Sussex v Uncorns

The morning of the long awaited first Game of the Season was sunny, not a cloud in the sky as Lottie and I  walked across Jubilee Park.

The Actions on Dianne’s List were soon done and by 11.15 I was in the Jag on the way to my beloved Hove.

In just a few weeks’ time it will be the start of my 7th decade of watching cricket from the Cromwell Road end 

.

As I sat there watching the cricket, listening - like so many in the smallish crowd -  to Radio 5Live for the scores from the last day of the Premiership, glancing at the Sunday Times and reading  Our Man in Havana, it was a day of so many, many Memories.

As for the cricket, nothing more to tell you than that Sussex 291 for 3 easily beat the Unicorns 147 all out.

In truth, it was one of those days when I wasn't really watching that closely ... ... my mind was "elsewhere."

See you at a Game soon !

Lord Ric

Class is Permanent

Hi everyone!

The wonderful weather of the last few days reminds us that the Cricket Season is fast approaching.

Along with a couple of hundred other Old Boys, sprinkled with a few Ladies, I had lunch today with ‘Lord’ Ted Dexter.

 

Ted, of course, captained England & Sussex in the 1960’s.

He played in 62 Tests, averaging 48.

But Statistics alone only begin to tell you about Ted.

He was playing in the very first game I ever saw at Hove:  Sussex v Yorkshire in May 1960.

He was England captain in 1964 at the Oval when I saw Freddie Trueman become the first ever bowler to take 300 Test wickets.

And on his return to First Class cricket in 1968, I was at the Central Ground, Hastings to see him score 200 & hit Derek Underwood across Queen’s Road into Marks & Spencer.

When I went home with Mum & Dad after that very first game I dreamt that I too would Bat 3 for England & Captain the team.
   Almost 52 years on ... I'm still dreaming !!

After lunch, John Barclay – himself a former Sussex captain & author of Life Beyond the Airing Cupboard, the best cricket book I have ever read   - was the compere.

He gave Ted some gentle questions; tempting half volleys just outside off stump.

Ted turns 77 this May and whilst he looked very little changed from the days of his pomp, his first couple of answers were a bit stuttering.

But whilst Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent & he was soon into his stride, even if - as in all the best anecdotes – some of the facts were not quite what Wisden records.

There were tales of how Ted came to be recruited to Sussex, being managed on England's tour Australia in 1962/63 by the Duke of Norfolk, being struck by lightning whilst commentating on BBC and plenty more.

An hour rushed by and all too soon it was time for a walk round the ground before heading back to Chatsworth Square.

I was very pleased that John Squire was able to join me.

When it comes time for him to give the Eulogy at my Funeral, I know that there will be a story or two about Cricket at Hove.

I hope to see you all at plenty of games this season !!

Lord Ric 

50 years today ... ...

Hi everyone !


It was 50 years ago today that I watched  my first professional football match : 
      Arsenal v Bradford City in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup on Saturday 6 January 1962.


Dad - who was a Spurs supporter  - had got two tickets for us, high up in the West Stand at Highbury, about midway between the half way line and the South stand.

In the team that day were Kelsey, Bacuzzi, McCullough, Clamp, Brown, Snedden, MacLeod, Barnwell, Charles, Eastham and Skirton.

In the picture, Mel Charles, Arsenal's centre-forward (second left) beats Downie, Bradford's goalkeeper and Storton, Bradford's left-back, to score Arsenal's second goal. 
 (The ball is completely covered by Storton.)


Arsenal won 3-0 ... and in the 50 years since then my support for them has never wavered !


That little boy who sat with his Dad that Saturday afternoon long, long ago never dreamt of the joy that The Arsenal would bring him.
It turned out that - just as Spurs' Double-winning captain Danny Blanchflower said - Football is the Glory Game !


Just a few minutes to remind you of the Beautiful Game... Va Va Voom !
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ko5jBnTn9hU
If - unbelievably - you aren't a Gunners Fan, I'm sure you find a goal or two that Thierry scored to enjoy!




My best wishes to you for a very happy 2012.






Come on you Gunners !


Onward, Lord Ric


PS

 My Favourite Player was also playing that Saturday, away to Birmingham City in a 3 - 3 draw.

 His team got to the Cup Final that season & his goal in the third minute helped Spurs to beat Burnley 3 - 1.












As he used to say : " Football ... it's a funny old game !"

Pretty Boy

Hi everyone !

Joe Frazier passed away just a couple of days ago.

There were plenty of valedictory articles. Most focused on Joe's  3 fights with Muhammad Ali, the third of which was the Thrilla in Manilla.


James Lawton in the Independent was especially evocative:

Ali  saw his last assignment against Frazier as a formality, something to juggle along with a tempestuous affair with the beautiful Veronica Porsche. Ali was the King of the World then, of course, the conqueror of Foreman in the African jungle clearing and it was an authority that seemed to endure its most serious challenge when his wife Belinda, hearing that her young rival was being passed off as the new Mrs Ali, flew into Manila in a fury that made Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew seem like a minor domestic chore.

It was a distraction that Ali realised soon enough might well have carried the most disastrous consequences. 

Precisely, this was in the seventh round when the champion's presumption that he had weathered the worst of Frazier's pressure was shattered by a new wave of attacks. 

Ali gathered Frazier into his grasp and whispered into his ear, "Joe, they told me you were all washed up." 

Frazier replied, "They told you wrong, pretty boy."

I'm not a fan of boxing ; its sheer physical brutality & long term damage to the boxers is not for me.

But I do recognise the brutality of all competition.

It's almost half a century since I first beat Dad at Draughts on a Sunday evening.
It was only when I did it a second & third time the following weekend  that he recognised what a brutal pastime it is.

And just a few weeks ago  - 30 years and more since we began playing - Dianne started to beat me regularly at Crib.
I knew how Dad felt ...

Lord Ric

Fitz: 40 Years On !

Hi everyone!

The long looked forward to College 40^th Reunion Weekend.

The Best College at the Best University in the World .. probably !!

The weekend got off to a gentle start with a couple of pints in the Sir Isaac Newton & (as always) Lamb Passanda at the Maharajah with the Class of ’71.

A cooked breakfast on Saturday morning & it was time for a trip down memory lane.

First Stop:

A tale to be told of The British General Election 1970.

Second Stop:

My first ever Supervision (in the first floor, right hand room) and what I learnt about being unprepared & Nigel Smethers.

Third Stop:

The traffic lights on Magdalene Bridge and the tale of the Queen’s Chaplain in Scotland and the off duty WPC.

Saturday evening: formal dinner in Hall & then a final pint in the College Bar.

A tremendous weekend !

And all back for the Golden Matriculands’ tea in 2021.

Surrey win the CB40

Hi everyone !




At Lord's on Saturday for Surrey v Somerset in the CB40 Final.

A MASSIVE THANK YOU to Andrew Merrifield of Clydesdale Bank who invited me.
    I can really recommend watching from Box A in the Mound Stand !!

Having been 79 for 5, Somerset were rescued by Josh Buttler who scored a very accomplished 86, hitting two sixes and seven fours off 72 balls , before being bowled by Man of the Match Jade Denbach, who took 4 for 30 in Somerset's 214 all out.

Somerset needed early wickets to stand any chance. And, although Murali Kartik crucially dropped Hamilton-Brown before he had scored, they made two breakthroughs around two brief rain breaks, Kirby taking the wickets of both Davies and Roy.

At 46-2 off seven overs, rain then forced the two sides off again, at which point the weather had caused sufficient delay for Duckworth/Lewis to come into play.I can confirm that no-one in Box A knows how the D/L system works ; so no surprise there!

Somerset's revised target was 186 off 30 overs, meaning 140 were needed off 23 overs, at 6 an over.

Although Suppiah had Maynard caught behind, Schofield helped Hamilton-Brown put on 58 for the fourth wicket.

Just when Schofield and Hamilton-Brown looked to be cruising home, Schofield slammed it straight to Trescothick before Hamilton-Brown was run out by a fantastic direct hit from Buttler at mid-on.

Spriegel (24no) and de Bruyn (17no) saw their side home in the 28th over - to complete a memorable week for Surrey, just three days after winning promotion back to the Division 1 in the County Championship.

From Box A you get  a good view of Father Time, turning in the wind high above the Mound Stand:

Just 60 or 70 metres to the Warner Stand from where I sat with Dad on my first visit to Lords 50 years ago for MCC v Australia in May 1961.

Has Life turned out I thought it would as an 8 year old?

    My Blog next year on 21 June will tell you !! 

The last game of Season 2012 and what a season it has been.

The Diamond anniversary of that Never To Be Forgotten match at Tunbridge Wells.


There have been the much looked forward to annual trips to the Nevill, to Southend and to Beckenham.
The evening game at the Oval.
Sitting on the benches in front of the Pavilion at Lords; a special afternoon with Bob Ayers
A first visit to Southgate, a delightful ground.


A first season of being able to walk to the ground at Hove.


And of course The Day I Watched Cricket with Young Jim Parks ... did I ever tell you the story !!!




Thank you to all of you who watched cricket with me in Season 2011.


I look forward to seeing you in Season 2012.


--


I don't want to keep you in suspense over the long Winter months:

That 8 year old did find the Rainbow.


And I know you will too !




Onward !!


Lord Ric 




PS


During the day Alastair Cook popped in to the Clydesdale box:

On the England  tours to the sub-continent over the winter ... I'm sure he will find the couple of tips I gave him about his batting extremely useful !!

Tremendous day at Lords

Hi everyone !


A tremendous day at Lords for England v India.


And a MASSIVE thank you for Michael for asking me.
Thebes entertaining at its very best  : http://www.thebesgroup.co.uk/


Excellent seats in the front row of the Mound stand and a big contingent from the sub-continent made for a wonderful day out.

India started modestly and after 33 overs had only reached 128-4.

But MS Dhoni (78 not out) and Suresh Raina (84) did not panic and rebuilt the innings steadily.

They both cut loose in the final 10 overs, bludgeoning the ball to all parts in scoring 109 in India's 280 for 5.

England's response started badly, with Kieswetter and Cook both falling to RP Singh.

However, with a good 50 from Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara scored a magnificent 96 to guide England to the brink of victory.

But with the rain falling and England needing 11 to win from seven balls under Duckworth-Lewis, a third downpour ended the match.

After some confusion as to just what the Duckworth-Lewis score actually was ... Final Result : Match tied.

At lunchtime Mike Gatting came round to talk to each of the tables.

I asked him about his nephew, Jo Gatting of Sussex.

As any Good Uncle should, Mike knew Jo's latest scores: 70 in the 1st innings against Worecestershire and a maiden Championship century ( 116*) in the 2nd.


And as for Phil Edmonds?
Mike agreed : Phil's biography A Singular Person summed up Phillipe Henri very well !
( I didn't have the courage to ask about Frances Edemonds' book Cricket, XXXX Cricket ... ...)

---------------

Just one match left this season : the CB40 Final at Lords next Saturday.

See you all soon !

Lord Ric