This match can be described as "the match that was scarely advertised and sparsely attended that took place in the rain"
This was the final event in Courtney's Testimonial year. It wasn't listed in his brochure, or on the list of events, so I don't know if it was a late addition. I found out about it quite by chance when I looked at the on-line edition of the Bristol evening paper in case there was any news about whether Courtney is coming back to Gloucesterhire next year.
Stowell Park near Cirencester, Glos, is the country home of Lord Vestey, a cricket enthusiast who has his own cricket ground on the edge of his estate. Very conveniently situated about 35 miles from where I live. The ground is very attractive with a delightful stone pavilion, surrounded by the Cotswold hills (photos to follow).
The teams were Courtney's XI which was mainly his Gloucestershire team mates, and The Bunbury's, a charity team made up of a host of celebrities. Courtney turns out for them on occasion.
| Courtney's XI | Bunbury's |
| Jon Lewis | Phil Tuffnel |
| Matt Church | Sid Lawrence |
| Bobby Dawson | Matthew Maynard |
| Paul Lasenbury | David English (c) |
| John Bracewell | Ben Morgan |
| Courtney Walsh (c) | David Ward |
| Stephen Thorp | Ian Thomas |
| Rory Bremner | Joe Cuby |
| Andy Stovold | Frazer Hines |
| Jack Russell | Keith Brown |
| Reggie Williams | W/K to be added |
At 12 noon, light drizzle was falling and the match was scheduled to be 35 overs a side, starting at 1. At noon, it looked highly unlikely that there would be a match. However, at 2.30, despite the fact that it was still drizzling on and off, play got under way, 25 overs a side.
Courtney's team batted first, and made 186/8 from their 25 overs. The highest scorer was Courtney himself. He made a very entertaining 45, (his highest score of the season, even if not first class) which included 1 six, and 7 fours. On a couple of occasions during the match the ball had to be retrieved from adjoining fields. Courtney was as ever innovative with the bat. He tried out a left handed stance, and a couple of times stood front on, knees bent outwards, looking as if he had spent too long in the saddle! When Jack Russell was batting with Courtney, he had problems with his bat, so Courtney swapped bats with him in mid run. When Courtney hit Frazer Hines for six, Frazer had a paddy. First one sweater came off and was thrown to the ground, second sweater followed. He walked right back to the fence, and ran in from there.
When the Bunbury's replied, the weather deteriorated, including the odd rumble of thunder. In spite of quite heavy rain and gloomy light during the last 10 or so overs, the match was played to it's conclusion. Courtney bowled very gentle spin, off no run up, including pitching one ball behind the batsman. He did get one wicket. Not surprisingly given the wet conditions, the fielding was not as it could have been- no one wanted to risk injury by slipping. The Bunbury's made 188/7, thus won by 3 wickets with about 3 overs left.
There were very few people there, probably not more than a dozen paying spectators, due I presume to the weather and poor advertising. The teams outnumbered the spectators. Despite this, there was a fun and quite intimate atmosphere. There was a commentary throughout, including half an hour of Rory Bremner doing his wonderful impressions of Geoff Boycott, Henry Blofeld, Ritchie Benaud, Fred Trueman, and Phil Tuffnel. Wonderful stuff. It says a lot for Courtney and his team-mates, and the Bunbury's, that they decided to stage a match for the handful of people who had made the effort to attend.
As at that point, Courtney's future in County cricket had yet to be decided- Glos awaiting his decision on the offer of a new contract, I decided to say goodbye to Courtney just in case this was the last time I was to see him play. I went up to him and just said "All the best and I hope you get those 2 wickets you need" (ie to become WI leading wicket taker). I offered him my hand, and he shook hands with me and said "Thanks very much". Just for a few seconds, I held his hand in both of mine, and looked straight into those big, expressive eyes of his. He is such a sincere person. If it was to be my goodbye to Courtney, then it was a very dignified one.
Click here for some photos of cricket in the rain!
Updated 1/10/98