PETERHOUSE
NOSTALGIA
PETERHOUSE
NOSTALGIA
Peterhouse was privileged to have Sandy Singleton as its cricket coach for the 20 years to his retirement in 1983 and is is with great sadness that we record his death in March 1999. See his obituary from "The Daily Telegraph." - quite obviously in part taken from the website, which we should perhaps take as a compliment!
Sandy was an all rounder of immense talent and a shrewd and charismatic leader, captaining Shrewsbury, Oxford University, Worcester and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in a wonderful career. A right-handed opening batsman and left-handed off-spin bowler Sandy was widely tipped as a future England captain but his love of the family life came before cricket. Regarded as one of the gentlemen of the game he decided to emigrate to Rhodesia after the Second World War where his wife Polly had her family. Still highly regarded by Worcester for his deeds with the club in the 1930s and 40s, Sandy was a special guest at the club's centenary in 1993. Robbed of some of his best years due to the Second World War Sandy showed that he had lost none of his touch when county cricket resumed in 1946. Captaining Worcester as an amateur he posted the remarkable achievement of 1,615 runs at 37.55 and nearly 100 wickets in a season and was expected to tour Australia with the MCC had he been available. His highest score for Worcestershirer was 164 against Warwickshire in 1946.Overall he scored 4,700 first class runs at 27.65 and took 240 wickets (30.49)
Not confining his talents to cricket, he also played league soccer in England.
The loss against Worcester by the 1997 Australian tourists to England brought back vivid memories to the 83 year old Sandy. In 1938 he captained Worcester against an Australian side that boasted players such as Don Bradman, Stan McCabe and Bill Ponsford. While he did not taste the success of winning on this occasion he recalls how he almost helped dismiss Bradman before he had scored. "I was fielding at leg slip when Bradman hit a ball my way and it fell just short of my grasp. As it turned out he went on to score 258!"
Shortly after his arrival in Rhodesia in 1946 Sandy captained the Rhodesian team to its first ever win against Transvaal. He retained the captaincy in 1947-8 and continued playing for the national side for a number of years. One anecdote of these years of achievement in his new country typifies Sandy's approach to the game and to the tradition he passed on to generations of Peterhouse boys. The undefeated 1949-50 Australian side arrived in Bulawayo having won four of the tests against the Springboks with one drawn. Sandy opened the batting and in the second innings the Rhodesians had their backs to the wall on a crumbling clay wicket and were all out for 71. Louis Duffus described the scene "A number of batsmen contributed to their own downfall through a fateful urge to play back. A couple were bowled without making strokes, and finally Sandy Singleton dismissed himself through a gesture that smacked of ethics learned at Shrewsbury and Oxford. Given not out from the bowler's end he asked the square leg umpire if the ball was caught at slip and that official raised his finger. Technically the decision should have been up the wicket, but there was no doubt that it was correct."
On his retirement from Peterhouse Sandy emigrated to Australia. There he lived in Wagga Wagga following cricket closely, but bemoaning the fact that the "pyjama game" had spoilt the finer points of real Test Cricket until cruelly deprived of this pleasure in his last years by Alzheimer's.
Sandy's was a lifetime of great achievement, which he never flaunted as most men would have. In his years at Peterhouse he had a profound influence on many boys and was instrumental in establishing the school's sporting tradition and sense of competitive fair play.
Sandy's All-Time First X1 turned out to be a top 20 something, he wrote; "During my time at Peterhouse there were many fine and capable captains of the 1st XI and among the best were: Ian McGill with his flaming red hair and incredible both arms over fast bowling action Christopher (Kiff) Seager a diplomat, ruthless captain, good batsman and talented speaker (1406 runs) Charles Burton, a natural leader and gifted player Other players who made their mark (and many of these were Captains in their year). Apologies for omissions. Peter Dare (a very correct batsman) John Dare (opening bowler. The Dare brothers were identical twins and this caused much consternation for the opposition - and scorers) Ray Cartwright (spin bowler) M C Dryden (1428 runs for the 1st XI) Bruce Freer, Michael Stanning, Ian Bendyshe Walton (opening batsman), R Wilson, Bushnell ,Van Blerk, Popplestone, Rouse, A D Smith, Michael Seager ( stylish batsman) Jake Jacobson (spin bowler 1970 : 97.3 overs, 33 maidens, 227 runs, 29 wickets, av 7.8 Rhodesian schools) David Wheeler (Spin bowler) Allan Mizzen, Young, Chance, Neild, Raynor, Harvey, Hodder, David Freidman, Richard Fry, Adrian Hosack (one of the most outstanding cover fieldsmen ever) Roy McIlwaine (Wicketkeeper) Gareth Baines (excellent all rounder, 103 wickets for the 1st XI, Rhodesian Schools) Peter Fieldsend (a most deceptively casual wicket keeper and opening bat) Patrick Morton (top all rounder) Alistair Travers (excellent batsman 1266 runs for the First XI, captain Rhodesian Schools ) Bill Godley (sound batsman) Brian Watkins (Bowler who defected to Umtali Boys High School) Neil Wrench ( a very talented player, whose untimely death on a cricket field robbed the country of a fine sportsman and ambassador for the game.)
Sandy was involved in a range of other activities at the school including Engineering.
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