Carib Beer XI vs Old Boys,

Regents Park, Tuesday 30th June 2026

After the dismay the previous week, from the cancellation owing to excessive heat*, the Caribs were glad to be back on a rain-refreshed and green Regent’s Park. The fixture against the Old Boys is a treasured one. There is a more relaxed and often entertaining atmosphere – amateur cricket in the best sense of the word. Nevertheless, Goochie was in a mischievous mood in the lead up to the match, looking to take advantage, talking of Category 3 games and testing the outer limits of the Carib alcohol policy. But with England’s recent troubles from alcohol-induced ill-discipline fresh in everyone’s minds, the resolve of the Caribs was unwavering.

As is customary, with the teams assembling, Carib Haigh went out the Old Boys manager, Mr Curtis, for the coin toss at the wicket. Both agreed on the walk out that the result would be the same, whoever won. But this is tradition. As it stood, Mr Curtis won and elected to field.

The Caribs had a little wobble at the start but then a powerful innings from Ringer Baker (25 in just 12 balls) got the engines running. Carib Swanand was licking his lips at the prospect of a big innings, saying “that’s T20; you don’t watch the ball, you just swing” as he went out to bat. There were valuable contributions too from Caribs Horn and Thanawala.

In the same way that the Caribs have rejuvenated the team with new members as time has gone on, so the Old Boys are following suit. In their case, it is particularly with the offspring of the Old Boys. Last year, we had Martin Fuller’s daughter play. This year, we were joined by Andy Sparkes’s son, Louis. The youthful addition to the team is adding a certain sprightliness in the field. Credit too should go to the Old Boys for nine players taking their turn to bowl, and not just letting it be dominated by the fearsome old opening pair of Fuller & Bell. Although Mr Curtis was not on the team sheet he was very much present in mind, body and spirit. Whether he was stepping in as 12th man or simply patrolling the outfield as a Scottish laird might survey his estate issuing orders to his factors and ghillies, he succeeded in confusing the Carib batters as to whether he was or was not officially fielding at any point in the game.

In reply, the Old Boys innings was underpinned by a solid knock by Rob Moss. The Caribs were missing his old rival, Carib Cordey, and he was able to return at the end to see out the proceedings. One unusual feature of the Old Boys innings was three run outs. Whether, as a result of (perhaps) losing a yard of pace as the years wear on, simply missing some practice in calling runs, or underestimating Swanand’s and Yusuf’s sharp fielding, it all adds to the entertainment of this fixture, so no-one seems to mind particularly.

The one serious incident in the innings was a (gentle) ball from Carib Yusuf to Richard Hibbs that reared up off a length and hit Mr Hibbs on the side of the head. Mr Hibbs fell to the ground as the Caribs hurried in to see if he was all right, if he needed help. He said that he felt all right, but was understandably shaken and he quite rightly decided to retire at that point. After pressure from a few of us, he went off after the drinks to the UCL Minor Injuries clinic nearby. He later reported that he was “pronounced alive … at 2am”. It’s a salutary reminder of the value of helmets given the quality of our wickets.

This game was particularly noteworthy for a different reason, being Carib Moss’s last match as a resident Londoner. All the Caribs joined in cheering Mr Moss at the end of the game, to thank him for his tireless duty over many years as fixture secretary (and much more besides). He returns to his roots in the North but he will remain as a country member and we shall all look forward to his appearances at Carib events and matches when he can travel down.

Whilst everyone on the field was pleased to have a return to formerly normal English summer weather conditions (i.e. it starts off warm, but it’s not Italy, so you need an extra layer or two as the evening wears on) it was easy for spectators to be caught unaware. That encouraged a good turnout in the Green Man for what is a big reunion in many ways, after the game.

One idiosyncrasy is that the Old Boys are the one team on the Carib fixture list still paying their match fees in cash. With the handover of Treasurer duties under way, Carib Weave was having the explain to Carib Horn the special procedures now involved in handling cash appropriately in the Carib accounts.

* On the Tuesday afternoon, we were given news that the Royal Parks had cancelled the match for the following day due to ‘extreme heat’. This is the first time a Carib match has been cancelled for heat. The NT captain’s response summed up the mood as well amongst the Caribs: “nanny state gone mad”. For the record, the maximum temperature recorded in London on Wednesday 24 June was 35.1°C. In the evening on Wednesday, at Lord’s, where the Women’s T20 World Cup match was going ahead as normal, the temperature at around 7pm was 33°C.

Carib Beer XI Win by 18 Runs

Scorecard