A Review of the 1970 Season
1970 saw Chingford enter the new Essex Senior League and results were excellent with 1st XI skipper Ron Lynch securing a playing record of won 11 drawn 7 lost 2.
Steve Dinsdale had returned to the Club, having been capped by Rhodesia and having played in the Currie Cup for his native country.
The best performance came in the form of an emphatic 10 wicket win over neighbours Walthamstow with Steve Dinsdale and Graham Lord knocking off the target of 160 without loss.
Steve Dinsdale averaged 78.8 with the bat although he only batted 6 times whilst Graham Lord (489) and Geoff Sandrock (464) had the highest aggregate. Harry Davis hit a splendid 100 in the local derby with Woodford Wells. With the ball Bryan Hart again led the way with 39 wickets at 12 apiece followed by Ron Lynch and Peter Brown with 25 and 23 respectively.
Not much luck was had in the cups with a defeat to Romford in the first round of the Cricketer Cup and losing to Westcliff in the 2nd round of the Kemp Cup.
On 8 September the Club hosted the Essex Club and Ground side, who fielded a team containing seven County regulars, namely Pont, Lever, Acfield, Turner, East, Edmeades and Saville. The result was Essex 206-6 declared, Chingford 90.
There were two outstanding individual performances in the second eleven, with skipper Ken Dowding hitting 106 v Loughton and Tom Shepherd capturing 7-40 v local rivals Woodford Wells in a season that yielded 13 wins. Roy Lambert bowled a youthful Graham Gooch first ball in the game against Ilford.
The Extra Thirds won 7 games with the usual mixture of promising youngsters and golden oldies. Amongst the runs were Leslie King with 354 (including a century v Barnet) and Noel Westerhout with 350. Leading wicket takers were Sid Arnold (21) and Phil Vass (17). Unusually two home games were scheduled for the Ashton Playing Fields (not sure that would go down too well these days !) David Jones played his last game for the Club, but he was to serve the Club in many ways in the years to come.
The Sunday As finished with a record of won 5, drawn 4, lost 10 although there were considerable differences between the “almost 1st xi” availability for home games compared to the weak sides fielded away. Again Geoff Sandrock led the way with the bat with 421 runs while the reliable Malcolm Ridgway contributed 395. There were two centurions, with Steve Dinsdale hitting 107 v Old Parkonians, while Geoff Sandrock made an unbeaten 100 v Bexleyheath. With the ball Terry Dennehy was the leading wicket taker with 35 (including 6-49 v St Lawrence and Highland Court) while Reg Bancroft took 27 wickets at 12.67 including a 7fer against a Chinghopper side which had John Lever, Robin Hobbs, Graham Saville and David Acfield amongst Reg’s victims.
Bryan Knight was accepted as a full member of the Umpire’s association.
Hon Secretary’s Report 1970
He (Bryan Knight) still persists in treating our opponents as gentlemen by calling them “Sir” when giving guard. Our chaps just get “covering one”, plus maybe a friendly grin.
Letter to R. Runciman from Hon. Sec.
It was certainly good to see you in action once again. Although it must have been pleasant to obtain your first wicket for the Club, I should not rely too much on full tosses in the future….
October saw the Club arranging an Old Tyme Music Hall in the Lloyd Park Pavilion, and according to the Secretary’s Report “Some of the olde worlde attire and various antiquated hair styles seemed to be most fitting for the occasion, and the hats worn by some of our ladies would have done justice to Ascot”
Due to a consensus of opinion, it was agreed to change the style of the Club tie, so out went the oak trees and in came the Chingford emblem of a stag’s head surrounded by a crown. The change of emblem also necessitated a new flag, which was generously donated by Frank Sandrock.