PETERHOUSE NOSTALGIA

... MEMORIES ...

SANDY SINGLETON : TEN YEARS OF 1ST XI CRICKET 1964 -1973

Those who remember the Senior Oval 10 years ago cannot fail to be impressed if they see it now. Surely it is the most attractive of all the School cricket grounds in this country.

Many improvements have taken place during these ten years. The first was the ploughing up and harrowing of the top half of the ground, and the fertilising of it over a few years. Previously this part of the ground had been practically devoid of grass for most of the season. But this has produced a good cover of grass over the whole year, except in the driest of seasons.

Then came the building of the new pavilion, a great expense, but well worth it, and paid for by the fete at Government House, and the establishment of turf nets behind it. Soon after came the stone terracing on the East and North sides, enough to seat a large crowd - but when shall We have one? A vast permanent sight screen was then built at the North end, and the two old movable ones were redesigned and put at the South end. Finally the Petreans gave us a splendid score box, and we now have a ground which is a matter of pride to the school and the envy of visitors.

And what about the performance of the Ist XI? The following table gives the figures

In other matches, against teams such as Petreans, Gordon Lennox XI, Stragglers, Seager's XI, Hodder-Williams' XI, Reynolds' XI, Chillcott's XI, the record is.-

Played 25
Won 7
Drawn 6
Lost 12

In fact, the big four, Prince Edward, Umtali, Churchill and St. George's have usually got the better of us, inflicting on us 31 of our 35 defeats by other schools during this period.

1964

There have been times of gloom, but there have also been many moments of great excitement and pleasure. remember the tense finish to the game at Churchill, when McGill and Watkins bowled the last 5 overs for one run which level led the scores, while McGill took the last two wickets to make a tie.

1966

Then in 1966 came Hosack's great innings of 157 against Falcon, still the highest score ever made for the school. And in the same year, Morton and McDonald added 147 in an hour against Prince Edward, Morton hitting the fast bowler for 24 in one over.

1968

In 1968 we bowled Falcon out for 82 in the second innings, and won the game. This was the finest exhibition of fielding I have ever seen by a school team. John Dare's captaincy was brilliant, and Jacobson took 6-25, one of many fine bowling performances. This was a very good year. Seager and Wrench made 98 for the first wicket against Prince Edward in 80 minutes, and 85 against the Petreans the next day. Then Seager, Wrench and Peter Dare made 236 in 150 minutes against Morgan.

This team, under John Dare, went 19 matches without losing.

1970 and 71

In 1970 Edwards made an exhilarating 88 against Umtali, and 70 the next year. And in 1971 McDougall and Freer made 193 against Chillcott's XI in 100 minutes. There are many other exciting moments which cannot be chronicled.

Sandy's Team of the Decade

So, you ask, what will be my selected team for these ten years ?

Obviously Kiff Seager will open the innings. He made 1400 runs here and went on to get a Cambridge Blue. His partner is David Edwards, who made over 1000 runs at a very fast pace, and was also a brilliant cover fielder.

No. 3 belongs to Peter Dare, also a brilliant cover fielder, and scorer of 1 100 runs.

John Fielding is No. 4. His steadiness saw us through many crises. He made 815 runs, and took 47 wickets with his off spinners.

No 5 is difficult; there are several contenders for the position. But No 6 without doubt goes to Brian Watkins, a magnificent fielder and close catcher, who made 800 runs and took 90 wickets for the first XI. He is followed at No 7 by Craig McDougall, a good close catcher, who, in his career made 670 runs (and could have doubled that!) and took 110 wickets.

I now have 3 top class all-roundels in Fielding, Watkins and McDougall, so for Number 5 I want a top class batsman who is a very good fielder, and for this I choose Neil Wrench, who is a left hander, and will be spare wicket keeper. He just gets the position ahead of Adrian Hosack whom I consider the best ground fielder of the decade, and so becomes 12th man.

No 8 goes to John Dare, who took 82 wickets as an opening bowler, was a brilliant fielder anywhere, especially close in and nearly always made runs when they were needed. He was a most successful and inspiring captain, and is hereby appointed captain of this team.

No 9 is lan McGill, the outstanding opening bowler of this period. In a comparatively short career for the First XI he took 73 wickets at an average of 8.4, and was the terror of opening batsmen.

No 10 must be the wicket keeper, and this will be Roy MacIlwaine, with 84 victims, though, for elegance and quality, Peter Fieldsend runs him close. But he only had 45 victims.

And No. 11 unquestionably goes to Jake Jacobson, the outstanding bowler of the period. He took 165 wickets for the school with his left arm spinners, more than anyone else has ever done, and he won many games for us.

So there we are. The team is: 1. Seager. 2. Edwards. 3. P. Dare. 4. Fielding. 5. Wrench. 6. Watkins. 7. McDougall. 8. J. Dare. 9. McGill. 10. MacIlwaine. 11. Jacobson. 12th Man. Hosack.

Sandy Singleton
1983