Gardeners Cricket Club
Gardeners Cricket Club

Current Squad H-Z

Name: Rob Navratil

 
Profile: RHB, RMF
 
Tweet dis: Like Chinese water torture, Doc Bongo’s steady rhythm, on off stump or just outside, strikes fear into the heart of many an oppo batsman.
 
Pen portrait: In an inspired debut season in 2011, the Metronome – or just ‘Nome these days – wowed us with his seamers, bagging the bowling award with 13 wickets at a miserly 17.3 apiece. In the following years, it would be with his commitment to running nets and to healthy in-van nibbles, too. Such dedication makes him one of two men to have won players’ player twice. Praise from your peers doesn’t come any higher. An Afro-funk percussionist by day, Rob is as regular as clockwork with the ball. His nagging line and length tempt many opposition batsmen into rash shots. With a stock ball that moves away and a surprise in-ducker, he might be thought of as our Matthew Hoggard. The various Matthew Haydens he has jousted with should know they won’t have it all their own way for long. TL/RC

Name: Hugo Nisbett

 
Profile: RHB, RMF
 
Tweet dis: Vespa-riding game-changer and CSK fan. Formerly Billy Elliot with the yips. The (paranoid?) Churchoid who hears “Sorry, bowler” too often. 
 
Pen portrait: Marriage, or even the prospect of it, can be a marvellous thing. Before his nuptials were announced, Hugo’s run-up had more kinks than a Ray Davies tribute act. His previous profile indulged in an extended equine metaphor about the high-stepping human dressage of his approach. Scrub that. His glide to the crease is now smoother than wedding-sari silk. Be grateful he didn’t sign for RCB after bumping into Ross Taylor in a Bangalore emporium. The Bowler of 2008, Hugo remains, however, our unluckiest seamer since Angus Crowther. In 2012, he bowled the hard yards once again. Even missing the rewards his persistence merits, he never stops competing. Should he replicate his lofted drive of 2013’s last net, he may yet be our Dwayne Bravo. He now has a hat-trick to his name (Palm Tree, 2014). A club first, is that. RC

Name: Mike Richards

 

Profile: RHB, WK, occ right-arm jagging

 

Tweet dis: Inspirational keeper, ex-captain. Calm, composed, a subtle moral force. Latterly, our bearded wonder. Er, Christian Bale?

 

Pen portrait: Those who remember Bridgetown may ask where he learnt to soca; those who recall 2006’s runs (a club record aggregate of 492 at an average of 49 and a highest score of 98 not out) whether he was named after Psmith’s peerless pal; serial Scottish tourists if he really packed an iron. Today, it’s all about the beard, unveiled without warning like some new doosra in winter 2012. A rakish number, owing as much to the Golden Age of Gloriana as of Grace, it means Mike surely takes the gloves in the first XI of face fur – alongside WG, Botham, Amla, Marshall, Monty, “Ayatollah” Brearley and the rest – on razor-avoidance alone.  Yet his metrosexuality knows no boundaries: he arrived at one net clutching a (suede? nubuck?) manbag. A manbag? His keeping (already more than sound) keeps on improving with age. RC

Name: Greg Struthers
 
Profile: RHB, left-arm crafty
 
Tweet dis: Ultra-reliable seamer and Norwich City fan of fluctuating southern-hemisphere stripe. Also known as “Chris” in sub-continental conditions.
 
Pen portrait: Under a baking sun, he squints down the track like a US marshal in some two-horse town. “That’s Gregory Struthers to you, boy,” he tells the shot-slinging batsman, after beating the outside edge. Greg doesn’t have to say much, but if he did that’s how he might say it – think the bowler-as-lawman. Since he’s sheriff of our sister team, the ST Occasionals, we’ve not seen much of him on the field, but that could change now he’s a member. With best figures of 8-2-12-3 in 2011’s felling of Palm Tree, Greg doesn’t give much away, even under pressure, as when Collett hit 153 for Carpe Diems. Although he’s not had much chance of a bat for us, he can certainly scuttle – just like his international allegiance does, between South Africa and Australia, depending on which looks the likeliest winner. RC

Name: David Woodhouse

 

Profile: RHB, vv occ WK, vvv rare right-arm loopy

 

Tweet dis: Tipster, scholar, lexicon-wielding polymath – opening batsman and goalkeeping fielder who cuts and bruises for the cause.

 

Pen portrait: Gordon Greenidge on one leg was famously more dangerous than most of his peers on two: if you saw the great West Indian limping, you prepared to chase leather. David Woodhouse likes to tell the story, but he’s far too modest to say the same warning should apply to him. Cracked toes, pulled hammies and stiff little fingers are all in his afternoon’s work, and we’re not even going near the number of skin grafts he needs after his fearless in-fielding. There’s something Gooch-like about David at his best: judicious cuts, legside cuffs, rugged cover drives. He first carried his bat in his second game (The Gents, 2003); happily, he’s made a habit of it – notably against Bohemians in 2011. 4 time Batsman of the Year winner, he plans to retire at 51, like Jack Hobbs. Plenty of time to improve on his two unbeaten 92s then. RC

   Want to get        involved?

We play most of our games in Dulwich and net during the winter at The Oval.  Send us an email at gardenerscc@ymail.com

 

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  2023 Members

 

Oliver Cunningham (life)

Jamie Elliott (life)

Ludo Hunter-Tilney

John Lloyd (life)

Hugo Nisbet (life)

Steven Seaton

David Woodhouse (life)

Caveat lector

All our match reports and player profiles are written by third parties,

and may involve some poetic licence. GCC cannot be held liable for any misrepresentation in these articles.

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