Chipping Sodbury Hotels | Cheap Hotels | lastminute.com Chipping Sodbury hotels Hotels in Chipping Sodbury Hotels in Chipping Sodbury An attractive market town in Gloucestershire dating back to the 12th century, Chipping Sodbury is a stone’s throw from the Cotswolds. Book one of our Chipping Sodbury hotels and discover the rich history of this quaint small town, which has more than 200 listed buildings. Town centre The Market Square is filled with houses from different centuries, including 17th-century Cotswold stone buildings and Georgian brick buildings. The High Street is thought to be England’s widest street – medieval markets here must have been substantial – and all but one of its buildings are listed. You can join a monthly guided walk round the town to learn more about its history. Leisure Cricket fans will be interested to know that former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell runs a gallery in the town where his work is on display. He has been a professional artist for almost 30 years, having learned to paint during breaks in play.

As well as cricketing and sporting scenes, he paints and sketches landscapes, wildlife, architecture and more, and has painted portraits of the Duke of Edinburgh, Sir Bobby Charlton and Dickie Bird. There is a twice-monthly farmers’ market in the town, with local produce and craft items, and a Christmas market. On the edge of the town is Chipping Sodbury Golf Club, where you can take lessons from two professionals and play the 18-hole course. Old Sodbury and Little Sodbury Chipping Sodbury actually came into being when landowner William Crassus, who had been allowed to hold a market, decided to hold it away from his manor house in Old Sodbury. The village still exists and is home to a 900-year-old church and an Iron Age hill fort. There’s also Little Sodbury, whose 15th-century manor house once hosted Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Here you’ll find the only church in England dedicated to St Adeline. Festivals Chipping Sodbury holds a number of festivals throughout the year, including a festival week in June and a twice-yearly mop fair.

The latter dates from the 14th century, when workers normally served their employer from October to October, and would then seek new work at the fair. They would carry something which reflected their trade, and domestic servants would carry a piece of mop, hence the name. The annual Victorian Day in December features fairground rides, carol singing, a snow machine, music, hot chestnuts, Morris dancing and an appearance by Santa. Other annual events include the food festival - which involves food, tea, ale and wine tastings, a hog roast and a baking competition - and also the jazz festival. Eating and drinking The Family-run Coffee Bean serves breakfast, homemade lunches, homemade cakes and real ales - there’s plenty of choice for vegetarians, and there are always at least three gluten-free cakes and traybakes to try. Cake lovers should also visit the Hobbs House Bakery, the home of TV’s Fabulous Baker Brothers Tom and Henry Herbert. The bakery opened in the 1920s and has been passed down through five generations of the same family. As well as buying freshly-baked bread, cakes and pastries, you can take cake-making and bread-baking classes.

Or, head to the 17th-century Squire Inn for a fire in winter, and live music in the garden in summer, as well as real ales and classic pub grub. x Where are they now? Jack Russell | Sport | The Guardian Where are they now? Jack Russell Meeting the ex-professionals who disappeared back into the real world Saturday 5 July 2008 19.01 EDT First published on Saturday 5 July 2008 19.01 EDT Share on Messenger Close One of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1990, Russell played in 54 Tests for England, but is probably best remembered for some of his more eccentric habits. The public took the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper to their hearts after the 1989 Ashes series. England lost the series 4-0, but a combination of Russell's dogged performances at the crease, despite batting having previously been seen as his weakness, and his ever-reliable keeping ensured he was one of few English players to emerge with any pride.

Known for the 'flowerpot' sun hat which he wore from his debut in 1981 until his retirement, and which inspired a generation of Stone Roses fans, he was also seen as something of a loner. He'd often disappear from the team hotel to paint - but it was this hobby that would eventually become his new career. His first exhibition sold out in 1988. Today he has his own gallery in Chipping Sodbury (Jackrussell.co.uk). How did you get into painting? It was the wet summer days at the cricket, getting bored. I just started sketching and doodling, about 20 years ago now, and it went from there. So you didn't pick it up at school? No, I was too busy playing cricket. I'd always been interested in the great painters - Constable, Rembrandt, those guys - but I'd never actually got round to doing it. One day I just thought: 'If Rembrandt can do it, why can't I?' So I just started and taught myself. I looked at other people's work, made mistakes and learned from them. That was it, and it's just grown. Now it's my profession.

It's a bit greedy, really, I suppose, having two professions you love doing, but I have a lot of fun. How would you describe your work? I do anything, really, but I'm a landscape painter, and cricket's a landscape so that works out nicely! I like military history, too: if I hadn't been a cricketer I might have been a soldier, and I've always had an interest in it from when I was a little lad so I do some of that. I do portraits as well, which is about as close as I can get to the adrenaline of cricket. You might have to wait two years to get the chance to paint someone and then only have an hour to come up with something. It gets the old heart pumping. Do you think the concentration you learnt from cricket helps with the painting? You certainly have to be focused: things can change very quickly when you're doing a landscape, and that's easy for me. Keeping wicket you have to focus for long periods of time. I suppose you could say I did it over periods of years, really, to get the end result. Painting is no different.

If I'm painting, the rest of the world just disappears, just like when I was playing. A bomb could have gone off and I wouldn't care, I'm still going to catch that ball. Which do you prefer - the art or the cricket? Some of the stuff I've done in cricket you couldn't buy with all the tea in China. I've met and painted amazing people, but if you're playing against the Aussies and you're doing well or playing at Lords, you just can't beat that. I would never sacrifice that for anything. Fortunately, the painting side went well over the 15 years before I retired, so I knew I would go straight into this. And now I'm doing it full-time: it's magic. How did you end up with your own gallery? When my first two exhibitions sold out back in the late Eighties and early Nineties, I thought I had to get my own place: the ambition was always there. We rented a place for a couple of years, then did up this old dilapidated coaching house - it's a decent-sized building, and perfect for what we need. Luckily for me it has all worked out, mainly thanks to the people that come in and buy the work.

I just paint what I paint, but people come in and take my pictures off the wall and hang them in their houses. I get as big a kick out of that as I did walking out to play for England. Howzat! Cricketer turned artist Jack Russell is inspired by iconic Iron Bridge « Shropshire Star PUBLISHED: May 29, 2016 07:59 LAST UPDATED: May 29, 2016 09:24 Howzat! Cricketer turned artist Jack Russell is inspired by iconic Iron Bridge Artist and former England cricketer Jack Russell visited a Shropshire landmark for inspiration on his latest painting. Work in progress – cricketer Jack Russell at work in Ironbridge this week The 52-year-old visited Ironbridge, fulfilling a “lifelong ambition” to see the historic Iron Bridge it in person. He said: “I’ve always wanted to go to Ironbridge and I had a great day. “I love industrial history, and this is where it all started. I love the character of the place, the buildings are beautiful.

I’d like to paint them in the winter, with a bit of rain – the colours would be lovely.” Jack explored both sides of the bridge and found a number of angles he wanted to paint from. But for his first attempt, he settled on a small angler’s perch near the toll house. Jack Russell The former wicketkeeper, who played for Gloucestershire and England, is an accomplished artist and has his own gallery in Chipping Sodbury, on the edge of his native Cotswolds. He said: “The colours are just amazing there, the light was good. There were some lovely greens up and down the river. “There’s even some interesting colours in the stone work. “Some people might think it’s just a bridge, but there’s so many beautiful colours around it. “I’ll need to come back to finish the painting next month, because there’s still a little bit to be done. “There’s another view from the other side that I’d like to paint as well, and I’ll be back up in the winter, when there’s no leaves on the trees.” As well as the bridge itself, Jack fell in love with the surrounding buildings and, in particular, the war memorial.

“I love the war memorial, the way the soldier is done is beautiful,” he said. “I also noticed there was a Russell on the war memorial, so that’s given me a bit of detective work to do. I’ll be digging to find out if he’s one of us.” Those interested in purchasing the painting already have some competition. Jack said he created a fair bit of interest during his visit, adding: “I’ve already had inquiries about buying the painting. I get as much a buzz out of selling a picture as when I used to walk out for England. “It’s magic that people want my work on their walls. You can’t get a bigger compliment than that.” In the studio: Jack Russell - Telegraph In the studio: Jack Russell Jack Russell in his studio Marc Lee 12:01AM GMT 15 Nov 2005 Marc Lee talks to cricketer-turned-painter Jack Russell about Lord's and landscapes When former Gloucestershire and England wicket-keeper Jack Russell first picked up a sketchpad and pencil one rainy day in 1987, his teammates - more inclined to spend their time off on the golf course or lounging around the hotel pool - could barely contain their mirth.

Today, his paintings change hands for up to £25,000, and nobody's laughing any more. Russell, who retired from first-class cricket last year, smiles contentedly at the memory. We're sitting at the vast dining table that dominates the far end of his cavernous gallery in the Cotswolds town of Chipping Sodbury. He bought the table during a tour of Pakistan, mainly because fellow England player Darren Gough already had one like it, and Russell simply had to have a bigger version. It's too large for his house, so it ended up rather awkwardly here. "I blame Goughy," he says wryly. Russell's business partner Jim Ruston brings me a cup of tea. Surprisingly, there isn't one for Russell, a man famous for his consumption of up to 30 cups a day. The cover of his autobiography is emblazoned with the query "Barking?", and he is renowned for a number of other minor alleged eccentricities, including surviving on a diet of baked beans while on tour, having to soak his Weetabix in milk for exactly 12 minutes, and insisting that visitors to his home arrive blindfolded.

This last hints at why we are sitting here and not in his studio. "Nobody's been in my studio since it was built," he says, "and even the builder was a family friend. It's the only space I've got left to myself. It's my haven, my retreat. "I'm a very reclusive character. I've always been a bit of a loner. I enjoyed going out 'on stage' at Lord's in front of 28,000 people, but I mix that with being on my own. If I'm painting, I'm happy; if I'm on my own, I'm happy. I'm quite a shy person." The dozens of oil paintings clamouring for space on the walls of the gallery - a former pub in the middle of the high street - demonstrate vividly Russell's extraordinary range. There are landscapes, cityscapes, portraits, wildlife studies, military scenes, and, of course, plenty of cricketing moments caught forever. Occasionally, he paints in the gallery - part of its appeal was the light that streams through the large front windows in the late afternoon - and a bright, loosely worked portrait of veteran comedian Norman Wisdom hangs in the corner in which it was executed.

Most intriguing of all, though, is a large self-portrait in which Russell, palette in hand and mug of tea at his side, stares unsettlingly out of the canvas. "When my daughter saw it, she said, 'Dad, you've got madness in your eyes,' and that was music to my ears. I found the process very difficult, very strange. The thing about portraits is that you have to make them precise enough to be recognisable but loose enough not to look like a stiff photograph." It's a very intense image, I say. "It is," he agrees. "I don't like it: I'd paint it differently now. But that's me: I'm never satisfied." A rather more enthusiastic self-portraitist was Rembrandt, whom Russell counts among his favourite artists - and among his biggest influences. "His work is so three-dimensional, so atmospheric. It's his creation of light, the way he generates it. It's magical. Every so often, I have to go to London and just stand in front of some Rembrandts." He is also an admirer of wildlife painter David Shepherd.

Hanging just above us as we speak is a menagerie of animal paintings - lion, tiger, elephant, rhino - but dominating the lot is a large, dramatic landscape with flamingos. The brushwork in this painting is freer, looser than in many of Russell's other pieces. It's a technique he is embracing with increasing enthusiasm. "The biggest lesson I've learnt," he says, "is what to leave out, what I can get away with. For every brush stroke I do now, 10 years ago I'd have done 10." This development is most obvious in the vivid landscapes of his beloved Slad Valley, where he was born and raised. But his cricket scenes remain finely detailed. His latest cricket paintings feature four of this summer's historic Ashes matches in which England triumphed over Australia for the first time in 18 years. They were still unfinished when we met last week, which meant he was facing a rather pressing deadline. The series will be seen for the first time tomorrow at a private viewing in London.

It will then be on show at Russell's gallery from Saturday until the new year, although the Trent Bridge painting, which was commissioned by the Lord's Taverners, will be auctioned on December 5 at the Hilton in Park Lane, London, where it will be on public display beforehand. It's likely to raise a huge amount and further demonstrate how far Russell has come as an artist. As we part, he's reminded of the two greatest milestones in his second career. "The first was when I got £1,000 for a painting - I never thought I'd get that much. The second came one day when Jim phoned me and said he had some bad news. I thought he was going to say the gallery had burned down, but he said, 'Jack, we've had a painting nicked.' And I remember shouting, 'Yes!' and punching the air. I was so chuffed. Suddenly, I was collectable." Jack Russell Gallery, 41 High Street, Chipping Sodbury, Gloucestershire (01454 329583).

Jack Russell: An artist on the field and off it - Cricket Country Jack Russell: An artist on the field and off it Jack Russell's is a tale involving gloves, canvas, teabags, Weetabix, a very, very dilapidated hat. | Updated : August 15, 2016 11:00 PM IST Jack Russell and his hat © Getty Images The eccentric Jack Russell was born on August 15, 1963. Abhishek Mukherjee tells a tale involving gloves, canvas, teabags, Weetabix, a very, very dilapidated hat. To begin with, Robert Charles Russell was a champion wicketkeeper, often standing up to seamers (even fast bowlers), thereby cutting down opportunities for the fleet-footed batsman — to the extent that Angus Fraser wrote that Russell “was the best England wicketkeeper since Bob Taylor”: he was extremely agile, could move either way in a fluid motion that never seemed forced, and along with being an excellent catcher he was one of the best stumpers the world has produced.

Despite having limited opportunities against spin (only 23 of his 165 victims came against spinners) he took stumpings to another level over the years, his amazing reflex and agility coming into play even against seamers. Seldom has a wicketkeeper stumped batsmen so efficiently against seamers on such a consistent basis. To go with that he was an extremely dogged batsman, often playing out of his skin to bail his team out of trouble. He wasn’t the most talented with the bat (which was the reason that he lost out to Alec Stewart in a battle for the wicketkeeper’s slot), but was certainly one of the most determined, making the most of his limited talents, batting with as much pride for both Gloucestershire and England as he had for his trademark moustache. After retirement, Russell has taken to full-time painting and has probably earned more fame out of his second career than his first; given his strive for perfection it will not be surprising if he would emerge as one of the leaders in the profession. He was one of the most singular men to have embraced the sport. Let us, however, concentrate on the cricketer first.

In 54 Tests, Russell had scored 1,897 runs at 27.10 with two hundreds; his strike rate of 35.86 is probably an accurate reflection of his style of batting. He had also pouched 153 catches and had effected 12 stumpings in the 96 innings he had kept wickets in: with 1.718 dismissals per innings, Russell heads the list of English wicketkeepers with over 150 victims. Other than Mark Boucher, Russell is the only wicketkeeper to have pouched 6 or more victims in an innings twice — against Australia at MCG in 1990-91 and against South Africa at New Wanderers in 1995-96 (all catches). In the second match he set a new world record for most victims in a match (11) — all catches — a feat that has been equalled by AB de Villiers as late as earlier this year. He also had 41 catches and six stumpings from 40 ODIs — played over a span of 11 years.

In First-Class cricket, Russell had 1,192 catches and 128 stumpings from 465 matches. Additionally he had 16,861 runs at 30.93 with 11 hundreds. Playing mostly in an era where the number of First-Class matches had started to dry out Russell still ranks fifth in terms of dismissals in the history of First-Class cricket. For his beloved Gloucestershire, he still holds the record for most catches (950) and most victims (1,054). Playing against Surrey at The Oval, he caught Alec Stewart off the last ball of an over from Courtney Walsh, followed by Alan Butcher and Monte Lynch off the first two balls of David Lawrence’s next over, thereby being the fourth to pull off a wicketkeeper’s hat-trick (and the first one to do it across bowling ends).

Keeping wickets against Northamptonshire at Bristol in 2002 he did not concede a single bye in the tourists’ innings of 746 for 9 declared, setting a new world record for the highest innings without a bye (this has been later surpassed by Chris Hartley, who did not concede a bye in Victoria’s 806 for 8 declared at MCG in 2008-09). On field he was a spectacle to watch. As Fraser wrote aptly in The Independent, “Behind the stumps Jack acted like the catcher in baseball. He was the playmaker and, through hand-signals, he would tell his bowlers what delivery to bowl. These tactics, and Russell’s general behaviour, made him a pain in the backside to opponents. This was something he relished and, looking straight ahead, with his eyes hidden by sunglasses, he would regularly make caustic remarks to you as the bowler made his way back to his mark.” There are speculations that Russell was named ‘Jack’ after Reverend John (Jack) Russell — the 19th century parson who had earned a reputation for being the man to have bred the Jack Russell terrier.

Charles Albert George Russell, the Essex and England batsman (who scored five hundreds in 10 Tests, averaged 56.87, and remains the only batsman), was perhaps also nicknamed Jack for the same reason. Early days By his own admission Russell’s inspiration to become a wicketkeeper came from watching Alan Knott catching Rick McCosker off Tony Greig on television in 1977. He described the catch as “low down, one-handed, across first slip. Brilliant. I thought then that I would like to be able to do that. That’s where it started, that was the inspiration.” Russell had taken up a course in accountancy at Bristol Technical College, but dropped out to pursue a career in cricket. He made his First-Class debut at Bristol against the visiting Sri Lankans. He did not get a chance to bat but finished the match with 7 catches and a stumping. He started playing full seasons from 1983, and despite not having outstanding performances with the bat he kept wickets soundly, which was enough to earn him a permanent slot in the Gloucestershire side. He eventually won his County cap in 1985.

Test debut His limited batting abilities, however, denied him a position in the England Test side despite his superlative wicketkeeping skills. It wasn’t until Sri Lanka visited England in 1988 that England decided to try out some new faces, and Russell made his Test debut alongside Lawrence, Phil Newport, and Kim Barnett (though he had made his ODI debut last year in the disputed tour of Pakistan). Forty minutes into the Test, Russell had his first two Test victims, catching Amal Silva and Athula Samarasekera off Neil Foster. After Sri Lanka were bowled out for 194, Russell was sent in as night-watchman at the end of Day One. He went on to add 131 with Graham Gooch, and eventually fell agonisingly short of a hundred on debut, top-scoring with 94 in 202 balls with 11 fours. Had he not chased a wide one off Graeme Labrooy and holed out to Samarasekera at cover he would also have got his maiden First-Class hundred. His time would come, though.

Ashes 1989 This was the season where the Australian Ashes juggernaut took off: they gave England a 4-0 thrashing in the six Test series, and it would take England 16 years to reclaim the much-coveted urn. He had a quiet Ashes debut at Headingley (though he had four catches) as England surrendered meekly. It was clear that the Australian fast bowlers had spotted his weakness against bounce. Russell arrived very early for the second Test at Lord’s. A group of MCC groundstaff boys had been hurling plastic balls at Knott from a 15-yard distance. Russell did not play a single stroke — not even tried to fend — for the first 20 minutes: he simply swayed and ducked. Thus prepared, he entered the sacred arena of cricket for the first time in Test cricket. Russell came out to bat at 185 for 6 — below John Emburey — and lost Robin Smith on 191. Not only did the trio of Terry Alderman, Geoff Lawson, and Merv Hughes intimidate him with bouncers, the entire side dished out their entire array of verbal dosage to him.

Russell was more than eager to give them back an earful. Wisden wrote that Russell had “decided that the best response to the verbal bouncers he was getting from the Australian close-fielders while he batted was to answer back in good, old-fashioned Anglo-Saxon. Jack, 5ft 8in and 9st 8lb with his boots on, gave the startled Aussies an earful as well as his best shots.” Russell went on to score a gutsy 64 not out in 115 balls with nine fours. He later said: “That day I played the most important innings of my career, I crossed a mental bridge. They tried the short-pitched bowling and I coped, they tried all the verbals and I had a go back. You know, they didn’t say another word to me out in the middle all series.” He also took three catches and scored a 65-ball 29 in the second innings, but it all went in vain. Once again he succeeded with the bat, scoring 42 in the drawn Test at Edgbaston.

With England 187 runs in arrears at Old Trafford Russell walked out at 38 for five and lost David Gower on 59. Wisden described Russell’s batting in that innings as “one of the gutsiest innings you are likely to see.” Russell eventually scored his maiden First-Class hundred — a 293-ball 128 not out with 14 fours. He added 142 with John Emburey, but his heroics were not enough to nullify the failure of his colleagues as Australia clinched the Ashes in that Test. It would remain his highest Test score. Russell finished the series with 314 runs at 39.25, 14 catches, and four stumpings. For a wicketkeeper whose Test debut was delayed because of limited batting skills, Russell finished third in terms of runs for England (after Smith and Gower) and averaged more than Gower’s 34.81. Other than Gower he was the only Englishman to play all 6 Tests that Ashes. Russell eventually finished the season with 586 runs at 26.63, 51 catches, and seven stumpings.

He was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. The almanac wrote of him: “At the beginning of 1989, Jack Russell had played only one Test for England and was not considered a good enough batsman to merit a place in the one-day squad to face the Australians. By the end of the year he was the only Englishman who could justifiably expect a place in anyone’s World XI.” Contest with Stewart Things changed with Stewart’s arrival on the scenario: a better batsman by a mile, Stewart was often preferred to Russell in England for Tests, especially since their batting line-up proved to be fragile against the bowling attacks of the likes of Australia, South Africa, and West Indies.

Even then Russell made the most of his wicketkeeping abilities and kept coming back to the national side: on one hand Stewart kept on contributing with the bat, emerging as one of the leading batsmen for England in their dark days of 1990s, doubling up as a wicketkeeper, allowing England to play an extra batsman or a bowler (given that none of the “next Ian Botham”s appeared during Russell’s international career); on the other hand Russell made his cause by being not only the best wicketkeeper in England, but also being one of the best in the world. He grabbed with both hands whatever chance came his way: in fact, so good was his wicketkeeping that England were forced to play him alongside Stewart (who was, on the other hand, too good a batsman to be left out of the XI) in 36 Tests — which accounted for two-thirds of Russell’s entire Test career. Even in ODIs, where the specialist wicketkeeper plays a much limited role, the count was as high as 26 out of 40 matches, almost an equal proportion.

He played a full series in the Wisden Trophy in West Indies in 1989-90, but it wasn’t until the Wisden Trophy 1993-94 that he got to play a full five-Test series. By then his batting had been on the wane already, with his last fifty coming four years back at Kensington Oval. Earlier that year was the India tour, where both Gower and Russell were mysteriously dropped. England were blown away by a 0-3 margin, and Russell’s replacement Richard Blakey — supposedly the better batsman — returned home with 7 runs and 2 catches from 2 Tests. Now, here, once again he failed with the bat, but was dropped despite his sound wicketkeeping. He scored a crucial 38 in England’s first innings at Kensington Oval as they pulled off a 208-run victory, but was completely overshadowed by Stewart’s 118 and 143. In the last Test at St John’s, too, he scored a gritty six-hour 55 — but it was hardly good enough.

The comeback Following his benefit season for Gloucestershire in 1994, he came back in the Test side in 1995 for three Tests in the Wisden Trophy. For once Russell batted well: his gutsy 37 was instrumental in extending England’s lead to 221 at Old Trafford. Then, he found himself promoted to six with the West Indian fast bowlers wreaking havoc in the fourth innings: chasing only 94 England were reduced to 48 for 3, and Ian Bishop had smashed Smith’s cheekbone to send him to the hospital. Walking out against menacing pace Russell turned things around with an uncharacteristic counterattack: he scored a 31-ball 39 with five fours while John Crawley held fort at the other end, and England levelled the series 2-2. In the last Test of the series at The Oval he scored a 221-ball 91 with 15 fours that eventually turned out to be a match-saving as England finished the Test with 6 wickets down and the innings defeat still not saved.

Michael Atherton (left) and Jack Russell celebrate after helping England gain an epic draw in the 1995 Wanderers Test © Getty Images Russell’s best The sudden turnaround with the bat got Russell a spot in the 1995-96 series of South Africa. England achieved in the first Test at Centurion what every schoolboy dreams of doing — batting for a day and a half till rain came in and they didn’t have to field. Russell scored an unbeaten 50. Then came the Test at New Wanderers. South Africa scored 332 as Russell pouched six catches for the second time in his career (he became the first wicketkeeper to do so). The South Africans then bowled out England for 200. Hansie Cronje had probably delayed the declaration a bit to allow Brian McMillan to reach his hundred, as Russell took 5 catches (a record 11 in the Test) as they declared on 346 with nine wickets down. England had to bat out about 11 hours to save the Test.

They finished Day Four at 167 for 4, and lost Smith with close to five hours to bat on the last day, with Mike Atherton — the only specialised batsman — batting out of his skin to save the Test. Russell walked out, and greeted Atherton with the words “don’t give it away now” and “it’s not over yet, remember Barbados”, referring to his six-hour vigil from six years back. Atherton later said, “I knew Russell demanded nothing from me; he was the one who was constantly niggling, snarling through his moustache, and snapping at my heels.” He added: “It was wise to let him carry on, and when he had finished ranting, he had to superstitiously touch my pads with his bat before the start of the next over.” Eventually the two batted out 274 minutes against Allan Donald, Meyrick Pringle, Shaun Pollock, and McMillan to draw the Test. Atherton stole the show with a 643-minute magnum opus of 185 not out, but Russell’s 274-minute vigil of 29 cannot be forgotten.

The partnership is definitely one of the greatest rearguard actions in the history of the sport. He eventually took 25 catches and two stumpings in the five-Test series, falling one short of Rodney Marsh’s 28 catches in the 1982-83 Ashes. Ian Healy subsequently levelled Russell’s 27 catches in the 1997 Ashes, but it was a six-Test series. Final years Russell carried his good form to the home series, top-scoring with 124 in the home Test against India at Lord’s, lifting them to 344 after the Indian seamers had reduced them to 107 for 5, and then, with England in trouble at 168 for 6 with less than 100 in lead, Russell batted out 198 minutes to save the Test. He followed it with 41 not out against Pakistan — once again at Lord’s.

Jack Russell on his way to a century during the second Test match against India at Lord’s in 1996 © Getty Images He would eventually finish with 502 runs at 55.77 at Lord’s (compared to 1,395 runs at 22.87 runs at other venues). Of all wicketkeepers with over 500 runs only Les Ames (542 runs at 67.75) averages more at Lord’s. He was then left out for a year and a half despite the fact that he crossed a thousand First-Class runs for the only time in his career in 1997 (1,049 runs at 45.60). After a recall a year and a half later Russell had a torrid time with the bat in West Indies in 1997-98 scoring 90 runs at 11.25 from five Tests. Though he had 12 catches and a stumping from five Tests his time was running out at 35.

The death-knell came when Stewart was appointed captain of England in the 1998 home series against England, preferring to keep wickets himself; within six months Russell was sidelined, and Warren Hegg was named as the reserve wicketkeeper. He had won the Whyte Mackay Wicketkeeper Batsman of the Year in the three previous seasons — in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Russell retired from international cricket, returning to the lower rung. Godfrey Evans lamented on his exit: “There was a terrible irony. We were the worst team in the world and our one player of undeniable world class couldn’t get in the side.” Russell did not complain while retiring. Talking to The Independent he said, “I’ve been lucky enough to play in 54 Test matches and, for a grubby- haired little schoolboy from a council house in Stroud, I can’t complain.” David Graveney, Russell’s first Gloucestershire captain, mentioned, “You never notice the best wicketkeepers and you could say that about Jack.” The biggest compliment possibly came from the man who had kept him out of the international cricket.

Stewart said of him: “He is someone I have always looked up to and learned from, but it’s good that he’s finished at the top. We are very close friends and if I was not keeping wicket he would probably still be playing. He’s been brilliant and helped me a lot.” He added: “I’ve always said that he is the world’s best and has certainly been England’s best in recent times.” Captain of Gloucestershire Russell had been named the captain of Gloucestershire in 1995. Once he was out of contention for the national side he turned to his county duties with more fierceness than ever. Ironically, the major performances of Gloucestershire came in the one-day matches, a format where Russell was often an ordinary player mainly for his slow and ineffective batting.

Russell led Gloucestershire to 6 one-day tournament finals — all at Lord’s — winning 5 of them: the National Westminster Bank Trophy against Somerset in 1999 and against Warwickshire in 2000; the Benson and Hedges Cup against Yorkshire in 1999 and against Glamorgan in 2000; and the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy against Worcestershire in 2003, losing only the Benson and Hedges Cup Final in 2001 against Surrey. Eventually, he was forced to hang up his gloves mid-season in 2004 due to a persistent back injury. Gloucestershire gave him a Testimonial Year that season. Coaching career Russell started his coaching career in football — for Forest Green Rovers in the National Conference. He also went on to coach and mentor Gloucestershire in 2008, and became a one-on-one mentor for Geraint Jones the way Knott had been for him for some time.

Jack Russell indulges in his favourite pastime at Guyana during England’s tour to the West Indies in 1988 © Getty Images The full-time painter Russell was an enthusiastic painter from his very early days. He began his career as a painter with Man Reading His Newspaper — a moment captured when rain had stopped play during a match between Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. Even on the controversial Pakistan tour of 1987-88 Russell, unlike his colleagues, did not confine himself to hotel rooms: instead, he went around markets and alleys of Karachi and Lahore and Peshawar, finding out subjects, often sitting down with paint and brushes for an occasional sketch or two. It helped that he was a reserve wicketkeeper to Bruce French, and ended up playing just one ODI. He had asked himself “If Rembrandt can do it, why can’t I?” On his return to England he held an exhibition of 40 paintings — all of which sold out in a remarkable two days.

His first book of paintings, Caught on Canvas: The Art of Jack Russell, included the famous Moment of Victory — which had Wayne Larkins hitting the winning run at Sabina Park in 1990 as the subject. The original painting was eventually sold for £25,000 in 1998. A second book, The Art of Jack Russell: New Horizons, came out in 2008, followed by a third: The Art of Jack Russell: A Personal Journey Through Eighteen Counties. He currently runs a gallery in Chipping Sodbury (12 miles south of Bristol where he bought a 1560 building and converted it to a gallery) and also holds exhibitions in London. His works are on display at the Imperial War Museum and the Tower of London. A painting of the Bradman Oval at Bowral has found its place in the Sir Don Bradman Museum. In 2009 Russell was commissioned by Sky Sports to paint five Sky + HD boxes to commemorate the first Ashes to be telecast live on high-definition. His work typically sells for £25,000 or more.

The man There have been better wicketkeepers; there have been fiercer competitors; there have also been cricketers successful in dual professions as well. However, one will probably have to ransack the almanacs to find a quirkier character than Jack Russell in the history of the sport — even if we ignore the fact that his own website mentions his height as something as accurate as 5’8¼”. To begin with, Russell protects his privacy so fiercely that almost nobody knows where he lives. The occasional visitor is blindfolded and taken to his place, and has to leave the same way. This even held true for the builders when they had been commissioned to build his house. Russell loved tea, which is not unusual. He drank 20-plus cups (Robert Philip mentioned “upwards of 30 cups” in The Telegraph) of tea during a day’s play, which was also not that unusual. The unusual bit was that he used the same teabag throughout a Test, which accounted to one teabag being used for about a hundred cups of tea. He dipped the teabag once in the tea (which involved a lot of milk), and hung the teabag from a peg throughout the Test.

Russell used to have milk and Weetabix for lunch every day during matches. The Weetabix needed to be soaked in milk for exactly eight minutes before Russell left the field so that it reached the desired balance between not-too-dry and not-too-soggy. Fraser wrote that Russell “could tell when they had been in for only five minutes and on these occasions the 12th man was in for a rollocking.” On the 1994-95 tour of Australia Russell went to the same Chinese restaurant every day, ordering the same item — chicken without skin and with cashews. If you think that’s extraordinary, he requested the cashews be taken off before the dish was served. Russell was also more obsessed than usual about his gear: his “coffin” invariably contained small plastic boxes of “sewing equipment and pimpled rubber” in case an emergency repair of equipment was required. It also contained a diary of his performances, describing vividly every drop or miss. Once he had locked himself up in a hotel room for two full days after having dropped a catch. Another quirky feature of Russell’s was the fact that he never trusted the hotel laundry service.

“There were jockstraps, underpants and vests constantly hanging from lights and televisions” as a result of this, complained Fraser. The hat: or rather, THE HAT The most interesting tales, however, revolve around his hat, a piece of equipment that Atherton had described in The Telegraph as a “dirty, smelly, grubby, patched-up, stitched-up, upside-down-flowerpot-of-a-thing that perched atop his straggly hair throughout his career.” He added that the hat had caused him “more grief as England captain than any Brian Lara hundred or Shane Warne hat-trick.” In West Indies in 1993-94, Russell had finally realised that the cap needed a wash. Russell, Fraser, and Devon Malcolm had been sharing an apartment when that historic decision took place. The washing went fine, but he put it in an oven to dry it. Unfortunately the hat had completely passed his mind and ran back screaming to the kitchen. Fraser described the aftermath: “With Devon and me wondering what all the commotion was about, Jack pulled his hat out on a baking tray. It looked burnt and when he touched the top it collapsed as though it was puff-pastry.

To correct the disaster he considered flying out his wife.” Russell took things to a different plane altogether in the South Africa tour a couple of years later. Russell was selected for the ODIs, and Dr Ali Bacher insisted the players of both countries wear caps of their national colours throughout the tournament. This hurt Russell’s sentiments. A helpless Atherton sent the tour manager John Barclay to settle things with Bacher. Barclay fought for Russell’s “cause”, and told Bacher that Russell “lined up the ball with the specially cut back rim of his hat and it would be an injustice to deprive him of such an essential tool of his trade.” The fact that Bacher, a successful Test captain who was fully aware of the nuances of the sport as much as anyone else, could be convinced was incredible. The next hurdle came in the 1997-98 tour of West Indies. Ian Maclaurin, Chairman of ECB , insisted England cricketers wear the traditional blue England cap. Once again Russell’s most precious possession was under threat.

Atherton recalled: “I really couldn’t have cared less if Jack wanted to wear a dustbin on his head so long as he caught the ball, but not for the first time in my career I found myself out of synch with the authorities.” Thus triggered management meetings — one followed by another — making the hat probably the most famous one in the history of the sport. Atherton wrote in his diary about the conversation that followed — one that made him feel “more like being in charge of a kindergarten than a cricket team.” Atherton: Jack, will you wear an England cap? Russell: No. 101 Reasons to Love the Cotswolds, cricket, Cotswold Cricket Museum 50. Cricket in the Cotswolds Village cricket is the epitome of English country life - and nowhere more so than in the Cotswolds. Apart from boasting dozens of beautiful village cricket grounds, the Cotswolds also has some interesting cricketing claims to fame, both vintage and modern. Peter Pan author J M Barrie, who was a huge cricket lover but whose writing ability far outweighed his cricketing talent, has some fascinating cricketing connections with the Cotswolds.

Between 1890 and 1913, Barrie was the driving force behind an amateur cricket team made up of players from the literary community, called the Allahakbarries. Barrie's team included many of the foremost literary figures of the time, such as H G Wells, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, P G Wodehouse, Jerome K Jerome and A A Milne. Can you imagine the banter on and off the field between such literary luminaries? And how on earth would they decide who would write the match report? Between 1923 and 1932, Barrie rented Stanway House, near Broadway, each summer from the Earl of Wemyss, whose daughter Lady Cynthia Asquith was a good friend of the author. In fact, Barrie paid for the construction of Stanway's wonderful thatched cricket pavilion, which was built on 25 staddle stones and is still in use today. During his stays in the Cotswolds, Barrie organised matches between his own team and others in the area.

Barrie's most calamitous personal performance had occurred in the Cotswolds many years earlier when he was clean bowled by the American actress Mary Anderson, who had challenged Barrie and his team to a cricket match on Broadway's village green in 1897. Barrie died in 1937 but in 2011 a book entitled Peter Pan's First XI was published. Written by Kevin Telfer, the book weaves together cricket, literature, history, humour and biography to create an entertaining account of Barrie's little-known band of cricketing Peter Pans and the age in which they lived. Although most cricket grounds in the Cotswolds are used primarily for local league matches on Saturdays and friendlies on Sundays in the summer, it was not that long ago that Moreton-in-Marsh Cricket Club would host occasional fixtures for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club. Gloucestershire first played at Moreton way back in 1884 and several first-class county matches were subsequently played there up to 1914.

Gloucestershire returned to Moreton in 1972 and between then and 1996, 21 one-day matches were played there, including regular Sunday League afternoon games. One of the best cricketers to come out of the Cotswolds was Tetbury-born Cecil "Sam" Cook (1921-1996), who played for his native Gloucestershire from 1946-1974 and remarkably took almost as many first-class wickets in his career as he scored runs. A left-arm spinner, Cook took a wicket with his first ball in first-class cricket and went on to take 1,782 first-class wickets. However, he was no batsman at all and scored just 1,965 runs in his career and never reached 40 in an innings. Cook played one Test match for England against the South Africans in 1947 and after retiring from playing, he stood as a first-class umpire until 1986.

More recently, the Cotswolds has produced one of England's most colourful and eccentric cricketers of all time in the form of wicketkeeper Jack Russell, who was brought up in Stroud. Russell, born in 1963, played for Gloucestershire for over 20 years and as one of the finest wicketkeepers of his era, he made his England debut in 1988 and went on to play for his country in 54 Test matches and 40 One Day Internationals. Having developed his talents as an artist while he was still playing, Russell has enjoyed a successful second career and has his own gallery in Chipping Sodbury. At a rather more grass roots level, one team of Cotswold cricketers have achieved something some professional cricketers never accomplish - playing at Lord's, the home of cricket. The village team in Shipton-under-Wychwood, near Burford, is regarded as one of the strongest teams in Oxfordshire and has achieved regular success in the Home Counties Premier League. But in 1997, players achieved every village cricketer's dream by making it to the final of the National Village Knockout, played at Lord's.

Despite ending as runners-up, they fought their way to the final in both 2002 and 2003, and were triumphant on both occasions. The club made it to the final again in 2010 but didn't manage a third cup win. In 2010, another Cotswold village cricket team achieved a claim to fame that few could match when they secured a sponsorship deal with rock royalty. Slaughters United - which combines the cricketing talents of the neighbouring villages of Lower Slaughter and Upper Slaughter - gained the backing of Coldplay to sponsor their new shirts. Coldplay's front-man Chris Martin, who is said to be a useful batsman, has played club cricket in Devon and has also turned out in the past for Great Rissington, another village team in the Cotswolds, not many miles from the Slaughters.

Wily Russell takes his hat off to Lord's - Telegraph Wily Russell takes his hat off to Lord's By Christopher Lyles 9:00PM BST 13 Jul 2001 A BATTERED sun hat that has seen longer service than half of the stands at Lord's will be visible again at Headquarters today as Gloucestershire seek a fifth successive one-day knockout trophy. And for Surrey's batsmen, its idiosyncratic owner promises to be a constant source of irritation to their aspirations. Jack Russell may be pushing 38 but the former England wicketkeeper, who has had to rebuild his floppy white headgear on several occasions since first donning it in 1982, is still the finest exponent of his craft in this country. And, fortified by his customary diet of tuna fish and baked beans and a daily intake of 15 cups of tea, he has taken the art of glovework in limited-overs cricket to new heights in the last two years. His ability to stand up to pace bowlers such as Ian Harvey and Mike Smith, as well as spinners, has been an integral part of his team's successful strategy of "squeezing" opposing batsmen.

His incessant appealing might annoy opponents and spectators alike, not to mention umpires, but it has proved a mighty effective weapon. "Part of our game plan is to maintain a presence in the field and I'm head of the fielding department, so I try to lead the way," said Russell, whose batting contributions have also proved pivotal on numerous occasions. "Standing up to the quickies is part of our strategy of squeezing batsmen and putting pressure on them with a close-in ring of fielders. It's great to get up there and cause a few problems. "I liken it to putting my hands around the batsman's throat without physically touching him. It's risky, and the odd ball will get past or hit me in the chest, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives and we've continued to do it when required." Related Articles Inside & Out Magazine – January/February 2016 by Inside & Out South Gloucestershire (page 59) - issuu issuu CHIPPING SODBURY The Best Medieval Market Town A rchaeological evidence places human activity in the Sodbury parish centuries before the Norman Conquest.

In 1086, at the time of the Domesday Book, there were two estates, or manors, known as Sodbury. One centred on Little Sodbury and the other on Old Sodbury. By the 12th Century, Old Sodbury was in the hands of the Crassus family. William Crassus was granted the right to hold a market on his land. Markets were jealously guarded, being one of the most significant ways goods were distributed in medieval society. Chipping Sodbury came in to being when Crassus decided to hold the markets away from his manor house in Old Sodbury. The site to the western end of his lands became the town we know today and it continues to host a farmers market on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. Crassus built his town on raised ground, close to the River Frome, and at an important crossing on the Bristol to Cirencester road. This was also along the ancient salt route from Droitwich and the Pilgrims Way. Crassus obtained the right to hold an annual fair on the name day of St John the Baptist, June 24th.

The town was also granted the right to hold ‘mop’ fairs for recruitment of agricultural labourers. Both fairs continue to this day. St John the Baptist Church was built in 1284 on a small site close to the river. As congregations swelled over the centuries it became a substantial church. As a market town, Chipping Sodbury soon became known as a borough. Effectively it was its own manor surrounded by the greater manor of Old Sodbury. It enjoyed a degree of self-governance under the direction of a bailiff and a team of the town’s burgesses. The burgesses lived chiefly in houses fronting the main street that had long, narrow plots stretching behind them. Those plots have changed very little over the centuries and are largely laid out in the same way today. insideandoutmag.co.uk From the outset, Chipping Sodbury was dominated by agricultural produce. By the 13th and 14th centuries, wool from the Cotswolds was being traded. There is evidence that weaving also became an important industry in the town and that the tanning of leather was also being carried out.

In the 15th Century, the early travel writer Leland described the town as “a pretty little market town” and was praised by Daniel Defoe for having one of the largest cheese markets in England. When the coaching era began in the Elizabethan period the town benefited greatly. The rise of the merchant class and a requirement for travel boosted trade and there is to this day much evidence of the many inns that sprang up as a result. Some of these continue to trade as public houses. summoned the Lord of the Manor William Crassus and insisted that he name the unnamed road Rounceval to ensure that he remembered to take better care of the roads leading to the entrance of the town. The incident reminded the Prince of a similar accident and delay at Roncevalles in Northern Spain on his way to meet his new bride Lady Eleanor of Spain. One WG Grace, Dr William Gilbert Grace, the most famous cricketer that ever padded up, played for the local cricket club. The Grace family have a long association with the club, which extended over its first 50 years. No fewer than ten members of the Grace family have taken the field to represent one of the country’s oldest established clubs.

The link began shortly after the club was founded in 1860. Dr Alfred Grace “No fewer than 10 members of the Grace family have taken the field to represent one of the country’s oldest established clubs - Chipping Sodbury Cricket Club” The facades of many of the buildings in the town date from the 18th and 19th Centuries, many often hiding far older structures. The predominantly rural character of Chipping Sodbury means that it is still the centre for hunting. It lies within the territory of the Badminton-based Beaufort Hunt. Recently Time Team’s Mark Horton described Chipping Sodbury as the best example of a medieval market town in the UK. As Professor of Archaeology at Bristol University, Mark conducts an annual Heritage Walk around Chipping Sodbury for his students. Some famous names are often associated with the town not least of all one Prince Edward (Longshanks) who is credited with coming up with the name for Rounceval Street. One spring morning back in 1258, the Prince and his entourage suffered an accident travelling through the town en route to London via Chippenham.

He was so vexed by the delay that he had moved to the town to practice medicine and had taken over the practice of local physician and surgeon Dr Brookman at View House, now known as the Moda House. Continuing the medical theme, one Edward Jenner came to live in Sodbury in 1763, apprenticed to local apothecary and surgeon Dr George Hardwicke. The former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell runs an art gallery in the town. His life-long interest in art was turned into a full-time profession upon his retirement from cricket, although he is still involved with Gloucestershire CC in a coaching capacity, Today, Chipping Sodbury is a popular destination for shoppers and visitors. It retains the feel of a village, with many local families having been there for hundreds of years. The numerous fairs and festivals as well as the diverse range of societies and groups all play a part in making the town a successful and vibrant community. January / February 2016 ~ Inside & Out Magazine 59

Question: Which former England wicketkeeper has his own art gallery in Chipping Sodbury?
Answer: Jack Russell