I was practising in Gloucestershire's nets at Bristol on 23rd July 1974 when I was approached by the first XI captain, Tony Brown. Would I like to go to Yeovil tomorrow? I asked him what was happening in Yeovil. He said no, The Oval. I replied that I wouldn't mind. David Graveney had split the webbing in his left hand, and I was in the right place at the right time. This debut was also Alastair Hignell's first match. I was even luckier as I wasn't on the ground staff because I had recently accepted my first teaching job which was to start in September. 
One of my heroes, John Mortimore, gave me a lift to London.
Surrey won the toss on a good wicket and elected to bat. Mike Procter had injured himself in the previous match and was unable to bowl. After three declarations, Surrey set Gloucestershire 217 for victory with enough time for both sides to win. I had taken a catch in Surrey's first innings and was pleased with two wickets in the second. I got my first chance with the bat near the end. Robin Jackman bowled me a half-volley which I hit to the boundary to win the game. The only problem was that Proccy was on 98 at the other end. I was to learn later that he hadn't scored a century against Surrey at that time. Oops. (We had a laugh about it many years later at a Cricket Lover's evening.)
Other highlights of the game were Jim Foat's then highest score of 62*, Roger Knight reaching 1,000 runs for the season and Mike Procter passing 7,000 runs in Championship matches.
What a great start for me! We were on a high, but were brought spectacularly down to earth the next day against Warwickshire at Edgbaston when Rohan Kanhai and John Jameson put on a world record second wicket partnership of 465.
Memory added on March 5, 2021
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