Monthly Archives: May 2014

Chris Plume maiden 50 interview

On 4 May 2014, Chris Plume scored his maiden Exiles 50 – in an innings of 63 not out, carrying his bat against his former club Spencer. The Exiles website caught up with Chris to find out his thoughts on this achievement:

First Exiles game of the season against Spencer, how were you feeling?

I was a little nervous! I was keen that we gave Spencer a good game so we could look at making it a regular fixture for the Exiles. In the end, although we fell short, I think it was a pretty competitive game and hopefully we can get to play them again.

After 40 overs of keeping wicket how did it feel to opening the batting aginst your former club?

When I went out to bat I was a bundle of nerves, partly because of the chase and partly because I was playing against some guys I’ve known for nearly 15 years. But I settled down eventually. Tiredness set in after about 30 overs!!

You looked pretty comfortable against their bowlers and at various stages Exiles were really in the game chasing down their score, was there added enjoyment scoring runs at a familiar ground?

Yeah there was a nice symmetry to score my highest ever total at Spencer, where I learnt the game and played all my colts cricket. Batting with Andy was great because I knew I wasn’t under any pressure, I was just rotating the strike, picking the singles and watching him send it to all parts (but mostly cow corner) from the non strikers end!

There is a lot of talk about multi-dimentional cricketers but I think you are now taking this to extremes, i) spin bowler ii) batsmen iii) wicket keeper iv) excellent in the field v) you also bring the average age of Exiles down by at least 10 years when you play

..talks us through this and is there anything you can’t do?

I just want to contribute. I kept wicket a bit as a kid but gave it up and became a spinner instead. I did it three or four times last season and it felt good; my batting has come on massively since my colts days too, when I was a proper number 11! I like being involved and, as long as I’m adding value, I’m happy to fill any role that the team needs on a given day.

Finally many congratulations on you maiden Exiles 50, how did feel, any shots you’d like to mention or stages of you innings? Hopefully there will be more to come.

Cheers. I got to drop anchor and take my time which suits my style really. I led a bit of a charmed life – I think I was dropped twice – but there was no movement through the air or off the pitch so I felt reasonably comfortable. The only memorable shot from my recollection is a cover drive I hit off one of the slower bowlers, which I timed really nicely.

Chris, many thanks for your time and here’s hoping for many more Exiles fifties in future. 

Exiles out of Joynt

Exiles suffered their 3rd straight loss at the start of the 2014 season following an 87 run defeat against Agricola.

After a couple of new ball strikes from Andy Wingfield (2 for 11), a superb partnership of 123 from Agricola’s Mike Almond (46) and Russell Joynt (a hard hit 82) put their team in a very strong position before 4 fine strikes on debut from Al Shelley (4 for 49) got the Exiles back in the game, and some excellent spin from Chris Plume (3 for 8) finished off the Agricola innings for 173, with over 4 overs unused, the last 8 wickets falling for 30 runs.

The Exiles reply started off disastrously and barely got any better. Captain John Tither fell second ball as 3 quick strikes from Dan Gauntlett and an important one from Andy Dugdale quickly saw the Exiles 4 for 4. Jasper Searle (20) and Wingfield (17) then worked hard adding 41 runs in 15 overs as the Exiles looked to get back in the chase, but once they both fell in quick succession, only some late hitting saw the Exiles get within a hundred.

Exiles are off to the races at Ascot next week looking to kick-start their season.

New look Exiles in old look defeat…

A much changed Exiles side – featuring no less than 6 debutants – put up a good fight in a 39 run defeat against a strong CYPOS side.

On electing to field, the Exiles bowlers did a fine job in restricting a potentially devastating opposition batting line-up to 158 – with Chris Kemsley (4 for 36) and Andy Wingfield (3 for 19) picking up most of the wickets, but Simon Gundry (only conceding a miserly 10 runs from his 8 overs), a maiden Exiles wicket for Bernard Leuvennink (1 for 31) and a solid spell of left-arm spin from Frank Bertalan (0 for 33) all good contributors.

The Exiles were lacking most of their top-order batting and only a typically belligerent half-century from Gundry (51 not out) got the Exiles in the chase.

But an enjoyable game in surprisingly decent conditions. Agricola visit next week.

Plume & Wingfield hit maiden fifties in Exiles defeat…

Chris Plume (63no) and Andy Wingfield (59, finally) hit maiden Exiles fifties but it wasn’t enough to save the Exiles from defeat on their opening game of the 2014 season at the lovely surrounds of Spencer Cricket Club.

On losing the toss, Exiles – featuring a much-changed side featuring 4 debutants – worked hard with the ball and in the field, but solid batting from Spencer saw them reach 211 for 4 off 40 overs, with only Phil Ling (2 for 36) having much joy for the Exiles attack.

The Exiles reply started poorly with 5 of the top 6 out for single figures as they slumped to 58 for 5, but Wingfield hit a 27 ball fifty – with 4 sixes – in a partnership of 79 with Plume – who reached his own 50 off 84 balls, and ended up carrying his bat throughout the Exiles innings.

When Wingfield was finally caught, the Exiles innings subsided, and a 45 run defeat eventually ensued, with the expected fireworks from Ling (2 off 13 balls) not materialising.

Cypos at DunDonald is up next week.