LCS Meeting Wednesday 14th December

Our December speaker David James Millns

With our original speaker for this month, Richard Rae, unable to attend due to ill health, the LCS were able to arrange a more than adequate stand in, with ex county fast bowler and now first class umpire, David Millns coming to the rescue.

Let’s start by wishing all the society members’ guests and visitors a very merry Christmas and an even better New Year, and hope that 2017 is kind to you all. We have some fantastic speakers coming to the LCS in the first three months of the New Year.

With the change of our usual meeting day moving from Thursday to Wednesday night and considering the time of year, it was very gratifying to see well over 100 people come along to listen to David talking about his life in cricket.

Howard talking to David about our society before the start of the meeting.

Howard introducing our guest for the evening, Howard told the audience of David’s very impressive stats. David played in a total of 171first class matches, a left hand bat and a right arm very quick fast bowler, during his career he scored three centuries, with a high score of 121, in a match at Northampton. Howard told us that he had fond memories of that game, as he had been at Wantage road watching David’s innings. David took 553 wickets with a best of 9 for 37 runs in his first class career.

Even with a few more empty seats than normal we still had a very good amount of people turn up.

Wonder if anyone got the wrong date, and went along on Thursday night?

Many thanks to Janet and Phil, on the second row, for helping to take the raffle round at the interval, regular helpers Ken and Margaret were both AWOL.

All the prizes were taken, as always many thanks to everyone for your support.

One very unusual item I was given to use as a prize, this miniature bottle of whiskey, with the label showing the running fox. This was given to people paying their subscriptions in the 1970’s, I think, if anyone knows different about this, please let me know.

Lots of familiar faces for our Christmas meeting. the Charles Palmer suite looking very festive.

some of the front row lads fielding in their normal positions.

Enjoying a coffee before the start of play. David has been a first class umpire since 2007.

David started by telling us how lucky he has been, spending so long doing and getting paid for playing a sport that he still loves.

David told us before he got a contract with Nottinghamshire county cricket club. He had been a miner working down Clipstone colliery. He told us some of the famous cricketers in the Notts dressing room at that time, Chris Broad, Chris Cairns, Eddie Hemmings, Mike Hendrick, Derek Randall, Tim Robinson and Bruce French when he started his cricket; David said his thoughts were, what am I doing here amongst this lot.

David went on to say that the ECB had sent him to India, to gain experience of umpiring in different environments. He said that he had flown out, business class on Emirates airlines, with a transfer in Dubai. He had missed his connection to Kolkata, so had to spend 24 hours in Dubai, he said he had already been on a trip to the West Indies on an exchange programme, a couple of years ago. David said, it’s a hard life being an umpire.

telling us what hard life umpires have.

He explained a little of the format of Indian cricket, there are 28 teams, split into 3 leagues, with 9 teams in each of division’s A and B, which are the equivalent of division one in England and 10 teams, in division C, which is the same as division two here. However, no team is allowed to play at home, David described it as, Leicestershire playing Northamptonshire at Derby. There are about 100 umpires in India compared to around 30 in the UK. David told us about the equipment that the ground staff are able to use, there are no motorised mowers, rollers or tractors allowed, this is to stop breakdowns, but importantly to stop oil leaks on the playing areas, so all the mowing, rolling and outfield work is done by hand. David asked what our groundsman would make of that. David said that while he was in India, he used their Yellow Taxi’s to get around. He described them as WHITE KNUCKLE RIDES, and said Alton towers thrill rides weren’t a patch on riding in an Indian taxi.

Describing what it’s like taking a taxi in Kolkata

A couple of stories David told us during his talk, one as an umpire and one as a player.

Whilst playing for Boland in South Africa. There had been lots of problems with people running on to the outfield and interrupting matches, so David said at the pre match talk before one particular game. A very large Afrikaans’s head of security for the ground, tells the players that a member of security will be positioned every 30 meters around the boundary, between the picket fence and the boundary rope. Each one of these security guys will have a Rottweiler, a Doberman or an Alsatian dog, if anyone runs onto the field, these security guys will lose the dogs; they will then attack that person. David then asked the head of security. Suppose I’m just running into bowl and somebody from the crowd runs onto the field, how will the dogs know which person to attack, the head of security said, OH we hadn’t thought of that!

The other story, David, umpiring a match at Hove, the match official’s and the ground security had all been told before the game had started, that in the event of someone running onto the pitch, they were to take no action, just let them run around. So a streaker runs onto the field, as per instructions, no one takes any action. David said this guys running straight for him, the guy then rugby tackles the three stumps. One of the wickets bounces back up, and hits this man in his privates, still no one is taking any action, the guy is winded and still lying on the deck, David said that still no one is coming to take the guy off. So the now deflated streaker, has had to trudge off to the boundary without his moment of glory. David said, look it up, the photo was on the back page of the Daily Mirror.

During the interval this month’s raffle made a very impressive £105.50 Many thanks from the LCS raffle section.

After the break we had our normal Q&A session.

Here Howard had just asked for the first question of the evening.

David listening very intently to the question

The question was, what is the most difficult part of being an umpire, David’s answer, there isn’t one; he told us that he loves what he does. He said that if he makes it till he’s 65 David will have had 41 years in professional cricket, as a player and an umpire. He told us that he is a very lucky man, being able to do something he absolutely loves for that length of time.

George Knights did the formal vote of thanks on behalf of the membership. Though George’s first comment was to thank the committee, for all the work that goes on to make all our meetings such a success.

The next LCS meeting is on, Thursday January 12th 2017, when Alan Fordham, Head of Cricket Operations at the ECB, will be our guest speaker.

Hope you have a good holiday and see you all next year.

Phil Veasey

On behalf of the LCS committee