Recollections of an Old (but young at heart) Oswestrian, circa 1952 - EPISODE 29, CHARACTERS OF THE 1ST XI AND MEMORIES OF SUMMER, 1960

Team of 1960 (T R G Croft and D A F Bache were stood down for this match

(Back L-R) A E Stevens, G S Moffat, Headmaster, Mr H L Morris, T P Moore-Bridger, M Harvey
(Front L-R) E D Goff, B Pickup, D Pickup, T Ashworth, J B Greves

During my time as Captain the squad of players available for selection in 1960 was probably the most talented group for several years, and we went on to win 8 out of 12 matches that summer, losing 2 of the other 4 by a very narrow margin indeed. We had a really good blend of talented young players combined with older, more experienced members, and it formed the basis of a successful team for the following few seasons.

I cannot be sure who wrote the critique of team members, but I suspect it could well have been Dai Lewis who umpired cricket matches for us against visiting schools and refereed 1st XI football games. Whoever it was, he called a spade a spade, and was often very critical when he thought it was deserved; his observations on individual team characters are below.

Excerpts from The Oswestrian, Michaelmas 1960

The lead team photograph, at the top of this article, was taken prior to the start of the Old Boys match on 2nd July, and I note that each of us on the front row is wearing his newly awarded cricket colours, with Duncan Felton, our cricket coach, caught in the background. 

We batted first, and having suffered from a lack of form during most of the season, I had dropped myself down the batting order and did not bowl at all as Bernard and Jack (Greves) were doing fine. My main contribution to the victory came from the outfield where I managed to score two direct hits on the stumps; one, very flukily, from my position at deep square leg where I could only see one stump. My first victim was the tall, gangly figure of 'Pip' Narroway, a former hero of mine, and demon fast bowler, who could not believe his eyes as he ambled down the pitch for what he thought was an easy single, only to see the demolition of the wickets as he approached the safety of the crease.

Nobody was more surprised than me, but not for nothing was I known as Dead Eye Dick! 

Scorecard of the Old Boys match

The other Old Boy I managed to run out that day was a former teammate, and life-long good friend of mine, George S Roberts-Jones. Belated apologies George, but I was on a roll after running Pip out. This mention of George has jogged a memory of a home match from the previous year against Bedstone who were batting second against our total of  116 (for 6, declared).

One of George's supporters, whose palms had obviously been suitably greased with silver (after all, George did go on to be a banker), shouted, "Put George on!" I duly obliged, and he immediately took the next 4 wickets for just 3 runs. It was, literally, George's finest hour, but disappointingly, the star of the day never even got a mention in the match report! 

Match report and scorecard against Bedstone

G S R Jones - 4 wickets for 3 runs

In his youth 'Fattie' had played cricket for one of the minor counties, and he had an obsession about what he determined to be fishing with the bat outside the off stump, and it was an absolute no-no for him, as was stopping the ball with your foot. He was a bit of a purist in this respect and his coaching sessions were always interesting. During one of these, his constant references to fishing got to me, and I unwisely joked that I thought we were playing cricket and apologised pithily for forgetting to bring my fishing rod. He barked admonishment at me in his guttural voice before cluttering me round the ear for my pains. His bark was usually worse than his bite, but on this occasion the message was somewhat painful! 

The cricket cradle

I really enjoyed slip catching practice using the cradle although I did not field in the slips on a regular basis. For those unfamiliar with this equipment, it is a largish concave wooden device on a metal frame down onto which you throw the ball, which exits the other end on an unpredictably fast trajectory. It is great fun, and is designed to sharpen catching reflexes. There were better slip fielders than me and I tended to position myself in the outfield for the most part. G S Moffat, probably the youngest member of the team, held some remarkable catches in this position, and was top of the list at the end of the season with 7 victims to his name.

A typical example of the school bus that transported us to away venues

It was always exciting travelling to away matches on the old buses, and these journeys helped us all to bond together and develop a team camaraderie, with much good-natured ribbing and ribaldry taking place. In fact, it was one such journey that gave rise to my name as Dead Eye Dick during all the customary banter, but I am not sure how it was supposed to be interpreted. On the long and winding journeys to away games I was often car sick and felt out of sorts on arrival at our destination, but, after a couple of spliffs, or a quick swig from my hip flask of Russian Hooch (only joking!), I soon recovered and nobody ever knew I was under the weather.

As my last day at Oswestry School drew near, I mused to myself that, like butterflies emerging from a chrysalis, the young talent in the team had blossomed on the Maes-y-Llan during that Summer of 1960, and the future of the 1st XI looked to be in good hands as the old guard in the squad left school for the final time on their journey into the wider world.