A subject close to my heart... My Mrs does magnificent teas, genuinely considered some of the very best in the league - she puts in a good shift though, marinading the chicken for her specialty jerk chicken the night before, baking cakes early in the morning, etc. I assist with purchasing and transportation, but it takes a bit of effort, and of course, one has one eye on the weather. She's not in a position where she has to make it worth her while, if you will, but gets more pleasure from getting positive feedback and in knowing she's done a decent job and played her part. The club and I are very lucky if slightly overweight as a result! Her mum used to do teas when her old man and her uncles played and she can recall watching her dad when she was very young. So, with my youngest lad (14) now a regular in senior cricket, it's a family affair. There are always plenty of players willing to wash up as there is usually some strawberries left over from the scones, which she bakes herself...
The 2nd XI tend to have a rota and sell a standard sort of tea, better than some in the league, at £2.50 per head, and it does a job. The Sunday side (3rd XI) tend to do a bit of a Jacob's Join and players will be allocated something to bring. The teas are sold at £2.50 per head and the tasks shared.
Always in our league, scorers and umpires are free.
The standards have dropped over the years (2014 will be my 26th season in this league) so I have seen the good, the bad and the very ugly. It used to be very good generally, with teams having some pride in putting on a decent tea. Sadly, things have gone down hill, although there are still some very decent teas to be had and some with their own specialties: Great Eccleston CC do some lovely local new potatoes, Hoghton CC serve a home made cake / biscuit kind of thing called an Oatie, local rivals Thornton-Cleveleys CC were always famous for home made cakes (not as good as the wife's!) and South Shore CC are one of very few teams in the league to serve jockey's whips.
Our league have got prizes for everything, except for teas.... if there was a teas prize, at least that way, those that do make an effort would get some deserved recognition.
Hats off to all those making cricket teas of whatever standard... it's not easy.