Charity
Cricket Match 2011
The Petersfield Macmillan Celebrity Cricket Match on Sunday 5th June
was a huge success raising £4920, despite the weather on the day being
drastically different from the glorious sunshine of the day before. However
while many of the surrounding towns and villages were subjected to torrential
downpours an umbrella of positivity and fun seemed to shield the Heath Grounds
from most of it, and only in the last 10 minutes of play did the rain become
more than a few scattered drops here and there.
This is the first year the Petersfield Cricket Club has held this event and
around 300 – 350 people made it down to the Heath over the course of the
afternoon. Some just popped in for a bite to eat and a drink, others came early
and stayed till the end. During the day the Celebs mixed freely with the public,
chatting and having their photographs taken and each of them had nothing but
praise for the whole day. The relaxed way in which things were run, the accent
being on having a wonderfully entertaining, fun & positive afternoon, made being
there a real pleasure for everyone.
The Celebrities opened the batting with comedians Mickey D and Neil Dagley (AKA
Flange Krammer). Mickey was bowled out in the 2nd over, but the
Umpire called no ball for the bowlers foot being too far over the line (very
kind of him!), so he stayed in and went on to make 28 runs before being bowled
out. Neil Dagley remained in bat for over half of the teams allotted overs and
was finally out for 83 runs, the highest individual score of the day. Commentary
by some of the celebs, particularly Tim FitzHigham and Tom Bell, while their
side was batting was hilarious and really added to the fun atmosphere of the
day. When Petersfield were batting Rufus Hound was the surprise player and star
bowler for the Celeb team taking 4 wickets from the Petersfield side. He also
scored a respectable 12 runs for his team,,,, not bad for someone who hasn’t
played a match since he was at school! The match was very closely fought and was
won in the end by Petersfield in the 30th over of their 35 over
innings with just one wicket to spare. All the celeb players had a fantastic
time and had nothing but praise for the day. Every one of them also wants to
come back again next year, and they are determined to win the cup next time too!
The day wasn’t without it’s drama with the two team captains, both playing as
wicket keepers, sustaining injuries which required trips to the hospital. Marcus
Sampson for the Petersfield team, and one of the core organisers of the event,
got caught in the face by a fast ball in the 6th over and had to
leave for medical attention to a nasty cut on his cheek. He returned, glued back
together, and went on to open the batting for Petersfield scoring a glorious 50
runs before generously retiring to allow other players out onto the field. Tim
FitzHigham, captain for the Celeb’s, caught a ball directly on the end of his
finger. He also left the field in some pain and was diagnosed by one of the
club’s first aider’s, Dee Salmon, as having a broken finger. This was splinted
on site, but he was also taken to hospital for a full check. On his return Tim
got straight back onto the field proving that both captains on the day were
tough, dedicated people who loved the game.
The event was a huge success and fantastic example of what a local club can do.
It was very much a team effort with many people from the club organising
different areas of the day and a terrific team of volunteers to back them up.
Special mention should go to the following core members without whom the event
simply couldn’t have happened – Andy & Dee Salmon, Markus Samson, Karen Rothery,
Mark Holloway, Lisbeth Thomas, Sarah Rice from MacMillan and finally Chaz
Collett from the Petersfield Comedy Club whose contacts in the industry brought
the celeb team to town.