For I know the plans I have for you
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah Chapter 29 Verse 11
Hi everyone !
Mum told me that the phone had rung not too long after 8 o’clock one weekday evening in early May.
Tunbridge Wells 26048
Hello, Isabel. It’s Wally; Wally Packman
Good evening, Mr Packman (When the Chairman rings… it always pays to be polite !!)
Is Fred around ?
Dad & Wally had first worked
together a quarter of a century before.
Both still working for Mears Construction, they were good friends.
Wally told Dad that his granddaughter Ruth Eisenberg (who - subject to A Level results – was going to Cambridge that Autumn to read Law) had asked her Grandad if he knew anyone who could host her for a day in Cambridge before the Summer Term ended.
Wally told Ruth there was only one name in the frame: Young Ricci !
When I made my weekly call to Mum
& Dad the following Sunday morning, it was quickly agreed that Ruth and I would
meet up on Saturday 10th June 1972.
Exactly 50 years ago today !
When you are the Chairman’s beloved
and only granddaughter, you do not travel from Blackheath to Cambridge by
train.
Oh No; the Chairman’s Chauffeur brings
you in the Bentley !!
The College Porter was hugely impressed: The Rich Relatives, eh, Ric !!
There was light rain as Ruth & I walked down Storey’s Way, turned into Madingley Road and then along Grange Road.
After a couple of hours looking round the Law Faculty, we headed through the centre of town taking in two or three colleges and headed across Parker’s Piece to Fenners cricket ground.
Ruth had inherited a love of
cricket from her grandfather.
Dare I even mention that she was a Kent Fan ??!!
Dad, Ruth, Grandad Wally and I had watched a couple of Kent games at The Nevill, Tunbridge Wells.
---
By one of those amazing
co-incidences that you so regularly find in Lord Ric blogs…
Sussex were the visitors at Fenners !
50 years ago there was no Sussex
Twitter account, so it wasn’t entirely straightforward to know just who was playing.
We couldn’t find a scorecard to buy.
So it was very much a case of physical recognition.
When we arrived at the ground around Noon, Cambridge University had just started batting.
Looking at the Cambridge XI there
were a couple of well-known players:
Majid Khan played 63 Tests for Pakistan (including 3 as
Captain); and
Phil Edmonds who played 51 Test for England.
He is one of my Favourite Players of All Time.
But several other players - though much less well-known - would come to benefit from the words of Jeremiah Chapter 29 Verse 11:
They are in their early 70’s now.
Then in their early 20’s, what were the Lord’s plans for these young players ?
Opening the batting was Phillip
Hodson who would marry Sally Ann, Sussex and England Captain Tony Greig’s sister.
And become President of MCC.
Batting No. 6, New Zealander Keith Steele would go on to have a successful legal career in Australia, becoming Senior Partner of Freehills (now magic circle law firm Herbert Smith Freehills).
A master at Brighton college, he would coach future Test Players Matt Prior, Holly Colvin and Sarah Taylor.
---
For anyone who was a Sussex Fan in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were plenty of Legends in the field.
No.3 Roger Prideaux - himself a Cambridge Blue - would become the first Chairman of the fledgling Professional Cricketers' Association.
Roger
Prideaux and his wife Ruth Westbrooke played cricket for England; the
first couple to both play Test cricket.
England
Women won the 1993 World Cup with Ruth as coach.
The Prideauxs
No.4 and wicketkeeper - and needing
absolutely no introduction to Lord Ric blog readers - was Young Jim Parks.
Jim didn’t usually play matches against the Universities. But he had made his First Class debut against Cambridge at Horsham over 20 seasons before, back in 1949.
Did he perhaps sense that his Sussex career was close to ending and there was time for one last game against the opponents where it had all begun ?
That Saturday now long, long ago, there was a stumping and a catch from Young Jim.
Class is Permanent !!
Mike Griffith - a Cambridge Blue at cricket, hockey & rackets - was in his final
season as Sussex Captain.
He would go on to become President of MCC, the second in the game.
Peter Graves and Mike (brother of Tony) Buss were long term players for Sussex.
But looking at the Sussex XI there were a few players who were rather less familiar:
John Denman’s 5 for 45 in this match was his career best performer.
The Sussex Nos. 8 & 11 were roommates.
18 year old John 'Trout' Barclay - in his
first season as a professional cricketer - would become Sussex Captain from 1981-86.
His autobiography is one of my Favourite Books:
Trout would manage England on two
overseas tours.
For over 30 years he ran the Arundel
Castle Cricket Foundation for young cricketers and underprivileged children.
He is the current Sussex President.
And he would go on to become President of MCC, the third in the game.
And what of Paul Dunkels ?
He played just three First Class
matches: one for Warwickshire, one for the Minor Counties and finally one for
Sussex.
All three of his wickets were taken in the game against Cambridge.
For those looking for a Truly
Trivial Fact:
At six feet ten inches tall, he (surely must be) the
tallest ever to play for Sussex.
(Note: Greigy was six feet six inches)
And what of Life after Cricket ?
Paul Renton Dunkels was called to the bar in 1972 and appointed as a Queen"s Counsel in 1993.
The Senior Statesman of the Western Circuit
---
Ruth & I enjoyed watching what in truth was a gentle day’s cricket.
Throughout the day we chatted about Life at Cambridge … …
My first year had been really
enjoyable.
Friends made for Life.
Ricci, Harry, Roger & Nigel
I said that being well-prepared for Supervisions was the key:
Never rely on your Supervision Partner either being well-prepared themselves and/or sufficiently bright to be able to get by on intellect alone.
As my Tutor Tony ‘Doc’ Edwards had told me:
Ruth and I both knew that she was ferociously
bright.
She had absolutely nothing to worry
about !!
There was time – as there always is
time – for me to tell a couple of Young Jim stories…
You know the ones !!
Ruth told me that she knew that I’d
still be telling the same stories about Jim in 50 years’ time.
And she was right !!!
And as for Jeremiah Chapter 29 Verse 11 and Ruth ?
Ruth’s A Level results were excellent; never in doubt.
We became very good friends over the next couple of academic years.
And we remained so when we both starting working in The City.
Ruth became a Partner at magic circle law firm Clifford Chance.
And along the way she met & married Ted.
She told me that she knew that Ted was The One when ... they first shook hands …
Which only goes to show the Absolute Confidence that a Cambridge Education gives you !!!
But - looking back, how had we
allowed it to happen ? - in our early 30s we had drifted apart.
---
And You, dear Reader …
What is your Tale of Jeremiah
?
I’d love to know.
Do get out your diary & have a look at the fixtures.
I really hope that you’ll come along and watch cricket with me.
After all ….
Why read a
Lord Ric Cricket Blog, when you can star in your own.
See you soon!!
Lord Ric of Beckley Furnace
PS
In early June 2001 I was working for WS Atkins in Epsom, based in the Mansion at Woodcote Grove.
The Mansion
My PA, Jennie Assem, told me that they were ready for me in the Board Room.
A Deal was being finalised for the
bank debt for a Private Finance Initiative highway.
Chase Manhattan Bank was the debt provider.
As I headed downstairs, Jennie handed me the Briefing Notes.
I slipped into the Board Room & sat quietly near the door.
It was clear that the Deal was “oven ready”, save only for a final issue with the Warranties & Indemnities.
For Atkins, David Clements put
forward a proposal.
TBH; it was a complete nonsense !!
But - much to my surprise - the Chase
Manhattan lead negotiator seemed to be about to accept the proposal.
Then he said: I should ask what Ruth thinks … …
Almost 20 years after I had last
heard it, as that so familiar voice started to speak, I quickly turned to the Runners
& Riders - Profiles appendix in the Briefing Notes.
Peter Jefferson had done his usual excellent job in preparing the Profiles of the other side’s participants:
Ruth Eisenberg is a Partner at Clifford Chance.
Ruth is charming and erudite.
She is ferociously bright.
Ruth prides herself on always being well-prepared for
meetings.
Note:
Whatever happens, do not under any circumstances
let Ric become involved in direct confrontation with Ruth.
It will end very badly for us !!
Just for Ric:
Ruth is a lifelong supporter of Kent.
Though no one knows why; her Favourite Cricketer played in the '50s & '60s for Sussex & England:
Young Jim Parks.
I heard Ruth say:
Thank you for asking me to give my view.
Looking around at the expertise here this afternoon …
I am able to confirm that I am not the smartest person
in the room; so I am in the right room !
Almost 30 years ago, just as I was about to go to
Cambridge…
I was advised by a very good friend to always go to
meetings well-prepared; and indeed I have !
Come on, Young Ricci.
You know that the Atkins proposal is a complete nonsense.
Why don’t you & I spend 5 minutes agreeing a
reasonable approach ?
Then we can all sign the Deal and open the Champagne …
And you can tell us all a story
about Jim Parks. …
You do still tell stories about
Young Jim, don’t you !!!
*****
In Memory
of
James Michael Parks
Sussex & England
21 October 1931 - 31 May 2022
RIP Young Jim
With Love, Ricci & Ruth xxx
