This article is an attempt to look back through the mists of time, to recall the origins of the Surrey supporters Association cricket club. I must therefore, ask you to make allowances for any possible omission or distortion of the facts. You have been warned.
As far as I can recall, the story begins during the winter of 1980/81 when I was approached by Tony Sherwood, who told me that he was very keen to organize quizzes and sporting events for the supporters association members. Tony hoped that Surrey teams could compete against other counties ` supporters` clubs and that, maybe a national structure could be set up. We discussed his ideas over the phone and on the 1980/81 winter coach trip to Bath and Cheddar Gorge. Feeling that his plans were very impressive and that he had the drive and the determination to pull them off. I decided that It would be beneficial to exchange ideas on a regular basis. Phill Gerrard and I met Tony on a number of occasions at a pub in Sutton after work and reported back to the Association committee. To make things easier, Tony was co-opted onto the committee shortly afterwards.
Being a cricket supporters ` club it was only natural that one of the first teams we wanted to form was a cricket team and it was also not surprising that a number of the lads we knew at the oval were very interested in the idea. We planned to use the summer if 1981 to gauge the level of talent and enthusiasm and to decide whether it would be possible to get a team together a team to play club cricket in 1982. We laid down our intentions in May 1981 edition of the associations` (extra cover) newsletter, stating that anyone interested in playing should attend a practice match at regents park on (I think I'm right in saying) 21st June. A number of Surrey supporters who we already knew attended, plus some we didn't I remember, for example, that this marked Tony Leach's first appearance on the scene. We had enough players; I believe for a six or seven a side game, which meant plenty of fielding practice if you happened to be on the weaker side.
After one or two Further such practice games it became apparent that there was some talent of sorts available and Tony arranged a competitive match against The Society For The Preservation Of Beer From The Wood (little wonder why we called them S.P.B.W) to take place on one of the death traps I mean wickets, at regents park.
I was appointed as captain by Tony and we were defeated after a minor struggle. Some encouraging factors emerged (although I can't remember what they were) but several of our lads joined the primary club at there first attempt, poor old A.W.L being one of them with his parents looking on aghast. I seem to remember that not long after this match we started to organise some net practices at Brockwell Park.
Another significant event to happen at around this time was the arrangement of a game against Nott's Supporters, which was due to take place during the associations weekend trip to Nottingham. Tony and I knew that this would be a crucial test as we would be facing a number of regular club cricketers and would find out whether we were really good enough to compete in club cricket in 1982. All we was looking for really, when we arrived was a solid performance and a margin of defeat that wouldn't be to embarrassing. As it turned out, however, Gerald Mierzynski hit 53, Gerald Ahern 36*, Nick Simpson a quick fire 29, and we followed this with a pretty good display in the field to win the came by a comfortable margin of some 20 runs.
Upon returning to London, Gerald Mierzynski and Nick Simpson went to see Alf Gower at the Wandsworth cricket School and booked nets for the winter. Gerald then took the role of club secretary, Tony Sherwood became fixture secretary, and both worked extremely hard to set up the club and register with the club cricket conference. We were fortunate that one of the Associations members at this time was Derek Annetts, the secretary of the C.C.C., and he as able to give advice and help.
The next step was to hire the pitches for our home games, so I applied to the London Borough of Sutton and discovered that the only ground that was available throughout the season was Corrigan Avenue Recreation ground, on the borders of Woodmansterne and Coulsdon. I duly booked a number of dates with there Technical services department in Carshalton, which then allowed Tony Sherwood to attend the C.C.C. `s autumn fixture meeting and compile our first fixture list.
Not long after this, Gerald and I took a trip to Woodmansterne to look over our newly adopted home ground. The final step was to go and purchase some basic items of kit (stumps, balls etc) to enable us to boldly go were none of us had gone before. With this mission accomplished, my part of the story ends.
An awful lot of hard work was put into the launching of the Surrey supporters association cricket club, but I am sure everyone who plays, or has played at any time for this club will tell you that it really was well worth the effort.
(Trevor Jones)
May I say a big thank you to Dave Evemy for bringing this insight into how the club was formed to my attention!
Being a relatively new player to the team a few years ago I was not aware of any of this. The spirt of the club has not changed lets all hope it carry's on going. Thanks to all the people who make this club the great club it is. (John McLeod)
