Staff Cricket team 1946 - 1959.
It was in the summer of 1946 that, with a typical initiative, J.
C. Burch encouraged the Staff to form their own Cricket XI. In so doing
he caught the mood of the immediate post-war days: young men, fresh
from the Forces, had joined the Staff, others had returned, or were
about to return to the School and in the district at large there was
a sport-hunger. To Mr. Burch it was all an extension of war-time camaraderie
in a less demanding field.
It would need the pen of Cardus or Roberson-Glasgow to do justice to the setting:
the sheer greenness of the field, the red-tiled pavilion, the inviting-a-six
wall at the far end, the fringe of attractive and mature trees, the Church
spire in the near distance, the Tin Works chimneys afar reminding us that the
game is played in harsher places like Bramall Lane. On the brilliant June evenings
which seemed so frequent in these early years the whole atmosphere had an almost
elegiac quality. Certainly Ted Parfitt found little difficulty in arranging
fixtures and for years two games a week were played. Local teams such as Aylburton,
Primrose Hill, Bream, Whitecroft Pin Co. the Forestry School and Forest Police
were only too keen to play in such a context and on what to many of them was
a first-class wicket. Very soon sides like West Monmouth School Staff, St Paul's
and Oakley Training Colleges, Gloucester Civil Service and Lydney C. C. were
regular visitors.
The nucleus of the first side was a group of useful club and ex-club cricketers
from various parts of the country; to them were added enthusiasts who admirably
backed up their skills. Throughout the period one or two boys were included
and promising young cricketers like Trevor Wintle, Gwyn Johnson, Tom Jones,
Derek Hyde, Bev. Dovey, John Hampton, John Morris and David Imm gained invaluable
experience amongst adults. The outstanding performer throughout was Douglas
Thomas, perhaps the most accomplished player of the post-war era. He was such
an intelligent cricketer: he would use an immaculate technique to build a first
50, and then unleash a delightful range of strokes to run to many a century:
his bowling was full of guile against opponents whose weakness he would quickly
detect and his out fielding was comparable to that of professionals like Colin
Scott. With Ted Parfitt he formed the most reliable and prolific opening partnership
in local cricket. With the departure of fine players like J. C, Morgans and
L. F. Barnett came adequate compensation in the arrival of Mr. Beeley, an accomplished
all-rounder since Oxford days, and Reg Northam an ex-Minor Counties cricketer.
Mr. Beeley captained the side from 1949 onwards and under his gentlemanly and
highly knowledgeable leadership the team reached a peak. It was indeed successful
- for instance in one season 23 games were played, 21 won and 2 drawn. This
was not untypical. Joe Ellison and later George Elliott (an Old Boy and distinguished
local cricketer) were our enthusiastic umpires, Ken and Mrs. Winspear, faithful
scorers.
Apart from Dit Thomas' excellence there is much that is distinctive to
remember: Ted Parfitt's range of off-side strokes, Arthur Laycock's
compensatory pupils and hooks fashioned on Yorkshire fields, the fierce off-driving
of Lew Barnett and Mr. Beeley, not unworthy of a Hutton or C. F. Walters, the
immaculately of length and direction of Reg Northam, the near-golf shots of Jack
Chamberlain and Joe Hotchkiss hitting us out of trouble, the sheer enthusiasm
of Phil Edmonds and Geoff Davies, the zeal and accuracy of Gordon Jones' fielding,
and not least the ‘donkey droppers' of Bill Barlow which became
the terrors of any local batsmen at all lacking in technique. Small wonder
that we had a strong following - who would not come again on a summer evening
to see such feats as 400 runs scored by us and St. Paul's or 150 bludgeoned
in 70 minutes against the City of Bath Staff when the hitting was so fierce
that our own players lined the boundary quickly to retrieve balls constantly
dispatched for 6 or 4 by out two operating batsmen?
And then last summer all was desecration as, in the sacred name of progress,
bulldozers moved in like a squadron of armoured cars and despoiled the beautiful
playing area. Now all is House Blocks and Creative Design Centre. However,
those of us privileged to play there for those halcyon years can readily, if
a little sadly, echo Cardus -
‘Oh my Thomas and my Parfitt,
My Beeley and my Northam,
- and my Barlow, long ago!
A. L.
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