Unsung Heroes – Gavin Shields

Having read Paul’s excellent articles on our unsung hero’s from yesteryear, I would like to bring things up to date with a more recent entry.

In 2001, Matt Hope gave a debut to a very heavy run scorer from the junior teams by the name of Gavin Shields. Gavin had earned his chance after a number of stellar (or should that be Stella) performances with the bat for the second team, such as his remarkable 28 away at Colne, and his 13 against Enfield on the last game of the 1999 season. A day when Enfield used 11 (yes, eleven) bowlers.

Over the next 3 seasons, the increasingly portly Shields went on to play 31 times for the House, before having to retire due to lack of form, fitness, ability and desire. By then, he had amassed an impressive total of runs, narrowly missing out on the 3000 runs Hall of Fame threshold by the slender margin of 2854.

After a brief sabbatical, Shields returned to the club to pass on his wealth of experience to the second team in a managerial role, before packing that in to concentrate on other roles he was more comfortable with; sausage roll, bacon roll etc.

He is now responsible for approximately a third of the tea room and bar profits. Cheers Gav!

By Gilles De Crique

This is a parody Unsung Hero – please keep the genuine ones coming!

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