A Cricket journey New Zealand, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Notts and France -(will travel)

Phil Cooper


Organisation:
Phil Cooper HistoricTravelTalks
Regions:
East Midlands, South Yorkshire, North East, Staffordshire, Warwickshire
Notice Period:
Short (maybe less than one month's notice)
Type:
U3A, Probus, Womens Institutes, Ladies Groups
Fee:
Expensed
Category:
Sports
Updated:
26th February 2024

There are not many cricket talks on this site, so I am more than willing to travel, providing it is expensed. "Even if people were not interested in cricket they could find it interesting"."From beginnings in the local Bassetlaw league of club cricket he told us of some famous star players he had either played with or coached with amusing tales along the way. " I dont intend to talk too much particularly about myself, but many incidents, some amusing which occurred while I was playing and coaching, which adds to my story. I suppose the strange thing is that I first turned pro at the age of 31.

My own background involved coaching and playing league cricket. I was fortunate enough to break the batting record in the strong Bassetlaw League in North Notts, which proved to be a stepping stone.

I arrived in Scotland at the age of 31 and found at times cricket was lets say a bot different. I coached at Glasgow Academy and played for the “Accies” (shown in the photo). Sometimes I played against test players such as Brendon Bracewell(NZ), Asif Mujtaba (Pakistan) and Nehemiah Odolphus Perry (West Indies). It was pleasing to see many youngsters continue to play, Douglas Lockhart carried on to play for Scotland. Needless to say there were many frustrations and along the way many amusing incidents.

My first job was a season in Amsterdam, where South African Hilton Ackerman played nearby. He liked a good night out and when playing for the Rest of the World opened the batting against DK Lillee, after a Christmas Day party!!!

During the winter I mainly travelled to coach in New Zealand, initially in Wanganui and I was pleased to leave them with players who went on to play first class cricket and in one case test cricket. Fast bowlers seem to gather stories and that could certainly be said about Mike Gill, who played first class cricket for Central Districts. Many will be interested in how New Zealand produce good cricketers from a small population bas.

During one season I coached in South Africa. The schools there are excellent and it was pleasing to come across a young Jaques Kallis and Aubrey Martyn, who also went on to play for South Africa.

I have always had a taste for the off beat and so I did some voluntary coaching in France. This resulted in me being volunteered to coach a local Frenchman, who was a sportsman, but had never played cricket – for a Nantes cable TV programme!

I hope that people might find the mix of accounts relating to cricket and the goings off which surround my cricket travels of interest. For people who haven't been there, sites of cricket been played in unlikely places in India might well be of interest. Oh and I must mention a visit to India and the second oldest cricket club in the world.

Views: 2356 | Enquiries: 5

About Phil Cooper

I am registered on Zoom and have undertaken 5 presentations using this. One of these to a Rotary Club in Victoria Australia. This was by using screen share, as my talks revolve around photographs I have taken of various places I have visited.

I have used donations to support charities at home and in parts of the world which have experienced natural disasters. I would stress that for me it isn't a money making venture. Any donation from the Costa Rica talk will go to the reforestation project "Rainforest of the Austrians". Please google this to see details of their tremendous project. There is a PayPal reference if a group wants to support this. More details are on the website.

The accent is on the visual, with enough verbal to explain the story of where I have visited. I have accumulated what I feel are good photographs to illustrate my talks which relate to my travel experience. I had 19 speaking engagements in 2019, to various organisation. These presentations relate to places, often with a historical background and often not readily visited. These include Syria and Jordan, the Silk Road in Central Asia and Western China,, India and Cuba. Cuba and Panama. “Great presentation – I spoke to people tonight they were the cleanest photos seen at a Travel Club Presentation. Very good 9 out of 10. It must have been good, hardly anyone dropped off to sleep!” (Taradale Travel Club New Zealand).

My blog site is http://historictraveltalks.blogspot.co.uk (Copy and paste)

One trip I wish to really promote is the trip to Costa Rica. Anyone who is interested in wildlife will enjoy this. There are some excellent photos provided by a colleague on the trip and lots of video. One particular scene involving sloths was something the guide had never seen in his 18 years experience. It also features a superb reforestation project "The Rainforest of the Austrians", re establishing habitats and adding to the carbon trapping capacity. I have liaised with the inspirational Michael Schnitzler and ALL funds generated are sent to Costa Rica to continue this.

I look back at my trip in the Middle East - from Cairo to Istanbul and reflect on what I saw then and what I see currently in places like Aleppo. However the highlight for me was the crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, which is shown on the photo I have included. This was described by TE Lawrence as "perhaps the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the world". Indeed he associated with many places along this journey.

I research the topics thoroughly and I provide a narrative and background to illustrated talks. I operate on a voluntary basis and am prepared to travel within reasonable distances from my home in North Nottinghamshire.

 Along the Silk Road in Central Asia Talk Feedback

This part of Central Asia included in particular Kunya Urgench, Khiva, Bukhara and Samarkand. The buildings are simply stunning and the area is historically very interesting. It is the arena where the Great Game was played out, the political and diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Russia in the 19th century, which was described by one of the audience as fascinating.

"Very interesting talk. I could hear every word. I knew nothing about this area and learnt a lot. Pleased I came!!"

“Your talk was extremely interesting and I do believe, if you had spoken for much longer   everyone should enjoy it, and no-one would be bored. I did like the aspect that you kept referring to the map when relating to the history this indeed helps when discussing reasons and timings when situations occurred in the distant past. I also feel that your talk appeals to almost all  age groups, and both male and female.”

I am a former graduate Biology teacher and also coached cricket for 24 seasons. mainly in New Zealand,Scotland and Amsterdam. as a professional.


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