Wellington College-educated, Ant joins for the 2011 season with twin brother Will. Right handed Batsman and Off-spinner. His potency with ball comes from the mystery which he provides, neither batsmen or himself know what the ball will do next, this has been a key weapon his his arsenal.
Anthony has made himself a key member of the Crowthorne and Crown Wood fraternity, setting up the CCWCC Flag society which currently has 3 members including Kieran Golding. His love of flags has opened up many avenues for him and he recently returned from a 3 month trip/retreat to Kathmandu for the International Vexillology Convention. Ant was among the key note speakers along with Kim Jong-Un, The Dalai Lama and Imran Khan. Speaking after the event he said that he was humbled to be in such esteemed company and Kim Jong-Un is "a misunderstood guy with great banter", The Dalai Lama "has anger issues" and Imran Khan "has little knowledge of flags but makes up for it in his ability to chin a Guinness with no hands"
Local entrepreneur, Andrew Baines, joined the club looking for a chance to ‘give back to the community that has given him so much’. Baines made his money as a property mogul and Cosplay costume designer winning Best Costume at the London, Paris, Milan and San Diego Cosplay events.
During the summer, Baines donates his time, and considerable personal wealth, to the club and even the cold winter chill cannot deny him his love for the club and the game by rattling through batting lineups in the Eversley Indoor Cricket League. Indoor Captain Jeff Cluett and manager, Sinith Chandran, have been overheard on a number of separate occasions at the local watering hole, The Frog and Wicket, singing Baines’ praises as he cleaned up yet another side with his slow left arm grenades.
Not just a bowler, Baines is always good for a few runs and sometimes even more than that regularly contributing 50+ runs to an innings. Nicknamed the ‘Village Bradman’ by local funny man and hunk Ant Avrili, seeing Baines slashing shots through Cover Point in his Baggy Green is one of the sights of the summer. This display, unsurprisingly, attracts many passersby that look on enviously as Baines piles on the pain for opposition teams.
Jeff is the middle of the 3 Cluett brothers.Signed in 2012 having moved back to the area after a spell in the Kent Leagues. Right Arm Seam bowler and destructive Batsman, he is as strong as a marble statue and as skilful as the hand that carved it. Highly compeititive campaigner who has recently revealed a skillful art at writing match reports... Expert at cowardly sledging from the safety of fine-leg Top tip: Don't drop a catch off his bowling! Jeff gave an emotional humble acceptance speech via satellite link up after he somehow scooped the 2013 Player of the year award. He says: 'I struggle to fit in Saturday cricket amongst my many charity projects, but delivering so many runs and wickets is a gift to the people of Crowthorne that I can't deny them.'
Jeff is well known for his philanthropy and has taken part in over 100 fun runs, completing at least half of them. So recognizable is Jeff that he now has to go out in Crowthorne in disguise, he has a wardrobe dedicated to his outfits which include, Alan Partridge, Captain Barbossa and Britney Spears.
Jeff is a big advocate for a rig based selection policy and can often be heard explaining to the younger males in the group that his rig is far superior to all those that come through the Crows changing rooms. He has even talked about doing a pre season boot camp in Ouagadougou for a select few who are in need of 'Particular attention'
Hailing from Birmingham, Dan ‘Finners’ Finucane has worked very hard to lose his accent and has done such a good job at it that he is captain of the Second XI. Having honed his craft on the Emerald Isle, captaining his university team, Finners joined Crowthorne a precious gemstone and was immediately tasked with the job of polishing the rough diamonds in the Seconds, being elected captain by 429 votes to 0. A staggering result considering the club has only 339 members.
A true renaissance man, Finners has been known to partake in a veritable smorgasbord of pursuits outside of cricket including whittling scenes from Only Fools and Horses, pursuing the defunct art of alchemy and erotic cricket poetry. The latter ending in a number of his limericks being featured in Wisden’s Valentines Day special editions. Such poems include, Stumps and Balls, Cow Corner and the Blockhole.
Opponents shouldn’t be fooled by Finners’ apparent love for the more sedate things in life. From the mean streets of Birmingham, Finners commands a worrying knowledge of kneecapping those that displease him. This has resulted in him being the only man more feared in the club than Chris ‘The Bloody Good Rep’ Winch. All round good bloke and teddy bear...until he isn’t.
Plucked from the relative obscurity of the youth set up by captain Will Avrili, Golding is now regularly the third or fourth name on the team sheet, depending on availability of others. Tesco stock taker in his working life, and a fine left armer, he serves up overs of dastardly cross seamers with an accompaniment of spicy sledging and bamboozling them with the Clubcard double points offers.
Away from stocking shelves and bowling tight lines on a Saturday, Golding performs in an award-winning tribute act of the great, early noughties series, The Office, playing both Gareth Keenan and Nathan AKA ‘The Ogg Monster’. Kieran regularly performs in local pubs and clubs with his fellow actors and gives renditions of his latest fan fiction to the team during drinks and tea breaks. When asked what his ultimate fantasy would be by local journalists, he said “Two lesbians probably. Sisters. I'm just watching, that, or a hattrick against Shinfield”
Although probably one of the most gifted all rounders to have graced Crowthorne, sadly it has only ever been his bowling that has been recognised by the club (and scorers). He won the club bowling averages five consecutive years and collected two Berkshire League divisional awards. Has never managed to capture the coveted player of the year award, probably down to a vote rigging/ drunken outrage incident during the mid-nineties. Best bowling? Either 8-37 or 3-0 off three balls, take your pick!
Interesting FACT: The Long Room at Lord's is named in honour of Aran's 6 consecutive "Bowler of the year" awards.
As Crown Wood Chairman, Andy was instrumental in the merger happening. A fine ambassador to his club - he even got out for 0 against Crowthorne in the final match between the 2 clubs in an attempt to push the merger through. A wicketkeeper in his hayday which he insists is now a long time ago. Another unfortunate sole who watches Reading FC for "fun" Not to be mistaken for Crowthorne CC's Andy "Fluffer" Taylor.
Bo is an ever-present feature at St Sebs, either as bar manager, bar drinker or both. He has also taken on the mantel of tour manager for the last few years, his organisational skills are second to none and once earned him a job opportunity working as Cheryl Coles tour manager on her 2012 'A Million Lights Tour'. A keen connoisseur of Cheryl’s music; Bo was initially ecstatic to take on the role but after initial discussions the talks broke down. Bo cites his insistence that the song ‘Fight for This Love’ be the only song played on tour as the reason for his decision to turn down the job. He is quoted as saying “Why bother with any other song than that, it’s a huge tune, it’s the only song I have on my Walkman”. He still listens to Cheryl but admits it’s sometimes hard to listen to her now knowing he could’ve made her a global superstar in her own right.