Overseas Players

First, an important message. We play in an amateur league and so will not pay anyone to play for us, however good you are. Please do not apply to us for paid employment as being ignored often offends!

We started placing players back in 1998 and those who have come over have enjoyed the experience immensely. All have found that playing more than forty matches in four or five months has been a huge change from their home experiences but the opportunity to score thousands of runs and take dozens of wickets in such a short time has certainly proved one well worth having. All of them have benefited from the experience and have made many good friends along the way. It remains to be seen if the Taplow regulars have improved by playing with such players though. For most of the membership, the important thing is that the imports can drink alcohol and that they should always remember that training for us has historically been very optional - no matter how badly we played the previous weekend.

2007

A season with no Nilam! How on earth can we cope without him? Well quite well actually; we successfully defended the Chilterns League and Cup competitions is the answer. Sujith Perera was back though and had a great year. He won the league bowling award which was quite an achievement for a spinner during the wettest summer since Noah and his Arc. Suj even had the good manners to average over 50 runs per innings with the bat as well. He's a popular fella and when he got married in Kandy, Sri Lanka during the winter, 7 of us went out there to attend.

2006

Nilam was back and so was his buddy Sujith Perera - Coleshill's placement Sri Lankan from the previous season. Nilam's batting was superb, his 1971 runs represent a new club record for runs scored in a season beating Moonshine's record from 1999. It was probably Suji's bowling that brought the necessary vital ingredient to the mix in regard to Taplow ultimately winning the league title. Looking at the figures he had a fabulous all round season. The boys enjoyed themselves and loved playing cricket for Taplow.

2005

Nilam's second season with us and one which saw him score a great deal of runs in all the formats of the game we play. He managed to score over 150 on two occasions as well showing a depth of stamina not often seen at Taplow. To top his achievements he also secured the Chilterns League batting award for scoring the highest aggregate of league runs - 757. Well done son, see you next year!!

2004

We were put in touch with an organiser who intended to provide coaching courses in England for a group of Sri Lankan young players. Over they came and during the week they studied English, coaching, nutrition etc and on the weekends Mohamed Nilam played cricket for us. We took him on our tour to the New Forest the day after he landed in England where his respect for his collegues was cemented. Being tee-total he could only stand back and admire the abilities of his new team mates - "Mr Brian, you can truely drink for England" being my favorite quote.

Nilam was primarily a wicket keeper so, spotting an opportunity, we had him batting up the order and bowling first change. He was a very consistent performer, ever reliable and all round nice fella. You wouldn't catch Nilam sledging the opposition, he'd much rather smash a quick and elegant fifty instead. We all hope to see him again soon. Due to him I even got invited to the Sri Lankan High Commission to meet the sports minister and the High Commissioner himself (another extremely pleasant fella).

2001

Two kiwis this time, George Diack and Joel Holmes. George ' Dawes' Diack immediately impressed with nagging line and length bowling and an occasional, surprisingly quick, fast ball. He started extremely well with a match winning performance with bat and ball in our first league encounter. His batting tended to be powerful but perhaps, disappointingly, too often ending after making a good start. Joel struggled early on with the bat and never really scored the runs that he one day no doubt will - he just needed to be as nearly as cocky and confident at the crease as he was everywhere else (note, his e-mail address is joelitious@hotmail.com - need I say more!)

Both suffered injuries, unfortunately. George missed most of June when he couldn't pull off his old cycling shorts whilst Joel decided to do the decent thing at the end of July and broke his leg (or tore something he shouldn't have) whilst fielding. Despite these problems they had many very special moments here and we all hope to see the boys back in the area soon. Certainly the Colts Organisers will miss these two. Throughout the season, both worked exceptionally hard and were always available to assist in the running of our Junior Section - a greatly appreciated contribution.

2000

We saw the arrival of Blain Wilkins from South Africa. A charming, softly spoken teenager able to frighten the life out of the wicketkeeper let alone the batsman with his quick bowling. He also happened to be a tremendously powerful batsman. I'll never forget the howitzer blast into the hotel at Brockenhurst whilst we were touring the New Forest. All in all, a lovely fella! His partner in crime was a Kiwi batting superstar by the name of Jonathan Davidson. His ability to recover from a drunken stupor and score a fifty will be marveled at for years to come. Happily we've met his mother who's a smashing lady and we understand he's doing very well back home!

1999

Jeff Mooney and Craig Windus return. They had played well and made lots of friends the previous year and it was great to see them back. Craig captained the Sunday side to what turned out to be their best season for decades. Jeff broke his hand at the start of the year but bounced back, smashing records in the course of scoring 1107 league runs (beating the previous record of 888 runs and scoring a double century against the reigning champions on the way).

1998

Jeff Mooney and Craig Windus arrived from Bathurst, N.S.W. as Taplow's first every overseas players. We felt it would be better to get a couple of players in who knew each other before coming here. They certainly did. They were like an old married couple most of the time - always moaning about the other one to who ever would listen!

Craig managed to forget his trousers for our first match and followed up by getting bowled second ball. He was going to fit in wonderfully well with the regular Taplow players.

They proved to be easily the best players in the Club and helped us stay in the top half of the league (important since the league was to be divided into two divisions the following year) and we won something - The League Knockout Competition. Even the weather was nice! Jeff and Craig had a great time and thoroughly enjoyed watching England get beaten by Argentina on penalties in the World Cup.