Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club Handbook 2022 by Uppingham School

UPPINGHAM ROVERS CRICKET CLUB (Founded 1863)

Handbook 2022

“Solvitur Ambulando”

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Committee Officers President: D. A. Stewart 8 Victoria Place, Halliday Drive, Walmer, Deal CT14 7FH (M) 07714 458976 davidangusstewart@gmail.com Hon. Secretary: H.S. Stroud 1 Main Road, Uffington, Stamford, Lincolnshire PE9 4SN (H) 01780 592504 (M) 07860 676724 hedley.stroud@btinternet.com

Hon. Match Secretary Alex Collins (M) 07786 244112 alex.collins@live.co.uk uppinghamroverscc@gmail.com Cricketer Cup Captain Henry Hughes (M) 07825 160908 hhughes@behrens.co.uk Cricketer Cup Manager Chris Bennett Baggs (M) 07780 728736

Hon. Treasurer:

Ordinary Members

R.G. Hargreaves 14 Winterbrook Road, London, SE24 9JA (M) 07979 958369 robin.hargreaves@gmail.com

C Bennett Baggs A.G.W. Lewin J.N. Beaumont S.W.Peters

Keeper of the Books:

Played

Won

Drawn

Tied

Lost

D.A. Ashworth 34 Hillbrow, Richmond Hill, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 6BY (M) 07785 775077 david.ashworth34@btinternet.com

1100

462

363

270

E.R. Fowler C.R.J. Timm T.J. Kennedy

Matches Played 1864–2021

Rovers colours can be obtained direct from the Hon. Treasurer or Hon. Match Secretary. Teamwear is available from Masuri: https://teamwear.nxt-sports.com/shop/ uppingham-rovers-cc

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com

UPPINGHAM ROVERS 2021 Cricketer Cup v Haileybury Hermits 13.6.21 Uppingham Rovers 189 all out (W. Rogers 54, H Funnel 32) lost to Haileybury Hermits 193 for 5 (S Charlton 2-35) by 5 wickets THE TOUR Sunday July 4th v Charterhouse Friars Match Cancelled Monday July 5th v Lancing Rovers Lancing 238 for 5 (S Peters 4-48) Uppingham Rovers – 238 for 9 (H Glatman 46, E Watson 46, B Harris 31, J Hopkins 25*) Match Tied (40 Overs) Tuesday July 6th v Old Eastbournians Uppingham Rovers – 141 all out (H Glatman 68) Old Eastbournians – 146 for 5 (S Debenham 3-25) Lost by 5 wickets Wednesday July 7th v Waldron CC Uppingham Rovers – 192 for 4 (A Lewin 52*, T Kennedy 45, S Turbeville Smith 41) Waldron CC – 107 for 8 ( A Lewin 4-8, G Erith 2-19) Won by 86 runs (30 overs) Thursday July 8th v Old Eastbournians Old Eastbournians – 166 all out (T Kennedy 4-19, J Hopkins 2-24, S Charlton 2-29) Uppingham Rovers – 153 all out (H Hughes 89, T Kennedy 32) Lost by 12 runs Friday July 9th v Oundle Rovers Oundle Rovers – 141 all out (B Aspell 3-6, H Hamilton 2-32) Uppingham Rovers 119 all out (T Kennedy 40, W Staveley 25, D Wood 22) Lost by 22 runs

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Introduction to The Handbook 2022 2021 was not a year of cricketing triumphs in terms of results but at least we were up and running and playing cricket again after the traumas and convulsions of the pandemic. We narrowly lost to the Haileybury Hermits in the first round of the Cricketer Cup and as ever in these competitive inter-school competitions, and as with the Halford Hewitt, it’s all about the team that you can get out on the day. We wish Henry Hughes our new Cricketer Cup captain the best of luck in the coming years and he deserves all our support. We play Bedford in the first round at home on Sunday 12 June and it would be good to see a bumper turnout of Rovers. We hope that Sir Alastair Cook will have other duties to attend to on this date!!

The last 5 years have gone in a flash and I shall be handing over as President of our Club to Hedley Stroud at the AGM towards the end of the year. You all know the amazing work he has done as our Hon Sec and his lifetime commitment to the Rovers as a player and as a member of the committee mean that the club really could not be in better hands going forward. Luckily Chris Timm, another hugely loyal Rover, will take over the duties as our new Hon. Sec. and having masterminded the production of our splendid handbooks and the DvDs of ‘The Doings’, he knows all about the eccentricities of the club as well as anyone. We are very lucky to have such top people taking on these two roles.

It was excellent to see so many new young Rovers on tour and thanks and congratulations to Alex Collins for recruiting them and getting them down to Eastbourne. Please do sign up and come and play as Alex and this year’s match managers will want a cross section from which to choose. For those whose cricketing days are behind them, golf is organised nearby. It was excellent that Phil Spencer was able to join us at the dinner and younger Rovers found it difficult to believe that before Location, Location, Location took over Phil’s life he was such a fine brisk left arm swing bowler. His stats speak for themselves. As far as the future of the club is concerned, we are obviously very dependent on the success or otherwise of cricket at the school. Andy Siddall, the Director of Cricket, has an exciting development plan and is doing an excellent job and I have no doubt that we will see cricketing talent coming through to the Rovers. It is incumbent on all of us to do what we can to support Andy and the Headman as they establish the school as a centre for cricketing excellence.

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com The last two years have been very strange for us all but at least we have learned that meetings can be held just as efficiently and effectively via Zoom. I suspect this will be one of the lasting legacies of the pandemic but in the end there is no substitute for the Rovers special combination of ‘good cricket and good fellowship’. With that loyalty and love for the club in mind we were very sorry to hear that Alf Terras passed away recently. I have never met anyone who was so passionate about the art and intricacies of leg spin bowling!

Finally and but by no means least huge thanks to your excellent committee who keep the club going and we will be recruiting new young Rovers to the committee during the course of the year. There are others of you that support the club in other ways and thank you for that. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at Uppingham, on tour or on a golf course in 2022. ‘Floreat the Rovers’. DA Stewart President

The Upper Pavilion Project Just before going to print, we were delighted to receive the following update. The School are confident that planning permission will be granted soon for a fantastic extension and refurbishment of the pavilion on the Upper and are hoping to have all the work done in time for the 2024 summer season. You will see from the image that the groundbreaking project (literally) focuses on two

things - restoring the pavilion to its historical roots with the reinstatement of the balcony and then digging down to create new changing rooms below what would be the viewing area in front of the pavilion. All this, of course, comes at a price tag which looks like it will be approaching £2.8m. Substantial amounts have been pledged so far and we gather the fundraising target will, it seems, be about £1.15m. The Development team at the school will soon be embarking on several initiatives to raise this amount and we, as a Club, will assist wherever possible in spreading the word and supporting this fantastic project which gives cricket at Uppingham the emphasis it richly deserves. Please see further images on Page 28 5

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Uppingham Cricket 2021 The summer of 2021 was one which offered a large amount of hope and a reasonable dose of concern. Not for on-field performances, but if we were to play any cricket at all given the Covid-19 pandemic. Thankfully, despite pods, bubbles and facemasks, we were able to play full matches across the school under ECB restrictions; which saw limited use of changing facilities, sanitisation breaks and seated match teas. However, it was great that the pupils were able to get on the fields and compete, initially in a round-robin bubble between ourselves, Oakham, Oundle and Stamford prior to Half Term, and opposition such as MCC, Leicestershire Gents and Rugby post Half Term. Unfortunately, as the Summer Term drew to a close, Covid-19 ensured the annual Two-Day fixture versus Shrewsbury and final Saturday match at Haileybury were cancelled for a second year running. Amongst the youngest years of school, we have some promising cricketers starting to arrive at Uppingham which lends to an exciting future. I have no doubt that this is strongly connected to the arrival of Charlie Welch as Deputy Registrar, whose network and reputation is of high pedigree. Promise is also being shown at the business end of the programme, with our 1st XI starting to show improvement and hope of brighter times ahead. The results table might not suggest this, however, individual and team performances are certainly improving. Two matches (Oundle and Rugby) went down to the last ball and we were deep in the contest against Stamford competing well for large periods of the game.

Uppingham 1st XI Played Won

Lost

Drew

The bowling unit will have to learn fast on what are returning to be excellent pitches post the arrival of Head Groundsman, Alex Exton. Typically, at school boy level, spin dominated proceedings, seeing our off spinners of Fred Dutton (12) and Freddie Riddington (18) take 30 wickets between them, whilst Cameron Sprott in his final year, led the seam attack with 11 wickets at an average of 27. Uppingham’s batting is improving, seeing two centurions (Arush Buchake 107* v Leicestershire Gents, Freddie Read 105 v Rugby) whilst Alex Macdonald scored three consecutive 50s in various situations batting at number three.

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com

24 April – Oundle (h)

Oundle 146, Uppingham 147 for 1

1 May – Stamford (a)

Uppingham 210 for 6, Stamford 214 for 7

6 May – Oakham (h)

Uppingham 221, Oakham 225 for 2

15 May – Oundle (a)

140 for 8, Oundle 142 for 9

22 May – Stamford (h)

270 for 8, Uppingham 71 for 7

27 May – Oakham (h) (T20)

Uppingham 122, Oakham 113 for 9

8 June – MCC (h)

MCC 228 for 6 dec, Uppingham 188 for 9

12 June – Rugby (h)

Rugby 232 for 6, Uppingham 227 for 7

22 June – Leicestershire Gents (h)

Leicestershire Gents 197 for 8 dec, Uppingham 175 for 8

5 Sept – Leicestershire U15 (h)

Uppingham 183 for 2, Leicestershire 179 for 7

12 Sept – Stowe (h)

Uppingham 157, Stowe 183 for 3

Fixtures for the 2022 Season are: Looking ahead to the 2022 season, we see eight of last year’s team return with the addition of members from the U15s and one new Sixth Form recruit. The team will rely on runs from Captain Read, and opening batsman Buchake, and expect a lot from the Upper Sixth West Deyne trio of bowlers in Marriage, Harris and Riddington. Andy Siddall Director of Cricket March 2022

Tuesday 19 Apr

Woodhouse Grove (40 Overs)

Home

Saturday 23 Apr

Stowe (50 Overs - David Capel Cup)

Away

Saturday 30 Apr

Oakham (50 Overs)

Home

Thursday 05 May

Stamford (T20)

Away

Saturday 14 May

Bedford (50 overs)

Away

Saturday 21 May

Repton (50 overs)

Away

Tuesday 07 Jun

MCC (Time)

Home

Saturday 11 Jun

Rugby (50 Overs - David Capel Cup)

Away

Thursday 16 Jun

The 40 Club (Time)

Home

Saturday 18 Jun

Oundle (50 Overs - David Capel Cup)

Home

Tuesday 21 Jun

Leicestershire Gents (Time)

Home

Friday

24 Jun

OU’s (Time)

Home

Saturday 25 Jun

Haileybury (Time)

Home

Wed/Thurs 29,30 June

Shrewsbury (2 Day)

Away

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

THE CRICKETER CUP 2021 1st Round v Haileybury Hermits Haileybury College, June 16th 2021 The new Rovers Cricketer Cup captain, Henry Hughes, assembled perhaps the youngest ever team to represent the Club in the competition for the first round Cup match on a very hot day at Haileybury College. It was to the relief of his young team that he won the toss and chose to bat first with Will Rogers and Sam Turbeville-Smith (16) opening-up with a 33 run opening partnership which was then built on by Harry Funnel (32) alongside Rogers. A fine partnership of 73 between the two included many quick singles (Rogers 39 singles in his innings) indicating the way to play on a fairly lifeless pitch. Funnell fell first and then came a key moment when captain Henry was adjudged LBW for just a single 108 for 3. Rogers continued chipping away but, on reaching his 50, advanced down the pitch to Carter and was stumped for a hardworking 51, but still a quality innings in the circumstances. The slower Hermits bowlers began to exert pressure as the Rovers tried to accelerate and wickets began to fall regularly as attempts to increase the run rate became increasingly hard. Alex Collins (24) and Ben Harris (23)

combined well but then 166 for 4 (in 42 overs) unfortunately became an all-out score of 189 (in the 49th over) – a total that was felt to be competitive but perhaps a little under par. The Rovers supporters, including the President David Stewart, David Ashworth, Anthony Howeson and Oliver Pemberton were entertained to an impressive looking buffet by the Hermits President Nick Gandon, who had taught at Uppingham and been housemaster of Constables in an earlier life. The Rovers knew that they needed to keep a tight rein on the Hermit’s reply and hope to chip away by taking wickets. Tom Regis and Harry Funnel were thrown the new ball and despite Harry’s struggles to control the swing on the new ball (7 wides early on), the Hermits were struggling to get the ball away. Billings (the brother of Sam and the World Rackets champion) and Satt remained circumspect, however a great bit of keeping by Sam Wallis, standing-up to Regis, brought the first breakthrough – 34 for 1 in the 13th over. Skipper Hughes then looked to the quartet of spinners at his disposal with Esse and then Harris brought into the attack. Harris with his unorthodox skiddiness trapped Satt for 7 (off 42 balls) – in hindsight it might have been better to keep him in!

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com The game was there to be taken but the Hermits in the shape of Carter (21) and Timms put together an initial recovery until Charlton (Spinner 3) bowled Carter. 72 for 3 off 26 and the match still evenly poised. Neal joined Timms and slowly but surely began to get on top, keeping wickets in hand and not falling too far behind the rate. The Rovers were well back into the game though, when Charlton trapped Neal for 23 in the 38th to make the score 121 for 4 after 40 overs, 62 runs were still needed.

wondered on his long trip back to Cheshire just how his youthful side had come second in this first round match – 30 extras certainly didn’t help in the final analysis perhaps. It was a disappointing end to an evenly matched and competitive game and an opportunity probably missed for a young team to gain experience, win and move forward in the competition. However, with such a talented group we can look forward to watching the team develop over the next few years.

Timms then pushed the accelerator and together with Lane R, they began to advance the score a bit too quickly for the Rovers’ liking. Rogers (Spinner 4) had Timms wellcaught by Sam Turbeville-Smith and at 169 for 5 the Rovers really were back in it. However, the other Lane brother came in (16 off 7 balls) and the two combined to score 54 runs off only 46 balls to get the Hermits over the line with 11 balls to spare. In the blink of an eye the game had gone and skipper Hughes will have

Uppingham Rovers W Rogers st Brooking S T-Smith H Funnel ct Brooking H Hughes LBW A Collins LBW B Harris O Esse F Tucker LBW S Charlton not out S Wallis T Regis

b Carter b Lane B b Carter b Timms b Lane B b Timms b Timms b Lane R

51 16 32 1 24 23 3 4 7 1 3 165 24 189

b Timms b Lane B

Extras Total for all wickets (48.4 overs) 1/33 2/106 3/108 4/132 5/166 6/169 7/174 8/179 9/184 Lane B Toms Woodburn Carter Timms Lane R

9.4 10 10 10 8 1

1 0 1 0 2 0

38 42 30 38 27 4

3 0 0 2 4 1

Haileybury Hermits T Billings st Wallis J Satt LBW R Carter J Timms ct T-Smith A Neal LBW R Lane not out B Lane not out J Brooking dnb J Carter dnb R Toms dnb R Woodburn dnb

b Regis b Harris b Charlton b Rogers b Charlton

163 30 193

Extras Total for 5 wickets (48.1 overs) 1/34 2/44 3/72 4/121 5/169 Regis Funnel Esse Harris Charlton Rogers

12 7 21 46 23 38 16

7 10 8 10 10 3.1

2 0 2 0 0 0

19 43 25 39 35 26

1 0 0 1 2 1

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

THE TOUR 2021 Uppingham Rovers v Lancing Rovers Lancing College, Monday July 5th It was the turn of Alex Collins to run the tour and as with any change of senior management, there is often the odd alteration to how things are done. For the first time in living memory, The Rovers gathered at Lancing College without the pre-match visit to the Rainbow Cafe for the famous “Belly Buster”. It was clear that Collo was running a tight ship, albeit without a flag, and that this team would have to earn their rewards, not be handed them on a rather greasy plate. The Rovers even had a scorer in young Angus Jones who had kindly offered his services for the entire week, a fine addition.

A worrying trend continued in that Lancing had looked to have assembled a team of actual cricketers for the third year running with all 11 players turning up on time with their own individual kit. Of even more concern was the arrival of Mr R Ryan who proceeded to introduce himself to each of the opposition who looked rather pleased to see him. The Young West Indian, muscles bulging, looked hungry as he surveyed the young Rovers on debut in Clayton, Regis, and Hopkins. Lancing won the toss and elected to bat in what was to be a Pro 40 format. As Collo gave his final rally to the troops, Peters was pinged by the track and trace app and immediately warned to return to Suffolk. It was decided he would take the field and depart at the end of play. Regis bowled well and bowled 8 overs on the spin, returning figures of 1 for 25 which in the context of the match was very impressive, claiming Ballamy early. Hopkins also put in a shift but wickets were hard to come by as Crosby and Ryan began to build momentum. Both batsmen

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com of 4 for 48 will live long in the memory for those that were there! Lancing ended on 238 for 5 from their 40 overs, leaving the Rovers requiring a run a ball for victory. The catering really has gone up a notch in recent years at the College and we were lucky enough to have a BBQ lunch and get to know the new recruits.

passed 50 without any trouble and it was only thanks to the energy of Harry Glatman behind the stumps that things did not spiral completely out of control. The skipper looked concerned that we could finally lose to Lancing after all these years as a big total looked on the cards. Harris, Esse, and Debenham toiled away but with little reward. You know to worry when the “Big D” isn’t claiming his annual 5 victims at Lancing. As Ryan dealt with the bowling, Ed Watson, who teaches at the school kindly asked Ryan what house he was in during his time at the College. Ryan simply smiled and denied all knowledge of any house, in fact the only house he knew of was the one provided by the local cricket club in the Sussex Premier League who had signed him as their overseas pro for the summer. A beleaguered Collo threw the ball to Peters in what was last chance saloon. Shortly after Crosby had passed his hundred he had his man ending the 179 run stand for the second wicket. Ryan then followed for 84, clean bowled, playing for the spin of Pedro by one that did absolutely nothing. Les Newcombe then did what Les Newcombe does best, giving Pedro his third wicket with a generous LBW. 206 for 1 had all of a sudden become 231 for 4, which soon became 5 when poor old Rayward was bowled first ball for 0. The hat trick remained a step too far but career best figures

Collo gave his “not on my f****** watch” speech and Glatman and Watson were sent out to set the tone. And set the tone they did, both played beautifully, putting on 75 for the first wicket. Watto was nicking ones and twos with the odd boundary as the Lancing bowlers got frustrated, and anything short to Glatman or on his pads was given the treatment that you would expect for a man plying his trade in the Yorkshire leagues each Saturday. Both eventually fell for 46 with Glatman operating at over a run a ball. Captain Collo came in at 3, no hiding at 4 like Joe Root for our leader, determined to take the game by the scruff of the neck. The innings was a true reflection of his summer if truth be told, scratchy and stodgy, he managed to get to 9 before being clean bowled by Loughton. Having invested heavily in Keeley equipment since his move to Sussex, 2022 could be a make-or-break year for a fine cricketer who proudly once maintained an average of over 60 for the Rovers. Harris was in at 4 and did what Harris does, tee off from ball one. The Rovers were motoring home as Harris started to clear the rope but one swing too many saw him caught and the Rovers were suddenly 141 for 3 after 25 overs.

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Lancing then began to turn the screw as Watto soon followed Harris. Clayton then dug in for a run a ball 25 before being run out after a mix up with Esse who had developed another allergy during the winter, this time to calling. Peters then arrived and was swinging like an old barn door with little success. Esse had seen enough and Peters was soon run out by at least 8 foot. The Rovers were now 198 for 6 with 4 overs remaining. Barrow was then bowled third ball for 2, Regis for 3, and then Esse for 29, all in the space of 18 balls. 220 for 9 and Collins was already drafting his resignation letter. Debenham borrowed as much kit as he could find as he strode out, playing the late cut, to join debutant Hopkins. The Rovers required 19 to win off 9 balls with 1 wicket remaining. Lancing hadn’t been this loud since the 1960’s. Debenham got off the mark first ball with a single cut to backward point, 18 off 8 to win. Hoppo then managed to get a 3 off the last ball of the over to farm 12

the strike. 15 off the last required. 2 off the first ball followed by a couple of dots and it looked like the Rovers race was run. Hoppo walked down to Debenham for some advice. Debs informed him that late cuts were not enough and he should not die wondering. The next ball went for 6, 7 off 2 was now the target and when the fifth ball was a dot, only a maximum would save Collo’s blushes. The ground was silent, Lancing had the Prosecco ready to go until Hopkins launched one straight over long-on’s head to tie the game off the last ball! Absolute scenes prevailed as almost every Lancing fielder fell to the ground; they had lost their cup final and the Rovers were out of jail thanks to 25 off just 13 balls from Hopkins. Hands were shaken, the Prosecco put back in the fridge and the Rovers gathered in the changing room before belting out “Sweet Caroline” to add insult to serious injury. We lived to fight another day!

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com

Lancing Rovers S Crosby st Glatman N Ballamy LBW R Ryan O John not out H Loughton LBW P Rayward L Glassen not out J Naughalty dnb M Lee dnb L Franklin dnb G Welsby dnb

b Peters b Regis b Peters

103 22 84 8 6 0 7

b Peters b Peters

230 8 238

Extras Total for 5 wkts (40 overs) Regis Hopkins Harris Esse Debenham Peters Barrow R

8 5 2 8 8 7 2

2 1 0 0 1 0 0

25 34 16 42 60 48 12

1 0 0 0 0 4 0

Uppingham Rovers H Glatman ct Loughton E Watson A Collins B Harris ct Loughton E Clayton run out O Esse S Peters run out R Barrow T Regis J Hopkins not out S Debenham not out

b Naughalty b Ballamy b Loughton b Ryan b Lee b Ballamy b Ryan

Extras Total for 9 wickets (40 overs) Lee Franklin Naughalty Loughton Ballamy Ryan

6 6 6 6 8 8

0 0 0 0 0 0

33 33 38 30 46 58

46 46 9 31 25 29 5 2 3 25 1 222 16 238 1 0 1 1 2 2

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Uppingham Rovers v Old Eastbournians Eastbourne College Tuesday, 6th July It seemed slightly strange to be heading for College Field on the Tuesday of our week and with rain in the air, the opportunity was taken for a few of the boys to find a quiet corner in the changing room to catch up on a bit of sleep. The big question was when the game could start rather than if and after an early lunch captain Collo (back in his rightful place as Rovers captain) strode out to toss up with his counterpart. His call was incorrect and not surprisingly the OEs invited the Rovers to bat first on a pitch tinged with green. Starting at 1:45 meant a 40 over game was agreed but the big question was whether the Rovers could bat that long. Harry Glatman (Glatters) continued where he had left-off at Lancing, pouncing on any wayward deliveries and combining with “Turbo” in a promising 39 run opening partnership. Turbo was bowled for 14 and the middle-order never looked like firing as 39 for 0 quickly became 43 for 4 with Collins, Clayton and Smith all back in the hutch in the space of 4 balls courtesy of a great spell by Francis. 14

Glatters was still there though, playing a completely different game to everyone else – Richo (9) and Hoppo (15) stayed with him for a while to take the score through to 120 for 7 before he departed for a fantastic 68 (off just 66 balls including 4 big 6’s). The tail-enders didn’t stay long and an all-out score of 140 in the 29th over didn’t look at all competitive – Debs at number 11 couldn’t find anyone to stay with him and a record 21st not out innings (out of 45) meant his career average continues to creeps up to nearly 24 – surely he must be given a chance up the order one day! The OEs innings started in Rovers-like chaos as Smith ran out Marlow first ball of the innings. Both Smiths (one from each side) were involved in the dismissal, and when “Wheelie” snared Coomber for 0 the Rovers dared to hope, with the opposition at 7 for 2. That was really the high point as Smith and Hobden proceeded to made the Rovers attack look very lightweight and rattled the score up to 90 in only the 10th over. Collo threw the ball to Debs and in no time at all, the maestro got three wickets in 5 balls to give some hope, but sadly it was short lived, as Francis and Twine took the OEs home in only 18.3 overs - Twine finishing the game off with 3 consecutive 6’s off the unfortunate Erith.

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com

Uppingham Rovers H Glatman ct Perry S T-Smith A Collins ct Marlow E Clayton J Smith M Richardson ct Casebourne J Hopkins T Regis ct Smith G Erith ct Perry R Barrow S Debenham not out

b McIntosh b Hobden b Francis b Francis b Francis b Coomber b Coomber b Marlow b Baron b McIntosh

Extras Total for all wickets (28.3 overs) Baron Casebourne Francis Hobden Coomber Perry Marlow McIntosh

5.3 5 3 2 5 4 2 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

15 23 9 5 29 32 13 8

68 14 1 0 0 9 15 3 2 5 6 123 17 140 1 0 3 1 2 0 1 2

Old Eastbournians S Marlow run out J Smith ct Clayton T Coomber LBW C Hobden ct Collins J Francis not out B McIntosh B Twine not out S Perry dnb J Casebourne dnb L Baron dnb A D-Merricks dnb

b Debenham b Barrow b Debenham b Debenham

132 14 146

Extras Total for 5 wickets (18.3 overs) Regis Barrow Clayton Debenham

0 41 0 38 16 0 37

4 4 5.3 5

0 0 0 0

31 28 58 25

0 1 0 3

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Uppingham Rovers v Waldron CC Waldron CC Wednesday, 7th July It was mid-tour 2021 and the Rovers descended on the historic and beautiful village of Waldron for a match up against the local XI. The pitch was in interesting condition, it looked a touch long in the outfield but fortunately Collins bribed the groundsman trimming the neighbouring rugby pitch to give it a once over and we were all set. Waldron had multiple generations (the 3 Souceks) and their very own Wizard (A Durrant) in the side, however they were short, so Collins and Richardson made up the their numbers. The Rovers also had some magical talent of their own; the previous night Hopkins and Erith proved they can make large pub umbrellas disappear and reappear on command, so it was certainly a fair match-up.

first wicket, Stavros went first for 23 followed by Turbo 4 balls later who toed it to Collins at cow corner trying to go for his 3rd 6 of the day. The rules breach (Rule 5 “No member upon any occasion can play as an opponent to the Rovers” – obviously needs reviewing at the next AGM) had the crowd in disarray - 2 Rovers getting another Rover out, pure scandal. Rovers 71-2.

The Rovers elected to bat. Captain for the day, TK, sent Turbo and Stavros out to start things off for the Rovers. Although the outfield had been cut, the groundsman had forgotten his grass box. Starved of boundaries, the boys were having to go big or run them. The Rovers got off to a great start putting on 66 for the George Erith was in at 3 and Woody arrived at 4 for some practice swings in preparation for East Sussex National the following day. He connected and sent one over the rope only to be skittled shortly after by the middle Soucek. Erith was not hanging about. Two boundaries followed from the young “Spotify” talent, who then lost his middle-stump. Rovers had lost 4 wickets in 4 overs – it had all been seen before. Now was time for some stability, the Wizard was yet to bowl and we did not know what to expect. TK and Lewin were the appropriate pair for the job. Both of them sending the ball in all directions, Lewy making another Rovers 16

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com 50 and TK stepping aside for an admirable 45, even Collins dusting off his trundle could not shift them. Rovers had reached 192-4 at the close of the 30 overs. The sight of DJK as a stand-in umpire augurs well for the future and who knows, we may have a regular scorer and an umpire in the future, although Duncan’s version of reviewing decisions on his phone probably won’t catch on with the ACO. The Waldron team really had a lot to do - 6+ an over needed and their/our captain Collins was up first, only to leave the gate open to Paco, bowled for just 2. Plenty of banter came his way which would continue later at the Pomodoro restaurant when we watched England beating Denmark 2-1 in the Euro semi-final. Paco then did his “hammy”, thanks for coming – 11 balls, one wicket!

collapse to 107 for 8 meant there was no way back. Andre Soucek: the ex-Czech Republic international would have been a five-for for Lewin, but he could not pull off the caught and bowled (please see the Rovers Whatsapp group video for proof of this). Lewin 4 for 8 and Erith 2 for 19 were the pick of the bowlers. Rovers win by 85 runs and head to the Pomodoro for Calzone’s and the Euro’s, the Wizard wanders into the woods, end scene.

The Waldron side were going in a fairly steady manner and had reached a respectable 77 for 2 but then the run rate slipped, they were also aided by the 8 dropped catches from the Rovers. TK, Lewin and Erith were all on form and gradually took control – so much so that a Uppingham Rovers S T-Smith ct Collins W Staveley ct and bowled G Erith D Wood T Kennedy not out A Lewin not out M Richardson dnb E Clayton dnb J Hopkins dnb C Paxton dnb

b Richardson Rhys b Rhys b Soucek

175 17 192

Extras Total for 4 wkts (30 overs) Soucek B Regis Richardson Rhys Soucek A Dean Collins Durrant

41 23 8 6 45 52

6 6 2 6 4 3 2 1

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

22 31 17 28 28 30 28 6

0 0 1 2 1 0 0 0

Waldron CC A Collins S Rhys M Loveday W Dean A Bourne B Soucek T Regis Alf Soucek A Soucek A Durrant M Rhys

ct Erith ct T-Smith ct Kennedy ct Kennedy ct Clayton not out not out dnb

b Paxton b Erith b Kennedy T b Erith b Lewin b Lewin b Lewin b Lewin

94 13 107

Extras Total for 8 wickets (30 overs) Paxton Clayton Hopkins Kennedy T Erith Lewin

2 31 18 20 15 1 5 1 1 0

1.5 6 5.2 6 6 5

0 0 0 0 1 2

3 31 29 15 19 8

1 0 0 1 2 4

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

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Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Uppingham Rovers v Old Eastbournians for the Ashworth Thwaites Trophy Eastbourne College on Thursday, 8th July The Rovers went into the second match on College Field with 7 changes from the team that lost on the Tuesday, so hopes were high for a better performance in what was to be a second innings chase after Collo won the toss and decided to bowl first. A fresh looking Symesy took the new ball with Hoppo who surprised everyone with an early caught and bowled. Robinson though looked in fine form and whilst the bowling was fairly tight the Rovers couldn’t make great inroads into the strong and youthful (except Mynottee!) looking Eastbourne batting line up. That is, not until Tom Kennedy was introduced. 4 wickets for 19 in just 6.4 overs rocked the home side back on their heels and 165 all out was a very creditable bowling performance by the Rovers.

Tea was taken and the Rovers contemplated the challenge in front of them. Turbo looked in good spirits as he headed out with Will Staveley only to return one ball later when Ben Twine went through his defences closely followed by Stavers for 0 and Collo for 4. An impressive opening spell of 3 for 3 off 5 overs seemed to have ended the game as a contest as the Rovers were looking down the barrel at 20 for 3. Experience in a crisis is always a good attribute and Hughesy and TK had seen it all before and they came together and slowly started to try and take the initiative as the Eastbournian support bowlers struggled to match Twine’s opening salvo. The partnership had reached 58 when disastrously TK was run out – Hughesy was on 30 at the time and just needed someone to stay with him. The Rovers support had grown during the afternoon and with the golfers returning from their outing at the East Sussex National, there was still hope and optimism in the camp. Disaster struck in the form or another batting collapse as 4 wickets fell for only 14 runs and the chances of a win were quickly fading. However, cometh the moment cometh the man in the unlikely form of George Erith who proceeded to frustrate the Eastbourne bowlers with one of the soundest defences seen on College Field for quite some time. Hughesy moved into top gear, dealing in boundaries and singles near the end of the over and the “pair” put on 40 (George though yet to score) to take the Rovers to within 3 big shots for victory. Unfortunately, the big shot was not quite big enough as Hughesy perished for a fantastic 109 ball 89 (13 4’s and 2 6’s) and with Twine returning to castle the courageous George the game was over. A 34 minute, 17 ball duck is not something to write home about, but in years to come who knows how it will be described. It was sad that Hughesy had ended up on the losing side having batted so brilliantly, but congratulation to the OEs for the better team performance.

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Old Eastbournians W Wheeler ct and bowled G Robinson LBW J F-Price ct Erith H Smith ct Hughes E Miller W Ripley ct Erith B Twine ct Hughes T Mynott run out J Francis LBW S Bradley ct and bowled R Piper not out Extras Total for all wickets (42.4 overs) Hopkins Symes Aspell Charlton Kennedy T Staveley T

6 9 9 9 6.4 3

Hopkins 3 b Charlton 43 b Hopkins 19 b Charlton 35 b Kennedy T 9 b Kennedy T 0 b Staveley T 5 10 b Kennedy T 11 b Kennedy T 16 0 151 14 165 0 0 2 1 2 0

24 35 28 29 19 24

2 0 0 2 4 1

Uppingham Rovers S T-Smith W Staveley H Hughes ct Bradley A Collins ct Wheeler T Kennedy run out B Aspell S Charlton ct Robinson J Hopkins C Symes LBW G Erith T Staveley not out

b Twine b Twine b Smith b Twine

0 0 89 4 32 4 1 1 5 0 0 136 17 153

b Smith b Smith b F-Price b Smith b Twine

Extras Total for all wickets (34 overs) Twine Francis Mynott F-Price Smith

7 6 5 9 7

4 1 0 0 2

8 26 31 53 27

4 0 0 1 4

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

Uppingham Rovers v Oundle Rovers Firle on Friday, 9th July With a brilliantly well attended Black Tie dinner now back to its more traditional place of the Thursday night, the Rovers were feeling a little tired after what had been a very long week for some tourists and especially the 5 new youngsters who had managed to survive and give it their best for all 5 days. Firle awaited and it was nice to see that Collo, against all the odds, and proving many of his doubters wrong, had managed to not only book the pitch but also organise two umpires, a scorer and even a Tea. Bennet Baggs take note….It’s amazing how organised one can be when he knows his fiancé and future motherin-law will be turning up as spectators. BB was captain for the day in what was his only Tour game and decided, with his wise old mind, to get the fielding out the way on what was a swelteringly hot Friday. Hack ‘Hoppo’ Hopkins and Tom Regis were both thrown the new ball and they came steaming in, giving it their all, just like they had all week. It was an extremely tidy start by both and Regis 22

with his left-arm in-swing managed to trap ‘Street’ LBW with the first ball of his spell and then clean bowled ‘Ayton’ for 1 off the last ball of the over. The Rovers had Oundle at 9 for 2 after 2 overs and spirits were high. This however did result in the arrival of both ‘Esler’ and ‘Cunningham’ to the crease. The former being the Rovers nemesis for the last couple of years. This year however was different, as Baggs had watched and learnt from the last two encounters and instantly, in the third over, he dropped mid-on and mid-off back onto the rope. The mercurial Esler hated this as his ark was now reduced to singles and there was no pace in the pitch to work the ball behind square - both batsman not wanting to give it away after the fast start. After four overs Regis started to falter coming up the hill, the five days of cricket and late nights catching up with the young’un but he finished his spell with two wickets.

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com The pitch was slow and the captain was keen to try and keep the run rate down. Interestingly he threw the ball to the fastest “off spinner” (darts thrower) on the circuit in Tom ‘TK’ Kennedy. The dot balls kept coming and the pressure was starting to take its toll, but Oundle were still keen on not giving away their wicket. Hoppo finally broke the deadlock, bowing Cunningham and giving him a huge send off. Credit has to go to Hoppo who finished with figures of 7-0-28-1 from a single spell in that heat. He battled all week and he’s definitely the man you want in your corner when going over the trenches. Just so long as he doesn’t oversleep! Henry Hamilton, who left school back in 2011, and was only made a Rover the evening before, was then offered the ball and grabbed it with both hands. Three balls later and he had his first Rovers wicket bowling the dangerous ‘Esler’ for what was a less explosive 48 runs than had been seen in previous years. Hicksy came in and hit a quick fire 32 off 24 balls but it was Ben Aspell, representing the old guard, who showed everyone how to bowl on a

hangover, snaffling the last three wickets and finishing with the fine figures of 3 for 6 off 4 overs. The Rovers had skittled the Oundle boys for 143. Could they beat them for the first time in 5 years? A brilliant tea was once again provided by the kinder and more talented Burrough and the Rovers went hunting for their second victory of the week. The openers of Sam ‘Turbo’ Tuberville Smith and Woody took to the middle and started positively from the outset before Turbo holed out on the boundary to Jenkins. Woody batted solidly with a couple of cover drives and flicks through mis-wicket. He fell however to Oundle’s own spin king, ‘Will Street’, whose shoulder is still attached to his body. At 38-2 the Rovers had got off to a start and with the engine room and skipper sat waiting to come in they were all still in positive spirits. What happened next was a collapse to rival that of Lehman Brothers in 2008. 8 batsmen (or should we now say batters) departed for a total of 9 runs with only Will Staveley holding an end watching the melting of swedes in front of him.

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club TK who wasn’t planning on batting, found himself in that prep school panic mode that all collapses create, having to pad up in record speed just so he wasn’t timed out, met Staveley in the middle and calmly stated that ‘it’s up to us’. A couple of singles and a nervy boundary to third man (or should we now just say third!) and the score was up at 80-8 off 20 overs. 10 overs remained and if the Rovers were to win, they needed this partnership to last. Oundle sensed this and the mood changed slightly to that of a Cricketer Cup match. The sledging started and they went after the youngster Staveley in the hope of forcing him into a mistake. Every over TK was doing his best to calm the man but eventually he fell trying to launch Simeons onto the Firle country manor…. (there is a reason why Oundle has made it to two of the past three cricketer cup finals.) Regis came and went for ‘0’ and Kennedy was left with the fighter ‘Hoppo’. One thing was clear…

they weren’t giving up. TK took the aggression and Hoppo played more of a Jack Leach role, blocking out the last two balls of the over but, more importantly, staying in. Three consecutive 6s from TK gave the faintest glimmer of hope but unfortunately it was too late. Thinking he was in the IPL the paddle sweep was directed straight to short fine leg and the game was done. Defeat clutched from the jaws of victory (again) by the Rovers. 2021 will not go down in the archives as a year that will be remembered for the standard of cricket or the results of the Rovers, however after what have been two pretty testing years for many people around the world the week showed us how special a club the Rovers is. The friendships and the enjoyment of the tour has really been missed and a big thank you has to go to the committee, to Collo and to everyone who turned up and gave it their all. Next year we will win 5 from 5!

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Oundle Rovers W Street O Ayton A Cunningham J Esler R Jenkins S Hicks D Pimblett T Aubrey T Simeons C Preece

LBW

b Regis b Regis b Hopkins b Hamilton b Regis b Hamilton b Aspell b Aspell b Aspell

ct Wood ct Wood ct T-Smith not out

132 9 141

Extras Total for all wickets (29.5 overs) Hopkins Regis Kennedy T Hamilton Aspell

7 5 7 7 3.5

3 1 22 48 22 32 0 2 1 1

0 0 0 0 0

28 36 35 32 6

1 3 0 2 3

Uppingham Rovers S T-Smith ct Pimblett D Wood M Richardson LBW W Staveley ct Esler C B-Baggs B Kennedy H Hamilton B Aspell ct Street T Kennedy ct Simeons T Regis J Hopkins not out

b Jenkins b Street b Simeons b Simeons b Abrey b Preece b Preece b Esler b Preece b Street

Extras Total for all wickets (27.5 overs) Esler Jenkins Street Aubrey Simeons Preece

4 3 7 3 7 3.5

0 0 2 0 0 1

19 16 25 9 34 14

9 22 4 25 3 2 0 0 40 0 8 113 6 119 1 1 2 1 2 3 25

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

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Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

UPPINGHAM ROVERS 200+ CLUB The 200+ Club is our main fund-raising initiative which goes a long way to helping our young players play for the Club by subsidising their cricket and accommodation bills when they come on tour or play in the Cricketer Cup. The cost of purchasing a number in the draw is just £10 and if you would like to be in the draw please do one of the following :1. Send a cheque made out to Uppingham Rovers CC for £10 per entry to Robin Hargreaves our Treasurer at 14 Winterbrook Road, London SE24 9JA 2. Put £10 per entry into the Uppingham Rovers CC Bank Account, don’t forget to put your name on the remittance – perhaps also drop Robin an email to confirm robin.hargreaves@ gmail.com a. sort code 20-63-66 b. account number 10903590

The 2022 draw will take place at the Dinner on Tour, Thursday July 14th and winners will be notified soon afterwards. If you can’t be there may be an opportunity to watch it on zoom!

2021 Winners Thank you to all the members and family who subscribed in 2021 and the winners were:

1. £1000 – Tom Higgs 2. £300 – G Mahew 3. £200 – Alex Collins 4. £150 – R Barrow 5. £50 – Angus Stewart

The Upper Pavilion Project

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Uppingham Rovers CC v Old Uppinghamians GC Luffenham Heath GC Friday 28th May 2021 With Covid 19 restrictions still in place and the cancellation of any cricket on the Upper on Founders Day, it was a triumph that a dozen Rovers managed to get together to take part in some form of sporting competition. For many of the participants, golf offers the only remaining avenue to continue to represent the Rovers and it is a great way of keeping in touch and being involved in the ‘Doings of the Rovers’! Fortunately, it was a sunny, if a little breezy, day when the two teams congregated at Luffenham Heath GC, the school’s longstanding golfing venue. The Rovers arrived with purpose (I believe that’s what you are supposed to write when faced with the prospect of yet another crushing defeat), absent their great leader who had succumbed to a tennis injury (nasty rough game), with the President and the Secretary to the fore, organising the Rovers strategy (such that it was!) and ensuring that the pairs were arranged. The format of fourball better ball using the WHS handicap ‘index’ confounded many and, following some debate, off we all went using the yellow tees for a walk in the sunshine, interrupted by the constant need to hit a perfectly stationary, albeit not very large, white ball that can be amazing difficult to persuade to go in the appointed direction towards an ever narrowing little hole.

The record states that the following took part (in batting order): 11.00 Anthony Walker (16.0) 18 & Martin Walker (16.5) 18 v Peter Riley (7.2) 8 & Andrew Lewin (3.9) 5 11.10 Alan Thomas & Mike Ingham (10.4) 12 v James Sly (7.7) 9 & Duncan Kennedy (8.9) 10 11.20 Tom Hayes (15.3) 17 & Richard Murmann () v David Stewart (7.7) 9 & Chris Timm (9.0) 10 11.30 Anthony Flather (12.2) 14 & William Warrack (28.0) 29 v David Woodfield (18.0) 20 & David Ashworth (20.0) 23 11.40 Robert Pope (8.0) 9 & Ian Coutts- Wood (17.0) 19 v Hedley Stroud (12.4) 14 & Robin Hargreaves (14.5) 16 11.50 David Downes (10.2) 12 & Derek Bunting (19.0) 22 v Chalky White (19.2) 22 & Richard Bernhard (24.6) 23 For completion of the record, the Rovers triumphed 5.5 to 0.5, narrowly missing a clean sweep, although discretion and a failing memory do not allow the recall of who halved their match, but the delight on Chalky’s face at the end hinted that it wasn’t him! The celebrations (clearly something of a rare thing for the Rovers Golf Team) continued late into the evening in the Marquis of Exeter in Lyddington with dinner (and wine). 29

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club

A History of The Rovers Part II

The Rovers’ Book (Vol II) begins: “The tour this year marks the commencement of a new era in the Rover doings, as the Club celebrated its majority last year.” Be that as it may, the appetite for high quality opposition and annual tours had not abated. All Rover’s matches continued to be 2-day affairs and the first three of this new era were played against Leicestershire CCC (drawn), Staffordshire CCC and Cheshire CCC (both won). The Northern Tour involved three additional matches against Club & Ground sides in Lancashire and Yorkshire, including Bradford against whom the Rovers scored 543. After a two-day gap, the southern tour started with a match against Hampshire CCC at the new county ground, “a very pretty spot in the middle of a Park”. The Rovers made 266 and bowled Hampshire out twice for 264. The 30

Rovers then journeyed by steamer to Southsea for their next matches against the United Services at Portsmouth (a draw) and then on to the County Ground at Hove where they scored 492 against the Gentlemen of Sussex before bowling them out twice for 239. The Rovers’ winning ways continued in this new era of maturity. It was apparent from match reports that travel for cricketers by horse-drawn coach was, mainly, at an end. It was now by train and by pony and trap for short distances. Within one year of founding, in 1863, the Rovers numbered 67 members. By the start of the new era of maturity there were 173 Rovers, Including several Honorary Rovers, among them, the Headmaster, Edward Thring. In 1886, the wives of three eminent Rovers

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com were elected “Lady Rovers”, which entitled them to “wear the ribbon”. By the end of 1899, the total membership was 247. At the end of 2020, our membership, including one Associate Member and ten Honorary Members, was 243. In the 157 years of the Club’s cricket, only 47 Rovers have either made 2000 runs or taken 100 wickets (or achieved both). Fourteen of that number (or 30%) were elected during the first 36 years of Rover cricket in the nineteenth century. Some new cricketing stars had already appeared on the scene, including S S Schultz, who changed his name to Storey, upon the outbreak of WWI. Until matched by our current President, David Stewart, Schultz was the only Rover to surpass 200 innings for the Club. A contemporary of Schultz was Hugh Rotherham, who took 649 wickets for the Rovers. AP (“Bunny”) Lucas was still scoring stacks of runs and taking wickets. His final statistics are unlikely to be matched, having

scored 6,070 runs, in just 161 innings, and he took 371 wickets. The second Rovers’ Volume is adorned with superb water colours and ink sketches. There is a reference to the fact that these were drawn by friends and “Lady Rovers”, which may account for a noticeable increase in the number of young ladies adorning the pages. The Rovers colours appear on many of the drawings, just as they do from the very start of the first Volume. However, the Minute Book of Rovers’ annual meetings and committee meetings, covering 1863 to 1946, makes no mention of the basis upon which the Rovers’ colours were chosen. However, your scribe had a “Eureka” moment, when reading a “fascinating history of Uppingham Grammar School (as then named) under the Headmastership of the great Edward Thring. The School did not adopt 15-a-side rugby until 1864 and, initially, there were only 3 School XVs. The 1st XV wore blue caps, the 2nd XV wore white and red caps, and the 3rd XV wore black caps. These are the very combination of

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club colours which the Rovers adopted in the same year of their first matches. Your scribe will not bore you with accounts of all the subsequent yearly tours by the Rovers, but will try and pick out a few interesting anecdotes, scores and matters which may be of interest or amusement. It is significant that in Volume II there is no report of a Rovers’ match against the School in 1886. In the years that the School went to Borth (1875-77), the Rovers did not play the School. Thereafter, and for the remainder of the nineteenth century, there are no match reports or score sheets in the Rovers’ books for games between the School and the Rovers. Presumably, they were all recorded in the School Magazine. A tribute in Volume II confirms that the many pages of print, covering match reports and accounts of the doings of the Rovers, from 1886 to the end of the 1899 season, were printed courtesy of the Editor of the School Magazine. The tour in 1886 was shortened to a fortnight and two Rovers, Rotherham and Jim Turner, played for the English Amateur XI on its tour of America. During the tour, on which the Rovers were unbeaten, two other matches were played, and both were won with only ten players. Schultz topped the batting averages and Lucas the bowling averages. The 1886 tour also saw the Rovers play their first match against an Eastbourne Town XI, which the Rovers won by a considerable margin. The match report contained the following observation: “It is only fair to those who batted after lunch to say that the caterer gave them little opportunity of fortifying themselves, so we may truly add, “more fell from hunger than from the missiles of the enemy”. 32

A newly elected Rover this year was W F Whitwell, who remains the greatest Rover bowler of all time, taking 676 wickets. WFW was joined, as a Rover, by his younger brother, JF Whitwell, in 1887 and by his youngest brother, A P Whitwell in 1892. In the victorious 1887 match against Hampshire C & G, the Rovers amassed a second innings total of 567, then a record for the Club. After the match and an early dinner, the victorious XI set out by train to Southsea, “which, of all journeys, is most miserable; the monotony thereof was only relieved by the Pebble [CC Stone] being put on the hat rack and wedged in with sticks.” In the final match of the 1887 tour the above record was broken, after Schultz amassed 286, out of a massive total of 659, in the first innings against the United Services XI. The second week of the 1889 tour was most notable for an incident which occurred when the German Emperor’s Chancellor, Prince Otto von Bismarck, and his entourage were inspecting the Royal Naval Fleet at Portsmouth. Also inspecting the Fleet were the Rovers, aboard a yacht owned and helmed by Rotherham. The Rovers’ yacht managed, “by erratic steering”, to force the vessel, on which were “His Majesty and Suite”, to alter course, “which brought down upon ourselves . . . cries and shrieks of execration and anger”. The report adds that “Rotherham did this on purpose, and to show his right to the Queen’s highway, he tacked back past the royal barge, whistling (fearfully out of tune, of course) “Britons never shall be slaves. ”The Rovers went to bed early “to dream of Bismark [sic] and German vengeance.” The 1889 tour ended with matches against Horsham (bowled out twice for 1 run short of the Rovers’ first innings total) and against Eastbourne. The report on the latter states: “No Devonshire Park this year. Our match took place on The Saffrons – a new ground

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com with a pretty, new, and commodious pavilion.” This venue clearly suited the Rovers, who made 492 (Lucas 124) and bowled Eastbourne out twice for a total of 208, with W Whitwell collecting 8 victims and Rotherham 7. During that season, W F Whitwell took 51 wickets. The start of 1890s saw the Rovers continue with their Northern & Southern tours, but each tour reduced to three two-day matches. On the last day of July 1891, the Rovers commenced their briefer Northern Tour, with their first match against a new opponent, Scarborough. The Rovers found themselves going out to bat, on the second day, needing 170 runs to win in 90 minutes, which they managed for the loss of 1 wicket. After 6 days in the North, the Rovers had a late return by train to London. Some of them had to set off again for Southsea at 5.20am the next morning, again by train, for a truncated Southern Tour. Others joined them at Esher on the way down. The first match, against Horsham, was drawn and notable for WF Whitwell and Rotherham sharing 19 of the 20 wickets that fell, the other being a run out. The end of that tour saw Schultz top the batting averages and W F Whitwell pick up 50 wickets.

There was an intriguing start to Rovers’ cricket on 29 July 1894. Their first match was a resounding victory at Blenheim Palace against an Oxfordshire XI, which included The Duke of Marlborough. The Northern Tour was badly rain affected. Then Leicestershire were well beaten, with J F Whitwell making 97 and W F Whitwell taking 13 wickets. During the Southern Tour, after watching the elephants from Sanger’s Circus take a bathe in the sea at Portsmouth, the Rovers beat The United Services with some ease. The next day the Rovers took off by train to Salisbury, “a shocking journey”, to play a new fixture against Wiltshire, who were also well beaten. At the end of the 1894 season, H B Steel and J F Whitwell topped the batting averages and GR Bardwell and W F Whitwell topped the bowling, with 49 and 47 wickets apiece. The 1895 Tour saw the Rovers playing new opposition. The Gentlemen of Bedfordshire were well beaten in two days. There followed a match against Northamptonshire, which the Rovers just failed to win by 10 wickets. At the end of their Northern Tour, the Rovers took a day of rest at “Littleworth”, the house of the parents of the two Martineau brothers, in Esher. One of the Rovers (or their wife) painted into Volume II a fine watercolour

Uppingham Rovers Cricket Club of the house. Then, the Rovers set off for another new fixture to play Mote Park CC, on the ground of the same name, at Maidstone. The rain put an end to this match during the Rovers’ second innings. The last match of this

Two aspects of the 1896 tour reports were not normal. For the first time, a Rovers’ team photo contained a lady in it, namely, Mrs S S Schultz. In addition, the only entry on one page of the book is the following, signed by A Conan Doyle, and dated “Aug 7th/ 96”: The U R’s You Rovers have the name, I have heard it near and far, That you are a merry family, U R, U R, UR. The 1897 tour opened in a slightly odd manner with Northamptonshire and the Rovers taking two days to amass, in one innings each, totals of 377 and 295 respectively, so no second innings for either side was possible, and the match was drawn. The only notable event in a two day draw against The Hampshire Hogs, was the bowling of a young Rover, K E M Barker, who

lengthy tour was also a new fixture, against Horsham CC. It was lost by 7 runs. The Rovers were without any of their big wicket takers, who had all decided that 12 days of cricket and a visit to Horsham was a journey and game too many. Touring normality returned in July 1896. That year there were 6 centurions among the batting averages and one of them, CC Stone, scored 414 runs. Normal service was resumed also on the bowling front, with W F Whitwell taking 47 wickets, at an average of 9.59. 34

surprised his own side and the batsman by taking his run-up from beyond the boundary. This gave rise to 10-minute overs and the observation: “What funny things they learn at Cambridge!”. In that year Barker appears to have bowled 55.4 of his 10-minute overs for

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com remarkable. F Terry scored 241 in 3 innings at an average of 80.3, T L Taylor made 344 in 6 innings at an average of 68.8 and H B Steel scored 330 in 9 innings at an average 41.2. In the period of 15 years of “majority” the Rovers played 94 two day matches against 31 different opponents. They only lost 9 games and won 41. The substantial number of drawn matches was, mostly, because there was no concept of a declaration within the laws of cricket. This meant the side, which batted first,

13 wickets but, as usual, the top wicket taker, with 42 of them, was W F Whitwell. The 1898 tour started against Leicestershire C & G, who scored 386 in their first innings. The Rovers replied with 415, with H Eccles scoring 119 and, astonishingly, WF Whitwell making 131 batting at 10. This was the latter’s first century for the Rovers. The last Northern tour of the nineteenth century started at Scarborough CC, for a second time. On the Southern tour, the Rovers found themselves with another new fixture, at the “picturesque ground of the Chichester Priory club”, where they made “frantic efforts to change without trampling on one another in a very small corner of the Priory.” The Rovers scored 524 in their first innings (H F Terry 118). The opposition only managed to make 310 in their two innings, with none other than W F Whitwell collecting another 12 wickets. Eastbourne on the Saffrons put up a better fight in the next two-day match but were still beaten by 10 wickets, after the Rovers made 387 in their first innings. After the end of the final tour of the 19th Century batting averages for the year were

did so until it was all out. If the side batting second did not match or exceed that score in their first innings, they had to bat again. In the remaining time available they frequently hung on for a draw. Charles Green, the big hitter and run-maker, who was the principal founder and early funder of both the Rovers and the early career of the famous H H Stephenson, as cricket coach at Uppingham, played only once in the last 15 years of that century. The Club was on a sound financial footing at the time of the AGM in 1899, having funds “in hand” of £14.11s.3d. Their next cricket was in the twentieth century. Floreat the Rovers. David Ashworth

Rules 1. The object of the Club shall be the promotion of good cricket and good fellowship. 2. The Committee shall elect the Members of the Club from Old Uppinghamians recognized as being good cricketers. 3. The Annual General Meeting of the Club shall be held by the end of November each year in a manner and on a date agreed by the committee. 4. The Committee shall meet in the cricket pavilion at Uppingham on the day of the Old Boys match and on other occassions it considers appropriate. 5. No Member upon any occasion can play as an opponent to the Rovers. 6. Each Member, on being elected, shall pay an entrance fee of £50 to the Treasurer. If the entrance fee be not paid within three months, the election shall be void, unless a reason for the delay be shown which is satisfactory to the Committee. 7. The Committee may elect Honorary Members of the Club. 8. The affairs of the Club shall be managed by the Committee. 9. The Committee shall consist of the Officers of the Club and such a number of ordinary members as may from time to time be decided upon at the Annual General Meeting. 10. The Officers of the Club shall be the President, the Secretary, the Treasurer and the Match Secretary. 11. The Officers of the Club and the ordinary members of the Committee shall be elected each year by the Club at the Annual General Meeting and shall remain in office until the next succeeding Annual General Meeting. Outgoing Officers and Committee members shall be eligible for re-election. 12. No President of the Club shall hold office for more than 5 years. 13. The Cricketer Cup Selection Committee will consist of: the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Match Secretary (ex officio); one senior Rover to be elected at the AGM, and shall have the power to co-opt the potential Cricketer Cup Captain if he is not already a member.

Individual Records Rovers who have (a) played 100 innings or (b) made 2000 runs or (c) taken 100 wickets S.S. Storey (Schultz) DA Stewart DA Ashworth CE Green H Rotherham GA Wheatley LC Dorman EJ Thornley-Taylor AP Lucas FE Street HS Stroud HB Steel DJ Kennedy AGW Lewin WF Whitwell WRF Chamberlain TI Aspell LM Castle J Leigh WD Leppington ER Fowler FB Whitfield RW Venables JC Christopherson CS Hurst IRH Simpkin H Willey DD Carter JM Watson J Carr C Bennett-Baggs B Woodcock AC Howeson JA Turner FR Eiloart P Kidd CRJ Timm TG Everatt RJB Leney DV Brims MC Layton SC Debenham MF Hurdle WS Patterson HS Thompson CR Terras RH Bulley

Innings 232 202 197 186 185 181 175 163 161 152 151 146 142 142 127 124 121 117 108 101 101 95 94 87 87 87 85 83 81 81 77 73 71 70 65 60 56 53 52 42 42 45 38 37 37 25 24

Runs 5,070 6,770 6,313 3,903 2,122 4,235 4,538 3,580 6,070 2,431 4,618 4,098 4,105 4,960 1,762 2,528 2,964 2,043 2,478 2,900 3,567 2,007 2,109 3,919 2,945 2,792 2,008 1,276 2,263 1,261 2,249 2,257 511 1,330 372 896 452 801 1,194 383 186 573 322 801 153 157 111

Wickets 257 166 170 107 649 – 62 164 371 52 34 10 168 676 32 6 3 3 2 36 7 71 58 70 44 67 108 6 176 2 – 218 136 123 187 149 164 147 129 154 151 144 110 122 127 103 37

Current Player Statistics I

Runs

Wkts

Runs

Wkts

DJ Kennedy

142

19 4105

33.31

H Preston

106

13.25

AGW Lewin

142

33 4960

45.50 168

R Barrow

10.00

ER Fowler

101

15 3567

41.48

B Crowder

146

24.33

BP Aspell

16 1872

28.36

J Thompson

12.40

C Bennett-Baggs

10 2249

33.57

W Crowder

11.25

SD Smith

11 1368

22.80

H Lascelles

7.00

S Peters

8 1200

25.00

L Frankel

169

42.25

SC Debenham

JN Beaumont

MRW Worrall

TJ Kennedy

573

23.87 151

W Rogers

151

25.17

27.46

C Hunter Jones

12.00

372

12.83

J Over

182

36.40

6 1290

37.94

H Glatman

159

31.80

3 1126 13

A Collins

993

43.17

J Hopkins

21.00

M Bird

307

16.16

T Regis

4.80

DC Wood

496

23.62

S Wallis

106

26.50

WG Hodson

299

17.59

J Staniforth

14.25

O Esse

433

22.79

G Weller

16.00

H Hughes

609

30.45

T Ballard

12.33

J Sharrock

300

17.65

A Salloway

0.00

A Barton

415

25.94

S Thakor

229 114.50

C Paxton

222

15.86

W Staverley

16.00

B Kennedy

399

28.50

G Erith

3.33

CC Stevens

271

19.36

G Loyd

17.00

RC Hodson

139

13.90

B Stewart

20.50

J Barnett

473

29.56

D Astle

15.00

C Symes

161

13.42

D Patel

0.00

A Stroud

139

10.69

H Judd

128

64.00

S Charlton

127

11.54

T Staveley

19.00

B Harris

252

25.20

H Funnel

23.00

HA Barton

200

22.22

E Clayton

12.50

E Prior

7.20

M Richardson

6.50

W Barrow

6.33

R Sale

25.00

F Tucker

270

38.59

H Polehill

S Snoxall

11.25

H Hamilton

uppinghamrovers.play-cricket.com

Fixtures and Events 2022

Match/Event Manager

All of the following are subject to confirmation Uppingham Events Thursday May 26th Friday June 24th

v OUGS at Luffenham Heath v Uppingham School

Anthony Howeson Tom Kennedy

Herbalife Cricketer Cup Sunday 12th June

v Old Bedfordians (Home)

Henry Hughes

Dates for future rounds if required

Sunday 26th June Sunday 10th July Sunday 24th July Sunday 7th August

v Downside Wanderers or Old Cranleighans (Away) 3rd round (Away) Semi-final (Home) Final at Arundel

The Tour Sunday 10th July Monday 11th July Tuesday 12th July Wednesday 13th July Thursday 14th July Friday 15th July

Charterhouse Friars at Charterhouse Lancing Rovers at Lancing College Old Eastbournians at College Field, Eastbourne Eastbourne CC at The Saffrons Old Eastbournians at College Field, Eastbourne Oundle Rovers at Firle

Please contact Alex Collins with your availability for any of our matches Tel – 07786-244112 or email:- uppinghamroverscc@gmail.com Golf Day Thursday 14th July

URCC golf at East Sussex National GC

David Stewart