Meeting date: 29 September 2001
Guest Speaker: Lord Alexander
President of MCC
We have a considerable number of new members. Welcome to David Rayvern Allen, Kevin Beaumont, Graham Collyer, Guy & Liz Curry, Bill Enstone, John Fingleton, John Gallimore, Alan Harper-Smith, Barrie Hunter, Ben Jenkinson, Derek Page, Peter Parsons, Tony Roberts, Steve & Jenny Tate and (with anticipatory apologies) anyone else I may have missed.
Our President welcomed the distinguished cricket writer David Rayvern Allen, Graham Collyer who is secretary of I’Anson – the oldest cricket league in the country, Hugh Chevalier, the Managing Editor of Wisden, and Ida Barrett, mother of Colin – the best known of the modern Hambledon captains.
We launched our new club ties at the meeting and they sold very well (£16 or £18 inc p&p). With our first ‘full house’ and many new members and guests, the President reminded us of our purpose which is, simply “To honour the great cricketers of eighteenth-century Hambledon”.
For the 205th successive year, we agreed on our subscription at 3 guineas and confirmed that any profits from our subscriptions or events would be used to support young cricketers in the Hambledon area.
We were honoured that Lord Alexander of Weedon QC and his wife Marie attended our lunch and Lord Alexander, President of the MCC and a life Vice-President of our club, gave us a marvellous after-lunch talk.
He spoke of his “great delight” in being at the “wonderful house” which is the Bat & Ball and recalled an appearance there some years ago as the captain of Lord Denning’s XI. His son also appeared and relieved him of the captaincy, enabling pleasant strolls and conversation around the ground.
Lord Alexander visited us on the last day of his Presidency of MCC and described the “total fascination” of his twelve months in office. Some months earlier he had been on the North-West frontier with Roger Knight and during his period in office, there had been encounters with Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia. Despite the ultimate disappointment of the ‘Ashes’ series, four series wins had been more than he had “dared to hope”.
The meeting was attended by Christopher Tate (son of Steve & Jenny) the young Hambledon cricketer who had won our competition for a written/visual record of the “Cradle of Cricket”. Chris has now become our first junior member. Lord Alexander described his first cricketing memories when he was Christopher’s age – Bradman and Morris at Leeds in 1948 and then, shortly after, England being dismissed for 52 at the Oval (Hutton 30). Let us hope that – as then – Christopher can celebrate England reclaiming and then holding the ‘Ashes’ within five years!
Lord Alexander spoke with fondness of Colin Cowdrey and Desmond Eagar and their contributions to the “spirit of cricket”. He described the Dinner held after the MCC v Australia match at Arundel and painted a very positive picture of Steve Waugh and his side as “ambassadors for cricket”.
One of the greatest thrills of his year was a meeting with Sir Donald Bradman. The meeting had been arranged by Richie Benaud and Lord Alexander confessed to nervousness as Bradman arrived and asked “You Alexander?” The conversation about cricket and life was a pleasure.
He told Bradman’s tale of his probable average against the West Indian fast bowlers (see Newsletter 5) and suggested that Bradman was “not a total saint”. He loved to golf and took great pleasure in betting and winning. On one occasion he persuaded a young man to hit a dog-leg shot over the trees. After his ball had disappeared into the foliage, Bradman apologised, pointing out that “when I was younger the trees were not so tall”.
In Australia, he also met Kerry Packer. Lord Alexander had acted as Counsel for Mr Packer in those momentous days when he changed international cricket forever. Packer warned “don’t think you are going to cross-examine me” and Lord Alexander suggested that while the Australian had only been interested in television (not cricket) what he had achieved had a very positive effect on the game.
Lord Alexander referred to another Australian, Rodney Marsh, in his concern that English cricket must address itself to young cricketers as the “key” to the future of our game. He welcomed the appointment of Marsh to run the new Academy and described his visit to the Edwardian House by the beach which has been home to some of England’s most promising young players this winter. He also pointed out that such schemes are not cheap but they are probably the only way for England to compete with the central cultural role of cricket in developing countries.
Lord Alexander is only the second person to have been President of the MCC and Vice-President of the Hambledon club at the same time. The first, the 9th Earl of Winchelsea, was in office during the American War of Independence and had been responsible for passing the laws of cricket from Hambledon to the MCC. In this way, Lord Alexander’s contribution to our meeting offered a very real connection to the cricketers and the club that we meet twice yearly to honour.
At the end of his talk, Lord Alexander made the presentation to Christopher Tate for his winning entry in the “Cradle of Cricket” competition. It would be nice to think that Christopher might be at the Bat and Ball to celebrate 300 years of the club in 2050, although I suspect he may need to recruit some new members to join him!
Our President offered a vote of thanks to Lord Alexander for his “fascinating and most enjoyable” talk. Once again Ashley thanked Dick and Lesley Orders and their staff for a splendid lunch.
Your secretary offered to stand down if there was any member interested in taking on the role. No offers have yet been forthcoming but the invitation remains. Your committee looks forward to seeing you on the 13th April 2002.