Welcome to Olly's Carlisle Cricket Club Photo Gallery
Below you will find three albums of Carlisle Cricket Club photographs, one for the current season, 2008 season, one for the 2006 and 2007 seasons and one of Olly's Cricket Club Memories. Please enjoy!
2008 Season
2007
Photography can be a strange beast, it can make the best players look like puddings and the puddings look like David Gower! In this book, you will see both... (no offence to either the puddings or David Gower). It can make pie-throwers look like Michael Holding and it can make surly, agile, loose-limbed heroes look like Routledge the bakers. Such is life!
In this tome you will see examples of this plus a rather ill-timed shot of Skipper J.D. with a nasty looking swollen something, and his small son kicking the offending article about! You will see Irishman Daryll Service looking like a sex-god pulling a pull stroke, only to be caught like an aforementioned pie at square leg. You will see shots that make man-mountains like Nicky Whitfield look like Harry Pilling (very small Lancastrian from days gone by), and chunky Andy Trickett looking like Twiggy. Our intrepid keeper can be seen whipping off the bails in a milli-second, only to be thwarted by some blind umpire who was thinking about the 3.30 at Ascot at that very moment. You will see Adam Williamson looking like an off-duty policeman and Pete Walker looking a complete ****! There are players at the very beginning of their careers and players coming to the inevitable end. Also you'll see players who are careering all over the place. Then there are heroes like Usman winning games and villains losing them. In fact, as the season continues, you will hopefully see a fair representation of all that went on (usually on the field) at Carlisle Cricket Club in all its glory. By the way, is Stephen Johnson the new David Gower?
2006
We start with the old pavilion in a real state after the dreaded floods of 2005 and an interesting shot of David Reed just about to dive into the cellar. You will notice the devout side of the Club, with the Rev. Tony Brown praying before the start of a game. Then come exiled Aussies, various comedians and even a shot of the three stooges. You will see that Carlisle Cricket Club isn't a sexist establishment, with girly cricketers bowling (and a damn site better than half the normal set of drunks). There is a cracking shot of that laid-back 'keeper Martin Burnett delightedly stumping another Aussie, Appleby's Luke Wimbridge; and the umpire was looking this time! There are quite a few photos of 06's 'pro' Murtu, who did a great job, even when doing his superb hamster impression! Top man, all the same. In fact it was due to his many fine performances that the firsts got back into the top division for the 07 season.
There are shots of old heroes (& villains) Crammo, Kev Maxwell, Hendo and Richie Bamber during the fun game at the season's end. Another strange phenomenon is also seen, namely a rather big chap looking not unlike a white Stevie Wonder, and he seems to be doing a spot of terrible Dee-jaying. He is perhaps the noisiest Dee-jay I have ever had the displeasure to hear. Later, you see the same person actually looking like a cricketer; its funny how Colin Milburn springs to mind. On a rhyming slant, Vijay Kopparthi takes a fine photograph and did I hear someone say that he is the spitting image of a latter day Clive Lloyd?
For those of you who like shots of the fairer sex, there is a spot of relief with some photos of the tea-ladies, and what a fine job they do!! On a more sordid front, there are also shots of grown men actually drinking! Celebrating the end of season promotion. I would just like to say publicly, and for the record, that I just don't hold with such goings-on. Hic!!
MEMORIES
Ugh! What a sight! Can that really be the large photographer in his playing days? What a bad start!
Then you'll see various team shots going back all the way to 1993 and hopefully we will eventually endeavour to name all these myriads of strange athletes who once donned the flannels. Several really stand out. The immortal Albert Clapperton, the 'flea', Kenny Ion and the voice of the BBC David Lamb, alas no longer with us. (But still watching events from the great old long room in the sky). Young Andrew Henderson will also be with them I'm sure. Other luminaries include Graham Monkhouse, man of numerous wonderful anecdotes, the 'Heron' Peter Henderson, Gaz Cookson, Mark Spencer (the man who sounds like a shop), Keith Twentyman (with porn-star moustache), Bob Kilgour, Willie Walker, David Musgrave, Mark Rowell, etc, etc. Old 'pros' are all there, Sean De Villiers from Cape Town, Julian Butterworth from Tasmania, Nick Jones from Perth (Oz), Pieter Duvenage from South Africa, Chris Stockdale from Penrith, etc, etc.
There is a 'stalwarts' section, with Bill Tinning grafting as usual, David Reed, Brian (Joe Buquet) Cookson, and even shots of the truly 'immortal' Lenny Brunton. (That is another story)... Oh go on then, I'll relate it to you. Basically, someone at the Club was sure that Len had passed away and so a minutes silence was arranged on the nearest Saturday afternoon. No-one thought anything more about it until someone had heard that Len was drinking in his usual haunts on Caldewgate. Albert Clapperton decided to take the bull by the horns and ring his house. Len in his usual stutter said "Yyyeeesss Lllen Bbbrunton hhhere" Oh dear, what a carry on, it even made the national papers! I'm glad to say the old chap is still as large as life, and still frequenting those same dens of iniquity.
Then we arrive at the 'fame academy' section of the album. Basically, it is anybody whose is anybody who has ever warmed our wonderful greensward in the dim and distant past. Even Colin Cowdrey appeared with the Kent side, and he informed Kenny Ion and me that this ground is truly one of the finest. By the way, the one photograph with the missing nameplate is in fact one Graham Lloyd of Bumble's son fame. You would not believe just who have set foot in this heaven, but among many there is the top run scorer that season 'Ramps' and Rahul Dravid the current Indian charver. In the immortal words of Leslie Crowther, why don't you all "Come on down!".
To finish we have the 'scenic' section, which shows Edenside in all its glory, even in the snow. There are sunsets, rainbows, you name it and its there... oh and I'm afraid there are those terrible floods too, and the dreadful state of the water damaged pavilion. Nuff said.
Olly