The attendance was somewhat depleted in comparison to previous seasons but nonetheless those who were able to make it enjoyed a good evening.

Winners of awards for 2011 were as follows:

Hawker Trophy – Matthew Creese

Chris Stevenson ‘Rocket’ Trophy – Matthew Creese (510 league runs)

Derek Honnor Bowling Cup – Adrian Car (44 League wickets)

Colin Done Young Cricketer of the year – Ashley Sivarajah

Martin Fletcher Clubman of the year – Rob Johnson

Dunkirk Award – Phil Dunnett

Geoff Slipper Spirit of Cricket Award – Alan Rolt

The Scribbler – Jamie Jouning

Piano Award – Paul Lassman

A true highlight of the evening was Paddy Robinson’s piano speech which was delivered in his absence by Rob Johnson for those who missed it please read on:

Anyone who has cast a lazy eye over my match reports down the years will know how little attention is paid to the cricket itself.  This award will follow a similar trend, being not at all related to the field of play.

I say lazy eye, for surely nothing else can explain the multitude of dropped catches, play and misses or wide balls that have been witnessed at grounds across Middlesex…and that is just speaking for your correspondent’s own afflictions.

Anyway, I digress.

Imagine if you can, a damp and balmy evening in November.  People across the country are gathering to celebrate the traditional British family pastime of burning a Catholic.

The Gunns and Gordons sporting fine fluorescent jackets from such illustrious merchants as “British Rail”, were joined by Paul Lassman sporting a do worthy of One Direction, Phil Dunnett sporting a sick note from Leeds General Infirmary STD clinic and The Robinsons and Allans sporting a fine layer of flour, eggs and sugar.

In the gathering gloom, the hardy volunteers eagerly awaited to hear their role for the evening.

Like an Olympics gamesmaker praying for towel attendant to the women’s diving final (or – and I suppose one must be inclusive these days – Ben Hartman craving flour bowl filler upper in the 110kg men’s weightlifting), Paul Lassman was hoping for crowd control with a great view of the fireworks at 8pm.

Instead, he was pointed in the direction of the men’s toilets, where someone had kindly left a seat, for his comfort.

I’m not quite sure what he was there to keep an eye on, or even an ear on.  I will leave various scenarios that must have gone through the organisers’ mind to your own imagination, but with many thousands of people to pass through, I think the repetition of noise would make me wonder why I hadn’t just paid to go to Potter’s Bar.

Needless to say, the view of the fireworks was not going to be great.

For hours the soldier guarded his post as battle raged around him, the odour licking him like flames.  An extract from a poem describing such heroics of a French boy aboard a burning ship at the Battle of the Nile in 1798, sums it up eloquently…

The boy stood on the burning deck
Whence all but he were final;
The flame that lit the battle’s wreck
Shone round him o’er the urinal.

Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
A proud, though childlike form.

The flames roll’d on…he would not go
Without his team leader’s word;
That team leader, faint in firework glow,
His voice no longer heard.

He call’d aloud…”Say, team leader, say
If yet my task is done!”
He knew not that the chieftain’s pay
Had bought him some candy floss and two of Daphne’s fine cheese buns.

“Speak, team leader!” once again he cried
“If I may yet be gone!”
And but the booming shots replied,
And fast the Catherine Wheels roll’d on.

Then in his mind of deep discord,
And in his waving hair,
He thought, “For this shit, I’d better be in with a shout of the PIANO award”,
In still yet brave despair.

Well, as luck would have it his thought was quite correct, as, PIANO FORTE, Paul Is Apparently Not Overly Fond Of Repeated Toilet Eavesdropping.

201      Richard Bishop-Laggett    £20.00

232      Rob Johnson                   £30.00

101      Liz Gordon                     £50.00

155      Tony Young                    £75.00

Christened Alastair, he was accorded the nickname “Tiny Tim” at a very early age; as time passed he far outgrew the ‘tiny’ aspect but he remained Tim for ever. He successfully captained the Club 2nd XI from 1953 to 1958 and again in 1960 in which season his team won thirty games and lost only six. He served the Club on numerous committees, was Chairman from 1969-72 and President from 1991-93. On the field, Tim’s best bowling figures were 7-39 against Mayfield in 1957 and he made his only century, 109 not out, against Ferme Park in 1966.

He took up umpiring in 1974 and became arguably the most respected club umpire on the London club circuit. In 1975 he achieved national fame in the Daily Mirror when he no-balled Jeff Thomson in a tour practice match played at Southgate. He subsequently officiated at many top club games and for twenty years umpired for Middlesex CCC, including several appearances at Lords.

Tim was a regular visitor to the ground until distance and the discomfort of travelling got the better of him. He and Deborah moved from Grange Park to Broxted initially, and then more recently, Ickleton, near Saffron Walden. Tim, however, continued to be a loyal supporter of the Club, regularly telephoning members to check the progress of the Club’s teams over the previous weekend.

His fondness for children extended to having six of his own, and he enjoyed a career in the toy industry which continued well past normal retirement age.

His courtesy, old-style standards and manners were an integral part of the ongoing reputation of Southgate Cricket Club. He would have very much approved of the Fair Play Award recently made to the 1st XI at the 2011 Middlesex County Cricket League Dinner.

See below the entertaining tale of Tim and Thommo in the Daily Mail, click on the image to zoom in.

A 16 strong turn out from the club had a highly entertaining evening which included a key note speech from TMS summariser Vic Marks and festivities went on late into the night.

The Fair Play Award was based upon marks provided by league umpires and is a particular feather in the cap for the club showing that success and sportsmanship can be achieved hand in hand.

Rob Johnson said: “I’m delighted to be respresenting all of the players who played for the 1st XI this season in collecting this award. It’s fully deserved and has been awarded to a group of cricketers who have played hard, played well but above all have conducted themselves in a way that the club can be proud of.”

This is a particularly fitting tribute to a former president of the club and league umpire, Tim Bishop, whose death at age 87 was announced on Friday.

Game 1 was away to Edmonton and having lost the toss the Southgate XI were inserted on a slow surface. With the loss of early wickets a good fight back from Phil Dunnett (31) and Oliver Rix (38*) combined with some lusty hitting from first Paddy Robinson and then Omair Ali allowed SCC to post a competitive total of 182/7.

With the new ball Tom Yeomans showed excellent control delivering 8 overs unchanged to collect 4 wickets for 19 runs. Tom was replaced by the impressive Sam Faruqi (3-24) who showed equal control of line, length and spin and in partnership with some crafty off spin from Alvin Durgacharan (2-15). Southgate were eventual winners by a comfortable margin of 77 runs.

This was a good performance in the field with the undoubted highlight a screamer of a catch on the deep square leg boundary from Omair Ali. With a ball travelling at some pace it looked a certain six and as such would have been a pretty steady snaffle with two hands, but Oms instead opted to grab it with just the one paw and in it went with a resounding slap. Well done to all, a very encouraging performance.

After the very positive start in game 1, a slightly weaker Southgate XI eventually took the field on Sunday against Cockfosters. On an uncovered wicket (not in tribute to Jim) Southgate failed to show the necessary application that the situation required and in the face of some good bowling a total of 117 all out in the last over was about 50 runs short.

With the ball Southgate took a couple of wickets but a good partnership meant that Southgate were losers by 8 wickets and deservedly so.

Game 3 was away from home to a very strong Holtwhites Trinity side containing Southgate old boy Ahmed Elech amongst a few other very good cricketers. The Southgate XI contained 7 lads under 20 which meant an uphill task but a good challenge nonetheless.

After a delayed start because of a downpour Southgate won the toss and opted to field. Mir and Ali took the new ball and faced something of an onslaught with the ball disappearing to all parts at 8 an over. There was however something in it for the bowlers and a wicket for Mir brought the dangerous Elech to the crease. Some sumptuous strokeplay followed but the introduction of Faruqi proved his undoing with youngster Marchello DeCrecenzo showing he’s got a good pair of hands in the outfield by taking a good catch on the extra cover fence.

On a fast scoring ground the best way to restrict the scoring was by taking wickets and after a spell of leg spin from both ends it was time for something different with the medium pace of Josh Berman and Greg Bonsor. There followed an excellent period of play for Southgate with the key factor being Phil Dunnett’s excellent wicket keeping.

Standing up to both medium pacers and with plenty to take down the legside from Berman, Phil’s glove work was absolutely top class and allowed for a 10 over period of relative pressure which wrestled back the momentum.

Wickets did fall with 2 to Berman and 3 to Bonsor and despite some fireworks at the death a score of 252 was much better than could have been the case after the first 10 went for 80.

Opening the batting was the exciting partnership of Tom Edrich and Phil Dunnett, both looked in good touch from the beginning with Dunnett in particular timing the ball majestically through the covers and memorably down the ground.

Dunnett was adjudged LBW for a brisk 20 and replaced by Rob Johnson who showed positive intent from ball one.

There followed an excellent partnership of 122 between Johnson (70) and Edrich (49) combining quick singles with some aggressive intent, especially against the Holtwhites spinners. One delivery sailed into the houses as Johnson took the attack to the bowlers however his dismissal was followed by that of Edrich and the momentum of the game had changed again. Cameos from Mir and Ali kept Southgate in the hunt with just over six an over required however their wickets exposed the youthful lower order and a collapse duly followed.

Seeing these sorts of run chases home it one of the toughest parts of cricket and with a strong bowling attack and diminishing light it was an opportunity for someone to make a name for themselves. That however wasn’t to be and Southgate fell 40 short, which on reflection could have been recouped by better bowling at the death, one senior batsman batting for another 3 overs or fewer extras (33!).

That said it’s hugely encouraging to see some of Southgate’s youngsters playing competitive 1st team level cricket with some of the senior players and I hope lessons were learned by all on the day, that alone would be a fitting legacy for this competition.

The final will be played at the Walker Ground on Saturday 24th September, wickets pitched at 12:30.

Southgate 2^nd XI 191-6 dec (43.2 overs)

North Weald 82-9 (39 overs)

match drawn

The 2^nd XI entertained North Weald on Saturday – and a nicer bunch of blokes you couldn’t wish to meet. I am now beginning to understand why, when we have been beaten hollow in a Sunday friendly, the oppo have never socially exploited our deficiencies but inexplicably looked forward to wanting to play us again. North Weald didn’t in fact lose, although they would be the first to admit that they were the further of the two from winning and were not a strong side on the day. However, their enthusiasm and commitment were 100+%.

We were only expecting to field ten but Alfie Packer’s no-show brought us to nine. Happily, Delmore had brought a friend who turned out to be quite an asset so the status quo was resumed. A commanding innings from Partha Dave, some accurate bowling from our newcomer Peter David, two electric slip catches (plus one in the folds of a sweater) and a mesmerising spell from Delmore were the highlights of this late-arranged home fixture.

Southgate batted first on a damp pitch, the same one as the previous evening’s charity match and no doubt for the Church Times Final on Thursday. George Thorpe, tall and hairy, found his deliveries either bouncing startlingly or shooting past the batsman and felt quite at home on this village wicket. The openers, Middlesex Seniors maestro Gunn and his young apprentice Mark Hughes, found scoring difficult, and with both used to better conditions, managed to attract leading edges into catchable zones. The stage was set for Partha to unfold an innings of tempered aggression and with Anton Devkamalth (41) added 74 for the 3^rd wicket. Anton was adjudged not out from a very good LBW shout but was sporting enough to get bowled two balls later – which at least kept the umpire on good terms with bowler Monk. Anton shortly found himself hurtled back on to the field in the role of umpire and without a thought to his previous good fortune confidently adjudged the Hon Sec LBW. The fact that this was without bowing to the customary protocol of waiting for an appeal was something that Doug Gordon took stoically, without question, recrimination, or … well, not really. In fact a disturbingly searching interrogation of the budding Shakoor Rana was conducted in the run-up to tea. Moving quickly back to the action, it being intimated to Partha that (a) he was on 96 and (b) the declaration over was about to start, he attempted a four that was only going to be two except that Mike Lurie, after a bright 15, was run out in the process. Still needing three off five balls, poor Partha was lured into a rash heave to a widish delivery from which he was peremptorily stumped.

The tea interval provided Partha with some valuable minutes to recompose himself from the disappointment of just missing a well-deserved ton. Friday’s pavilion electrical fire brought the added novelty of sandwiches back to the tea table and, together with some pasta and paella Sue had managed to concoct, the tea was varied and plentiful (including a salver of sliced cake, Sage).

We opened our bowling with Ford Roy and Peter David. Ford bowled better than your reporter can remember seeing him and was rewarded with an athletic slip catch by Doug Gordon diving high to his left. Peter’s prodigious in-swing posed a real threat to the oppo, as clearly manifested in his figures of 3-18 in 12 overs, one of which was a rapid low catch to Alan Rolt at slip. Rolty also featured in Delmore’s grand plan with a slip catch which seemed to get swallowed up in a sweater that has become inexorably more voluminous with the passing years. Del then induced an edge to the ‘keeper and followed up by removing an off-stump to complete his haul of 3-21 in 6 overs. Doug, too, elicited a catch behind and it was refreshing to see, after a season of unsatisfactory low-grade league cricket, both batsmen walking without a moment’s hesitation. We missed what could only be regarded as a simple catch in the latter overs that would, in the end, have ensured victory. Mr Thorpe, however, tall and powerful looking as he was, nevertheless declined to be tempted into anything more ambitious than a forward defensive prod for the closing overs, thus playing a major part in Rolty’s figures of 1-2 in 4. George lost two partners but we couldn’t dislodge the third so on a final score of 82 for 9 we retired to darkened changing rooms and the prospect of cold showers. These in fact started warm but the luxury was short-lived; when you’re dealing with the match fees and complaining that the book hasn’t been copied up properly you tend to be last in the shower – except for skipper Rolt, of course, who customarily emerged about an hour later, refreshed and very clean. Ricky Gunn