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Returning to Somerset from a brief sojourn in Scotland,
Paul Chalmers burst on to the Ilchester cricket scene on 18 August
2002, registering a hugely inauspicious duck away at Pitney. Worried
that the then Skipper, Andy “Doc” Marten would begin
to question his decision to persuade Paul to turn his back on
Chetnole (his Club of six years prior to leaving for Scotland)
in favour of the embryonic village side, he set about repairing
the damage, amassing 171 runs in his next three innings. For this
and the subsequent four seasons, PC – as he imaginatively
became known – made the Batting Trophy his own, registering
4 tons (highest 154*) and 16 fifties, scoring 2301 runs (average
45.12) by the end of the 2007 season.
A genuine all-rounder, Paul has taken 70 wickets (average 13.11),
success largely attributed to the fact that he “swings both
ways”. Statistically, he also has the safest hands in the
Club, pouching 38 catches, mostly at first slip, from where the
Pie Eater conveniently has to move neither very far, nor very
fast.
Paul Skippered the 1st XI in 2006, winning 12 out of 14 League
games on the way to Promotion to Division 1 of the Mid Wessex
League as runaway Champions. However, having reached the ripe
old age of 40 during the 2007/08 closed season, he is now simply
grateful that the current Skipper still knows who he is, and is
becoming better known for his tenacious staff work in his capacity
as Club Secretary, than his performances on the field –
“the pen is mightier than the bat”. If all else fails,
and with such meticulous attention to detail in the written word,
he should at least be able to keep a tidy scorebook.
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