Today's Meet the Team feature comes from my longest suffering and best mate, John Grain.
John has been a Tigers' regular from our foundation in 2009. John and his wife Claire are also big friends of SpecialEffect. I won't go into detail about that because I know they wouldn't want me to but we are grateful for their tremendous support.
And John completes the trinity of the Grain/Newton-Grain family who help to form the backbone of this SpecialEffect Tigers cricket team of ours. We've already heard from his brother, Chris, and son, Cam.
Now lets hear from the senior member of the family. Take it away John:
Name: John Grain
Date of Birth: 11th April 1967
Where were you born? Oxford
How do you earn a living? By telling lies
What do you do cricket-wise? RHB (but the eyes are going), SRA (not a spin bowler)
Who's your favourite cricket team? Yorkshire
And your favourite ever cricketer? Hanse Cronje
What are your earliest cricketing memories? Geoff Boycott’s return to test cricket after self imposed exile, running out Derek Randall at Edgbaston and then scoring 107.
Scoring 408-0 declared against Ian Carter in my back garden, then bowling him for 0 third ball and going indoors leaving him to go home.
Baz’s hysterically optimistic LBW shouts during after school games up at Finstock playing field in the 1970s if the ball hit any part of the batsmen or his bat. Some things never change…
What are the best and worst grounds you've ever played at? I assume we are discounting Finstock playing field where there wasn’t even a square for our match against Combe Primary school. Them in their pristine whites and with a kitbag, us in our jeans and four stumps. We were dismissed for 17 on a wicket offering some assistance to the bowlers. They were cocky. But pride comes before a fall as they struggled to 8 all out and victory for the six-toed locals in their straw sandals by 9 runs – we could have probably put them in again…
Otherwise, best are New Road, Worcester and for setting Blenheim or New College Oxford.
Have to say the worst (as a wicket with an actual square) is Blenheim and not many fond memories of the plague of stinging flies and dog mess at West Witney either.
Do you have a favourite fielding position? Wicket keeping the few times I’ve done it – the ball is hard so I like having gloves. Otherwise I completely and utterly hate fielding especially now I can’t run, throw or like anyone else in the team last season catch.
What's your favourite other sport? Football
Any good at it? Not any more
Which sport do you find most boring? Anything with horses in. Though I do think the sport of “horses vs snipers” has potential.
Who's your all-time sporting hero? Cameron Newton-Grain – his talent is in direct proportion to his incredible modesty…
What is the strangest or funniest thing you've ever seen on a cricket field? See Best & Worst grounds section.
My brother creaming Alan Donald for 4 in a pro-am match and then being castled by the next ball which came like a blur. He never even had time to lift his bat up. That’ll teach him.
Being invited to play for Coventry Diocese (they were desperate) and seeing one of our fielders who had never played before stop the ball on the boundary and then hurl it straight back over his own head for 4 and losing the ball in the hedge.
You can have any four people to dinner, past or present, who would they be? Bob Carolgees, Keith Harris, Roger de Courcey and Ray Alan.
Carolgees – one of the finest puppet comics of our generation
Harris – one of the finest ventriloquists of our generation
De Courcey – one of the finest ventriloquists of our generation
Alan – the granddaddy of them all. Simply the finest ventriloquist of our generation.
You can keep your Messis, Mandelas, Muhammed Alis and the rest. These boys and their puppets and some bottles of beer – just imagine.
You have £100 to spend. What do you buy? Some scaffolding for my son’s massive head.
Errrr, yep, thanks mate. That was ... um ... special. Nice one John, cheers!
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