Celebrity cricket weekend in Bray to honour Sir Michael Parkinson one year on

Maidenhead and Bray Sports Club will mark one year since the death of its president, Sir Michael Parkinson with a pro-celebrity weekend this month.

The event will raise vital funds to redevelop the club’s ageing pavilion while remembering the beloved television and radio broadcaster after he died aged 88.

His son, Mike Parkinson, told the Advertiser that his father was linked with the cricket club for nearly 60 years, and was keen to ‘do something special’ for the organisation but passed away before this came to fruition.

Maidenhead and Bray Sports Club chairman Mike said: “He was very involved in keeping it afloat during difficult times financially and one of the reasons he used to do a series of celebrity cricket days which became very famous – infamous in some ways.

“We decided to carry on this vision.

“It’s a nice thing to do [being] a place that was incredibly important to him and a time near the anniversary of his death is very poignant.

“If ever there was an event that reflected my dad’s personality, it’s the two events we're having over the weekend.”

The Sir Michael Parkinson Pro Celebrity Weekend, on August 24 and 25, will feature a gala dinner, live music, a silent auction and a 20-over cricket match played by celebrities including Chris Tarrant and Kevin Pietersen.

“One of his great loves was great food and we’ve got the Hinds Head catering for us,” said Mike.

“I said what would be lovely is a meal that reflected his taste.”

Inspired by the 1974 book Parkinson’s Pie featuring favourite ‘recipes of the stars’ including Sir Michael Parkinson, the Hinds Head team will serve his favourite dish, a Barnsley bitter and beef pie.

Joe Stilgoe – a singer who was supported by Sir Michael – will perform on the night, and Mike will talk about his father’s life and career with clips from his archive.

“It really is a fantastic way of celebrating him as a man of all his guises,” he said.

“When my father first came down to live in Bray, one of the reasons was because he absolutely adored the cricket ground.

“We were living in Windsor, and he was playing for Datchet.

“He came to play at Bray and thought ‘I rather like this ground’ and after the match, he went for a drink in The Hinds Head and thought there’s a great pub here, a magnificent cricket ground and it’s closer to London so I should move there.

“With the help of his friend, he found a house and that was the house he lived in basically until he died.”

Mike said his family never wanted a ‘massive memorial’ after the ‘moving’ and ‘wonderful’ funeral service at Bray Church last year, adding: “We never felt really that we can top that.”

Mike described the upcoming bank holiday weekend event as a ‘huge celebration’ and said:

“I don’t think we want sombre anymore.

“My father wasn’t a sombre man. He was a man who laughed a lot and liked people who made him laugh.

“Events where people make fools of themselves on the cricket field, listen to wonderful performances by Joe Stilgoe and enjoy eating great food in beautifulsurroundings – I think that’s a wonderful way of remembering him.

“He wasn’t a man who thought too much about sombre things. He always wanted to enjoy life. He never wanted to have any regrets so I think we feel very comfortable in the way that it’s going to honour him.

“The more the merrier because in the end, we are just keen to raise money for a very good cause.”

Mike said the ‘big project’ at the pavilion is a building extension featuring a designated events and party space, a bespoke classroom for a preschool nursery on the first floor and a complete redesign of the changing rooms

“If we don’t redevelop the pavilion – this is the serious side of it – like all amateur sports clubs, we will suffer because it's a very expensive building and it’s not getting any younger and if that starts to fall, our finances can’t redevelop it,” he added.

To book tickets for the Sir Michael Parkinson Pro Celebrity Weekend visit: www.tinyurl.com/mr488rec