Howzat
Early on Bank Holiday morning, a bunch of weary, would be cricketers along with friends and family set off from The Co-operative Clothing base and made there way to Leeds. The reason for this trip was to play in The Co-operative’s 1st Specialist Division Charity Cricket Tournament which consisted of 3 teams, Team Clothing, Team Motor and Team CRL/Food. All monies raised went to Mencap, The Co-operative charity of the year.
After finally arriving at Leeds, Team Clothing were giving a potential winners breakfast by Claire Scott (Financial Controller and Commercial Manager) and Howard Davies (Warehouse manager). Team Clothing consisted of staff from both the Office and Warehouse along with a little helping hand from Marie Goudie’s son and two players from the local cricket’s 2nd team.
Clothing waited patiently as Team Motor took on Team CRL/Food for the 1st match of the day. CRL/Food were no match against Team Motor as they took the first scalp of the day.
Clothing were up next against the CRL/Food. The breakfast must have done the trick as Team Clothing went onto to demolish Team CRL/Food and claimed their 1st win of the day. Despite a good start from CRL/Food they were no match against Shantanu Das Gupta (Technical Merchandiser) bowling. if you know anything about cricket then this might make sense to you, (4-0-11-6!) CRL/Food went from 76-0 to 91 all out. With some impressive batting Clothing went on and booked their place in the final against a professional Motor team.
Team Motor included staff such as Stewart Cummings (HR Manchester), David Cummings (Funeral HR) and Jason Middleton (Motor Group Training and Development Manager). As well as staff from Head Office and Motor they also had some secret weapons in the shape of some semi-professional players, an Australian and an ex county player! Although some might say this was a bit of an unfair advantage, in true cricket sportsmanship Clothing eagerly accepted this challenge. Despite a valiant and proud effort from Clothing, they unfortunately could not compete against Team Motors professional side. Motor went on to win The Co-operative’s 1st Specialist Division Charity Cricket Tournament Title with Clothing in a well deserved 2nd place!
The final was not without incident! As well as losing the final, Clothing had a double blow as Sree Nanjaiyan (Technical Merchandiser) dislocated his shoulder and had to be taken to hospital.
Once the winners were declared it was then off to the club house for a few well deserved drinks and Award’s ceremony. The medal’s and trophies were kindly donated and presented by Claire Scott. Amongst the winners were two of Clothings very own! Anthony Davison won overall best cricketer and Shantanu Das Gupta won best bowler!
To help raise money for Mencap, there was a raffle with some fantastic prizes. 1st prize was a 2 night mini cruise to Amsterdam courtesy of DFDS Seaways and Port of Tyne. Other great prizes included 2 VIP tickets to watch Leeds United and a Land Rover off road driving experience.
This fantastic event was organised by Rachael Crabtree (HR) and Howard Davies. We would like to thank Rachael Crabtree, Howard Davies, Claire Scott and all those who took part in making this a great day for staff, friends and family. Also a big thank you to DFDS Seaways and Port of Tyne and also Leeds United for donating such great prizes.
A final word from Howard Davies, “Overall a fantastic day. Very well supported and over £1000 raised for Mencap. Unfortunately Clothing lost to a slightly superior team on the day but are looking forward to a rematch next summer.”