Wednesday, July 5th, 2017

Cricket Society Revise 2017-2018 Winter Programme

Cricket Society Revise 2017-2018 Winter Programme

Worcestershire Cricket Society have announced their revised monthly winter evening programme for 2017-2018.

Secretary Ann Mullen has lined up Barry Dudleston, Dennis Amiss MBE and Alan Butcher for the three evenings before Christmas.

And, after the traditional Worcestershire player or official attending the January meeting, the programme will continue with John Barclay and Geoff Cope.

Geoff Cope is a replacement for Geoff Miller who is now unavailable next March.

Former Gloucestershire and Leicestershire wicket-keeper batsman Dudleston will be recalling his career in October.

He scored 14,747 first class runs with 32 hundreds before becoming an umpire and he officiated in two Tests and four ODIs.

Amiss is a legend to Warwickshire cricket in the same way as someone like Graeme Hick is to Worcestershire and he will be the Cricket Society speaker in November.

He was a prolific run-scorer and ended his career with 43,423 first class runs at an average of 42.86 and 102 hundreds and 12,519 List A runs at 35.06 with 15 hundreds.

Amiss made the first of his 50 Test appearances for England in 1966 and scored 3,612 runs at 46.30 with 11 centuries – eight of them in excess of 150.

Butcher is from a famous cricketing family which includes his son Mark who carved out an impressive career with Surrey and England before becoming a TV cricketing pundit.

Alan played from Surrey (1972-1986) and then Glamorgan (1987-1992) and accumulated 22,667 first class runs at 36.32 with 46 tons and 9,169 List A runs at 31.43.

He had spells coaching Essex and Surrey, for whom he made a brief playing comeback in 1998 at the age of 44, and then the Zimbabwe national team.

Alan will be the guest speaker in December and then in February it will be the turn of former Sussex captain John Troutbeck Barclay who was regarded as one of the best captains of his era.

Bonn-born Barclay, who once represented Hong Kong, made his Sussex debut as a 16-year-old in 1970 and captain England Young Cricketers two years later.

Opening batsman Barclay, who was educated at Eton, took over the captaincy of Sussex in 1981 and came close to leading them to the Championship.

He retired in 1986 because of a finger injury having scored 9,677 first class and 2,792 List A runs in addition to picking up 324 first class and 167 List A wickets with his more than useful off spin.

Barclay has remained actively involved in cricket and in 2009-2010 was elected president of the MCC.

The winter programme will end in March with former England and Yorkshire skipper Geoff Cope.

Cope collected 686 first class wickets in a career with the Tykes spanning from 1966 to 1983.

He won his three England caps during the tour of Pakistan in 1977-78 and nearly collected a hat-trick on his debut.

Cope dismissed Abdul Qadir and Sarfraz Nawaz and then had Iqbal Qasim caught at slip by Mike Brearley. But Brearly recalled Qasim because he was unsure of the legitimacy of the catch.

Cope twice had to remodel his action after being suspended in 1972 and 1978.

He began his career wearing spectacles, switched to contact glasses and today has a guide dog after being registered blind although he still has some partial sight.

Meetings, on the second Tuesday of each month, take place in the Graeme Hick Pavilion and the Society membership is £15 per person or £25 for a double membership.