PLAYING

Top 100 Schools
Fields of glory:
Cricket action at
Kimbolton School
Simon Hughes
Editor-at-large,
The Cricketer
If I had to vote
for the best
cricket master
ever it would
take me about
two seconds
to decide. It
would be the
dome-headed, bespectacled Bob
Orme, who recently retired from
Latymer Upper School after close
on 50 years of total dedication to the
school’s under-13s. Fifty years spent
dealing with unruly, unpunctual,
often ungainly little boys trying to get
their cricket into some sort of shape,
teaching them the rudiments of
the game.
He was not a good player himself but
his commitment and enthusiasm was
unshakeable. However bad we were,
however awful the April weather,
he painstakingly stood in the nets,
guiding and cajoling – or he would go
through the match highlighting the
good aspects and tactfully pointing
out a few areas for improvement. He
drew diagrams for us to study and
suggested players for us to watch.
His perceptiveness, his forensic
attention to detail, his endless
fascination, left an indelible
impression on all of us. It helped
me understand the game better,
and enjoy it even more. Hopefully
I have passed that understanding
and enjoyment on. It was entirely
appropriate that Shane Warne – the
most thinking cricketer of the modern
era – attended the match played in
Bob’s honour last year and presented
his farewell gift.
There are many Bob Ormes up and
down the country who have not been
lucky enough to be congratulated
by Warne or received any award. But
now, as you have seen within these
pages, a few of them will earn wider
recognition alongside some of the
other people – and places – that
devote such time and effort to
school cricket.
Its people are the foundation of
our game. They are essential to its
existence. It is about time they
received at least a token of our
gratitude.
66 / thecricketer.com