A history of the Taverners XI v MCC

Lord’s Taverners archivist William Powell looks at previous encounters…

MCC have hosted the Lord’s Taverners at Lord’s on three previous occasions, on 18 August 1975, 7 June 1976, and 10 June 1990. The teams involved were the MCC President’s XI versus the Lord’s Taverners.

Match 1 (Match Tied)

The first match in 1975 saw Lord’s Taverners bat first. It was a 12-a-side match. The team included Geoffrey Boycott, Tony Lewis, Ken Barrington, Denis Compton, Bill Edrich, Richie Benaud as captain, Godfrey Evans, Clement Freud as wicket keeper, John Alderton, Eddie Mainwaring, and Fred Rumsey. MCC President’s XI comprised Peter Richardson, Reg Simpson, Ted Dexter, Tom Graveney, Graeme Pollock, Brian Clough, Mike Procter, Jack Robertson, Alan Ball, Brian Close as captain, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Brian ‘Tonker’ Taylor as wicket keeper.

Lord’s Taverners scored 243 for 9 in 45 overs with Geoffrey Boycott top scoring with 68, Denis Compton 47, Ken Barrington 45, and Richie Benaud 35. Mike Proctor 2 for 59 and Brian Clough 2 for 45 were the pick of the bowlers. Needing 244 to win MCC scored 243 all out in 33.3 overs with top scorers Mike Procter 76, Tom Graveney 52, and Peter Richardson 43. The pick of the bowlers for the Taverners was Richie Benaud with 4 for 42 and Ken Barrington with 2 for 45.

Match 2 (Match Tied)

The second match, a year later in 1976, took place on 7 June. Lord’s Taverners won the toss and elected to bat. The Lord’s Taverners side included Dennis Amiss, Asif Iqbal, M.J.K. Smith, Jack Robertson who captained the side, Bill Edrich, David Frost, Godfrey Evans, David Fielding, Fred Rumsey, Chris Howland who kept wicket and Derek Shackleton. The MCC side was captained by Tony Lewis and included Mike Denness, Reg Simpson, Ted Dexter, Ernie Wise, Wille Rushton, Doug Insole, Jack Ellis, A.C. Smith, Brian ‘Tonker’ Taylor who kept wicket and John Price. Lord’s Taverners amassed 222 for 6 declared in 38 overs. Asif Iqbal top scored with 70, Dennis Amiss 44, David Frost 30 not out and M.J.K. Smith 25. Amiss and Asif added 119 for the opening wicket partnership. The pick of the bowlers for MCC were Doug Insole 1 for 7 and Mike Denness 1 for 15. Needing 223 to win MCC totaled 222 all out in 39 overs. Mike Denness 44, Tony Lewis 43, Ted Dexter 34, Doug Insole 23, and Jack Ellis 23 were the top scorers. Lord’s Taverners pick of the bowlers were Bill Edrich who took 3 for 33 ably supported by Fred Rumsey with 2 for 12 and Asif Iqbal 2 for 31.

Match 3 (MCC won by 2 runs)

The last time the two teams played one another was 10 June 1990 which was a 13 per side match of which 12 batted and field. The Lord’s Taverners side included Mike Denness, Lord Stafford, Henry Kelly, John Snow, Willie Rushton, Derek Ufton, Sir Tim Rice, Chris Tarrant, Nicholas Parsons, Robert Powell, John Price, Butch White and David Frost. The MCC side was Reg Simpson, Brian Close, M.J.K. Smith, Clive Radley, Tom Graveney, Sir Colin Cowdrey, Doug Wilson, Hon. Tim Lamb, Jack Simmons, John Stephenson, Denys Roberts, and Tony Fleming. MCC were asked to bat first by the Lord’s Taverners and the home side scored 174 for 8 declared in 35 overs. Doug Wilson 50, Tim Lamb 37 not out and Brian Close 33 top scored. The best bowling alley for Lord’s Taverners was Robert Powell with 3 for 12. Set 175 to win the Lord’s Taverners fell 2 runs short in scoring 172 all out from 37.5 overs. The top runs scorers were Derek Ufton 50, Mike Denness 47, and Chris Tarrant 37. MCC pick of the bowlers were Jack Simmons 3 for 14 and Don Wilson 2 for 2.

Match Statistics

Played 3: MCC won 1, tied 2, Lord’s Taverners won 0.

Highest innings total for MCC 243 (1975)

Highest innings total for LT 243 for 9 (1975)

Lowest innings total for MCC 174 for 8 (1990)

Lowest innings total for LT 172 (1990)

Highest individual innings for MCC 76 M.J. Procter 76 (1975)

Highest individual innings for LT 70 Asif Iqbal (19876)

Best Bowling for MCC 3 for 14 J. Simmons (1990)

Best Bowling for LT 4 for 42 R. Benaud (1975)

Scorecards

Match 1: Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI v Lord's Taverners President's XI

Venue	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood on 18th August 1975 (45-over match)
Balls per over	6
Players	12 per side (11 to bat and field)
Toss	Toss not known
Result	Match tied
Umpires	BL Muncer, M Pearce

 

Lord's Taverners President's XI innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s	S-Rate
G Boycott	c and b Clough	68
AR Lewis	c Pollock b Close	5
KF Barrington	c Close b Robertson	45
DCS Compton	c Brooke-Taylor b Richardson	47
WJ Edrich	b Pollock	3
*R Benaud	c Close b Procter	35
TG Evans	c Close b Ball	10
+CR Freud	c Dexter b Clough	7
J Alderton	b Procter	9
ES Mainwaring	not out	2
J Ellis	not out	8
FE Rumsey	did not bat
Extras	(3 lb, 1 nb)	4
Total	(9 wickets, innings closed, 45 overs)	243
Fall of wickets:
1-24, 2-86, 3-153, 4-171, 5-172, 6-198, 7-218, 8-224, 9-234

 

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls	S-Rate	Econ
Dexter	4	0	20	0	-	-	-	5.00
Close	4	2	3	1	-	-	24.00	0.75
Procter	8	1	59	2	-	-	24.00	7.38
Clough	7	0	45	2	-	-	21.00	6.43
Graveney	4	0	23	0	-	-	-	5.75
Robertson	6	1	14	1	-	-	36.00	2.33
Pollock	5	0	44	1	-	-	30.00	8.80
Richardson	3	0	9	1	-	-	18.00	3.00
Ball	3	0	14	1	-	-	18.00	4.67
Brooke-Taylor	1	0	8	0	-	-	-	8.00

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s	S-Rate
PE Richardson	c Boycott b Benaud	43
RT Simpson	c and b Barrington	5
ER Dexter	b Benaud	1
TW Graveney	c Boycott b Benaud	52
RG Pollock	b Compton	0
BH Clough	c Barrington b Mainwaring	13
MJ Procter	b Barrington	76
JDB Robertson	run out	15
AJ Ball	run out	11
*DB Close	lbw b Benaud	11
TJ Brooke-Taylor	not out	2
+B Taylor	did not bat
Extras	(10 b, 3 lb, 1 w)	14
Total	(all out, 33.3 overs)	243
Fall of wickets:
1-54, 2-55, 3-68, 4-68, 5-97, 6-187, 7-206, 8-218, 9-241, 10-243 (33.3 ov)

 

Lord's Taverners President's XI bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls	S-Rate	Econ
Rumsey	4	1	23	0	-	-	-	5.75
Edrich	3	0	23	0	-	-	-	7.67
Barrington	7.3	0	45	2	-	-	22.50	6.00
Benaud	7	0	42	4	-	-	10.50	6.00
Compton	4	1	36	1	-	-	24.00	9.00
Alderton	2	0	9	0	-	-	-	4.50
Mainwaring	2	0	7	1	-	-	12.00	3.50
Ellis	2	0	15	0	-	-	-	7.50
Lewis	2	0	29	0	-	-	-	14.50

 

Match 2: Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI v Lord's Taverners

Venue	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood on 7th June 1976 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to bat
Result	Match tied

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
DL Amiss	b Ellis	44
A Iqbal	st Taylor b Insole	70
MJK Smith	c Denness b Rushton	25
*JDB Robertson	c Price b Denness	10
WJ Edrich	b Dexter	2
DP Frost	not out	30
TG Evans	b Wise	24
D Fielding	not out	5
FE Rumsey	did not bat
+CB Howland	did not bat
DH Shackleton	did not bat
Extras	(6 b, 2 lb, 4 w)	12
Total	(6 wickets, declared, 38 overs)	222
Fall of wickets:
1-119 (Amiss), 2-127 (Iqbal), 3-153 (Smith), 4-157 (Edrich), 5-161 (Robertson), 6-203 (Evans)

 

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Price	7	1	28	0		-
Dexter	7	0	20	1		-
Wise	5	0	25	1		-
Smith	5	0	45	0		-
Ellis	3	1	33	1		-
Rushton	3	0	20	1		-
Insole	3	0	7	1		-
Denness	3	0	15	1		-
Lewis	2	0	17	0		-

 

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
MH Denness	c Howland b Iqbal	44
RT Simpson	b Shackleton	5
ER Dexter	c Howland b Iqbal	34
E Wise	b Robertson	18
*AR Lewis	hit wkt b Edrich	43
WG Rushton	c Howland b Edrich	8
DJ Insole	c Smith b Edrich	23
J Ellis	run out	23
AC Smith	b Rumsey	15
+B Taylor	b Rumsey	0
JSE Price	not out	3
Extras	(3 b, 1 lb, 2 w)	6
Total	(all out, 39 overs)	222
Fall of wickets:
1-21 (Simpson), 2-74 (Denness), 3-101 (Dexter), 4-109 (Wise), 5-134 (Rushton), 6-169 (Lewis), 7-186 (Insole), 8-218 (Smith), 9-218 (Taylor), 10-222 (Ellis, 39 ov)

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Shackleton	5	1	11	1		-
Rumsey	4	1	12	2		-
Robertson	9	0	54	1		-
Frost	2	0	9	0		-
Iqbal	4	0	31	2		-
Edrich	6	0	33	3		-
Howland	6	0	46	0		-
Amiss	3	0	20	0		-

 

Match 3: Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI v Lord's Taverners President's XI

Venue	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood on 10th June 1990 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Players	13 per side (12 to bat and field)
Toss	Lord's Taverners President's XI won the toss and decided to field
Result	Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI won by 2 runs
Umpires	M Johns, J Schofield
Scorers	E Solomon, J Wood

 

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
RB Simpson	b Snow	6
DB Close	b Powell	33
MJK Smith	run out	3
CT Radley	c Frost b Powell	17
TW Graveney	c Frost b Powell	1
MC Cowdrey	c Rushton b Rice	1
D Wilson	b Tarrant	50
TG Evans	b Tarrant	9
TM Lamb	not out	37
J Simmons	not out	8
JR Stephenson	did not bat
DTE Roberts	did not bat
+AWP Fleming	did not bat
Extras		9
Total	(8 wickets, declared, 35 overs)	174
Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-22, 3-53, 4-59, 5-64, 6-88, 7-128, 8-133

 

Lord's Taverners President's XI bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Snow	7	0	24	1	-	-
Price	5	0	8	0	-	-
White	5	2	18	0	-	-
Powell	3	0	12	3	-	-
Rice	5	0	47	1	-	-
Kelly	3	2	4	0	-	-
Tarrant	3	1	12	2	-	-
Stafford	2	0	15	0	-	-
Parsons	1	0	15	0	-	-
Rushton	1	0	12	0	-	-

 

Lord's Taverners President's XI innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
MH Denness	b Close	47
Lord Stafford	c Close b Stephenson	7
PH Kelly	b Lamb	6
JA Snow	lbw b Wilson	7
WG Rushton	c Simpson b Wilson	3
DG Ufton	st Fleming b Smith	50
TMB Rice	c Wilson b Smith	4
CJ Tarrant	lbw b Simmons	37
CN Parsons	b Simmons	6
R Powell	run out	0
JSE Price	not out	0
DW White	b Simmons	0
DP Frost	did not bat
Extras		5
Total	(all out, 37.5 overs)	172
Fall of wickets:
1-11, 2-30, 3-41, 4-45, 5-107, 6-123, 7-134, 8-171, 9-172, 10-172, 11-172 (37.5 ov)

 

Marylebone Cricket Club President's XI bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Stephenson	5	0	29	1	-	-
Lamb	6	4	6	1	-	-
Wilson	4	1	4	2	-	-
Simmons	5.5	2	14	3	-	-
Simpson	5	0	42	0	-	-
Close	2	0	15	1	-	-
Graveney	3	0	17	0	-	-
Smith	5	0	25	2	-	-
Roberts	2	0	16	0	-	-