Celebration Charity Cricket Match
7 July 2006
Chris Tarrant's Lord's Taverners played the Abingdon Alligators XI at War Memorial Field. As well as being part of Abingdon's 750 celebrations the event aimed to raise money for The Lord's Taverners, Cricket's official charity that provides opportunities and equipment for young people, particularly those with special needs, to play cricket and other sports.
The Lord's Taverners team, with Chris Tarrant as manager, were captained by Chris White, an international rugby referee, as captain, and the Abingdon Alligators, captained by Richard Tilley OA. Bill Frindall, Test Match Special's scorer, and David Bobin, OA, of Sky Sports, were two of the commentators.
The fun afternoon included a marquee lunch, tea and auction, a raffle and a Kwick Cricket final between two local primary schools. £8000 was raised for the Lord's Taverners, a club and charity that each year gives about £2 million to enable young people to play cricket and to help youngsters who are disabled or who have special needs.
The Alligators, a team of former and present Abingdon pupils and staff, batted first. Stuart Hamilton, with 38 runs, gave the Alligators a steady start. Then Luke List (46 runs; bowled by Chris Tarrant), Chris Davies (25), Michael Winson (21) and Sam Florey (24 not out) helped the score reach 198 for 8 wickets in 30 overs, the last 173 runs coming in just 19 overs. For the Taverners, Toby Tarrant, Chris's 14 year old son, and Miles Harrison both took 3 wickets. Two former England cricketers, Neil Radford and Mike Gatting, bowled 3 overs each.
Luke Parker (48) and Adam Shantry (36), both Warwickshire cricketers, top scored for the Taverners. We were also entertained to boundaries by Radford, Gatting, Chris Tarrant and Lloyd Scott, who wore traditional cricket attire although he has 'run' marathons in a deep-sea diving suit and a suit of armour. However, despite using 12 batsman, the Taverners were all out for 151, James Mugnaioni and James Weedon both taking 3 wickets for 20 runs.
The result and scores were secondary to the enjoyment shared by lovers of cricket, players and spectators, giving generously of their time and money for the sake of youngsters in need. The School was honoured to host this visit of the Lord's Taverners, to whom we are very grateful indeed.
During the tea interval, the Kwick Cricket Final was played between St Edmund's School and Thomas Reade School, two local primary schools.
Some of the pictures below (as marked) can be clicked to reveal larger images that can be saved and printed out for your own personal use. If you would like larger versions of other images please email james.nairne@abingdon.org.uk.
All images Copyright © Abingdon School 2006
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Tea interval: Kwick Cricket Final |
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| Kwick Cricket Presentations: | ||
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| Auction | ||
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Presentations at the end of the match. |
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 Ground staff. |
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 Winners of the Oxfordshire Under 14 Lord Taverners trophy - Abingdon School - with Mike Gatting, president of the Lord's Taverners. |
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