Purdon shares on prestigious MCC
World’s oldest club ‘the custodians of the laws of’ cricket
Probus members were treated to an enthralling talk by cricket aficionado and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) luminary Ross Purdon on his visit to the second Ashes Test at Lord’s in June last year.
Attired in a yellow- and red-striped blazer with accompanying tie and matching hat the colours of the exclusive MCC at the Port Alfred River & Ski Boat Club, Purdon said he was the butt of a few jokes that day.
“When I got dressed this morning in these colours, I had the words of my family ringing in my ears they said I look like an ice cream salesman,” as laughter rang out across the venue.
The taunts about his MCC dress code, often referred to as “egg and bacon”, never gets Purdon down because the former Member of Parliament and well-known cricket administrator is as proud a cricket fanatic as you could ever find.
The MCC was the world’s oldest club and took pride in ownership of the Lord’s Cricket Ground in England the venue for last year’s second Ashes Test between old foes England and Australia, said Purdon, who received full MCC membership in 2004.
“The MCC are the custodians of the laws of the game there is a highpowered committee that sits every year to review the laws. There are 18,000 full members and 5,000 associate members in the MCC.”
The honours roll of MCC members from SA reads like a who’s who of cricketing luminaries. Among them are Barry Richards, the late Mike Procter,
Jonty Rhodes, (three) Pollocks, and Purdon.
“You have to be a full member for five years before you can nominate anybody to the MCC. And you are only allowed to nominate one person per year; and then you have to be seconded by somebody.
“And that’s the easy part. Then you have to be thirded and fourthed by a select group of people. If you pass the first hurdle you get a little booklet that makes you an associate member.”
Those seeking full membership sometimes had to wait in the associate membership queue for 17 years as there were about 350 vacancies every year due to deaths or resignations.
“So for me that [full membership] was the highest honour I could achieve, and it’s a privilege.
“I wasn’t a great player, but I did try my best in administration,” said Purdon, who showed the audience a red card that signifies full MCC membership.
He said the MCC had 2,000 playing members who played about 480 games a year all around England.
“It’s enormous and they have different selection panels right around England, mainly at schools, universities and clubs and they tour regularly to all parts of the world.
“The colours which I am wearing red and yellow which some people fondly call ‘egg and bacon’ comes from a certain William Nicholson.”
He said the businessman lent the club money in 1866 to buy the ground in St John’s Wood. The red and yellow were the colours of The Nicholson’s Gin brand “and that’s how the MCC colours came about. Since 1821, there have been 170 MCC presidents and only two presidents have done two terms, one of which is Prince Phillip.
“The current president is Mark Nicholas [former Hampshire captain] and cricket broadcaster.”
Purdon said he was privileged in 1994 to be present at the first Lord’s Test between The Proteas, captained by Kepler Wessels, and England.
“It was an emotional occasion when our guys walked onto the field it was the first time at Lord’s since SA’s cricket isolation. I still get goosebumps now thinking about it.
“The second Ashes Test [England v Australia] which I watched last year was a massive event in terms of cricketing popularity.
“To give you some idea, when we watched the cricket in 1994, the tickets cost us £27 per day last year we paid £160 [R3,800]per ticket per day. I don’t pay because I pay my subs of course.
“My guests pay, but it is an expensive day out,” added Purdon.
He said the state-of-the-art Lord’s Mound stand built to celebrate the ground’s bi-centenary was financed by John Paul Getty II.
“Getty of course was an American who knew nothing about cricket and got introduced to the game by the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger who really loves his cricket. The costs overran on the building, but Getty just calmly rolled out the cheques.”
Purdon then changed into a traditional kurta “pyjama” [formal wear] as a reminder of his trip to the 50-over World Cup in India towards the end of last year, won by Australia.
He said once SA had qualified for the semifinals he called his wife to join him in India.
“She said ‘no but our daughter might want to join you’. So my daughter, Ashleigh, joined me in Delhi before flying to Calcutta for the semifinal.
“The Indians are the friendliest people I have ever met in my life. We had the best food in India we went armed with antibiotics, Immodium and the rest, but we never touched it.
“Cricket is almost a religion and the players are treated almost like gods. Wherever you go you’ll see them in ads, billboards, on TV. If you go to Mumbai, it’s Sachin Tendulkar’s turf, if you go to Chennai it’s MS Dhoni, Kolkata it’s Sourav Ganguly. Even on the telly you see our guys like AB [de Villiers] dancing away in a kurta and he’s probably making millions off it.”
Rainfall and temperatures in Port Alfred for the week Wednesday February 14 to Tuesday February 20 2024 Rainfall in millimetres and temperature degrees Celsius (°C).
● Wednesday: 0 (20°C)
● Thursday: 9 (19°C)
● Friday: 2 (16°C)
● Saturday: 0 (16°C)
● Sunday: 0 (16°C)
● Monday: 1 (18°C)
● Tuesday: 0 (18°C)
● Total rainfall: 3mm
● Seven-day mean temperature 17.7°C (Median 18°C)
● Average for February 76.25mm
● YTD 85mm
● MTD 3mm
— Rainfall and temperature measurements, recorded at 6am in Forest Downs, Port Alfred by Emil Jurgensen.