121     John Crosfield

 
Right-Hand Bat
M      I        R    NO   HS     AVG    C(WK/out)
37   28   316   3     48   12.64       -/10

Right-Arm Slow
W       R         O      M       AVG      Best
37   729   140.1   7     19.70   2.4-0-11-4 v. Waltham St. Lawrence, 2005

Batting head-gear: Sailing Cap

Tours: 8
The Gaffer Award: 2004


Debut: 11.06.2000  House: School  At LP: 1966-1970

“The Guv” as John is known is a comparative new boy in our ranks as a result of not joining us until June 2000 when he was then almost 47 and at the time the oldest debutant in our records. Indeed the Guv discovered us after returning from working overseas and joining the school’s Board of Governors and wandering around the grounds one day to find the OLCC in action. Having had an interest in the game in the past, here was the ideal opportunity to join a jovial club and to help him keep in touch with Old Leightonians in his governor’s role. Whether John knew exactly how jovial the club was going to be is another matter as he found that none of the members were actually called by their proper names, and this took him a while to comprehend in such an extraordinary club of jokers.

On his first appearance he recorded a score of 48 and this remains his top score for the club. So what has happened since one might ask ! The answer is that the Guv has become a secret weapon in the bowling department and his tantalising loopy projection of the ball (with windmill action and back leg kicking the air) has fooled many an opposing batsman during the past 7 years.

When most people set eyes on the Guv for the first time, the last thing on their minds was that this is the man who would be one of the club’s leading wicket takers, and one of the more spritely fielders ! If there is a quick single to be had by any oppo. batsman, Guv will pounce on it like a cat. His bowling is something quite special . To the naked eye from the boundary the flight of his deliveries would be more at home during World War II , being thrown out of the trenches. This however is a naïve attitude, as the flight more often than not bamboozles batsmen into having a big swing at it, missing the ball, and returning on the long walk back to the pavilion.

The Guv’s claim to fame went unnoticed at Woodhouse Eaves in May 2004 when he achieved only the 4th Hat Trick in the club’s history – it was not discovered until the scorebook was scrutinised at the pub after the game as the three deliveries were not all in the same over.

John can easily be spotted when at the crease or in the field as he wears a white “Hello Sailor” cap as a result of joining the club at a time when stocks of official kit were low. To give him a more senior role as Chairman of the Guvs he was presented with an admiral’s hat on a recent tour, but he quickly passed this one over considering it unsuitable and not in the spirit of Quakerism. GWVC/TWVC



desert island discs
1) Carmina Burana - Carl Orff
2) Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
3) Invincible - Muse
4) Blowing in the Wind - Bob Dylan
5) Emperor Concerto - Beethoven
6) Paperback Writer - The Beatles
7) Water Music - Handel
8) Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Book: 1984 - George Orwell

Luxury Item: Short Wave Radio

Three films
1) Orphee
2) Women In Love
3) Midnight Cowboy


Favourite Graham Carter nick-name: Denzil!

Cheese or Chocolate: Chocolate
Beer or Wine: Kaliber Beer
Tea or Coffee: Tea
Boys or Girls: Girls
Greenland or Ibiza: Greenland
Wet Shave or Dry Shave: Wet


W.G. or Bradman: Bradman
Botham or Sobers: Sobers
Pietersen or Boycott: Pietersen
Marshall or McGrath: Marshall
Read or Jones: Read
Warne or Murali: Warny
Hair or Bowden: Bowden


For Room 101...
1) Daily Mail
2) Central Line Sardine Cans
3) Meetings no-one has prepared for