A group of former students of the University of Worcester came back to the city for a special dinner to mark 40 years of playing cricket together.
The Old Grosvenorians at their match in July 2022.
The graduates, most of whom studied at what was then Worcester College of Higher Education between 1976 and 1983, got together at The Bank House Hotel, near Worcester, to celebrate four decades of sporting fun.
“Most of us were BEd students who went on to teach in secondary schools all over the country and most have now retired,” said Bill Williams, who studied PE and English from 1979 – 1983.
“We all played cricket for the College. Many of the group left in 1980 and some of the group were invited to play alongside a group of lecturers on a tour of Hampshire and Hertfordshire, but unfortunately the lecturers dropped out leaving a group of 'old boys' from the college to fulfil the fixtures.”
Bill said one of the former students, Gary Marsh, was teaching in Uppingham in Rutland and suggested that the group could tour there in the summer of 1982.
Since then, the team, nicknamed the 'OG'S', short for Old Grosvenorians after the Grosvenor Arms in St John's where they used to drink after matches, have played together every summer for the past 40 years.
“25 ex WCHE students have formed the bulk of the team, with 10 playing in July of this year,” Bill said.
“111 matches have been played against 13 different local teams, with Uppingham Town Cricket Club as the base, playing two games annually for the last 20 years.
“The cricket has got weaker, but the singing has improved. One thing that we are all in agreement about is that our time at Worcester were the best years of our lives.”