It was April 1956 when Bob Breeze, Clive Harris, Steve Pritchard and yours truly rode our bikes from Cressage to the cricket ground at Cound.

At that precise time I did not realise that from that day on the Club was to be a major part of my life.

 

John  (The Noob) Tipton who was the First XI Captain ran the Club with military precision.

 

On Monday evenings where every member was expected to work on the ground he would swoop on three unsuspecting chaps with the order "I want three volunteers, you, you and you to pull the heavy roller".  The only respite would come was when darkness fell.

 

During matches the Noob who fielded at mid off had a problem getting down to the ball which resulted in him receiving may blows to his shins much to the delight to the rest of the team.

 

The Second XI Skipper and Club Secretary was Reg (The Roge) Purslow who worked at the Midlands Electricity Board along with myself.

 

The Roge loved the ground almost as much as his wife and probably spent more time working down there than what he did at home. 

 

He was very popular in the Pub after the game where due to his extremely bad luck (his words) at the game of Spoof meant that he spent most of the evening paying for the beer.

 

In those days the Roge's other half Mrs P prepared the Second XI teas and the wives and girlfriends the First XI. Mrs P was famous for her teas and really enjoyed all the lavish praise showered on her from both teams.

 

The Club Chairman was Freddie Fry the boss of  Furrows and  one of the best and most respected Umpires ever to raise a finger. Freddie would only give a LBW if the ball looked like it would remove all three stumps.

 

Freddie also made several generous donations to the Club including the practice wicket and net.

 

I spent my first five years playing for the Second Eleven which at time where fairly strong and included many characters so life was fun.

 

In those days only two or three players would have a car so for away games up to four or five people and their kit would often have to squeeze into the smallest car.

 

After the game, if the driver drank, which was usually compulsory everyone would visit the local hostelry and only emerge at closing time.

 

The next stop would usually be Hung Hings Chinese in Mardol or the new Indian Restaurant at the bottom of the Cop in Shrewsbury.

 

Drink driving was the norm in those far off days as most drivers reckoned they drove better after numerous pints as they had received more practice.

 

Many years ago after a fixture at Llanidloes the team made there way back to Cound calling at several Pubs en-route. On arrival at The Roge's house in Cross Houses the driver stopped outside his house only to discover there was no sign of  him. The Roge apparently had been left at a Pub somewhere in Wales but nobody was quite sure where. To this day no one knows how he arrived back home.

 

The driver that day was the larger than life (literally) Henry (Mr Bumble) Wellings the Headmaster of Hanwood School. Bumble was a lovely guy who was known to sup two pints while the average cricketer would be drinking one.

 

As cricketers are generally fairly rapid drinkers this was some feat. Bumble a man of sizeable girth carried most of his weight below his trouser belt and it was a well know fact in the Changing Room that he had not seen his John Thomas for several seasons.

 

Most Saturday evenings after a game he would sup well into double figures before driving to Hanwood. One Tuesday evening while visiting friends from Lea Cross I popped into the local Pub for a beer. Presiding over a meeting was Bumble himself. After his meeting had finished he came over to say Hello and apologised for not speaking sooner explaining that he was Chairman of the local Road Safety Committee.

 

The First XI during the 1960's was one of the top four or five teams in the County.

 

These where the days before league cricket but just as tough with most teams having County players plus two or three fairly sharpish bowlers.

Fixtures included Oswestry, Newtown, Welshpool, Llanidloes, Whittington, Wellington, Broseley, St. Georges, Shifnal,  Madeley, Worfield and Lilleshall.

 

Most teams played the game hard but fair and many a good night was spent in the Clubhouse or local Pub although there where the odd exception when the opposition would do anything to win.

 

All Clubs have their fair share of characters and Bill Massey of Newtown was a star. Being a Minor Counties opening batsman he preferred not to run against lesser mortals but just to hit boundaries. While fielding Bill used to have the occasional drag on a fag while swearing blind to  the captain he never smoked. However on a lively wicket at Cound a fairly fast ball rose sharply off a length and struck Bill on the hip. Suddenly he dropped his bat muttered obscenities before making an attempt to remove his trousers while wearing batting gloves. This looked extremely funny and both teams where in fits of laughter. The hilarity of the situation was only surpassed moments later when it was discovered that the ball had struck a box of matches in Bill's pocket creating a minor explosion which had burnt an hole in his leg.

 

Bill was a cracking bloke and while batting or fielding he would call you all the names under the sun but then was the first to buy you a pint in the Pub.

 

One of the most unusual matches that I played in was against Madeley at Cound.

 

Cound batted first and on a very lively wicket  struggled to total somewhere around 150 all out at tea.

 

During the Madeley innings three of their batsmen where hit in the face trying to hook  the ball.

 

This meant that three of their team had to take the three injured players to hospital so at one time Madeley had five players at Cound and six players at the hospital.

 

The Madeley completed innings was 48 for 4 all out.

 

During 1969 Mr Ronald England moved into the Rectory next to the cricket ground and kindly permitted the Club to run a electricity and water supply from his house to the ground.

 

This was a tremendous improvement as up till then all water had to be transported in a large drum on wheels from the Village Hall.

 

This was an unenviable task during a long hot summer.

 

Sometime around 1970 the Town Clubs decided to form their own league which was called the County League. This league was for town teams only so this left a lot of village sides looking for matches.

 

After many meetings the Border Counties League was formed in 1974 comprising of Cound, Newtown, Shelton, Madeley, Lilleshall, Montgomery, Llanidloes, Welshpool, Worfield, Broseley, Willey, Knockin, GKN Sankey and Whittington etc.

 

In the mid seventies I was Secretary of the League and our Committee met with the Officers of the County League to explore the possibilities of the two Leagues joining up with relegation and promotion.

 

However the Clubs at the bottom of the County League at the time always voted against the proposal.

 

However as they say life turns full circle so when the Birmingham League offered the winners of the County League an opportunity to play in the their League the County League where forced to accept relegation and promotion from what is now called the Rollinson Smith Shropshire League.

 

Our first season in the Border Counties League was difficult as a number of players had moved away for various reasons. Roger (The Bear) Meredith took a job abroad and his brother Ian (The Ose) Meredith  moved to Nottingham. Clive (Webby) Harris who joined the Club the same day as myself moved to work in Coventry.

 

Stuart (Tiger) Roberts another local lad who joined the Club around the same time as myself  took The Stewards job at the Nalgo Club which meant early retirement from the game. This was a real blow as Tiger was an opening bat and a very useful left arm slow bowler.

  

My best mate and opening bat come wicket keeper Bob (Cochise) Tanner moved to Bewdley as he worked in Birmingham. Cochise who was a student at Aston University had hair down to his shoulders. He drove a car with only half an exhaust and  had neither tax or insurance as he claimed he was skint most of the time and such things where classed as luxuries.

 

I remember once he dropped an important catch and the Noob informed him that he would not be selected the next week unless he had his hair cut.

(Cochise's reply is unprintable)

 

After our local Pub the Fox Inn at Cross Houses closed the Bear and myself would visit the Brooklands Pub in Meole Brace in a vain attempt to drink the place dry. The Landlord in those days was a tremendous character called Hubert Morley who at 1.00 am would offer free beer to those left standing. 

 

At the time I lived in Belle Vue and as the railway line passed through Meole and close to my home this often created a dilemma as to which direction I walked down the railway line on leaving the Pub. What ever would have happened if a train came by I dread to think about.

 

The Bear and the Ose's  father Arthur (The Wily Old Fox) Meredith played for Cound most of his life and obtained his nickname due to his prowess of  slow bowling. He bowled leg breaks and a googly out of the back of his hand which confused many a batsman because he was never quite sure himself which way the ball would turn.

 

The Wiley's wife Lil was a star turn herself and she used to tell the story in the pub of how Arthur on his 70^th birthday got drunk and tried to perform while completely legless.

 

Arthur and Lil where tremendously proud of their two sons who both went to University.

 

In fact the Ose went to Uni for about ten years before he thought maybe he should start looking for a job. The Bear became a Civil Engineer and worked all over the far east including China and Pakistan.

 

The Bear in his days at Cound CC was infamous for his behaviour on and off the cricket field.

One of his favourite tricks was throwing his bat whenever he was out. On his way  back to the Pavilion he would hurl his bat through the door with tremendous accuracy. Alas when he tried this at Shrewsbury CC he missed the door and struck one of their old members. Can you imagine the uproar that followed?

 

Also when he was bowling if an opposing batsman hit him for a couple of fours he would unleash a beamer next ball  which he usually threw with some accuracy. The Noob used to become very upset by the Bear's behaviour on the field but as his Dad was his best friend all was forgiven later.

 

Off the field his favourite trick was to get hammered on a Friday night and drive past the Police Station which was in Swan Hill at the time at about two in the morning.

 

In 2005 I received a letter from the Bear who was then working in Bratislava. He had managed to track me down via the Cound CC webpage on the Internet. A visit to Cound followed that summer when the Bear  brought his family and his sister Jill and her husband Barry down to the ground one Saturday afternoon.

 

The Bear  then decided he would like to be a Club VP so he purchased a bench in memory of his Mum and Dad's connection with the Club.  The Bear and his wife Terry also attended the Club 125^th dinner later in the year.

 

Another great character was Gerry Gee who ran the Newsagents on Wyle Cop. I can remember a game at Madeley  when Gerry and his several kids came to watch. After an hour or so Gerry decided to carry out a count up of his kids. "There is one in the nets, one on the Pavilion roof, one scrumping up a neighbours tree, one chasing a dog. Oh well that's four, that's near enough" exclaimed Gerry. I fairly certain that even Gerry was uncertain on how many kids he really had.

 

Gerry liked to Umpire whenever possible and at one match played at Netherton against a Dudley team he actually shouted out "well bowled Stuart" as he raised his finger to an LBW appeal much to the embarrassment of  the other ten Cound players.

 

This Dudley team sometimes hired the local County Ground occasional used by the Worcester County Team. This was one of the highlights of our season particularly as one of the coat pegs had a plaque above it stating "This peg was used by the great Fred Trueman".  

  

I don't know if the above exodus  was the reason, but Bob (Mr Blow) Breeze who became captain after the Noob decided to join GKN Sankey.

 

Being one of the few senior players left I had the unthankful job of being captain of a serious weakened team.

 

During the next few years I was forced to advertise in the Shropshire Star for players and remember quite well some of the telephone conversations.

I used to play at School, I am quite good at football, I played two or three times twenty years ago and I am a bit long in the tooth where some of the applicants opening lines.

 

One particular chap an ex-army Officer and a Gentleman  joined the club on the pre-text that he had played for his Regiment. Knowing himself that he was completely useless volunteered his wife to prepare teas hoping that would enable him to be selected. This did work for a few weeks until the penny dropped in which case he was dropped. However as he refused to play for the Second XI he was never seen again.

 

We also had players claiming they had played in the Lancashire League.  Knowing that this League was quite strong meant they where selected for the first XI and given the opportunity to bat high up the order and/or get a bowl as first change. Which Lancashire League sport they ever played in completely bemused everyone as generally they where worse or no better than the existing players.

 

However we struggled on, picked up a few players and generally held our own.

 

The Roge when he packed in playing became the First XI umpire as you just could not keep him out of the game.

 

I remember one Saturday at Broseley when Ken Perks their opening bowler started appealing every other ball. When the Roge kept giving Not Out decisions Perky accused him of being a bleeding cheat. Very annoyed about this slur on his character the Roge threw Perky's sweater to the ground and informed him that "if he did not shut up he would poke him one". This would have been very serious as the Roge was well in his sixties and Perky was a strapping twenty year old.

 

I soon realised that it had been money well spent having the wife learn to drive as after the game she used to take me the Fox Inn and then take me home come closing time.

 

The Landlord was also a larger than life character called Gordon Povey who demanded after 9.00pm that all customers asking for a drink ****** well sung first. To anyone who just called in for a quiet drink on Saturday not knowing Gordon, this request came as one hell of a surprise.

 

In those days the Fox was a thriving Pub especially on Saturday evenings when during the 60's and 70's members of both teams would stay until either Gordon went to sleep or they just run out of money.

  

One of the great characters at that time was Brian (Clarence) Breeze a spitting image for Harry Secombe if ever there was one. Being Welsh he had a tremendous voice and sense of humour to match and he would entertain everyone as long as the beer flowed.

 

When Hazel prepared teas she had to take our two daughters Julie and Caroline to the game. One  Monday morning at School  Julie aged six was asked what she had done the weekend. She replied that on Saturday evening she had sat outside a Pub for hours drinking pop and eating crisps while her Dad was supping numerous pints.

 

During the Seventies the Club welcomed several new members including Barry (Wasim) Williams a  Butcher by trade who usually holed out while muttering it wanted hitting didn't it.

 

There was also Phil (Python) Cowell named after his fondness of Snake and Kidney pies after the game. 

 

Brian Hunt who later became the Club Secretary joined the Club. When not playing cricket he could be found looking for birds in either Norfolk or Wales. Due to the increased amount of break down in relationships at the time Hunty became the Club's Marriage Guidance Councillor.

 

John (The Monk) Cartwright who at the time was not particularly thrilled about his nickname was brilliant at every sport except cricket.

 

Another Cartwright not exactly over the moon about his nickname was Ted  who was christened Hoss after the character in the TV series Bonanza. Ted used to get particularly upset and every week threatened to leave his mickey taking team mates for a more suitable Club.

 

One of the biggest little characters has been Mike (Tonker) Tomkins. Tonker just like the Roge became Club Groundsman and just like the Roge spends more time attending to the square than he does with his wife Marge.

 

Tonker who is the Club Language expert has a wonderful way with words and his explanations of  machinery and grass  can only be considered as very descriptive.

 

I once heard him hold a conversation with a neighbour of the Club when neither of them used any words that could be repeated here. I have heard a few swear words but these two spoke in there own unique  language and hardly ever repeated the same word twice.

 

Tonker was probably the Clubs first sledger and has been known to question the oppositions parentage while batting, bowling, fielding and even when helping Marge make the teas.

 

It must be noted that Marge has also been a great stalwart of the Club making second team teas for many years.

 

It was during the seventies that I experienced my proudest moment; that is playing cricket as my wife would definitely point out.

 

As my best years had been played before the Leagues commenced I did not get the chance to really win anything so when I won the Shropshire Single Wicket Competition I was really like the proverbial dog especially as there where several county players taking part.

 

All the praise I received from the Roge who was present that day was typical of the man; "Why the hell don't you play like that on a Saturday".

 

I also received the honour of representing the Border Counties League including being Captain.

 

There seems to be a dearth of fast bowlers today but back in the 60's, 70's and 80's most teams had two or three. The ones I particularly remember include of course Joe Smith from Wellington, Jim Phillips from Oswestry, Nigel Owen and Ken Lewis from Newtown, Trevor Cross from Welshpool, Peter Bradley from St. Georges, Trevor Richards from Whittington, Alan Bywater from Lilleshall, Keith Mears from GKN, Geoff Roberts from Worfield, Robert and Ken Perks from Broseley,  Mike Lewis from Willey and Steve Griffiths from Shelton.

 

Both Ken Lewis and Trevor Cross both played County Cricket for Glamorgan and Nigel Owen was offered a contract with Glamorgan but declined I believe for financial reasons as in those days County Cricketers wages where a pittance.

 

I remember after one game at Cound, Trevor Cross who seamed the ball alarmingly giving me some real valuable coaching lessons which I much appreciated and put to good use during the next few seasons.

 

Over the years probably the best local bowler was Joe Smith who glided over the ground much like Michael Holding and was a real handful. The first time I batted against Joe I was still considering which shot to play when the ball was already in the keepers hands.

  

I recall one game particularly at Wellington when Joe bowled us out for 80 something.

 

That day the wicket was doing a bit and we bowled Wellington out for 45.

 

Their captain had a double barrelled name and when he came out to bat took three guards.

He then surveyed the field for some considerable time before being bowled first ball much to the amusement of the Cound lads.

 

The one bowler who always made life difficult when batting against was Nigel Owen who I seemed to play against most of my career.

 

You will note that all of the above where quick bowlers so of the slow bowlers I must mention Keith Harding from Newtown, Tom Bell from Welshpool and Roy Bradburn from Lilleshall.

 

All the above where also useful batsman and quite capable of getting a quick fifty.

 

Some of the best bats I faced included  Shropshire Professional Mervyn Winfield, Gary Davies and Bernhard Holgate from Welshpool, John Clark and Neil Holcroft from Madeley, Mark Davies from Perkins, Marcus Thomas and Mike Tandy from Worfield, Gerald Morgan from Llanidloes, David Jones from Newtown, Brian Jones and Barry Jones from Wroxeter.

 

Barry went on to play County cricket for Worcestershire including a making a ton against Middlesex who featured West Indian Test opening bowler Wayne Daniel.

 

Andy Lloyd from Oswestry and Whittington went on to play for Warwickshire and also played one Test Match for England. 

 

The most difficult bat to bowl to was probably Bernhard Holcroft from Welshpool who played everything off the back foot and seemed to have an eternity to play the ball.

 

The best pair of opening bats where probably John Clark and Neil Holcroft from Madeley.

 

They had a tremendous understanding which meant if the ball was not there to be hit they would invariably push a single into the smallest gap making life extremely difficult for the fielding side.

 

Of the hardest hitters the one batsman that springs to mind must be Terry Edwards from St. Georges who hit the ball many a mile.

 

The best fielder was probably Chris Stephan from Madeley who was absolutely superb in the covers.

 

During the seventies Freddie Fry became President, the Noob became Chairman and for some reason unknown to myself I became Vice-Chairman.

 

This was the start of  one of  the longest apprenticeships in cricket history.

 

In 1979 the Club purchased a Builders ex-site hut which was made into a Tearoom and Toilets.

 

This was the biggest transformation to the Club infrastructure since we run water and electricity from the nearby Rectory as up until then teas had to be taken in the Village Hall, and to have our own Toilets was indeed a luxury.

 

To raise money for the building we held numerous Rummage Sales, Wine and  Cheese evenings and even carried out a sponsored walk.

 

At this time I decided to stand down and Ray (The Wild Man) Goodall one of our new recruits became captain.

 

It was during this time that the Club usually took on a weeks tour to some unsuspecting seaside town. On a visit to Tenby Derrick Donnell one of the nicest blokes you could ever wish to meet was barred from entering a pub along with a Policeman, a Prison Warder and a Solicitor who in those days was known as the Oig. If they could not get in what chance had Cochise and myself.

 

The Oig as they say has really done well for himself as he is now "His Honour Judge Robin Onions" and in 2005 became the Club President.  

 

I often wonder if he is a better Judge than cricketer, I just hope I never get to find out.

 

Cochise got into serious trouble at the pub we where staying at for doing something through a bedroom window although he denies it was him.

 

It was on this tour that Ray Goodall was christened the Wild Man a name that continues to stick. It became about while we where all in a pub watching the European Cup Final. Ray commented that Trevor Francis would not get in Meole Brace second team when during the last few minutes of the game Francis scored the winning goal much to the delight of everyone. 

 

Ray later became Club Treasurer and was known to say "prudence is necessary more times than Gordon Brown".

 

In the middle 1980's  my back completely gave up and I ended up looking at an operation. However after a few years of rest I played for a further four seasons before I ended up in hospital unable to move.

 

That was the time to call it a day.

 

During my years at Cound I was lucky enough to be in the game quite a bit of the time, scoring a few runs, taking a few wickets, holding a few catches and making lots of friends both from our team and from our opponents.

 

I have always said that you cannot beat team games. Apart from the fun and the comradeship you learn that because whatever else happens you will take loads of stick. It could be called training for life.

 

For a while I lost contact with the Club as I spent much of my time working away from home but in 1999 I made a return as Club Chairman after being Vice-Chairman for twenty five years.

 

This came about by the sad loss of John (The Noob) Tipton who was my mentor for many years. Even after taking five wickets in a game The Noob would still be insisting that you swung the ball both directions while getting it to also to seam and bounce off a length.

 

After watching the charismatic Freddie Fry Chair Annual General Meetings all my life I considered being Chairman a great honour but after twenty five years it was some bloody apprenticeship.

 

During 2001 I  realised that the old Tearoom and Toilets where past their best and would soon require replacing.

 

Bearing this in mind I had drawings made up and obtained quotations for a new building.

 

I then approached the Lottery for a grant but after some considerable time our application was turned down.

 

However undaunted I kept trying various sources and eventually struck lucky two years later when the Foundation for Sports and the Arts awarded the Club a grant for £12,000 as long as the Club matched that figure.

 

Then began the process of  fund raising seeking builders and obtaining quotations.

 

Finally after five years of  banging my head against a brick wall the new building was erected during September 2006.

 

Sadly in 2006 Derrick Donnell who served the Club for over sixty years and who took over as our President after The Noob passed away. Up until then Derrick had been the only surviving member who I played with on my first game for Cound first XI.

 

There must be something unique about a Cricket Club which as survived for over 125 years situated off the beaten track in an area of low population. No one can quite put their finger on the answer but when you consider that Derrick Donnell had been connected with the Club for well over sixty years and many members have well over twenty years service there must be something unique about the place.

 

To many it is the humour and comradeship while to others it could be the peace and tranquillity and somewhere to recharge your batteries after a hard week.

 

Whatever the answer I strongly believe that the more you put into something the more you will get out of it.

 

Jim Roberts 1956-