|
Year
|
Month
|
Day
|
Speaker
|
|
Topic
|
|
2021
|
Oct |
14th
|
Members & Chris Finch
|
|
Members gathered for the first time in nineteen months, starting the
meeting with a minutes silence in memory of members Alan Rayment, Peter Jenkins,
former members Dickie Dowsett and Roger Bosher, as well as Barrie Wellman's wife
Kathy and Paul Pearson's granddaughter Lauren.
The AGM passed smoothly with thanks offered to several members for their work in
keeping the Society functioning, the Clubman of The Year award was deservedly presented
to David Hain. The Treasurer reported that there had been no income last year and
a small loss was made. Weekly subs and memberships were to remain the same for the
coming season. All officers were re-elected except Brian Grey who has moved away.
Bryn Nathan was elected to the committee.
Chris Finch then led a review of the 21-22 season, in which Kent featured quite frequently.
England's performance, the County Championship and the dreaded Hundred were all put
under the microscope. It was generally agreed that a return to two divisions in the
Championship was preferrable, surprisingly the ECB listened and agreed the same afternoon! |
|
|
|
21st
|
Graham Jones
|
|
A late change to the programme brought members to a videoed interview
by Mike Atherton with Shane Warne, from the time Shane was promoting his book - No
Spin. We learnt that Shane had come to cricket relatively late as his first love
was Aussie Rules Football and it was only after failing with St Kilda's that he concentrated
on cricket. Early jobs delivering beds and pizzas probably provided a spur to push
him to succeed. However his early days weren't all that successful and it was only
after linking up with Terry Jenner that Shane began to realise the committment needed
to succeed. Shane talked about his embarassment over 'Sandpapergate' and players
stepping over the line. Shane told us the details of the "Ball of The Century'
to get Mike Gatting out and how his life changed for ever. A very interesting interview
passed all too soon. |
|
|
|
28th
|
Stephen Chalke
|
|
53 members, friends and family gathered to remember and honour Alan
Rayment, professional cricketer, dance teacher, father of six and great friend of
the Dorset Cricket Society. We heard from Stephen Chalke, Tim Biles, Chris Finch,
Richard Griffiths and two of Alan's sons, Denis (Den-ray) and Stephen. Stephen Chalke
has produced his book from a wide assortment of material that Alan left; chapters
already written, audio tapes of conversations for the book, photographs galore and
notes for chapters uncompleted or never started. The fact that Stephen has managed
to bring this book to print within a year of Alan's death is truly remarkable. Tim
Biles has written the forward to the book and was the first to speak. He first met
Alan while on a holiday course for schoolboys at Northlands Road, Alan was batting
in the adjacent net and became Tim's hero. From that start became a lifelong friendship.
Stephen recalled a few stories from the book and there were tributes from two of
Alan's sons plus Richard Griffiths from Hampshire. Tribute was paid to Elizabeth
Lloyd for her work in accumulating all the material from which the book was written
and for organising the cricket tea which brought the afternoon to a conclusion. Many
thanks to all who contributed to this very special afternoon. |
|
|
Nov |
4th
|
Vic Marks
|
|
Vic Marks made his fourth visit to the Society and we were very pleased
to induct him as a Life Vice-President of the Society. The format of the afternoon
was an interview between Chris Finch and Vic. We learned a bit about how titles for
new books are devised. Vic was keen on this occasion to avoid his name being part
of the title (like a previous book - Full Marks) and so he came up with "Late
Cuts" for his latest book, named after one of his favourite shots, though not
always a successful one!
Vic had worked for the Guardian for 30 years and The Observer for 12 before turning
freelance last year. He still works for Test Match Special when invited, but was
telling us of some of the difficulties faced when performing these duties with Covid
restrictions. He covered two Test matches from his sofa writing for The Guardian.
Broadcasting was strange with perspex divisions, headsets which were exclusively
yours during the Test match. Vic thought that television worked better, as they could
avoid shots of the vast empty grounds. Radio commentry usually works off the things
going on around the ground, which of course wasn't happening.
At the end Chris summed-up the afternoon, as an example of "Pure Marksism'!
Many thanks Vic for a great afternoon. |
|
|
|
11th
|
Mike Vimpany
|
|
We started the afternoon with news of the passing of one of our members,
Malcolm Budd. The meeting stood in silence to remember him, but also all the fallen
on this, Armistice Day. The rest of the afternoon took the form of a panel discussion,
ably led by Mike Vimpany, Keith Clarke (Parley CC), Shaun Lilley (New Milton &
Umpiring), Trevor Hayward (President South Wilts) and Colin Savage. We learnt how
the Southern League came into existance, relatively late in 1969, as teams wanted
to move to a win/lose result rather than time cricket. We also heard of the rise
of the Hampshire League which appears to be going from strength to strength with
well over 200 teams on a Saturday. Discussions ranged from players' behaviour to
the improvement of grounds and facilities, youth cricket and how clubs had coped
with the Covid restrictions. It was particularly interesting to hear how South Wilts
had managed to cover a projected loss of 14000 pounds. In all an excellent afternoon
discussing local-ish cricket. Many thanks to all those who contributed. |
|
|
|
18th
|
Roger Knight
|
|
Roger had three different careers and a cricketing career with three
different counties. After playing as an amateur for Surrey, he joined Gloucestershire
as a professional, later becoming a teammate of Julian Shackleton. All the while
he was also a teacher, getting the summer term off to play cricket. A return to the
south coast saw him join Sussex for a spell before the lure of the captaincy drew
him back to Surrey. Finally he embraced the teaching profession fully, rising to
become Headmaster of Worksop College. The opportunity then arose to become Secretary
of MCC, living in a house with its own private entrance to Lords. Roger helped to
oversee lady membership of the club, the Spirit of Cricket, the 1999 World Cup -
admist bomb outrages in London and the opening of the iconic media centre. He later
became President of MCC and has only just relinquished his connections to the club.
A fascinating afternoon's entertainment, many thanks Roger. |
|
|
|
25th
|
Michael Burns
|
|
Members gathered to watch the film directed by Michael Burns entitled
The Films Of Hopper Read, The Gentleman Cricketer. Hopper was the nickname of Holcombe
Douglas Read, born 1910, who played for Essex and once for England. He aquired his
nickname from the hop in his delivery stride. It didn't seem to slow him, as he was
once described as the fastest bowler in England, all this in the era of Harold Larwood.
The film revolved around two things, Hopper was from a well-to-do family and possessed
a 16mm camera and tripod which he used to film matches that he was playing in and
social events. Secondly he was interviewed by Chris Martin-Jenkins in 1998, a year
or two before his death. The interview was filmed and was intercut with the silent
film that Hopper had shot. Hopper was training to be an accountant, but managed to
persuade his employers to give him time off in the summer to play county cricket
for Essex. In one famous match in Huddersfield, Yorkshire were dismissed for 31 and
99 giving Essex a victory by an innings and 204 runs. This led to him being selected
for England in 1935 for the last Test against South Africa. He did well enough to
earn a place on the MCC tour to Australia and New Zealand. There were no Test matches
played against Australia that winter and the games against New Zealand were unofficial
Tests. He still managed to take 11 wickets in one of the games. On his return to
England his employers insisted he had to choose between cricket and accountancy and
so Hopper had played his last game of 1st class cricket. A fascinating film ably
supported by extensive notes that Michael provided. Many thanks. |
|
|
Dec |
2nd
|
Karl McDermott
|
|
Karl McDermott is now the Head Groundsman at Lords, having previously
held the same post at the Rose Bowl. We learnt how he came into the business whilst
still at school. His maths teacher was the groundsman of the local cricket club in
Ireland and needed some assistance on the Saturday mornings before games. As Karl
didn't play cricket himself, he was an ideal person to ask. Karl didn't expect to
go into groundsmanship after school, but the bug caught him and his maths teacher
was in the Ireland team that beat the West Indies, bowling them out for 25. Karl
became involved in helping out when touring teams visited or for B & H matches.
Karl prepared the pitch when Ireland played Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup. He
joined Worcestershire as his first job in the UK and later was offered jobs at the
Rose Bowl and Trent Bridge on the same day. After a 3 year stint as Head Groundsman
at Hampshire he was invited to apply to Lords when Mick Hunt retired. Since then
he has prepared pitches for an Ashes Test and the World Cup final. We learnt that
Karl has a house backing onto the ground, that the slope has to be considered when
watering pitches and that normally there are 5 full time groundmen, rising to as
many as 8 for big matches. A really interesting afternoon's entertainment, many thanks
Karl. |
|
|
|
9th
|
Richard Scott
|
|
40 members attended to hear Richard Scott, who started his career
with Colehill before moving on to Bournemouth Cricket Club in the days when they
still played at Northbourne. Success with them and the Dorset County side led to
him playing for the Hampshire 2nd XI and finally being offered a professinal contract
with Hampshire in 1984, with Peter Sainsbury as coach. His first salary was 1500
pounds for the season. He scored 116, including 9 6's against Yorkshire in a Sunday
League game and this was his best performance for Hampshire. As far as County cricket
was concerned, Hampshire had a very strong side at the time, with both the Smith
brothers, Paul Terry, Mark Nicholas, David Turner etc., which limited his opportunities.
David Gower was brought in when David Turner retired, closing off another opportunity.
In 1991 he decided to join Gloucestershire and had three wonderful years there, scoring
two 1st Class centuries and a 1-day 100. After three years Richard decided to leave
the game professionally and became an estate agent, ran the Bournemouth Sports Club,
along with restaurants and night clubs. After 7 years he was drawn back to the game
and coached Dorset CCC and the Dorset Cricket Board Emergent Player programme. After
this he was invited to apply to Middlesex as 2nd XI coach and within 18 months had
become 1st Team coach. Middlesex achieved propmotion from the 2nd Division in 2011
and became County Champions in 2016. Richard now coaches in Dorset, where he has
a number of roles. There followed a long Q&A session ably led by Martyn Levitt,
with plenty of audience response. Another good afternoon, many thanks to Richard. |
|
|
|
16th
|
Members
|
|
27 members attended the annual Christmas Buffet and a fine spread
was produced by the club and members. Many thanks to all concerned. After the feasting
it was time to watch a recording of an interview between our old friend and Vice-President,
John Barclay and David Lloyd. As expected, Bumble is always good for a story and
a laugh as he took us from his time as a 13 year old at Accrington CC where Wes Hall
was the professional, to Lancashire and England, both as a player and as Head Coach.
He spoke at length about the characters in the game, including the umpires, then
progressed to his comentating career with Sky and Channel 9 in Australia. This concludes
our programme for the 1st half of the season. All being well we resume on January
6th. |
| 2022 |
|
6th
|
Members
|
|
Tony Wharton opened up with a bit about the history of The Ashes and
playing out in Australia for the England Over 70's, with photos to accompany it.
Julian Shackleton took us through the details of his B&H final match at Lords,
with a copy of the scorecard in gold print and his winner's medal. Martin Reed took
us back to his student days playing cup football in Scotland. One item was a review
of 15 years of this meeting with a reminder of some memorable happenings, such as
a hollowed-out Wisden used as a safe and tales of Pete Frampton's knitted jock strap.
Thanks to all who contributed. |
|
|
|
13th
|
Members
|
|
Just over 50 members and guests assembled at the Hermitage hotel for
the Annual Lunch. Despite problems with a change of hotel and the effect of Covid
withdrawls, we enjoyed another fine meal with a raffle and charity quiz for MacMillan
Cancer Trust. Many thanks to all involved, but a heartfelt thanks to David Hain,
the organiser, for overcoming all the problems. |
|
|
|
20th
|
Derek Hopkins
|
|
Derek Hopkins kindly stepped in when Alan Fordham was unavailable.
He had selected three Hampshire sides for our consideration. The 1st team was Hampshire
Past including Phil Mead, Dickie Moore, Charles Fry, Lionel Tennyson, George Brown,
Walter Lindsay, Neil McCorkel, Charles Llewellyn, Jack Newman, Charles Knott. Derek
encouraged the audience to actively participate with their own opinions and suggestions,
recreating an atmosphere of meetings past, with plenty of banter. None of these players
were seen in the flesh by Derek - he was too young! Pictures and statistics were
forthcoming to back up his choices.
The 2nd XI was a Hampshire Overseas XI: Barry Richards, Gordon Greenidge, Matthew
Hayden, Hashim Amla, Simon Katich, Neil McKenzie, Nick Pothas, Shane Warne, Malcolm
Marshall, Kyle Abbott, Andy Roberts. Once again there was some discussion on their
merits, though some were an absolute shoe-in.
The 3rd team was composed of English players Derek had seen: Roy Marshall, Michael
Carberry, David Gower, Robin Smith, Mark Nicholas, Trevor Jesty, Adrian Ames, Peter
Sainsbury, Tim Tremlett, Derek Shackleton, Butch White. Derek justified Roy Marshall's
selection as he wasn't wanted by the West Indies. Derek managed to conjour up memories
of old, interlaced with wit and laughter in a great afternoon in the traditions of
the Society, Many thanks Derek. |
|
|
|
27th
|
Richard Mockridge
|
|
Richard spoke to us about what he did when he gave up playing cricket
and football at the tender age of 28. His story was interwoven with a display of
photographs and jackets depicting various roles over the years and also the politics,
both local and national. He was appointed Borough Engineer of Christchurch at the
age of 30 and one of his responsibilities were the parks cricket pitches, which he
knew were poor. Having tested an artificial cricket surface by having a net constructed
in his back garden, Richard took the decision to install them on all the parks grounds
and use them solely during the week, keeping grass wickets for the weekend. Richard
started to accumulate coaching badges and following a fire at the Stanpit garages
where the refuse lorries were stored, he was inspired to create the indoor cricket
venue. Bob Willis came to open the centre. As years passed, demand grew and a new
centre was needed. This was built at Hurn Bridge, this time opened by Clive Lloyd.
As Richard needed some help to run the centre, the Dorset Cricket Society was created
to provide opportunities to socialise, but also to help run the centre. The Society
started with 7 members in 2002 and as we approach 20 years our numbers are in the
60's. Throughout the talk Richard showed many photos and changed jackets and headware
with amazing frequency to give us a great afternoon's entertainment. Many thanks
Richard. |
|
|
Feb |
3rd
|
Paul Pearson
|
|
Paul Pearson talked about his vast collection of autographs and memorabilia
and how he goes about securing these items. His methods range from visiting players'
dinners, collecting at football grounds, knocking on people's doors and sending blank
material to clubs or individuals asking for them to be signed. Of course, with modern
players, identifying which signature is which is a master craft on its own, though
increasingly, younger players are incorporating their squad number into their signature.
Some of the more unualual items Paul showed included pin flags from various golf
courses which had then been autographed by the players. He also brought along signed
England (football) shirts and a Lionel Messi one! Altogether a most impressive display.
Thank you Paul! |
|
|
|
10th
|
Andrew Hignell
|
|
The meeting started with a minute's silence in memory of Don Crossley
who died recently.
Andrew Hignell came from Wales to give us a presentation supported by photographs
and newspaper clippings as he described the changes in journalism and scoring in
200 years. Back in the 1700's cricket clubs were places where members played amongst
themselves, the concept of playing opposition clubs had not yet arrived. When the
first reports of cricket matches appeared in the local newspapers, the cricket came
off second best to the reporting of the dining and the socialising. In the early
daysruns were recorded by cutting notches into a stick, possibly by the umpire, before
official scorers or 'notchers' became more common. By the mid 1800's reports were
becoming more familiar, with a scorecard included. Some papers may have had as many
as 8 editions a day. Pigeons were used to send reports back to the office for printing
Scores were now recorded on paper, which they still are today even whith modern computers,
as these machines are not infallable. Andrew also traced the development of cricket
writers from Neville Cardew right up to modern day scribes such as Vic Marks. Finally
he demonstrated the latest software for scoring first class games, as he showed how
we had moved from Pigeons to Mice! Many thanks Andrew. |
|
|
|
17th
|
Andrew Murtagh
|
|
Sadly the meeting started with another minute's silence, this time
for member Simon Nethersole.
Andrew Murtagh came to tell us more about the subject of his latest book, Tony Greig,
England captain, Packer rebel, commentator until his dying day. We learnt that his
father Sandy was a Scot, a decorated war hero who was a navigator with Bomber Command
and that Tony's last visit to England was to the unveiling of the monument to Bomber
Command in Green Park. Tony played for Sussex and England and could be regarded as
one of the finest all-rounders. His Test averages of 40.43 with the bat and 28 with
the ball included a career best 13-156 at Trinidad. Of course Tony will always be
associated with Kerry Packer and World Series Cricket. He agreed to join Packer with
the promise of a job for life, ensuring his family's future. Cricketers at that time
were very poorly paid, often only for part of the year. It took a High Court case
to establish that the cricket authorities could not ban the players, but Grieg never
played for England or Sussex again, taking up a commentary position with Channel
9 in Australia. He loved all the technological innovations and brought us pitch inspections
with keys in the cracks, amongst other features. He is the only England captain since
before Mike Denness not to be honoured. An outsider to the end! Many thanks Andrew
for bring him to life for us. |
|
|
|
24th
|
Anthony Gibson
|
|
Anthony returned to the Society to talk about following Somerset during
a long career which has encompassed cricket and farming. He managed to become a cricket
correspondant at university and in 1969 when Bill Frindall was unavailable, he stepped
in to do the scoring for the BBC as West Indies played Somerset - It rained all day!
He recalled working with John Arlott at Dean Park with the inevitable lubrication.
Brian Johnson was a hard taskmaster, as he was highly professional and expected everyon
else to be so. In 1975 he was asked to score the World Cup Final at Lords for the
BBC World Service. He became a commentator in 1985. In addition to his cricketing
career, he was heavily involved with farming in the West Country and was Regional
Director for the NFU during the Mad Cow Disease and Foot & Mouth outbreaks. Somehow
he found time to write books and won the Cricket Book of the Year award. He retired
from farming duties in 2008 and began commentating on Somerset. He hopes to see them
lift the County Championship before he retires in 3 years time. Many thanks Anthony |
|
|
March |
3rd
|
Ian Gould
|
|
Ian Gould, footballer, England International Cricketer and Elite Level
Umpire came to visit us and proved to be quite a character. He dived into the deep
end with his recollections of the infamous Test match between South Africa and Australia,
forever to be known as 'sandpapergate'. He set the scene for this, explaining that
the first two Tests of the series had been fairly fractious, possibly due to the
relative inexperience of the appointed officials. As a result there was a tv camera
focused solely on the ball for the entire time and this picked up Cameron Bancroft
attempting to alter the condition of the ball. For more details see Ian's book! Ian
explained that he was a goalkeeper on Arsenal's books as an apprentice, but his lack
of height caused them to release him and he went straight down to Lords where he
joined the groundstaff of MCC, along with I.T. Botham. Ian was signed up by Middlesex
but moved on to Surrey after Paul Downton arrived at Lords. Ian bowed out of Elite
umpiring after the 2019 World Cup. Ian wasn't afraid to tell the odd story against
himself, such as the time he went outside an Australia venue to smoke. Unfortunately
the security guard had changed when he tried to return and he didn't have his accreditation!
Fortunately match referee Chris Broad came to his rescue. A great afternoon's entertainment,
many thanks Ian. |
|
|
|
10th
|
Members
|
|
A fine buffet lunch preceeded the AGM as it returned to its traditional
March date. The meeting saw Chairman Barrie Wellman and Speaker Secretary John White
stand down. Both gentlemen were warmly thanked for their work. Derek Hopkins was
elected Chairman and Huw Nathan has joined the speakers sub-group. Ron Dickinson
was presented with the Clubman of the Year book for his long standing service as
treasurer. The Society has been making a loss over the last few seasons and a motion
from the floor proposed that weekly fees should rise to 5 pounds for members and
7 for non-members. The annual payment to remain at 10 pounds. This was carried by
a large majority.
We than watched the Benson & Hedges Cup Final from 1977, featuring our own Julian
Shackleton. Gloucester won by a margin of 64 runs and Julian was on hand afterwards
to show his winner's medal and scorecard. |
| |
|
17th
|
Michael Burns
|
|
A very late change of programme saw members captivated by a Michael
Burns' film entitled 'Shifting Boundaries'. Michael had cleverly woven together amateur
video, newsreel of cricket and music of the sixties along with film of society in
that decade. He looked at the changes which took place within the game, such as the
amateur/professional distinction disappearing, along with the introduction of one
day cricket. He turned the lens on the touring sides of the decade including the
emerging West Indian team. Controversy such as chucking and apartheid were confronted.
A very thought-provoking film. Thanks again Michael. |
| |
|
24th
|
Derek Hopkins
|
|
The penultimate afternoon of the season brought a collection of opportunities
for members. First there was the chance to be beguiled by Derek Hopkins' quiz, then
the opportunity to be soothed by the (nearly) end-of-season cream tea. To be fair,
the quiz did have some questions that I could have answered, with rounds that included
sports jargon, cricket all-rounders, olympic medal winning countries and of course
the picture quiz. There were many occasions when a hush descended on the assembled
gathering as the innermost parts of the brain were scanned for answers, there were
of course an equal number of times when there was a requet for a question to be repeated!
The afternoon flew past as the cream tea was being assembled. Many thanks to Derek
for all the work on his quiz, these things take quite a bit of organising. Members
then tucked into the cream tea, achieveing an almost total demolition. Well done! |
| |
|
31st
|
John Barclay
|
|
The season was brought to an appropriate finale by the 6th visit of
Vice-President John Barclay. In a performance of over 90 minutes, John talked about
his cricket career with his wonderful ability to spin a story, then stopped for a
while to answer questions from the floor, before resuming with more tales from his
career in cricket, both playing and as an administrator. We heard how he was thanked
by Viv Richards for helping him become a truly great batsman, how he and Devon Malcolm
managed to set-back the progress of young South-African batsmen after a meeting with
Nelson Mandela. We heard how he was selected to play by Sussex at the age of 16 and
then not again for another three years, before finally achieving a place in the side
and oh so nearly leading them to the County Championship title. We heard all this
while he was pacing the stage and bringing the audience into his performance. Once
again we must thank John for an absolutley fantastic afternoon's entertainment. |
