Tag: Surrey

The Day Garfield Sobers Watched Me & Z/Yen Play Cricket, Lord’s, 30 June 2009

It hardly seems possible, but there is Garry Sobers and there are we Z/Yen folk too, this photograph and all those that follow in this piece with thanks to Monique Gore

Sadly, I never got to see Sir Garfield (“Garry”) Sobers play live, in person. I saw one or two performances at the very end of his career on the TV – I remember avidly following the first test of the 1973 series between England and the West Indies – but never live, in person. In his pomp, he was surely one of the very greatest all-round cricketers ever.

Even more sadly/ironically/inappropriately, I am here to report that Sir Garfield Sobers has suffered the indignity of watching me and the Z/Yen team playing live, in person, at Lord’s.

It happened like this.

Middlesex County Cricket Club had very kindly offered me a Lord’s box for a day of County Championship cricket, as a thank you for some pro bono work I was doing with the club at that time. I decided to organise a Z/Yen awayday to take advantage of the box, including booking out half of the Lord’s Cricket Academy for a couple of hours. Of course Z/Yen had to pay for everything other than the box, so it was quite an expensive freebie in the end, but well worth it.

Linda’s e-mail to the team sets out the itinerary for the day:

As the day is approaching, I thought you should have an itinerary of the Z/Yen Away Day to Lord Cricket Ground (Home of Cricket) on Tuesday, 30 June 2009.

9.30-9.45 Arrive at Marylebone Cricket Club, Lord’s Cricket Ground, London NW8 8QN.  Map:  https://www.lords.org/

10.00       Lesson and game with James Fielding

13.00       Lunch at the Sir Pelham Warner Restaurant retiring to Tavern’s Stand, Box E to watch Middlesex V Surrey

16.30       Afternoon Tea

In the end our lesson and game was mostly organised by Jamie Thorpe, not James Fielding.

Jamie Thorpe helping Becky to sort out her protective gear, which seemed to take longer than her actual cricket session…
…then Jamie tried to work on Becky’s batting technique. At no point did any of us hear Jamie say, “stick to the flute, Becky.”

I had told Richard Goatley (then Deputy Chief Executive of Middlesex) about our plans. He told me he had a meeting that morning but it should be finished in time for him to pop round and have a look at us in the Academy.

What Richard didn’t say in advance was that his morning meeting was with Garfield Sobers and that Richard had resolved to try and bring Sobers along with him.

What Richard didn’t know in advance was that he and Sobers would bump into the legendary former Middlesex player and coach, Don Bennett, while on the way to the Academy to see us.

Richard picks up his side of the story from there:

I can remember…
…you were bowling in a bandana.
When Don Bennett saw your first ball Don said, “oh Jesus, I’m done” and started to walk away.
Sobers said, “cmon Don, watch a little”, but Don left pretty quickly afterwards.

The photographic evidence suggests that I was indeed bowling in a bandana…
…quite possibly at Jez…looks straight enough…

I’d have had Don Bennett know that I once took a hat trick with my slow right arm “filthy but straight” bowling at school.

Anyway, Sobers was a far more discerning observer of Z/Yen cricket than “The Don”…or at least far more polite, as he did stick around for a good twenty minutes or so; longer in fact than Richard Goatley.

Then Sobers watched the youngsters who were playing in the other half of the Academy for a while, then at the end of it all stuck around for the youngsters and then us to have photos taken with him. What a delightful gentleman he is.

All the Z/Yen folk who played that day…

All of the photographs from the day can be found by clicking here.

Eight years later and beyond, Richard Goatley still likes to milk this story and frankly so do I. Having Garry Sobers watch us play is one of those very special cricketing memories that I shall never forget.

The rest of the day was very special too, as reported in this – click here – separate Ogblog piece.

Bore Draw – NOT!!, MTWD Piece, Surrey v Middlesex Day 4, The Oval, 9 May 2009

This turned out to be one of the most exciting days of cricket I have ever witnessed.

It was one of those strange situations in which everything worked out for the best.

Janie and I were all dressed up / picniced up with no place to go that Saturday, as we had Day 4 test match tickets for a Lord’s match which had somehow managed to conclude in three days.

So we went to the Oval and saw a screamer of a Day Four County Championship day there instead.

We attributed the resulting MTWD piece to Daisy feat. Ged:

Daisy watching cricket at Lord’s on a subsequent cold feet, cold hands  day

Here is that Daisy Feat. Ged MTWD report: Bore Draw – NOT!! – click here.

Just in case anything ever happens to MTWD, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:

Middlesex till we die – Bore Draw Not

If you want to see the scorecard, which barely does justice to this extraordinary match – click here.

Anything Hughes Can Do (Ramps Can’t Do Better), MTWD Piece, Following Surrey v Middlesex and England v West Indies Remotely, 7 May 2009

We sometimes struggled to find reporters MTWD reporters for away matches, so ended up resorting to somewhat detached reports.

It seems that “Hippity volunteered” to report on this particular day, from his vantage point on the bed at the flat.

Hippity’s vantage point

Younger readers (or older readers with early stages of memory loss) might need to resort to this Wikipedia link to learn/remind themselves what Ceefax was.

It is sad to reflect on Phillip Hughes, who played such a huge part in that early part of Middlesex’s 2009 summer and who was so sadly cut down in his prime just five years later.

Over to Hippity: Anything Hughes Can Do (Ramps Can’t Do Better) – click here.

Just in case anything ever happens to MTWD, I have scraped the piece to Ogblog – only click the link below if the link above doesn’t work:

Middlesex till we die – Anything Hughes Can Do (Ramps Can’t Do Better)

In case anyone was wondering about the England v West Indies match – click here for the scorecard from that one.

Continue reading “Anything Hughes Can Do (Ramps Can’t Do Better), MTWD Piece, Following Surrey v Middlesex and England v West Indies Remotely, 7 May 2009”

A Quieter Couple of Weeks, Ending in Gastro Bistro, Clapham, 6 July 2008

After the wonderful yet strange evening in Uxbridge 24 June, a quieter couple of weeks before the next excitement.

25 June

There was an England v New Zealand ODI at the Oval, which I didn’t attend but I was able to catch the end of it on the TV after work. The scorecard – click here – reveals how close the game was but does not reveal the controversy over Collingwood’s captaincy after he insisted, against the advice of the umpires, on progressing a run out appeal in unusual circumstances, against Grant Elliot – the Kiwis went on to win the match anyway. The Sussex v Middlesex match that evening seemed tame by way of comparison; I’m pretty sure I listened to most of it:

27 & 28 June

The last T20 group match was at the Oval against Surrey. I know I missed it completely, because Daisy and I were taken out for dinner by Jamil and Souad – I’m pretty sure we went to Noura in Belgravia, but Daisy’s diary should confirm or deny when we get around to checking – see “A Couple of nights out”.

27 & 28 June

A yes, we indeed had a couple of nights out:

A Brace Of Birthday Dinners For Daisy, 27 & 28 June 2008

4 July

Following a working week that looked quite light on meetings and evening engagements, but did include another Z/Yen Boat Trip on the Wednesday, on the Friday, I took a day out at Uxbridge. Middlesex were hosting the visiting South Africans in a warm-up match.

I wrote quite a lengthy report for MTWD on that day – click here.

Here is the scorecard from that tour match.

6 July

A relatively quiet weekend culminating in a lunch out with my mum at Gastro in Clapham. I had not seen this Jay Rayner review – click here – when I booked it.

It seems to divide opinion on TripAdvisor too – click here.

Actually, Janie and I rather liked the place, but I do recall that the Sunday menu was not quite as advertised and in any case the dishes on offer were of an kind unfamiliar to mum, who got a bit shirty about it all.

I’m not too sure how the matter got resolved but I seem to recall the lunch event being salvaged somehow, I think through some good staff making appropriate amounts of fuss around mum and looking after her nicely. Or did we move on to another place to get that fuss? Janie might remember.

I do recall resolving not to book such a place again for mum – the familiar “old-fashioned Italian or French bistro” places she’d been to before being the best bet for her now. Oh well.

Another Works Outing To Lord’s Within A Few Days, Middlesex v Surrey, 16 June 2008

Another day, another works outing to Lord’s.

Hot on the heels of our visit the previous Thursday to see Middlesex beat Essex – click here, another group to see the Middlesex v Surrey game. Clearly there was that much demand for these tickets that Jez Horne and I organised two goes. Such hardship.

Meanwhile, Middlesex had won it’s third game on the trot the previous day, doing the double against Essex that season. Click here for the scorecard. And/or, if you are collecting MTWD match reports from that tournament, here is an away match special by Auntie Janet, a stalwart Middlesex supporter of epic proportions – click here.

But I digress.

Our visit to the Lord’s match against Surrey had been fraught with ticket difficulty. I had no problem getting a ticket to Alan Cooke and arranging to give him an informal pavilion tour before the match, but one other guest, Sean from the Salvation Army, was left potentially ticket-less when his ticket got held up in the post. The kind folk at Lord’s took our word for it and issued us with a replacement Members and Friends ticket for him – problem solved.

I can’t remember who else joined us that day, but I think it was mostly Z/Yen staff for the Surrey match and we did our normal thing of bringing our own drinks and a bit of collective picnic but basically everyone chipping in for an informal sharing evening.

We don’t seem to have any pictures from that evening. Oh well. Jez might remember better.

It was hard to believe it, but Middlesex beat Surrey well that evening to make it four out of four. It was a good game too. Middlesex always seemed on top but it was not a foregone conclusion until right at the end. Here’s the scorecard – click here.

The MTWD report is a classic by Southgate Emerald – linking to his own Irish roots, those of Ed Joyce and the fact that 16 June is Bloomsday, named after that great Joycean character Leopold Bloom. Click here.

 

 

Lizzie and the Oiks – Middlesex Break Surrey Jinx, An MTWD Lost Masterpiece By Lizzie J, 3 July 2007

I have dug out this ancient MTWD piece on the back of an e-conversation with Jez regarding Middlesex’s record against Surrey at T20.

Jez thought Middlesex didn’t break the jinx until the glory year of 2008…

Another Works Outing To Lord’s Within A Few Days, Middlesex v Surrey, 16 June 2008

…but actually the jinx was broken a year earlier.

Here is a link to the scorecard.

I can find no e-mail trail to ascertain whether we attended that night or indeed why we didn’t – perhaps my diary will yield a reason…or perhaps we intended to go and the rain simply put us off.

Postscript

Jez writes:

Ah, yes, I do remember that one now – in fact, very well. It is one of the two occasions I have got Sarah to Lords (she left when it started raining because she was bored). Not sure if that was a works outing either – I suspect it may have been, as was tradition around those years anyway.

That in itself was almost as good as the day in 2008 – Surrey really struggled after a good start, Ramprakash particularly, who really couldn’t get it out the park that day. After an early wicket, our chase never looked in doubt (apart from to the Middlesex faithful that had never seen us beat Surrey until then).

Ah, yes, I vaguely remember too. It is in my diary to attend and I think I did go. I don’t think many (if any) other people from the Z/Yen office joined us – I think there was a relatively large group of Jez’s old mates from Uni plus Jez’s brother Ben plus Sarah.

I certainly remember going on one occasion when Sarah was there looking mighty bored and then she left early, politely saying that she “had a bit of a migraine”.

I also remember one occasion when brother Ben seemed incredulous that Middlesex could possibly have won that micro London derby.

Lizzie J’s Charming MTWD “Lost Masterpiece” Report

The MTWD report from that night is from the “lost masterpieces period”, i.e. the period for which Sportnetwork lost all of its features.

But Ged Ladd’s archive has been safely in the cloud throughout, so I managed to dig out the unedited version of Lizzie J’s charming report, which was published under the above headline.

She was/is such a good writer, I probably hardly edited the piece at all:

Middlesex v Surrey

Twenty20 Cup

Lord’s

Pre-match

To my relief, I was relieved of my duties as being a “responsible adult” as two other members of the PE staff decided to come on this school trip, so I could go back to my original plan of having nothing to do with the small children. Especially as I’d been portrayed as some kind of “Miss Middlesex” some of them seemed to think I was going to get them free stuff. Er. No!

Anyway. About thirty paces away from Lord’s it absolutely bucketed it, complete with thunder and lightning. As I was in shorts [it was sunny when I left Slough!], wasn’t too impressed. And while I was getting searched, they elected to take out my Spanish notes and read them, so they got soaked. Good. Quick change into trousers, I resembled a drowned rat. Headed off into Lower Compton, we’d won the toss and elected to field, 19 overs aside.

Surrey Innings

Chadders and Dial M opened up the bowling, while Benning seemed to have fun spanking fours all over the place before being bowled by the excellent Henderson. Brown went first, caught Joycey bowled Murts, and was delighted to see Ramps go for six to the bowling of Henderson! Umbrellas went up at 49-1, but the shower passed fairly quickly. JD got the last two wickets, having Butcher stumped for 5 and Batty caught by Murts for 6, before at 13 and a bit overs it decided to rain. Again. This time heavily.

Rain Break

Couldn’t be bothered to move, I was too cold, so I spent the interval huddled in my England fleece which I’d bought earlier, and then realised still had a electric tag in it. Was quite uncomfortable. Had no idea how I made it out of the shop. Still. We’d already opted for the extra half hour, and play reconvened at five past eight, with us needing 73 off 10 overs. Excellent, I reckoned. We’d do it.

Middlesex Innings

Out came Smiffy and Morgs to Lily The Pink, which I was happily humming, I’d barely made it past the chorus when the Skipper skied it to Benning for a duck. Oh. Hmm. Wasn’t happy. But Joycey and Morgs put on a brilliant stand, especially when Joycey hit three successive boundaries. Joycey unfortunately fell to Schofield, but JD and Morgs saw us home, JD with an impressive 26 not out off 15 balls. Had some champagne to celebrate, finally the Surrey jinx was over!

To sum up:

Wet. Cold. But extremely happy!

MTWD scraped/republished the above piece in the winter of 2018/2019 – click here.