JAMES A ROSE TROPHY The History |
The James A Rose trophy is awarded annually for assiduous achievement by a Taverner. Although the decision is made at the April Annual General Meeting, the glittering prize itself is not presented until the end-of-season barbecue. It is the most prestigious of the awards of the Taverners Cricket Club. Indeed, it is the only cricket trophy that the club either possesses or sees fit to award to one of its members.
For the benefit of those colonials unfamiliar with the intricacies of the English language, I should point out that the word assiduous is not, as some Taverner detractors would have us believe, derived from the two Anglo-Saxon words ass, meaning donkey, and iduous meaning verging on the idiotic. On the contrary, the correct definition is persevering and hardworking.
Now I know that a cynic might ask how any Taverner could possibly measure up to such a daunting adjective. In response, I might argue that most of our members would demonstrate a great deal of perseverance at the wicket if only the opposition wouldn’t keep getting them out. OK, I admit that hardworking is quite a stretch, but the trick, of course, is that we interpret achievement in a much broader sense than simply the scoring of runs or the taking of wickets. In short, the James Rose trophy is awarded to the Taverner who is thought to have best demonstrated Taverner Spirit. Since this term has never been adequately defined, we are able to employ considerable creativity and flexibility during our deliberations.
James A Rose was a friend of Gwilym Evans. He lived in England all his life, visiting Winnipeg just once in 1979. Being a cricket enthusiast, he was delighted when Gwil arranged for him to turn out for a Wednesday evening Taverner's game. He brought a new County cricket ball to the game, but the team felt it was too good to be used on the mat wicket...and reserved it for later use. The membership then decided to make an award, to be presented annually, that would be given for assiduous achievement.
However, how could we turn a cricket ball into a trophy? During debate on this question, Mike Fuller not only purported to have an answer, but generously volunteered to get the job done, as he had at his disposal the formidable resources of his metalworking colleagues. Imagine his chagrin at the reaction of his fellow Taverners when he unveiled his work of art at a subsequent meeting. Teutonic monstrosity was just one of several unflattering descriptions muttered by the gathered onlookers who, though grudgingly allowing that it was a masterpiece of engineering, scored it very low for artistic impression. Even less flattering were some of the epithets that Michael aimed back at his detractors. But, at least, Taverners now had a brand new trophy, which looked as though it could last for eons. Who better to be its first (1983) recipient than M J Fuller himself since, we argued, he was likely the only person who would be happy to display it publicly.
The second recipient was Dick Dawson, currently our oldest active cricketer. The writer cannot recall why Dickie was selected for the award, and, when recently asked about it, he feigned memory loss, a sure sign that he was embarrassed to admit the real reason!
The next recipient, Jack King, was a potential new member who showed up at the annual meeting, promptly paid his dues, and was never seen again! We concluded that Jack was likely gunning to be included in Who’s Who and was anxious to have the prestigious Taverners CC listed as one of his clubs. Incidentally, if Jack did make it into WW, it would not have been the first time we were mentioned in that august publication. Indeed, the entry for our former Anglican Archbishop of Rupertsland, Barry Valentine, described Taverners as “a club for aged and bibulous cricketers”!
The trophy subsequently underwent major reconstruction to become the thing of beauty it is today. Wood, rather than metal, was the new medium of choice thanks to the carpentry skills of Brian Carty. Brian was also a prolific producer of bails for the club, and his arboreal achievements were suitably rewarded in1988. Before that, however, Harry Davies received our sympathy vote for the huge coloured egg he incurred on his shin while turning a certain four runs into three for the throw.
Meanwhile, the trophy disappeared, and poor old Harry never did get to show it off. The obvious next move, therefore, was to make the 1987 award to the one member we could rely on to track it down, namely Gwilym Evans, resident publican (but not rule setter!) of the Buckingham Arms. It worked!
By now, the mystique of the James Rose trophy was taking hold, and one of the funniest acceptance speeches was given by the 1989 recipient, our sheep-loving antipodean Clifton Ashwell. Apart from his natural outrageous wit, the thing that made it funny was that Cliff actually thought the award was for cricketing prowess!
The first woman, and also the first non-member to hold the trophy was Caroline Pirani, who was recognized in 1993 for her hospitality and patience when, year after year, Ali used to volunteer their home for the annual club barbecue (guess who did all the work!). Ali Pirani’s name does not appear on the list of winners, although we once agreed, without his knowledge, to provisionally award him the trophy the following year on condition that he helped just once during the season to put out the matting. Needless to say, he did not win!
As the James Rose trophy has aged, so it has matured, and the reasons for awarding it have become less frivolous and more serious. Most Taverners would now be proud to be nominated, but a notable exception is still a certain grumpy old member who for many years has steadfastly refused to let his name be put forward.
Philip Munro-Smith was honoured in 2001 for setting up and managing the club’s excellent internet web site, without which this lighthearted epistle could not have been communicated. Appropriately, Chris Emery became the first repeat recipient the following year, this time for writing and distributing a great monthly newsletter, which complements the web site perfectly by bringing club news and other snippets to the mail boxes of past and present members throughout the world.
Philip was awarded the trophy for a second time in 2003 for demonstrating outstanding Taverner spirit in the face of personal tragedy. At the end-of-season barbecue, he responded to the presentation by insisting that the club be co-recipients in appreciation of the tremendous support that he received from fellow members. Taverner spirit certainly lives on, and Betty lives on in our hearts through the newly established Betty Munro-Smith trophy – a fun award for a fun event in memory of a very special fun person!
JAMES A ROSE TROPHY WINNERS
1983 Mike Fuller 1990 Terry Jolly 1997 Chris Emery
1984 Dick Dawson 1991 Gerry Maingot 1998 Horace Hackett
1985 Jack King 1992 Keith Tipples 1999 Sid Roberts
1986 Harry Davies 1993 Caroline Pirani 2000 Barry Mills
1987 Gwilym Evans 1994 Ed Hillary 2001 Philip Munro-Smith
1988 Brian Carty 1995 Jon Page 2002 Chris Emery
1989 Cliff Ashwell 1996 Tony Kennedy 2003 Taverners CC & Philip Munro-Smith
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2004
2005 Rob Vernon
2006 Karl Jaikaransingh