GOOGLIES & CHINAMEN
An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 127
July 2013
Dad’s Army
I have always been in favour of cricket sides having a mix of youth and experience. However, Surrey have taken things a little too far since they currently have seven first team regulars over the age of thirty five. But can you pick them out?
Gareth Batty
Jonathan Batty
Jonathan Lewis
Jonathan Agnew
Inzaman-ul- Haq
Zander de Bruyn
Mike Selvey
Gary Keedy
Graham Hick
Bill Hart
Kevin Pietersen
Ricky Pontin
Graeme Smith
Paul Nixon
David Garrard
Vikram Solanki
Paddy Carlin
Murali Kartik
Mark Ramprakesh
Azhar Mahmood
Wazim Akram
Out and About with the Professor
When it comes to cricket, the valley of the Dordogne has, in truth, little to recommend it. This is in part due to the absence of much in the way of flat land and also to the habit of the locals in covering almost every square inch (centimetre...sorry) with vines. In the beautiful historic city of St Emilion, where I have spent the last week, there are vines everywhere; they surround people’s houses, come right up to the back door - right up to the front door come to that - and some houses look as if they are fighting a losing battle to keep the triffid-like invaders out. Happily they largely fail and thus are able to produce the splendid wines so beloved by Sharp Minor and many others.
While the historic links between the Aquitaine and England are strong they do not, in general, run to cricket. Indeed given that the links were severed in 1453 at the battle of Castillon I suppose that is not so surprising; at least it doesn't rank with the disastrous effects that the American Civil War had on cricket in the Southern States which was abandoned in favour of the tedious game of baseball. But cricket can be found! Your fearless correspondent tracked down two nearby clubs: St Aulaye, who play just east of Bordeaux, and Eymet CC who are a few miles (kilometres) south of Bergerac. The facilities are modest and it would be fair to say the standard is not high but there is a local league and the clubs play visiting teams from the UK with names like: East Herts Cavaliers and Dorking Dads. Perhaps some Googlies readers have first-hand playing experience? The clubs advertise that they can "accommodate" visitors which I think translates as: if you bring your bat you can get a game. Eymet seems to be the stronger club and it boasts sponsorship, albeit by the disappointingly named Eymet Pizzaria.
Still, contemplating "grass roots" cricket, even in a foreign field, adds perspective to the up-coming Test series and the feats of high-flying Yorkshire. The latter, having demolished Middlesex, were looking forward to the visit of Surrey last week and, in particular the chance to see Ponting and Pietersen on the field. In the event Ponting didn't turn up (not doing too well with their overseas star signings, Surrey) and in truth we all rather wished that Pietersen had stayed home as well. Gale continued his splendid recent form with another hundred but was outshone by KP who was just brilliant (7 sixes and 17 fours). I read that some people think that his past behaviour should exclude him from the England team and that he should be permanently sitting on the naughty step but I don't think that is a grown-up position; indeed anyone who saw Pietersen's innings and concluded that he shouldn't be playing for England should be arrested for treason...at the very least.
I asked (rhetorically) in a previous edition of Googlies: "who would get runs for Yorkshire". The answer seems to be "everyone". All the top six have got hundreds or double hundreds and thus the top of the table slot. Rashid, it may have been noted, only passed 40 in this game – his batting that is - his bowling comfortably passed 100 and was belted to all parts by KP (three 4s in one over, two 4s and a 6 in another). The availability (or not) of the three Test players might well have an important part to play in the second half of the season. To win the Championship with the three best players out would truly be a great effort and would certainly please our President.
By the time of the next Googlies we might have an idea of the outcome of the Ashes series. Am I also alone in thinking that the series might be quite close and far from the comfortable England win that is so generally predicted? I wish I was more comfortable in thinking that the England attack can bowl out a side if the ball is not swinging and, if it is, then I'm not that certain that the Australians won't make inroads into our top order… whatever that might look like. We shall see.
In any event, whatever happens in the next few weeks I will have a bottle or two of Grand Cru to help me come to terms with it...if not exactly to focus.
Sofa Cricket
Essex v Scotland YB40 at Chelmsford 2 June
The early phase of the Essex innings featured a fine 110 from 88 balls from the New Zealander, Rutherford in an innings which featured 6 sixes. However, this was just the warm up act for the Dutchman, ten Doeschate, who scored 180 out of 285 whilst he was at the crease hitting almost half his runs in his fifteen sixes. Scotland stood no chance of making 369 to win and were well beaten.
Leicestershire v Middlesex YB40 at Grace Road 2 June
Nobody made fifty for Leicestershire as Harris, Murtagh, Berg, Rayner and Roland-Jones shared the wickets and dismissed them for a below par 220. In reply Middlesex knocked them off without the loss of a wicket with nearly ten overs to spare. Paul Stirling scored 132 not out from 98 balls without hitting a six which is extremely unusual for him. He is a very talented hitter and could be a major player over the coming years if he can harness his skills. At the other end Dawid Malan made 80 not out from 86 balls. Malan has scored heavily in this competition but his wretched form in the County Championship led to his being dropped. Perhaps Ramprakesh can sort him out.
Essex v Surrey at Chelmsford YB40 3 June
Owais Shah reminded us what a powerful and effective one day batsman he can be. He struck four sixes in a 53 ball 68 which lifted Essex to a challenging 312. Well it would have been challenging if Surrey had turned up but in the event it was no contest as they were bundled out for 134. Graham Napier took four wickets in four balls and finished with the unlikely figures of 7 for 32. He bowled full length inswingers with a white ball, which the commentators called reverse swing, something they insist is impossible white a white ball and in under thirty overs of use. Go figure.
Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire CCDiv1 at Scarborough 5 June
Yorkshire, who had put Notts in, were 121 for 4 in reply to Notts’ 443 when Gary Ballance joined skipper Andrew Gale at the crease. They added 310 before Ballance was dismissed for 141. Gale went on score a massive 272 from 404 balls. Until he suffered a broken arm whilst batting in the nets Gale was a regular member of the England set up. He used to open the innings but is now scoring heavily in the middle order. He could yet force himself back into the reckoning. Yorkshire took a lead of 129 but Notts batted out comfortably to secure a draw.
Surrey v Warwickshire CCDiv1 at Guildford 5 June
The Warwickshire innings just went on and on. The early stages were dominated by Chopra who made 192. When he was out at 369 for 4 Ambrose and Javis, who both made 80s, took over. Towards the end of the innings batting was dominated by Keith Barker who made 125 at number 8. Troughton eventually declared at 631 for 9. Surrey followed on and no one reached a hundred in either innings but they hung on comfortably for a draw.
Essex v Lancashire CCDiv2 at Chelmsford 12 June
This match started sedately enough with Essex reaching 273 in their first innings and Lancashire responding with 398. In the tail Hogg and Chapple both made fifties and even Simon Kerrigan, who has never made a first class fifty, reached 31. However, things suddenly changed when Essex batted again. In 14.2 overs Hogg and Chapple rolled them over for just 20. Only Mickleburgh reached double figures. Chapple took 5 for 9 and Hogg 4 for 11. The great Jack Morgan tells me that this is the lowest Championship score since Surrey were skittled for 14 in 1983 on the same ground. There’s never a dull moment at Chelmsford.
Lancashire v Northamptonshire CCDiv2 at Old Trafford 20 June
Following their fun of the previous week Chapple and Hogg ripped into the Northants batting at their home ground and dismissed them for 62, with Hogg taking 7 for 29. Once again the pair bowled unchanged although on this occasion it took them 29.5 overs to achieve the result. In a low scoring match only Murphy and Hall scored fifties but they ended up on the losing side as Lancashire won inside two days.
Somerset v Australia at Taunton 26 June
For much of the first day the Australians looked to be the pushover that many are predicting they will be in the Ashes series as Somerset moved serenely on to 310 for 3. But Starc and Pattinson then took six wickets without the score moving and ten runs later the innings was over for 320. Australia declared when they reached the lead and then Starc and Pattinson took five more wickets as Somerset were dismissed for 260. Australia then coasted to a five wicket victory. Don’t write them off yet. For the record Nick Compton scored 115 runs from 212 balls. Will Joe Root beat this?
West Indies v Sri Lanka ODI at Kingston 28 June
The bowlers in the Champions Trophy did well to avoid the fury of the Gayle bat. At Kingston Sri Lanka were reminded of what can happen if you don’t get him out early when they were dismissed for 208. He made 109 from 100 balls in an innings which included seven sixes as his side coasted to victory with twelve overs to spare.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan has been wallowing in the sun
For the Championship match against leaders Sussex at Lord's on June 5th, Middlesex brought in Tim Murtagh for Corey Collymore, Ollie Rayner for Tom Smith and Adam London for Dawid Malan, whose dire form in the Championship was in stark contrast to his YB40 form where he averages 89.75. Ex-Middlesex batsman Ed Joyce won the toss for Sussex and asked Middlesex to bat first. The pitch had the usual greenish look about it, but the weather was dry and sunny and openers Chris Rogers and Sam Robson looked comfortable with only the odd ball causing any anxiety. They had put on an excellent 100 for the first wicket before Robson (the Player of the Month for April and May) surprisingly fell just before lunch for an impressive 54 off 89 balls with 9 boundaries. Neil Dexter also played attractively for his first century of the season (104 off 197 balls with 11 fours) and shared a brilliant stand of 155 for the fourth wicket with captain Rogers before the latter fell for a magnificent 184 off 305 balls with 22 boundaries. John Simpson also played nicely for 50 off 93 balls with 8 fours while Gareth Berg chipped in with a terrific little cameo of 39 off 25 balls with 6 fours before the declaration came at 499 for 8 off 138 overs. Despite choosing to bowl first in what he presumably thought would be ideal conditions for his four seamers, Joyce was not afraid to give his three spinners a good long bowl (at the Oval in late April, his trio of spinners had bowled 84 overs in the match) and they contributed 57 overs in this innings with leg-spinner Will Beer standing out with 3 for 89 from his 30 overs.
Sussex made a dismal start to their innings and had slumped to 117 for 7 before England ODI all rounder Luke Wright finally found a reliable partner in Beer. Wright batted very well (as he usually does in front of this spectator) for a fluent 77 off 119 balls with 9 boundaries, with Beer defending stoutly for 141 balls while 88 were added for the eighth wicket. Off-spinner Rayner was the Middlesex hero with 5 for 63 (his best for Middlesex and the first 5 wicket haul by a Middlesex spinner since Malan surprisingly took 5 for 61 at Aigburth in May 2012) as the visitors succumbed for 222 in 83.2 overs and followed on 277 in arrears.
Sussex showed much greater resolve at their second attempt and opener Chris Nash (36 from 66 balls) and another ex-England ODI man Mike Yardy (41 off 83 balls) both looked capable of going on to greater things. However, it was a huge stand of 159 between yet another ex-England ODI man Joyce (98 off 187 balls with 9 fours) and the impressive Wright, who deserves to bat higher than 6, which convinced the visitors that they could escape with a draw. Then, however, a flurry of wickets saw them sink into trouble again at 304 for 7, only 27 ahead, before Wright was again joined by Beer, who this time made a more positive contribution (39 off 102 balls) in a stand of 101 for the eighth wicket. Wright eventually departed for a superb career best 187 off 276 balls with 25 fours as the home bowling started to look slightly toothless on a pitch that was still playing well. Berg bowled only 11 overs in the match and is presumably still not fully fit; Toby Roland-Jones did not really look fit either and with Rayner unable to reproduce his heroics of the first innings (despite bowling 42 overs in the second innings) and Dexter bowling only 6 overs in the match, a huge burden fell on the shoulders of the fast medium bowlers Murtagh (3 for 74) and James Harris (3 for 112). Joe Denly's leg breaks were pressed into service and he responded with 2 for 47, including the prized wicket of Wright.
The Sussex total of 454 left Middlesex to score a theoretical 178 off 20 overs and it was a surprise that the home side actually had a shot at it for 8 overs before the teams shook hands on the draw with the score on 50 for 3. Such run chases are possible in limited overs cricket where artificial restrictions are placed on fielders and bowlers, but not in the Championship where there are no such restrictions. It was disappointing for Middlesex to only draw a match that they had dominated, but credit has to go to Sussex for the way they fought for the draw.
Middlesex brought in Corey Collymore for Toby Roland-Jones for the Championship match against Yorkshire at Lord's on June 11th. It was cold, grey, windy and drizzly and many captains might have fancied a bowl, but Yorkshire's captain Andrew Gale knew better and chose to bat first. Middlesex made a decent start with Adam Lyth and Phil Jaques back in the dressing room with 70 on the board, but 20 year old Alex Lees, of whom many of us had hardly heard, was already going well. Skipper Gale joined the 6'3" heavyweight in an excellent stand of 135 for the third wicket before Lees (who did not do particularly well for Yorkshire in the Second XI last season, averaging 28.6) fell for a very impressive 100 off 223 balls with 11 fours, beating his previous highest in the Championship by 94! Gale has only recently returned to form himself and now he shared another fine stand of 109 for the fifth wicket with England ODI all rounder Adil Rashid, before departing for 103 off 224 balls with 9 fours. Rashid, however, played the best innings for the visitors with an entertaining 72 off 109 balls with 12 boundaries as Yorkshire totalled 390 all out. Ollie Rayner (3 for 44) had the best bowling figures for Middlesex, while James Harris (who had retired from the attack on day one because of a side strain) returned to take 3 for 48 and Tim Murtagh 3 for 93. Keeper John Simpson claimed 3 victims.
Middlesex quickly fell to 19 for 2 and the innings soon turned into a total disaster. Chris Rogers and Adam London fought hard, but the only batsman to look in any sort of form was Gareth Berg, who batted beautifully for 54 off 69 balls with 8 fours, as the innings declined to a fairly pathetic 175 all out. The credit for this goes to the under-rated seamer Steve Patterson (4 for 39) and ex-England pace bowler Liam Plunkett (4 for 50). Following on 215 behind, things seemed to be going better for a while as Sam Robson (46) and Joe Denly (31) added 69 for the second wicket before wickets began to tumble again. Simpson helped Neil Dexter (36) add 50 for the fifth wicket and Berg again batted well for 38, but the resistance was weak and sporadic. The home team were all out for 219 and lost embarrassingly easily by 10 wickets before lunch on day 4 in a match that had lost a considerable amount of time to the dreadful weather; in terms of the overs bowled, the match lasted well under three days. Yorkshire's star bowler this time was leg-spinner Rashid who cashed in on some woefully poor batting to take 5 for 78, his best figures since 2011. If anyone had asked me to adjudicate, I would have given the MotM award to Rashid. I did not think the Middlesex bowlers did especially well in the Sussex game, but this time it was the batsmen who were to the blame for the poor performance and there is no comfort in the knowledge that we will now be losing our leading run-scorer and captain Rogers to the Australian touring team. Adam Voges, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan, Paul Stirling and Adam Rossington will all be pressing for batting places, so it should make selection interesting for our next Championship match, though this is nearly a month away. Middlesex took 2 points from this match and Yorks 22, which puts Yorks on top of the table, 20 points clear of Middlesex in fourth place. The Championship title is looking a long way off.
South Hampstead back at Lord’s Matters
In 2008 South Hampstead held a fortieth anniversary gathering of players in a double box at Lord’s to celebrate their appearance in the Wills final in 1968. Bill Hart was instrumental in organising this event and decided that five years was long enough to elapse to do it again. He lured Colin Price to travel half way round the world and then generously subsidised another re-union on what turned out to be the second day of the Middlesex v Sussex match. My copy of The Times told me that it was the birthday of Frank Tyson and the forthcoming President of the MCC, Mike Gatting. It also turned out to be Alan Cox’ birthday.
Bill is a ruthlessly efficient and impatient organiser and we had all been receiving detailed instructions for several months leading up to the event. He was ably assisted by Bob Baxter who agreed to liaise with the powers that be at the home of cricket. In 2008 a notable absentee had been Ossie Burton and so it was great to see him in attendance on this occasion. Over the years there has always been much unsubstantiated speculation as to Ossie’s age. Bill decided that here was his out to being the oldest man present. He confronted Ossie directly, something no-one had previously dared to do, and established that Ossie was indeed the father of the gathering. I’m not giving the game away-if you want to know his age you can ask him yourself.
Having warmed up on Ossie, Bill turned his attention to Steve Thompson who was scarcely through the door to the box before Bill was thrusting a sheet of A4 in his face asking him how many he had scored in the two South Hampstead v Old Grammarian matches that were detailed there. Steve was somewhat taken aback and was happy to concede that he had barely troubled the scorers. He was then subjected to a renewed onslaught as Bill explained that he had been dismissed by a forty year old quick (sic), himself.
Bob Peach is now the Chairman at South Hampstead and he explained to me some of the trials of club management in the modern era. His current difficulty centres on complaints from neighbours about the number of balls crashing into their houses which Bob puts down to the size of the bats being used and the quality of the club’s bowling. Apparently the long standing thirty foot fencing is not considered adequate and some extensions upwards to ninety foot for match days are being considered.
Bob Peach, Bill Hart, Alan Cox Ossie Burton, Mike Langley and Roy Dodson
Before lunch I popped over to the Edrich Stand where another birthday boy, the Great Jack Morgan, was soaking up the sun with Jim Revier. Chris Rogers had given his wicket away shy of another double century. But Neil Dexter moved on to his first ton of the season.
It was a sombre thought that we had lost several members since 2008, including Len Stubbs and Colin Newcombe. Reference was also made to Jack Hyams whose death had also been recently reported. Incredulity was in the air as it was recalled that he had reputedly played up to the age of 88. His extraordinary innings at Milverton road for Cockfosters was also dredged up. He had carried his bat for 30 in an all out score of 80 odd and he had been responsible for running out four of his partners.
Nigel Ross wandered in after lunch and it was the first time any of us had seen him since the seventies but he was scarcely changed. He recounted tales from the professional game from that era and showed us the legacy of his distorted fingers from keeping wicket to Wayne Daniel at that time.
Nigel Ross and Steve Thompson
Teatime came and went and Bill brought out his A4 sheet again. He pointed out that Terry Cordaroy had been 19 not out in one of these matches. No one, Terry included, seemed to think it would have been odd if he had opened the innings but he had in fact batted at 7. It was a game that I have previously reported on in these pages. Old Grammarians reached 75 for 1 chasing our score of 106, before Steve Hatherall took 8 for 26 to secure our victory.
The Sussex batting collapsed against a keen Middlesex attack and a glorious day drew to its conclusion. We all went our separate ways grateful to Bill for having made another such event possible.
John Williams looked into our box and he sent me this
Good to see you yesterday and also a load of old SH mates. The topic I
was going to write to you about a while ago was the reference to Peter
Burke's 100th wicket at Harrow Town on Sunday 27th September 1970. In
that he allegedly referred to the ground as "unprepossessing". In those
days it was a rather well kept and pleasant ground. However I think it
may have been a case of sour grapes as the scores were HT 227 for 6
dec. Bush 173 all out - a stuffing! My contribution was modest 16 runs
and 11-4-15-0. Strangely enough although I did not know this at the
time it was my last game for HT. I know from archives that I
entertained Jukes and Cutler in the bar after the game.
In one of the many conversations yesterday Cords remembers playing a 20
over game at Pinner - on 5th August 1974. I am surprised he remembered
this game as he was bowled Williams 17 - my only wicket. Pinner made
102 for 9 and in reply SH were 90 for 8 at the start of the final over
which was to be bowled by Charles Toole. Bob Cozens hit a six off the
2nd ball and was then involved in a suicidal run out which produced 1
run and ended up with Ossie Burton being on strike. Ossie then hit a 4
but was involved in a run out off the last ball which left Pinner
victors by 1 run. The not out no.11 was Allen Bruton. The local paper
does not apportion any blame for the run out. The SH team was Cords,
Hooks, Tommo, Sylburne, Keith Hardie, Jerman, De Silva, Cozens, Howe,
Ossie and Bruton.
Russ Collins
It was something of a shock to learn of the death of Russ Collins recently. Russ turned up at duCane Road in the early sixties and soon took charge of the Cricket 1st XI. In fact he was firmly ensconsed by 1963 when the Great Jack Morgan and I made our first team debuts in Mick Cope’s side. However, he never got to see any of the matches, at least not at the weekend, because he was, himself, an active club cricketer. And hereby hangs much of his influence both good and bad over so many of us from this era.
He was a key figure in the Mill Hill CC side of the sixties which was led by the legendary Dusty Miller and featured such lovable characters as Frank Martin, Ken Yorke, Stan Wills and Jack Hyams. This gave Russ a severely tarnished view of the way the game should be played and led to innumerable fractious encounters between him and his first eleven captains over the years. On the other hand cricket was seen as a much more serious and adult activity than soccer since it spilled over into the world of club cricket and most of his alumni chose to play club cricket up till October for their clubs rather than embark on the soccer season at that time.
In 1965 he embarked on the, some would say foolhardy, exercise of organising a school cricket tour which was based in Canterbury and included some memorable matches, none more so than the game at Whitstable and Tankerton, and the inevitable drunken episodes.
I lost contact for many years with Russ but in the late eighties found myself at Southgate CC for a celebration of his fiftieth birthday and then in 2008 he appeared at the Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush.
Russ with Gary Rhodes at the 2008 Old Danes Gathering
Bob Guarniere sent me this
In my last year at St Clement Danes I had the pleasure of being in, arguably, the best football team the school ever produced. It was great fun to play with a great bunch of guys and to this day we keep in touch and have had a couple of reunions the last being at the new school when they wished to "honour" the success in 1972 when we managed to win the Tye Trophy which led us to represent Middlesex in the all England cup. We managed to reach the final beating teams such as Millfield along the way as well as a couple more public schools. Unfortunately we lost 2-1 in the final conceding a last minute penalty. We also had been hammered with injuries for the last match having played on average two games each and every week. I think I managed 38 matches but a couple of lads played 48 times excluding house matches and playing for Sunday sides. Quite a few of the lads gained representative honours and many played semi pro.
All through the season we were "managed" by Russ Collins, "Chunky", and I use the word managed advisedly. He ran us into the ground on the training paddock and left us alone to work out how to win matches. It seemed to work. At the aforementioned gathering at the school Chunky was guest of honour and was reduced to tears seeing us all. We agreed to visit him sometime in the future but sadly this will never happen. Last week, Russ's wife had a stroke and later that evening Russ had a heart attack and passed away.
Steve Thompson sent me this
With the cut of his gib hewn more of Kes's Sugden than the carved Adonis of the modern day PE professional, my first glimpse almost half a century ago of Mr Collins as he plimsoled across the parquet outside the Head's Study was not one I had expected nor indeed one I will ever forget. It was the muscle-bound discus-throwing figure on his Leeds Carnegie cream track suit top which gave his particular game away and in that brief passing moment I somehow sensed that of all the staff I was about to encounter it was this one who would have the greatest impact on my life.
It would of course be an exaggeration, and a relief, to say that he taught me all I know but he did teach me how to slide tackle, which is why I never progressed beyond the 3rdXI, and also how to sweep on length which is why 20 years later even Jim Conroy thought I played the stroke reasonably well - high praise indeed!
He was, in every way, old school. In the late 60's early 70’s Health and Safety had not reared its hard-hatted head in education; not that he would have taken the slightest notice if it had. It certainly would not have prevented him from electing to room me, aged 14 and on my debut Ist XI tour, on the second floor of a St Peter Port, Guernsey hotel with a rather head-strong, alcohol-fuelled Alan Holley - I did try to stop him jumping. Nor did it prevent him regularly cramming six of us into his Morris Traveller on a dark winter's Friday afternoon for indoor nets at Finchley. My safety was also of little consideration when as a 14 year-old he asked me to open the batting for Mill Hill at Wembley in late September against a relatively rapid Winstone Jackson. All good character-building stuff.
Not a 'round ball' specialist, it was perhaps ironic that he enjoyed one of his greatest achievements, surely his greatest as a PE teacher, in 1972-3 when he took the school football 1st XI to the finals of the England Schools' Cup. He always managed to keep that very necessary distance between teacher and taught but he was surely never happier than in that Spring of '73, after semi-final victory and final defeat, in the West London Squash club, surrounded by and sharing a drink or two, or three, or four, with the members of that talented team the majority of whom he had nurtured since they were under-12s.
He was, refreshingly, never gushing with praise but it was always forthcoming when he thought it was warranted. That same Upper Sixth year, 1973, when I reached what was probably my peak in representative cricket, having been awarded my ESCA cap that summer, I next saw him in the early Autumn. He merely said, 'Um..er, ...yeknowwelldoneSteve.'
No, well done Mr. Collins, and thank you.
And the Professor sent me this
I was very sorry to learn of the death of Russ Collins and indeed to hear that he died alone, while his wife was in hospital - a sad end for a convivial man. A number of Googlies readers will have known Russ: from playing with or against him, from his work in cricket administration in Middlesex and London; or from his somewhat surprising second career in cricket catering. But a few of us will have much more personal knowledge than that, since he was our PE teacher.
Russ was passionately keen on cricket. He was in charge of cricket when I got into the First XI and subsequently made me captain. I recall some very early discussions about field placing and tactics and his insightful remarks on looking for - and exploiting - opponents weaknesses. Indeed I have always thought of Russell as a very good critic and judge of cricketers...not always kind but frequently accurate. And the opportunities he gave to us all to participate were immense. When I look back on the cricket provision in our school it is, these days, scarcely credible. Ours was a state secondary boys school in the London borough of Hammersmith, and I know they were different times but we had: a ground behind the school buildings with a sacrosanct - but perhaps not too good - square, a serviceable pavilion of sorts, cricket played in sports periods throughout the summer as well as the opportunity to use the Middlesex nets in the winter, a house cricket competition, school representative sides at every age group and three post-16 sides (all umpired by staff giving up their Saturdays). We also had a cricket week and, for some (memorable) years, a cricket tour. I have no way of checking, but I would be amazed if any secondary school in the country could match that now, outside of the commercial fee-paying sector. I don’t think we realised at the time (I certainly didn’t) what a privileged offer that was for a state school to make. Of course that wasn't all down to Russell - he inherited a tradition. But he built and nurtured it and we were all the beneficiaries.
I always thought it strange that he went into teaching. His speech impediment which we boys mercilessly mimicked, of course, (I can't think now of Russ speaking without remembering Phil Matthews' imitation of him) made it impossible for him to give cricket reports to the whole School and I rather think that his accurate but acerbic judgements on boys might be a touch forceful in these days of encouragement at all costs. So it was perhaps no bad thing that when the school moved from London to Hertfordshire Russ did not go with them and moved into the new career of cricket catering. I did once ask him if he considered moving but he said that the staff who went were: "Yes men and arseholes" …and I don't think anyone ever accused Russell of being either.
Brian Puddephatt
Bob Fisher sent me this
Brian Puddephatt passed away at the age of 83 on 30th April 2013. Brian joined Ealing in 1963 at the age of 33 having scored, it is believed, over a hundred centuries for his works side Fuller Smith and Fuller. His career at Ealing lasted from then until 1987 and he was a regular member of the First XI until the late 1970’s. He was an integral member of the side that reached the final of The National Club knock out cup at Lords in 1968 and was the perfect foil for the more flashing blade of Brian Stevens. During his career at Ealing, he scored over 21,000 runs, passing 1,000 runs in a season eleven times. A very safe catcher at slip he took 324 catches. He joined Fuller Smith and Turner towards the end of the Second World War, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father and his initial job was cleaning the old copper lined Square Fermenters. He worked his way up through the ranks to become Chief Accountant for many years and at the time of his retirement in 1994, was Assistant Company Secretary. He is survived by his wife Connie and his two sons Richard and Clive.
Challenge for Old Danes
I received the following from Sarah Kitt, the School’s Development Director recently:
“We have introduced some new sections to the St Clement Danes School website with a particular focus on Old Danes. We've included a section on 'famous' Old Danes. You can check out the section at www.stclementdanes.org.uk/alumni.
I am sure that readers will wish to nominate individuals who are not included here but who I will be pleased to include in these pages. No nominations, however frivolous, will be rejected.
Googlies and Chinamen
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An Occasional Cricketing Journal
Edition 127
July 2013
Dad’s Army
I have always been in favour of cricket sides having a mix of youth and experience. However, Surrey have taken things a little too far since they currently have seven first team regulars over the age of thirty five. But can you pick them out?
Gareth Batty
Jonathan Batty
Jonathan Lewis
Jonathan Agnew
Inzaman-ul- Haq
Zander de Bruyn
Mike Selvey
Gary Keedy
Graham Hick
Bill Hart
Kevin Pietersen
Ricky Pontin
Graeme Smith
Paul Nixon
David Garrard
Vikram Solanki
Paddy Carlin
Murali Kartik
Mark Ramprakesh
Azhar Mahmood
Wazim Akram
Out and About with the Professor
When it comes to cricket, the valley of the Dordogne has, in truth, little to recommend it. This is in part due to the absence of much in the way of flat land and also to the habit of the locals in covering almost every square inch (centimetre...sorry) with vines. In the beautiful historic city of St Emilion, where I have spent the last week, there are vines everywhere; they surround people’s houses, come right up to the back door - right up to the front door come to that - and some houses look as if they are fighting a losing battle to keep the triffid-like invaders out. Happily they largely fail and thus are able to produce the splendid wines so beloved by Sharp Minor and many others.
While the historic links between the Aquitaine and England are strong they do not, in general, run to cricket. Indeed given that the links were severed in 1453 at the battle of Castillon I suppose that is not so surprising; at least it doesn't rank with the disastrous effects that the American Civil War had on cricket in the Southern States which was abandoned in favour of the tedious game of baseball. But cricket can be found! Your fearless correspondent tracked down two nearby clubs: St Aulaye, who play just east of Bordeaux, and Eymet CC who are a few miles (kilometres) south of Bergerac. The facilities are modest and it would be fair to say the standard is not high but there is a local league and the clubs play visiting teams from the UK with names like: East Herts Cavaliers and Dorking Dads. Perhaps some Googlies readers have first-hand playing experience? The clubs advertise that they can "accommodate" visitors which I think translates as: if you bring your bat you can get a game. Eymet seems to be the stronger club and it boasts sponsorship, albeit by the disappointingly named Eymet Pizzaria.
Still, contemplating "grass roots" cricket, even in a foreign field, adds perspective to the up-coming Test series and the feats of high-flying Yorkshire. The latter, having demolished Middlesex, were looking forward to the visit of Surrey last week and, in particular the chance to see Ponting and Pietersen on the field. In the event Ponting didn't turn up (not doing too well with their overseas star signings, Surrey) and in truth we all rather wished that Pietersen had stayed home as well. Gale continued his splendid recent form with another hundred but was outshone by KP who was just brilliant (7 sixes and 17 fours). I read that some people think that his past behaviour should exclude him from the England team and that he should be permanently sitting on the naughty step but I don't think that is a grown-up position; indeed anyone who saw Pietersen's innings and concluded that he shouldn't be playing for England should be arrested for treason...at the very least.
I asked (rhetorically) in a previous edition of Googlies: "who would get runs for Yorkshire". The answer seems to be "everyone". All the top six have got hundreds or double hundreds and thus the top of the table slot. Rashid, it may have been noted, only passed 40 in this game – his batting that is - his bowling comfortably passed 100 and was belted to all parts by KP (three 4s in one over, two 4s and a 6 in another). The availability (or not) of the three Test players might well have an important part to play in the second half of the season. To win the Championship with the three best players out would truly be a great effort and would certainly please our President.
By the time of the next Googlies we might have an idea of the outcome of the Ashes series. Am I also alone in thinking that the series might be quite close and far from the comfortable England win that is so generally predicted? I wish I was more comfortable in thinking that the England attack can bowl out a side if the ball is not swinging and, if it is, then I'm not that certain that the Australians won't make inroads into our top order… whatever that might look like. We shall see.
In any event, whatever happens in the next few weeks I will have a bottle or two of Grand Cru to help me come to terms with it...if not exactly to focus.
Sofa Cricket
Essex v Scotland YB40 at Chelmsford 2 June
The early phase of the Essex innings featured a fine 110 from 88 balls from the New Zealander, Rutherford in an innings which featured 6 sixes. However, this was just the warm up act for the Dutchman, ten Doeschate, who scored 180 out of 285 whilst he was at the crease hitting almost half his runs in his fifteen sixes. Scotland stood no chance of making 369 to win and were well beaten.
Leicestershire v Middlesex YB40 at Grace Road 2 June
Nobody made fifty for Leicestershire as Harris, Murtagh, Berg, Rayner and Roland-Jones shared the wickets and dismissed them for a below par 220. In reply Middlesex knocked them off without the loss of a wicket with nearly ten overs to spare. Paul Stirling scored 132 not out from 98 balls without hitting a six which is extremely unusual for him. He is a very talented hitter and could be a major player over the coming years if he can harness his skills. At the other end Dawid Malan made 80 not out from 86 balls. Malan has scored heavily in this competition but his wretched form in the County Championship led to his being dropped. Perhaps Ramprakesh can sort him out.
Essex v Surrey at Chelmsford YB40 3 June
Owais Shah reminded us what a powerful and effective one day batsman he can be. He struck four sixes in a 53 ball 68 which lifted Essex to a challenging 312. Well it would have been challenging if Surrey had turned up but in the event it was no contest as they were bundled out for 134. Graham Napier took four wickets in four balls and finished with the unlikely figures of 7 for 32. He bowled full length inswingers with a white ball, which the commentators called reverse swing, something they insist is impossible white a white ball and in under thirty overs of use. Go figure.
Yorkshire v Nottinghamshire CCDiv1 at Scarborough 5 June
Yorkshire, who had put Notts in, were 121 for 4 in reply to Notts’ 443 when Gary Ballance joined skipper Andrew Gale at the crease. They added 310 before Ballance was dismissed for 141. Gale went on score a massive 272 from 404 balls. Until he suffered a broken arm whilst batting in the nets Gale was a regular member of the England set up. He used to open the innings but is now scoring heavily in the middle order. He could yet force himself back into the reckoning. Yorkshire took a lead of 129 but Notts batted out comfortably to secure a draw.
Surrey v Warwickshire CCDiv1 at Guildford 5 June
The Warwickshire innings just went on and on. The early stages were dominated by Chopra who made 192. When he was out at 369 for 4 Ambrose and Javis, who both made 80s, took over. Towards the end of the innings batting was dominated by Keith Barker who made 125 at number 8. Troughton eventually declared at 631 for 9. Surrey followed on and no one reached a hundred in either innings but they hung on comfortably for a draw.
Essex v Lancashire CCDiv2 at Chelmsford 12 June
This match started sedately enough with Essex reaching 273 in their first innings and Lancashire responding with 398. In the tail Hogg and Chapple both made fifties and even Simon Kerrigan, who has never made a first class fifty, reached 31. However, things suddenly changed when Essex batted again. In 14.2 overs Hogg and Chapple rolled them over for just 20. Only Mickleburgh reached double figures. Chapple took 5 for 9 and Hogg 4 for 11. The great Jack Morgan tells me that this is the lowest Championship score since Surrey were skittled for 14 in 1983 on the same ground. There’s never a dull moment at Chelmsford.
Lancashire v Northamptonshire CCDiv2 at Old Trafford 20 June
Following their fun of the previous week Chapple and Hogg ripped into the Northants batting at their home ground and dismissed them for 62, with Hogg taking 7 for 29. Once again the pair bowled unchanged although on this occasion it took them 29.5 overs to achieve the result. In a low scoring match only Murphy and Hall scored fifties but they ended up on the losing side as Lancashire won inside two days.
Somerset v Australia at Taunton 26 June
For much of the first day the Australians looked to be the pushover that many are predicting they will be in the Ashes series as Somerset moved serenely on to 310 for 3. But Starc and Pattinson then took six wickets without the score moving and ten runs later the innings was over for 320. Australia declared when they reached the lead and then Starc and Pattinson took five more wickets as Somerset were dismissed for 260. Australia then coasted to a five wicket victory. Don’t write them off yet. For the record Nick Compton scored 115 runs from 212 balls. Will Joe Root beat this?
West Indies v Sri Lanka ODI at Kingston 28 June
The bowlers in the Champions Trophy did well to avoid the fury of the Gayle bat. At Kingston Sri Lanka were reminded of what can happen if you don’t get him out early when they were dismissed for 208. He made 109 from 100 balls in an innings which included seven sixes as his side coasted to victory with twelve overs to spare.
Middlesex Matters
The Great Jack Morgan has been wallowing in the sun
For the Championship match against leaders Sussex at Lord's on June 5th, Middlesex brought in Tim Murtagh for Corey Collymore, Ollie Rayner for Tom Smith and Adam London for Dawid Malan, whose dire form in the Championship was in stark contrast to his YB40 form where he averages 89.75. Ex-Middlesex batsman Ed Joyce won the toss for Sussex and asked Middlesex to bat first. The pitch had the usual greenish look about it, but the weather was dry and sunny and openers Chris Rogers and Sam Robson looked comfortable with only the odd ball causing any anxiety. They had put on an excellent 100 for the first wicket before Robson (the Player of the Month for April and May) surprisingly fell just before lunch for an impressive 54 off 89 balls with 9 boundaries. Neil Dexter also played attractively for his first century of the season (104 off 197 balls with 11 fours) and shared a brilliant stand of 155 for the fourth wicket with captain Rogers before the latter fell for a magnificent 184 off 305 balls with 22 boundaries. John Simpson also played nicely for 50 off 93 balls with 8 fours while Gareth Berg chipped in with a terrific little cameo of 39 off 25 balls with 6 fours before the declaration came at 499 for 8 off 138 overs. Despite choosing to bowl first in what he presumably thought would be ideal conditions for his four seamers, Joyce was not afraid to give his three spinners a good long bowl (at the Oval in late April, his trio of spinners had bowled 84 overs in the match) and they contributed 57 overs in this innings with leg-spinner Will Beer standing out with 3 for 89 from his 30 overs.
Sussex made a dismal start to their innings and had slumped to 117 for 7 before England ODI all rounder Luke Wright finally found a reliable partner in Beer. Wright batted very well (as he usually does in front of this spectator) for a fluent 77 off 119 balls with 9 boundaries, with Beer defending stoutly for 141 balls while 88 were added for the eighth wicket. Off-spinner Rayner was the Middlesex hero with 5 for 63 (his best for Middlesex and the first 5 wicket haul by a Middlesex spinner since Malan surprisingly took 5 for 61 at Aigburth in May 2012) as the visitors succumbed for 222 in 83.2 overs and followed on 277 in arrears.
Sussex showed much greater resolve at their second attempt and opener Chris Nash (36 from 66 balls) and another ex-England ODI man Mike Yardy (41 off 83 balls) both looked capable of going on to greater things. However, it was a huge stand of 159 between yet another ex-England ODI man Joyce (98 off 187 balls with 9 fours) and the impressive Wright, who deserves to bat higher than 6, which convinced the visitors that they could escape with a draw. Then, however, a flurry of wickets saw them sink into trouble again at 304 for 7, only 27 ahead, before Wright was again joined by Beer, who this time made a more positive contribution (39 off 102 balls) in a stand of 101 for the eighth wicket. Wright eventually departed for a superb career best 187 off 276 balls with 25 fours as the home bowling started to look slightly toothless on a pitch that was still playing well. Berg bowled only 11 overs in the match and is presumably still not fully fit; Toby Roland-Jones did not really look fit either and with Rayner unable to reproduce his heroics of the first innings (despite bowling 42 overs in the second innings) and Dexter bowling only 6 overs in the match, a huge burden fell on the shoulders of the fast medium bowlers Murtagh (3 for 74) and James Harris (3 for 112). Joe Denly's leg breaks were pressed into service and he responded with 2 for 47, including the prized wicket of Wright.
The Sussex total of 454 left Middlesex to score a theoretical 178 off 20 overs and it was a surprise that the home side actually had a shot at it for 8 overs before the teams shook hands on the draw with the score on 50 for 3. Such run chases are possible in limited overs cricket where artificial restrictions are placed on fielders and bowlers, but not in the Championship where there are no such restrictions. It was disappointing for Middlesex to only draw a match that they had dominated, but credit has to go to Sussex for the way they fought for the draw.
Middlesex brought in Corey Collymore for Toby Roland-Jones for the Championship match against Yorkshire at Lord's on June 11th. It was cold, grey, windy and drizzly and many captains might have fancied a bowl, but Yorkshire's captain Andrew Gale knew better and chose to bat first. Middlesex made a decent start with Adam Lyth and Phil Jaques back in the dressing room with 70 on the board, but 20 year old Alex Lees, of whom many of us had hardly heard, was already going well. Skipper Gale joined the 6'3" heavyweight in an excellent stand of 135 for the third wicket before Lees (who did not do particularly well for Yorkshire in the Second XI last season, averaging 28.6) fell for a very impressive 100 off 223 balls with 11 fours, beating his previous highest in the Championship by 94! Gale has only recently returned to form himself and now he shared another fine stand of 109 for the fifth wicket with England ODI all rounder Adil Rashid, before departing for 103 off 224 balls with 9 fours. Rashid, however, played the best innings for the visitors with an entertaining 72 off 109 balls with 12 boundaries as Yorkshire totalled 390 all out. Ollie Rayner (3 for 44) had the best bowling figures for Middlesex, while James Harris (who had retired from the attack on day one because of a side strain) returned to take 3 for 48 and Tim Murtagh 3 for 93. Keeper John Simpson claimed 3 victims.
Middlesex quickly fell to 19 for 2 and the innings soon turned into a total disaster. Chris Rogers and Adam London fought hard, but the only batsman to look in any sort of form was Gareth Berg, who batted beautifully for 54 off 69 balls with 8 fours, as the innings declined to a fairly pathetic 175 all out. The credit for this goes to the under-rated seamer Steve Patterson (4 for 39) and ex-England pace bowler Liam Plunkett (4 for 50). Following on 215 behind, things seemed to be going better for a while as Sam Robson (46) and Joe Denly (31) added 69 for the second wicket before wickets began to tumble again. Simpson helped Neil Dexter (36) add 50 for the fifth wicket and Berg again batted well for 38, but the resistance was weak and sporadic. The home team were all out for 219 and lost embarrassingly easily by 10 wickets before lunch on day 4 in a match that had lost a considerable amount of time to the dreadful weather; in terms of the overs bowled, the match lasted well under three days. Yorkshire's star bowler this time was leg-spinner Rashid who cashed in on some woefully poor batting to take 5 for 78, his best figures since 2011. If anyone had asked me to adjudicate, I would have given the MotM award to Rashid. I did not think the Middlesex bowlers did especially well in the Sussex game, but this time it was the batsmen who were to the blame for the poor performance and there is no comfort in the knowledge that we will now be losing our leading run-scorer and captain Rogers to the Australian touring team. Adam Voges, Eoin Morgan, Dawid Malan, Paul Stirling and Adam Rossington will all be pressing for batting places, so it should make selection interesting for our next Championship match, though this is nearly a month away. Middlesex took 2 points from this match and Yorks 22, which puts Yorks on top of the table, 20 points clear of Middlesex in fourth place. The Championship title is looking a long way off.
South Hampstead back at Lord’s Matters
In 2008 South Hampstead held a fortieth anniversary gathering of players in a double box at Lord’s to celebrate their appearance in the Wills final in 1968. Bill Hart was instrumental in organising this event and decided that five years was long enough to elapse to do it again. He lured Colin Price to travel half way round the world and then generously subsidised another re-union on what turned out to be the second day of the Middlesex v Sussex match. My copy of The Times told me that it was the birthday of Frank Tyson and the forthcoming President of the MCC, Mike Gatting. It also turned out to be Alan Cox’ birthday.
Bill is a ruthlessly efficient and impatient organiser and we had all been receiving detailed instructions for several months leading up to the event. He was ably assisted by Bob Baxter who agreed to liaise with the powers that be at the home of cricket. In 2008 a notable absentee had been Ossie Burton and so it was great to see him in attendance on this occasion. Over the years there has always been much unsubstantiated speculation as to Ossie’s age. Bill decided that here was his out to being the oldest man present. He confronted Ossie directly, something no-one had previously dared to do, and established that Ossie was indeed the father of the gathering. I’m not giving the game away-if you want to know his age you can ask him yourself.
Having warmed up on Ossie, Bill turned his attention to Steve Thompson who was scarcely through the door to the box before Bill was thrusting a sheet of A4 in his face asking him how many he had scored in the two South Hampstead v Old Grammarian matches that were detailed there. Steve was somewhat taken aback and was happy to concede that he had barely troubled the scorers. He was then subjected to a renewed onslaught as Bill explained that he had been dismissed by a forty year old quick (sic), himself.
Bob Peach is now the Chairman at South Hampstead and he explained to me some of the trials of club management in the modern era. His current difficulty centres on complaints from neighbours about the number of balls crashing into their houses which Bob puts down to the size of the bats being used and the quality of the club’s bowling. Apparently the long standing thirty foot fencing is not considered adequate and some extensions upwards to ninety foot for match days are being considered.
Bob Peach, Bill Hart, Alan Cox Ossie Burton, Mike Langley and Roy Dodson
Before lunch I popped over to the Edrich Stand where another birthday boy, the Great Jack Morgan, was soaking up the sun with Jim Revier. Chris Rogers had given his wicket away shy of another double century. But Neil Dexter moved on to his first ton of the season.
It was a sombre thought that we had lost several members since 2008, including Len Stubbs and Colin Newcombe. Reference was also made to Jack Hyams whose death had also been recently reported. Incredulity was in the air as it was recalled that he had reputedly played up to the age of 88. His extraordinary innings at Milverton road for Cockfosters was also dredged up. He had carried his bat for 30 in an all out score of 80 odd and he had been responsible for running out four of his partners.
Nigel Ross wandered in after lunch and it was the first time any of us had seen him since the seventies but he was scarcely changed. He recounted tales from the professional game from that era and showed us the legacy of his distorted fingers from keeping wicket to Wayne Daniel at that time.
Nigel Ross and Steve Thompson
Teatime came and went and Bill brought out his A4 sheet again. He pointed out that Terry Cordaroy had been 19 not out in one of these matches. No one, Terry included, seemed to think it would have been odd if he had opened the innings but he had in fact batted at 7. It was a game that I have previously reported on in these pages. Old Grammarians reached 75 for 1 chasing our score of 106, before Steve Hatherall took 8 for 26 to secure our victory.
The Sussex batting collapsed against a keen Middlesex attack and a glorious day drew to its conclusion. We all went our separate ways grateful to Bill for having made another such event possible.
John Williams looked into our box and he sent me this
Good to see you yesterday and also a load of old SH mates. The topic I
was going to write to you about a while ago was the reference to Peter
Burke's 100th wicket at Harrow Town on Sunday 27th September 1970. In
that he allegedly referred to the ground as "unprepossessing". In those
days it was a rather well kept and pleasant ground. However I think it
may have been a case of sour grapes as the scores were HT 227 for 6
dec. Bush 173 all out - a stuffing! My contribution was modest 16 runs
and 11-4-15-0. Strangely enough although I did not know this at the
time it was my last game for HT. I know from archives that I
entertained Jukes and Cutler in the bar after the game.
In one of the many conversations yesterday Cords remembers playing a 20
over game at Pinner - on 5th August 1974. I am surprised he remembered
this game as he was bowled Williams 17 - my only wicket. Pinner made
102 for 9 and in reply SH were 90 for 8 at the start of the final over
which was to be bowled by Charles Toole. Bob Cozens hit a six off the
2nd ball and was then involved in a suicidal run out which produced 1
run and ended up with Ossie Burton being on strike. Ossie then hit a 4
but was involved in a run out off the last ball which left Pinner
victors by 1 run. The not out no.11 was Allen Bruton. The local paper
does not apportion any blame for the run out. The SH team was Cords,
Hooks, Tommo, Sylburne, Keith Hardie, Jerman, De Silva, Cozens, Howe,
Ossie and Bruton.
Russ Collins
It was something of a shock to learn of the death of Russ Collins recently. Russ turned up at duCane Road in the early sixties and soon took charge of the Cricket 1st XI. In fact he was firmly ensconsed by 1963 when the Great Jack Morgan and I made our first team debuts in Mick Cope’s side. However, he never got to see any of the matches, at least not at the weekend, because he was, himself, an active club cricketer. And hereby hangs much of his influence both good and bad over so many of us from this era.
He was a key figure in the Mill Hill CC side of the sixties which was led by the legendary Dusty Miller and featured such lovable characters as Frank Martin, Ken Yorke, Stan Wills and Jack Hyams. This gave Russ a severely tarnished view of the way the game should be played and led to innumerable fractious encounters between him and his first eleven captains over the years. On the other hand cricket was seen as a much more serious and adult activity than soccer since it spilled over into the world of club cricket and most of his alumni chose to play club cricket up till October for their clubs rather than embark on the soccer season at that time.
In 1965 he embarked on the, some would say foolhardy, exercise of organising a school cricket tour which was based in Canterbury and included some memorable matches, none more so than the game at Whitstable and Tankerton, and the inevitable drunken episodes.
I lost contact for many years with Russ but in the late eighties found myself at Southgate CC for a celebration of his fiftieth birthday and then in 2008 he appeared at the Old Danes Gathering at Shepherds Bush.
Russ with Gary Rhodes at the 2008 Old Danes Gathering
Bob Guarniere sent me this
In my last year at St Clement Danes I had the pleasure of being in, arguably, the best football team the school ever produced. It was great fun to play with a great bunch of guys and to this day we keep in touch and have had a couple of reunions the last being at the new school when they wished to "honour" the success in 1972 when we managed to win the Tye Trophy which led us to represent Middlesex in the all England cup. We managed to reach the final beating teams such as Millfield along the way as well as a couple more public schools. Unfortunately we lost 2-1 in the final conceding a last minute penalty. We also had been hammered with injuries for the last match having played on average two games each and every week. I think I managed 38 matches but a couple of lads played 48 times excluding house matches and playing for Sunday sides. Quite a few of the lads gained representative honours and many played semi pro.
All through the season we were "managed" by Russ Collins, "Chunky", and I use the word managed advisedly. He ran us into the ground on the training paddock and left us alone to work out how to win matches. It seemed to work. At the aforementioned gathering at the school Chunky was guest of honour and was reduced to tears seeing us all. We agreed to visit him sometime in the future but sadly this will never happen. Last week, Russ's wife had a stroke and later that evening Russ had a heart attack and passed away.
Steve Thompson sent me this
With the cut of his gib hewn more of Kes's Sugden than the carved Adonis of the modern day PE professional, my first glimpse almost half a century ago of Mr Collins as he plimsoled across the parquet outside the Head's Study was not one I had expected nor indeed one I will ever forget. It was the muscle-bound discus-throwing figure on his Leeds Carnegie cream track suit top which gave his particular game away and in that brief passing moment I somehow sensed that of all the staff I was about to encounter it was this one who would have the greatest impact on my life.
It would of course be an exaggeration, and a relief, to say that he taught me all I know but he did teach me how to slide tackle, which is why I never progressed beyond the 3rdXI, and also how to sweep on length which is why 20 years later even Jim Conroy thought I played the stroke reasonably well - high praise indeed!
He was, in every way, old school. In the late 60's early 70’s Health and Safety had not reared its hard-hatted head in education; not that he would have taken the slightest notice if it had. It certainly would not have prevented him from electing to room me, aged 14 and on my debut Ist XI tour, on the second floor of a St Peter Port, Guernsey hotel with a rather head-strong, alcohol-fuelled Alan Holley - I did try to stop him jumping. Nor did it prevent him regularly cramming six of us into his Morris Traveller on a dark winter's Friday afternoon for indoor nets at Finchley. My safety was also of little consideration when as a 14 year-old he asked me to open the batting for Mill Hill at Wembley in late September against a relatively rapid Winstone Jackson. All good character-building stuff.
Not a 'round ball' specialist, it was perhaps ironic that he enjoyed one of his greatest achievements, surely his greatest as a PE teacher, in 1972-3 when he took the school football 1st XI to the finals of the England Schools' Cup. He always managed to keep that very necessary distance between teacher and taught but he was surely never happier than in that Spring of '73, after semi-final victory and final defeat, in the West London Squash club, surrounded by and sharing a drink or two, or three, or four, with the members of that talented team the majority of whom he had nurtured since they were under-12s.
He was, refreshingly, never gushing with praise but it was always forthcoming when he thought it was warranted. That same Upper Sixth year, 1973, when I reached what was probably my peak in representative cricket, having been awarded my ESCA cap that summer, I next saw him in the early Autumn. He merely said, 'Um..er, ...yeknowwelldoneSteve.'
No, well done Mr. Collins, and thank you.
And the Professor sent me this
I was very sorry to learn of the death of Russ Collins and indeed to hear that he died alone, while his wife was in hospital - a sad end for a convivial man. A number of Googlies readers will have known Russ: from playing with or against him, from his work in cricket administration in Middlesex and London; or from his somewhat surprising second career in cricket catering. But a few of us will have much more personal knowledge than that, since he was our PE teacher.
Russ was passionately keen on cricket. He was in charge of cricket when I got into the First XI and subsequently made me captain. I recall some very early discussions about field placing and tactics and his insightful remarks on looking for - and exploiting - opponents weaknesses. Indeed I have always thought of Russell as a very good critic and judge of cricketers...not always kind but frequently accurate. And the opportunities he gave to us all to participate were immense. When I look back on the cricket provision in our school it is, these days, scarcely credible. Ours was a state secondary boys school in the London borough of Hammersmith, and I know they were different times but we had: a ground behind the school buildings with a sacrosanct - but perhaps not too good - square, a serviceable pavilion of sorts, cricket played in sports periods throughout the summer as well as the opportunity to use the Middlesex nets in the winter, a house cricket competition, school representative sides at every age group and three post-16 sides (all umpired by staff giving up their Saturdays). We also had a cricket week and, for some (memorable) years, a cricket tour. I have no way of checking, but I would be amazed if any secondary school in the country could match that now, outside of the commercial fee-paying sector. I don’t think we realised at the time (I certainly didn’t) what a privileged offer that was for a state school to make. Of course that wasn't all down to Russell - he inherited a tradition. But he built and nurtured it and we were all the beneficiaries.
I always thought it strange that he went into teaching. His speech impediment which we boys mercilessly mimicked, of course, (I can't think now of Russ speaking without remembering Phil Matthews' imitation of him) made it impossible for him to give cricket reports to the whole School and I rather think that his accurate but acerbic judgements on boys might be a touch forceful in these days of encouragement at all costs. So it was perhaps no bad thing that when the school moved from London to Hertfordshire Russ did not go with them and moved into the new career of cricket catering. I did once ask him if he considered moving but he said that the staff who went were: "Yes men and arseholes" …and I don't think anyone ever accused Russell of being either.
Brian Puddephatt
Bob Fisher sent me this
Brian Puddephatt passed away at the age of 83 on 30th April 2013. Brian joined Ealing in 1963 at the age of 33 having scored, it is believed, over a hundred centuries for his works side Fuller Smith and Fuller. His career at Ealing lasted from then until 1987 and he was a regular member of the First XI until the late 1970’s. He was an integral member of the side that reached the final of The National Club knock out cup at Lords in 1968 and was the perfect foil for the more flashing blade of Brian Stevens. During his career at Ealing, he scored over 21,000 runs, passing 1,000 runs in a season eleven times. A very safe catcher at slip he took 324 catches. He joined Fuller Smith and Turner towards the end of the Second World War, following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father and his initial job was cleaning the old copper lined Square Fermenters. He worked his way up through the ranks to become Chief Accountant for many years and at the time of his retirement in 1994, was Assistant Company Secretary. He is survived by his wife Connie and his two sons Richard and Clive.
Challenge for Old Danes
I received the following from Sarah Kitt, the School’s Development Director recently:
“We have introduced some new sections to the St Clement Danes School website with a particular focus on Old Danes. We've included a section on 'famous' Old Danes. You can check out the section at www.stclementdanes.org.uk/alumni.
I am sure that readers will wish to nominate individuals who are not included here but who I will be pleased to include in these pages. No nominations, however frivolous, will be rejected.
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