangers and maybe even a Somerset Straggler, though apparently no Devon Dumplings, as local Wanderers were discussed as well. In all, a fascinating afternoon to whet the appetite for the book, with all profits going to the 'Chance To Shine' cricket charity.
		27th	John Russell	John Russell has been a member of Chertsey Cricket Club for many years. This is a club with a very long history. It has records dating back to 1737. However its main claim to cricketing fame occurred some 39 years later. Originally the wicket consisted of two stumps and a single bail, but Chertsey had a very accurate bowler, one Edward 'Lumpy' Stevens. In May 1775, in a single wicket match against Hambledon batsman John Small, he bowled the ball through the stumps three times, without the bail being disturbed. Following his protests, the 3rd stump was added in 1776. John Russell's daughter Sally is curator at Chertsey Museum and very kindly accompanied her father, bringing with her all manner of cricket memorabilia from the Chertsey club.
	March	6th	Ronald Allison	Ronald Allison spoke of his pride in being involved with three of the country's great institutions: local newspapers, the BBC and the Royal Family. After National Service and a university degree, he became a journalist on the Hampshire Chronicle, where five years experience led to a job working for the BBC in Southampton, often interviewing celebrities and politicians as they transited Southampton for America. He worked with John Arlott and became a sports reporter and broadcaster. He was then asked to become the BBC's Royal Correspondent, before being the first professional journalist to be Press Secretary to her Majesty The Queen. He did this job from 1973-78 which involved many trips abroad, but few of the Royal crises which his successors would have to handle. The members and many lady guests thoroughly enjoyed a highly entertaining afternoon.
		13th	Canon Tim Biles	Tim was able to give us an amazing insight into Don Bradman, the person, as he related part of his life story. He grew up in Southampton, backing on to the county ground and accessing the ground through a hole in the hedge! This led to him discovering that Don Bradman was a life Vice-President of Hampshire having twice completed 1000 runs in May there. Fast forward to 1956 and Tim has gone to Australia to follow the England team as they attempt their 4th Ashes victory. Seeking work, he walked into an office in Adelaide, having seen a notice in the street. The boss was none other than Don Bradman and Tim was employed to work in the office. The Don was Chairman of Selectors by now and Tim had to relay messages to him. Tim even played in a 50th birthday cricket match against The Don and hit him for two all-run fours. Thus started a lifelong relationship with the Bradmans. Even after Tim returned to England, the Don was still writing to Tim right up to his death. This was truly a remarkable story.
		20th	AGM & Quiz	The penultimate meeting of the season started with a buffet lunch which attracted 32 members to the AGM. Retiring President and founder member, Richard Mockridge, was elected a Life Vice-President in appreciation of all his work for the Society. The Society is financially stable and there has been a small increase in membership this year. Praise was also due to those who have assisted in our wonderful programme of speakers this year, By next week we shall have had 25 meetings and we are the only Cricket Society with weekly meetings. The afternoon was rounded off with one of Derek's signature quizzes, with much groaning as the answers were revealed. Many thanks to Derek for that!
		27th	Graham Jones	The last meeting of the season involved a nostalgic tribute to two ledgendary TMS broadcasters. Programmes paying tribute to John Arlott and Brian Johnston were viewed. The Arlott programme was probably the more informative from a cricket point of view, with the Brian Johnston one looking at his overall career at the BBC, including 733 episodes of 'Down Your Way'. The afternoon concluded with our traditional cream tea and that completed another season. Meetings will resume on Thursday October 2nd.
	Apr	4th	Members	30 society members and their guests descended on an unsuspecting Brighton. A speedy journey was punctuated by a stop for coffee in the agreeable surroundings of Arundel. Upon arrival in Brighton we were treated to a first-class guided tour of the Royal Pavilion.The splendour of the interior took everyone's breath away. The tour was followed by a very sociable lunch. The afternoon was devoted to further exploration of Brighton. It was reported that not only shops but also museums and even the Sussex County Cricket Ground had been visited. A most enjoyable day was had by one and all and grateful thanks were expressed once again to David Hain for his faultless organization.