EAST RIDING CRICKET SOCIETY

Pat Murphy – broadcaster, journalist and author of 40+ books, most recently BBC Sports Report: A Celebration – first entertained us in our Cottingham days, back in 2019, and his return brought another cavalcade of enjoyable tales. Now he introduced us to his ' Murphy XI ' dream team , all players he wrote with or about during his 47- book writing and broadcasting career . He took us at pace through his openers, middle order and all - rounders, then on to the bowling attack . All speed , no twirl in this particular side ! As you'd expect, there are some notable names in there : Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, David Gower, Viv Richards, Bob Willis , Basil d'Oliveira, Ian Botham , Wasim Akram , Imran Khan , Mike Procter , Alan Donald. N ot to mention walk-on parts for Jeff Lynne, Eric Clapton and Elton John. I t 's clear that the worlds of cricket, sport , music and fame can collide in interesting ways ! A fter the break, ...

Jane Powell – President of Yorkshire CCC; ECB Performance Manager Disability Cricket; former captain, Yorkshire Women; and former captain and coach of England Women – talks as she lives – con brio . Fast, funny, gritty, warm and enthusiastic, Jane arrived in Beverley fresh from Ahmedabad and the first international t20 series between the England and India Men’s Physical Disability teams (England lost 3-2 to the hosts) and about to embark on a trip to Perth, Western Australia to stay with her identical twin sister, Jill. When Jane says 'turning up is important', she means it. As only our third female speaker, it was particularly interesting to hear how this self-described 'just a girl from Sheffield' went about achieving so much in the cricket world. And not just in the cricket world. A busy – indeed hectic – sporting life has seen her excel in cricket, hockey, badminton and lacrosse, as player and as coach, and has clearly required ...

Despite an icy night an excellent crowd of 56 members braved the chill on Thursday 18 January to listen Kevin Sharp – Yorkshire CCC (1976–90) and Head Coach of  Worcestershire CCC (2018–22) . A Leeds lad through and through – born in Meanwood – Kevin is now returning to Yorkshire after a 46-year playing and coaching career with Yorkshire CCC and Worcestershire CCC. And as a keen hill-walker, he'll be picking his spot with care.  He warned us early on that he wasn't 'as funny as John Barclay', but he did have one non-Barclayan trick up his sleeve – of which more later. The Yorkshire dressing-room of the 1970s was a rather formidable place to a nervous 16-year-old. Turning up on Day One in jeans and T-shirt did not impress a certain Mr Boycott, who immediately sent him home to change! However, Kevin soon learned how to become a Yorkshire player and enjoyed his playing days. He admits that he never achieved his full potential on the field but on retir...

What a cracker Maggie can pull! She’s welcome at my seasonal table, as is Mr John Barclay with his entertaining, witty and thoroughly good-natured cricket chat. Almost fifty of us turned up to hear John – former captain of Sussex CCC; MCC President (2009–10); president, English Schools Cricket Association (ESCA); and vice-president of the Arundel Castle Cricket Foundation – who also happened to be our last speaker prior to lockdown in March 2020. He seemed flattered to be back, saying he rarely gets a second invite – although I find that hard to believe. Not only did he talk cricket. He also illustrated it vividly, with walkabouts and grand arm and hand gestures to bring his words to life. There was something of the pantomime in the way he involved us in his performance – for this was far more than a traditional 'speech'. We heard about his appointment as MCC President, as the choice of his predecessor Derek 'Deadly' Unde...

A quick snow flurry seemed to have only minor impact on our November 2023 meeting , which included our now celebrated AGM – famed that is for its brevity. Our chairman offered due thanks to Maggie , Ian and Brian for their work , and all the officers were re-elected unopposed.  Maggie outlined our past and future speakers before Brian commented on the accounts , which covered a three-year period from October 2020 to September 2023.  We made a small profit over this period and our finances are strong.   After falling from a high of c.100 in March 2020, our numbers are growing steadily, with a warm welcome extended to many recent new members.  Our successful raffle makes a vital contribution , while our first all-pay summer special, with Barry Richards , raised our profile and paid for itself . Then we were into the meat of the evening with Jeremy Lonsdale – historian, author and deputy editor of the quarterly County Cricket Matters .  Although res...

Dean Headley – former England, Middlesex and Kent paceman and the third generation of a famous cricketing family – opened our 2023/24 programme with a superb informal Q&A .  Dean retired early after a first-class career (1991-2001) cut short by a chronic back injury and is now an ECB match referee.  He is also heavily involved in coaching young cricketers, as Director of Cricket at Stamford School (2018-23) and now as Head of Cricket at Blundells School, Tiverton (2023-). Read more about Dean here: https://wisden.com/stories/features/golden-streaks-and-fractured-dreams-the-cautionary-tale-of-dean-headley https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1129399/dean-and-daz-make-merry-in-melbourne https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/725159/-it-burnt-to-be-told-i-didn-t-have-the-heart-to-play-as-a-bowler https://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1226317/like-father--unlike-son https://blundells.org/devoffice/news/new-head-of-cricket-dean-headley