If you are looking for someone who would provide an interesting, informative, and entertaining occasion, sprinkled with funny stories and anecdotes, then please do contact me! My talk invites the audience to: come with me on my odyssey to the press box; find out how I got involved in press box scoring, and what it’s like to be in a media centre; laugh at the amusing things that happened to me on my journey.
I am very adept at adapting my material according to whether I am speaking to an audience which is experienced in cricketing matters, or one that has little knowledge of the sport.
An example of the former is when I was a guest speaker at the pre-season day conference of the Hertfordshire Umpires and Scorers Association. Reflecting on my talk, Nick Hall, Herts ACO Chairman, wrote: ‘Ray was excellent, speaking with clarity and humour, and our members were thoroughly enlightened and entertained by his presentation. A number of them purchased his book, ‘From Score Box to Press Box: a Scorer’s Odyssey’, as a result.’
An example of the latter is an occasion held in March, Cambridgeshire, about which Jeremy Letts, the organiser, wrote: ‘What an enjoyable evening that was! Ray gave us a varied and humorous account of what being a Press Box Scorer entailed. Ray had an excellent clear voice and captured the audience’s attention right from the start. I have no hesitation in recommending him as an entertaining speaker, with an engaging story to tell.’
Recently, I gave my first presentation to a u3a gathering in Bourne, Lincolnshire. Reflecting on the occasion, Kate Hydes wrote: ‘Ray recounted details and events from his long history of involvement in cricket scoring. His love of the game was evident throughout, and the individual details of all the various cricket grounds were fascinating, as were his accounts of unforeseen and surprising events in the press box. Ray is a fluent and entertaining speaker. He kept the audience completely engaged throughout the talk. His anecdotes were very funny and kept everyone amused. He has an amazing grasp of his subject. I would certainly recommend Ray as an entertaining speaker for any U3A group.’ I am confident that, whatever the make-up of your group, they will thoroughly enjoy my talk. I look forward to hearing from you.
Views: 19 | Enquiries: 0I am a graduate of Nottingham University, married to Sheila with two sons and four grandchildren. Having been a teacher for 28 years, I am currently both an author and a cricket scorer. I scored at club, university and minor county level, including a tour to South Africa, before becoming a press box scorer. In that role, I scored 59 Test Matches and many other one-day internationals for the world's press in the media centres at cricket grounds all over the country, culminating in the men's World Cup Final in 2019.
These experiences have provided me with a rich source of material to draw on for my talks and for my autobiography. Entitled ‘From Score Box to Press Box: a Scorer’s Odyssey’, it was published by CricketMASH in September 2022, and is available on Amazon [book or Kindle], direct from the publisher [cheaper], or at my talks [cheaper still!]
It has received excellent reviews. One critic wrote: ‘I found myself not wanting to put this book down. It really is a delight – funny, informative and with such an inspiring story … It mixes humour and insight perfectly.’ TalkTV and Radio Cambridgeshire have both interviewed me about the book and my experiences as a cricket scorer.
I am a very experienced public speaker, partly due to my role as a lay preacher. I am also a composer and musician, playing the piano, accordion and guitar. I play keyboards regularly in a church band, and enjoy walking and cycling.
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