The Twelfth Man 2014

! 29 Australia.!To!conclude,!David!read!an!extract!from! his!Greig!book!about!the!series!in!Brisbane!where! Tony!took!a!century!off!Lillee!and!Thomson,!when! they!were!at!their!ferocious!best.!Many!say!it!was! the!best!innings!they!had!ever!seen,!and! comparisons!were!made!with!the!greats!of!this! wonderful!game,!both!batsmen!and!allMrounder’s.!! The!question!and!answer!session!went!well!into! overtime!with!subjects!as!far!reaching!as!Packer,! technology,!Ashes!cricket!and!American!football,! to!conclude!an!excellent!evening.! November!21 st !!–!Pat!Pocock! Patrick!Ian!Pocock!was!born!in!Bangor,!now! Gwynedd,!Wales,!but!is!best!known!to!us!as!the! England!and!Surrey!offMspinner!who!was!heralded! as!the!next!Jim!Laker.!His!20!Test!matches!and!a! oneMday!International!seemed!less!than!many!of! us!thought!he!had!the!right!to!expect.!He!was!one! of!the!most!authentic!spin!bowlers!of!his! generation,!with!a!textbook!high!action,!turning! the!ball!and!varying!his!angles,!and!he!was!never! afraid!to!experiment!if!the!batsman!got!on!top.! His!entire!career!was!spent!with!Surrey,!and!he! got!his!first!taste!of!the!vagaries!of!international! selection!when!he!replaced!Fred!Titmus,!who!had! lost!four!toes!in!a!boating!accident!on!the! 1967/68!tour!of!the!West!Indies.!He!took!6M79! against!Australia!in!the!first!Test!at!Old!Trafford!in! 1968….!But!was!then!immediately!dropped!and! replaced!by!Derek!Underwood.! His!next!two!home!Tests!were!against!the!West! Indies!in!1976,!but!his!next!recall!was!not!until! eight!years!and!86!tests!later.!Only!Derek! Shackleton!after!103!Tests!and!Les!Jackson!after! 96!waited!longer!for!an!international!recall.! Pat!finished!his!Test!career!on!a!happy!note!under! the!captaincy!of!David!Gower,!and!in!a!successful! partnership!with!leftMhander!Phil!Edmonds,!on! England’s!1984M85!tour!of!India.! PatMor!Percy—Pollock!is!probably!best!known!for! taking!7!wickets!in!11!balls!for!Surrey!against! Sussex!in!1972.!He!captained!Surrey!in!his!final! season!of!1986,!having!made!his!debut!for!them!in! 1964.!He!finished!with!1,607!first!class!wickets!at! 26.53!and!best!bowling!figures!of!9M57.! After!his!introduction,!Pat!talked!about!the! different!eras!in!which!he!had!played.!He!included! the!start!of!the!oneMday!era,!introduction!of! overseas!players,!and!then!the!Packer!era!in!which! Tony!Greig!started!the!revolution,!which!brought! about!the!modern!day!era.! Pat!then!talked!about!the!ECB!input,!and!although! they!did!a!lot!right,!he!had!mixed!feelings!about! the!coaching!side!of!things.!The!ICC!also!now! needs!to!put!the!game!first!and!foremost!above!all! commercial!considerations.! On!the!question!of!spinners,!Pat!was!concerned! that!we!only!have!two!or!three!spinners!good! enough!for!Test!cricket.!Pat!remembered!the!days! when!he!and!Phil!Edmonds!would!ball!the!bulk!of! the!overs!in!county!matches.! Pat!went!on!to!tell!the!audience!lots!of!stories!and! anecdotes!about!the!old!days,!which!proved!very! entertaining,!as!did!the!question,!and!answer! session!where!the!Bedser!era,!Tony!Greig!era,!and! experiences!playing!against!Yorkshire!were! covered.!! November!28 th !–!Anthony!Bradbury! Jim!introduced!our!guest!for!this!evening,!a! prominent!member!of!the!Yorkshire!CCC!Southern! Group,!based!in!London,!Judge!Anthony!Bradbury.! Anthony!began!by!telling!us!about!the!150 th ! Anniversary!bash!at!the!House!of!Commons! earlier!this!year,!organised!by!Yorkshire!MPs.!This! enabled!Anthony!to!have!some!interesting!chats! to!several!players.!A!particularly!interesting!one! was!with!Joe!Sayers!who!was!writing!a!season! long!diary.!He!also!discussed!the!modern!fixture! lists,!compared!to!the!old!Southern!Tour!where! supporters!from!North!and!South!attended!as!part! of!their!annual!holiday.! Anthony!relished!stories!about!his!batting!hero! Pat!Pocock!receives!his!WCLS!glass!from!Brian! Workman !