The Phené Philanderers Cricket Club

The 2013 cricket season was over, the days were getting shorter, and food and drink were becoming scarce. The natural response of the Greater Pullin was of course to begin his autumn migration. He set off on 20 September, expecting to take about 6 weeks to reach his over-wintering habitat in the southern hemisphere. All major perils of the migration were avoided - he was lucky not to be shot down over Cyprus - and the Greater Pullin landed at Broome Airport in Western Australia on 31 October. Other migration news can be found here and here.

Ian Pullin, unable to get a sufficient buzz from playing cricket for the Phené, decided to build a plane and fly it from Australia to the UK. Well, you would, wouldn't you. This sounded like a classic Phené case of biting off more than you could possibly chew, but he has actually done it.
Ian took off from Perth on 25 March in a plane that he built with his plane partner Chris, planning to arrive in the UK at the beginning of May. In fact the journey ended when he landed at Lydd Airport in Kent on 30 April. Fantastic!

Not much more than a year after it had re-opened, The Phené came under threat again in the form of a planning application for a residential conversion. The Council rejected the application, but there was an appeal and then a public inquiry. Finally, on 16 January 2013, the Planning Inspector dismissed the appeal. The Phené Arms has been saved and can remain as the home of the Phené Philanderers.
The full story is told on our Phené Arms page.

And look – the local cricketers, toppingly called the Phené Philanderers.

The Phené Arms has re-opened, re-named The Phené. A dozen Phené players and wives attended the inaugural drinks party on 21 June 2010. If only it were that easy to get eleven players to turn out for a match...
The photo on the left shows the Phené President for Life and Beyond et al. at the party.

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 under the title 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 the Phené Cricket 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?