We made an early start to the year on 3rd January with another informal coffee morning at The Mayfield Lavender Cafe which was attended by over twenty members, wives and friends, our highest attendance yet.
At the January lunch, the first task of our new Chairman John Goodhead was to welcome a new member, Ian Newton with the traditional brown envelope. What a good way to start off 2024.
Following an excellent meal of Slow-Cooked Lamb & Vegetable Tagine, Savoury Rice, Minted Yogurt followed by Sticky Toffee Pudding, Butterscotch Sauce & Vanilla Ice Cream we were entertained by our own Roger Hill talking about Cricket.
The first surprise was that this was a repeat performance! Apparently Roger, who joined our club a couple of years ago had been asked by his good friend, the late Peter Vickery back in 2007 to talk to Cheam Probus on the same subject.
Roger who was a member of the ICC (International Cricket Council) recounted the history of International cricket, and explained that the very first international in 1844 did not feature England but was between The United States and Canada! He explained that the Test Matches between England and Australia started in 1877 and became the 'Ashes Series' in 1882. There are several versions of 'the ashes story' but the current favorite seems to involve the Countess of Darnley presenting them to her husband in 1882-83.
Thank you Roger for a most informative talk about your lifelong passion and the amusing anecdotes of the people involved.
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