Cricket - Taverners celebrate 25 years this weekend (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Cricket - Taverners celebrate 25 years this weekend

1:51pm Saturday 15th August 2009 in

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YOU will not find them in the pages of Wisden, but in their own way Windermere Taverners have done the spirit of cricket proud in 25 years of playing the game and raising £125,000 for charitable causes along the way.

It all came about when two taxi drivers, David Blezard and Sep Cooper, were talking cricket in an idle moment in between fares in Windermere Station car park.

Their idea was to hold a charity match for cricketers over the age of 40 who were past league status but did not want to be put out to pasture.

So started Windermere Taverners Cricket Club - known locally as the "Tavs".

The first match was played against Windermere Grammar School Old Boys, but while entertaining it was not very profitable.

It raised £25 and all but £3 of that sum went to paying for the use of the Rydal pitch.

Since then, the Taverners have raised a staggering £125,000.

Their fixture list now runs to 21 games throughout the summer on Wednesday evening at The Lakes School at Troutbeck Bridge - and there is no shortage of opponents.

Many of the Taverners are working men but a wide selection from all walks of life is represented in the squad including a stonemason, a hotel manager, a postman, a solicitor, an electrician, a chef, a police officer and a butcher.

After 15 years of existence, the team had raised £60,000 which went on providing items such as electric beds and wheelchairs, camping equipment for the Girl Guides and football and rugby gear for local clubs.

There were also computers and library furniture for local schools and the Taveners sent one young disabled girl to America to swim with dolphins. CancerCare and the local health centre have also benefitted from the fnd-raising.

Together with sponsorship from businesses around the area and the continued generosity of local people over the years, the cash has flowed in.

While there were just enough to make up a team for the Taverners' first match, but the number has risen to 30, and although the elder members have retired from playing, many are still active within the club.

David Blezard and Alan Poynter are the only two current members who played in the first match.

Now club president, Mr Blezard was club captain for ten years and club secretary for even longer, and still plays most weeks.

While the main aim is to raise money for good causes, the social side of the club remains strong with players having a good laugh with a few post-match drinks in the Brookside on Wednesdays evenings.

To mark their 25th season the Taverners are holding a special celebration weekend.

A gala dinner is planned for Saturday at the Hydro Hotel with a guest speak and a disco.

On Sunday The Taverners will play an Invitation XI on Queens Park (1pm start) with special guests Tim Farron MP and Gordon Burns of Northwest Tonight, who will be an umpire.

The afternoon's attractions will include a falconry display, a ju-jitsu demonstration, a steel band, a junior kwik cricket match, freet racing, bouncy castles a tombola and other stall as well as refreshments.

As usual, all the money raised will be donated to local charities and good causes.