Rick Shepperson has kindly provided a first hand account of his quite remarkable bowling performance in 1978. (
Scorecard)
Ten Wickets in a League Match
A summer’s tale by Rick Shepperson
In 1978 I was teaching at Gt Baddow Comprehensive School (as it was then) and playing cricket for Gt Baddow CC. That season turned out to be memorable for several reasons, not least because of the terrific team spirit that built up as the summer unfolded. Peter Hussey skippered us; Ray and Richard Hodgkinson, Vic Taylor, Peter Pulham, Ian Staines and Derek Wiseman all played regularly. Andrew Clarke umpired, usually at my end as I remember. He was always immaculately turned out and scrupulous in his duties. I recall many fruitless appeals for LBW decisions. “Not out, Rick!” he would say with that reassuring smile.
Although I was heavily involved with basketball camps throughout the school summer holidays, I made every effort to be available for as many Greene King Essex League cricket matches as possible. Our league matches were played on Saturdays, 45-overs per side, team with the higher score wins but with bonus points for batting and bowling. There were about sixteen teams in the league, playing each other once only, starting in May. Most teams shared the bowling between four or five players, each bowling one longer spell rather than several shorter ones. This suited my philosophy for opening the bowling; once into my rhythm I liked to ‘bowl my overs through’. We won our first two matches and my figures were 10-0-48-3 and 17-3-36-4. I was getting into my stride! And so it continued. Although we lost our next three matches, I was bowling well and taking wickets. By the end of the school term, three weeks into July, we had won four and lost four; I had bowled 114 overs and taken 33 wickets. In the process of one of those matches – a defeat, as it happened - I took eight wickets (15.4-6-24-8) and the question was asked if I’d ever taken all ten. I hadn’t, but it’s such a rare occurrence I wasn’t surprised or disappointed.
At the start of August, I set off to coach for a week at the International Mini Basketball Festival in Hertfordshire. Finishing on the Friday afternoon I returned to Chelmsford in the company of Steve Latham, then the captain of England Senior Men’s Basketball Team. The following morning - Saturday August 5th 1978 – we drove to Hornchurch where I was due to play for Gt Baddow CC against Britannic Lodge CC. It was a fine day but the ground was soft and damp after overnight rain. We batted first on a slow pitch but runs were difficult to come by and wickets kept falling. Between chatting with team mates, Steve and I walked a couple of laps of the boundary talking about the week’s basketball and the day’s cricket. Eventually I was needed to bat at #9, but was run out for 5. At the end of our 45 overs we had made 121 for 9 – not a great score!
After tea Peter Hussey, our skipper, asked which end I’d like and said something along the lines of keeping things tight and looking for an early breakthrough. After three overs I had done anything but! A couple of long-hops had been gleefully dispatched and I had 12 runs against my name. “I’ll give you one more, Rick, but I might have to take you off!” Being taken off after four overs was ‘not an option’ (apologies to Gene Crantz of NASA). I pulled my thoughts together, put the week’s basketball out of my mind and concentrated on the job in hand. I took a wicket in each of my next three overs, gave nothing away and we were off and running. The ball was now coming out of my hand well, swinging in the warm August air and moving off the drying pitch; perfect really! Two more wickets in my eighth over, and the opposition were reeling at 36 for 5. Derek Wiseman had opened the bowling at the other end from me and he was keeping things tight but not taking wickets. Their score ticked along slowly for several more overs then, in my twelfth over I took three wickets. Suddenly I had eight, the opponents were on the ropes and everyone’s thoughts were turning to the magical ‘all ten’ scenario.
Now, I’ll never know – and they never told me – whether Derek and another team-mate, Vic Taylor, colluded to help me as we tried to take the last two wickets. I’m sure that Derek was bowling to win the match but he hadn’t taken a wicket thus far. The field was set aggressively for their two tail-enders and, on the last ball of Derek’s thirteenth over, one of them offered the half-chance of a catch to Vic fielding at forward short leg. He couldn’t quite reach it and the batsman survived! Vic cursed mildly, threw me the ball and said “Come on, Rick; finish this!” A wicket followed on the third ball on my next over and then, with the last ball, I did finish it - removing the batsman’s off stump. Lots of hand-shaking and back-slapping followed as we all made our way back to the pavilion. The opposition, too, seemed happy to have been involved in such an unusual match. They were all out for 57 in 27 overs. Derek had bowled 13 overs for 27 runs; my figures were 14-3-23-10. Seven victims were bowled, two caught and one given out LBW. I had taken the last five wickets for no runs in eighteen balls.
I should report here that the same lethargy that affected me at the start of their innings, namely the tiredness caused by a week’s basketball coaching and evenings socialising, overtook my pal Steve. He fell asleep on a boundary bench, but was woken by the cheering that greeted my eighth wicket. At least he was awake to witness the final few overs and the last couple of wickets!
After we cleaned up and changed, the beers flowed and the conversation bubbled. I asked the umpires and the scorers what had become of the ball, as it would make a suitable memento of an extraordinary day. After much head scratching, no one seemed to know where it was. Shame, I thought, but never mind!
More basketball camps and the start of a new school term meant that I played only one more match that season. However, a surprise awaited me at the End-of-Season Awards Evening, in The White Horse pub in Gt Baddow. I was presented with the ball, mounted on a stand with an inscription detailing the achievement. Peter had made sure that he grabbed the ball at the end of the match - for safe keeping! Of course, I still have that ball proudly displayed at home.
In the 12 league matches I played that season, we won seven and lost five. I bowled 182 overs, taking 52 wickets (26 bowled, 24 caught and 2 LBW) for 517 runs. However, beyond personal achievement I treasure the memories of those people involved in my last summer at Gt Baddow before my move to Bucks in 1979.
I never had another bowling season like 1978!
RPS – August 2014