Steve Williams
Class of 1972
Steve Williams (Sing’s, 1967-1972)
The following obituary was provided by Julian Lawton-Smith (Mac’s, 1967-1971)
A very talented sportsman, Steve had 3 seasons in the school cricket XI and also one year in the rugby XV. My earliest memory of Steve is from a Colts match away at Stowe School. One of their batsmen struck the ball hard to leg and must have anticipated 4 runs. However Steve, who was standing close to the square-leg umpire dived to his right and caught the ball at full stretch about 3 feet off the ground. The master in charge, Robert Montgomerie, said “that’s the best schoolboy catch I have ever seen”.
A true all-rounder, Steve was a stylish batsmen but perhaps best remembered for his leg-break and googly bowling. With the ability to turn the ball massively for both the leg-break and googly, he would thoroughly entertain his fielding colleagues by consistently bamboozling the batsmen. Steve also possessed the most prodigious throw, perhaps only matched at St Edward’s by Tony Sykes. His fielding was extremely athletic and his throwing was a wonder to behold.
After leaving school, Steve would return to play in the Martyrs cricket week and he also made a number of appearances in the Cricketer Cup side. His somewhat madcap behaviour on the cricket field led him to sometimes being endearingly called Steve ‘Bonkers’ Williams. Many Martyrs cricketers will have fond memories and stories to tell of this most likeable and gifted colleague.
An obituary from Buckinghamshire County Cricket Club noted that he was a former Bucks Young Amateur and penned the following: “A prolific batsman and leg-spin bowler, he played for Ernest Turner Sports and Woodburn Narkovians before joining Bledlow Village, for whom he scored centuries in four decades in the National Village Knockout Competition.”
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