Cricket Comes to Gwangju
by Chris Dunning
Photos by Christian Oey and Abhishek Sahu
The inaugural Gwangju Charity Village Cricket Festival took place in aid of Sung Bin Orphanage last Sunday at Chosun University. First, you may be wondering, ‘What on earth is cricket?’ That is a very good question, and it’s something you should know. After all, it is the national sport of England and is said to be the second most popular sport in the world. To sum up the rules briefly, cricket is an 11-a-side sport. One team bats and tries to accumulate as many runs as possible by hitting a ball once it has been bowled by a member of the opposite team. Each team has 20 overs to bat, with each over consisting of six ‘balls’ (each ball is roughly the equivalent of a ‘pitch’ in baseball).
During these 20 overs, they must attempt to score as many runs as possible whilst avoiding having their whole team ‘out’. Once the 20 overs are up or 10 batsmen are out, the other team has a turn batting and tries to get more runs than the first team. Simple, right?
After a few lessons for the beginners and a warm up game, it was time for the serious stuff to begin. The teams were mixed with a host of nationalities taking part. The inspirationally named Team A, captained by Matthew McLaughlin-Stonham, batted first. When the umpire said, “‘Right arm over the wicket, 6 balls to come,” more than one North American was heard to say, “I have no idea what’s going on.” Okay, maybe half of the players and most of the crowd were still a bit clueless, but the game started anyway. Some steady batting from Marcus Kotze and Chris Dunning, as well as some big hitting from Matthew French, put Team A in a strong position. Team B edged their way back into the contest with some tidy bowling and a final score of 152 that left the game evenly poised at ‘tea time’. Sandwiches and other food were kindly provided by First Alleyway. Although tuna and cucumber sandwiches were asked for, there were instead separate tuna sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches rather than the two ingredients together. The catering wasn’t provided by an Englishman, but it was appreciated nonetheless.
Team B had their turn next with Louis Mynhart and Captain James Green scoring some steady runs to start things off. By this point virtually all the players understood what was going on and the fielding and bowling techniques of the newer players were improving dramatically. Some solid batting from Team B left the game nicely set up for a tense finish with 13 runs required of the last over. It came down to five needed off the last ball and Reghart de Beer hit a big six to win the game for Team B in thrilling finish. Co-organizer Matthew McLaughlin-Stonham said after the game, “It was exhilarating,” and that the game was “played in good spirit; just the right amount of fun and competitiveness”.
Co-organizer Al Barham, who has volunteered with the orphanage for over 4 years, declared that an amazing 500,000 won had been raised through the day. The money was generously matched by Mr. Choi, a dentist-turned-entrepreneur, bringing the total to over 1 million won for Sung Bin Orphanage. Everyone involved was delighted by all the fundraising, and Mr. Barnum noted, “It is refreshing to leave some sort of lasting footprint for positive change”. There’s no doubt the day was a huge success for all involved.
There was a collaborative effort between the following people in planning the day, all of whom deserve mention. They were James Green, Jonty Trelfer, Julian Warmington, Marcus Kotze, Tim Whitman, and Kyle Chandler, along with Al Barham. Many thanks to them. I, along with many others, look forward to the
next game in Gwangju.