The Taverners v Bishop's Stortford

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

The East Hertfordshire club has hosted the Lord’s Taverners on five previous occasions in 1952, 30 August 1953, 28 August 1955, 14 September 1958, and 6 July 1975 when Bishop’s Stortford Celebrated ‘150 Years’ of cricket at Cricket Field Lane.

Match 1 (Match Drawn)

The first match in 1952 saw the Lord’s Taverners win the toss and elected to bat first. Captained by Norman Mitchell-Innes of Oxford University, Somerset and one Test for England against South Africa in 1935 saw the side include Godfrey Evans, Franz Alexander (Cambridge University, Jamaica and West Indies), John Martin (Kent and England) , Charles Kenny (Cambridge University and Essex), plus Taverners J. Jowett, J. McCullum, J. McNaughton, A.W. Watkins, R. Livesey and PS Hughes play. The Lord’s Taverners scored 205 for 6 wickets declared from 30 overs with Alexander hitting 89 not out and Evans 41. Withers and Taylor bagged 2 wickets each for the hosts. Requiring 206 to win Bishop’s Stortford reached 190 for 8 wickets in 30 overs with P.J. Withers 52, A.N. Gardiner 44, and RG Park 34. John Martin and Charles Kenny bagged 3 wickets a piece for the Taverners.

Match 2 (Bishop’s Stortford won by 4 wickets)

The second match, staged between the two teams a year later, was on 30 August 1953. Lord’s Taverners won the toss and elected to bat first. The team was again captained by Norman Mitchell-Innes and included Godfrey Evans and John Martin but also included the legend Denis Compton (Middlesex and England) together with J. McCullum, G. Chater, R. Macdonald-Hobley, J. Jowett, D. Castle, and R. Livesey. The Lord’s Taverners scored 169 all out in 40 overs with Denis Compton top scoring 88. G. Chater chipped in with 20 and Spivey for Stortford bagged 4 wickets, Cox, and Smith 2 apiece. Bishop’s Stortford required 170 to win and won by 4 wickets in 33.4 overs as they replied with 171 for 6 with J.G.W. Davies (Cambridge University and Kent) scoring 72 and K.D. Spivey 50. Martin bagged 2 wickets for the Taverners with a wicket a-piece for McCullum, Macdonald-Hobley, Mitchell-Innes, and Evans in the defeat.

Match 3 (Match Drawn)

The third encounter did not take place until two years later 28 August 1955 when Lord’s Taverners won the toss and was elected to field first. Bishop’s Stortford scored 159 for 6 declared in 45 overs with E.B. (Ted) Nately scoring 44, R.H. (Bob) Wacey 35 and K.D. Spivey 28. Martin bagged 3 wickets and Smith 2 for the Taverners. Needing 160 to beat the Lord’s Taverners reached 132 for 7 from 39 overs with R.B. Morris top scoring with 69 not out and carrying his bat as opener. The side was captained by B.A. (Ben) Barnett (Victoria and Australia), T.P.B. (Peter) Smith (Essex and England), A.V. (Alf) Gover (Surrey and England), J.W. (John) Martin (Kent and England) plus Taverners R.B. Morris, T. Fayne, G. Chater, J. Jowett, F. Hawkins, J. Gover and D. Farr. Bishop’s Stortford included J.G.W. Davies as captain the longstanding Cambridge University CC secretary at Fenner’s.

Match 4 (Bishop’s Stortford won by 1 wicket)

The next encounter with Bishop’s Stortford was on 14 September 1958 when the Lord’s Taverners won the toss and elected to bat first. The side included B.A. (Ben) Barnett (Victoria and Australia), D.J. (Doug) Insole (Cambridge University, Essex and England), T.P.B. (Peter) Smith (Essex and England), P.G.H. (Percy) Fender (Surrey, Sussex and England), R. (Ray) Smith (Essex) and J.W. (John) Martin (Kent and England) plus Taverners K.V. Searle, B. Shiner, T. Waldron, J. Russell-Walker and J. Challis. The Lord’s Taverners scored 193 all out in 44 overs with Percy Fender scoring 47, Doug Insole 39 and Ben Barnett 33. Bishop’s Stortford’s P.J. Phelan (Essex) bagged 4 for 39 and Cherry- Downes and McDonald bagged 2 wickets a-piece. In reply to Bishop’s Stortford scored 195 for 9 in 48 overs winning by 1 wicket. R.H. (Bob) Wacey scored with 60 and P.J. (Paddy) Phelan hit 37, E.B. (Ted) Nately chipped in with 24. For the Taverners Peter Smith bagged 4 for 73 and Ray Smith 2 for 64.

Match 5 (Match Drawn)

The last match took place to celebrate Bishop’s Stortford’s 150^th Anniversary on 6 July 1975. Lord’s Taverners won the toss and elected to the field. Bishop’s Stortford scored 257 for 9 declared in 40 overs with T.S. (Tim) Smith (Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire) scoring 80, R.H. (Bob) Wacey 52 and B.H. Skingle 28. Taverners best bowlers were Neil Durden-Smith 3 for 42 and Dickie Davies 2 for 21. Needing a mammoth 258 to win the Lord’s Taverners fell 8 runs short on 249 for 9 from 49.3 overs when time was called by the umpires. The Lord’s Taverners side included C.B. (Chris) Howland (Cambridge University, Sussex and Kent), John Bromley (ITV fame), John Conteh (Boxer), John Alderton (actor), Neil Durden-Smith, W.J. (Bill) Edrich (Middlesex, Norfolk and England), Dickie Davies (ITV World of Sport), F.E. (Fred) Rumsey (Worcestershire, Somerset, Derbyshire and England) as captain, R. Paterson, J. Taylor and C.N. (Nicholas) Parsons. Neil Durden-Smith scored highest with 73 runs, John Alderton 52, Bill Edrich 32, and John Conteh 26. E.B. (Ted) Nately 2 for 80 and Surridge 2 for 51 were the best bowlers for Stortford.

Match Statistics

Played 5

BSCC won 2 (biggest win by 4 wickets) (Smallest win by 1 wicket)

Drawn 3

Lord’s Taverners won 0

Highest innings total for BSCC 257 for 9 dec (1975)

Highest innings total for LT 249 for 9 (1975)

Lowest innings total for BSCC 159 for 6 dec (1955)

Lowest innings total for LT 132 for 7 (1955)

Highest individual innings for BSCC 80 T.S. Smith (1975) and 72 J.G.W. Davies (1953)

Highest individual innings for LT 89 not out F.C.M. Alexander (1952), 88 D.C.S. Compton (1953), 73 N. Durden-Smith (1975) 

Best Bowling for BSCC 4 for 39 P.J. Phelan (1958)

Best Bowling for LT 4 for 73 T.P.B. Smith (1958)

Scorecards

Match 1:

Venue	Cricket field Lane, Bishop's Stortford on 13th July 1952 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to bat
Result	Match drawn

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
*NS Mitchell-Innes	c Reeve b Withers	4
J Jowett	b Withers	14
+TG Evans	b Gardiner	41
J McCullum	b Taylor	24
FCM Alexander	not out	89
J McNaughton	c Walbourne b Taylor	13
AW Watkins	b Reeve	11
JW Martin	not out	4
CJM Kenny	did not bat
R Livesey	did not bat
PS Hughes	did not bat
Extras	(5 b)	5
Total	(6 wickets, declared, 30 overs)	205
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?

 

Bishop's Stortford bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Withers	?	?	?	2	-	-
Gardiner	?	?	?	1	-	-
Taylor	?	?	?	2	-	-
Reeve	?	?	?	1	-	-
Natley	?	?	?	0	-	-

 

Bishop's Stortford innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
*HWF Taylor	c Alexander b Martin	9
AN Gardiner	c and b Martin	44
+P Walbourne	b Martin	0
PJ Withers	c Mitchell-Innes b Hughes	52
SE Rushant	c Martin b Livesey	0
RG Park	b Kenny	34
DF Cock	b Kenny	22
BJ Purkiss	b Kenny	0
EB Natley	not out	21
GH Wood	not out	0
L Reeve	did not bat
Extras	(8 b)	8
Total	(8 wickets, 30 overs)	190
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?, 7-?, 8-?

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Martin	?	?	?	3	-	-
Hughes	?	?	?	1	-	-
Livesey	?	?	?	1	-	-
Kenny	?	?	?	3	-	-

 

Match 2

Venue	Cricket field Lane, Bishop's Stortford on 30th August 1953 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to bat
Result	Bishop's Stortford won by 4 wickets

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
J McCullum	st Mansfield b Cox	0
*NS Mitchell-Innes	c Yates b Cox	2
G Chater	lbw b Davies	20
DCS Compton	c Yates b Smith	88
R Macdonald-Hobley	b Smith	15
TG Evans	b Spivey	17
+J Jowett	c Saul b Rushant	9
D Castle	st Mansfield b Spivey	1
RMJ Greene	b Spivey	0
R Livesey	c Yates b Spivey	2
JW Martin	not out	2
Extras	(13 b)	13
Total	(all out, 40 overs)	169
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?, 7-?, 8-?, 9-?, 10-169 (40 ov)

 

Bishop's Stortford bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Cox	?	?	?	2	-	-
Davies	?	?	?	1	-	-
Smith	?	?	?	2	-	-
Rushant	?	?	?	1	-	-
Spivey	7	4	5	4	-	-
Natley	?	?	?	0	-	-

Bishop's Stortford innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
KD Spivey	b McCullum	50
K Yates	c Evans b Martin	6
*JGW Davies	b Macdonald-Hobley	72
SE Rushant	b Martin	12
TPB Smith	c Greene b Mitchell-Innes	12
RG Park	c and b Evans	8
EB Natley	not out	1
TG Saul	not out	6
VA Park	did not bat
+SG Mansfield	did not bat
PJ Cox	did not bat
Extras	(4 b)	4
Total	(6 wickets, 33.4 overs)	171
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Martin	?	?	?	2	-	-
McCullum	?	?	?	1	-	-
Macdonald-Hobley	?	?	?	1	-	-
Mitchell-Innes	?	?	?	1	-	-
Evans	?	?	?	1	-	-
Greene	?	?	?	0	-	-

 

Match 3

Venue	Cricket field Lane, Bishop's Stortford on 28th August 1955 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to field
Result	Match drawn

 

Bishop's Stortford innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
RH Wacey	b Martin	35
EB Natley	b Martin	44
K Yates	b Martin	12
*JGW Davies	lbw b Smith	10
KD Spivey	b J Gover	28
PJ Phelan	st Barnett b Smith	12
PJ Cox	not out	3
DF Cock	not out	5
HWF Taylor	did not bat
VA Park	did not bat
+SG Mansfield	did not bat
Extras	(10 b)	10
Total	(6 wickets, declared, 45 overs)	159
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Martin	?	?	?	3	-	-
Smith	?	?	?	2	-	-
J Gover	?	?	?	1	-	-
AV Gover	?	?	?	0	-	-
Hawkins	?	?	?	0	-	-

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
RB Morris	not out	69
T Fayne	c Mansfield b Cox	1
G Chater	b Park	13
J Jowett	b Park	1
+BA Barnett	b Davies	11
TPB Smith	b Davies	16
F Hawkins	c Park b Natley	6
*AV Gover	b Natley	2
JW Martin	not out	4
J Gover	did not bat
D Farr	did not bat
Extras	(9 b)	9
Total	(7 wickets, 39 overs)	132
Fall of wickets:
1-?, 2-?, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-?, 7-?

 

Bishop's Stortford bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Cox	?	?	?	1	-	-
Park	?	?	?	2	-	-
Yates	?	?	?	0	-	-
Natley	?	?	?	2	-	-
Davies	?	?	?	2	-	-

 

Match 4

Venue	Cricket field Lane, Bishop's Stortford on 14th September 1958 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to bat
Result	Bishop's Stortford won by 1 wicket

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
*DJ Insole	b McDonald	39
KV Seale	b Cherry-Downes	2
+BA Barnett	run out	33
R Smith	b McDonald	0
TPB Smith	c Thomson b Cherry-Downes	31
PGH Fender	b Phelan	47
B Shiner	b Phelan	13
JW Martin	c Cherry-Downes b Purkiss	1
T Waldron	b Phelan	1
J Russell-Walker	c Yates b Phelan	2
J Challis	not out	3
Extras	(12 b, 7 lb, 1 nb, 1 w)	21
Total	(all out, 44 overs)	193
Fall of wickets:
1-9, 2-74, 3-74, 4-82, 5-152, 6-182, 7-183, 8-183, 9-185, 10-193 (44 ov)

 

Bishop's Stortford bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Cherry-Downes	12	0	67	2
Purkiss	7	1	26	1
Phelan	12	3	39	4
McDonald	4	2	5	2
Natley	4	0	16	0
Yates	3	2	4	0
Atkinson	2	0	15	0

 

Bishop's Stortford innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
TK Hickling	b TPB Smith	19
*+RH Wacey	st Barnett b Insole	60
P Mills	c Martin b TPB Smith	4
EB Natley	c and b R Smith	24
K Yates	st Barnett b TPB Smith	18
B Atkinson	run out	10
PJ Phelan	b TPB Smith	37
C McDonald	c Seale b R Smith	4
HMA Cherry-Downes	run out	1
P Thomson	not out	15
BJ Purkiss	not out	1
Extras	(1 b, 1 nb)	2
Total	(9 wickets, 48 overs)	195
Fall of wickets:
1-46, 2-50, 3-94, 4-125, 5-127, 6-177, 7-177, 8-177, 9-180

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Martin	11	1	30	0	-
R Smith	14	3	64	2	-
TPB Smith	14	0	73	4	-
Insole	9	1	26	1	-

 

Match 5

Venue	Cricket field Lane, Bishop's Stortford on 6th July 1975 (1-day single innings match)
Balls per over	6
Toss	Lord's Taverners won the toss and decided to field
Result	Match drawn

 

Bishop's Stortford innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
+JL Green	b Rumsey	17
TS Smith	c Rumsey b Davies	80
*RH Wacey	c Taylor b Edrich	52
BH Skingle	b Durden-Smith	28
EB Natley	c Taylor b Davies	6
GH Wells	c Bromley b Durden-Smith	8
EC Miller	c Alderton b Durden-Smith	16
M Surridge	c Taylor b Conteh	3
M Rose	not out	20
D Banks	st Howland b Parsons	10
B Purkiss	not out	2
Extras	(5 b, 1 nb, 9 w)	15
Total	(9 wickets, declared, 40 overs)	257
Fall of wickets:
1-47 (Green), 2-145 (Smith), 3-152 (Wacey), 4-178 (Natley), 5-187 (Wells), 6-210 (Skingle), 7-219 (Miller), 8-219 (Surridge), 9-249 (Banks)

 

Lord's Taverners bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Rumsey	9	0	40	1
Taylor	5	1	24	0
Edrich	9	0	48	1
Alderton	3	0	35	0
Davies	3	0	21	2
Durden-Smith	6	0	42	3
Conteh	3	0	22	1
Parsons	2	0	10	1

 

Lord's Taverners innings		Runs	Balls	Mins	4s	6s
+CB Howland	b Rose	0
J Bromley	b Miller	17
JA Conteh	b Natley	26
J Alderton	c Smith b Natley	52
N Durden-Smith	c Natley b Wacey	73
WJ Edrich	c Smith b Surridge	32
D Davies	c Skingle b Surridge	11
R Paterson	run out	13
*FE Rumsey	c Skingle b Smith	19
J Taylor	not out	1
CN Parsons	did not bat
Extras	(4 b, 1 w)	5
Total	(9 wickets, 49.3 overs)	249
Fall of wickets:
1-0 (Howland), 2-30 (Conteh), 3-88 (Bromley), 4-106 (Alderton), 5-140 (Edrich), 6-193 (Davies), 7-226 (Paterson), 8-248 (Durden-Smith), 9-249 (Rumsey, 49.3 ov)

 

Bishop's Stortford bowling	Overs	Mdns	Runs	Wkts	Wides	No-Balls
Rose	2	1	5	1		-
Purkiss	2	2	0	0		-
Natley	12	0	80	2		-
Miller	6	0	42	1		-
Wells	6	0	23	0		-
Surridge	12	0	51	2		-
Skingle	7	0	39	0		-
Wacey	2	0	3	1		-
Smith	0.3	0	1	1		-

13 July 2025

Our 75th anniversary celebrations continued as the Taverners XI travelled to Bishop's Stortford for a double celebration.

Not only were Bishop's Stortford the hosts and opponents for the first Taverners XI game in 1952, but the club are also marking their 200th anniversary this year.

The celebrations began on Saturday night with a gala dinner with guests including Gordon Kennedy and Chris Cowdrey before Monty Panesar captained the Tavs side for the match on Sunday.

Batting first, the Tavs reached 215-7 off their 30overs thanks to a great stand between rugby star Chris Sheasby (31) and Andrew Lewin, the MP for Welwyn & Hatfield, who finished on 51 on his return to his former club.

In reply, the home side cruised to an eight wicket victory to take the match in front of a near 300 crowd.