15 Years Wasn't All That Flew By...

So it's all over. My final Devon Premier Division league match at my home cricket ground was to be today against North Devon. They arrived without Glenn Querl (their overseas), without the Overton twins who are away with England U19s in Australia for the World Cup, and without a few others too so we could be forgiven for thinking we might have done the double over them for the first time in many years. Not to be. The rain came, when it let off we worked to get the field fit for play and as soon as we had, the rain came back. Game called off just before 2pm. As I walked off the field a Spitfire flew past, and that alone brought back so many memories.

My Home Of Cricket

I first joined Bovey Tracey Cricket Club in 1997 at the tender age of 11. I played a couple of games in the Under 15's and Under 13's, and the following season aged 12 I also played in the Under 17's and was asked for the first time to play for the full Men's team on a Sunday, which became a regular thing for me. It was around this time I knew I would rather be a cricketer than a footballer and in 1998 I won a trophy for "Most Enthusiastic Colt". I have never set the world alight as a cricketer and have never thought  I was, or ever claimed to be the best player. In the clubhouse is a board that shows every President, Chairman and 1st XI Captain in the history of the club and I made it my mission to get onto all three columns of that board.

In my age group the main three players were Ben Cadoux-Hudson, Ben Ayres and myself with Ben Cajee one year below us. All 4 of us attended county trials for our ages and although I made the squad on a few occasions, I never represented Devon in a match. On 11th July 1999 we had an Under 13's match at home to Dartington & Totnes, and with Ben C-H and Ben Ayres both away with Devon, I was made Captain. Ayresy was always Captain, I was always Vice Captain. The match itself was fairly unremarkable and we won convincingly. As I've mentioned previously, aviation is another of my passions and I knew that Concorde was visiting Exeter that weekend. Under 13's match in the morning, dart to Exeter Airport to watch her take-off and then dart back to Bovey to play a men's match. Perfect day for me? Even more so when Concorde did a flypast over the ground during my U13's match and my Dad (sort of) caught it on video (see below). Even more so when we got to Exeter and the registration was G-BOAC, or "Alpha Charlie", my Concorde.

As we grew older we all shared the Captaincy of the age groups, with Ayresy and myself mainly doing the duties from U13's, U15's and U17's. Of all the guys I played with through the age groups at Bovey, Ben Ayres is the only one I have constantly played alongside every single season and he has gone on to be one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen in the county. It's amazing to me that of my 15 years at the club, I have played alongside Ryan Bougourd, Chris Bradley, Pete Bradley, Andy Fairbairn and Ben Ayres for at least 10 seasons each. A lot of us played 2nd XI Premier Division cricket together, then were all thrust into 1st XI Premier Division cricket, suffered relegation and built ourselves up again in the A Division, won the title and topped the table in the Premier Division for most of 2012. A personal highlight was winning the 1st XI Player's Player award in 2005. The same core of guys have been there for years, the bonds built up over that time are irreplaceable and to think that next Saturday is the very last time I'll share that with them is very saddening.

Bowling for Bovey in April 2007

Together we've won Twenty20 Cups, the A Division title in 2008, Narracott Cups, the Devon Senior Cup and played alongside and against many players we have seen in First Class cricket. Mark Lathwell (England/Somerset/Braunton), Gavin Ewing (Paignton/Zimbabwe), Neil Edwards (Seaton/Somerset), Omari Banks (West Indies), Arul Suppiah (Somerset), Lewis Gregory (Plympton/Somerset), Jamie and Craig Overton (England U19's/Somerset/North Devon), Farhan Adil (Chudleigh/Pakistan alledgedly), Hasantha Fernando (Sri Lanka/Plymouth) and Vernon Philander (South Africa/Budleigh Salterton) are just a few that I can think of that we've faced over the years and we've had Ali Imran Pasha (PIA and Pakistan U19's), Faisal Iqbal (Pakistan, nephew of Javed Miandad), Steffan Jones and Ben Phillips (Somerset mainly), Farhaan Behardien (Titans, South Africa), Andy De-Boorder (Auckland, New Zealand) and this year Neil Hancock (Somerset) who have played First Class cricket and played for Bovey Tracey during my time at the club. I am immensely proud to have shared the cricket field and played alongside such talent, and to test myself against it. Lathwell, Adil, Edwards, Steffan Jones and Philander are all players I have managed to get out and to have hit Jamie Overton for two sixes over his head last season was pleasing, especially as he was clocked in the Under 19 World Cup bowling at 93mph! Doesn't sound like much but to a simple lad from a small Devon town it's something I'm proud of, just as much as I am proud of playing 2 seasons in Sydney, Australia and I am proud to have had a net session with the West Indies at the SCG in 2010. Cricketing dreams that came true.

Me with Faisal Iqbal after winning
the Devon Senior Cup in 2010

So here we are, 25th August 2012 and supposed to have played North Devon. The rain cancelled it. Last weekend after the horror defeat at Exmouth and the Phil Matten episode that led to the emotionally charged blog entry, I agreed to play the Sunday friendly. I'm glad I did because for the first time ever I properly focussed all my energy on my batting and was determined to not get out for less than 100, and that's exactly what happened. After some running "games" with Richard Longstreet (declining easy runs to keep strike... both of us guilty), including when I was on 98 and after completing the first run to start the easy second, watching Richard lean on his bat at the other end, I finally managed to get my third ever century. No real celebration, I was retired by my captain and walked off knowing my face wasn't showing any happiness or excitement. Of course, I was immensely proud, a ton is a ton whatever standard you are playing but I was more relieved that the previous day could be consigned to history and forgotten in the best possible way, as quickly as was possible.

At the time, I had no idea it would be my final innings at Bovey Tracey Cricket Club. Obviously a great way to finish, but I would still have rather played today than watch it rain, I cannot tell you just how gutted I was when the call came from the umpires and I realised my time at this amazing cricket ground was over. Dillon Mullins picked up on it and came over to me to cheer me up, but I really was close to tears, I was that gutted and choked that I didn't get to end it on my terms. But to finish with a hundred? Can I really be disappointed with that?

Me hitting Jamie Overton for the first of
two sixes, North Devon CC 2011.

I have just two matches left to represent BTCC. Tomorrow (Sun 26th Aug 2012) sees us take on Sidmouth in the Devon Senior Cup Final, to be played at Sidmouth. The weather forecast is good, but you can never rely on the weather in this country. Next Saturday we play Tiverton Heathcoat needing a huge amout of luck to land the Premier Division title with a 17 point gap and just 20 to play for. In what has been an awful summer for rain, we just have to pray it stays away. I would love to win two trophies in my final two games for the club, what more fitting way would there be to end?

My first game as Captain was marked by a Concorde flypast, never to be repeated. My first ever hundred was scored on the same day England won the greatest Test Match EVER at Edgbaston in 2005. I took my first 5 wicket haul in 2008 helping the 2nd XI to win the A Division. All happened at Bovey Tracey, my home town. And now my final innings in my home town was my third hundred. Can't be a bad script. And when the Spitfire flew over the cloudy skies as Dillon and I walked from the field, it reminded me of Concorde's Final ever flight into Filton, Bristol in 2003. Almost identical weather conditions, and a Spitfire flew over Concorde after she had landed, never to take flight again. Here, a Spitfire flew over me, seemingly never to play cricket in my home town again. It just seemed to perfectly emphasise how time flies until suddenly, before you realise it, it's all over and all you have are memories.

Stress, Pressure and a Rude Umpire.

I write this at the end of what has not been a fantastic week. I had hoped that since our fantastic holiday in Ireland in my previous entry that we would have an enjoyable August but sadly not. Unfortunately the cricket  has not been going well and we have just lost 3 in a row to Sidmouth, Torquay and Exmouth. From being top of the table we are now 3rd and with just 2 games left the prospect of winning the Premier Division in my last season at Bovey Tracey Cricket Club is slipping from our grasp. BUT... it's not over yet and we still have the Devon Senior Cup Final to play in.

Away from cricket I found myself being demoralised by several things. The thing is that when I feel down, I feel REALLY down. It's when you feel like that things just seem to pile up but when you look back things probably weren't as bad as you thought at the time. Stress is something I've had to deal with for years, even more so since the end of 2008 and start of 2009 and it is since then that when I start to feel stressed I feel physically sick. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I went through that again and VERY unlike me I just couldn't face going to cricket training on Wednesday. I was emotionally exhausted by everything negative going on around me.

I have recently finished reading "Marcus Trescothick: Coming Back To Me" which documents the Somerset and former England batsman's troubles with depression, and the reason I felt it was such a good read is because I could identify with a lot of the things he talked about. The shiver, in particular. Depression is NOT a mental illness, it is a physical illness. It's when the brain produces a chemical imbalance that unfortunately leads to negative thoughts. When I get stressed, I get a shiver down my spine before beginning to feel physically sick and I have had that all week, and when there was no-one around I had reached a breaking point on Wednesday night and couldn't hold back the emotion. Perhaps if I'd have just sucked it up and gone to training I might have got rid of the negativity but I couldn't face it, I just couldn't bring myself to do anything that night. Unfortunately I seem to have carried that somehow into the weekend and perhaps that contributed today to my 3rd ball duck, an incident which got me angry.

One of the things in life that really bugs me is when people talk to me like I am an idiot, or are just plain rude. I am good with people and always have been but in recent years I don't seem to have the tolerance of rudeness I used to have, and when your job involves meeting and dealing with many different people you are bound to come across a few rude individuals. Thankfully the number of polite, funny and genuinely good customers we have outweighs the rude but it still kicks off that feeling of injustice that people get away with talking to me like that. Same with cricket. Cricket has taken me to the other side of the world on two occasions, playing in Sydney, Australia and of course I met hundreds of new friends and foes through the game. It was also during my second season at Macquarie University CC that I met my fiancée and she has a very positive effect on my life. I couldn't deal with a lot of the depression without her.

Australians play cricket hard and as an Englishman they'll make an extra effort to get in your ear. The number of English lads that go over to Australia to play is increasing all the time and with plenty heading in the opposite direction the trait of getting into the opposition's ears is now a part of the English game. It's actually a part of the game I enjoy and while sometimes people make themselves look like idiots there are a lot of humorous comments along the way. I don't mind sledging at all as long as it doesn't get too personal or of course, as long as there are no racial undertones. But the umpires? They have a duty to uphold a code of conduct and when they resort to words to try to back up their appalling decision making it's not fun to be on the end of.

This brings me nicely to Phil Matten. Now, this guy has a history of screwing up Bovey games and if there's a hint of rain, he has a bad reputation even with his fellow umpires, even though he is a senior umpire. I have to qualify this by saying that when speaking to the man one-on-one he isn't a bad bloke, I quite like him. But the sheer number of games he has ruined over the years is atrocious, especially the ones involving Bovey and even worse when you consider he has openly admitted to ruining the games in the past (Rain affected games v Paignton, Sidmouth and today at Exmouth spring to mind).

Today we were outplayed by Exmouth. When we bowled them out for 110, even though the pitch was doing plenty we thought we were a big chance to win. A couple of early wickets fell and we still felt we could win but it would take work. Trevor Anning bowled extremely well as you expect of a county standard player, with myself being his 5th victim with his final delivery. Now the decision itself probably won't go down as a shocker, it was probably the right decision. But Phil Matten gave at least three plumb lbw's NOT OUT when we bowled, but suddenly the marginal ones while we were batting were given out? That's inconsistant to put it mildly. I was disappointed with mine even though it was probably out. As I was walking off the square, Phil called out to me. This is how the conversation went:

Phil: What was wrong with that, then?

Me: I stand outside leg, Phil.

Phil: Just fuck off.

Now I hasten to add that I didn't start the conversation, which makes the "F*** off" even more infuriating, and I don't suppose for a second he'll mind that he's offended me. I'm certainly not one of the most vocal on the field (in England anyway!) when it comes to sledging and so, unlike other gobby players in the league, I don't receive as much verbal either. I learnt that early in my cricketing life. Remember what I said earlier about people being rude to me? I found it insulting as well as rude and it made me angry. Over the years I seem to have been an easy target for people to be rude to like this and it gets to me more than it should, I realise that. I got back to the changing room and there was that shiver... I felt sick, but this time with anger.

I had a shower and got changed and went back out to watch. I was on drinks duty at the halfway stage and as expected the Exmouth boys were friendly with me. No sledges or any untoward piss-taking comments. The umpires had started to come towards the drinks but Phil stopped on the square when he saw it was me carrying them. All that was going through my mind was to march up to him and tell him that if he EVER tells me to F*** off again I'll ram my bat down his throat. But what good would it have done?! I'd have probably been banned from Devon Cricket and with just 2 games left it would have been like using a pogo stick to cross a swamp; it would have got me nowhere. Also the notion of me being in any way intimidating is laughable to the rest of the human population. Also, given we were 50-9 at drinks I would have just looked like a sore loser. After the game I even had a chat with Trevor Anning and Richard Baggs and they agreed with my point of view (accepting that I was out but explaining my disappointment) and said that I should report Matten for his comments. 

I know it's not professional cricket but when you have only 18 weeks out of 52 to play your sport you want to make the most of it, especially when you pay to play and especially when the umpires get paid to stand there and mess up. The bad ones have examples they should follow! By far and away the best umpire in the League is Dave Moseby, who has a great relationship with his fellow umpires and every player on the field, and extremely rarely makes anything other than the correct decision. There are other good umpires in the league such as Danny and Simon Dodwell, and there are other umpires who aren't so good, that's human nature and to be expected, there was one umpire in Sydney called Homer that seemed to think he could talk to any player on the field like he was a King and they were his minions. But no umpire in Devon is as rude as Phil was to me. As for reporting him? He'll only deny it and I'm not sure an apology ever really makes up for something that shouldn't happen in the first place.

Let's start with the Irish Holiday

Last week, my fiancee Jess and I had a holiday in Ireland. What a gorgeous country. Economically it may be "on it's arse", as my Dad's brother put it (He has an aversion to the word "Uncle", hence the longer than necessary sentence), but the history of the land and the people is fascinating. I'm not really sure what I expected of Ireland but it exceeded my expectations.

The flight from Exeter to Dublin was an unexpected pleasure. Flybe usually use a Dash 8 Q400 (a turbo-propeller aircraft for non-aviation people) on this route but our flight was an Embraer 195 (a jet) and therefore smoother, quieter and more comfortable. Ironically the "Q" in Q400 is supposed to stand for "Quiet" but the drone of the propellers has always been audibly apparent whenever I've used them before and the condition of Flybe's Q400 fleet in the cabin from a passenger perspective is less than impressive. Perhaps I'm being harsh as all I have to compare is the brand new Qantas A380? By contrast, the slightly newer E195 was comfortable, peaceful and an enjoyable experience. The in-flight safety recordings somehow still sound like the speakers were taken off a 1990's cassette player which was bad enough on the older Q400 fleet, but in a state of the art modern jet airliner? Indicative of a "low-cost" airline in times of recession. The inverted commas were intentional. I have always liked the E195 ever since Flybe received them in 2006 and when I worked for Flybe I did the familiarisation course on the type, and appreciated the technology involved even more. ANYTHING is better than Ryanair, though.

This blog entry isn't supposed to be about aviation though, so back to Ireland. Upon arrival at Dublin and picking up our AVIS hire-car, we learnt that Debit Cards have to have Full Insurance, at a notable extra cost. On the plus side it meant we didn't have to give two hoots if we scratched it, not that I would intentionally have done so! A brand new Toyota Yaris would be our chariot during the week and the first destination was the Ardmore Hotel in Finglas. The hotel was very nice and not overly priced, very comfortable and with easy access to the City of Dublin and any motorway out of there! Five minutes from the airport but away from the flightpath meant hardly any noise at all.

We headed into Dublin, parked up and went for a walk around Temple Bar and along the River Liffey, before heading to any bar we could find that had some live music on the go. We found a place with a group of lads just playing instruments and singing inside the front door, seemingly just a group of mates jamming while enjoying a drink! Renditions of all sorts of classic numbers had us tapping along, especially an Irish jig version of KC and the Sunshine Band's "Give It Up". Unfortunately, as we left the pub and walked further along we were unaware this would be the only time during the week that the weather was decent while we were in the city centre!

The beautiful Cliffs of Moher

Our itinerary for the week was decided when we got back to the hotel that night and after waking up early on Monday we headed West towards the Cliffs Of Moher through some stunning scenery, the winding hairpin turns near Gregan's East supplied a view over the Burren that was truly beautiful. Recommended by Dillon Mullins, our intrepid Australian overseas player at Bovey Tracey Cricket Club, the cliffs were natural beauty exemplified. Jess had wanted to visit and go on the boat tour which would take us along the Cliffs and allow us to get up close. The weather relented and we had blue skies for the boat trip, and the presence of a Dolphin at the launch site in Doolin was an unexpected bonus! In the distance were the Isles of Aran and all through the tour all I could think of was a) keeping my balance! and b) the theme tune from Father Ted!

Dolphin in Doolin

We made way for Limerick and on the way briefly stopped to explore Shannon Airport, which was disappointingly quiet so we left fairly quickly. We parked up at St John's Castle and went inside to explore, experiencing great views over the city and the Shannon River. We were pretty much the last people to enter and so the visit wasn't as thorough as it may have been but after a fairly long first day, the only thought was to get back to Dublin and sleep!

Day 2 saw the decision to stay away from the car, therefore leaving us to enjoy the attractions of our host city. First up, the Guinness Storehouse, an absolute must for any tourist in Dublin. The process of making the drink is fascinating enough, but I always wonder how, when, and why people came to think of or discover the methods for making drinks. Hops, Barley and water? Fermentation? How did they think of these things being put together all those centuries ago? How did the production reach the scales it has today? The answers all lie in the Guinness Storehouse and there can't be any drink as synonymous with Ireland as Guinness. The story of Arthur Guinness and his rise to legendary status is all there, as is the opportunity for you to claim your free Guiness sample to taste, and the opportunity to be taught how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness, complete with certificate. I am proud to say I attained that level! Those few months behind the bar at Teign Valley Golf Club clearly taught me something!

In the process of pulling my
perfect pint of Guinness!

The open top bus tour around the city of Dublin is definitely something to recommend, but try to get a driver that tells the story himself rather than one who presses 'Play' on the CD player! We were lucky that of the 3 times we used the Hop-on/Hop-off bus, we got the same driver on 2 of them and he voiced the tour himself. He was entertaining, informative and very witty showing us Oscar Wilde's house and providing numerous quotes, such as "Marriage is Grand... Divorce is Fifty Grand!". On Grafton Street he pointed us to the statue of Molly Malone, a lady said to have sold fish by day and been a part-time prostitute at night. This earnt her the nickname "The Dolly with the Trolley"... or "The Flirt in a Skirt"... or "The Dish with the Fish"... or "The Tart with the Cart"... or "The Trollop with the Scollops!"

Victorian Wing at
Kilmainham Gaol

We alighted at Kilmainham Gaol, a site that is most famous for being the location where political prisoners were held and in some cases executed. Perhaps the most famous were Robert Emmet, Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford for their roles in rebelling against British Rule and the Easter Rising. In a rather basic reason for the visit, the photographs we had seen of the Victorian Wing of the gaol reminded Jess and I of the Shawshank Redemption! The prison had been abandoned in 1929 and plans to demolish it were afoot when a group of volunteers stepped in and formed a Restoration Society in the 1960's that oversaw efforts to bring the gaol up to a standard fit for the museum that you see today.

Jess kisses the Blarney Stone

Kissing the Blarney Stone

Day 3 was a busy day and the first stop was Kilkenny for breakfast. I can't help but think about South Park when I hear that name, but it is the polar opposite to a fictional cartoon Colorado mountain town! Kilkenny Castle was another historic experience but, to be fair, any castle is! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take photographs inside and any place where that is the rule dampens the experience for me, as photography is of course a hobby! From Kilkenny we headed for Cork, or Corcaigh as the Celtic signs that are obligatory in the Rebuplic of Ireland told us. Cork wasn't our actual destination, Blarney Castle was as we had a date with the Blarney Stone, laid in 1446. Legend has it that by kissing the Blarney Stone you will be given the "gift of the gab". Judging by the length of this blog and the fact Jess didn't stop talking on the next leg of the journey, it worked! In a seemingly blonde moment, I hadn't realised the stone was at the top of a 100ft tower with nothing but two iron bars to stop you falling as you hang upside down to kiss the stone. We did it after the hairy ascent up the ever narrowing spiral staircase and although not a sufferer of vertigo, I was glad to be back down on Terra Firma!

The coastal route between Cork and Waterford was as picturesque in places as anywhere on the British Isles. I had previously been to Waterford in 2006 on a Flyout with Aviation South West, only staying for 3 hours. This occasion gave us a little more time than that but in reality I don't think we ended up staying for 2 hours! We went to the Waterford Crystal Visitor Centre and viewed the stunning craftsmanship of world-renowned glass-blowers, Jess ended up buying a beautiful glass rose. We can now say that we own a piece of Waterford Crystal, I'm sure it will take pride of place when we get our own house and at least it won't need as much maintenance as a real rose!

A professional at work!

Day 4 was mainly my day... I got up stupidly early to go and take photographs of aeroplanes. It's what I do. You find it boring? Never mind, you'll get over it. I enjoy it and when I manage to get shots like the one I got below that morning, it makes it worthwhile for me. I spent 4 hours there before heading back to the hotel to pick Jess up. Plane-spotting isn't her thing, so maybe you have something in common with her!

Aer Lingus A330 arriving in Dublin

Giant's Causeway

We headed up to Belfast, bound for the brand new Titanic Quarter, opened in March/April 2012 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the White Star Line ship, RMS Titanic. If you don't know the story by now, Google it. You need the education! Unfortunately the place was fully booked until later that day and this forced our hand into heading up to the Giant's Causeway earlier than planned and cutting our visit there short in order to make it back in time for Titanic. Giant's Causeway is made up of about 40,000 hexagonal shaped columns of basaltic rock, each differing in height. It looks like a gigantic arrangement of church organ pipes, but it is a sight that has to be seen to be believed, and is found at the base of yet more stunning cliffs.

Titanic Belfast

Back to Titanic and making it JUST in time for our slot, the new exhibition told the story of how Titanic was built, the sea trials, the maiden departure from Southampton, the call into Queenstown (now Cobh), the disaster, the passengers and their fate, the survivors, and the wreck. All intertwined very cleverly on the site where Titanic was built. The sheer scale of the Olympic class liners (Olympic, Titanic and Britannic) is something that can only really be appreciated up close. Titanic is at the bottom of the Atlantic, Britannic at the bottom of the Meditteranean and Olympic was scrapped in 1937 and so your imagination has to be powerful to complete the experience.

In front of the last photograph of Titanic with Jess

Day 5 was our last in Ireland and we decided to go into the city centre for one last time and see a few more tourist attractions, and first up was the Book of Kells at Trinity College. I wasn't particularly fussed and again the rule of no photography kind of nullified the experience for me. However, that being said it was good to say we have seen something of such historical importance to Ireland, and it certainly is unique and the ability to write and draw in that style all those centuries ago without mistakes or typo's is certainly impressive, to say the least. We also visited St Patrick's Cathedral where we were greeted by the sounds of William Tennent High School Choral Group, an American choir from the state of Pennsylvania. There were a lot of emotional people with them watching and listening to them perform, and I came to learn from one of the adults that they had won a competition out of thousands of American choirs to not only come to Ireland, but to then go on and perform in London at a Cathedral as part of the London Olympics 2012. It was the culmination of a dream for all those involved and the emotion and pride they had in succeeding was inspirational. They wanted it and they got it because they wanted it badly enough. Best of luck to them.

Later that day it was back to the airport, unfortunately no E195 for the trip home to Exeter but a Q400. The flight passed without incident and here we are, back on English soil... A weekend of cricket where we lost to Sidmouth on the Saturday then watched it rain on Sunday dampened the mood a little, but now it's back into the swing of normal life. Back to work for me, while Jess begins the countdown to going home to Australia. The next month sees my last games for Bovey Tracey Cricket Club too. It's all go.

Pride The Lion
aka "Lionel"
on holiday in Ireland.

That'll show you, Mullins...

The first entry to this blog is in response to Dillon Mullins. I told him I'd do one right now. So here it is. I will shortly blog about my July. Cricket, Ireland, F1 and Ace Ventura. Aren't you excited? Me neither.