Fun, Favours... and Fundraising

Benefit years are a well established part of cricket life and in 2008 Hampshire’s beneficiary is John Crawley. So before his busy year really kicked off (or maybe I should say tee-ed off, given the number of golf events), I met up with John to find out more about what he and his committee have planned.

“What we’ve tried to do is put in a number of fun, different events, all with varying levels of donation to suit different pockets. We’ve got anything from small intimate lunches to large gatherings at the normal things in the benefit calendar, like the Southampton dinner. There are quite a few events in London as well. We’re basically trying to have fun, because I believe there are so many conflicting charities and beneficiaries, that if people are generous enough to actually come we want them to have a good time.”

The first event of John’s benefit year is the launch party on 15th February at the De Vere Grand Harbour in Southampton. This is a black tie dinner with a live 80’s band and disco and it is exceptional value for money at a suggested donation of £30 per head. John admits that this event isn’t strictly designed to raise money – it’s more of a thank you in advance for all the hard work he hopes everyone will put into the rest of the programme!

Which brought me onto the question as to who exactly is on John’s benefit committee. I have to say that they are a pretty high profile bunch, including the likes of former Lancashire and England colleague Michael Atherton, Rory Bremner, David Gower and Shane Warne. The chairman is Nick Pike, a non executive director of Rose Bowl plc and who would doubtless have his work cut out to maintain order if all 31 members of John’s committee ever tried to have a meeting. Much of the day to day running of the year will be down to Clare Britten, a veteran organiser of Hampshire benefits.

I asked John if his time playing for England had helped with the high profile. “It did indeed. A lot of the guys who I’ll be calling on for favours are guys I’ve played with, under, and sometimes against, over the years. It’s always very humbling in a benefit year because you do have to call on favours, and rarely does anyone ask for much in return. We have an England captains’ lunch in London just prior to the final Test against South Africa, when Athers, Nasser Hussain, Alec Stewart and David Gower are going to talk about their experiences. That’s going to be a fantastic do. Andrew Flintoff has kindly taken on the first part of the entertainment at the Lord’s Dinner on May 1st, and Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne have agreed to do a lunch on May 29th, which is unbelievable. Favours like that are few and far between and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them all in advance.”

An important piece of the jigsaw to slot into place is the benefit year website, and when we met John was working very hard with Pixelscene, designers of The Rose Bowl site, to make sure information about all the events would be available online within a matter of days. So hopefully by the time you read this, clicking the link to www.johncrawley2008.com will give you all the information you need.

John isn’t the only one who will benefit from the events. Some of the money raised will be donated to the Multiple Sclerosis Society, a cause chosen because his mother suffered from the debilitating disease. The charity will profit from the proceeds of three events, including a Question of Sport evening to be held at The Rose Bowl in December.

Finally, our conversation turned to the 2008 season. The benefit events have been spread throughout the year so that there is not undue pressure on John during the playing months, but inevitably the summer will be an exceptionally busy one. John has already started his normal preparation routine by working hard in the gym, and next month the long hours in the nets will begin. I get the impression it will be a welcome change from sitting in front of the computer with phone in hand, organising fundraising events.

“It’s always tricky trying to get the balance between doing well in four day and one day games in any one season – it’s quite hard to do” John muses. “It’s hard to pinpoint why it happens. You need a lot of luck along the way – I had a lot of luck in 2006, a few dropped catches, a few close calls that went my way. In terms of the four competitions, they all hold equal priority for the club, but personally I think the Championship is most important because it’s a true test of playing solid, winning cricket throughout the year.”

And I am left with the distinct feeling that Hampshire winning the County Championship in 2008 would be more than just the icing on John Crawley’s benefit cake.

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