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| THE LORD’S TAVERNERS (UK) DIAMOND JUBILEE At the beginning of July, the President, John Lill, and Chairman, Greg Brown, of the Lord’s Taverners Australia travelled to the UK accompanied by Greg’s wife Jill and unofficially the Secretary of the Victorian Branch, Carolyn Johnson and her Committeeman husband, Kevin. The visit was for two reasons. Firstly to participate in the parent body’s 60th Anniversary celebrations and secondly , to discuss formally issues of future interest to both organisations. On the Thursday evening before the ODI between Australia and England, we attended a black tie dinner in the Nursery Pavillion at Lord’s. The Lord’s Taverners President, John Hooper, opened the batting by welcoming all guests and briefly summarising the year’s achievements which, to say the least, were very impressive in terms of the amount of money distributed. We were then entertained by a panel consisting of Chris Cowdrey as moderator, Allan Lamb, Rodney Hogg and Jeff Thompson. As the two fast bowlers warmed to their task, the stories and anecdotes became more apocryphal and more and more outrageous to the extent that Chris gave up attempting to control them and left the stage in mock horror. Despite this, they were warmly applauded at the end of their spell. At the end of the evening, our presence was acknowledged and I was again invited to join Bob “the Cat” Bevan on stage to draw the raffle prizes. On a more serious note, the following Monday morning, Greg and I met with John Ayling (Chairman) and Matthew Patten (CEO) over coffee and croissants in their office at 10 Buckingham Place. Following a wide-ranging and cordial discussion, it was agreed that Matthew would prepare a draft paper canvassing possible future directions for the organisation and its brand - and the structures required if new initiatives were implemented. Of particular interest to us is the possibility of the Lord’s Taverners spreading across the Tasman to New Zealand., and it was agreed the Australian Taverners could play a key role in implementing such an expansion. Some of the other initiatives raised are still in the embryo stage and will be discussed further at our Annual Conference in Brisbane later this year. We also obtained their support in ensuring that their members planning to visit Australia for the Ashes Series were fully informed of the functions to be held in all the States, together with the appropriate contacts. Overall, it was a most successful meeting which reaffirmed the strong bond that exists between the parent body and its only sibling. We also attended a Garden Party organised by the Lady Lord’s Taverners. This was a late afternoon fund-raiser held in the Dean’s Yard adjacent to Westminster Abbey. It was a glorious English evening and the function concluded at twilight with a large choir singing Rule Brittannia, Jerusalem and finally, Land of Hope and Glory accompanied by much flag-waving and cheering. A wonderful moment, book-ended by Big Ben chiming nine o’clock to signal the drawing of stumps. |
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