It is with great sadness that today, I have to announce the passing of our friend and scorer Jolyon Huxtable, after a short battle with cancer, at the age of 73.
All of you who have played 50s cricket since I took over the captaincy will know him: friendly, knowledgeable, witty, with an unrivalled passion for cricket and a love of an after-match gin and tonic. His enthusiasm for scoring and the sheer enjoyment he got out of it was infectious; he scored almost every match for us over the last three seasons, was there for our greatest triumphs and our lowest moments - all with a positivity and a willingness to do it all again the following week.
He would turn up at the ground with his laptop, looking for a power source, always bringing his own extension cable just in case. 'Any changes to the team Skip?' he would ask with a twinkle in his eye, knowing full well that the original 11, emailed to him three days prior to the game would have changed several times by match-day.
I've known Jolyon for almost 20 years, and was delighted when he agreed to score my Devon Over 50s games. I shall miss him greatly, and his sense of humour.
When I was ill, and told him that I couldn't the attend our AGM and Dinner last November, his reply to me was, 'Sorry to hear that, I'll defend you whatever they say.' Tonight I shall have a gin and tonic for you old friend.
Jolyon is survived by his wife Sue and son Tim.
Kind regards
Ian Hayter
cc: DCB website
