C.R.P. Bakker in conversation with C.R.P. Baker

Should I be proud of that?

You have interviewed several Flamingo veterans. Now it's your turn. It is bizarre that you do it yourself. Do you realize that the editors may well adjust your answers?

Well, they will. I’ll keep a copy of the original in my computer file anyway.

OK. First question. How did you find your way to cricket?

The word "way" is actually not a good one. That should be "cradle".

How so?

My mother was watching a game at HCC when the contractions started. She was able to reach the Rudolf Steiner Clinic just in time to give birth to me on June 15, 1937. Otherwise, my crib would have literally been on De Diepput.

And after that?

After that I actually never left (you have the word "gone" again, but now meant differently) this fantastic sport. My father was an excellent cricketer, and my grandfather used to play for Hilversum as well. In fact, as a young boy, I enjoyed it with him in his garden. He bowled a dangerous ball round-arm!

HCC was my home from the beginning, as you can see in the picture.

Do you think I've changed a lot?

Can I leave that in the middle?

How did you get started at HCC? What are your earliest memories?

In the beginning there are mainly adventurous moments in my memory. In the last year of the war, the field of HCC was confiscated by the occupiers, so the First started playing its home matches at Ajax-Leiden. I went there on one bicycle with my father. As a boy I sat on the front and behind was his elongated cricket bag nicknamed "the little rug" because of the red-carpet material it was made of.

Much more exciting, but in a more serious way, were matches at the Roggewoning against the British liberators. I was there too. I was even allowed to drive a jeep sitting on the lap of a Scottish captain. But things got really spooky when one fine day the players were shot at from the dunes with live ammunition by a few undetected enemies. My later experiences with cricket were usually less dramatic.

Let's talk about that. You joined the Flamingos at a young age. You played regularly for HCC until you left for England. You also came out quite a bit for the Dutch XI team. Can you give me some highlights of your achievements?

No. I don't attach any importance to statistics and/or averages. I have undoubtedly done something special at one time or another: suddenly gave matches by batting or bowling a different aspect. But on the other hand, I have occasionally failed quite a bit in similar attempts, much to the annoyance of my teammates. Thus.

Come on. Surely there must have been special moments that someone else couldn't imitate?

There have certainly been. But whether I should be proud?

That is not clear to me. Give an example?

In London I played regularly for the Hampstead Cricket Club, a strong team for which many foreign internationals also played in the waiting period before they could start with county cricket in England. On a Saturday, in a home game, my contribution was a big clear on the first ball. On Sunday, we played against the Old Stoics, a competent team of Stowe School alumni. We didn't do much that day and were thoroughly chopped to the bone. Here too my contribution was minimal: again a "duck". The defeat was so great and there was so much time left, that the Stoics tried to pull off a feat by winning with an innings against the renowned Hampstead. And that worked just before time. Bakker's score? Zero again.

Then I had to hurry to be in Harwich in time for the night boat to Hook of Holland with the Free Foresters. On board, I told Captain Mike Ainsworth about my rather limited success that weekend. "Then tomorrow you can go against the KNCB a little earlier," was his positive response. Monday: KNCB-Free Foresters. Bakker c & b Henk van Weelde: 0. Who else can boast of having made “0” four times in three consecutive days?

Yes. That is special indeed. Have you delivered any more such exceptional performances? I think I did something at Lord's that few others, or perhaps no one, ever has.

Continue.

I played against Scotland for the MCC, or it could have been Ireland. We first fielded and then, quite against the clock, had to make a decent total to win. One of our openers was Russell Endean, who has played many Test Matches for South Africa as a solid and reliable batsman. But very careful: here a push, there a nudge, a fast single - but not really an aggressive attacker.

After a while our captain became a bit restless, because it all was going way too slowly. He asked me to get ready now and go in if we lost a wicket and then try to ramp up the scoring.

When a wicket finally fell, I went from the small players' balcony into the dressing room. Grabbed my bat, gloves and cap. Walked down the monumental steps to the Long Room and glanced at a collection of fossils, the oldest members of the MCC, often dozing, sitting on their high stools by the Pavilion window. Walked down the few steps in the centre of the patio and through the white gate that a flight attendant opened for me.

Even though you have often played Lord's, it is always an experience when you enter that unique field. And like many before me and after me, I looked a little nervous at the ground at first. I'm talking about the time when Lord's hadn't been rebuilt. The old Lord's Tavern still existed. And that was the only pub in London allowed to stay open all day during matches at Lord's. Hence, during the afternoon there could often be cheerful comments from that side after the umpteenth pint of bitter.

This was also the case now. I was only halfway through when I started to wonder why such a noise was being made. And when I looked up, I was amazed to see that the batsman who was originally supposed to come in was already in the middle and was just asking block. When he heard that our captain wanted to allow me to enter earlier, he apparently thought: "No way. This is my first game at Lord's!”, And by the fall of the wicket he had apparently run into the field in a frenzy. Bakker turns around.

Undoubtedly, out on the first ball at Cricket Headquarters is a terrible experience.

But because it turns out not to be your turn and then having to turn things around when you're halfway to the wicket is an embarrassment that affects everything. Although, I can laugh about it.

Well, indeed, few players on Lord's will have imitated you. But do you have some fond memories of constructive achievements?

What are you insisting! Well, ok then. In a game against Suffolk, I was on 98 when I hit a ball through the covers towards the boundary. We ran one more run and then I was in the middle of the pitch with my fellow batsman, receiving his congratulations and discussing how we would proceed. In the meantime, a fielder had picked up the ball, threw it in limply and bounced the ball softly against the unguarded wicket, from which a bail fell.Howzat ???, an opponent shouted as a joke.Out! the umpire said. The ball had just ended up in front of the boundary.Look, of course I would have liked to have made a century, but isn't this an unforgettable way to be run out on 99?

Yes, of course, but you don't really want to talk about performance.? Then why are you an honourary member of the Flamingos?

As a virtually forgotten veteran, that was indeed a great surprise to me at a Flamingo dinner a few years ago. I believe there was talk of my part in a slew of A tours to England when I lived there. That can be. I knew a lot of people, a lot of clubs and a lot of beautiful fields. This also applies to Wulf van Alkemade, who managed to continue this almost pre-war trend after my departure.

Anyway, when reference was made to the tours to England, Fred Beekman got up and recalled a number of cabaret-esque anecdotes about these tours, which the dinner guests could not recover from. At least I barely. And if that was the basis for my appointment, then I am very satisfied with it.

So competitive performance still leaves you cold?

As far as I am concerned, yes. The team spirit, the fun amongst each other, often the excitement of the game - all of this is very important to me. I may have a few reservations about comparing today's format with the cricket of my own playing days, but it is beyond dispute that today's guaranteed results and perhaps shorter matches also have their attraction.

Moreover, I am impressed how the Flamingos move with the times: the campaign for member building, the inclusion of ladies in the club, the impressive opportunities that are being created for the youth - all of which sounds hopeful for the future, even though the Netherlands has unfortunately missed the boat a lot in terms of PR.

In conclusion, I wish everyone a wonderful 100th anniversary and I express the hope that future generations will have as many happy and precious experiences with the Flamingos as it has been my privilege to have enjoyed.