The Phené Philanderers Cricket Club

The Phené has re-opened. A dozen players and wives attended the inaugural drinks party on 21 June. If only it were that easy to get eleven players to turn out for a match...

Draw declared in village cricket green dispute

Just don't hit the ball into the back garden, or you will be denied your six.

A villager’s attempt to stop cricket being played at Shamley Green, near Cranleigh, until proper protection is provided for his home was thrown out by a judge at Guildford County Court on Friday.

The Phené are delighted that Shamley Green CC, opponents since 1977, have won their court case. We rather like playing cricket on village greens.

The report broadcast on the BBC London regional news on 11th May featured footage of the match between Shamley Green and Phené Philanderers on 3rd May.
Video: Flying balls stop village cricket

The Telegraph has been covering the story for a while:
Cricket can be played on village green after injunction thrown out by judge
Court judgement could threaten village green cricket
Cricket club plays by six and out rule in neighbour row

A sad day. The Phené Arms has closed.

We started a blog, but interest faded rather quickly.

The Winter Special edition of Cricket World Magazine published a brief report on our Corfu tour: Phené Triumph in Corfu.

25 Years of Phené Philandering

We played in Albania, once, and both The Times and the Daily Telegraph featured the event in their diary columns: Bowled over of Albania and Over the boundary. The Times thought Philanderers too racy, though, and referred to the club as Phené Wanderers! There is also a brief mention in the BBC Test Match Special article on Odd places to play cricket.

Cricket in the Pacific Islands has some differences from the game played by the Phené, but some similarities too: Cricket in the Blue (from A Pattern of Islands by Arthur Grimble). Time for a tour?