On Sunday 1st July, Wycliffe hosted the Alex Gidman Benefit Six-a-side Tournament, in what turned out to be a perfect day for cricket. The focus of the day was not only to raise money for Alex’s benefit year and his chosen charities – the Pied Piper Appeal and the Lord’s Taverners – but also to have a lot of fun: The day certainly ticked all those boxes.
The teams represented were: Alcaballics and Alex Gidman, Hatherley & Reddings and Ian Cockbain, Rickerbys and Richard Coughtrie, Old Wycliffians and Will Gidman, the Cullimore Group with Hamish Marshall and Wycliffe with Ian Saxelby.
As well as the matches, Owen Dawkins, Academy Director of Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, and Gloucestershire Captain, Alex Gidman, ran coaching sessions throughout the morning and afternoon for both the Prep and Senior School pupils and soon had the youngsters developing their technique and using speed guns and bowling machines to fine tune their skills. The Gloucestershire coach, John Bracewell, was also in attendance providing pearls of wisdom from the boundary.
As the day moved on, the tournament progressed from the group stages through to the semi-finals, plate-final and the climax of the day, the final in which Wycliffe faced Hatherley & Reddings.
Wycliffe’s 6-a-side team lost by a whisker in what was to be a thrilling game that came down to the last ball!
Fantastic batting by Josh Wingfield and Christian Purchase with many boundaries hit around the school meant the Wycliffe team closed in on a daunting total of 84 in 5 overs set by Hatherley and Reddings..
Needing six off the last ball to win, Gloucestershire professional Ian Saxelby, playing for the Wycliffe team, sent the ball flying to the long off boundary for a certain 6 until the Hatherley & Reddings’s captain, Keith Franklin plucked the ball out of the air with a fine catch to win the game.
It was not only a great day for Alex and his family but also Wycliffe and it was great to see so many Old Wycliffian’s of Alex & brother Will’s generation come back on campus with their families to share fond memories over a pork roll or two. Blessed by sunny warm weather, the atmosphere was enhanced with music from the Wycliffe Jazz Band, a well-attended beer tent and a delicious hog roast. The icing on the cake was seeing so many of our former pupils attend the event to support Alex in his benefit year.
Alex said: “It was great to come back to Wycliffe with so many of my county colleagues, including my brother Will and take part in such an exciting event. I had many happy years at Wycliffe and to be able to stage an event here as part of my benefit year with Gloucestershire is something I could only have dreamt of a few years ago. To see my old school Wycliffe and my old club Hatherley and Reddings contest such a close final was the highlight of the day!”
Luke Bowery, Alex’s Benefit Chairman and fellow OW said: “Gido’s Big Bash lived up to its name – with roofs and windows in danger all day, a fantastic crowd of pupils, parents and OWs were entertained with an array of fours and sixes to all parts of the ground. What with the final going down to the very last ball it was a brilliant day with everyone remembering what a great place Wycliffe is to be. We are very grateful to Wycliffe for helping us put on such a memorable day as part of Alex’s benefit year.”