Among my Souvenirs

If I remember correctly, cricket programmes were a bit scarce in the 1970’s and generally speaking, you could only purchase the standard issue scorecard as a souvenir of the game itself.

The exception came with benefit brochures and this is for Basil D’Oliveira’s back in 1975 with the game in question taking place at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. Due to a hazy memory and the fact that the match isn’t even scheduled in the diary at the back, I can’t recall exactly who was playing but I do clearly remember Imran Khan and Brian Clough taking to the field.

As you can see, I haven’t exactly looked after it but Dolly’s autograph is neatly kept in biro at the back. This would have made it worth about £25 in pre-ebay days (£0.99p now)

I can also remember collecting other autographs, including Imran’s, but for some reason my ten year old mind felt it would be better to keep these separate on scraps of paper. Needless to say these are long gone…

Neil Durden-Smith stopped signing just as I approached – a fact that I’ve managed to recover from. I did however have the opportunity to get Clough’s autograph but I declined because – well, frankly I was scared of him. Over the years I’ve regretted that one but then again I’d have only lost it along with my England v West Indies scorecard from 1976, signed by Denis Compton.

Essentially this is what this site intends to be about – souvenirs like this one from the Basil D’Oliveira benefit year and memories – however hazy they may be.

I shall therefore look to dig out some more treasures but feel free to share your own comments and recollections along the way.