I was due to be taking part in the 'Hit for 60' event that the Lords Taverners were organising (a 60 hour continuous cricket match at Wellington College). I received a phone call a couple of weeks before the event with the news that the sponsors who were laying out to cover the floodlights were pulling out, and therefore the event would have to be shelved. Obviously I was very disappointed – however they did come up with an alternative. To celebrate 60 years of the Lords Taverners, they were to hold a Diamond Jubilee 8 a side competition on the main square at Lords. I was offered the opportunity to take part, provided that I raised a minimum of £500 for the charity. As somewhat of a cricket obsessive, this opportunity was enormously exciting.
I arrived at Lords just before 8am on Thursday 22nd July, parked in the visitors car park, and headed to the Pavillion. Here I was given the itinerary for the day and shown to the visitors’ dressing room, which would be my changing room for the day, along with the rest of my team, Taverners’ Talent. Each squad had a former professional player and a celebrity – we had Vince Wells (former Leicestershire, Kent, Durham and England batsman) and Chris White (highly regarded rugby referee – ref’d the 2003 World Cup Semi Final between Australia and New Zealand, as well as the 3rd/4th place play off, as well as several Heineken Cup finals). Others involved included former Test players Mike Gatting and John Emburey, county pro Neil Smith, film director (and cricket nut) Sam Mendes, Who Wants to be a Millionaire presenter Chris Tarrant, and raconteur Bob ‘The Cat’ Bevan.
Having received our briefing over breakfast in The Long Room from Mike Gatting, we changed and headed down for team photos and the first game. Walking down the pavilion steps to go out to bat at 3 for my team, I was very nervous, even though it was a charity tournament and a quickfire format (6 overs per side). I made 9 before I was run out at the non-striker’s end, but honestly if I had been out first ball I would have been equally pleased and proud. It wasn’t long before I was keeping wicket for our team (due to a lack of volunteers). We managed to defend the total that we set and thus win our first game. Due to the size of the squads I was sitting out our second game, and therefore was able to enjoy the tour of the ground that was provided, and also to thoroughly enjoy one of Lords’ famous lunches in our Tavern Stand box. I merrily snapped away with a variety of cameras as the team snatched a last ball victory over Mike Gatting’s team, and our 2 wins meant we would face John Emburey’s side in the final. Both our pro and our celeb graciously stepped down to allow as many of us ‘normal’ folk to play as possible. Having kept wicket in the first game I really wanted to have a bowl at Lords in the final, and thus found myself trundling in from the Pavillion End, though not with the same success as the likes of Glen McGrath or more recently Steve Finn. Having seen the first delivery nicked through first slip for 4, I erred in length, dropped one a bit short and was unceremoniously deposited into the Mound Stand for 6. My struggles with the ball were echoed by my teammates and we found ourselves chasing 62 from 6 overs to win, as a brief shower threatened to prematurely end the day, with groundsman Mick Hunte understandably unwilling to have a bunch of non-internationals threaten his beloved playing surface. Fortunately the rain stayed away and we were able to finish the game. A valiant chase meant we needed 11 from 3 balls as I walked to the crease. Visions of being a hero were going through my mind, but I was unable to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat, as we could only scramble 4 runs from the last 3 balls. Again, any disappointment at losing the final was tempered by the fact that we had just played at LORDS! The cricket itself was followed by a champagne reception and 3 course dinner in the Long Room to cap off one of the most fantastic days of my life. Everybody was agreed that it was a brilliant day and myself and my teammates have vowed to stay in touch. Most of us did keep our hands by our sides when a charity auction later in the night was to see several items go for 4 figure sums. The day raised lots of money for the Lords Taverners, a worthy charity that uses sport, and cricket in particular, to help kids with special needs, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that raising money for the charity was the main purpose of the day, notwithstanding the huge amount of fun that I had. Here's a few pics:
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Topic: The Home of Cricket! (Read 1913 times)