Category: Speaker Review

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Derek Pringle 04 October 2023

Derek Pringle kicked off our 2023/24 season in style to new and existing members with a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining visual presentation. By sharing photographs he has taken of his peers and those involved in the game Derek was able to provide his “first hand” insights into the many greats of the game and classic matches he has been a part of.

Derek Pringle – 04 Oct 2023

Please click on the Gallery link here or in the top menu to view additional photos. 

All images courtesy of Pete Wilson.

Pen Portrait

Derek Raymond Pringle was born on September 18, 1958 in Nairobi, Kenya. His father, Don Pringle, played for Kenya and represented  East Africa in 2 games at the first Cricket World Cup in 1975.

Derek went to Felsted School before going on to Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University. He appeared as an extra in “Chariots of Fire”. He was university cricket captain in 1982 at which time he was selected for England against India at Lord’s.

He is very tall at 6ft 4in and was an all-rounder for Cambridge University (1979-82), Essex (1978-93) and England (1982-93). He was a right hand bat and right arm medium pace bowler who used his height to generate swing and bounce.

He was, and is, an unconventional character who likes real ale and vinyl records and who had the distinction of being the first England cricketer to wear an ear ring!

He played for Essex during a golden period for the county. In his career there, Essex won the County Championship six times, the NatWest Trophy once, the Benson and Hedges Cup once and the Sunday League three times.

Derek played 295 first class matches during which he scored almost 10,000 runs at just under 30 with 10 centuries and 48 fifties and a top score of 128. He also took over 750 wickets at around 25. He took 5 wickets in an innings on 25 occasions (with a best of 7/18) and took 10 wickets in a match 3 times.

He played 30 Tests, in and out, for England from 1982-92 during which he hit one half century (63) and took 70 wickets  with a best of 5/95. He played 44 ODIs between 1982 and 1993 during which he took 44 wickets with a best of 4/42.

Following his playing career, he became a cricket correspondent with “The Independent” and “The Daily Telegraph”.  He wrote his entertaining autobiography, “Pushing the Boundaries”, published by Hodder & Stoughton, in 2018.

It will be a pleasure to welcome to our society a man who has both played and watched cricket at a high level and who has a distinctive view of the game.

Ken Burney

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David Gower OBE 02 August 2023 (Summer Event)

David Gower OBE was a huge success at the Cheltenham Cricket Society 40th Anniversary celebration on 2nd August 2023. After a highly entertaining and informative speech and Q&A session, David kindly stayed behind to sign treasured books, memorabilia and partake in the odd selfie. 

Please click on the Gallery link here or in the top menu to view additional photos. 

All images courtesy of Pete Wilson.

Pen Portrait

David Ivon Gower OBE was born on 01 April 1957 at Tunbridge Wells, Kent. He went to King’s School, Canterbury on a scholarship. He briefly studied law at University College, London but he had already played some cricket for Leicestershire so his academic career ended.

His nicknames are stoat, lubo and lu – maybe he will enlighten us as to how he acquired those?!

He played for Leicestershire (1975-89), Hampshire (1990-93), England (1978-92) and MCC in a career which lasted from 1975 to 1993. He was a languid, graceful left-handed bat who caressed the ball rather than belted it. He always looked elegant when he was batting whether in or out of form.

He played 448 first-class matches during which he scored 26,339 runs at 40.08 with 53 centuries and 136 fifties and a top score of 228. He was also a good fielder with a safe pair of hands which took 280 catches. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1979.

He played 117 Tests for England during which he made 8,231 runs at 44.25 with 18 centuries and 39 fifties and a top score of 215. He pulled his first ball in Test cricket for a four against Pakistan at Edgbaston in June 1978 aged just 21. He captained England in 32 Tests, 25 of which were in succession. His highlight was scoring 732 runs at 81.33 in the 1985 series against Australia which was won 3-1. He hit 9 Test centuries against Australia, the same as Wally Hammond, which is only bettered by Jack Hobbs with 12. Although he was a strokemaker, he could play a rearguard innings such as his match-saving 154* against the West Indies at Jamaica in 1981.

He also played 114 ODIs during which he scored 3,170 runs at 30.77 with 7 centuries and 12 fifties and a top score of 158. He had a healthy strike rate, for his era, of 75.15.

Following his playing career, Gower moved effortlessly into broadcasting where he has been an excellent presence on our T.V. screens for many years, principally with Sky Sports.

It will be a pleasure to welcome a man, for our 40th anniversary Special Event, who has graced both cricket fields and our T.Vs with such charm and charisma.

Ken Burney

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Paul Farbrace

Paul Farbrace was born near Sandwich in Kent in 1967 and had a brief first-class career – representing his home county for three seasons – ending in 1989. He then played for Middlesex for six seasons but his overall first-class batting average of 18.23 (best 79) counted against him and his place was taken in the county team by Keith Brown.

It is as a coach that Paul has achieved more prominence in the game – including many national and county coaching roles. That side of his cricket career began in 2000 with the England Under 19s and Women’s teams. In 2007 he became Assistant Coach to Trevor Bayliss with Sri Lanka and he was on the team bus that was attacked by terrorists in Pakistan in 2009 – mercifully only sustaining minor injuries.

He became first-team coach for Kent in 2009 and after two seasons left to become 2nd XI coach at Yorkshire. Then, in 2013, he became National Coach for Sri Lanka. A busy and successful few months followed – with Tests and ODIs against Pakistan and Bangladesh crowned by success in the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup in 2014.

He then resigned in April 2014 to become Assistant Coach to Peter Moores with England. His period with England would also include being Interim Head Coach, when Moores was sacked, and working with Trevor Bayliss until 2017. This period included the unsuccessful 2015 World Cup and finalists in the T20 World Cup in 2016 – when England were favourites and the West Indies needed 19 to win from the final over. History records that it was bowled by Ben Stokes to Carlos Brathwaite and only needed four balls to reach a conclusion.

Most recently Paul has been Sporting Director at Warwickshire (for four seasons) and is currently Head Coach at Sussex – with a stated mission to develop local talent. He is married to the mother of Ollie Robinson – the English Test bowler.

Chris Coleman