Imagine, if you
will, the scene. A sunny day with a gentle breeze stirring
the ladies summer frocks and bringing the chiming of the clock
in the church bell tower to the happy throng. Birdsong is
occasionally drowned out by the sound of leather on willow
followed by a gentle smattering of applause. The vicar
strolls around the boundry chatting with his flock and smiling
indulgently at those asleep in their deckchairs. At the
nearby hostelry, the jovial landlord is laying out the after
match repast, including the local foaming ale, knowing the
convivial players and spectators will soon be meandering across
the sward to discuss the days events. A wonderful
evocation of England at its best.
Unfortunately, the first, official, Goodwill match bore no
relation to this scene. It is April 1992 and the team is
waiting in its cars just off the busy A40 in Perivale. A
member of the home team is to find them and lead them to the
ground. The day is gray and dismal. The ground, when
we find it, has no changing rooms, has not been cut or marked
and is wet. The home teams First XI has had their match
cancelled so some of them jump into the Third's game. The
Goodwill get beaten heavily in the almost continuous
drizzle. The players repair to the pub for which they are
named ('The Goodwill to All Men') and drink a few pints of less
than foaming ale in
solace. They then do the whole thing again the following
week - and get beaten worse! The players can't get enough
and a proud tradition is born.
First mooted in 1991, the cricket club came about as a way for
the Goodwill dart team to have something to do on Sundays, other
than drink. A lucky find of some old equipment by the
brothers Rickard enabled us to play a couple of 'exhibition'
games against the 'Royal Oak' team (no records of which seem to
have survived). A lengthy, and somewhat inebriated, AGM
was held to lay down the rules and ethos for the club that
survive, mostly, to this day. The founders could not have
known their legacy would last more than a decade and be passed
on to a whole new generation of 'Willers'. John Burton was
given the unenviable task of Captain for the first season and
had to face rebellion in the ranks as a dozen or so strong
personalities clashed on and off the field regarding how the
club was run, why we were playing so badly, who's round it was
and other issues vital to the running of a cricket club.
