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Match Reports Sat 19th July 2003 In a slight diversion from normal reporting, Dulwich's 2nd XI fashion scribe caught up with the team at The Summer Ball, amidst a maelstrom of merriment and after-hours mischief... After one of the more anticipated shows of this Summer Season, I met up with the extrovert Russell Clayton, who-even by his club's exotic standards-is a strange bird. His skewed sense of pageantry and love of the macabre, along with his signature jumbling of references, colours and patterns, have propelled him to the front of Dulwich's diverse fashion menagerie. Born and raised in sprawling fashion-mad South East London, the 52-year-old Clayton exhibits all the idiosyncrasies one would expect from an artist of the cloth. He collects fake skulls (over 200 and counting), sports a tattoo on his left shoulder and entertains a preoccupation with women's shoes and bags rivalling Imelda Marcos. Clayton is nothing short of Dulwich's premier provocateur. "I like to shock," says Clayton, as he wrestles a Dusty Springfield-style bouffant wig onto his head. With a three-quarter turn, he examines his handiwork in the mirror of the changing room - a concrete-clad haute hangout in SE24's exclusive Burbage Road neighbourhood. Satisfied that his wig is securely attached, he gently bobs his head to test the bounce of his instant coiffure. "There's a brilliant new generation of Dulwich cricketers coming up, but I worry that many of them don't take enough risks," he says. "Many of them don't seem to understand the value of self-exploration." Others in the room sound off approvingly, including Steve Hale - a long-time member at Dulwich who tonight embraces Clayton's risqué mantra to the full in sporting a radical "just off the moped" look to such a prestigious event. All of us are getting ready for the Summer Ball, the unofficial highlight of the Dulwich Fashion Season. Throughout our primping process, Clayton elaborates on the emerging fashion scene at Dulwich. "Fashion here is just starting to become part of the culture. It's still quite new," he says through pursed lips as he touches up his chequered Max Miller suit. "We don't have established traditions yet, like the Horsley & Send tradition of green socks. I mean, Dan Colquhoun may have scored a glorious 140 off 97 balls today, but how did he look?!!!" He makes a valid point. Declaring on 239-4 off 41.5 overs is all very well, but if you're not going to bowl them over with how you look afterwards, what's the point in getting out of bed? Clayton is sure he can turn things around though. "We're so preoccupied with white. It's so then, but we will become now. Dulwich fashion will be very big." So next week at Worcester Park, the fruits of Clayton accepting the invitation to turn the team out with greater flair and abandon might just see them get 13 points and a return to the pinnacle of the Championship scene. Or maybe they'll just come up against another team of dead bats who can't even pull on a pair of decent socks.
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