Chris Hamm dies aged 59

Chris Hamm, who for more than two decades was the official and dedicated scorer for the OC Cricket Club, died November 21 at the age of 59.

Chris was born in Ceylon, brought up in Hong Kong and came to Cranleigh into 1 & 4 South house in 1960. It was with the 1st X1 in the summers of 1963 and 1964 that his interest in cricket and scoring started. This was to play a key part of his whole future life. He left Cranleigh in 1964 to work in the administration of the veterinary department at Guys Hospital followed by project work at the Regents Park Zoo. Later he had spells in printing and journalism. Together with his involvement with cricket, photography was his other serious hobby.

He started scoring for the Old Cranleighan Cricket Club (OCCC) in 1964 and was ever present until the early 1980’s. He was a captain’s dream. He would always be first to the ground, be it home or away, score neatly and accurately, often by himself as the opposition had no scorer, write up the match report and then drive home. Only occasionally would he stay after the match for a few beers. He held the position of OCCC Honorary Secretary from 1968-1982. His annual report writing on the season and meeting minutes were always full, punctual, critical and humorous. For his loyal and dedicated support and services to the OCCC Chris was made a Life Vice President.

In 1995 Chris became associated with Surrey County Cricket Club as 2nd X1 scorer but on occasion doing 1st X1 matches. He thoroughly enjoyed this responsibility, being part of the team and particularly staying at decent hotels on away matches. Combined with his role at Surrey, Chris scored for Guildford C.C. in the Surrey Championship.

Alan Butcher, the former England opener who is now Surrey's coach paid his own tribute. "Chris, who might be termed a lovable eccentric, was a pleasure to be around, and was always very helpful to me in my job in terms of providing figures and information. He loved Surrey Cricket, and was really passionately involved - he enjoyed our successes, but more than that, he was really delighted when one of the young players came through and did well in first team cricket or when we unearthed a young player who had come through the youth system. Chris always used to enjoy that side of it. He will be sadly missed, and I would like to pay tribute to him for all the work he did on our behalf."

In July 2005 due to increasingly poor health he reluctantly had to retire. As a bachelor his private life was always secluded.. He died at the Le Court Cheshire Home. About 20 of his close friends, including fellow scorers from other counties and representatives from The Oval, gathered for a simple ceremony at Guildford Crematorium on December 8.

Hong Kong Phooey

We accepted the invitation to be one of the 32 teams to participate in the fourth Hong Kong International Six-a-Side Festival. A truly international tournament with only two sides from the UK being invited. Sponsored by Ichor International Investments and Chesterton Petty, this festival was the first club sixes tournament to have world-wide television coverage and attracted international cricket stars Doug Walters (Australia), Heath Streak and Adam Huckle (Zimbabwe).

Faced with a 12-hour flight, eight-hour time difference, temperatures in the eighties with high energy sapping humidity and air pollution, a three-day cricket programme starting at 8.30 am and a city with the 24-hour-a-day carnal attractions of Hong Kong, this four-night trip was indeed testing. Undaunted, We went native immediately on arrival on the first night with a Chinese supper in Rat Alley followed by a bar crawl until dawn in the lively Wanchai district. This first excursion set the tone and style of the trip. As in nature, the weak members of the herd are picked off first. Peter Hobbs, Mike Chase and Rick Johnson, all hardened OCCC tourists, were soon off the demanding pace of the trip. Our skipper, Henry Watkinson, then went in the back and our Press Officer, Barry Ross, went in the head. Excellent wins against the strong Malaysia CC, Tokyo CC and Hong Kong Wanderers CC saw us progress to the quarter finals on the final Sunday morning. The strategy of fielding first, bowling a tight line with good fielding, allowing Nathan Ross, Abeed Janmohamed and Phil Goulstone to hit off the necessary runs appeared to be working.

On arrival for the quarter final, while we again kept the excellent first-aid marquee busy, our opponents, the Pakistan Association CC, were jogging around the ground. They won the toss, we batted first to post a sub-standard target, Hobbs was carried off the field in his first over when his pain-racked body finally gave in, and we lost off the penultimate ball of the match. The festival was won by the SubCont CC. However, our ambassadorial social skills and cricket blazers off the field continued to attract photographic and media attention and we have accepted an invitation to the prestigious cricket festival next September in Shanghai.

Tour party Henry Watkinson (Captain), Mike Chase, Phil Goulstone, Peter Hobbs, Abeed Janmohamed, Rick Johnson, John McDermott (Tour Manager), Nathan Ross, Barry Ross (Press/Media Officer).