The Cricket Club has hundreds of alumni members going back to the 1960s when the university and cricket club was first formed. Here are some wonderful stories that past members have contributed:
Contributor: Paul Triniman
Era: 1980-1982
Stories: I played 1st XI cricket at Bath in 1980, 81 & 82 being skipper in the last two years. I believe I am correct in saying that we were the first Bath University team to beat Bristol University in the then UAU competition when we beat a strong Bristol team in 1981 (their opening bowler at the time was a character called Kevin Emery who opened the bowling for Hampshire with Malcolm Marshall for a couple of seasons). Unfortunately they then went on to beat Exeter who in turn beat us, to stop us from emerging from the group stage yet again, and were ultimately beaten in the final by Durham (I think)? Great times and lovely memories. One particular stand out memory is playing against an Exeter team in my first year containing Paul Downton (already by then of Kent and England fame) AND Richard Ellison (who at that stage was merely turning out for Kent)!
Contributor: John Frankel
Era: 1968
Stories: We didn't take training too seriously then, in fact I remember before the game having to go round to a couple of the pubs in town to ask if any people in their played cricket and fancied a game that afternoon. I believe I probably still hold the Bath University record for 4 consecutive golden ducks (and dropped first ball in the next innings). I made 16 runs in 4 years and 10 of those were in two shots. Happy days!
Contributor: David Hempstead
Era: Early 1980s
Stories: I played cricket for the uni when I was a post-grad in the early 1980s (as an undergrad I was too focused on exams, so waited to play at home during the holidays). I opened the bowling for the Seconds in the UAU - we had a good year, winning our regional group, getting through the next round away at Kent, and then losing to UEA up in Norwich. I also played regularly for the 1st XI when it wasn't a UAU match and the star performers weren't interested. One memorable match for the Firsts was against Exeter College Oxford. I came on to bowl when they were chasing down the total we had set them but were seven down. Their star batsman was flaying the ball to all corners of the pitch but I caught and bowled him first ball (good job I got my hands there in time otherwise I'd have lost my face!). I yorked the next man following ball, and had the number eleven LBW for my hat-trick, giving me figures of 0.3/0/0/3 to win the match. I became a school teacher and have always run football and cricket teams, so I didn't play much after university, although I turned out occasionally for the Sussex Martlets and my village side. The university cricket was great fun - the second XI away games in the UAU were very much a case of what goes on tour stays on tour! - and there were some really good players in the 1st XI, though they weren't very motivated, it has to be said. Gary Sainsbury (Essex and Glos opening bowler) comes to mind as the best we had, but there was also an off-spinner batsman who played for Sri Lanka U21 whose name I forget, and Clive Carpenter who opened the batting for England Schools.
Contributor: Clive Barons
Era: 1966-1970
Stories: I was very involved both as a player and committee member (chairman, secretary, fixtures secretary) during my student years (1966 to 1970). Basically that was when both the university changed from Bristol College of Science and Technology to BUoT (including the move to Claverton Down where we played our home games) and the cricket club moved from Bristol. That move weakened the club as initially only about 400 students were in Bath and the rest were in Ashton Down and few could make the trip over: it was also a great opportunity for me as -- being a very modest club player -- I was able to make the team and even captain it on occasions. I personally designed the club cap -- black and yellow triangles but that is long gone. For the reasons explained above we were a very weak team. During my time we became eligible for UAU but, for example, we got hammered by 10 wickets inour first game against Southampton and there were two hat tricks in our innings in the same fixture the following year (i got a first ball in the second game, but in the initial game made 29 (in 35 overs) out of 56 all out (in 41.2 overs) which I rate as my best ever performance despite making a few fifties and an eight for 28 during my career. One of our best results was when the second XI (not always able to get a quorum!) bowled Reading out for 13. I was captain that day and kept wicket because we had no regular keeper and no one else wanted to do it! However, we were a very social team! Other than UAU, we had some fun games (Bath West Indians and Trowbridge West Indians -- during the Hall, Griffith, Sobers years -- we're both intimidating but very, very social, Monkton Coombe School with full tea of cucumber sandwiches, doughnuts, etc (very much appreciated by poor students) and several local, beautiful village teams.
Contributor: Neil Stewart
Era: 1976-1979
Stories: Tour to Paris which included the longest lunch break I ever recall in a cricket match. Standard was decidedly lower when plan finally resumed (but the wine was great). Our best player at the time was probably Gary Sainsbury who went on to play for Essex and Gloucester. In Wisden his bowling was listed as medium or fast medium I think. I recall fielding on the boundary when we started a game against a local club. Batsmen 3, 4 and 5 laughed at how far the keeper was standing back ( john Pritchard probably). After one ball they all went scurrying off to their bags to look for towels etc to use as thigh pads. " God he's bloody quick" were the last comments I heard from them.