Sun-drenched it wasn’t; knuckle-biting it was, for the men anyway. And what an exciting day for everyone!
Our Society’s famous Lord’s Suite Party did us proud on a day when the heavens had threatened to overwhelm us, and we thought that our great Coronation Garden Picnic might end up as Soggy Sandwiches under the Stands.
In the event, everything worked in our favour: no rain, no disruption to the play, a complete walkover for our women on the Nursery Ground – they got the enemy all out for 89; and one of the tensest men’s matches in recent years, with the light blues confident of victory after a 50 over innings of 269 for 9 but then increasingly nervous as Oxford crept up and seemed to be within reach of victory only to face a sudden tail end collapse for 252. So, mixing metaphors unashamedly, Full House. It was most exhilarating. The full scorecard is available here:
http://www.lords.org/data/files/oxford-v-cambridge-2012-10830.pdf
And our members and their guests? A good mix of “generations and genders”, the oldest having gone up in 1938 and the youngest just a few years ago, plus a couple of bemused guests from Germany and The Netherlands – and you know how much fun it is trying to explain the game to the uninitiated! Then, our normal excellent service of biscuits and soft and not-so-soft drinks provided by very attentive staff, a perfect picnic in the Garden, and the added pleasure of having our Vice-Chancellor join us as the tension was mounting – with his rousing words ensuring ultimate victory, of course.
This great day is a long-standing tradition of our London Society and a firm favourite with our members and guests – and with two consecutive years of double victories there’s “all to play for” next year!
We would like to thank our members and guests, Lord’s and its excellent staff, the Vice-Chancellor, and of course our superb men’s and women’s teams for making it yet again a day to remember.
Organised by Alastair Gourlay and David Peace