Ode to Rowington Cricket Club - Summer 2007

One of the high points of the evening was Scott Rogers' speech, which had been carefully crafted to show off his talent for poetry (yes, really). His poem is set out in full below for those of you who missed it or were unable to commit it to memory first time round. Everyone is looking forward to next year's speech already (no pressure Scott!). This is Scott on the right.

"The 1st Team - In batting order

And then there's....

Billy's arrived, is he sober or drunk?

He bailed us out twice when we thought we were sunk

Brian played twice and I have no doubt

That he's still batting now because no one could get him out

That one point that cost us, shall we name the name?

Still playing in his 90's, Piers is doing well to be in the frame

And then there's Naz and Frank and Tommy all doing their bit

If it wasn't for these guys some weeks we'd be in the....short

The 2007 Season

So we rolled up at Woodbourne, in sun, just the ticket

The hose pipe had burst and gone and soaked the wicket

The toss was lost and we were all shot out

But with the best bowling attack I had no doubt

The first game was won and there was talk of promotion

We piled on the runs against Leamington to keep things in motion

A loss at Long Itchington when my heart ruled my head

Another loss at Stratford and promotion looked dead

And then the wet weather, no cricket each week

Will it ever be dry again? It all looks so bleak

The last four out of five at the theatre of dreams

No losses at Rowington, we beat all the teams

And so we missed out on promotion by that one single point

Instead of champagne at the Ritz we're stuck in this bloody joint

Thanks

Who would be captain? It's not a job it's a sin

If we lose it's my fault and bugger all to do with me if we win

I've been a diplomat, psychologist, motivator and mathematician

A philosopher, a gambler, a selector and tactician

Greenidge, Haynes, Richards and LLoyd would be a nice cheat

Hayden, Ponting, Warne and McGrath, now that would be sweet

But I've got Haywood and Sly, I've got Shaw and Jay

That's what I've got to work with and that's on a good day

There is yet to be a great captain of a losing team

And as no one else is daft enough I may once again be seen

Barking out field positions in a sun sometimes searing

You have to shout loud for the hard of hearing

You can see we've got experience, that's polite for we're old

But we're still playing cricket and we still play it bold

The guys must enjoy the limelight, that's why they all got a mention

Because come next year, half of them will be drawing their pension

My thanks to Mrs Jay for some glorious teas

Our bellies were happy but I'm not sure about our knees

My thanks to the team for blood, sweat and tears

For playing better cricket than most of our peers

I do concede that my Nan could captain this lot really

As she used to play cricket under the name of Mike Brearley

To my wife for watching almost every game

For astutely pointing out my tactics are often to blame

To the memory of Neil Curtiss for introducing me to this hub

My thanks to Brian, Rich and co for the opportunity to skipper the club

It's been an honour and a pleasure but I have one more to commend

To Steve Jay, who makes the job easy, I thank you as a friend."  [Ahhhh - Ed]

The End

Clive Haywood

Clive's a man of much insight

And once offered me advice on my injury plight

Stay out of the gym, no bench press, no flies

Be injury free like me, just eat more pies

Graham Sly

Graham's Mr Competitive with a voice like Kathy Beale

A hard hitting batsman, a real man of steel

Goes and gets married, missing the top of the table clash

The next time you do it Gray, choose the Winter for your bash

Matt Page

Matty bats at four and his luck he often rides

But can anyone shed any light on him batting for both sides?

Stay close to your partner because the lad's full of chat

"Hi, I'm a personal trainer, here's my card, I'm Matt"

Eike Gilbert

"Wow Dude, chill, I'm on my way"

Baggies, no shoes, cricketing or surfing today?

Then the hair got clipped and Mrs became Mr

You are nowhere near as good a player as your long-haired sister

Danny Chinn

Danny's got talent, we can all see that

If only he had the confidence of our mate Matt

He can bat and bowl and takes catches with his chest

He really could be one of Rowington's very best

Steve Thorne

Steve bats and keeps, but not in the Adam Gilchrist mould

He likes to dab and tickle if he's feeling especially bold

But he guided us to wins like a sentence with a comma

Another good guy, definitely a top bomber

Andy Shaw

Andy bowls hoop down hill with flight and guile

He's our best spinner, he's the best by a mile

He loves his tucker and teas like a Sunday dinner

He's our best slow bowler because he's our only spinner

Steve Jay

He sleeps with a mirror, to wake with his dream date

The team's best bowler, if you base it on weight

Without his witty reposts the place would be a touch duller

He's no oil painting, in fact he's not even a good watercolour

Leon Clarke

At 50 he may have thought his cricketing was all done

But announced himself with "Don't worry about me son"

Calypso style and caribbean flair

One hell of a sun tan but not a lot of hair

Dave Oldfield

"Ah up fella" and "there goes me lass"

He proved to be a little bit of class

A proper player on the pitch and a good lad in the bar

It's a pity he's leaving us because he could have gone far

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