Lord Cobham, of Hagley Hall, Worcestershire, is an honorary member of The Willows.
I had my first visit to The Willows on a holiday trip to New Zealand before Christmas last year which Tessa and I thoroughly enjoyed. We were royally entertained, both by The Willows and by the London New Zealand Cricket Club which has had an annual game at Hagley, against the village, for many years.
My father would have been delighted with the progress that has been made at The Willows to bring high standard cricket to schools. In many ways cricket was the backbone of Father’s life starting from an early age. I discovered a story in Paul Williams’ excellent biography of Tom Pritchard. He recounts Tom’s dismissal of Father, first ball, in the first match of his tour to New Zealand as vice-captain of an MCC touring side 1935/36. Father apparently made a (not so sotto voce) comment “Oh bugger” and these were therefore, possibly, the first publicly recorded words that the future Governor-General was to make on New Zealand soil! To square the circle it is worth noting that the captain of Taranaki, the MCC’s opponents on this occasion, was Bill Dormer, a surname to conjure with!
Cricket is possibly the only team sport played by individuals in that the individual, to be a great cricketer, must be prepared to subjugate his individual performance to the requirements of the team. I am sure that this is what brings a spirit of creative humility to the game which accounts for the lasting friendships that are made across generational, geographic, social, religious and ethnic boundaries, surely a life lesson that we all need to hold onto in today’s challenging world.
I am proud to be an honorary member of The Willows and will do everything I can to further the spirit that it fosters in the game both here and in New Zealand.