Dear all,
Many of you will have already heard the devastating news that Richard Ward, known to everyone in the club and village as ‘Woody’, died from a heart attack at the end of last month. He was on his way with his two sons to watch England in the Euros. He was only 57 years of age.
Woody, who has been one of the key people around the club for nearly 30 years, was someone who fully understood the importance of community and playing your part in it. I first met him on a football pitch for Chippenham, just after he had moved to the village. This was the day, that due to my poor hearing, he became known as ‘Woody' and it stuck from that moment on.
He was obviously a good sportsman, so I was quick in trying to get him involved in the cricket
club. As he hadn’t played before he was reluctant at first but that all changed on a Sunday afternoon in 1995. We arrived for a match at Chippenham and found ourselves a player short. A quick discussion of possible players to fill the spot took place and Woody was suggested. I jumped in my car and went round to his house, where he was in the middle of painting his fence. The ‘any chance of turning out’ line was delivered and following a bit of a grunt he put his paintbrush down and said, ‘I will clean my brushes and be there in 15 minutes’. It may have been his one and only appearance because for much of the game he did very little. However, in a reasonably close match, Woody took a diving one handed catch at a crucial point. From that moment he was hooked.
Woody was a regular player for many years after that, proving to be a very good slow medium
away swing bowler. He had the honour in 2001 of being the first player to take a hat-trick for
Chippenham, dismissing the Lidgate middle order on a sunny September evening. He also held the club record score for the 10th wicket partnership for many years when putting on 56 for the last wicket in 2003.
Although he didn’t play as much in recent years, he continued to take wickets when he did,
including last summer when he took 15 wickets at an average of just 19.27.
More importantly, he was always an excellent player to have in your team. Happy to score or
umpire, always be relied upon to sign up to the tea rota with wife Sandie, enjoyed the competitive nature of the game, while also appreciating the importance of it being a social event.
He encouraged his two sons Liam and Sean to get involved in cricket from an early age and they have both developed into two very good cricketers, scoring many runs and taking many wickets for the club. I know he was very proud of their cricket achievements and very much enjoyed playing with them for Chippenham.
His contribution to the club off the field has probably been even bigger. He served as club
secretary for many years and when help was needed around the club, he would always attend if he could. He set up and organised our early Cricketforce Days, for which he won an ECB award and resulted in a fantastic day out at Lords.
Woody was also one of the main organisers for our Dawn till Dusk Cricket match fundraiser that we held in 2017. The event raised over £11K and Woody, who was in charge on the day, managed everything superbly.
And of course only in May this year he was part of the team that cycled between Chippenham
Cricket Club in Wiltshire to our own cricket ground, raising over £5.2K.
From a personal perspective, a lot of my most memorable days and evenings out have been
in Woody’s company. Whether it be watching test matches, playing cricket, cricket tours, organising village events or simply having a beer down the pub, I always found him a pleasure to be with. It is very difficult to believe that those days are now over because as well as being a superb asset to our club, he really was one of the good guys.
His son Liam has asked me to let those involved with the Cricket Club know that Woody’s funeral will take place on Monday 5th August at Ely Cathedral. The service will start at 12 noon and those wanting to attend are very welcome.
Darren Hughes
Chairman
Chippenham CC
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