Surrey CCC celebrate the treasured work of Bill Gordon, the Museum and Library curator and the former Head of the Groundstaff, who is retiring after a service of over 60 years. Richard Spiller writes…
“You walk out of the workshop in the morning and everything seems the same as the day before.
“But not to Bill. Something might have moved a millimetre, in the ground or around it, and he’ll spot it straightaway. It’s amazing but he knows it intimately.”
That was the verdict of a former member of the ground staff about his old boss, Bill Gordon, who arrived at The Kia Oval back in 1964.
A remarkable innings stretching 60 years has finally come to an end with his decision to retire. The only non-player to receive a county cap has left his mark on a ground to which he would head every day of the year for a long period, often in the company of one of his cherished cats.
Gordon arrived at The Oval aged 19, initially operating the main scoreboard before the Head of the Groundstaff, Ted Warn, decided he wanted Gordon to help out in the middle.
Bill has always credited Warn with teaching him much about the art of pitch preparation, although those acute powers of observation and a powerful memory clearly made a difference. He was at hand in the dramatic 1968 Ashes Test, when a thunderstorm at lunch on the final day appeared to have wrecked England’s hopes of a win to level the series. He recalls that it was Warn who persuaded skipper Colin Cowdrey that the lakes across the ground could be cleared in time. They were – with the help of the crowd – and Derek Underwood mopped up the Australians.
Move on two years and a popular image showed Gordon – sporting splendid sideburns – and his long-time colleague Tommy Field, plus Warn, working on a square surrounded by barbed wire while the debate raged about whether South Africa would tour. In the end, they did not and the wire could come down.
In Bill’s early years, the groundstaff not only had to prepare the playing surface but cleaned up the stands afterwards. Warn’s successor Harry Brind ensured that this task was offloaded, and he also persuaded those in charge that the ancient equipment used was inadequate for a modern Test ground.
It took much hard work from Gordon, Field, and Brind when the decision was taken to completely relay the square in the late 1970s, leading to the fast, bouncy surfaces which dramatically raised the level of the game at The Oval. Their work was far from done, though, and Bill would explain that every bit as important was the after-care which ensured early kinks and idiosyncrasies were – literally – hammered out.
In 2003, after 39 years at the ground, Gordon became the Head of the Groundstaff and, over the next five years, he went on to monopolise the groundstaff of the year awards. A fiercely independent and single-minded man, he expected the same dedication from others, which made him a formidable operator. But he always welcomed the opportunity to share that knowledge gleaned down the years with fellow practitioners, umpires, spectators, and players – if the latter wanted to listen. Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn’t, and in the latter case often wished they had done so.
When Australia failed to pick a spinner for the 2009 Ashes-deciding Test and lost by 197 runs, the visiting press corps detected a conspiracy with Gordon firmly in the centre, their theories only assuaged when Ricky Ponting admitted they had chosen the wrong team.
Players and groundstaff don’t always work in harmony but many a bowler toiling away at The Oval has been grateful to find that the craters they have dug in the course of their endeavours on the day, challenging knee and ankle ligaments, are almost as good as new when they return the next morning, thanks to the loving care of Gordon. The beneficiaries of his labours had plenty of chance to cheer when he was presented with a silver bat at the Professional Cricketers Association dinner in 2012.
In his role as Curator – ironically the word they use for groundstaff down under – to which he moved that year, Bill could be highly persuasive when it came to encouraging players to donate blazers and equipment to the Club Museum. The pavilion has many examples of that on view.
But Surrey’s history always fascinated him and many years ago, while some over-eager clearing out was taking place by people less appreciative of it, he was able to rescue a number of artefacts, his only regret was that he did not have the space to save more.
Now Bill’s work is done, having made a major contribution to ensuring that The Oval is a very different place from when he arrived in 1964. He has left an irrevocable stamp on the Club and ground.
Alec Stewart, who has spent so much of his life in and around Surrey Cricket, is in no doubt about Gordon’s work: “He’s held in the highest esteem by everyone. When I was playing on the outfield as a kid with my brother, when we were there to watch our dad play, Bill was always there with his big bushy hair and sideburns. He’s still there now, if not as much nowadays – he’s outlasted us all really – and we look forward to seeing him.
“When you look at what he’s done out in the middle and then in the library, over so many years, Bill has to be ranked as one of Surrey’s greatest servants.”
Steve Elworthy, CEO at Surrey CCC, adds: “Bill’s 60-year-long innings is one of the finest ever played at The Oval! For decades on the groundstaff and later in the museum, his perennial presence has helped steer the modern history of our ground. Bill has always shown dedication and care of the highest order for Surrey Cricket.
“The Club is wholly grateful for his invaluable contributions and wishes him well in his retirement. It will forever be our honour to welcome him back at The Kia Oval as a supporter.”
Richard Thompson, ECB Chair and former Chair of Surrey CCC, has also penned a letter for Bill Gordon, on behalf of the ECB.
Dear Bill,
It is hard to put into words the contribution you have made both to Surrey CCC and in building the reputation of the Oval through your commitment to English cricket and ensuring there is no better ground in the world to play or watch.
I believe you are the last of a special breed of individuals. Your selflessness and commitment know no bounds. I know how fortunate Surrey have been to have had you for over 60 years, but so is English cricket. There has never been anybody quite like you Bill and I truly believe there never will be again.
You’ve given so much and expected so little. English cricket will always owe you a great debt for the contribution you have made to the county game as much as the international game. I know you showed as much pride in producing A wicket for Surrey as you did for England. You expected so much of yourself and everyone around you with a pride in your work that made you stand apart and ensured Surrey and The Oval were the envy of the cricketing world.
It is hard to think of you not sitting in the corner of the Sandham Room looking after the many treasures that only you have such insight into and the time you take ensuring everybody fully understands how special the Oval and Surrey CCC are.
The respect in which cricket holds you can never be underestimated and the many friends you have now and always will do.
On behalf of the ECB, it gives me so much pride as Chair to write this letter and also to dedicate a special verse to try and encapsulate quite the contribution you have made.
I hope to see you during the season and to thank you personally for all you have done.
With my sincere gratitude and good wishes,
Richard Thompson
