Plympton raise £200 for hospital charity during first-day tournament

By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE

A CHARITY tournament organised by Plympton Cricket Club on the belated first day of season raised £200 for the nominated cause.

Jon Goulder, the Plympton CC chairman, wanted to do something on behalf of the club to acknowledge the work of the NHS during the Covid-19 crisis that delayed the start of the season until Saturday.

The Plymouth Hospitals Charity was the nominated good cause that will benefit from the £200 raised.

Goulder said the tournament went without a hitch despite numerous new regulations to keep cricket matches safe from Covid-19 infections.

“We had four teams of eight who played six games of eight overs each during the day,” said Goulder.

“There was a bit of getting-used-to going on, such as cleaning balls and hands every six overs and batsmen having to run socially distanced on opposite sides of the pitch.

“We played in glorious sunshine and achieved our aim of getting as many people playing cricket as possible. Lot of people turned out to watch as well.”

Goulder said the tournament was well supported by players from the men’s and ladies teams – and the club’s umpires as well.

“All our club umpires stood in games and none of them reported any issues,” said Goulder.

Each of the teams was captained by a young Plympton player, all of whom had a senior player to advise them if needed.

Winning captain Jonty Walliker led his side to victory in the tournament. Runners-up were Ben Privett’s team followed by Josiah Caunter’s and Elliot Hamilton’s teams.

The winning squad was Walliker, Jon Williams, Simon Beare, Jake Beare, Jason Degg, Ian Duckworth, Milly Squire and Charlotte Phillips.