Philanthropists v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 12 Aug 2007 at 2.00pm

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Philanthropists v Erratics Cricket Club Erratics on Sun 12 Aug 2007 at 2.00pm
Erratics Cricket Club Lost by 4 wickets

Match report Brian Carpenter

The Erratics v the Philanthropists at Defiance Field. A match which conjures up images of a grim struggle between one team of inconsistent dilettantes and another of generous benefactors. In reality, though, it wasn’t much like this. The Erratics were consistent; with the bat mostly mediocre, with plenty of players getting starts and failing to go on, and with the ball mostly excellent, with virtually everyone bowling well. The Philanthropists weren't particularly generous, except in their refusal to be intimidated by the 'pithy' comments of the Erratics' new overseas signing, Shane Ellis.

After a swift bit of business on the international transfer market by the Erratics chief 'fixer', Simon Orpen, Ellis, from Victoria, had jetted into Heathrow from Australia on Saturday afternoon, and, after a dash down the A38 courtesy of Peter Thomson and a frantic tour of the suburbs of Plymouth in an attempt to locate the Torpoint Ferry, he impressed on his first appearance for the Rampant Unicorns.

Some research on the web had revealed that Defiance Field is primarily a rugby ground, and this was confirmed when a couple of sheets of paper marked 'line-out calls' and 'scrum calls' were found in the dressing room. As the Erratics are always looking for any sort of tactical advantage, these were offered to Thomson in case he wanted to incorporate them into our strategy for the afternoon, but he rejected the opportunity for the Erratics' 'Number 8 to go to ground and set up a ruck'. This was a pity, as the sight of Ellis diving onto the ground at extra cover while holding the ball and waiting for a range of other Erratics to bind together and run over the top of him might have confused our opponents somewhat.

Thomson lost the toss and it was decided that we should bat. This was probably sensible as at the time the decision was made we only had eight players, a total which rose to ten (and stayed there) once Guy Clarke and Jonathan Davies arrived.

Brian Carpenter and David Pearson opened the innings with a partnership of twenty-odd before Carpenter, with two unaccustomed fours behind him, aimed an expansive drive at a straight ball and was bowled. The pitch was grassy - only just distinguishable from the outfield in fact - and slow, with some disconcerting variable bounce at one end, meaning that a succession of Erratics struggled to get going against an attack that boasted a few slowies of varying ages and a member of the Devon women's team.

David progressed to a chancy but valuable 33, Peter Hinds made a belligerent 16, Guy Clarke a staccato 10 and Jonathan Kirby a frustrating 12. Oliver Kirby made 10 before allowing a seemingly innocuous delivery to pass down the leg side. Unfortunately he had failed to notice precisely where he was standing and what he thought was the leg side was actually his leg stump, with the result that he was bowled. Shane Ellis took a while to come to terms with the behaviour of a pitch that was probably several yards slower than anything he'd ever batted on before, but he finally managed to locate the middle of the bat and finished 15 not out as the innings faded to 138-9. The Philanthropists held things together well in the field with the former Erratic Simon Topping pouching two well-judged skiers.

The talk at tea was of a competitive total, but one which could have been a lot better if we'd had an eleventh man. As the missing man was apparently Matt Cook - reported to have injured himself falling off his bike - it could have been better still.

The Philanthropists made a steady start against accurate bowling from Ellis and Davies, with the partnership finally being broken when Ellis had the less assured of the two openers caught behind by Thomson after unsettling him with a couple of short ones. An excellent spell of attacking leg-spin from David Pearson followed, together with some accurate seam from Hinds and some left-arm fare from Pearson senior which the remaining opener took a bit of a liking to. With said opener playing a measured and often dominant innings, things were looking very rocky for a while, but David Pearson produced a rabbit from the hat to bowl someone round their legs and Hinds also chipped in with a timely wicket.

As a final throw of the dice, Ellis, having been rested after an initial six-over burst, was brought back, having spent the intervening period exercising his vocal chords with a range of comments straight from Bay 13 of the MCG. Many of these are not suitable for a family audience (does this website have one?) but one of the more original ones was directed at the callow young Philanthropist who emerged with his thigh pad strapped to the outside of his trousers and heard Shane say 'Hey boys, only Superman wears his jocks on the outside'.

Ellis quickly regained the rhythm he'd found towards the end of his first spell and disturbed the stumps of a couple of the Philanthropic middle-order and another was run out, but, in the end, our total of 138 wasn't quite enough, and with the senior opener, Fenn, finishing undefeated on 91, the Philanthropists won with four wickets in hand.
With that, it was off to the excellent Wilcove Inn which offered good beer (so I'm told), free food and an impressive view across the Hamoaze towards Devonport Dockyard.

To me the Philanthropists seemed like just our sort of team - competitive but friendly, with a good mix of ages, genders and playing standards. Hopefully this is a fixture we can repeat next season.
So, a good day, but one which revealed a few home truths which we should all bear in mind for the future:

1. In a tight game it always helps to have 11 players.

2. If you're trying to find the Torpoint Ferry, make sure there's someone in the car who's been to Plymouth before.

3. Australian cricketers enjoy sledging.

====================

Additional notes by Jonathan Kirby:

Our first game against this club. Good friends, Peter Hinds and Simon Topping had both played for the Erratics. As I recall, Simon was based at Plymouth Uni and eventually joined the Philanthropists, in favour of the commute to play for us. He was the connection between the two clubs.

Shane Ellis had been introduced to the Erratics by Simon Orpen, and was explicitly encouraged to “be Australian”, hence the sledging referred to by Brian in his match report. The “sledging” was often somewhat self-deprecating, in that as the Philanthropists were about to overhaul our meagre score, he was shouting things like “come on, guys, we’ve got them where we want them…”

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Batting

Player Name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	for 9 wickets	0 138
Brian Carpenter	b Stripling	13
David Pearson	ct Stripling	33
Peter Hinds	lbw Griffin	16
Guy Clarke	ct Griffin	10
Jonathan Kirby	ct Edwards	12
Jonathan Davies	ct Edwards	5
Oliver Kirby	b Robinson	10
Shane Ellis	Not Out	15
John Pearson	ct Jeffery	4
Peter Thomson	ct Jeffery	0
A.N. Other

Philanthropists Bowling

Player name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
No records to display.

Philanthropists Batting

Player name		R
extras TOTAL :	3w 6b 1lb for 6 wickets	10 140 (36.0 overs)

Erratics Cricket Club Erratics Bowling

Player Name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
Shane Ellis	9.0	2	23	3	7.67	2.56
Jonathan Davies	10.0	1	33	0	0.00	3.30
David Pearson	9.0	2	35	1	35.00	3.89
John Pearson	3.0	0	23	0	0.00	7.67
Peter Hinds	5.0	1	19	1	19.00	3.80

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