I Remember When With Milton Rendell

Do you remember when as a kid you got something either for your birthday or Christmas, a gift that you needed someone else to play with? An example of that was one Christmas for me, I got my first cricket set. I was extra keen to try it all out but I have two older sisters who were both married before I was nine so they were naturally not keen. I was lucky enough to have Ian my brother-in-law who was married to my oldest sister Janet who always came to my rescue. I remember this day it was hot, very hot, but I was keen and Ian came out to bowl to me. Our match seemed to last forever that day but Ian kept tumbling down the ball for me to try and hit. I think Ian would let me bowl him out so I could get back to batting with my new bat and I would pretend I was Greg Chappell. We were lucky enough to have what we called the side block at our house in Bertie Street, Guildford where many a test match was played and big screamers were taken when we had a kick of the footy. Fun was right on our doorstep so to speak and my mates used to come over as well sometimes when Ian was there and he was quite the entertainer with the kids as well as getting everyone involved. As we grew up the block became too small for the big games and we wandered onto the local grounds in the area but I still remember the hours spent with Ian on Christmas as well as birthdays and appreciate the time he spent with his little brother-in-law. Sadly Ian Thomas Williams who also grew up in Guildford and married to my sister for over fifty years sadly passed away recently. I will always remember those long matches and the bad jokes and thank him for the time he gave to a little boy who just wanted to play a bit of cricket or kick the footy when he didn’t have to.