Player Profile #2: Mark Tattersall

Once upon a time Mark Tattersall was young, reckless and mobile.

These days he is older, wiser and more responsible and to be honest his mobility is of the kind customarily associated with scooters.

Over the years he has made the transformation from young tearaway to elder statesman and is now the chairman of Offley & Stopsley Cricket Club.

Let that percolate for a moment; Mark Tattersall is our moral compass.

Mark has also demonstrated a flair for organisation that has resulted in tours all around the world and is the brains behind the club's annual money spinner, the Offley Sixes.

In a sense he has become the new Simon Warrington. That observation should impress him about as much as asking him to wear a Tottenham shirt.

Just as at closing time at the bar he is invariably closing in on a double Jack Daniel's Honey, on the pitch he is closing in on the double of 5000 runs and 300 wickets.

The youngest player in club history to score a century, Tattersall's batting remains an uncomplicated combination of biff and block where his celebrated golf skills routinely send the ball soaring over the ropes with an effortless flick.

He no longer approaches the crease with the same verve with the ball in hand as he once did (should he now try to reprise his "Malinga" delivery where he waved his hand to disrupt the batsman's concentration, there would be genuine concern he was signalling for urgent medical assistance) but he can still generate impressive swing.

In the field he has firmly established himself as part of the "catches what he gets to" fraternity while his ability to chase down a ball is threatening to reach the tragic level.

A member of the team that won Offley & Stopsley's first trophy in their inaugural 1998 season, Tattersall is still one of the first names on the team sheet, a name that can still occasionally strike fear into the hearts of opposing bowlers and a name that can always spark happiness in the hearts of pub landlords.

Did You Know: Mark's charmingly naive wife Rachael used to think winter nets were held outside in February. At night.

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The People's Champions

"We fight for lost causes because we know that our defeat and dismay may be the preface to our successors' victory." A day out that was confidently expected to end around lunchtime eventually drew to a close in the early evening as heavy underdogs, Offley & Stopsley C.C., otherwise known as the People's Champions, took their leave of Knebworth Park having reached the club's first final since 2008. Unquestionably no one was more surprised at making it through to the final than the team themselves, the semi-final victory prompting a flurry of hastily rearranged plans. Ultimately they were not victorious on the pitch - not exactly a shock as they were up against a side six divisions above them in the Saracens League, a gap that will be confirmed as eight divisions once the tables are finalised on Saturday night. Yet at the end of a torrid season where the club flag has been subjected to shot and shell, it was heartening to know it still fluttered defiantly in the...

Wardy Still Hasn't Found What He's Looking For

OSCC, 128-9, lost to Royal Herts, 129-6, by four wickets Marc Ward returned to the side as Offley attempted to make it three wins on the spin in the Herts League. Unfortunately they ended up losing for the fourteenth time in a row under Wardy's illustirous leadership, slipping to a four-wicket defeat on a snot heap of a wicket. Ward won the toss and elected to bat before realising that his team did not necessarily contain a great deal of batting. The captain led the way with a valiant 30, an innings that ended to the last ball before drinks when he successfully steered a wide full toss gently into the hands of point, the dismissal ending a 39-run stand for the fourth wicket with Jamie Cummins. Ward reacted to his dismissal with a series of self-recriminations featuring bat throwing, helmet smashing and vocal flagellation, all worthy of the Old Testament. By that point Richie Barker (1), Marcus Townsend (6) and Ian Peterson (8) had already made the long walk back to the hutch. Resum...

The Triangle of Triumph

OSCC, 116-6, beat Shillington, 115-9, by four wickets OSCC, 174-6, beat Harpenden, 166 all out, by eight runs OSCC, 245-6, beat Hexton, 152 all out, by 93 runs Having started the season by losing six out of six - and conceding a seventh to boot - Offley kicked the season into life with a three-game sweep of assorted opponents. The week that began with the unfortunate Bus Wanka saga ended with the victory beers overflowing. Captain Roger Piepenstock secured the first win of the season against Shillington, having been elected to the position on the grounds of his patrician bearing and the fact he was the only one with a coin (a golden guinea presumably) to toss up. Manouvering his fielders with a combination of frantic arm-waving and polite requests one that conjured images of a pissed up usher at a garden party, Captain Piepenstock ensured Shillington were restricted to 115-9. Mark Kirkman and Shane Jones were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets apiece but there were also tw...

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