On a generally cold Bank Holiday weekend the sun shone on the touring Parisians of the Standard Athletic Club, playing at Belmont in memory of Toby Cox. Both teams were hosted very generously to lunch and tea by Jimmy and Libby Cox, with tributes paid to Toby’s contribution to Straggler cricket. On the field of play the Straggler stars of the increasingly distant past were, with the notable exception of Matthew Schilder, unable to rekindle the skills of youth, and SAC ran out comfortable winners by 92 runs. Toby’s bottle of champagne, due for his passing 3,000 runs in 2009, was awarded to the Man of the Match, SAC’s Ben McDonald for his 5 for 41 and pair of exceptional catches in the deep. Moves are afoot to retain this as an occasional fixture for the future, both in Kent and in Paris.
