The winners of our annual awards are:
Batsman of the year: Tim Riley
Bowler of the year: Tim Riley
Fielder of the year: Jamie Lumb
Catch of the year: George Williams
President’s Cup: Mark Ford-Langstaff and Tim House
Captain’s Cup: Richard Lumb
Congratulations to you all!
Nigel Sandy-Lumsdaine sadly passed away Friday 31st July. A VP and frequent spectator, he will be sadly missed. Our condolences to the Nigel’s family.
Whilst we welcome the return of cricket to our lives post covid (hopefully), we have a duty as a club to make available the information required to make this a safe return.
We would ask that all members, players and our opponents make themselves aware of the guidelines which are linked to below.
Track & Trace
The government requires us to collect the contact details of EVERYONE (not just players) who comes to the ground when a match is taking place. Forms will be available on the day but it would be of help if you could complete the form prior to attending. A box will be provided for your completed form. We will not use the details collected for any purpose other than track & trace, should it help the government and NHS prevent the spread of COVID-19. Please download and complete the form here:
Track & Trace Form (link removed)
Of primary importance is that visitors to the ground must screen themselves for COVID-19 symptoms before coming and should not leave their homes if they are displaying symptoms. You can assess yourself against the government guidelines here.
Social distancing must be maintained whilst at the ground and to that end we suggest you bring your own seat as there will not be enough space for all on our benches.
Please read the following documents:
ECB Plan for Socially Distanced Cricket
Other things to remember as per ECB guidelines:
Thank you for your support.
Mark Ford-Langstaff
In line with the statement from the ECB (see link below), all cricket is suspended until further notice, so no nets at Edgbaston this Saturday, no outdoor nets which would have started a week today, and no games until the position changes. We will strive to keep everyone updated via email, social media and the website.
www.ecb.co.uk/news/1646355/ecb-statement-on-the-recreational-game
Our annual pub quiz this evening had a brilliant new question-setting team of David Lewis & Matt Dipple.
The 2020 champions, by one point, are the Competitive Streakers, led by Richard Lumb with George Lamb, Andrew & Rona Hickman, and club skipper Simon Lee.
Congratulations!
Dear Members,
It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the sudden death of our dear friend and Vice President Caro McFarlan who died on Thursday 30th January, after a short illness. She started coming to the ground as a child when her father Bill was Chairman in the early 60’s and over the years became a valued member and friend of Middleton Stoney Cricket Club. With her warm and sociable personality and her willingness to help wholeheartedly, Caro will be sorely missed.
Our heartfelt condolences go out to Michael and to Caro’s mother and sisters; our thoughts and prayers are with them at this sad time.
When we have any information about funeral arrangements, I will ensure it is posted on our website.
Kind regards,
Peter van de Kerkhof
Chairman
And the winners are..
Young Player of the Year: George Williams
Catch of the Season 2019: Rob Barton, off the bowling of Elliot Barton v Simmons CC, 25 August
Fielder of the Year 2019: Tim House
Bowler of the Year 2019: Simon Pettit. 30 wickets
Batsman of the Year 2019: Tim Riley. 704 runs
All-Rounder of the Year 2019: Tim Riley. 704 runs, 10 wickets, 7 catches, 4 stumpings
Michael Martin Award 2019: Tim Cranston
Captain’s Cup 2019: Chris Greer
Champagne Moment of the Year 2019: Middleton Stoney CC v Melbourne Cricket Club XXIX, 9 August. Tim House’s game-changing catch, off the bowling of Tim Cranston, to dismiss MCC captain Sam Harper
President’s Cup 2019: Tim Cranston
We were unable to field a full cricket team for this year’s MSCC Golf Tournament.
In fact just 7 players limbered up at the 1st Tee, a multitude of genuine problems, from farming to housebuilding, and even work had caused problems this year.
Following a standard lunch of Guinness, soup, sandwiches and chips, we set out on a Kirtlington course in very good condition.
David Moorman was the first victor, scoring 14 points over the first 9 holes, retaining the Seniors trophy as his opponent George Lamb was unable to compete this year.
The rest of us enjoyed the views and our golf, which was of a high standard, with 29 points the lowest score for 3 of us.
Tim House was third with 33 points, and the Longest Drive (yet again), Nick Thompson was 2nd with 35 points and nearest the pin, and Howard Lancaster was the victor, also on 35 points, by virtue of a better back 9 holes.
Prizes were allocated, alcohol was imbibed and we resolved to meet again next year, with hopefully an increased turnout.
Nick Thompson
Imagine if Jesus had been born a couple of thousand years later, not in the Middle East but in Middleton Stoney.
I’m guessing that he would then have played cricket for us, Middleton Stoney Cricket Club. And because Jesus was brought up by Joseph to work with wood, their modern-day family business could well have been Joseph & Son, Bat-Makers.
In our world, it could then have been the Cricket Tea at Cana where his mother, Mary, thought supplies were running out but Jesus saved the day (John, 2.1-11). It wouldn’t have been a home fixture, since running out is not a problem for our teas, although it is for some of our batsmen.
The first hint of a cricket tea in the Bible is much earlier, in the First Book of Kings, where Elijah was revived by a scone. The prophet Elijah was in despair, much like Mark Ford-Langstaff after his duck against the Rainmen in 2017: (First Kings 19:4-8)
‘Yahweh,’ he said, ‘I have had enough…
‘He himself went on … a … journey, and sitting under a bush wished he were dead.
Then he lay down and went to sleep.
Then all of a sudden an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’
He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water…
So he got up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked …’
The Old Testament foretells of cricketing folk elsewhere, as when a different Joseph wore a colourful, striped garment, the others were jealous (Genesis, 37.3) and the idea of a cricket blazer was born.
In the New Testament, we can imagine how the miracles and parables might be translated into our era and our club. For an example of a miracle, there was the problem of his fishermen friends not getting a catch or a decent total until Jesus was among them, said to put up the nets and suddenly the scorebook showed 153 (John, 21.11).
As for parables, Jesus spoke about sowing seed (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8) on (Middleton) Stoney ground and he captured the attitude of Middleton Stoney players perfectly in the parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, when those who had been labouring under the hot sun asked, ‘Why, Lord, do the latecomers get to bat as high up as us?’ (Matthew 20, 1-16.)
And for Christmas, it’s the gifts of gold, frankincense & myrrh – gold ducks, frankly-incensed batsmen when given out LBW and people bowling like Muralitharan – which give rise to alternative carol lyrics about what we can offer (Matthew 2, 1-12):
We three Tims of Middleton are
Barbecuing, or behind the bar,
Fielding, waiting, Moorman mounting
One more century score …’
Thank you to all the stars of our club and of this church. As cricketers and as human beings, in and out of season, we ask God,
‘Guide us to thy perfect light’.
When Mark, out for a duck v Rainmen,
echoed the Prophet Elijah (who never got a duck v Rainmen),
saying, ‘I have had enough’, then ‘lay down and went to sleep’
We three Tim’s Of Middleton Are
Simon Lee
Dear Fellow Club Members,
John Deeley, our immediate past Chairman, died this morning.
Thank you to Caro McFarlan for passing on the news. Caro will also let us know funeral arrangements as soon as they are determined.
As Caro put it: ‘Some of you may already know but Joyce has asked me to let you know the sad, but not unexpected, news that John died this morning … A well fought innings to the end, methinks’.
I add a couple of photos of John below, at the President’s Day this year and playing on President’s Day in 2014.
The President, the current Chairman, John’s predecessor as Chairman and other longstanding members of the Club will have the opportunity in due course to reflect on John’s outstanding service and spirit, and I will be emailing members on other matters tomorrow, but we just wanted to make sure that those not in the immediate vicinity would hear this news from us today.
May John rest in peace.
With best wishes to his family and friends,
Simon Lee
