1980: TABLE CRICKET at the Oval | Nationwide | Niche Sports | BBC Archive

In the summer of 1980, as the England cricket team face off against the West Indies, an even more intense battle is happening just around the corner. The Table Cricket Championships are being fought within a stone's throw of the Oval, and the dozen schoolchildren fighting it out mean business. The prize? A trip to the West Indies, of course.
Cricketers Alan Knott and Bob Willis drop in to have a go, encourage the players and experience the white-hot furnace of real competition, right down to the final between "demon bowler" William and "demon batsman" Peter.
Excerpt taken from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, Friday 25 October, 1980.
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[@weekenderTone]

A kid called Mark used to bring this game to school at the end of term when we were permitted to bring board games in. Mark wouldn't let me play. He also used to let the tires down on my bike. I didn't care much for school.

[@PaulRoneClarke]

Sorry to hear that. I hated my secondary school. But it (sometimes literally) beat a good education into me. Carrot was never going to work with me. I needed stick to get motivated. If teachers took it easy with me when I was a kid I would have done as little as possible. It was all about getting outside and playing with my mates. Any excuse to not work. I needed some "grit in my oyster". I know that's not for everyone and no school does that these days, but I'm pretty sure nothing else would have worked for me. As a kid if a teacher gave me an inch...I'd take a mile.

[@scotmorley8526]

My friend, Mark Dobrowski, was the king of Barnsley, at this game. Much of a shame he never got an invite, to this southern bias competition. He would of been living it up in the Caribbean, for a fortnight, had he received one

[@johnsimpson6670]

Most probably did get an invite, but it got lost when carrier pigeon t' flew off course, and ended up in Nora's stockings.... by eck n ee ba gum

[@jeshkam]

Good luck to both of them, we were all counting on them.

[@TheStevenWhiting]

I remember a friend having this and attempting to play. Never worked well when tried it.

[@PaulRoneClarke]

Was it the base/mat? The one that was provided in the box was terrible. Lumpy, moved about in use etc. Ruined the game. We replaced it with an old card table top we found in a skip and it played 10x better.

[@garrybaldy327]

😂😂 I used to have this. Never quite worked though as we couldn't find a flat enough surface to play it on. I seem to remember lots of creases then getting fed up and going back to my Scalextric.

[@stevepolhill6816]

I absolutely loved that game

[@michaelturner4457]

I knew about table football, but not table cricket.

[@BigBlack81]

Same. Makes the JM Media Binho tournaments now seem almost tame in how competitive these kids were.

[@MrSimonmcc]

Loved the little dog at Viv Richards.

[@stevestannard6004]

🐕

[@adamweishaupt2846]

Woof Woof

[@sharpvidtube]

Graham Gooch presenting the trophy, that was a great prize, did the runner-up get anything?

[@CricketEngland]

Just the tears of defeat

[@MrSimonmcc]

A life lesson.

[@Luke-er6pg]

A weekend with Jimmy Saville!

[@richardevans560]

No, this was the 1980s. Also note no one made a fuss when he cried. Stiff upper lip young man.

[@brianmmacu]

A few years later, Graham Goo h who handed the winner the trophy, had a video game named after him

[@CricketEngland]

How did the winner manage to grow that grass on his upper lip he can’t be more than 14

[@markgoddard2560]

Cricket: The Englishman’s concept of eternity.

[@atomictraveller]

"watching some cricket eh" "now i'm going to wash these clothes" - tim brooke taylor

[@CamperVanPersie]

3:20...That Kid's got a 'tache....

[@malcolmjawohowelll2892]

This film clip is wonderful for showing a passion for childish things but actually its the competitive spirit and what appear educated lads ...a little time capsule of table top sports games before electronics ...i am a little nostalgic for those days when more imagination was required ..

[@PaulRoneClarke]

We got rid of the rubbish mat they gave and used the top of a really nice card table top we found in a skip. The game would have been much better if the base it was played on wasn't so poor. Replacing that and it was a great game to play. We used to devise all sorts of rules. Add all sorts of things to the game. I was about 12 or 13 when this film was made, so almost exactly the time when I started playing it. Still playing it in University 10 years later. We had a ladder/league. Test rules, ODI rules and "Beer" rules among others. Used to keep the scores on my Commodore Amiga in the Maxiplan spreadsheet (yes - it sounds like a sanitary product)

[@joseparcenary4706]

Is this like Subbuteo for the middle-class?

[@rajivradha]

I had this game too, it had Gower and Botham on the front cover. And there was Subitio? But it had only 2 players per side? Do kids still play board games these days?

[@melsagelord3991]

Felt sorry for the defeated lad.

[@jamesdunn9930]

Wasn’t that test match in Guyana called off because of apartheid arguments and they were chased out of the country by the government, then the England manager died of a heart attack? Must have been a long 2 weeks…

[@tonyhancock3912]

"What are you looking forward to most in the west indies?" "Smoking a bit of weed I think" 😐

[@fredo1070]

Smug winner with his bum fluff moustache.

[@CricketEngland]

Must have been a GG fan

[@IanPaulWright]

Not so smug when he got to Guyana 😂

[@Spectrescup]

Thats a hugely precocious moustache the winner had

[@CricketEngland]

Obviously a GG fan

[@lewis7515]

He probably never grew another inch because all his testosterone charge got used up, in hair.