A nearly 40 strong contingent of OMTs,
ranging from our 1st captain David Smee 48 years ago to our current
one James Corbett, amongst a gathering of approaching 700 descended on the Old Whitbread
Brewery in the City of London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the premier Old
Boys cricket tournament - The Cricketer Cup. 36 Public Schools were represented with
players from the original 1967 sides in attendance right up to current ones.
The Master of Ceremonies for the evening
was Tony Monteuuis, Old Tonbridgeian, the current Cricketer Cup Chairman, and
grace was said by The Rev Andrew Wingfield- Digby, Sherborne Pilgrims, who has
played against OMT in The Cricketer Cup and also represented Dorset in the Minor Counties
competition. He was the one time spiritual adviser and chaplain to the England
cricket team under Ray Illingworth in the early 1970s.
John Barclay, Eton Ramblers, Past
President of MCC, and captain of Sussex, who has also played against OMT in The
Cricketer Cup, and now does a great deal of charitable work for cricket,
proposed the toast to The Cricketer Cup.
He noted that in the 50 years of the competition only 15 public schools
out of 36 have ever won with the OMTs’ best being three semi finals. John’s remarks emphasised the unique
specialness and prestige of the competition, and how much every School
cherished being part of it.
With what may be a good sign for this year’s
competition. which starts in early June, two OMTs won the first two of the 3
raffle prizes on offer – Messrs Ed Lamb and Chris Coker – who by chance were
also sitting on the same table. Odds of over
1000- 1 for OMTs sitting on the same table winning the first two prizes were
offered, but not taken, for the gamblers!! OMTs’ very own Uri Geller and
magician Jawwad Rasheed, a member of The Magic Circle, was also on the table,
and there were rumours of undue influence being exercised by him!
The whole evening was a great success and
it was a fantastic opportunity to meet up with teammates from yesteryear many of whom had travelled great distances,
and to make reacquaintances with opponents from the past and indeed present
(for the current generation). The wonderful attendance was a real testament to
the pulling power of the competition even in this modern era with many
distractions competing for people's time.
This year Hurstpierpoint join the
competition for the first time and OMT have drawn them in a bye round (just
before the first round proper). News of OMTs 2017 campaign will no doubt
accompany this report.