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, 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 personally 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' Underwood. Did gratitude for the dropped catch that enabled Derek's only first-class hundred play a part? John also told us more of his captaincy of Sus
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