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?"
Over the years the reins where taken up by Fred Naden
who ran the side for ten years in a similar vein to Keith
and Roy. Freds unstinting work bought on five or six of
todays current stock of senior players and his experience
and tutorage has seen them perform well on and off the
field over the years.
Now, in modern times we have to comply with guidelines
and directives from on high. The juniors are currently
organised and run by Alan and Ben Crowhurst who have completed
the ECB Level 1 Coaching Assistants course and are able
to give valuable help to a new era of up and coming players
of all abilities. Pauline Crowhurst is the clubs Child
Welfare Officer and is always available should you have
any issues to discuss.
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