2009 marked the 20th year anniversary for the Old Blandfordians Cricket Club and on 5 September a day of events was organised to help celebrate the occasion.
During the afternoon a special 20 Twenty match took place at the Blandford School between the current team and a team made up of people who have played for the club in years gone by. The old boys team was captained by Geoff Pike who along with David Farley and Stuart Adam formed the club back in 1990. The current team was captained by Tony Coubrough who had just led the Saturday side to the league title having only lost one game all year.
Winning the toss the current team decided to bat which meant there was an opportunity for Adrian Brine to roll back the years and take the new ball to bowl the first over from the swimming pool end. As the early over’s progressed two quick wickets fell to the bowling of Steve White; both bowled in the second over. Simon Freak and Tony Coubrough then began the recovery with both of them reaching 25 which meant that they then had to retire.
Runs and wickets seemed to come along at regular intervals and the current team reached 146 for the loss of 9 wickets off of their 20 over’s. Eddie Poingdestre took two wickets for the Old Boys and Captain Geoff Pike took three wickets at a time when the opposition were looking to hit out which was a tremendous effort. Gareth Vincent provided some vital runs for the current team at the end of the innings hitting a quick fire 25 not out in the final three overs.
In reply Andy Joyce provided a solid start for the old boys although many of his teammates found it tough going against the youthfulness of the current group of players. Gary Sollis scored 29 in the middle order and John Baines also made it to double figures. The wickets for the current side were shared equally and Captain Pike retired to allow the Club Chairman, Ian Milne to have a bat in the last over. Ian repaid the Captain by scoring a quick fire one not out to finally leave the old boys 30 runs short of their target.
Although there had to be a result in the game the day was mostly about bringing old friends together for an enjoyable game of cricket. This we managed to achieve and thanks go to John Paulley, John Wareham and Phil Martin for umpiring and to Dean Daniels who did such a good job scoring.
After the game there were various presentations and Steve White was awarded a bottle of Champaign for the Champaign Moment of the day for running out Chris Ascott with a brilliant bit of fielding whilst falling to the ground.
Geoff Pike was presented with the man of the match award for his brilliant spell of bowling and every player and official was presented with a commemorative medal to help them remember the day.
The following players made up the teams:
Current Team
Tony Coubrough (Captain), Simon Freak (wk), Marin Tuck, Tom Waters, Dave Lockyer, Gary Waters, Chris Ascott, Mike Webber, Sam Filkins, Frank Webber, Garath Vincent.
Old Boys Team
Geoff Pike (Captain), John Joyce (wk), Andy Joyce, Nick Wellstead, Eddie Poingdestre, Gary Sollis, Nigel Jones, John Baines, Steve White, Adrian Brine, Ian Milne
Umpires
John Paulley, John Wareham, Phil Martin
Scorer
Dean Daniels
The medals and awards were presented by Mr John Paulley, MBE – Past President of The Old Blandfordians Cricket Club.
Photos of the day can be obtained by e-mailing Ian Milne at
ian-milne@sky.com
The second half of the day saw everyone move across to the old Milldown Middle School building for an evening that incorporated the presentation of the trophies for 2009.
Tony Coubrough reviewed the successful season of the Saturday side that after loosing the first game of the season then went on to win every game thereafter and won the league title along the way.
Club Chairman Ian Milne, the only surviving member of the very first match back in 1990 then looked back on the past twenty years of cricket. In particular he highlighted the importance of the friends and families of the players who turn up every week and make the Old Blandfordians Cricket Club such a unique and special club.
Mr Gerry Mosney, the current club President was on hand to present the trophies for the year and the winners for 2009 are listed below.
Award | Saturday Player | Sunday Player |
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Captains player of the year | Dave Lockyer | Gary Sollis |
Bowlers ward for best bowling average | Ian Milne | Simon Joyce |
Batsman’s award for best batting average | Ben Andrews | Gareth Vincent |
Fielding award for best fielder | Sam Filkins | Gareth Vincent |
Players player of the year | Dave Lockyer | Andrew Joyce |
Club Captains award for special achievement | Tom Waters |
Club Chairman’s award for contribution to the Club | Mr John Paulley, MBE |
| | | |
Clare Jefferson, the Sunday Team scorer was presented with a bouquet of flowers in appreciation of her work for the club over the year (see below). Mrs Barbara Milne was also singled out for special praise as she has been involved with preparing the teas for every single home game in the 20 years that the club has been in existence. This is indeed a wonderful achievement by a brilliant servant to the Club.
During the evening the Club also unveiled its new computerised system that holds the data for every game that the OBCC has been involved in. Should anyone like a complete copy of there own statistics then these can be provided by Ian Milne and his contact details are on the OBCC website which can be found at www.oldblandfordianscc.co.uk.
On behalf of the Club the Chairman would like to thank each and every person personally who has contributed to the Club over the last 20 years. We truly are a unique and special club and I look forward to the next 20 years.
Ian Milne
Club Chairman
PS I would love to hear from anyone who has been involved with our club to catch up and exchange stories and also anyone who themselves or knows of someone who would be interested in playing for OBCC.