To the rescue: Gareth Taylor’s marathon umpiring stint saved the Seconds five precious points
It’s probably one of the toughest jobs in the club being captain of the Sixth XI. As soon as someone drops out in any of them teams, it’s usually the Sixths which have to reshuffle and find another player at the last minute. So spare a thought for this week’s hero Gareth Taylor, who has seen most of his team’s fixtures cancelled this season, either because of availability issues or the bad weather. This week, he was finally set to lead his young team out in to the field when the opposition, Welwyn Garden City, called at the last minute to say they could not raise a team. However, Gareth put his disappointment behind him and agreed to umpire for the Seconds, no mean feat of endurance in the baking Saturday temperatures. His effort ensured the Seconds were spared a five-point penalty, which meant they would have come away from a disappointing defeat with absolutely nothing. Seconds skipper Sam McCrow was extremely grateful to Gareth and the chairman is delighted, too, to offer this public thank you!
Every week, the chairman salutes the member or supporter who has gone that extra mile to help make our wonderful club that little bit more wonderful. We’d like to offer him or her a holiday in the sun or the latest smartphone for their selflessness but instead they will have to make do with this small public pat on the back.
