NEW YEAR 2005

SUPPORTERS' CLUB NEWS

CHRISTMAS DRAW 2004
The Christmas Draw made a profit of £1,734. Donations have been made of £500 to the Ben Hollioake Fund, £500 to sponsor the Supporters Club away coaches (we take £100 off each quote before working out what we need to charge – and this enables Ann Atkins to claim a profit!!) and £734 to SCCC Schools Outreach Programme via our Century Club. The result of last year’s Supporters’ Club Christmas Draw was as follows:

1st – Ticket No.8168 – Mike Hyde – £1,313
2nd – 62286 – Arthur McIntyre – County membership
3rd – 43047 – David Lymposs – Theatre tickets
4th – 40238 – Steve Tyler – Alec Stewart shirt
5th – 7427 – A C Langford – £13 of gift vouchers
6th – 78067 – Steve Wooding – £10 gift voucher
7th – 80745 – Peter (Bromley Civic Centre) – £10 gift voucher
8th – 7430 – I R Langford – £10 gift voucher
9th – 4471 – Ray Berriff – £10 gift voucher
10th – 93698 – A Roberts – £10 gift voucher
11th – 25616 – Reg de la Perrelle – £10 gift voucher
12th – 82786 – J Neil – £10 gift voucher
13th – 62564 – Dr A McNulty – £10 gift voucher

We would like to thank all of the members of the Supporters’ Club who bought and sold tickets and, thus, helped to make the draw such a success.

PHIL BOOKER
It is with great sadness that we have to report that Phil Booker passed away in the early hours of 17 February. Phil was an avid Surrey fan and someone whose company it was great to be in. The Oval just will not be the same place without him. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his family at this immensely difficult time.

COACH TRIPS
The Supporters’ Club will be arranging away coach trips on the dates listed below. Further coaches on 17 May, 15/16 July and 20 August are dependent on Surrey’s progress in the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy. Fares and departure times will be published in the April edition of Oval World.

• Mon 2 May – Somerset v Surrey at Taunton (totesport League)
• Sun 15 June – Leicestershire v Surrey at Leicester (totesport League)
• Fri 8 to Sun 10 July – Gloucestershire v Surrey at Bristol (Frizzell County Championship)
• Sun 4 September – Derbyshire v Surrey at Derby (totesport League)

If in the meantime you have any queries regarding coach trips, please contact Ann Atkins on 020-8672-7919.

MEMBERSHIP 2005
Following the continued success of the Christmas Draw (see above) and the Supporters’ Club’s secure financial position, the SCCCSC committee has once again decided to keep the same membership fees as before – that’s £5.00 for full members, £3.00 for seniors and £1.00 a year for junior members. Renewal slips can be printed off by going here.

CENTURY CLUB
When the forerunner to the Surrey CCC Supporters’ Club – the Surrey Supporters’ Association – was formed 27 years ago, few would have reckoned on it still being around today to organise coach trips to away games and to act as a focal point for the Oval faithful. Similarly, when, in 1994, we decided to add another string to our bow by setting out to raise £3,500 for the County’s ‘Outreach Schools Coaching Programme’, most people would have said it was showing uncustomary optimism for a group of Surrey fans to anticipate keeping that effort up every year. But that is precisely what the Supporters’ Club have managed to do and the cheque we gave Chris Bullen and his team of Cricket Development Officers at the end of 2004 took our grand total of monies raised to date to £38,500. During the same period some 250 schools – boys and girls as well as primary and secondary – have benefited from the outreach programme; or put another way over 350 courses have delivered cricket coaching to 10,000 children in South London and most of Surrey. Who knows how many have gone on to play club or even county cricket as a result. If nothing else, though, it must surely have established a bond with Surrey amongst tomorrow’s cricket-following public. Roughly half of the Supporters’ Club’s annual fundraising target is generated by the ‘Century Club’, which anyone can join for an annual fee of £36; and is so called because the original aim was to attract 100 members. With the top prize in every third draw being £250 no wonder it is as popular as ever, especially when the first prize of £50 in the intervening months more than covers the initial outlay. Anyone wishing to become a Century Club member can do so by sending a cheque for £36 (made payable to “SCCCSC Century Club”) along with their details to Sarah Atkins at The Cheviots, 236 Ashbourne Road, Mitcham, Surrey CR4 2DR.

The result of the last draw of 2004 was as follows:

First prize - £250 –Steve Bush (No.80)
Second prize - £30 – Tricia Evemy (No.58)
Third prize - £20 – Kevin Henriques (No.114)

HOPE for Children
Tsunami appeal hotline 0800 298 7550
Working on behalf of
Handicapped
Orphaned
Poor and
Exploited children
www.hope-for-children.org
Registered charity no.1041258

TEAM, CLUB AND OTHER NEWS

BUTCHER SET TO MISS OPENING WEEKS
Surrey will be without skipper Mark Butcher when the new season begins against Sussex on 13 April. The left-hander has suffered a series of injury setbacks, the latest of which forced him to quit the winter tour of South Africa and now threatens to disrupt the early part of the summer. Having torn a ligament in his left wrist while training in the gym, Butcher found himself with a plaster cast down the length of his arm. The cast is now off and the England number three is sporting a splint and the expectation is he will be out of action until the end of April. “Things are going from bad to worse,” a despondent Butcher told the Croydon Advertiser (25 February). “I’m seeing a specialist in Derby but obviously the injury stops me doing any training except running. I can’t drive or even play the guitar.” The Surrey players report back to the Brit Oval on 1 March, but in spite of his injury Butcher expects to play a major role in the pre-season build up. He said: “I haven’t seen a lot of the guys since I was made captain so it will be good to meet earlier than usual and get things a bit more organised. It’s a very good squad and with confidence and the right attitude we have got the players to win trophies. Harbhajan is a fantastic asset and we have already seen what he and the likes of Shane Warne can do in county cricket.”

CLARKE ATTENDS PACE FOUNDATION
As part of their preparation for England A’s tour of the United Arab Emirates and Sri Lanka, Surrey’s Rikki Clarke and Lancashire’s Sajid Mahmood attended Dennis Lillee’s MRF Pace Foundation in Madras in India. The Pace Foundation is the world-renowned centre of excellence for developing fast bowlers.

GO EAST YOUNG MAN
On 8 February it was announced that Alex Tudor has joined Essex on a one-year contract. The 27-year-old former Surrey and England fast bowler has been plagued by injury and has therefore agreed a performance-related deal with the Chelmsford-based outfit. Tudor said: “I am determined to repay Essex for the faith they have shown in me by regaining my top form in 2005. This is a new start for me an I’m now just itching to get out on to the field.” His new captain, Ronnie Irani told the East Anglian Daily Times (9 February): “We’ve been desperate to bring in an experienced and proven fast bowler to lead our attack with Darren Gough, and Alex fits the bill perfectly. I saw him last September at a charity cricket match and he told me he was being released by Surrey. A few weeks later Darren Gough and I had a chat with him and told him our concerns were that he should get fully fit as an individual and then decide who he wanted to go and play for. Obviously, I wanted him to sign for Essex but at that time, I was advising purely from his own personal basis because he’s a terrific cricketer who has just been unfortunate with injuries. If we get Alex Tudor on to the field fully fit, he will be a terrific asset to our side and I think that he is well on the way already to proving that he’s recovering.”

SAQLAIN EYES OCTOBER RETURN
Saqlain Mushtaq, the Pakistan and former Surrey off-spinner, has set his sights on a return to action in time for Pakistan’s home series against England in October. The 28-year-old, who is back in training, has not recovered from knee surgery in time to take part in the eagerly awaited Test series between India and Pakistan. A spokesman for the player was quoted as saying: “Saqlain started with practices and has learnt that one leg has completely healed, but there is still some problem with his other leg, which will take three more months.”

MPs CALL FOR BETTING CRACKDOWN
MPs and peers have called for tough new measures to crack down on corruption in sports-related betting. A report by the all-party Parliamentary betting and gaming group said the growth of betting exchanges where it is possible to back horses, individuals or teams to lose makes sport more vulnerable to fraud and match-fixing. The group made 15 recommendations including that the Government heed a call from Lord Condon, the former top policeman who now heads the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption unit, to raise the maximum jail sentence for gambling cheats above the current two years. Condon, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner, told MPs that the proposed maximum penalty of two years in prison for cheating was derisory. He said: “You could get a bigger sentence for failing to pay your hotel bill than you could for corruption in major sports.” Among the evidence cited were the examples of former England and Surrey cricketer Ed Giddins who backed his county to lose, two St Helens rugby league players - Sean Long and Martin Gleeson - who did the same thing, and heavy and irregular betting patterns surrounding an inconsequential UEFA Cup match between Panionios of Greece and Dinamo Tblisi. The MPs and peers also heard of some of the outlandish wagers being offered for spread betting in cricket, including the number of catches in a Test series by fielders wearing sun-glasses and the number of times the bails are dislodged - both open to manipulation by the players. The report concluded that governing bodies should also devise common standards on who may bet on their own sports.

ELLIOTT PICKED TO HELP HARBHAJAN
Surrey and India’s Harbhajan Singh will have his remodelled bowling action assessed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) according to its new rules on throwing. The new rules, which apply from 1 March, allow spinners to bend their elbows by up to 15 degrees. Previously they were permitted only five degrees. Harbhajan, whose action first came under scrutiny in 1998, has taken 189 Test wickets and claimed 117 victims in one-day internationals. But since being reported to the ICC by match referee Chris Broad after a Test in Bangladesh last December he has been working with Bruce Elliott, the University of Western Australia biomechanics expert. Elliott has observed the off-spinner in a high-speed camera test. Harbhajan’s “doosra” – a ball which spins away from a right-handed batsman – is the main focus of the remedial work. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is due to report back to the ICC on their player’s progress at the end of February.

THORPE PLAYS DOWN ENGLAND’S ASHES PROSPECTS
Surrey’s Graham Thorpe has warned supporters not to go overboard on England’s chances in this summer’s Ashes Test series. Speaking to BBC Radio Five Live (26 January), Thorpe said: “The media will drum up expectations but we have to be realistic. Australia have been a long way ahead for a long time now, but I think we’ve shown we can have competitive matches against them. Our game has to go to another level if we’re going to overturn Australia.” Referring to his place in the England side he said: “This team is certainly bringing out the best in me. It’s been very much an up and down series [in South Africa], but one I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.” He added: “It’s been very tough and I’m glad to have got through five Test matches in six weeks. We had three Test matches back to back and sometimes only two days in between. We didn’t have enough preparation time, but we didn’t grumble, we managed to turn it into a positive for ourselves. We didn’t look for excuses when we played badly and I think that’s one of the strengths of the team.”

OVAL REVELOPMENT TOPPED OUT
On 25 January, Surrey County Cricket Club celebrated the highest point of the OCS Stand being completed with a traditional ceremony. The £25 million project at the Brit Oval is being constructed by Taylor Woodrow and incorporates the OCS Stand. Alec Stewart OBE and Mark Butcher were joined by Surrey partners and the press on the top floor of the redeveloped Vauxhall End where they completed the ceremony by turning the final nut. The Club’s chief executive Paul Sheldon said: “This is an historic moment at the start of a massive year for cricket and for the Brit Oval. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the workforce for their hard work and dedication which has enabled the project to remain on time and to budget.” Mark Butcher, captain of Surrey, added: “The Brit Oval has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, the OCS Stand and redeveloped Vauxhall End are very impressive. I have played in front of capacity crowds here, but believe that the extra 4,000 seats will create an atmosphere to rival anywhere in the world.”

EX-SURREY FAVOURITE ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY
Despite having an operation on his shoulder, the former Surrey and now Nottinghamshire opener Darren Bicknell is hoping to be fit for the start of the county season. The 37-year-old batsman suffered a partially torn tendon whilst weight training in November. He told the official Notts website: “I tried to bat and that was painful, so it was decided to have the operation now so it will be ready for the summer. Everything went smoothly, but it will take six weeks to fully recover.” Bicknell, who left The Oval for Trent Bridge in 2000, has scored almost 18,000 first-class runs during his career, including 44 centuries, and contributed 1,066 runs at an average of 46.34 to Nottinghamshire’s Frizzell County Championship Division Two title success last summer.

OVAL TO HOST DISASTER APPEAL MATCH
On 19 January it was announced that Surrey County Cricket Club are to stage a special Twenty20 match between Asia and an International XI to raise money for the tsunami disaster appeal. The match, which has been officially sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and England & Wales Cricket Board, will take place at the Brit Oval on Monday, 20 June. Surrey’s chief executive Paul Sheldon said: “We are delighted to be able to play a small part in helping to rebuild the shattered lives of the victims of this terrible disaster.”

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