en-us http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html Comments from Brentwood CC - Ian Belchamber\'s Best Ever Brentwood CC XI http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment164561732Belly's answer: The current West Indies captain managed to play one game I think in the League Cup around 6 years ago away at Leigh. He was on the MCC Staff and so Jonny knew him and got him along. We had already signed up Sutho to play for us, so couldn’t have 2 overseas players Mon, 20 Jun 2011 09:53:37 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment164561732 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment164220040I never realised that Darren Sammy played for Brentwood ! Is that the West Indies captain or a different person with the same name ? Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:40:27 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment164220040 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71254669No Mick Jones? This is going to keep me awake tonight now. Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:40:32 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71254669 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71253266Ben keeping, else he'd never stop phoning me to complain he wasn't in the side. Quicks Dickie Mee, Boden and Hastey, and as you can't have Crossley and Ben in the same team, Gooders providing the variation. Mouse, if Fomesy gets another blob, you're in! Tricky isn't it? (Incidently, no players included that I didn't play with) Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:24:06 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71253266 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71251950He kept me out of the team, Dicky?!!! Nepotism Phil? That has never existed at BCC surely? A few years ago, I persuaded Dad to play in Sunday 4th team game (wearing an Arran sweater). He might make another XI. Nick is undoubtedly the best player I ever played with. Justin Kenny is the 2nd. The rest I'd have to think about. I'd like to have Reedy, Gavin Kenny, Fomesy and Gary Jones in the middle-order. You might get skittled occasionally, but if you got 300, you'd have got them bloody quickly! Thu, 29 Apr 2010 08:11:32 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71251950 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71160698Lats - Exactly. I have no idea how good he was at Brentwood. As we all know he only turned into a good player when he left Essex for the Promised Land of Warwickshire! Wed, 28 Apr 2010 18:58:29 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71160698 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71033957Lats, what about your Best Ever BCC XI? (You'd better leave me off the list otherwise there will be accusations of nepotism!) Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:40:51 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71033957 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71032852Is that how you justify omitting someone from your team who played 17 Tests and is one of only a handful of England players to play in 100 one-day Internationals, Dicky?!! Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:32:01 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment71032852 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment70661235Good point Richard. Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:56:27 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment70661235 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment70656836I should say that my "order" to Belly (as it has been described) whilst said earnestly & straight-faced was, as ever, tongue-in-cheek. I think the point I was making is that if you pick someone in a "best of..." based purely on reputation i.e. someone else's opinion, then you are actually picking someone else's "best of.." not your own. That is very different to picking someone based on your opinion of statistics, reports written at the time etc. Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:14:46 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment70656836 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment69181913There's a couple of stand out memories. Playing in a Sunday 1st XI match where he decided to pepper the tennis club. Eventually, an irate female tennis player storms round, raquet in hand and demands. "Who is doing that?". "Him!", we reply as Reedy launches another one into centre-court. "Well can you tell him to stop!" Another was watching the Gravesend Captain hastily rearrange his field as Reedy took 20 from the opening over of an all-day game at the Bat and Ball ground. Coming back from that game in Richard Mee's car, me and Dave Cantor in the back, he played the same song repeatedly at full volume all the way home, insisting we learn the words. 'Wild West' by Escape Club. It's on my MP3 today. Good lad, great player and almost impossible to bowl at on his day. Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:18:02 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment69181913 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment69181763Belly, I was on the main committee when 'Reedy's' application came for consideration. I remember the committee being deeply divided about where to play him given that he had played Sussex IIs (if I recall correctly). In the end, it was decided he would debut for the 4th XI away at Leigh-on-Sea. Due to an injudicious post-match tackle on the outfield late the previous season, I too found myself in that side (from recollection, Rob Coote, Tim Potter and Hentry Woods also featured). Reedy's contribution was 0, and going in at 90-9, only a swashbuckling, career-best 47 from yours truly put Brentwood in a position from where they would win the game. It was therefore, a travesty that Mr. Reed would find himself batting 3 for the 1st XI the following week while I was overlooked. It still rankles to this day! contd Wed, 21 Apr 2010 07:17:39 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment69181763 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment35507185I've been thinking about this a little more. If doing a similar thing for WHU, my selection would include Hurst, Moore, Peters and Brooking. It so happens that because of my age, and growing up within walking distance of Upton Park, I saw all of these players play (my memories aren't that good as I was just a lad but I certainly saw them all at one time or another). If someone hadn't seen them play, would choosing these players in a Best Ever WHU XI be ridiculous? Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:40:51 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment35507185 http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment35505626Belly, based on Dicky's rationale then my side is utterly ridiculous. I justify my selection on the basis that it is impossible to attend matches these days, and that as web site administrator I follow the individual teams a lot closer through match reports than I used to. Using Dicky's logic I wouldn't be able to select anyone who has appeared within the last six years. The 1st XI has just proven to everyone that it is the best team BCC has ever had. As I tried to explain, I simply felt it was impossible to leave out certain players despite having not seen them. I think that when Jon Coote suggested this little game after his chat with Salty it was only intended as a bit of fun anyway, not to be taken too seriously. The other argument that normally crops up with this kind of thing is comparing players who didn't play in the modern era with players today. There have been huge changes regarding fitness levels, technique, equipment technology, etc. Would Roger Federer have beaten Rod Laver? This type of argument is always going to be hypothetical and therefore there will never be a definitive answer. Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:21:13 +0000http://www.brentwoodcc.co.uk/besteverxi/ibelchamber_besteverxi.html#IDComment35505626