PRESIDENT; Mr. J. Gaisford  COMMITTEE: Chairman Dr. P. C. Bates; Captain Howard Turner; Vice-Captain Peter Hull; Secretary/Fixtures Adrian Barrett; Treasurer Mr. P. F. Turner

Players - Adrian Barrett; Duncan Barrett; Paul Bates; Steve Duke; Robbie Gumbrell; Mike Hills; Peter Hull; Adrian Lamberth; Duncan Perry; Jason Stephens; Howard Turner; Jason Walliker; John Williams

1993 - THE YEAR

    When a new drainage system was installed underneath the outfield area the playing area became less soggy as winter changed into spring, then into summer. Before this time one year made it into June before the outfield was completely devoid of surface water! A succession of warmer, drier winters consequently alerted us to the possibility that a grass square was not just a desirable dream, but was fast becoming a real and attainable dream.

    Up until this year our artificial strip alone had been protected by a length of rope wound through some long metal spikes. The club proposed to enclose an area on the Recreation Ground suitable for grass wickets, this would be 27 metres by 18 metres and include the existing artificial strip along the western edge, leaving a considerable area for future development. Estimates were submitted to the Parish Council early in the year as they required them in order to make a donation toward it as promised. The resulting surround would consist of wooden posts inserted into metal holders cemented into the ground, linked by two chains tightly padlocked to prevent casual removal and/or vandalism. Between the wooden posts were placed the original metal spikes that served us well (with washing line) surrounding the artificial strip alone. It would take at least four team members to remove or replace it on matchdays, working in unison.

Ventnor, with our surrogate home the Mill Bay Tavern

THE INAUGURAL TOUR

    The May Bank Holiday weekend saw the realisation of many years' pondering when we went on a long weekend tour of the Isle Of Wight. We nearly didn't make it to the ferry at Portsmouth though as the heavy Bank Holiday traffic accumulated on the A3 tied us up at the notorious Hindhead traffic lights for the best par of an hour. Once settled in our hotel in Ventnor, preliminary explorations led us to the Mill Bay Tavern, frequented by local cricketers AND decked out with decent beer. We'd quickly stumbled upon our surrogate local and thus were equipped to survive the weekend. An on to the cricket for, oh yes, it was what we were there for after all! A few of our antics are in the photos below - click each for a larger version, or see the 1993 gallery page for descriptions.

    As with many parts of the cricketing country Saturday is league cricket day, so local teams were otherwise engaged up. Thankfully, we'd managed to tie up with Merton Saints, also touring that week, and organised to borrow Godshill's ground, as they were away that week. Once we'd stretched their green rubber mat across the concrete strip - an interesting exercise as a foot of concrete remained exposed at one end - play started on time in spite of the gathering heavy skies. Merton managed to finish their innings before the rain got too heavy, washing out further play after tea. The pitch for Sunday's game against Havenstreet was interesting with a bit of variable bounce. The outfield contained areas of longer grass, gripping the ball and denying us a boundary on occasion, and overall lower scores all round. Monday's match against the Island Bakeries cricket team took place on another artificial strip (this time similar to ours) in the grounds of a large, posh residence overlooking the boats bobbing up and down on Southampton Water. Flat and fast, you'd be forgiven for thinking there would be assistance provided to our bowlers, allowing them feel more at home, but it wasn't to be. Missed chances and some less than satisfactory fielding lost us that game although it has to be said that, being the third match in as many days, we were probably just a weeny bit tired.

    With evenings spent down our temporary Ventnor local with a trip to Colonel Bogeys' nightclub thrown in for good measure, an extremely enjoyable weekend was had by all concerned, and the template for future tours was born, one trashed hotel room notwithstanding. Arriving back at Portsmouth however, it wasn't quite all over. The gang diverted to a local facing the Solent for a match - a Sumo wrestling match of all things - between Duncan Perry and Beefy Turner, both suitably adorned with towels for that touch of authenticity. And touched we may all have been viewed as by locals and holidaymakers alike!

AWARDS EVENING

    The Awards Dinner was projected to take place on Friday, 1st October. Again, I require the scorebook to enable me to piece together the complete story of the season, and the award recipients. I DO have some photos of fun awards during the evening, they are below - click each for a larger version, or see the 1993 gallery page for the same plus more tour '93 photos. These here are of note as our President John Gaisford appears on the right in the second and third ones. L-R; Robbie Gumbrell receives a duck for most ducks; Kev Cheeseman in 'Gladiator' mode; Robbie again, with the original 'broken bat' award; showing off same; and a "guess what it is" type of pic.