Wiltshire Queries celebrate 75 years of happy wandering (From This Is Wiltshire)

Wiltshire Queries celebrate 75 years of happy wandering

11:08am Friday 4th July 2008 in

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THEY have no home ground, no rules or constitution and have never had their annual accounts audited, yet the Wiltshire Queries have become the county's premier wandering cricket club.

And this year members, who happily admit even the name Queries was stolen from a team of schoolboys, celebrate the club's 75th anniversary.

The Wiltshire Queries, who played their first ever match in 1933 against Winterbourne Gunner, have no home ground and instead travel all over the county, UK and Europe to play their own brand of cricket, which is essentially to have fun.

The club was formed by players from the Wiltshire under 19 sides of 1931 and 1932, who realised they would only be able to play together again in August and September because most of them were going on to further education or work.

On December 27, 1932 the group met at the Bath Arms in Warminster to agree on the club guidelines, which were that cricket should be enjoyable, the playing should be serious, no one would go home without batting, bowling or keeping wicket, dull draws should be avoided and those playing for or against the club would agree to do so again the following season.

The team's first ever captain, James Wort, was also chosen and the Wiltshire Queries were born.

The name Queries was stolen from a scratch schoolboy side at Salisbury which no longer operated and who themselves had stolen it from a touring side of 11 players all with the same name.

Throughout the summer of 1933 the Queries played a total of nine games without losing and the club continues to organise a packed fixture list, which this year includes a tour to Yorkshire and a six-a-side tournament in the Algarve, Portugal.

There will also be a cricket week at Devizes, including the club's first Twenty20 competition.

Current president David Haywood, 63, took over the role after the sudden death of longstanding president Dick Hurn in December last year.

Hurn, who was 92, had been a player at the club when it was formed and was president for 16 years.

Haywood, a former Cambridge Blue, became a Queries player during his time as deputy head of Dauntsey's School in West Lavington between 1982 and 1987.

He then became headmaster of the City of London Freemen's School in Ashtead but retired in 2007 and moved back to Wiltshire.

During the annual fixture against Dauntsey's School on Thursday, which the Queries lost by five wickets, Haywood talked about the ethos of the club.

He said: "The founders of the club wanted to play for fun and in the spirit of the game and that's still the basis of how we play.

"We want to make friends on and off the pitch.

"One of the principles we have is that everyone gets a chance to bat and bowl so that everyone has a good input in the game."

The Wiltshire Queries have more than 100 members and there are a few more recruits joining this summer.

"We have members who are still playing in their 60s but equally we have members who are still at college or school," said club president David Haywood.

"People who join the Wiltshire Queries are normally recommended by one of our members. They can play to a good standard and they will join in with the club's spirit."

Andy Palmer, the master in charge of cricket at Dauntsey's School has been a member of the Queries since 1999.

He said: "The link between the Queries and the school is very beneficial.

Playing the Queries enables our cricketers to play against good quality adults who play in the right way and have the right spirit."

In fact, the Queries often play their home matches at the school and a number of pupils and teachers have played for the wandering club over the years.

The Queries, whose name was stolen from a scratch schoolboy side at Salisbury, have also had overseas players in the past, including Australian Shaun Newing, who played for the club in the Nineties and Noughties.

He said: "We just don't have a Wiltshire Queries equivalent in Australia - there's simply no room in the harsh summer landscape for the subtler side of cricket.

"For all our posturing and posing, academies, three-man commentary teams, technological revolutions and jingoistic carry-on, it is not during two weekend sledge fests in the western suburbs of our Aussie cities or even in the heat of battle on the MCG, but in places like the heart of Wiltshire where real cricketers are found and real cricketers are made."

The club are due to compete in their first ever Twenty20 tournament in Devizes later this month, but their president said the concept of 20 overs cricket is nothing new.

Haywood said: "The club likes to move with the times and having a Twenty20 tournament displays this. But Twenty20 isn't a new phenomenon. When I was a teenager playing club cricket in Nottingham we used to have 20 over evening matches, which started about 5.30pm.

"We support any progression in cricket that makes the game more exciting and gets youngsters involved and we believe that youngsters should be taught to play all different types of cricket whether that be three-day games, one-day games or Twenty20."

Another example of the Queries' desire to move with the times is demonstrated in their newly constructed website, which gives up to date news on the team, photographs, a full fixture list and an in depth history of the club.

A commemorative booklet is also due to be published later this year to celebrate their 75th anniversary.

No rules, no constitution

THE Wiltshire Queries have no written constitution or rules.

Tradition has it that the only original rule was that all members should be under 21 but that was speedily annulled to allow FNS Creek, the distinguished England and Corinthian footballer, to become a member when he was appointed to a teaching post at Dauntsey's School.

It is also a fact that the honorary treasurers who have served the club so well over the years accepted the office on the explicit understanding that any demand for an audited account would mean their immediate resignation.

It is also said that the late Dick Hurn, who went on to be president of the club, on visiting his post office with a view to opening an account for the club was told that unless he produced a list of rules for the club, no account could be opened - whereupon he scribbled on the back of an envelope "No person suffering from persistent boils on the neck shall be eligible for membership."

The post office apparently found this acceptable and the club funds were duly banked.

To find out more visit the Queries' website at www.wiltshirequeriescc.co.uk.

CLICK HERE for more pictures.