We found a player or two via this route including one of our Club Presidents, T E Rendall, who was looking to return to cricket after a few years away. 

In a few short seasons the greater reliance on the wider public service was very apparent with only 50% of the team being Museum Employees. Rendall took over the Captaincy and used his contacts to attract more players. 

The best way to describe our recruitment then is that we were attracting “waifs and strays” i.e., mostly older cricketers returning to the game or those with an interest but never having much of an opportunity to play. We were grateful to get eleven on the pitch at times.

By the end of the 1989 season the number of Museum employees still regularly appearing under the banner of the Museum Cricket Club had dwindled to, at best, 4. It was decided at the AGM to disband the Museum club (once again), and to form a private club from the existing player pool.

A meeting took place after a net practice in the winter of 1989 when six sturdy souls committed to lead the formation of a new club. The club’s name was coined due to T E Rendall’s recent experiences of searching for players to fill gaps in the Sunday eleven. The typical telephone call went along the lines of “Hello, This is Terry I was just wondering can you play on Sunday?” This phrase seemed to us an appropriate name and since then all those involved in availability/finding a team have used the same or very similar phrase. Of course, these days we are more likely to scout round by e-mail or group chat. In the early days you might have to leave messages or wait for a call back whilst the prospective player made his own telephones to ascertain his availability. It could get quite stressful.

The formation of the club, ready for the 1990 season, began with appointments made, rules written, and a badge designed. Home games were to be at the Civil Service Ground in Chiswick, the same ground as the Museum side, using our predominantly public service employed squad to access this ground.

Soon we were attracting some younger players and going from strength to strength. So much so that this piece is being written for the new revamped website. How different things are from 1990 in the days before the internet and the mobile telephone. 

There have been ups and downs for the club; strong squads, weaker squads, sometimes struggling to get teams out and in better times having two teams play on the same day. The thread is that we play for the love of the game and the banter between ourselves. 

Cypos? CC is unlikely to ever own its own ground. Our players come from all over the south east and even further away. For the last few seasons, we have been a wandering side. Aside from CSSC Chiswick our other home grounds have been CSSC Raynes Park and Old Tiffinians in Kingston. With no base our history gets lost in the midst’s of time so this is as close as you might ever get to the facts.

Footnote: for those with any interest in what happened to the Museum CC, it revived briefly in the 21st century before ceasing to be for the 3rd time to the author’s knowledge.