Former New Zealand captain Jeremy Coney was the speaker at this year’s annual stag dinner, held at the Common.
Coney made 52 Test Match and 88 one-day international appearances for his country and recounted stories from his 14 years as a Black cap, which included what it was like to face Holding and co of the mighty West Indies, and his account of a match winning partnership with Ewen Chatfield against Pakistan.
He also spoke excellently about how he fell in love with the game, the character of a cricketer and how the principals of cricket could be applied to life away from the game. Hugely inspirational and entertaining throughout, his reputation as one of the best speakers on the circuit is clearly well deserved.
Coney was supported by comedian Rod Beech.
[note]Previous guest speakers: 1987 – Clive Radley; 1988 – Ray East; 1989 – Paul Downton; 1990 – Allan Lamb; 1991 – Graham Gooch; 1992 – David Lloyd; 1993 – Dennis Lillee; 1994 – Fred Trueman; 1995 – Geoff Miller; 1996 – Mark Nicholas; 1997 – Allan Lamb; 1998 – Graham Gooch; 1999 – Chris Cowdrey; 2000 – Gladstone Small; 2001 – Micky Stewart; 2002 – Robin Smith; 2003 – Angus Fraser; 2004 – Derek Randall; 2005 – Mike Watkinson; 2006 – Geoff Miller; 2007 – Ronnie Irani; 2008 – Shaun Udal; 2009 – Graham Thorpe; 2010 – Graeme Fowler; 2011 – Alec Stewart.[/note]
