1956-1971

Despite poor weather, this was another improved playing year, with 23 wins against 20 defeats.  The 1st XI however had great difficulty in finishing games, with no less than 23 draws in 38 games.

The best individual performance was by Albert Gurney, who made 564 runs at 29.6, including the season’s highest individual score of 96, and took 51 wickets at 12.9.  Mike Aron made most runs with 686 and Len Taylor and David Belchamber also exceeded 500.  In bowling John Chilcott was available very little due to examinations and his mantle as leading wicket-taker fell to Geoff Standen who took 74 wickets at 12.7.  Geoff had one really memorable weekend with 6 for 36 and 6 for 11 (including the hat-trick).  Other leading wicket-takers were Rhys Powell (66) and Basil Armstrong (60).

A milestone was reached in time for the 1957 season, namely the re-installation of a telephone in the pavilion.  The telephone wires had been cut when slit trenches were dug during the war and the original application for a new connection had been made in 1947!  That this was managed at all was due to the persistence of John Pearsall – his devotion to the cause was indicated when on one occasion he received a message at home to the effect that his home telephone was about to be transferred to Bushy Park!!  In addition to the happy end of this saga, it was also decided to continue the innovation of the weekly newsletter, though there was some doubt due to the postage cost of £20!

1957 was a good playing year with 32 wins against 21 defeats and clearly more depth of talent than in the recent past.  A feature of the Saturday 1st XI was the number of times potential trouble was averted by the tail of Harry Crafts (“The Senior Pro”), Basil Armstrong and John Chilcott.  One rather bizarre game was against Guildford when with the scores level, the appropriately named Mr Duly struck the last ball for 4 – however this was at the second attempt, he was given out “hit the ball twice” and Teddington escaped with a draw!  Perhaps the 1st XI’s best win this year was against Brondesbury when we scored 197 for 5 in just over 2 hours, with a rapid 50 not out from Barry Shaw.  The 2nd XI bettered this by scoring 97 in the last 39 minutes to beat Petersham, mainly thanks to Albert Gurney and Roger Mathews.

There was no outstanding run-getter this year, but Albert Gurney again topped the averages with 661 runs at 31.4.  Mike Aron made most runs (670) and Graham Paterson, Roger Mathews, Peter Mabley and David Belchamber all made 500.  Graham Paterson’s 102 not out against UCS Old Boys (sharing an opening stand of 143 with David Belchamber) was the Club’s first century for 2 years.  In addition to his batting success, Roger Mathews got 41 victims behind the stumps and began a long and successful career with Teddington, which is not finished yet (1982)!  There was a similar depth in bowling with 5 players managing 50 wickets, headed by Rhys Powell on 78.  Rhys also made his first 50 for the Club, in the characteristic time of 31 minutes.  Albert Gurney nearly topped both sets of averages since his 57 wickets at 11.7 were only topped by Dick Sherriff’s 21 at 9.4.

1958 was a disappointing season with 23 wins against 32 defeats, though with the 1st XI just about breaking even.  The two best wins were against MCC and Southgate.  Against MCC, David Belchamber took 4 for 20 and then made 74 not out while against Southgate he made his first (though assuredly not last) century for Teddington.  The Club made 262 for 2 in 175 minutes with Paterson and Gorton also making half-centuries, and then despatched Southgate for 120, our old friend Jack Tyler top-scoring with 29.  There was also a notable run feast against Buccaneers, when we replied to 271 for 2 with 250 for 5, including 140 in 85 minutes by Mike Aron (93) and John Pearsall (60).

Over the season Rhys Powell produced a splendid bowling performance, delivering no fewer than 534 overs and taking 107 wickets at 14.0.  Rhys had one particularly profitable weekend, with 5 for 58 against NPL and 8 for 46 against Richmond.  Basil Armstrong bowled almost as many overs and took 69 wickets, including 6 for 30 and 7 for 30 in the two games with Alleyn Old Boys.  Albert Gurney was again high in the averages with 51 wickets at 13.7 while John Chilcott took 47, including 8 for 26 against Maidenhead and Bray.  With the future in mind, John Crafts (Harry’s elder son) made an excellent debut with 6 for 22 in his first game.  In batting David Belchamber was convincingly top with 837 runs at 38.0 and Mike Aron followed with 769 at 26.5, while Martin Costin and Graham Paterson both exceeded 650.

It was something of a new era in that Tony Gorton succeeded John Pearsall as Captain of the Saturday 1st XI, John having done the job in splendid fashion for the previous ten seasons.  Also Harry Crafts stepped down as Treasurer, being replaced by Bob D’Eath (who was also to serve for ten years).

1959 was a very hot summer and unfortunately the Saturday 1st XI bowling resources were thinner than for some time.  John Chilcott was unable to play much and David Belchamber was not available until early July.  Over the whole Club it was noticeable how often the front-line bowlers gave quite a good start, but their successors were freely punished.  In the circumstances we seem to have done reasonably in winning one more game than the previous year.  Two centuries were scored this year, by Tony Gorton against Merton and less predictably by John Chilcott against Walton Park, on a wicket he prepared himself during groundsman George Foreman’s absence on holiday!  George incidentally excelled himself this year by catching red-handed some intruders in the pavilion.  Following a 999 call a gang of 5 were apprehended near the Diana fountain whom the police had apparently been seeking for some time!  In bowling, Basil Armstrong produced the remarkable analysis of 20-16-9-4 against Maidenhead and Bray.  John Crafts continued to show much promise, taking 7 for 37 against Old Tiffinians, while we were very pleased to welcome Arthur Crisp as a member this year, his best performance being 6 for 62 against Lensbury.

There was one of the Fixture Secretary’s nightmares this season, with the 1st and 2nd XI fixtures with Addiscombe being mixed up.  However, our 2nd XI were quite unabashed and beat Addiscombe 1st by 33 runs, while our 1st team finished off their 2nd’s by 7 wickets.

1960 proved a decidedly mixed season.  There was an acute shortage of players for the senior sides and consequently poor results.  On the credit side however the Colts team had a really excellent season both on and off the field, under the captaincy of John Crafts and the energetic management of David Belchamber.  Their ranks contained many players who were to serve Teddington well in the years ahead.  Their activities included a tour of Cambridge which was to become a regular event.

The 1st XI had a poor season with the highlight probably a good win against a very strong Dulwich side.  John Pearsall, who with Tony Gorton in Canada returned as captain, made the only century, with 105 not out against NPL, while David Belchamber’s 91 against Richmond was worth many a century in more favourable conditions.  In the 2nd XI Peter Mabley achieved a memorable 64 not out and 6 wickets in a 3 run victory over old rivals East Molesey.

Over the season David Belchamber topped the batting with 656 runs at 27.3.  Significantly however only Barry Shaw (556) also exceeded 500 runs.  In bowling Rhys Powell again took most wickets with 66 and David Belchamber got 52.  Arthur Crisp came close to a “mini-double” with 438 runs and 49 wickets.  John Crafts showed further great promise for the future with 41 wickets.

1961 began on an encouraging note in that the Club’s finances were healthy enough for all the post-war loans generously made by members to be repaid.  Unfortunately, the subsequent season turned out to be a very unsuccessful one on Saturdays, though redeemed to some extent by an extremely good record for the Sunday 1st XI under David Belchamber.  Though the Colts section continued to flourish, their potential contribution to the Club’s playing strength was still some way from full fruition.  There was one particularly noteworthy performance by the Sunday 1st XI when Banstead were dismissed for only 14, with Jeremy Hein taking 6 for 3 and David Belchamber 4 for 6.  The 14 included 1 no-ball and what were officially 4 byes though the wicket-keeper Roger Mathews has kindly pointed out that in his opinion they were 4 wides!

Albert Gurney topped the batting this year with 315 runs at 39.3.  David Belchamber made most runs with 549 and was very well supported by a newcomer in Graham Ellison who scored 467.  Barry Shaw made the only century.  David Belchamber also had his best bowling year with 67 wickets at 10.6, while Rhys Powell and John Chilcott also exceeded 50.  Arthur Crisp again got over 400 runs and 40 wickets.

1962 saw a considerable revival in Teddington’s playing fortunes.  The results were the best for several years with 30 wins against 31 losses and an encouraging number of new members were unearthed, some of course from the Colts section.  Pride of place must go the 1st XI’s crushing win over our old rivals Hampstead.  We made 184 for 7 and then dismissed them for 41, with Bill Stedman taking 6 for 18.  There was also a remarkable innings by David Belchamber, who made an undefeated 112 on an awkward pitch, all the other batsmen in the match amassing 106 between them!  The game against MCC produced the largest run aggregate for some time with Teddington making 234 for 5 (Belchamber 123 not out) and MCC 222 for 5.  In addition to these two performances David Belchamber also made 2 other centuries and 5 fifties, to total 1203 runs at 60.1.  His aggregate had only been exceeded by Jack Tyler and Derek Lindsay and his 4 centuries equalled the record set by F E Covington in 1935.  Bill Stedman was also a reliable run-getter with 677 at 29.5.  The bowling was spread very evenly this year, only Geoff Standen and John Chilcott taking 50 wickets.  We were very pleased to welcome Don Oliver this season, who was to prove such a tower of strength in the years ahead.  A notable wicket-keeping performance was achieved by Paul Brooks, who took 6 catches against St. Mary’s Hospital.

1963 was the Centenary Season of cricket in Bushy Park and happily it was a very successful one, both on and off the field.  Overall 42 matches were won against 27 lost.  Furthermore the Saturday 1st XI did not lose until the end of June and the Sunday 1st XI was unbeaten until 15th September, though it did admittedly have 10 drawn games.  To mark the Centenary, a Week was held for the first time since the war and proved a great success, though unfortunately the main fixture with MCC was washed out.  We beat Dulwich and Hayes, lost to Malden Wanderers and Turnham Green (by 2 runs), while the South Hampstead game ended in a draw with the scores level.

Bob Hurst had a splendid season this year, being top of both averages.  He scored 459 runs at 45.9 and took 47 wickets at 9.2.  The experienced pair of David Belchamber and Geoffrey Taylor both averaged over 40 and Bill Stedman (1103) made most runs.  Bill had a wonderful game against St. Mary’s Hospital, with 94 not out and 5 for 33.  The acquisition of new equipment meant that we now had a really excellent batting wicket in Bushy Park, a fact reflected in 5 batsmen scoring centuries, with John Alsford, John Crafts and John Spry making their first for the Club.  In bowling Don Oliver, for the first but by no means the last time, was leading wicket-taker with 60 at 14.7.  Geoff Standen took 52 wickets while Harry Crafts’ younger son David took 48 and showed great promise.  However, pride of place must go to John Chilcott whose 58 wickets included his thousandth for Teddington.  This had never been done before (though Douglas Cooke came close with 998) and has only been matched since by Don Oliver.  Peter Mabley took 46 wickets and achieved the remarkable analysis of 6 for 2 when the Sunday 2nd XI disposed of Thames Ditton for 19.

The Club was also greatly indebted this year to Arthur Crisp who built an admirable score-box.  With clearly better facilities and more players than for a long time, the future looked bright.  Indeed a 3rd XI became a regular feature this year and thoughts began to turn to a second pitch in Bushy Park.  A further idea that surfaced around this time was that of a new pavilion.  Though subject to some delay and uncertainty, this project was eventually to reach fruition in 1969.

With generally excellent weather 1964 was another very encouraging season.  In the 1st and 2nd teams 41 games were won and only 15 lost.  The Saturday 2nd XI under Roger Bowen had a particularly good year, with 13 wins and only 3 defeats.  Don Oliver had a very good year with the ball, but pride of place must go to Roger Mathews, who in a long career with Teddington had his best ever season, scoring 1298 runs at 36.1 including 2 centuries.  For the Saturday 2nd XI alone he made 767 at 47.9.  His finest performance was 151 not out in 134 minutes against Turnham Green, the last 52 coming in less than 15 minutes and including two 6’s and eight 4’s.  This was the Club’s highest individual score since the war and, until 1982, has only once been exceeded.  With the ball Pat Blomfield achieved a memorable performance with 7 for 5 against Old Hamptonians.  The Sunday 2nd XI under John Alsford was only marginally less successful and both 1st XIs only lost 4 games each.

Roger Mathews led the batting by a considerable margin this year but David Belchamber (677), John Spry (674) and Bill Stedman (552) all got 500 runs while Dick Sherriff made a century.  Don Oliver was leading wicket-taker with 66 and Bob Hurst, Mike Haines and Peter Mabley all exceeded 50 at low cost.  Bob took 8 for 33 against Alleyn Old Boys and followed with 43 out of 94 all out.

A very successful tour of Devon was instituted this year and overall there was much reason for optimism.  A landmark was reached at the end of this season when Gerry Armstrong retired as Fixture Secretary, having done the job since 1951!  Great credit was due to him for the way in which the Club’s list had been built up over this time.

1965 was a decidedly mixed playing season.  On the credit side the Saturday and Sunday 2nd XIs had highly successful years, with 10 wins each and only 5 defeats between them, and the 3rd XI continued to develop with 12 victories against 5 defeats.  However the 1st XIs had a most disappointing time, winning only 3 on Saturdays and having no fewer than 12 draws on Sundays.  We had great difficulty establishing a regular side and lost key players Bob Hurst and John Spry through injury – Bob’s fractured bone in the foot was particularly unfortunate in his year as captain.

Over the season Geoffrey Taylor was the most successful batsman with 708 runs at 37.7 – this included 135 not out when we amassed 219 for 1 against Chertsey.  David Belchamber also got 708 runs and David Holland and Roger Mathews over 500.  The very successful KCS Wimbledon teams of this time were beginning to make a real impact on Teddington’s senior sides.  In addition to David Holland and Dudley Owen-Thomas, left-arm spinner Simon Reed was the Club’s leading wicket-taker on 68 and pace bowler Duncan Carmichael got 53.  The “old firm” of Don Oliver and Roger Bowen also got over 50.

1966 turned out a most successful season.  After 5 different captains in 7 years, the Saturday 1st XI gained some much needed stability (literal and metaphorical) with the election of David Dandridge, a much-travelled club cricketer who was to be in charge for 6 seasons.  In all the Saturday side won 10 games and lost 3, while the Sunday side had 8 wins and but a single defeat.  We beat East Molesey for the first time in many years, with Dudley Owen-Thomas scoring 78 and taking 4 for 47.  On the individual side, David Crafts produced a magnificent bowling performance over the season with a record 127 wickets at 10 runs each.  This included 8 wickets in an innings twice and 9 once.  He received recognition in wider circles with a game for Middlesex 2nd XI against Sussex, who included one A Greig at No. 7!  David was well supported by Simon Reed with 51 wickets and with Bob Hurst and new pace bowlers in Peter Pugh, David Voller and Ian Moffatt we could boast a powerful and varied attack.  In batting Owen-Thomas averaged 67 and Geoff Taylor (782 runs at 39), David Holland and David Dandridge all made over 700 runs.  The 2nd XIs again did well, the Saturday side having 9 wins and only 3 defeats.  Roger Mathews was once more prolific, averaging 54 for the 2nd XI alone, and was very well supported by Albert Gurney.  Don Oliver had his best season yet, taking 86 wickets at 13 and John Chilcott got 45 at 10.6.  Finally the 3rd XI had its largest ever programme of 24 matches, and in splendidly positive fashion did not play a single drawn game!

At the beginning of the 1967 season the Club suffered one very sad week in which we lost three of our four Life Members, in Brian Simmonds, Robin Gerard and Clifford Barton, all of whom had contributed enormously to the Club’s well-being.  After this depressing start another enjoyable and eventful season ensued.  One major talking point was the advent of organised competitive cricket in the South, which in contrast to the Midlands and North had long preferred “friendly” matches.  The Surrey Championship started around this time and various cup competitions were mooted.  Teddington in fact entered the Kemps Knockout Cup for Home Counties clubs.  We had a very close and exciting game with Walthamstow, eventually winning by 1 run.  They included the Essex all-rounder Keith Boyce and David Belchamber, who made 74 and was unaware of the identity of the opposing opening bowler, observed that he looked quite promising but wouldn’t get wickets until he pitched the ball up further!  The further influence that could be politely described as extraneous involved the presence of much larger numbers of cattle in one corner of Bushy Park than hitherto.  We were not actually forced to cancel any games as a result of their invasions, as were our neighbours Teddington Town.  However it was a close call once or twice and it was clear that much greater protection would be needed both for the square and the outfield if regular cricket was to continue, and representations were made to the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works.

Records are relatively scant for this year, but it seems to have been a reasonably successful playing season.  The Sunday 1st XI defeat against Walton was their first for over a year, while the Sunday 2nd XI under Rhys Powell’s energetic leadership had a splendid season with 10 wins and only 3 defeats.

After a distinct cliff-hanger over the last few weeks, Roger Mathews just completed 1000 runs and former KCS captain David Holland showed great improvement over the season to fall narrowly short.  Geoff Taylor again topped the averages with 745 runs at 41.4 while David Belchamber and new members Peter White and David Geeclough were also prominent.

The bowling spoils were remarkably even this year.  Rhys Powell was top wicket-taker with 69 but Roger Bowen, Simon Reed, Bob Hurst, Don Oliver and Duncan Carmichael all got over 50.  Bob achieved the outstanding individual performance with 8 for 32 against Hounslow.

The Club undertook a tour to Kent this year, including games on three County or County 2nd XI grounds at Dover, Folkestone and Rye and also our first meeting with the excellent Holmesdale club.  Unfortunately we did not quite have the strength required for such fixtures and lost our first tour games in 6 years.  Sadly this is so far the last Teddington tour, but in fact several of our members have continued to tour in these parts with Jack Frost and Thames Valley Gentlemen.  Our home Week at Teddington has of course continued unbroken since 1963 and is now an established part of the local cricket scene.

Unfortunately right at the beginning of the 1968 season there was some damage done to the square by cattle, and with a very wet summer the pitches were not such a batsman’s dream as we had come to expect in recent years.  However thanks to the efforts of Michael Welch in particular, and with generous support from members, we obtained some metal hurdles which did provide adequate protection when the square was not in use.

1968 was another generally very satisfactory season with 43 wins against only 21 defeats, though no fewer than 23 games were lost completely to the weather and another 11 were abandoned.  The Saturday and Sunday 2nd teams again had impressive records with only 3 defeats and the Saturday 1st XI only lost twice, though having a high proportion of draws.  Though we did not have a tour this year we did enjoy a highly successful Week.  The fireworks started against Incogniti when chasing an apparently stiff task of 222, David Belchamber and Ted Clark had a magnificent unbroken second wicket stand of 175, making 90 and 89 respectively and finishing the game half an hour early.  The rest of the week largely belonged to Simon Reed.  He took 8 for 81 against Westminster Bank and then took 10 for 53 in the second innings of the 12-a-side game with Sons of Bacchus.  This was our first 2-day fixture since the war and was a great success, the visitors fully living up to their name!  David Belchamber also produced one noteworthy bowling performance.  At Walton he injured his foot moving the sight-screens before the game, but bowling at reduced pace off a short run took 8 wickets before lunch and finished with 8 for 36.

Although Ted Clark averaged 59 in only 7 innings, there were no outstanding run-getting feats this year, with Barry Turner (763) and Peter Bennett (690) making most runs.  In bowling, Nigel Edwards, always an awkward proposition in 3rd XI cricket, topped the averages with 36 at 8.0 and the leading wicket-takers were Roger Bowen (86) and Don Oliver (78).  Simon Reed took 74 wickets at 12.7 and frequently looked as if he could develop into a very high class slow bowler.  A new member in Brian Jackson also enjoyed considerable success for the 1st XI.

The highlight of the 1969 season really came off the field with the inauguration in June of a substantially rebuilt pavilion.  After many years of facilities leaving much to be desired the Club now had a base of which it could be justifiably proud.  The New Pavilion Project had first been mooted in the summer of 1963 when as John Pearsall, then 1st XI captain, recalls he was walking round the ground with Bill Alsford, then Club Captain.  When they reached a point opposite the pavilion – two ex-Army mess huts joined together, Bill produced a photograph of a splendid modern pavilion and said “what would you say to one like that – because my brother and I want to see that the Club gets one”.

Thus began a saga which lasted for some years with the Club split on the question of design and cost.  Finally agreement was reached within the Club and with the Hockey Club and it was decided to retain the original fabric and improve upon it rather than build an entirely new structure.  David Belchamber’s brother Harry did a marvellous job as architect, resulting in the building which we have today.  The main brunt of organisation for the Cricket Club was borne by David Belchamber, Albert Gurney and Roger Mathews.  It is interesting that David maintains that it was partly due to his success in running this project that prompted him to abandon teaching and take the job of Bursar at KCS Wimbledon.  One further point of interest was the laying of an electricity cable (the supply being by kind permission of the National Physical Laboratory) which dispensed with the previous Calor Gas lighting!

Although the Alsford family’s original suggestion of a completely new pavilion did not in the end come to fruition, they very generously set up a Trust Fund to contribute towards the project.  A grant towards the pavilion improvements was also received from the Department of Education and Science and a loan from the National Playing Fields Association.

On the field 1969 was another highly successful year with 48 wins and only 23 defeats.  With the 1st XIs unfortunately once again having a high proportion of draws most of the success was lower down.  Don Oliver’s Saturday 2nd XI won 12 games and did not lose until early September, with the skipper in more or less permanent occupation of one end, and the Saturday 3rd XI under Jimmy Howes won 11 and lost only 3.  Particularly noteworthy games seemed rather sparse this year but against Addiscombe the 1st XI tied and the 2nd XI won by 2 runs.  Remarkably enough the 2nd XI has tied with this club on two other occasions, in 1966 and 1977.

We had the services this year of a Conference player in Naeem Virk, who made 963 runs, including 99 against MCC.  Ted Clark played a fuller season and made 756 runs at 58 and overall there was very reasonable depth in batting.  Pride of place however must go to John Pearsall.  Making a very welcome return to the fray after absence with knee trouble, he had 5 innings and achieved an average of 156!  In bowling Don Oliver had his Annus Mirabilis, bowling 519 overs and taking 106 wickets at 11.4.  In support Roger Bowen got 74 wickets, Duncan Carmichael 70 and Simon Reed 62.  David Crafts had the outstanding individual performance with 8 for 48 against Wimbledon.  Jimmy Howes achieved a “mini-double” with 505 runs and 54 wickets.

1970 was another good playing year with 41 wins and 26 defeats, the Saturday 2nd XI again doing well with 10 wins against 3 losses.  The 1st XIs had greater success than in the previous year.  The main single reason for this was an excellent opening attack, with the genuine pace of Duncan Carmichael (122 wickets at 14.2) and the fast-medium of David Crafts (109 at 16.1).  It is unfortunate that they only infrequently bowled together after this season, otherwise we could have boasted one of the best opening pairs in club cricket.  They were well supported by Simon Reed who took 57 wickets at 16.8, and Bob Hurst had the outstanding individual performance with 8 for 16 against NPL.  In batting there was also a most meritorious performance by Vincent Cushing who only played regularly from the beginning of June, but made 832 runs at 37.8.  Moreover he commuted from St. Albans each week to do so!  Geoff Richardson had a good first season for Teddington, with 638 runs and 31 victims behind the stumps, while overall 10 batsmen made over 500 runs.

Competitive cricket was growing steadily at this time and we entered both the National Knock-Out Cup and the Wills Cup for Middlesex Clubs.  In the former we beat Egham and Purley before losing by the narrowest possible margin to Richmond.

For the 2nd XI there was one outstanding performance when David Lang (118) and Peter Bowen (84) put on 195 for the first wicket against Pinner.  In bowling Don Oliver looked at one time like reaching the century again, but had to settle for 87 wickets at 15.4 and Roger Bowen as usual backed him up well with 59 wickets.

Off the field 1970 was a momentous year.  Firstly we made the decision to undertake league cricket in 1972.  Michael Welch was at this time Secretary of the Wills Cup competition and this led to an invitation from Roger Pearman of Hornsey (later Chief Executive of Derbyshire CCC) to fill one of the vacancies in what would clearly be a very powerful Middlesex County League, designed on similar lines to the Surrey Championship, which had been the first major League in the Home Counties.  With the wind blowing very strongly towards competitive cricket, the Teddington Committee decided swiftly to accept this invitation.  Thus our players were introduced to largely new opposition and also to the delights of the North Circular Road on Saturdays!

The other main issue this year was perhaps even more momentous in the long run, since the Club committed itself to an ambitious development plan, in close consultation with the Hockey Club.  It was clear that the Cricket Club had great need of a proper square for the 3rd XI’s use and also that it was highly desirable to resite the Hockey Club’s pitches.  Previously one of these had overlapped a substantial part of the cricket table, thus causing obvious problems at the start of both the cricket and hockey seasons.  The green light for the start of this scheme occurred when Michael Welch found the map relating to our licensed area and on having the ground surveyed, discovered that the Club in fact owned but did not use a substantial area to the west end of the ground.  As Michael relates “a judicious visit to the Ministry, timed I believe late on a Friday afternoon before a Bank Holiday”, extracted a promise that the two clubs could do some levelling works to resite the hockey pitches within the existing, though previously unused, licensed area.  Thus the Cricket Club would gain a new ground and the Hockey Club would gain one completely new pitch and another resited and much improved in quality.  To round off the scheme it was important to prevent incursions by the cattle.  Fortunately in 1970 we had a new MP in Toby Jessel and thanks to his enthusiastic co-operation, coupled with the indefatigable prompting of Harry Crafts, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment agreed that the Club had a fair case and that a post and rail fence could be erected.

The cost of all this was of course considerable and was met from three main sources.  A generous donation was received from the Alsford Trust Fund referred to above, which was originally set up for the New Pavilion Project.  Help was also received from Warwickshire Supporters Club and Teddington started a “75 Club” with regular draws throughout the season.  By 1982 this had expanded to a “200 Club” and under the guidance of Michael Welch and Michael Tunks in particular, had been a quite invaluable source of funds.

In 1971 wins again out-numbered losses 38 to 20, but the number of draws rose to 46.  The most noteworthy aspect was our very good run in the Wills Cup.  We beat Botany Bay (Richardson 98 not out), Shepherds Bush, Richmond and Harrow Town before losing to ultimate winners South Hampstead in the semi-final.  This last game was watched by the largest crowd on our ground for many years.  We made 155 in our 45 overs, which though we had our chances never quite looked like being enough.  We encountered the Boycott-like qualities of their opener Terry Cordaroy, who made 77 not out and steered them to victory by 5 wickets with 3 overs remaining.  Ted Clark did exceptionally well in our cup run, with a century against Harrow Town, 88 against Richmond and two other fifties.

We also had a successful Week at the end of which our new ground was formally inaugurated.  There were three high-scoring draws in beautiful weather and then a nail-biting 13 run win over MCC, whose last wicket added 41.

Ted Clark again topped the batting averages with 48.2 and was followed by a high-class newcomer in Roger Hollinshead.  David Holland made 1054 runs and Peter Bennett as usual had most innings (46) and made 905, closely followed by Geoff Richardson with 894.  In bowling Duncan Carmichael had another brilliant season with 113 wickets at 12.5, of which very few were taken before the end of June.  This included 8 for 50 at Barnes, in perhaps his quickest-ever spell for Teddington.

Unfortunately there were many crumbling wickets and so it is hardly surprising that our experienced spinners Bob Hurst and Arthur Crisp had a lot of success.  Both took 87 wickets at low cost, with Arthur getting what was remarkably his first-ever hat-trick and Bob having one extraordinary weekend.  First he took 9 for 23 against Polytechnic, including 4 wickets in 4 balls, and then against Richmond on the Bank Holiday Monday bowled 40 consecutive overs and took 8 for 69, on a day when the side was rather decimated by the wedding of David Crafts!

As mentioned above the main square gave quite a bit of trouble this year.  Thanks to a lot of hard work by Arthur Crisp in particular, steps to improve things were put in hand during the autumn.  Unfortunately this was the last year when we had the inimitable presence on the ground of George Foreman, who decided to retire after a serious illness.  This is an appropriate point to pay tribute to George, who sadly died towards the end of 1982.  He was one of the Club’s genuine “characters” and will be remembered with great affection by many Teddington members.  Of many stories surrounding him, John Pearsall recalls the occasion when George was tending the fire in the pavilion on a typical early-season cricketing day and was asked by a somewhat imperious lady supporter of the Buccaneers “what wood are you using on that fire, my man?”, to which the excellent reply came “tree wood ma’am”!

With the Club now having two full-sized grounds, it was clear that a full-time groundsman was necessary and Bill Richardson was engaged for the 1972 season, when the advent of League cricket would open a new chapter in the Club’s history.