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Bill (Badger) Balcombe It was with much sadness that we discovered the death of our club umpire, Bill Balcombe and his daughter Taff. Our thoughts go out to James and his family. Bill and Taff had both been heavily involved in the club from day 1 and were always a great help when we were first kicking the idea of the forming the club around. Bill provided no end of help with the ground, ranging from killing those pesky moles that seemed to enjoy our ground so much, to jumping into masses of undergrowth to chop it all down. Taff used to make the best teas in Sussex for a long while!
Bill was also our first official umpire - a post he held until he decided to call it a day (probably too fed up with watching another dire Ruins performance) and hand the role over to Bill number 2 below. One of the nicest men I have ever met... Bill Winchester Again, it was with much sadness that we discovered the death of our club umpire, Bill Winchester. Our thoughts go out to his family. Bill had been involved with the club almost from day one. At first simply as a spectator and then as our umpire. He was one of the rare breed that was always available for umpiring, no matter where the game was, or what the weather was like. OK, it always cost the club a few beers in exchange for his services, but we were lucky to have someone prepared to help out. In addition to his umpiring services, Bill was also always keen to help with some of the other tasks that were required and which other club members thought were below them! Almost every winter Bill would be seen painting the club house or cutting the weeds etc.Bills umpiring was legendary throughout Sussex. I am sure that almost every club we have played will have memories of Bill. Whether it is for the constant plume of smoke that could be seen from square leg as Bill lit another cigarette, or as a batsman, the feeling of terror as the ball hits your pads and you look up to see him raising his finger - often regardless of where you or the ball were! Just as a joke, Bill developed the ability to appear to give a batsman out by raising his finger immediately, the batsman would then look on in hope, to see Bill continue the movement of his finger to end up scratching his nose! We were all subject to that one!Priory Ruins Cricket club will not be the same without Bill Winchester. |