our request for members and supporters to relive their greatest memories of worcestershire ccc has already met with a positive response.
we asked our loyal followers to tell us the recollections of their time at New Road and already have received wide and varied replies.
they encompass the period from the 1950s, through the glory spells of the 1960s and 1980s right up to the success of the modern era via the vitality blast triumph in 2018.
a big thank you to everyone who has taken the trouble to send us your memories and we will endeavour to publish these in the forthcoming days and weeks – starting with the batch below.
jim hingley was first to respond and has recalled an occasion from 47 years ago when prolific opener glenn turner reached 1,000 runs by the end of may – and how his father john marked the occasion.
he writes: “i have so many happy memories of time spent at new road, especially with my dad.
“his favourite player was glenn turner. he idolised him. my dad was a glass and china retailer by trade and i have a beer mug that my dad had engraved to mark a very special moment.
“it was at 12:41pm on 31st may 1973, “the moment of truth” as he called it, when glenn reached 1000 first class runs for the season before the end of may.
“on one side of the mug is a pose of glenn at the crease and on the other side the list of the six previous batsmen to achieve that feet – wg grace 1895, tom hayward 1900, wally hammond 1927, charlie hallows 1928, don bradman, 1930 and 1938, and bill edrich 1938
“what a year 1938 must have been!
“of course, his – and my modern day hero at the time – graeme hick achieved the feat for worcestershire in 1988.
“there were two mugs produced and my dad sent the one to glenn although he never received any confirmation of receiving it. i do so hope he received it and kept it, as indeed have i.
“looking forward to a time when we can all be back at new road to make more memories.”
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julian wardle has recalled our 1991 benson and hedges cup triumph over lancashire to avenge defeat in the final of the same competition 12 months earlier – with the aid of a brilliant run out by damian d’oliveira.
julian, a member in the 1980s and 1990s who still follows the county with great interest from afar, writes “nothing gave me greater pleasure than our t20 blast exploits of 2018, having never been to a finals day before, and nearly completing a remarkable double last september.
“the memory though i’m keen to write about is one of my most enjoyable weekends away following the team, namely the benson and hedges cup triumph of 1991.
“it was the height of the successful period of graeme hick, ian botham and tom moody and we again were up against the fiercest of one day rivals of that period in lancashire who had comprehensively beaten us in the repeat final 12 months earlier.
“it was a cloudy, drizzly morning in london, the players were on and off with numerous delays, and the fact we were sent into bat concerned me given the conditions and what i’d seen just a year earlier.
“but, as we were used to, a brilliant composed inning from graeme hick, only denied a ton by a superb caught and bowled by paul allott, meant we set a total of about 240 (236-8) it was probably 30 runs light but something to bowl at given the conditions.
“lancashire started steadily in the best of the conditions and seemed as though things would be relatively straightforward, but the best moment was about to happen, and is my match winning memory.
“neil fairbrother came in at number four, arguably the best one-day batsman at the time, certainly the best finisher in the english game.
“but he’d barely got a run when he pushed for a single, and the most magnificent piece of fielding you could ever wish to see, given the pressure of the match situation and the batsmen involved, was about to happen.
“the sadly departed damian d’oliveira swooped on the ball and hammered in a throw all in one go, and all i saw was stumps flying everywhere and the umpire’s finger go up, and we in the newly opened edrich stand were all in delirium. it was just wonderful.
“the ‘lanky’s’ went down like a pack of cards really after weather delays had forced the match into the sunday and we celebrated the presentations very close to the players on the pitch under the balcony….super memories.
“finally, in this remarkable season i remember going up to old trafford on the coach in september and doing the double over lancashire on their own patch in the refuge assurance cup. it was a competition that didn’t run for very many years, but that was another great day out.”
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jack carrier says his father’s friendship with worcestershire legend don kenyon introduced him to worcestershire and he has recalled a victory from his schooldays over local rivals warwickshire.
jack writes: “my allegiance to wccc came from my father’s friendship with don kenyon.
“he met don through their business association and most cricketers, of course, had out of season jobs in those days.
“we would receive a card from don signed by the players he was touring with at the time – and that was me hooked.
“one of my favourite memories was the game in the late 1950s i think at edgbaston when jack coldwell, jack flavell, norman gifford and doug slade were in their pomp.
“i was there to watch our spinners skittle the bears to win the match (much better than a double french lesson)!
“most of my school mates supported warwickshire which made the victory that much sweeter.
“i also remember a scorching hot day when we were allowed to sit on the grass (near cow corner) to watch one of the early gillette cup one day matches against gloucestershire.
“glenn turner scored a magnificent century only to be outdone by a superb performance with bat and ball from mike procter.
“i live in south derbyshire now but look for every opportunity to visit (blackfinch) new road – and i have even converted my wife!”
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from the 1950s, we are moving right up to date for the memories of jack wright and our magnificent vitality blast triumph of 2018 at edgbaston.
jack writes: “my worcestershire ccc moment is the t20 vitality blast victory of two years ago.
“my mum actually got me tickets to blast finals day as a christmas present the year before – long before worcestershire’s campaign had even started, let alone take off as it did.
“amazingly, my first t20 blast finals day was capped off with an incredible victory for worcestershire. what a day.”
we will be printing more memories of members and supporters and, if you have any memories of your own of worcestershire ccc, then we want to hear from you and don’t hesitate to contact john curtis of the worcestershire ccc website at info@wccc.co.uk
