Pete Linfield Memorial Day 6th August 2006
Forty four different players from a variety of local clubs and numerous spectators converged on Crowhurst Recreation Ground on Sunday to pay tribute to the popular former Crowhurst chairman and captain, Pete Linfield. Two games of cricket were played in a spirit he would have been proud of. Several players came out of retirement, and some travelled from as far away as the Isle of Wight to take part in the proceedings. Both the beer and the banter flowed freely all day.In the morning a twenty over game was played between two sides captained by Udimore´s Barry Stunt and Legion´s Jamie White. Stunty´s team took first knock and the skipper led the way with a less than stylish 43, as he tried to smash sixes off a couple of the Udimore clubmates he was facing, with a variety of shots, all of which seemed to go in the direction of cow corner.
Mark Weedall, also of Udimore, employed his famed late cut, which to the uninitiated looks very much like an outside edge, to notch 43, and in partnership with Mountfield´s Giles Cullingford (40) enabled a score of 173-4 to be posted.
Like Stunt, Jamie White also led from the front in smashing 70, although much more elegantly, taking a particular liking to the buffet bowling served up by Julian Buss and Barnaby Hone. Unfortunately, for White he received little support from the other end, and when he did eventually find a partner in Crowhurst youngster Alex Berwick (20) who was capable of staying with him, the run rate required was way out of reach. They did extremely well to be only seventeen runs short with nine wickets down, when the overs ran out.
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After lunch in the Plough, Pete?s two sons Nathan and Joe skippered the afternoon teams, which were predominantly made up of Crowhurst players past and present. Most of the players on view were displaying larger waistlines, much less athleticism, and even less hair than the last time they had appeared at the King George VI Recreation Ground, but they still managed to produce an entertaining game of cricket.
Brian "Wiggy" White looked like he had never been away in compiling 44, and with most of his team chipping in, including Nathan Linfield (35) and Jim Philcox (30), Nathans team reached 190-7 in their 30 overs. Martin Barry applied some degree of containment in taking 2-18 and Ron Kemp rolled back the years to claim 2-44. Kemp´s achievement was even more remarkable, considering he had to borrow a pair of trousers, which fell apart shortly after he put them on, and required the help of a couple of strategically placed safety pins to keep them round his waist for the day!
Roger Dennard led the reply with a swashbuckling 64. He found an ally in Marin Barry who crashed 42 before he fell to a catch in the deep off Nathan Linfield (3-53). Meanwhile James "Sticky" Dale kept plugging away at the other end, undeterred by having to watch Barry deposit the first two balls he bowled in the river. His reward was to record figures of 4-40 including the vital wicket of Dennard, caught slogging to deep mid wicket late on. It needed last man Bernie Bolt to hit the final ball for six, but instead he was dismissed, leaving Joe´s team five runs short at 185 all out.
Top of PageAfter the game Joe and Nathan unveiled a plaque in the pavilion in memory of Pete and the players and spectators ended a very enjoyable day with a barbacue.
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