In the tenth episode of the fourth series of Dad’s Army Chief Warden Hodges challeges the Home Guard Platoon to a cricket match. The platoon readily accept. Mainwaring announces he is an opening batsman, Wilson is the captain of the local cricket club, and Jones volunteers to act as a wicket keeper with a particularly long anecdote on an occasion when he stumped a renown Indian cricketer.
Godfrey reveals that he used to play cricket for the Civil Service Stores when he was younger. Jones arrive late, and when he bats, the ball ends up smashing a church window.
On Saturday, at the cricket changing rooms, Hodges pulls a swifty and brings in a “ringer”, E.C. Egan, a world-class professional fast bowler, played by Freddie Trueman. This is kept a secret until Mainwaring opens the batting. Egan signs up as a Warden so it is legal for him to play and when he asks what he has to do if the air raid siren goes off he is promptly told “he should resign straight away”!
The platoon arrive, with Wilson wearing a yellow, blue and brown striped blazer, Frazer in his funeral attire, Godfrey in the panama hat he wears for bowls, and Pike wearing his bank clothes. Mainwaring is shocked, and lends Pike his spare cricketing trousers.
Hodges reappears, and asks Mainwaring to toss the coin to see who is batting first, but Mainwaring insists on getting the umpires, the vicar and the verger, to do it. Mainwaring calls heads, but it is tails. The platoon are fielding first.
Hodges and Gerald open the batting for the Wardens, and the usual shenanigans occur with Mainwaring threatened by the Verger with being sent off Godfrey droping a simple catch and losing the ball in some long grass. The Wardens keep running until a second ball is produced amassing twenty four runs of the delivery. At tea they declare at 4 for 152 after Jones makes a magnificent stumping.
Mainwaring opens the batting with Wilson and faces the “ringer”, Egan, first ball. Mainwaring is confused when Egan strides down to the sight screen to bowl, until Warden Hodges gleefully informs him that the ball comes flying out of his hand at 95 mph. Egan charges towards Mainwaring, and delivers a ball which causes Mainwaring to dive to the floor, much to Hodges’ delight, however the delivery has pulled Egan’s shoulder, and he goes off, injured.
The platoon now have a chance. Mainwaring does well, and Jones, Walker and Frazer all contribute. Meanwhile, Wilson holds the innings together, scoring 81 runs. Eventually, Godfrey is the only one left to bat, and they only need five more runs to win. Wilson is still in at the other end. Eventually Wilson hits the ball out of the ground to win the game and as they cheer the wardens, and Godfrey and Wilson, the siren goes, and the platoon take up their Home Guard positions.
It is hard to get a picture of who scored what as their are a large number of contradictions in the episode. For instance Godfrey is credited with scoring 8 runs when only five were needed to win when he comes in to bat! As best can be ascertained the scores are as follows:
- Captain Mainwaring 17 (LBW)
- Sergeant Wilson 81 not out
- Private Pike 0 (Bowled)
- Lance Corporal Jones 18 (Bowled)
- Private Frazer 7
- Private Walker 12
- Private Sponge 1 (Bowled)
- Private Godfrey 1 not out
The three other players are not mentioned, however one is seen being bowled out.
In addition the TTT (Tupi Test Team) Cricket Board has announced they are preparing to send a team to take on both the Wardens and the Home Guard, however this will be some time away (code for not yet on the project list, but ready to be painted!). The figures are from Eureka miniatures.
I plan to use all these figures and the pavilion in a Pulp Fiction game using PIGS Pulp rules and the “Owzthat” cricket game with the dual objectives of winning the pulp game and the cricket match. Although I have a modern version of the “Owzthat” game, way back in the sixties my Uncle Frank owned a garage in Country Victoria and gave me a Castrol Motor Oil version of the game for Christmas which had large hexagonal wooden rods as the “dice” which I still have.
The cricketer figures are produced by Sloppy Jalopy and are available from Sally Forth.
