Testimonial

Testimonial is a novella set in the 1960's about John Mercer, a professional England Test Match cricketer being awarded a Testimonial year for his services to cricket in this his final season before retiring. One of the matches staged by John for the occasion is against Stansmere, a village Cricket Club situated twenty miles outside of London in very picturesque surroundings that he has been associated with for many years. John's team consists of professional cricketers of the highest calibre who regularly play alongside him in his County side. The game, which this small Club eagerly look forward to playing, is to be televised, with coverage by the BBC and commentaries of the proceedings by well-known personalities in this field. A committee meeting is held to discuss arrangements for this match, which, coincidently, occurs the same year as the village Club's Centenary with the playing of cricket on their ground up on the Common. A brief history of the Club during these hundred years is made known to the reader. A wedding reception of two young members of the Club is also taking place the day before the Testimonial inside the pavilion to add to these celebrations. Early of the morning of the cricket match, the president of the Club, a retired brigadier army officer, out walking his dog on the Common, discovers a body of a dead woman floating in the lake behind the pavilion. He informs the police who quickly appear on the scene to investigate the matter. It appears this woman is the late wife of the groundsman at the Cricket Club.