Jesters AGM & Annual Dinner 2017 report
Twenty four Jesters enjoyed another hugely enjoyable Jesters dinner. It should have been twenty five but John Twigg showed up the following evening - a very early candidate for next season's Roger Greenslade Trophy!
The annual awards were dished out as follows... The Arnold Woods Trophy for best performance of the season was awarded to Noah Hillyard for his 7 for 41 at Leatherhead, including a hat-trick. The Michael Meyer Trophy for the biggest blow the season went to Andy Shakespeare for an enormous six at Hurlingham. And the Roger Greenslade Trophy also involved Andy. But the winner, for the second year in a row, was Louis Harris for a comedic run out at Hurlingham. Caught napping by Andy’s optimistic call for a single, Louis was run out for 97, denying him what would have been his second Jesters century in a row.
Stomping off to the far side of the pitch, Louis sought some significant alone time on a bench before finally removing his helmet and pads and braving his teammates and watching family. “Never forgive, never forget”, advised Mrs Harris. The other contenders for the Arnold Woods Cup were… • Perennial number 11 Matt Berry for his pinch-hitting 28 after being given a chance at the top of the order in the T20 at Canford. • Noah Hillyard again for his 101* against HAC• Saj Zaib for his traditional century (128) against the Hampshire Hogs. • DJ Chak for his 116 against Barnes Common. • Santosh Verma for his maiden Jesters ton, 101* against Leatherhead. • Louis Harris for his 97 against Hurlingham and for 144 against Bedouins. Notably this was his second score of 144 for the Club, but unfortunately neither was sufficient to win the Arnold Woods Cup for the first time. Michael Meyer Award also-rans were… • Noah Hillyard for his chair-breaking six lover long-on against Streatham and Marlborough. • Louis Harris for a mighty mow to cow against the Bedouins. • Santosh Verma for two big sixes against Maidenhead and Bray (3rd and 5th balls of his innings!). • Ollie Doward for his pick-up over square leg to win the match at Eastcote. And the rest of the Roger Greenslade Trophy. • Rupesh Alluri for various comedic incidents, including whistling and chatting to himself in the field, but particularly his “how do you like that Adnan?” comment to Adnan Mohammad at the Club Day after hitting him for four, before being bowled missile stump next ball. • Adnan Mohammad for being observed by Andrew Short practising his batting strokes alone in the dark for at least ten minutes in the car park after the Streatham and Marlborough game. • Jonny Bridcut at Amersham for becoming the first Jester to concede a free hit when bowling a no ball. • Sarbajeet Nag for his performance during the warm-up at Amersham. We were trying to look professional in front of the watching Amersham players. One of Shorbo's throws stuck in his keeping glove and instead of finding a Jesters fielder disappeared rapidly over his shoulder, hitting the slate roof of the pavilion with an enormous crash and scattering a group of Amersham players as the ball fell to earth. Our credibility was well and truly blown. • Robbie Hudson for a non-catch at Barnes Common. The ball was hit high in the air to mid-wicket. Robbie, keeping wicket, called “mine” and charged towards the dropping ball which would have comfortably been caught by Louis Harris. Unfortunately Robbie simply did not get there in time. • And Rowan Clapp for going to a match "via Ealing" after waking up in an unexpected location. He unwittingly travelled all the way across London to catch his lift with Nick Mumby in Ealing, only to be driven all the way back from whence he came.
At the AGM before the dinner, Hon. Match Secretary Jonny Bridcut gave a detailed account of the 2017 season. 24 fixtures were scheduled, but five were cancelled (either due to the weather or the opposition being unable to raise a side). Of the 18 matches played, we won 10, drew four and lost four. The Committee proposed that match fees be increased to £8 per player from the 2018 season. The current level of £7 had been in place since the 2010 season, and costs such as umpiring fees had increased. A vote was held and all those present who voted supported the increase. Rule 12 (c) of the Club will be updated accordingly. John Murphy was re-elected as Hon. Secretary, Jonathan Bridcut was re-elected as Hon. Match Secretary and Chris Smith was re-elected as Hon. Treasurer. The existing Committee (DJ Chak, Ollie Doward, Louis Harris, Noah Hillyard, Robbie Hudson, Simon Rawson, and Andrew Short) was re-elected.