May 16, 2014, by Maggie

Staff-UG Cricket and sandwiches in the rain.

It is my pleasant duty to provide you with a report on the annual staff-UG student cricket match and I am pleased to be able to tell you that at least one classic English tradition is alive and well: huddling together under umbrellas eating sandwiches in the pouring rain.  Fortunately the sun shone after the tea-break, allowing the game to be completed.  To find out the result, you will have to read on.

The student captain, Tom Rowland, won the toss and elected to bat.  7 overs and 76 runs later, it was looking like an inspired decision.  However, amongst the run flurry, the staff had been chipping away at the wickets and this was to pay dividends in the later stages.  Everyone bowled well: 2 wickets for both Tim Baily and debutant Ioan Reed-Aspley whilst Chris O’Brien, Rob Webb (also on his debut), Mike Byrne, Wilcoxson (Steve) and Dave got one each.  Mention must also be made of some outstanding fielding, led by Malay behind the stumps and including catches by Chris, Dave and Mike.  The students committed the cardinal sin of not using up all their overs and were eventually bowled out for 147 in just 18 overs.  No such problem for the staff – we batted the full 20 overs with wickets to spare.  The only problem was that, as scorer Jackie Andrews confirmed, we had only managed 72 runs in the meantime.  Things were not helped by somewhat eccentric running between the wickets, but respectability was achieved due to an impressive knock from Rob Webb (21 not out and clear man of the match) as well as useful contributions from Wilcoxson (Gerard), James Jarrett, Malay, Dave and Wilcoxson (Steve).  The latter held up one end superbly to deny the students the satisfaction of bowling us out.

There were murmurings from some staff about the eligibility criteria for the student team (“So let’s get this right: you played cricket for Hertfordshire but you once had a drink with someone whose brother shared a house with a Business School student?  You’re in the team”) but in truth the students deservedly retained the cup which was presented to Tom by Jackie.  They outplayed us in all areas and maintained the ‘spirit of cricket’ throughout. Well done Tom and the students!

For the staff, the excellent performance of the newcomers such as Ioan and Rob gives cause for optimism.  Thanks for this are no doubt due to our HR department for their farsighted approach in signing off on the School’s policy that proficiency with the leather and willow should be an “essential criteria” at shortlisting.  Kathleen Visser for arranging the teas and being on hand to keep us in order.  Next stop the MSc student on the 24^th June followed by the MBAs on the 3^rd July.

By Prof. Dave Paton

Photograph taken by Britanglishman and reproduced under creative commons CC BY 2.0 Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/britanglishman/4591053777/

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