WE HAD A (BAT AND) BALL
16/11/04: The OLCC celebrated the culmination of its 28th season with a magnificent Annual Dinner in rural Oxfordshire.
The Bat and Ball Inn at Cuddesdon provided a delightful setting for the 19 members, three (later four) Honorary members and 13 (later 12) guests who assembled at around 7.30pm.
Dinner organiser and compere for the evening Andrew Moss began proceedings with the traditional Quaker silence before those present enjoyed, amongst others, Thai fish cakes, Antipasti Milanese and soup for starters; steak, lamb and haddock for main course; and sticky toffee pudding, cheesecake and the threateningly-titled Chocolate Nemesis for dessert.
The arrival of the coffee brought with it Andrew Moss calling the proceedings to order to draw our attention to some matters of statistical signifcance and to toast our guests.
Next up was Peter Straw, who with no small amount of relief was able to pass on the 'Lower Deck Jacket' to Ed Sugden, the latter being rewarded for a memorable season in which he scored one run from four innings.
Peter then made way for brother Chris, who presented OLCC President Graham Carter with a cheque and newly-inaugurated cricket bat trophy for winning the 2004 Fantasy League. Rather than give an acceptance speech, the President instead chose to entertain a now-hysterical throng with a rendition of the old classic 'Down By The Riverside', accompanied by members of his Fantasy League of the same name.
With the guests still in a state of shock and/or amusement, it was left to Geoff Samuels and John Acland-Hood to attempt to follow what had gone before as they presented the PBH May Gaffer Trophy. After running through the various nominees (among them a very surprised Charles Allan and a hardly surprised Simon Best), John presented the trophy to John Crosfield, whose season's highlights had included topping the bowling averages, scoring a matchwinning 24 not out at Jordans. John Acland-Hood paid due deference to the hat-trick John had taken and no-one noticed at Woodhouse Eaves by forgetting to mention it again (until prompted).
OLCC Secretary Phil Samuels then took the floor to carry out the welcome task of conferring Honorary membership on Tom Carter. Accepting his OLCC cap and tie and a certificate detailing his achievements for the club to date, Tom expressed his delight at becoming an Honorary member and also pledged to score more runs for the club rather than against!
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for finally arrived as President Graham Carter delivered the evening's keynote speech. As well as referring to the many jovial goings-on of the 2004 season, Graham dedicated part of his speech to David Pollard, the club's much-missed Vice-President who very sadly passed away on June 23.
As Graham's speech was met with tumltuous applause, it was left to Charles Allan to declare Kirsty Pollard a deserving winner of the speech sweepstake as the President had clocked in at around the half-hour mark. And finally, Andrew Moss and Ed Sugden were the recipients of two bats that had been subject of a raffle during the evening.
With midnight approaching, several members retired to the bar area where the consumption of statistics, averages, chronicles and most notably port was begun in earnest to bring a pleasant end to a memorable evening.
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