Andrew Strauss gave a huge lift to Turnham Green & Polytechnic, the Chiswick-based club who were chosen as the Middlesex showcase for NatWest CricketForce.
The double Ashes-winning former England captain, who is now a member of the executive board of the Middlesex county club for whom he used to open the batting, was even persuaded to come out of retirement for an impromptu game on the outfield.
“He was edging them everywhere,” joked Ian Moore, one of the Middlesex Cricket Board’s development officers.
“Straussy was great, it was such a boost for everyone when he arrived at the ground. We’d been there since eight in the morning, about 20 of us from Middlesex and a dozen from NatWest branches all over London, it seemed.
Great to see the legend that is Andrew Strauss @tgpcc working hard (& playing hard) with the @MiddlesexCB today #NWCFpic.twitter.com/ZiRtclrh9K
— Middlesex Cricket (@Middlesex_CCC) March 27, 2015
“He had a chat with all the different work parties, did a couple of interviews, a 'Q and ' with everybody which was great, signed some bats and shirts and what have you, and we even got him out on the field.
“We ended the day with a picket fence running the best part of 90 metres all around the pavilion to the nets at the end, and an awning on the pavilion itself. There’s also a lot of gardening been done, especially demolishing a huge area of weeds at the back of the car park, plus planting, and work on the square and the outfield.
“Being a showcase club is a project I’ve been working on for well over six months,” Moore continued. “It’s not just NatWest CricketForce, because the club have been given a 25-year lease on the ground so it’s a significant asset transfer.
#cricketforce#nwcf@tgpccpic.twitter.com/luiTHYoiiS
— chris henderson (@chiswick_chris) March 27, 2015
"This is just the beginning of things really. There’s a massive amount of emotional energy gone into the project from start to finish. NatWest CricketForce has been the catalyst to bring everything together.”
Strauss was delighted to lend a hand on a glorious spring day, and full of praise both for Turnham Green, and the NatWest CricketForce initiative.
“It’s massively important,” he said. “Just from a maintenance issue, making sure clubs are ready for the start of the season. But more importantly it’s about clubs coming together and getting their hands dirty a little bit, getting stuck in and creating that club atmosphere.
“It’s that feeling that there’s something a little bit bigger than what’s going on out in the middle. There’s an atmosphere, a community about it, and days like this really help to add to that community of a club.”