Tribute and thank you to Richard 'Dick' Fogden

Quite simply, we would not be playing in the Devon Cricket League (DCL) Premier Division this coming season had Dick Fogden not moved to Bradninch and offered his wealth of experience to Bradninch Cricket Club (BCC).

He was introduced to BCC by our long serving Committee man, Terry Newall, who met Dick playing golf at Padbrook Park. A small cricket club with big ambitions needs a nucleus of Committee members who have that something extra to offer and Dick’s successful career at Shell, combined with an active sporting background covering both cricket and rugby, presented a huge boost to our resources.

Dick joined the Committee after the successful 2003 DCL ‘C’ Division campaign and there was an air of expectation on the playing side, as the Sunday team were also making headway having just won Division 5 of the North Devon League at the first attempt.

Only the most optimistic of our members would have been dreaming of Premier League cricket at that time, but an opportunity arose to take on the lease, manage the amenities and re-establish the Cricket Pavilion in line with our burgeoning success on the field.

It was only the arrival of such a senior statesman, that made this possible and the proposal to the Town Council was very much dependent on setting up a Pavilion Sub-Committee with Dick as Chairman.

Thankfully, he accepted and flourished in the role, tackling the plethora of administration with the Club Secretary, Chris Dean. One of the first challenges was the renewal of a lapsed bar license and no sooner had this been achieved, along came the new licensing laws.

Having someone of Dick’s stature on the case quickly got the new Local Authority Licensing personnel on board and with all the paperwork in place we have enjoyed many benefits, both social and financial, from the extra freedom that the new license provides.

Working with Edward Andress to ensure we could meet the demands of extra opening hours and increased membership, Dick spent many hours behind the bar and no doubt felt much safer there than he did while standing as Umpire, where he had one or two close shaves from some of our cricketers more exuberant stroke play.

Marketing and public relations were Dick’s profession and he was always promoting new ideas to publicise the club’s success. He was a strong advocate of the Yearbook, the need to make it more professional, enhance sponsorship and increase distribution. The sterling efforts of Mark Perrott in bringing this to fruition made him very proud, when last year’s issue was delivered through his door as part of a locality wide mail shot.

Spending an afternoon with Dick just a few weeks ago, we reflected on how far we have taken the club and how much potential there is with such a wonderful venue. Accreditation as a Premiere League side, during last year’s DCL ground inspection, bears testament to the progress we have made since 2003 and we could not have done it without him.

Dick provided direction, leadership and organisational skills at a time when it was essential that we made the most of our resources to improve facilities. We will miss him greatly, but we must be thankful that he was there to provide that extra inspiration and support when we needed it.