Rodney Sturgeon was a good man to have met. 

Born in 1938, Rodney had been a pupil at KGS in the 1950s. 

Rodney went to Cambridge and then taught at the University of the West Indies for a decade. 

Returning to England, Rodney became Form Master of 3B (Year 9 in modern terms) in September 1974.  Rodney taught classics and was a mad keen cricketer. 

By the late 70s, Rodney was master in charge of cricket. 

Rodney had many wise words about life, the universe & everything else.  His wisest words were that "it matters less how much talent you have, but more that you make the most of the talents you have". 

A brief, but true, story illustrates the point.   

The Surrey Schools Under 18 team of 1979 contained one superbly talented player called Bob Milner, others less talented than Bob and Alec (considered very eager, but of limited talent and only selected his dad was the manager).  One day, Mickey the Manager told Bob he was to bat at 4, with Mickey's son at 3.  Bob feigned a twisted ankle. 

I cannot tell you what happened to Bob's cricketing career.  You can look up what happened to Alec on Wikipedia.  Alec Stewart made the most of his talents; persisting when others would have given up.   Alec played 133 Tests for England.  Alec scored 8,463 Test runs.   Alec was prepared to keep wicket and/or captain the side when needed.  He was still playing international cricket at 39 

Having retired as deputy headmaster in the early 2000s, Rodney died in 2005 at too young an age.  Rodney had been a pupil, master and friend of KGS. 

In 2006, it seemed a good idea to celebrate Rodney's contribution by having two bits of cricketing silverware.  The Sturgeon Cup for the School to contest with the Old Boys.  The trophy to present to the School cricketer who makes the most of his talents.   

Rodney would have enjoyed the sprit in which the game is always played in the last 20 years.  Plenty of smiling faces and not too many forward defensive shots. 

It is good to see the School play the Old Boys; irrespective of who wins.     

It is even better to see former winners of the Sturgeon Trophy playing for the Old Boys in the years after leaving KGS. 

The 2026 match saw, amongst others, former Sturgeon trophy winners Tom Beaumont and Artie Rice- Oxley playing for the Old Boys in a losing cause and the 2026 Sturgeon Trophy winner, Alec Holden, sparkle with the bat in a winning cause. 

In every area of life, Rodney was right.  "Make the most of your talents". 

James Gordon (Kingstonian 1979)