AGM looks ahead to a busy season

The following are the minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Old Cranleighan Cricket Club held at the OC Club, Thames Ditton, on Thursday January 31, 2008.

Present: Graham Brown, Mike Chetwode, Eds Copleston, Allen Dean, Ed Henderson, Abeed Janmohamed, Rick Johnson, John McDermott, Tristan Rosenfeldt, Henry Watkinson, Martin Williamson.

Apologies: John Cooke, Matt Crump, Robin Elsdon Dew, Rob Merry, Richard Seeckts, Peter Shelley, David Westcott, Andy Wright.

Rules: The meeting voted unanimously to adopt the revised rules as sent out by email.

Captain’s report: In a brief captain’s report, HW said that India had been good, the summer good, but Sarasota not quite as good, other than off the field.

Hon Fixtures Secretary’s report: TR gave a lengthy speech on the 2008 fixtures. The main change was that the Elstead fixture, new to 2007, had not been renewed as it was not felt to be the kind of end-of-season game we were after. Alternatives of were discussed but TR was asked to seek others. The bulk of games were as in 2007 although the frogs had been incorporated into the week. We were again scheduled to play Wellington but there was concern over match fees and recipricocity and TR was asked to investigate.

The Cricketer Cup clashes were discussed at some length and especially the issue of the clash with the School match were we to progress to the second round. The rules do not allow us to play away from the school and the headmaster had made it clear we would not be allowed to be at Cranleigh on that day (June 29). TR would ask potential second-round opponents (Winchester or Clifton) if we could play away should the need arise. Whatever happened, we would field a side against the school on the same day.

Hon Treasurer’s report: In his final report after 25 years in the role, MW said the books had balanced but that was largely through donations from the OC Society and two individuals which totalled £750. The introduction of annual subscriptions (£10) would enable us to book umpires for all games and give us a sounder financial footing. The incoming treasurer would need to make the establishment of standing orders a priority.

South Africa tour 2008-09: EH reported plans were progressing and around 18 people had committed (13 players) with several others more probable than possible. Attempts to reduce the cost had failed as we were travelling at a peak time but other options – sponsorship etc – were under consideration. EH briefly suggested that matches could be played inside Zimbabwe on the Zazmbian leg of the trip but this was vociferously opposed on moral grounds. There were possibilities of a charity visit to Soweto while in SA.

Cup competitions: There were mixed views on our continuing in the Cricket World Trophy but it was agreed that we should on the understanding that selection was, unless unavoidable, mutually exclusive with the Cricketer Cup side. HW would skipper the CC side and EC the CWT side. Selection would be by the cricket committee.

Election of officers: There being no other nominations other than the ones circulated before the meeting, all were passed unanimously. The only changes from 2007 were than MW stood down as secretary and treasurer to be replaced by EH and RM. Rick Johnson was elected to fill the new post of chairman. Two new vice presidents were elected - Heather Dean in recognition of her services as a scorer and supporter for many years, and Clem Williams in recognition of his efforts as master in charge at Cranleigh and his support for the OCCC then and since leaving.

President: John. W. McDermott
Chairman: Rick Johnson
Captain: Henry Watkinson,
Honorary Secretary: Ed Henderson
Honorary Treasurer: Rob Merry
Honorary Fixtures Secretary: Tristan Rosenfeldt
Committee: Michael Chetwode, Martin Williamson,
Vice Presidents: (new nominations) Heather Dean, Clem Williams.

Any Other Business: 1) RJ expressed the desire for two social functions a year, one oldies event in the season and a dinner in October. While the latter was approved, it was felt the former was unnecessary although it was agreed that notice would be sent out that former players would be especially welcome on one specified cricket week day. 2) It was agree to allow Damien Hill to run with his plan of a sixes event on one of the Saturdays of the week. 3) JM asked for a note to be made of the death of Ted Crowe of the Old Blundellians, whose links with the OCCC go back more than four decades.

Sarasota 2007 - Sharks, golf and some dreadful cricket

Rob Merry reports on the second tour of the year, a return to the USA
Click here for tour photos

We travelled to this popular six-a-side tournament in Sarasota, Florida with a mix of youth and the experience offered by captain Henry Watkinson and Mike Chetwode – both of whom had been several times before. A few of us got there a day early to ‘acclimatise’ on the beach. The first night gave us an indication of what was to follow – our thanks to the wonderful hospitality shown by the extended Perry family.
While we were rarely found wanting in the drinking department, it was unfortunately a different story on the cricket pitch. It took the four young guns time to come to grips with the nature of six-a-side (five overs, five different bowlers, limited run-ups, two runs + another ball for wides and no-balls, and an artificial wicket). We failed to get bat on ball often enough, lacked enough big hitting and always had one poor over bowling.

Our first two games were probably against the weakest of the sides in our group and by the time we had found our feet with some strong hitting from both Jonny Gates and Sam Langmead we were up against stronger opposition. In the past we had always reached the quarter-finals but this year it was not to be. Our nightly antics probably had something to do with it and there were some useful players knocking about – Shiv Chanderpaul kindly agreeing to don the OC touring blazer.

Off the pitch we were equally unsuccessful! We had to get more golf balls delivered on our golf outing on what was admittedly a difficult but very impressive and enjoyable course. We did have some success in on a deep-sea fishing trip but whilst we were catching relatively little fish two Americans on our boat caught a shark!
Our partying really came to a head at the gala dinner, where Mac was guest speaker - our failure to make the finals day meant that we had nothing to hold back for. Other highlights included a trip to our sponsors – a local entertainment arena our dubious repute, some great dinners, thanksgiving partying, and the weak dollar!

Everyone enjoyed the trip, despite our cricketing prowess, or lack of it. A big thank you to Sarasota Cricket Club, the other teams and the extended Parry family – who provided wonderful hospitality throughout.

I’m sure that all the youngsters will return and hopefully Henry and Mike will join us. Damien has also lost no time in addressing our cricketing performance. He is spearheading the effort to get a OCCC six a side tournament up and running at Cranleigh sometime next summer – watch this space!

Tour No. 6 ... South Africa

Having organised their final tour to India in February/March 2007, Rick Johnson and Martin Williamson have passed the reigns over to Ed Henderson, Rob Merry and Tristan Rosenfeldt, who are pleased to announce the destination for the next tour. Having debated many diverse and interesting options, ranging from the Caribbean to a Middle East/Western Australia tour, the unanimous decision and natural place to go next was Southern Africa.

So to formally announce it, the OCCC will be undertaking their 6th major overseas tour to….Zimbabwe! Only joking, we will be gracing Zambia and South Africa with our presence over New Year 2008-09.

Here are some details regarding the itinerary from which we hope to start getting commitment from players, families, WAG’s and legends (M. Payne) regarding attendance. With just over a year to organise the tour, support and help from anyone will be much appreciated and tour details will be continually provided and updated.

Provisional itinerary

Christmas Day/Boxing Day 2008 Players will no doubt be resisting the temptation to indulge in the festive spirit at home and a boot camp in the Welsh valleys has been discussed for those with intentions to hit the ground running in Africa, or have alterior motives to one day captain the club!
Saturday December 27, 2008 Afternoon flight to Lusaka, Zambia. Breakfast arrival (28th December). Day of leisure (golf, pool, sleep) at 5* hotel culminating in ‘Welcome to Africa’ dinner.
Sunday December 28, 2008 Game 1 v. Zambian Team (TBC but potentially a National side or a British High Commision side)
Monday December 29 – Tuesday December 30, 2008 Safari (Details of Safari TBC)
Wednesday December 31, 2008 AM flight to Cape Town, check into 5* Waterfront hotel and prepare to see in New Year 2009.
Wednesday December 31 – Friday January 9, 2009 OCCC in Cape Town. Based at 5* Waterfront hotel. The following is being arranged for the stay in Cape Town:

Three games plus the inaugural OCCC 20/20 game. The tour organisational team is working it’s upmost to get the team playing at Newlands and a first OCCC game under lights is very much a possibility.

Trip up Table Mountain for that perfect team photo.

Day at the Beach, however, Camps Bay (10 minutes from Cape Town city centre) is no West Whittering!

Adrenaline Junkie Day – Bungee Jumping followed by Shark diving! For those less inclined to this lifestyle, deep sea fishing will be an option.

Tour of Robben Island – tour led by former political prisoners.

Township Visit.

There will of course be the usual OCCC frolics:

Daily fines.

‘D*ck of the Day’.

Rosenfeldt Quiz Night/Hobbs and Watkinson cheating challenge.

Plus, we are pleased to announce, the Afrikaans food challenge – www.mishtancafewillbetamecomparedtothis.com

Friday January 9, 2009 PM flight to Lusaka, Zambia. Check in to another ridiculous 5* hotel.
Saturday January 10, 2009 Final game against local Zambian team.
Sunday January 11, 2009 – Monday January 12, 2009 Potentially a River Safari. Plus Victoria Falls visit, the end of tour Dinner to be held whilst the touring squad looks out over the falls (as promised by Mr. Ed Henderson)
Tuesday January 13, 2009 Flight back to London, another OCCC tour successfully completed.

Well I hope that has slightly whetted your appetite for this next adventure. This is still very much a rough itinerary and is of course subject to change (most notably the dates and times of the safaris) but the main structure of the tour (flying in and out of Zambia etc.) will remain.

The cost of the tour will be around the £2000 mark, and we will be looking for a real commitment from people with a non refundable deposit in late January 2008. We are working hard to make sure it really will be a trip not to be missed, plus, the kit is going to be brilliant!

All you students, unemployed or those put off by the price-tag, don’t worry, payment options spread over the year will be available, and we can come to agreements between us, don’t be afraid to ask. We just need that initial commitment.

The three of us are incredibly excited about this tour and all are welcome, whether you are a whole family, a cricketer, a partner or just an enthusiastic supporter, please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of us if you would like more information or have any advice or contacts for us out in Southern Africa, sponsorship of course always welcome!

Regular updates regarding the tour will be found on the Old Cranleighan Cricket Club Website.

Rob, Ed and Tristan

rmerry@deloitte.co.uk
edward.henderson@1thesanctuary.com
tristanrosenfeldt@hotmail.com

The tour that never was

In a recent issue of The Wisden Cricketer there was a special supplement on Sri Lanka and it contained an account of a tour made by the OCCC to the island. But the account of the tour might differ from the rain-soaked reality …

Day 3 After a day shopping we hit the nets. For a while we are pretty impressed with our efforts and then a local school turns up and starts practising alongside. It is quickly clear that their 11-year-olds are far better in every department than us. Our captain, who fancies himself as being quick, sidles over and offers to bowl at a kid barely higher than the stumps. The first half-volley fizzes back past the skipper at knee height. He feigns a back injury and sulks. We retreat from battle, the mocking laughter of the children ringing in our ears. Our one slow bowler develops the yips after three balls and refuses to play again.


Day 8 Almost all of us travel south to the beach resort of Bentota, the exception being our captain who is so ill that he has to remain behind, refusing to leave his hotel room despite the pleas of the staff that they need his room. He adds to his own misery by misreading the instructions on the packet of Imodium and taking 18 rather than the suggested two. We make the most of the beach, and later the captain’s absence to hold a late-night fines session.

Click here to download the PDFs of the article. Page One | Page Two

South Africa 2009 the next tour?

The new era of OC touring began last night at The Angel in Thames Ditton when Tristan Rosenfeldt, Rob Merry and Ed Henderson agreed to succed Rick Johnson and Martin Williamson as tour organisers.

A long discussion about destinations ensued and the happy trio went to away to examine the possibilities. The favourite is a two-week jaunt to South Africa, with a shorter trip to Dubai the alternative. Damian Hill suggested Devon.

Prices, availability and interest is being researched and a more concrete proposal will be circulated to all the club shortly.

In the meantime, contact Tristan, Rob or Ed for more information.

School return from Kenya tour

In the first two weeks of the Easter holidays, 15 Cranleighans (Under-16 and Under-17s) accompanied by Peter Kemp, Stuart Welch and Graham Cooper set off for a cricket tour to Kenya.

Click here for a brief report on the Cranleigh School website.

Ten years since our tour debut

On April 10 it will be ten years since the club played our first match on tour. After a week of drinking and a couple of enforced and half-hearted fielding sessions, we arrived at the Antigua Recreation Ground, which two days earlier had been hosting the Test between West Indies and India, to face the island’s effective Under-19 side. Antigua’s not a big place, and word had got round the island about how unprepared we were. Even we began to believe the hype. Click here to find out what happened …

How not to tour

It might seem that our tours just happen, but there is considerable behind-the-scenes work. To date, we have been fortunate in that we have played all the matches we have been scheduled to play, with the exception of the rain-blighted Sri Lanka tour. But this report in The Wisden Cricketer of a trip to Antigua by Shepherd’s Bush CC highlights how things can go wrong … and their itinerary was almost identical to ours. It might be harsh, but I would suggest that our extra attention to detail and making sure we forged links with the right people paid off.

Hong Kong Phooey

We accepted the invitation to be one of the 32 teams to participate in the fourth Hong Kong International Six-a-Side Festival. A truly international tournament with only two sides from the UK being invited. Sponsored by Ichor International Investments and Chesterton Petty, this festival was the first club sixes tournament to have world-wide television coverage and attracted international cricket stars Doug Walters (Australia), Heath Streak and Adam Huckle (Zimbabwe).

Faced with a 12-hour flight, eight-hour time difference, temperatures in the eighties with high energy sapping humidity and air pollution, a three-day cricket programme starting at 8.30 am and a city with the 24-hour-a-day carnal attractions of Hong Kong, this four-night trip was indeed testing. Undaunted, We went native immediately on arrival on the first night with a Chinese supper in Rat Alley followed by a bar crawl until dawn in the lively Wanchai district. This first excursion set the tone and style of the trip. As in nature, the weak members of the herd are picked off first. Peter Hobbs, Mike Chase and Rick Johnson, all hardened OCCC tourists, were soon off the demanding pace of the trip. Our skipper, Henry Watkinson, then went in the back and our Press Officer, Barry Ross, went in the head. Excellent wins against the strong Malaysia CC, Tokyo CC and Hong Kong Wanderers CC saw us progress to the quarter finals on the final Sunday morning. The strategy of fielding first, bowling a tight line with good fielding, allowing Nathan Ross, Abeed Janmohamed and Phil Goulstone to hit off the necessary runs appeared to be working.

On arrival for the quarter final, while we again kept the excellent first-aid marquee busy, our opponents, the Pakistan Association CC, were jogging around the ground. They won the toss, we batted first to post a sub-standard target, Hobbs was carried off the field in his first over when his pain-racked body finally gave in, and we lost off the penultimate ball of the match. The festival was won by the SubCont CC. However, our ambassadorial social skills and cricket blazers off the field continued to attract photographic and media attention and we have accepted an invitation to the prestigious cricket festival next September in Shanghai.

Tour party Henry Watkinson (Captain), Mike Chase, Phil Goulstone, Peter Hobbs, Abeed Janmohamed, Rick Johnson, John McDermott (Tour Manager), Nathan Ross, Barry Ross (Press/Media Officer).

Australia tour gets the green light

After several weeks of uncertainty, Johnson Williamson Package Holidays are pleased to confirm that their fourth bi-annual jaunt, the tour to Australia in January 2003, is on.

A number of high-profile cry-offs had left the trip in doubt, but an equal number of cry-ons has redressed the balance and the planning is now going ahead. The flights and hotels have been booked and all the match/restaurant/transport arrangements have been made.

The trip will leave late on Thursday, January 16 (those who have jobs will be able to put in a full day at the office) and will return in the early hours of Monday, February 3 (those with jobs and the metabolism of an ox will be able to go straight to work), so you will need to take no more than 11 days our of your annual holiday. This leaves even the most unfortunate of you with nine days remaining (of which five will be the cricket week, obviously).

We are playing five matches, the highlight being a match at the Don Bradman memorial ground at Bowral (also the home of the Bradman Museum). The cost includes a three-day trip to the Hunter Valley (quite whether they are prepared for Wongy is another matter), six days at the beach (including flights to and from) and all accomodation, and transport to matches.

The cost of the trip is £1800 (given that flights have already been booked this might be slightly more for latecomers depending on flight availability, but ask and we'll see what we can do). Further good news is that Rick has agreed (extremely reluctantly) that he will not go overboard on clothing and he has ditched his plans for Armani blazers.

We need at least £600 now (to cover deposits) and the balance in the coming months but by late November at the latest. Last one to pay sits next to McDermott on the plane ... and it's a 21-hour flight remember.


Draft Itinerary

Thursday January 16
Leave UK on BA 015 at 22:30

Friday January 17
Indoor Match vs. Singapore baggage handlers at Changi Terminal 1

Saturday January 18
06:30 Arrive Sydney, Australia “The Land of Milk and Honey”

Sunday January 19
Game 1 v Newington College (similar school to Cranleigh). Official dinner for OC expats. Hosted by Bob Dwyer.

Monday January 20
Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb / Free day

Tuesday January 21
Game 2 v TBA .

Wednesday January 22
Game 3 v Bradman Memorial Ground, Bowral.

Thursday January 23
Free Day / One day final Eng v Aust at SCG Day/Night

Friday January 24
Hunter Valley, home of Australian wine – Afternoon private wine tasting sessions at various vineyards– possible end of tour! Stay Hunter Valley.

Saturday January 25
Match 4 vs. Brokenwood Cricket Pitch Vineyard XI

Sunday January 26
Golf morning + more wine tasting. Afternoon return to Sydney for flight to Whitsunday Islands (Tropical paradise on the Barrier Reef)

Monday January 27
Beach

Tuesday January 28
Beach

Wednesday January 29
Game 5 v TBC / Beach

Thursday January 30
Beach

Friday January 31
Beach

Saturday February 1
Game 6 v TBC. Return to Syndey for end of tour dinner. Stay at Park Hyatt with views over the Harbour

Sunday February 2
Depart Sydney 16:00

Monday February 3
Arrive UK 0600

Who's going (so far) Steve Bailey, Mike Chase, Michael Chetwode, Eds Copleston, Tim Evans, Pete Hobbs, Freddie Hood, Tom Hufton, Rick Johnson and the long-suffering Melissa, John McDermott, Nick Read, Nathan Ross, Henry Watkinson (TBC), Martin Williamson, Andy/Liz Wright.