Terrence Collis Celebration Day

Posted on June 23, 2025 by John Smith

“As a family we’ve not been having a huge amount of joy recently… but today has been a pretty much non-stop joyful day.”

These words – from Ben Collis in his thank you speech as team captain and son to Terrence – really summed up the meaning and purpose of a great day of fun and cricket.

With cancer such an unwelcome presence in the Collis family, this event at the picturesque Burton Court was a way of celebrating the people they are.

If Terrence had planned a day that celebrated all that is great about family, friends and cricket – and the relationship that exists between them – he and Ben most certainly achieved that.

An early start of 11 o’clock saw a steady trickle of old cricketing friends, some now retired from club action but looking to roll back the years. A fun game kicked off the proceedings, giving youngsters, at least one partner and Ben’s energetic sister Sophie the chance to play on the excellent wicket at the ground of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Once this was over and the London Saints CC teas committee had tucked into the excellent buffet lunch, it was time for the 35-over game to begin. The hospital is the home of the Chelsea Pensioners and I think they would have approved of the way our club treats its elder statesmen.

Out trotted an assortment of players, ranging from teenagers to those in their seventies, to warm up. Some were aided by Andy Jones’ hamstring stretching gizmo (possibly not its actual name), while others just wandered about trying to remember how to play.

The eldest of them all, Tony Grimes, took charge of the toss and the St Mary’s team skippered by Ben batted first. This was not before captain of The Dell side, Terrence, returned to the pavilion to a touching guard of honour from players, friends and family members.

St Mary’s – first half

The first over saw a combination that was to become a theme of the game. Ollie Griffiths bowled to his Dad, John, while the former’s Grandad, Tony, umpired. Nothing controversial took place at this stage, despite some rather optimistic appeals from the boundary, but John (aka Carol and Wheelie Bin amongst other monikers) did play a lovely back foot punch that flew to the boundary.

From the other end however, Tony’s other cricketing son-in-law Richard Griffiths soon ignored family loyalties. He sent the former Countdown favourite back to the pavilion and the aforementioned buffet, appropriately after a catch by Terrence – what a way to start for the main man.

Dave ‘One Liner’ Nanton also hit a cracking boundary before he succumbed to the Grandson / Grandad combo. Commenting on his LBW, Dave felt that Tony should have recused himself from having to make the decision.

Mike McIntyre started getting into his stride with a boundary but became the third batter to fall shortly after doing so. Then Ben’s footie team mate Dave showed good batting technique before Terrence claimed his wicket.

This brought together the explosive partnership of Ben and his American football pal, Toby. The latter quickly reached the agreed retirement score of 25 thanks to two fours and a couple of maximums, while Ben nervously kept out this Dad’s bowling before being run out for an exciting 24.

With ‘Liquorice’ Oscar joining Ed ‘Pike’ Price, St Mary’s had reached the reasonable score of 80 off 17 overs at the half-way point. The rules of the day meant that the innings were split and so The Dell side went into bat.

The Dell – first half

Max Cohen was welcomed by a Nanton beamer that went over head height before caught by Ben off Oscar. This brought in Ray ‘Reggie’ Betts, who soon had to run a two courtesy of his batting partner and was then bowled by Oscar.

This brought about a partnership between Ben’s cousin Alex and his friend from uni, Joe, that took the total to 22. Ben claimed Joe’s wicket with a caught and bowled, then Niall (wearing Paul ‘Dover’ Calais’ shirt) helped Alex take the score to 62.

Alex retired for an excellent 27 that featured four fours, ‘Angsty Teen’ Lana was bowled by Pike and then One Liner bowled Niall for a useful 22 that included two boundaries. With Harry ‘Hammer’ Rogers at the crease, minus the Merv Hughes ’tache he sported at Chelmsford the weekend before, a score at the break of 77 off 17 looked pretty healthy.

St Mary’s – second half

Not out batter Oscar helped himself to five boundaries, though I can’t remember how many came off his watching partner’s Dad, Paul ‘Tiger’ Pearce. Oscar fell to ‘Dickie’ Cushion for a fine 23 – the versatile South African having given the wicketkeeping pads to Reggie (more of that later!).

Ed was bowled by Dave ‘DT’ Thomas, then George Dowson hit two straight boundaries but found your reporter at midwicket for his second catch and Dave’s second wicket.

The scorebook only shows the batting up to 11, with Jacko and Gary ‘Speedtwin’ Jones contributing to the total before both fell victim to Max. This was not before another family moment when Lana bowled well to her Dad, Gary. Then Pete ‘Hilda’ Berkeley and Neil ‘Barry’ Hotson finished off the innings.

Rumours that the bowling side were quite happy seeing these last four nurdle a few, rather than have Toby come back, are probably true – although nobody deliberately dropped a catch to make sure this didn’t happen.

The Dell – second half

The two Rogers, fresh from a decent partnership at Kingston, resumed with a target of 141 in their sights. The lesser Rogers went the same way as George – two consecutive fours then out (bowled by the amiable Jacko, whose return is welcomed by all).

Terrence came to the crease, which brought Ben onto bowl for another family match-up. Harry inevitably retired (27 with three fours) and then it was left to two old stagers to try and find the remaining runs. Andy Jones had joined Terrence and a tense few overs ensued.

Andy is big mates with Steve ‘Lord Lucan’ Keenan and Carol – three genial gents (I had to re-read that phrase a couple of times to check the spelling) whose company is always a genuine pleasure. They came together in the final overs, as the latter pair tried to winkle out their Aldershot-supporting friend.

At one point we also had Neil bowling to Andy, which brought about the battle of the most famous cricketing Richards – well, sort of. Neil was once coached by Hampshire legend Barry Richards, hence his nickname, while Andy is called ‘White Viv’ after a comment about a batting similarity with the mercurial West Indian great.

It was left to Barry to bowl the final over, with the St Mary’s total looking out of reach. However, a flurry of runs brought the end goal in sight, only for a possible four from Terrence that would have levelled the score to fall short. Two runs were needed from the last ball for a tie but Terrence was bowled for a battling 13 to give his son’s team the prize.

And what a prize it was. In his acceptance speech, Ben talked about his immense pride in receiving his Grandad’s old metal box, fashioned into a trophy. It was a very touching and at the same time funny moment when Terrence handed it over “with no pleasure at all”.

Those moments were extremely poignant as everyone could see how close a family they are as they deal with these difficult times. The heartfelt thanks given by Terrence and Ben, on Father’s Day, showed how much it meant to them and their family.

As well as thanking the players, DT for his role in getting them there and the umpires – Tony, Ben Sheriff, and Trevor and Andy Mayhew – they made sure they thanked the spectators. Their massed ranks added hugely to the ‘family and friends’ feel of this heartwarming occasion.

Terrence was particularly pleased to see three of their foster children in attendance: Lateesha, their first, with her daughter Ayla, Chaimae in the middle and Jiji right at the end. As Ben told me, this is one of the things they are most proud of as a family – and so they should be.

Further thanks were given to those who donated a total of more than £2,000 to The Listening Place, Terrence and Sarah’s amazing charity that supports adults who are feeling suicidal.

They really are some family and, to return to Ben’s quote, this truly memorable day gave them the joy they deserve.

Players of the Match

Seems a bit churlish to think of such things – cricket was the winner after all – but my choice is a joint award to the father and son who made this happen. With wickets, catches and runs between them, alongside skippering duties, it would be hard to look elsewhere.

Champagne moment

After each London Saints game, we choose a moment that either encapsulates great cricket or, more often than not, celebrates some pratfall or other. As you can guess, there were a few contenders on the day.

Wheelie Bin put his hat in the ring before a ball had been bowled by forgetting his cricket shirt. Borrowing one from his old mate Steve Keenan led to a photo at the buffet of the pair wearing identical shirts. Pete’s caption said it all: “You wait years for a Lord Lucan…”

Jacko meanwhile forgot himself and launched into a vigorous appeal against Terrence. Looking for support from his team mates, he was quickly told he was on his own for this one.

The ever-vigilant Dave Thomas put himself in with a chance when he asked whether Niall was padded up and ready to bat. Well, he was – in fact he was already out in the middle.

And then there’s Reggie. He is known for his all action wicketkeeping style, along with his bravery in limiting glove involvement and using most parts of his body instead. Now, Ray was the hero of the hour when our good friend Robin Richardson suffered a heart attack in the pub after a game at St Mary’s, but he was almost the recipient of some urgent medical care himself.

He took a tumble behind the stumps and his watch started beeping furiously. According to Ed, who was batting at the time, it went on for at least a minute before Reggie realised where the noise was coming from. The message? “You’ve had a fall and the emergency services have been called.”  

So, the champagne moment suitably goes to club legend Reggie!