This is the first of two episodes celebrating Christchurch Cricket Clun and their centenary year.

In this first episode we hear from local historian of Ferndale and District, Alun Clement who sets the scene for a discussion with current players and administrators of the club which will come next week.

Alun very kindly provided us with some pre-recorded statements outlining the history of the area, the development of sport with an emphasis on cricket and the Christchurch Club and some notable local sportspeople.

This is followed on the episode by excerpts from an online chat we had with Alun about his book 'Passages of Life: Ferndale and District'.

If you enjoy the episode and are interested in Alun's book please get in touch with us and we can forward your details to him.

Neil begins by outlining the story of the stuffed sparrow that is one of the more unusual items in the MCC Museum and one that has a link to Glamorgan as the ball that was bowled immediately before the sparrow was discovered was bowled by Jahangir Khan, father of Majid Khan, Glamorgan’s first overseas player.

The discussion then moves on to books and, in particular, the books that have been written, wholly or in the main, after research at the MCC library and archive. The following books are outlined by Neil:

John Major’s ‘More Than a Game’:

https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/more-than-a-game-the-story-of-crickets-early-years-john-major?variant=39571071696974

Peter Oborne’s ‘Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan’

https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Wounded-Tiger/Peter-Oborne/9781849832489

Peter Obourne ‘Basil D’Oliveira, Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story’

https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/peter-oborne/basil-doliveira/9780751534887/+/

David Woodehouse ‘Who Only Cricket Know: Hutton’s Men in the West Indies 53/54’:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/who-only-cricket-know/david-woodhouse/9781909811591

Prashant Kadambi ‘Cricket Country: An Indian Odyssey in the Age of Empire’:

https://www.waterstones.com/book/cricket-country/prashant-kidambi/9780198843146

Future publications that are upcoming are:

David Kynaston and Harry Ricketts ‘Richie Benaud’s Blue Suede Shoes: The Story of an Ashes Classic’:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/richie-benauds-blue-suede-shoes-9781526670274/

this is published on 23rd May 2024

Leo McKinstry ‘Bill Edrich: The Many Lives of Englands Cricket Great’:

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bill-edrich-9781399407823/

this is published on 18th July 2024

Jeremy Lonsdale ‘An Unusual Celebrity: The Many Cricketing Lives of Bill Bowed’:

https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/unusual-celebrity

this is published on 10th June 2024

Neil also talks about his book, The Long Shot Summer: The Year of Four England Cricket Captains. You can read more about it here:

https://www.amberley-books.com/long-shot-summer-the-year-of-four-england-cricket-captains-1988.html

After this literary excursion, Neil outlines the staff group at the Museum. They are:

Alan Rees

Charlotte Goodhew

Heather Lomas

Matthew Howe

Neil talks about an item in the collection that has a specific relationship with Glamorgan. It is a poster advertising a gala week to raise money for Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

We talk about the oral history project undertaken at the Museum of Welsh Cricket called Tale-Enders and how it influenced Neil’s approach to the work of the MCC Museum in general and specifically the project they launched called Taking the Field.

Finally, Neil touches on what he sees as the importance of sports museums in telling the history of people in a particular place and at a particular time and he finishes with the details of how people can get in touch with and / or visit the museum.

For details of the tours of Lords or contacting the museum you can go here:

https://www.lords.org/mcc/heritage-collections/what-we-do

In this week's episode we meet the Head of Heritage and Collections at the MCC, Neil Robinson.

We begin by talking about how, where and when Neil began his affiliation with the game of cricket. Specifically, it was the 1981 Ashes and Bob Willis' phenomenal last day performance in the Headingley Test.

Yorkshire was the nearest first class county to him in the North East so he became a fan of the club. He has followed Durham's progression as a first class county.

Neil then tells us a little bit about his journey to the position that he currently holds. From an initial period as a library student in 2004 he managed to get a permanent job in 2006. He became the Head of Heritage and Collections in 2019.

The Museum is not as old as the Lords cricket ground. In fact, it was officially opened in 1953 but the collections do go back much further. Neil outlines the details of how the museum and collections have grown over the past 150 years.

Neil outlines what has happened to the museum in the time he has been there. Principally, this has been the development of a proper cataloguing system so that museum staff and those researching aspects of the game can search and find material they can use to tell the story of the game of cricket through the work of this hugely influential institution. He then gives us a brief 'virtual' guide to the museum itself.

Recent developments in cricket have led some to question the equality and diversity in the history of the game. Neil describes the way in which the museum's approach to telling cricket history has thrown a light on some of the issues raised in the ICEC Report of 2023.

To finish the episode, Neil talks about some of the items in the collection that he regards as significant and important finishing with the story of the Ashes urn.

The museum website, where you can find details of how you can visit the museum and / or use it for research:

https://www.lords.org/lords/conferences-and-events/museum

For those who are interested in learning a little more about Neil and his work, you can read a transcribed interview with him here:

https://www.cricketcountry.com/articles/interview-neil-robinson-the-library-and-research-manager-at-lords-293870/

Back in 2020 during lock-down, Neil was a guest on the wonderful Oborne and Heller on Cricket Podcast. To listen, go here:

https://chiswickcalendar.co.uk/episode-22-talking-with-mccs-head-of-heritage-and-collections-neil-robinson/