 The
Four Elms junior team has been running on and off for
forty years, dependent on numbers and willing helpers!.
Many current 1st and 2nd team players started playing
Cricket in the Four Elms juniors under the guidance
of Keith and Roy Dawes. Back then, there was no bigger
disappointment on a Tuesday than it raining at lunchtime,
then getting off the school bus, walking home and getting
the call that the game had been rained off!
Tuesday evenings were a race to get
home from school, have tea and get to the club for the
match. Or, if you were playing away, to get to the garage
by 5.45 to be picked up by Roy or Keith! The memories
of Roy, five kids and a massive kit bag spilling out
of his old Skoda at Stonewall Park are hard to forget!
As memory serves the 'kit bag' consisted of a ramshackle
mismatch of odd gloves, pads and oversized abdo guards
which invariably slipped down your leg as you walked
out to bat, Worse still the indignity of being run out
stumbling down the wicket for a quick single encumbered
by one mans pad and one boys! Then there were the old
green spiked batting gloves, which, if you had the misfortune
of being struck on the hand, did little to stop the
impending bruising!
In Keith and Roys day the pre-match
pep-talk consisted of, "have we got eleven?,"
"Who's opening the batting?," "Yes, i
know there bigger than you, but you lot are better Cricketers!".
Then the post match pep-talk if we won, occasionally
turned to, "What time have you got to be home?
have we got time for half a shandy?" |
