I think I can safely speak for many of my generation that we owe a great debt to John Ruppersbery, who provided us with the opportunity to make the transition from school to club cricket in the late 1960s and early 1970s. John died earlier this month, aged 72 years
At that time very few, if any, clubs in this area ran junior programmes and as aspiring cricketing teenagers we had very limited opportunities to pursue our love for the game. John recognised this and, entirely through his own efforts, identified and brought together a group of players and formed ‘District Colts’. As there were no similarly aged teams to play he would organise a fixture list against men’s clubs and the learning curve was very steep, but also very relevant. John’s idea was to run each cohort for a couple of years and then pass the players on to a variety of senior clubs having served their ‘apprenticeship’.
In the early seventies a group of us decided that rather than be transitioned to other clubs we would continue as a unit and we formed Southampton Cavaliers, who enjoyed ten successful years in local club cricket before eventually merging with Hyde Ramblers to form Winchester Cricket Club. At the time that Cavaliers came in to being John took a job in Somerset and his next group of colts were taken on and developed by the Cavaliers. John later returned to the area and helped Krakatoa CC. Krakatoa eventually joined Winchester, so in many ways that completed the loop and John’s vision had come to fruition.
Slightly eccentric, certainly one of a kind, John or ‘Rufus’ as he was affectionately known had his own playing career tragically cut short when he broke both of his legs in his early twenties, but his dedication to providing us with the chance to play the best of all sports means that his legacy is a group of sixty somethings who have a whole raft of friendships to this day, and an unbelievable catalogue of memories.
Thank you John, may you rest in peace and find suitably straight roads that you can drive your A40 on to your hearts content.
Phil Green.
• Details of John’s funeral will be announced shortly.
At that time very few, if any, clubs in this area ran junior programmes and as aspiring cricketing teenagers we had very limited opportunities to pursue our love for the game. John recognised this and, entirely through his own efforts, identified and brought together a group of players and formed ‘District Colts’. As there were no similarly aged teams to play he would organise a fixture list against men’s clubs and the learning curve was very steep, but also very relevant. John’s idea was to run each cohort for a couple of years and then pass the players on to a variety of senior clubs having served their ‘apprenticeship’.
In the early seventies a group of us decided that rather than be transitioned to other clubs we would continue as a unit and we formed Southampton Cavaliers, who enjoyed ten successful years in local club cricket before eventually merging with Hyde Ramblers to form Winchester Cricket Club. At the time that Cavaliers came in to being John took a job in Somerset and his next group of colts were taken on and developed by the Cavaliers. John later returned to the area and helped Krakatoa CC. Krakatoa eventually joined Winchester, so in many ways that completed the loop and John’s vision had come to fruition.
Slightly eccentric, certainly one of a kind, John or ‘Rufus’ as he was affectionately known had his own playing career tragically cut short when he broke both of his legs in his early twenties, but his dedication to providing us with the chance to play the best of all sports means that his legacy is a group of sixty somethings who have a whole raft of friendships to this day, and an unbelievable catalogue of memories.
Thank you John, may you rest in peace and find suitably straight roads that you can drive your A40 on to your hearts content.
Phil Green.
• Details of John’s funeral will be announced shortly.
