Sheffield Cricket Lovers' Society Year Book 2017

6 Sheffield Cricket Lovers’ Society Thursday 1st October 2015 To start our Indoor Season off we welcomed First Class Umpire STEVE GARRATT , Steve is one of only five First Class Umpires not to have played cricket at County level. His interest in cricket grew whilst he was a Police Cadet in Nottingham. He described himself as ‘sports mad’ and did play as much cricket as his police role would allow. He was advised to train as an Umpire and eventually was appointed to the reserve list in 2003. He stood in his first County Championship match in 2005, stood in five County matches in 2006 and 2007 . He was then appointed to the First Class panel for the 2008 season. He began that season early being appointed to be the official umpire on the MCC’s Tour to Argentina in January. He has also officiated in Women’s Test matches and T20 internationals. During the question and answer session Steve did feel that it had taken a little longer to be accepted than was the case with former County players. However he was now satisfied and still very proud to be on the panel. He was looking forward to the coming season. An excellent evening enjoyed by all present. Thursday 8th October Welcome to author, Richard Tomlinson to tell us about his recently released book ‘Amazing Grace, The Man who was WG.’ Richard, Historian and former playing member of MCC related some of the almost mythical stories of WG. He was however very keen to describe his hard work researching the Archives of the MCC in his preparation for the book. There were interesting anecdotes relating to the former secretary of the MCC, R A Fitzgerald, including incredible stories of the Tour to Canada led by Fitzgerald with more emphasis on off field activities than the on the field results! Richard was very clearly well versed on WG who he told us learned his cricket from his mother Martha and his older brother E.M. Grace. This was a fascinating evening giving us a clear insight into the hard work and dedication required to write his book. Wednesday 21st October 2015 Once again we were pleased to welcome David Callaghan, well known as the voice of Yorkshire Cricket. He gave us an in depth report of all the Yorkshire cricket matches. His knowledge of match by match is second to none and he is able to convey both the ups and downs of the season, in particular the County Championship. His knowledge of the players and their input in all forms of the game is remarkable and it is obvious to all he enjoys every minute of all matches. His insight into the effect that losing players to England and the ‘blooding’ of young players into the side had on the club gave all present an introduction to his question and answer session which was well received. An enjoyable evening. This report by Peter Mason Wednesday 4th November 2015 A warm welcome to Paul Horton formerly with Lancashire CCC but set to play for Leicestershire in the coming season. Paul was born in Sydney NSW but moved back to England when his Liverpool born parents decided to return home. As a The Indoor Season... 2015-2016 twitter: @scloverssociety