Gordonians Cricket Club

The dinner on Saturday achieved its primary objective to bring many cricketers and supporters of the club together to renew friendships forged on the field. The secondary objectives of connecting current and former players and demonstrating the proud heritage of our club were also addressed. We were able to recognise Anju Mudkavi's career achievements with a presentation. The organisation of the event also helped us track down "lost" former players and greatly improve our contacts database so that we can keep in touch in the future much better than we have done in the past, for which we apologise. Thanks to the organising committee, all at the Marcliffe, Stewart Spence, Buff Hardie and his Uncle Walter, JAG McHardy, Andy Lowden, Alan Adie and Steven Brown for playing such a fine innings on the night. The planning also focussed our club historian, Alan, and a small band of helpers, in collating a vast amount of club data to produce the "90 years of Gordonians Cricket" handout and Team Photos booklet provided at the dinner. The P&J took photos on the night so look out for those in the near future.

Our determination to recognise the anniversary to the day risked trying to play fun cricket in mid May and the gamble paid off. The Sunday matches - a young RGC XI vs a Gordonians Cricket Club select followed by the 1994 SU winning side plus guests vs a Rest of The World XI - again was a great success. Early signs of the positive approach to the day were the record numbers of Gordonian cricketers to be seen netting before the match, some of whom had ironically failed to find their way to nets during their playing careers! Despite the lack of a pavilion, there were a loyal band of spectators and players watching the matches with light refreshments provided. Our thanks to the senior team captains - Marc Jones, Colin Johnston and Peter Robertson - for providing a bit of leadership and organisation on the day and to the new umpiring double act of F Robertson and AJ Innes. As it turned out the friendly matches were taken far too seriously but were played in the right spirit. When you look at the assembled players and their playing experience and competitiveness, irrespective of age, then maybe that's not such a surprise. No wicket was surrendered lightly and the bowling was remarkably accurate. By the end, a very small band made it back to the Seafield Club for a final reflection on a tiring but satisfying weekend. The RGC & P&J cameras were on duty so look out for photos on the RGC website iGnite section and in the P&J and on their website.

So sadly, it's all over. We hope that renewed friendships will be continued away from club reunions, that some FP's will revisit their club at nets or at matches to show interest and support. The current players were in awe of the record of accomplishment & commitment from you former players and the friendlies and camaraderie on the day. If you think back to your playing days, it was the more experienced and former players that inspired you.

What does the future hold? Well, the 2014 season is well under way with our four teams battling for success and having fun along the way. Our Organising Committee is threatening to reconvene to plan the next big party, whatever it might be, and Alan hopes to progress filling in the gaps in the club’s history for publication in due course. Thanks again to all those who made this happen and best wishes to everyone in the future especially those who wanted to be involved but were unable to make it. Absent friends for sure were remembered on the night.

Finally if you have any ideas for future events and/or want to get involved with your club then please contact Andy Lowden at a.lowden@tiscali.co.uk or 07807 349810 or Paul Gray at gordos.sec@gmail.com or Alan Adie at Alan.Adie@arrowdawn.com

SCORECARD for SPCU 1994 WINNERS v REST of the WORLD

5.  A McLean          stumped Morgan     Pettitt     1
6.  J Laing               bowled                      Pettitt     4
7.  P Robertson       retired hurt                              1
8.  A Lowden              not out                                  0
9.  M Cohen                dnb
10. D MIlne                 dnb
11. R William-Jones     dnb
Extras     Wides 1                            Total extras    1
Total                                                                     103

Rest of World Bowling
1.  J Helme         4/0/10/0
2.  B Leaper        2/0/11/0
3.  D Johnston     4/0/21/0
4.  R Mitchell       2/0/22/0
5.  T Hart             2/0/13/0
6.  C Pettitt          4/0/15/3
7.  P Lewis          1/0/7/0
8.  D Jack            1/0/4/0

Rest of the World
1.  P Lewis                lbw                    Cohen             5
2.  D Johnston          retired                                     30
3.  C Pettitt                lbw                 Shepherd        10
4.  G Bews                lbw           William-Jones         2
5.  W Stalker            retired                                      10
6.  R Mitchell            retired                                        1
7.  T Hart                   bowled                McLean        2
8.  A Morgan             not out                                    15
9.  P Watson             bowled         N Robertson       4
10. B Leaper              not out                                     1
11, 12   C Johnston & D Jack   dnb
Extras  Byes 7 Leg Byes 2 Wides 3  Total extras 12
Total                                                                            92

SPCU 1994 Bowling
1.  D Milne              4/0/12/0
2.  M Cohen            4/0/9/1
3.  B Doney             4/0/16/0
4.  A Mudkavi           3/0/7/0
5.  R William-Jones   2/0/5/1
6.  R Shepherd          1/0/2/1
7.  J Laing                 2/0/11/0
8.  A McLean            2/0/6/1
9.  R Mudkavi            1/0/10/0
10. N Robertson         1/0/5/1