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120 second interview: Andrews Ryland & Bellwood, Lower XI Legends

120 second interview: Andrews Ryland & Bellwood, Lower XI Legends

Jon Kuhrt12 Apr 2020 - 13:59
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Scandal, bust-ups, controversy...all delivered at a nagging military-medium. Whatever happened to ginger pals Bellboy and Stoon?

'The best thing about playing for ACC was the friendships and post-match drinks. Even now I can turn up and be welcomed by old mates and players'
- Andrew 'Bellboy' Bellwood

Name & nicknames: Andrew 'Bellboy' Bellwood and Andrew 'Stoon' Ryland

How would you describe yourselves as players?
Stoon: Lower XI medium-pace. I loved bowling on dodgy wickets. Stick it on a length and let the pitch do the rest.
Bellboy: All rounder, 2nd change swing bowler, useful bat to stop the rot (and wind up the oppo).

Best cricket memories?
Stoon: My best memories are great team performances when I was captaining - we beat Epsom once by 2 or 3 runs and it was a complete epic. I got a couple of hatricks for ACC one of them during an 8-for for the Sunday 2s.
Bellboy: It was great hitting 54* at number 8 v Old Whits to guide us to victory from a very dodgy position. But my best memory was bowling out Mike Rogers with a slow one in a six a side tournament. This single moment gave me years of joy and satisfaction.

Most embarrassing cricketing moment?
Bellboy: Wildy no-balling me for chucking it. Twice! But probably worse was when someone nicked my pink leopard skin jockstrap and hung it from the flagpole at ACC.
Stoon: Once during cricket week there were lots of people watching outside the bar and I was at long-off right in front of them. A catch came straight to me but somehow I slid under it and it went for 4. It was a real goober, I didn’t even get a hand on it.

Favourite player/cricket hero?
Stoon: Botham. At his best, he could have played for England as a batsman or bowler and could change a match through force of will. Stokes is up there, and he’s ginger, but Beefy is still my favourite.
Bellboy: My old ACC teammate Sean Farquharson. Purely because his nickname 'Tripod' is still one of my favourites.

Favourite format to watch?
Bellboy: Test. The classic matches are remembered for decades.
Stoon: Test. I love the way that the story develops, the ebbs and flows over the course of the game. No other format can match the way classic Test matches play out.

What was the best thing about playing at ACC?
Stoon: Post match drinks. Many fond memories including playing left handed darts from the bar (with compulsory foot on the bar rail). They moved the dartboard in the end to stop us damaging the hockey club photos on the wall.

I loved the time when Don Stevens was not happy that Bellboy wore a baseball hat in the bar and insisted he took it off. The week after, Mike Burrows and Peter Colman brought in a massive bag full of hats. When Don walked in, everyone in the bar was wearing head-gear of all types. It was a classic moment.

Bellboy: The friendship and post match drinks. It was so much fun trying to ponce a lager off Ian Harris or Jack Hooper and I remember numerous GIFC ('Glad I Came') awards after Sun 2’s matches. Even now, I can turn up at the club and be welcomed by old mates and players.

I had a great 18th birthday party at Sandilands but unfortunately it ended up with a Wild West-type bar brawl. The ACC committee were not happy that Stoon had been pulled backwards through the white picket fence by some ruffian. As ever, others caused the problems but it was my reputation that was damaged!

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