| Ted Dexter lifts the TFCCKOCFTGC! |
The first game was played at Old Trafford in the
competition that was then and is still referred to, by many elder statesmen such
as my old man, the Gillette Cup. Many a close shave was seen in that
competition with the winning hit being the mark of a man! At its birth the
Gillette had a rather grander and longer title, "The first class counties
knock out competition for the Gillete Cup". A real mouthful even for
Tulisa, like when you spray too much white foam and it gets into your gob.
The initial game in the "TFCCKOCFTGC" (that
really is a fookin mouthful) was between Lancashire and Leicestershire at Old
Trafford, a battle of the L's. An early
spin on the competition (flipping L, I'm not typing that Tulisa again!) was
that the two sides finishing bottom of the county championship were pitted
against each other in the preliminary round. Now having had to watch some wank
Champions league qualifiers at the Bank of Kroenke head office after yet
another glorious charge towards the fourth place trophy on the Denver dough
trouserers gravy train, I am anti prelims but I digress. Leicester were favourites
for this one having warmed up the season before in a regional Midlands contest
involving neighbouring Notts, Northants and Derby.
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| Old Trafford semi final in 71 |
Compared to todays favoured T20 bashes the format was a
positive marathon at 65 overs per side, with a maximum 15 overs per bowler.
Given that some bowlers won't get through 15 overs a day in a Test match these
days, it wasn't exactly feet up for them. However, whilst not exactly Chris
Gayle in the IPL the scoring was brisk with Peter Marner of Lancashire making
hay. I was going to say while the sun shined, but in typical Mancunian splendour
the gloomy conditions meant the game stretched to a second day. Thrashing
around like Ken Barlow and Kevin Webster of a famous Lancastrian soap at a
Coronation Street Christmas party, Marner struck four sixes in an innings of
121 in just over two hours. His biggest hit was off tweaker John Savage which
flew from the ground into a savage garden. What a savage hit! Marners ton led his side to a total of 304-9
which may seem low off 65 overs by today's standards but was a very decent effort. In
reply the other L fell over a hundred short, despite Maurice Hellam giving em
hell with a ton of his own.
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| Bumble, Lloyd and Engineer with the Gillette Cup |
One of the main reasons for the introduction of the one
day game was to bring new fans to cricket. Even the 65 over format of the
"TFCCKOCFTGC" did the trick despite widespread opposition from the
establishment. The desire to bring new fans in led to even shorter formats, such
as the much loved by some and hated by others, the John Player Sunday league, which
was then considered a not so serious thrash.
As a lad I loved seeing one of my
heroes, Roland Butcher launch bowlers like Norman Gifford into the stands at
Lords in the JPL during early visits to Lords. I also remember sticking on
Sunday Grandstand and watching Frank Bough when he wasn't sneaking round the
back of the set to bang a tom, tantalising viewers with the prospect of a ten
over thrash at Chesterfield even when it was pissing down! That was an early
version of sky today saying Tiger Woods can still win the masters when ten
shots down with eight holes to play, in order to stop viewers switching off.
Old gits like me still chuckle at the thought of the white line chalked out
marking the bowlers restricted run up in the JPL.
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| A fan of the restricted run up in the JPL |
I'm sure Bough who liked a
white line or two, approved!
Today swashbuckling, all action T/20 is possibly the
worlds favourite cricketing format. Nobody can argue that it has revitalised
the game and brought a whole new generation to cricket both through the
turnstiles and via the lazy boy recliner. So when you're watching Chris Gayle
putting all comers to the sword in the IPL, remember where it all began at Old
Trafford on 1st May 1963.
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