Number 74
Gary Loveday
The Wisden Club Cricket Hall of Fame
Scott Oliver profiles a prolific batter from Berkshire who has flown his club’s flag with great distinction
Inking your club crest onto the gluteus maximus usually suggests either a compulsive yen for body art or an impulsive gesture of devotion. For Gary Loveday, effectively a one-club man since joining Finchampstead as a 13-year-old in 1977 after an unenjoyable first net at neighbours and rivals Wokingham, it was definitely the latter, marking the club’s dramatic – and solitary – Thames Valley League (TVCL) title in 1994, secured with a little outside assistance on the final day at Marlow, when Loveday and his long-time Berkshire opening partner Martin Lickley were both dismissed without a run on the board, the prelude to a bungled, nerve-shredding run-chase.