Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2012

38 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society 25 years ago I wasn’t meant to be heading into first class cricket. I knew I could play but I wasn’t a player who was going to spend my life trying to get a contract at all costs. A life as a policeman beckoned. I had achieved the required grades at school and the thought of fighting a life of crime whilst representing Met Police on the cricket and football field appeared an appealing one. Then along came the summer of 1987 where everything changed. Having represented Surrey at all age levels through to Young Cricketers, which was U19, I had spent many seasons batting in the middle order with another player with a fair bit of talent, Graham Thorpe. We used to bat at 5 and 6 respectively and where as Graham had acquired the mantle of ‘future England player’, I had received the tag of someone who could hit a longball at the end of an innings which alas had led to some numerically small innings albeit dotted with quite a few 6’s. Finally my chance came in a game against Middlesex YC’s. Chasing 226 to win we were struggling at 40 for 5, which soon after became 42 for 6. Modesty prevents me from telling you who scored a big hundred that day not only to secure the win by three wickets but also a first professional contract along with that fairly useful cricketer Mr Thorpe. I was afforded a one year contract at the Oval for a massive £3000 for the year and have never looked back since. I was lucky to come through a Nescafé youth system that produced Bicknell, Thorpe, Brown, Hollioake and Butcher within a three year period and although success wasn’t immediate it gave us a platform to build on and once we had tasted success in 1996 we had a side that could win in all competitions. It wasn’t all good news for us as our glory era was bookended with the deaths of two of our most popular players; Graham Kersey and Ben Hollioake both suffered fatal car accidents in Australia. The passing of Graham proved the beginning in 1996 and the death of Ben in 2002 proving to be the end. My time at Surrey was littered with good memories. The way we grew as players was quite impressive. The early 90’s was full of good performances without an ending and it wasn’t until 1996 that we finally brought home some silverware in the shape of ‘The AXA Sunday League’. The following years brought many more trophies as well as a good understanding of us as individuals. Backstabbing had been replaced by unselfishness and the following years were filled with success. Post Ben’s accident was a troubled time for the club. We had lost a leader in Adam Hollioake the likes of which the club hasn’t seen since. The squad changed and the management changed too. Different views and work ethics didn’t seem to work and the squad became divided, some moving on and others retiring. As for me, my retirement was being brought forward a little quicker than I was anticipating and hence a fresh start was required. A chance meeting with Mick Newell at Lord’s had given me the opportunity to represent a club that was already poised for silverware. Although the strength at Notts was more in the bowling than the batting and despite repeated warnings End of an innings... Alistair Brown