Bray's Dedication for a Dedicated Coach and Supporter
George Gittens died suddenly on May 20th. He is a great loss to Bray colts and the team of Bray cricket coaches; he coached at the Club on a regular basis since the early '90s and helped out with team management. He was also one of the main Berkshire cricket coaches, looking after the Under 13s and Under 15s East Berks Development Squads. Besides coaching cricket, he was also a tennis coach at Slough. The love and respect in which he was held was very clear at his funeral last month in Slough, where about 700 people attended his funeral service.
Within a few days of George's death, Martin Wesson, a very long-standing and loyal ex-player, supporter, and social member of the Club, also died suddenly. He is greatly missed.
Sir Michael Parkinson CBE (M&BCC President) formally opened the new practice nets installed at the Club, and dedicated them to George; a brass plaque was unveiled to commemorate this. He also dedicated a bench to Martin Wesson.
The Club provided a barbeque meal for about 170 Club members, among whom were many of the colts (past and present) with their parents as well as senior players and social members. Special guests were Martin's wife Janet and son Ken, and several of George's family including in particular his wife Lorna and his daughters, one of whom, Mekaya, is a very keen cricket player and an even better tennis player.
Tributes were paid to George's dedication and enthusiasm, and also to his knack of pin-pointing ways to improve bowling, batting, and fielding techniques for literally hundreds of Club and County colts of all standards over the years. He was an inspiration to those he coached and also to all coaches who worked with him.
Bob Crawley July 2009
