5 Questions with Alex Manning
This week’s 5 Questions is with the General, Alex Manning. Now a cornerstone of the 1st XI (as the world’s tallest wicket keeper), Alex is a former colt who has played through Acton’s junior age groups and up through the senior XIs…
How and when did you first join Acton?
A friend from school first brought me down to the club in 2004 when I was 11. I was (and remain) an over-privileged Latymer school boy who wanted somewhere to play cricket when I wasn’t playing for the school team. My parents probably thought playing at the prestigious Park Club would enable me to mingle with the ‘right sort’ of people and provide me with contacts that would prove useful when developing a successful (sic) career. I remember being welcomed to my first nets session by Matty Turnell and vaguely wondering why this senior player who wasn’t anyone’s dad was talking to me about cricket… little did I know back then.
I slowly made my way through the various colts age groups, playing primarily as a wicketkeeper that could bat a little bit. I started to play a bit of 4th team in Arvind’s army when I was 14, but what really got me hooked on the club was my first Sussex Tour in 2008. It’s safe to say that tour opened my eyes to the world and started an ongoing love affair with ACC...
What is your proudest Acton moment?
Some of my proudest moments are probably not entirely suitable for this public forum… nicking the ladder on John’s bunk bed and taking a young Dale Hawkins under my wing on tour (the origin of the General nickname) spring to mind immediately… so I will stick to my cricket ‘career’ and try to pick one personal moment and one team moment.
My proudest moment from a personal perspective is scoring 169* in a 2nd team league game against Stanmore back in 2012. It was just one of those days where everything seemed to fall into place (and I got dropped a couple of times). At 19 I assumed something similar would happen every couple of years but sadly I’m still waiting. The innings was only dampened by their number 8 coming out and smashing 70 to win the game - all whilst batting with his hands the wrong way round. In hindsight I feel it adds to the story but at the time I was absolutely gutted!
From a team perspective, there are two moments that stand-out - both promotions. The first was the second XI winning promotion back to the premier league at the first attempt back in 2008(?). The season culminated in an exciting run chase at Finchley which we looked to be out of before Tom Forsdike and Bushan came in and smashed us to victory. But my favourite team moment was the first XI getting promoted into Division 2 in 2014. We had had a pretty tough 3 years following relegation from the Premier League and the feeling of going back up was brilliant. Especially when the core of the team was made up of Acton colts who were (and still are) very close mates. The must win game against Highgate was particularly memorable as we managed to put together an almost perfect performance in the biggest game of the season.
What have the most notable changes been during your time with the club?
The recent change to the facilities is the most obvious thing, which I know has been mentioned by people before. I do think our new relationship with Club des Sports gives us a fantastic opportunity to create something very special for the cricket club. There will need to be a culture change as we have been used to having everything done for us by the Park Club, but if we can keep the momentum going we will have a great club with Premier League facilities.The ground and wicket has quickly become one of the best in the county under Beefy’s stewardship. You hear the way the older guys talk about how the old club used to be, and my hope is that we get back to somewhere near that.
Elsewhere, one of the nice things about the club is that not a huge amount does seem to change as we have a close knit group who clearly care a lot about the club. If anything I’d say we’ve become a bit more comfortable in our own skin than when we were first promoted up to the Middlesex county league and thought everyone else was out to put us in our place. The success we’ve had over the years, particularly in 2nd XI cricket, definitely means other more established Middlesex clubs respect us.
Who has your toughest opponent been?
This is a tricky one as my knowledge of opposition players is only slightly better than Matthew Reeve’s. All keepers watch one another and - despite what we all say about the keepers union - are desperate to get one over on our counterpart on the other side. We only played him last season (shows how good my memory is) but Jalpesh sticks in my mind as one of the toughest. Not only was his batting absolutely ridiculous (smashing all the league batting records) but his keeping was also outstanding in the two games we played against Crouch End. I did have to admit after the game that I probably wasn’t the best keeper batsman in the league after all - my thanks to Jambo for reminding me that I wasn’t even the best keeper batsman in our own side.
Finally, what's your all time Acton XI?
I’ve selected my side partly on talent but partly on people that I just absolutely love playing cricket and spending my Saturdays with. And yes, I am playing five spinners and Arvind as the lone seamer.
1. Adam ‘Mitch’ Forsdike
The Langer to my Hayden, the Haynes to my Greenidge, the Strauss (apparently he’s a family friend of the Forsdikes) to my Cook. Spent two extremely enjoyable seasons opening the batting with Mitch for the second XI. The plan tended to be for Mitch to go off like a steam train while I played myself in sensibly (read: edged it through third man). Mitch would then chip a full ball to mid off on about 40 and I would try to see it home. This proved to be fairly effective. Batting with Mitch is always a great laugh as neither of us take our cricket too seriously.
2. Matthew Reeve (WK)
My mate Matty. Fantastic wicketkeeper who’s lack of enjoyment of the role has allowed me to play more 1st XI cricket than I should have. Matt’s turned himself into a solid opening bat in the last two/three years and will no doubt continue to churn runs. We are now onto the third iteration of Matty, complete with earing, Carhart t-shirt and corduroy trousers. Apparently he’s even learning French (insert shrug emoji).
3. Yasir Mehmood
Number 1. Best batsman I’ve ever played with and just an absolute pleasure to watch when in full flow. I’ve played the majority of my cricket with Yogi towards the back-end of his career but he’s still an utterly brilliant cricketer. He’s also a lovely, loyal, humble bloke who has provided me with a huge amount of advice and guidance over the years.
4. Dan Waddell (C)
A fantastic captain who balances a calm external demeanor with playing attacking, exciting cricket. Proved what a good batter he is when he came into the 1s in our 2014 promotion season and scored 70 in the crunch match. A great bloke who does a lot for the club away from Saturday league cricket.
5. James Hunt
Jambo is first and foremost a great winner. Solid bat and one of the most difficult bowlers in the club to keep wicket to. Pleased that his shoulder made a miraculous recovery after a season of bowling ‘spin’ to become the 2nd XI’s leading light this season. Benjamin Button wanna be.
6. Alex Brennan
Fantastic left arm spinner and great skipper who always led from the front and was an important part of getting the club back on its feet in 2011. Sure he won’t be letting impending nuptials get in the way of his cricket. Definitely has the most nicknames in the club.
7. Rob Reeve
The last of my generation of colts still around the club, Rob and I have been playing cricket together for what seems like a very long time. A tough bowler to get away when he gets it in the right place and has great bottle with the bat in tough situations.
8. Scott Kojak
Scott came over from Australia in 2014 and just fitted in straight away. All despite me and Matt taking him out to Cheapskates which led to him losing his labouring job when he failed to turn up for work the following day. Has made the UK his home in recent years. Having come over as a batsman he’s also turned himself into a more than handy spinner in the last few seasons. Talking about going home this winter. Will be a huge loss to the club if he does but I have a feeling he’ll back, if only so that he can organise yet another leaving do.
9. Arvind Joshi
A potentially controversial pick, but Arvind is one of the main reasons I still play at Acton. Coached my colts team all the way through the age groups and captained the 4th XI when I first started playing adult cricket. Perhaps didn’t always agree with some of his decision making but I’ll be forever grateful for the role he played in developing my cricket. Sometimes wish he was still around to float up and down the order.
10. John Reeve
Mr Acton CC. Does more than everyone else (possibly combined) and basically ran the club singlehandedly in the two seasons after we got relegated from the Premier League. My experience of John is of a spin bowler who will always back himself to get a batsman out. I’ve called him some horrible things over the years (mainly to batsman) but it’s all meant with love. You would never know that he used to open the batting back in the day from speaking to him.
11. Matty Turnell
Always an absolute pleasure to play with Matty. Clearly the best bowler to ever play for Acton but someone who loves the club as much as anyone. Hero of one of my favourite games when we rolled out Eastcote 20 minutes before the heavens opened. Matty took 5 (obvs) and was in tears when we got back to the changing room telling everyone how much he loved Acton. Legend.
Umpire: Pete Reeve
We have missed Pete dearly in recent seasons now he’s living it up on the Costa Del Sol. A very fair umpire who gave what he saw unless Dan was sweeping.
Scorer: Ricky ‘El Pres’ Palmer
Currently in his 50th season with the club. Another lovely guy who would do anything for Acton CC. Proper club man.
Tea ladies: Helen Reeve/Vanessa Reeve
The tea at the club these days is the envy of the league these days thanks to Helen and Vanessa. They love me really (I think).