Decade

1992 Season

Results

Appearances, runs, wickets and catches totals

GWLCC first ton and record stand for any wicket - 156 in 68 minutes

1992 - promises, promises as Gents move to Surbo

his was the year of the move to Surbiton, and the princely batting wickets of Victoria Rec, soon to become the club’s spiritual home. How pleasant it was after a nomadic existence to have a good home ground, albeit Council-owned and a step away from the club’s West London roots. So good were the tracks that 1992’s games saw a huge increase in runs scored. Most cricketers prefer high-scoring games and there were plenty of those, including the first Gents’ ton, its highest stand, both sides scoring over 200 for the first time, the highest score ever made against the club, its biggest margin of defeat and, glory be, its first piece of silverware, the inaugural President’s Cup. From the middle of June the club played very consistently, although by then the Bob Ashton Cup was again West XI’s, after two early season defeats, one a defeat of apocalyptic proportions, the other a mere tonking!

                The profile of The Gents was changing quickly. Daniel Todd had a successful first full season, copping Bowler and Most Improved Awards, and the new blood of his friend Andy Monk and the diffident but talented Rich Wilman also strengthened the club’s gene pool. With Sambrook Smith again keeping wicket well and Ashton (again), Boddington, Hubbocks (playing more and blossoming as a result), Townley and Dolan also having good seasons, the results were bound to swing round. The season began, or rather failed to begin, on a soggy April Sunday, when the game with Lager Louts was rained off, much to the chagrin of the oppo. A week later, in bright sunshine, Ian Maughan’s 40 not out saw The Gents romp home against a good Owls side. A week later came an epic run-glut in freezing temperatures. Nick Hubbocks and Mark Ashton put on the highest club stand, 156, Nick going on to 67 and Mark to a stunning 137 not out, the innings he still rates as his finest! Undaunted, Enterprise fought brilliantly and fell only a tad short. The Gents were on a roll and a fine 34 not out from John Townley, plus the inevitable Masher blitz, saw a win against Old Cubbonians, but this match contained warning signs to which The Gents should have paid attention, but didn’t. Towards the end of The Cubbs’ innings, the homesters’ bowling and outcricket went completely to crap, 50 or so runs (the scorecard is imprecise) coming in no time. If a mediocre side like OCC could take The Gents apart, what would happen when some really good batsmen met The Gents’ patchy attack on these wonderful Surbiton wickets? A week later, they would find out.

                There was dark sorrow in the run up to the West XI game, as the news came through of the death of Stefan Meininger in a car crash in Germany. Several Gents knew Stefan, and there can be no doubt that the loss of a close friend three days before distracted Mark. It would have been remarkable were it any other way. In the circumstances, and with fielding practice agreed before the game, how supportive it was of two Gents stalwarts to go to the pub for an hour instead. The Gents did not just lose to West XI on 24 May, they were hammered out of sight, the biggest stuffing in their history. There were agonisingly two early successes (Bignell b Hubbocks leg-stump and the mighty Jim Irvine brilliantly c Hubbocks diving in) but once Seale and Arthur got in, it was mayhem, 135 runs of it, all the way. The Gents went for 263 runs and were never remotely close. The performance was a disgrace to the shirt. Oppo tauntings that night were long and in the main thoroughly deserved although blaming The Gents’ non-performance on the hype of the previous copy of The Gent was not really stopping at a truth station! Whatever the reason, results went into a nose-dive, a good game on the Lilliputian pitches of Wandsworth Common against London Owls (whose batting heroes included Bill Murphy), narrowly lost, followed by another resounding Beggar victory at Boston Manor.

                At 3-3 for the season, pundits were agog as to which way the season would turn. They soon found out. Four excellent wins on the spin resulted; a fine team display against Enterprise, helped by an impressive début from guest Robin Hunt, followed by another victory against The Weasels, this time on the grass wicket, at the Peel Centre Police Academy, where Frank Gallagher legendarily turned up in his ancient Cavalier with a Tax Disc past its use-by date. Stunning opening spells from Wilman and Todd, supported by perfect catching, reduced the Baa Baas to 23 for 7 before The Commander mercifully brought on the support bowlers to buy the last three wickets. Hunt returned against Old Cubbs in Gothic gloom at Croydon, scoring 42 as The Gents, also helped by Townley’s 28, won narrowly. A quartet of excellent wins was completed down by the Thames at Richmond a week later. West XI reversed their batting order, but still piled up a fair score despite great Gent catching. A superb Hunt 62, ably assisted by Richards Wilman and Sambrook Smith, saw The Gents home, Chairman Steve Haywood levelling the scores off the last ball of the game before being run out trying to put victory beyond doubt. The Beggars sportingly conceded as The Gents had lost fewer wickets.

                The Owen-inspired Weasels then beat The Gents for the first time before the good form came back. The Cheetahs were beaten for the only time in a bitter, petulant game, thanks to a then-record eighth wicket stand of 28 between Burman and Dolan. Sweet revenge for all those defeats! A fortnight later came that wonderful first battle with London Saints, who needed one run off the last ball of the game to win. They failed to get it thanks to Bowler of the Year Daniel Todd keeping his nerve. A club that had bounced back so well from its early season trauma deserved some silverware and duly got it. The first President’s Cup was won in rain and gales and won well, guest Clyde Seale, who could do nothing wrong all year, thrashing 51 in Game One to complement John Townley’s elegant, composed 39 not out. This was the inaugural President’s Cup innings and nobody really knew what a par score was. In the event, The Gents’ 124 was too much for a Weasels side who would learn their lesson, so much so that they would record a Hat-Trick of victories in this competition from 1993 to 1995. FC Chad reduced The Gents to 9 for three off eight overs in Game Two but then had to expose their support bowlers to Nick Boddington, Mark Ashton, Tony Hill and Des Dolan! The climax to a season of real improvement and nobody minded the almost inevitable anti-climax of a convincing defeat by a mellower, far more pleasant Cheetahs outfit in the September rain, Ashton scoring his fourth fifty of 1992, with good support from Marty Renvoize. Well, Bodders minded, as his planned lift from Mr Black predictably failed to materialise.

©The Gentlemen of West London Cricket Club 2006