Thijs Vermeulen
Flamingo since 1973
Mr. VRA
To say that Thijs was brought up with the noble sport of cricket in his blood, by a father who excelled in the sport would be a little exaggerated, but Vermeulen senior ensured that his son was introduced to the most beautiful sport on earth. This happened during family outings in the beautiful surroundings of Baarn, where Thijs and his brother Frank learned the basics of batting, bowling and fielding.
When he was about nine years old, Thijs became a member of VRA, where he met peers such as Hergen Spits and Sjoerd Eisma. They were trained by Mr. Varekamp, a gymnastics teacher who also knew a thing or two about cricket. He played against ACC, Quick, VVV and Rood en Wit. At the time, away matches were complete expeditions. They were undertaken by train, which of course involved the heavy club bag, because the boys didn’t yet have individual cricket equipment.
As a more than creditable opening batsman, Thijs experienced the glory years of Frans and Nico Spits, Job van de Koppel, John Wories and Thijs' brother Frank, in the first. It was a pity for VRA that the "Spiers" over time shifted their attention more and more to hockey.
After brother Frank handed in the captaincy of VRA, Thijs succeeded him. He remained captain of VRA for years and during that time he witnessed the performances of many colourful figures. There was the West Indian fast bowler Clayton Lambert who bowled so hard in a friendly match against a youth team that the boundary feared collective infanticide. It was perilous at a time when matches were still played without helmets. Another, even more important VRA acquisition was the South African Hylton Ackerman who Thijs discovered in South Africa when he was there for his studies.
Thijs thinks back to a few cricket events with great pleasure. "We played for VRA against the MCC sometime in the 1970s. I remember Ernst Vriens' bowling and the partnership I had with Jeroen Zweerts. He scored a century and I had more than fifty, a feat that I am still proud of. I never scored a century myself, got stuck at 80. But not bad either."
Thijs became a Flamingo member in 1973, just after his return from South Africa. He soon became secretary and was involved in the foundation of the golf department. "I have also been on the A tour to England a few times. During one of them I had to deal with a big disappointment. I had arranged for a fixture on the beautiful field near his castle in Arundel through the Duke of Norfolk. Unfortunately, on the day of the match, I learned that I would not be playing because I had been absent from time to time due to my wife's accompanying tour. That gnawed on me for a while."
Beautiful memories naturally prevail. "Sometime in the 1970s, we were accommodated in and around London on a tour. Kees Bakker was our captain, a man who knew all of England like the back of his hand. One evening he took us to a new gambling place together with Godfrey Evans (England and Kent), as Dutch XI guests of honour. Every ten meters there was a large colour TV with nice seats. Wonderful hostesses invited us to play roulette or blackjack, while a little further along baccarat was being played. Godfrey Evans casually asked Kees Bakker if he had any money with him. Evans had a system that was infallible. When Kees said that he had no money, Evans tore open the well-known folder from ABN with the tour cash in it and asked: "What about this?" He put everything on red…and won, albeit through a slight manipulation on his part. Evans was banned from playing, but the winnings were paid out. Our tour was saved!
Thijs is clear about the development of De Flamingos in recent years. "There was a period when things were a bit more difficult and also the loss of the Ducks with their beautiful initiation rituals was very important to me, but nowadays a breath of fresh air is blowing. It is a pity that the initiative for the Flamingo Cricket Academy has not been taken up by the KNCB, but perhaps we can continue this on a smaller scale. All in all, there is a lot of reason for optimism."
