from the boundary
News from Legendary statistician, Nicholas Evanson
ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF CRICKET AT TORQUAY RECREATION GROUND BY JACK CRITCHLOW
This year sees the return of Torquay (and Kingskerswell) Cricket Club to its home, The Recreation Ground, on Torquay Sea Front, for the hundredth consecutive season. But it might be worth going back further than 1926 to see how the old ground evolved even before then.
On 24th May, 1888, The Torquay Recreation Ground Ltd. was incorporated, which set about trying to raise the £3000 required to get the ball rolling. The Mallock Estate leased out six acres of land near Torquay Station for 19 years at £52 per annum for the first 14 years, and £65 yearly for the remainder. After such conditions were met a formal opening and rugby match took place on 29th September, 1888, when visitors Newton Abbot beat Torquay. The following year saw five tennis courts open on the site, laid by Curtis, Sandford and Co. Tickets for the season cost ten shillings and sixpence, which also admitted members to all cycling, athletics and rugby events. In the June of 1889 a quarter mile cycle track, 20 feet wide, laid by Webber and Stedhams, was opened for race meetings held by Torquay Cycling Club. 'The Rec's' first grandstand was then built, and a bowling green followed in 1894.
However, because of financial difficulties, in 1896 the Ground was sub-leased to a syndicate at a rent of £110 per annum, but then after a proposal to wind up the company it was decided to re-mortgage. This presented problems so the council stepped in and bought the Recreation Ground on behalf of the people of Torquay to preserve as somewhere that sports and other such pursuits could continue. And in the coming years this would also include the likes of parades and pageants, firework displays and picture shows. The rest, as they say, is history.
On a personal note, I have always had an affinity with the old place, in part due to the fact that my Great Uncle John Hornbrook was a groundsman/caretaker there, his job having been kept open for him while he was away serving in the Boer War (1899-1902), and he brought a monkey back from South Africa which would accompany him to work there every day.
As time moved on invariably changes took place, with Torquay United taking up residence in 1900, paying an annual rent of £5, but for that the club still had to maintain the ground and cut the grass. And there were even problems back then with blocked underground culverts. But in 1904 Torquay Athletic Rugby Club became the new landlords, so United were obliged to make way and find a new home, eventually arriving at Plainmoor in 1910, where they have been ever since, while 'The Tics' flourished on their new ground.
After having played at Windmill Hill and Cricketfield Road from when the club was founded in 1851, Torquay Cricket Club finally took over the other half of the Recreation Ground in 1926. The opening First XI fixture was against Chudleigh, which was won by the home side. However, the umpires reported that as the club anticipated playing touring teams and hosting county matches in the future, then "the Town Council must take steps to materially improve the ground as a cricket field." But on a more positive note it was observed that there were many spectators present, with teas being supplied to them as well as the players.
These would have been served from the rugby club's premises as the cricket pavilion was not built until ten years later, and when it was officially opened by the Mayor of Torquay, Col. Rowland Ward, in 1936, he commented that the club "possessed one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in the country."
And even today, 90 years later, The Recreation Ground must still be one of the most stunning sports venues anywhere, bordered as it is by parkland and gardens, with a fine medieval abbey and Victorian railway station for neighbours; and the splendour of the sea just yards from boundary's edge.
Here's to another century at 'The Rec' for Torquay (and Kingskerswell) Cricket Club.
easter coaching courses for years 3 to 8
Following on from their sold out February Half Term Courses, the Devon Cricket Foundation will be running similar courses during the Easter Holidays - perfect timing for the new season, For more details the link is:
SPONSOR A PLAYER FOR JUST £50
For just £50 your brand name and logo will feature on the following:
Line-up announcements every Saturday morning on the club’s social media pages including this website, where posts regularly reach more than 200 views.
“Star Player” posts, should your chosen player score 50 or 100 runs, or take 5 wickets.
Invite to Sponsors’ Day om Saturday 15 August,
Further details on this excellent opportunity to support local sport can be obtained from the Hon, Club Secretary secretary@tkcc.co.uk
shock news
The Business and Facilities Committee are pleased to announce that thanks to a collaboration between the Devon Cricket League and Jay’s Aim Shop, TKCC will have a Defibrillator at the Recreation Ground (there is already one at The Playing Fields, Kingskerswell).
As Evo the club’s Lead First Aider said, “a Defibrillator can save a life. The DCL Chair, Nick Rogers, might not be here today but for one.” In the pre-Defib era, the one fatality Evo can sadly remember though was the former TUFC goalkeeper, Terry Lee, who was playing for Barton CC. Evo went onto to say, “with training they aren’t scary to use so I would encourage any club members to take up the offer of training on this life saving piece of equipment.”
News on who will be its “guardian” and details about training on it will be announced shortly,
draws for local cup competitions
AARON PRINTERS CUP DRAW
Round 1 will see TKCC 1st XI take on Abbotskerswell CC 1st XI away in what could now be the “Battle of the Smout Cooper’s” on Thursday 7 May.
If successful there will be another trip in Round 2 to Teignbridge on Thursday 28 May to take on Ipplepen CC 1st XI aka “Torquay Old Boys”. (Well at once stage recently they could name an entire XI with connections to Torquay CC.)
Should TKCC get to the Semi Final it will be a home match against either Bovey Tracey CC 1st XI or Babbacombe CC 1st XI on Thursday 18 June – Mike Hunt had better make sure he isn’t on yet another holiday!!!
As for the Final it will be held at Bovey Tracey CC on a date TBC (the current cup holders now always host the Final the following year).
BROCKMAN CUP DRAW
Round 1 will see TKCC 2nd XI play host to Teignmouth and Shaldon CC 1st XI on Tuesday 5 May – one can only hope for better light this year with the fixture so early.
If successful in Round 2 there will be a trip to Teignbridge (seems to be a recurring theme) to take on South Devon CC 2nd XI on Tuesday 2 June.
The Semi Finals as usual will be held on Friday 12 and Monday 15 June at Torquay Recreation Ground.
The Final which will presided over by TKCCs very own Mike Hunt will be held at Torquay Recreation Ground on Friday 10 July. Alas the Final does clash with a home fixture for Somerset CCC in the Vitality Blast.
sONNY BAKER IS HOME
The club is relived to announce the repatriation of the England Lions from the UAE was successfully completed yesterday afternoon.
sonny and england lions at the double
The club’s very own Sonny Baker returned to 50 over action with England Lions this morning in the UAE against Pakistan Shaheens in a one sided match - Pakistan all out for just 152 in 38.2 overs with Sonny claiming 2 for 29 in the 8 overs he was required to bowl. England knocked it off for the loss of just one wicket in only 24.2 overs. Sonny should be in action again on Sunday in the 2nd ODI.
AWARENESS SESSIONS
Evo would like to firstly apologise for the delay in the promised talk from Autistic After Hours (AAH). Unfortunately, one of the Directors has had an increased workload over the last few months. However, AAH are hopefully about to secure additional funding which will enable them to enhance their awareness / training sessions they want to hold going forward. When the session is held it will be held jointly with Paignton CC and / or Torquay Tennis Club.
Talking of Torquay Tennis Club, they are arranging a talk from Torbay Prostate Support Association and to ensure sufficient numbers they have invited anyone who is interested from the cricket club to attend. Evo will circulate the date when known but it likely to be early summer. With their new Chairperson as EDI driven as Evo (actually they have just won a Devon LTA award for their work), there will undoubtedly be further invites in the future.
Finally, after his productive meeting with the EDI Officer from Active Devon, who will be visiting the club in the summer. If anyone has ideas for awareness / training sessions, please contact Evo via nevanson@hotmail.com as if the there is collaboration between sporting clubs such sessions could be funded by Active Devon.
INCOMING PLAYER
The club are pleased to formally announce the signing of Ed Smout Cooper from Abbotskerswell CC (transfers only get announced once all the paperwork is completed), Ed a former Devon CCC youth player is the complete all-rounder – a batting (right-handed) wicketkeeper who can also bowl (right arm seam) and has already played midweek cricket for the club. Ed’s highest score is 152 not out against Thorverton CC 1st XI while his best bowling is 5 for 42 against Cornwood 3rd XI. As for Ed’s wicketkeeping credentials – 100 catches and 35 stumpings.
Welcome Ed
TORQUAY RECREATION GROUND LIMITED
When the cricket club and rugby club finally secured a 40-year lease on the Recreation Ground having heard an adaptation of one of Del Boy’s famous quotes for so many years, “this time next we will have a lease” it was necessary to form a company to oversee all the facilities / operations at the Rec, with three members from each club.
One of the originals, Ian Western, is calling time as far as this responsibility is concerned – we thank Ian for all his years’ service as a Director. The two remaining Directors, Simon Rice and Tim Western (like father like son, an original) will be joined by the club’s new highly experienced Chair of Business & Facilities, Dennis Brewer, who was also an original Director before standing down in 2016 to pursue his ambitions in local politics.
Those currently representing TARFC are Jackie Coles (their first ever female Club Chair), Stephen Hanbury and Chris Siddell. (One of their former Directors was a certain Chris Edwards – the last player to play both sports at county level while playing for both clubs.)
For those wondering about the Kings Bowls Club – they simply opted out for logistical / practical / viability reasons.
sonny in the wickets
England Lions go 2-0 up in the three match T20 series against Pakistan Shaheens in the UAE with Sonny taking 2-24 including the match winning wicket for the Lions in their 32 run victory this morning (our time). Sonny will hopefully be in action again in the final match of the series, before the ODIs start, this Tuesday.
EXCITING NEWS!
The club are pleased to announce the return of the Torbay / South Devon T20 Competition and it will be entering. The other three clubs entering are Barton CC and Paignton CC the other two originals from the original competition, and making up the quartet will be new boys Bovey Tracey CC. The round robin fixtures are due to be played on 16th, 23rd and 30th of July with the Finals Day in August which will include a 3rd / 4th place play off. More details on the fixtures will be released in March.
I wonder how many original kits still survive!
To finish on a serious note though one can only hope the club can field viable XIs (and have a scorer in the box) for all fixtures.
NICK GAYWOOD IN CONVERSATION WITH PETER HARDY
For those of you who remember the great Devon CCC side of the 1990s, the above online event is being hosted by The Cricket Society this coming Thursday at 7.30pm (£5 if you aren’t a member of The Cricket Society). Nick was a prolific left handed opening batter during the Golden Era for the county club. The link to booking a ticket is below:
There is actually a rumour circulating that Evo will be submitting a question for his namesake to answer!
sonny’s winning return
After the disappointment of Australia, Sonny Baker made a successful return to England Lions action this morning in the UAE, opening the bowling against Pakistan Shaheens and claiming 1 for 29 in the Lions 4 wicket win in the first of three T20 matches. The 2nd T20 match is on Sunday.
OPENING UP CRICKET
Evo who was recently formally appointed as the club’s first EDI Officer has said, “if members thought last year was big for EDI for the club they ain’t seen nothing yet. Literally within minutes of the option of having stickers on their bats promoting Opening Up Cricket there was positive responses from both Australia and New Zealand.” Evo is already putting a proposal together to improve access to the nets for those in wheelchairs as well as writing a shopping list of old kit / equipment that he would like to “acquire“ for recycling to help the club’s EDI work.
For those of you interested in finding out more about the work of Opening Up Cricket, their website can be found at:
MIKE ROWSE RIP (updated)
It is with must sadness the Committee has to inform members of the passing of Mike Rowse a former Kingskerswell CC player who in his later years appears to have lived in Cornwall with his wife, Pauline. A full Obituary will be published on the website when those who knew him have forwarded their memories of him.
According to Tim Chapman, Mike was a useful right handed batter and a sharp right arm bowler when his back allowed. Tim and Mike room shared on several Kerswell Tours but stories of those tours have to stay on tour. However, Tim said, “Mike was a great bloke and was responsible for me joining Kingskerswell CC.”
Paul Mitchell said, “Mike was a hard hitting opening batsman, a bustling fast bowler and a very good fielder. In one season he took a club record 47 catches, mainly at silly mid on!
In the current era, a friendly match is generally regarded as a bit of fun, but prior to league cricket there was no such thing as an uncompetitive friendly. Mike played every game to win but never carried any misery into any bar or clubhouse after a loss. He was the life and soul of the team and enjoyed the importance of the social side after each match. A very very generous man in many ways.
After leaving Kingskerswell, he wasn't a great lover of league cricket, Mike moved to Stokeinteignhead and became a much loved member at the club but retained his friendship with us all at KCC. When Stoke lost their old ground, Mike stepped in and bought a field. Fast forward to now and Stoke are still playing on that same field at Netherton. Mike generously sold the ground to the club and I’d wouldn't imagine that much money changed hands!!
Mike and Pauline moved back to Mullion after Mike sold his Insurance Broker business.
I consider myself very lucky to have called Mike a teammate and a mate.”
MORE QUOTES TO FOLLOW
news from new zealand
The club are pleased to inform members that it’s returning overseas player, Tobias Delahunty, was part of the Weedons CC 1st XI which won the Ray White & Mortgage Mates Premier T20 Grade Grand Final beating Plains Plumbing & Gas Darfield CC 1st XI by 25 runs.
Well Done Tobias and See You Soon
Collaboration with Paignton CC
“Its no them and us when it comes to TKCC and Paignton CC.” Evo and Tim Ward AKA Wardy their Chair have come to mutual agreements over ID checks for DBSs and also the need for spare new balls.
If the Safeguarding Officers for the respective clubs doesn’t want to do an ID Check for personal reasons, they the Safeguarding Officer from the other club will do it – as Evo is Torbay based, he has agreed to pick up any Paignton ones if necessary. As Evo said, “it is just Best Practice to have a plan B in place.”
With the ruling that a new ball is needed if the match ball is lost within the first five overs in the top divisions, clubs could end up running short and buying a whole box of six is expensive overkill. Therefore, if this happens, the two clubs will help each other out where possible if one has a significant surplus and the other is running short. If it does need to happen, the recipient club will pay for the ball(s).
HOLLACOMBE UPDATE
No photos this month but another successful morning this morning – even a client confined to a special bed participated for the first time. A fantastic example of what you can do not what you can’t do.
To further improve the clients experience in the future, thanks must got to Mark Tyler, dad of the recently returned James for increasing the music which will be on offer and to Angelo Cambianica of Torquay Tennis Club for providing some more Pickleballs which have turned out to be the surprise hit, no pun intended, of the indoor sessions just to prove Evo wrong!
CHANCE TO LEARN A NEW SKILL AND HELP THE CLUB
With the regular 2nd XI Scorers wanting to reduce their commitments (as raised at the recent Club AGM) and Evo not wanting to be totally tied to the Scorebox (you heard that hear first). The club is in serious need of some more people who are willing to score (even if it just for the odd match) with the increased number of fixtures. Therefore, anyone interested there is a free online course and more details can be found below:
https://www.devoncricket.co.uk/online-scoring-course-launched
Evo who is a Level S2 - Representative Game Scorer Professional and ECB Accredited Scorer is willing to support anyone who is interested in doing the training to learn a new skill and help the club at the same time. He can be contacted via nevanson@hotmail.com
Alternatively if anyone is interested in scoring electronically, Evo can sign post to the relevant links as there are face to face courses available.