This week’s theme for Tina’s Gallery is Sport.

Surprisingly, given my interest in, and playing of, cricket, hockey and squash in my youth I don’t have a lot of sporty photos. Well not having kids and having had to watch them play football/rugby means I haven’t had that excuse.

So here are a couple from the archives, neither of which was take by me, but I’m in both.

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This is University of York Cricket Club Tour, July 1971. This group photo was taken at Sidney Sussex College sports ground, Cambridge. As I recall we played there, at the Ley’s School, HMS Ganges (near Ipswich) and at Felixstowe. GOK what I was doing on the tour as I was the worst cricketer of the squad by a distance. I can’t remember many of the names now (although they are all on the original), but I’m third from the right in the back row, with glasses and an urgent need of a haircut.

And this second one is a couple of years earlier in summer 1969.

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This is my school (Cheshunt Grammar School) 1st XI vs Cheshunt Cricket Club, at Cheshunt Cricket Club. I think this was taken by the photographer of the local paper and there is an original copy in my files. Thanks to several contacts I’ve now managed to put names to everyone whose face is visible. I’m the guy in the white cap looking at the ground. The man at the rear in front of the white trellis is Roger Clark who was our games master — and a damn fine cricketer too.

Even if I was a crap cricketer (I was never really more than club 3rd XI standard) they were happy days and I greatly enjoyed both playing and umpiring. I do miss that, but I don’t miss the agro which came into club cricket in the 80s as a result of everyone having to play in some league or other — that’s when I got out.