Legends Day Summary
The England Legends Day was the brainchild of Chairman Dave Nicholson, along with Mike Moss and Grappers Legend Neil Fairbrother around Christmas 2010. Neil wanted a team of England Legends to take the field at GCC against a Grappenhall XI to help raise much needed funds for the club.
As the months passed the scale of the occasion grew and grew, with all the players confirmed and an unprecedented demand for tickets both in the marquee and around the ground.
A huge amount of work went into setting up the event and getting the ground and facilities ready for the big day, and without this help and support the Legends Match would not have been possible.
On 30th August 2011, there were almost 500 people seated in a marquee as well as a further 2000 people around the ground to watch this memorable match. The ground had never before looked so impressive.
Thanks to a series of fundraising efforts throughout the day including auctions, raffles and other activities, the day raised much needed funds. Grappenhall Cricket Club were also able to donate £10,000 from the proceeds of the day to 2 charities that had supported the event, The AF Foundation (click here) and the Candice Roberts Memorial Fund (click here).
The event will be remembered by all those that were lucky enough to be there and feedback has been so positive with many saying that it was one of the best cricketing experiences of their lives.
A big thank you must go to all the Legends that played in the game as they helped to make it such a special day for the club and fans. They were real gents and after the match they all stuck around and signed autographs and posed for photos with the fans. The players also happily sat and shared a beer with the Grappenhall lads, with several of the players sticking around until late into the night.
The club would also like to thank its sponsors for the day, without which the event would not have been so successful for both charity and the club. A big thank you to our match day sponsors De Vere, Bet Fred, Skill Ray and also to all the programme sponsors.
To view the programme from the day, please click here.
Match Report
Grappenhall Cricket Club entertained an England Legends XI at Broad Lane on Tuesday 30th August 2011 as part of their 130th Anniversary celebrations. The event brought never before seen crowds to the ground with over 2000 spectators around the ground.
The match proved to be thoroughly entertaining with some fantastic stroke play by both the legends and Grappenhall players.
The Legends XI: Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan, Michael Atherton, Ronni Irani, Dean Headley, Phil DeFreitas, Gladstone Small, John Crawley, David Lloyd, Graeme Hick and Warren Hegg.
The Grappenhall XI consisted of the 1st XI supplemented by Neil Fairbrother, Wasim Akram and Muttiah Muralitharan
The Legends batted first and racked up a mammoth 202 for 4 in their 20 overs with a powerful knock of 85 being scored by Graeme Hick with the ball disappearing over the boundary and out of the ground on several occasions, much to the enjoyment of the watching masses. David Lloyd (37) also played a memorable part by hitting Murali for 2 consecutive sixes, with 1 of them smashing a car window (click here to see the clip). Murali said afterwards that only Brian Lara had ever hit him like that before. Wasim Akram also lined up in the Grappers bowling attack.
Runs were also scored by Michael Vaughan (46) and Andrew Flintoff much to the great pleasure of the crowd, with Fredie being caught on the edge having smashed the ball on the half volley (see the clip here).
Grappers had a mammoth task to chase down the total, but set off at 10 an over with the Grappes players getting to grips with the England pace attack. Neil Fairbrother top scored for Grappers with 56 as the innings slowed down and the class of bowling took over, with the innings closing at 170 for 8.
It was a memorable day for everyone there and will be talked about at the club for many years to come, for some of our players to take the same field as the illustrious names above was fantastic.
To view the full scorecards please click the links below:
Click here to view some photos of the event
View the film of the legends day here!