Long serving (suffering?) 2's skipper, Stuart Grimley, was voted in as club President this year having become a household name in the local area for his outstanding commitment to the club. We sat down to ask him a few questions about his cricketing career...

When did you first join the club?

I was trying to buy a house in Southwell, and went to the Reindeer one early evening on a Saturday. At the bar, Richard Hodgson asked me if I was local or just passing. Managed to see the Champion of Champions game at Trent Bridge that year as I was in a hotel. I moved into Southwell in 1988 and started playing in 1989.

I made my debut in April of that year in a pre season friendly at Lincoln Lindum. Peter Johnson took me to the game in his Ford Sierra XR4i! The 1s were very strong, Coote D; Pailing, Foster S; Ainger P; Johnson PD; Shrewsbury I; Crossland M; Rimmer D; Daniels D; Castledine T; Rankin P were I think the main 11 used all season.

Played my 1st 2nd XI game out at the old Forest Ams with Adam Sedgwick, Howard Wibberley; Larry Magor; Dick Hodgson; Tony Seddon *; Mike Betts; Conrad Hunt; Dave Stutchbury to name a few.

If you started at Southwell in '89, what other clubs had you played at previously?

Aston CC ( South Cheshire ) 1977-1988
South Cheshire Cricket Alliance League team 1983-1987
Crewe CC ( U18s ) 1978-1980
Cholmondley CC ( U21s and one 1st XI appearance)
University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology CC (1981-1984)
Whitmore CC ( tourist 1982-1985)
Dauntseys Old Boys CC ( 1 game against vs Malborough Blues )
Notts Over 50s ( 1 game ! vs Lancashire )

Having been at Southwell now for over 30 years I'm sure you've seen a lot. What would you say your best memory of that time has been?

Too many on the field… but off it:

1/ On Tour in Scarborough when a police officer asked Sedge do you know who has been on the roof of this building, to which Sedge answered ‘no officer it might be those young lads out on the beach‘ and at which point the control room interjected and said it’s the bloke you are talking to!

2/ Playing Whitchurch in Shropshire in a pre season friendly - Pat Whelan's debut and Rico & George Bacon went to Whitchurch in Oxfordshire and arrived 3 hours late for the game!

3/ Playing Belvoir in the 2s the day after a Party at the Club the night before. We had 6 ducks that day, still managed 180, and when we were 12/3 Adam Sedgwick got off the mark with a 6 over extra cover! We Won!

4/ Went to Trent Bridge with Rimm and Greeny to see a Test Match and several supporters thought I was Sir Clive Woodward, ( helped having Rim in an England Rugby training top ) I even got to sign an autograph or two.

5/ Getting a new VW Sharan and Pail telling me he liked it and I thought I might be in the 1st XI all season (no 7 bat and Taxi driver !)

You've named quite a few players there, who would you say are the best amateurs you have played with?

Very difficult one that...

1/ Dave Coote / Tim Green
2/ John Morris ( at Crewe CC, later Derbyshire, Durham, Notts and England)
3/ Peter Johnson
4/ Ian Pailing
5/ Andrew Wibberley
6/ Johhnie Marrion *
7/ Dave Rimmer
8/ Steve Foster (Nasty)
9/ Colin Dearden ( Endon CC ; Leek CC SCCA Team)
10/ Steve Wright
11/ David Long (Langley Mill CC occasional game for Aston CC)

Against would have to be Simon Neal ( Unity and now Gedling CC ) – numerous others I could mention but Simon consistently scored runs against us.

How about pros?

Darren Bicknell – class bat, played entirely for the team, gent off the pitch
Paul Franks – as above but bowler 1st. The General!
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala – very young when he played at SCC but his ton vs the Cavs showed what he was capable of - didn’t do badly did he.
Rhianne Smith – Kiwi, top lad, great bowler, smashed the ball out of the park and told us all to use our hands!
Asad Ali – only in 1 game but easily the quickest bowler I ever kept to.
Vikram Sodhi Singh – lovely bat, top lad and the most amazing close fielder I have ever played with.
Pat Whelan – got out many Opps Pros!
James Johnston – on his day ( Hucknall RR away!)
Pascal Broadley
Stuart Duff (Oulton Park CC / SCCA League Team; Central Districts and NZ)
Scott Hookey (Oulton Park CC / SCCA League Team; South Australia )
Bobby Chapman

And against:

Eddie Hemmings; Chris Lewis; Andre Adams; Neil Fairbrother; Colin Cooper; Barrington Brown; Steve Wundke ( Aussie ); Derek Tait ( Aussie); Carlos Remy; John Shaw ( Kimberley ); Paul Johnson; Ishan Ratnayake; Andrew Jackman

You have been captain of the 2's for as long as most of us can remember, helping so many youngsters come through in recent years. What would you say you have enjoyed the most about your time as skipper?

Seeing people improving, doing things they didn’t know they could! Friendships. Winning properly.

The teams that won the Cup and League in the 90s was a pleasure to lead - Dave Chester, Dave Stutchbury, Andy Stubbs, Stuart Boddington, Adam Sedgwick, Andy Crossland, Steve Wright, Ian Jones, Mark Gratton, Howard Wibberley, Larry Magor, Richard Chester, Mick and Duncan Coote, Dave Flint, Phil Rankin, Dave Rimmer to name but a few.

Having Alan Kershaw announcing to the team when at Egerton Park and I had left the scorebook at home - ‘Grimmers you're not a bad Captain on the field but off it you're F***ing useless!' He fined me 2 Quid!

How about last season? I know it wasn't the greatest for the club but you are forever the optimist. Is there a moment that stood out?

Winning away at Chilwell on a horror track, wet afternoon where we were on and off, with a real team effort. Hedgy's debut – he took a blinder, batted brilliantly and then cheered on Ed Westly and Chris Stokes as they took us over the line. The whole team went for a beer after the game!

So in the current situation, if you were stuck in the clubhouse with 3 teammates, past and present, who would they be and why?

If I haven’t chosen you in this answer sorry, if I have then I’m equally sorry.

Green, Wright, Rimmer ( if only to watch Greeny drink White Wine and shout at Wrighty ‘don’t get bored’ and then see Rimm drink several John Smiths and then put on his shrunken Southwell Sweater. Tom Rawcliffe would be allowed as the 4th man to provide statistical corrections to the cricketing stories.

There were several other combinations that came to mind:

Sedgwick, Mitchell, Daniels – the Mad As bunch
Crossland A, Flint, Ian Jones – Music Quiz time
Dave Coote, Phil Clarke, Darren Bicknell – Cricket & Life
Stuart Boddington, Scott Hookey, David Cameron – You got gloves and I can throw it in very hard to try and break your fingers.

Having played across the country, what would say your favourite away grounds are?

Sorry it’s a Top 5:

1 Exmouth CC
2 Wollaton CC
3 Kimberley CC
4 Marlborough College
5 Collingham CC

You have mentioned a lot of ex-players so far, are there any you really miss playing with?

Andy Crossland; Stuart Boddington; Mike Coote; Ian Smith; Richard Chester; Wibbs; Scotty; Wilf; James Magor; Bernie Sanderson et al!

Final question and possibly the hardest! Can you give me your all time Southwell CC, no pros or oversees included?

Impossible! So I've put together a couple of teams:

Team 1

1 TIM GREEN
2 SAM JOHNSON
3 PETER JOHNSON
4 IAN PAILING
5 ANDREW WIBBERLEY
6 STUART BODDINGTON
7 JOHHNY MARRION (WKT)
8 GEORGE BACON
9 DAVE RIMMER
10 STEVE FOSTER
11 STEVE WRIGHT
SCORER – TOM RAWCLIFFE

Team 2

1 ALI HAYNES
2 GRANT McCARTHY
3 SAM OGRIZOVIC (WKT)
4 DAVE COOTE
5 MAX COLLINS
6 BEN SAUNDERS
7 MARK FOSTER
8 MARK BOWIE
9 TED CASTLEDINE
10 DEVON McCARTHY
11 DAVID DANIELS
SCORER - TRISH BOWIE

Thank you for your time Stu and more importantly, thank you for everything that you have done for the club over the years. Your Presidency is incredibly well deserved and we hope to see you utilising the leg side boundary and drinking wine up at Top Ground for many more years to come.