It is with great sadness and a very heavy heart that the Club wish to announce that our President Bob Ayres passed away on Wednesday.  The Club would like to send our deepest condolences to Joy and the Ayres family at this very difficult time.

Bob has been a club member for over 60 years, and had proudly been club president since the early 1970s. On behalf of the Club we would like to pay tribute to Bob and thank him for the tireless work he put into the Club over the last half century.  As anyone who knew Bob will agree, he was a truly great man and nothing short of a legend in Essex club cricket, and without doubt BPCC would not be in existence without Bob’s efforts.

In addition to his stalwart time as Club President, Bob set high standards during his playing days. No doubt highlights for Bob included keeping wicket against an Essex X1 featuring the likes of Graham Gooch and John Lever, and many years later taking 9 wickets in match ... Illustrating Bob's desire to play cricket, and play it at the highest standard he could.

Saturday afternoons at Mopsies will not be the same without helping Bob up the step into the bar to get his Scotch and lemonade (just a dash), and then listening to him complain about our failing top order.  Also, for a man who had stopped playing for almost 20 years  he always got as much pleasure from a win as any of the players 

The Club will hold a Bob Ayres Celebration match during the summer and details of his funeral will be announced shortly.

Kind regards 

The Club Committee