The recent Presidents match saw the return of one of Kings best loved sons - Phil 'Gateaux' Murphy. Phil or 'Murph' as he was usually known was one of Kings greatest characters, always usually seen with a smile of his face he was a mild mannered guy who could rightly claim to be an all rounder. A more than useful batsman and wily bowler he had an impressive record in his time with Kings, which was split over several seasons mainly due to Captaincy duties with Sunbury Village CC
He made his debut for Kings on the 14th August 1994 in an away game against Bessbrough CC, in which he made a low key 12 and followed that with 13 at Pyestock. Although making 11 not out in the next match at Old Manorians (a game in which Dave Perry made his debut) it was in this game that he made his mark with the ball, as he took 4-23 off 9 overs. He finished the season off with two good innings, 35 at Barnes and then 40 not out against Hamm Moor
However it was to be two long seasons before we were to see him back on the field playing for Kings, his duties for Sunbury Village keeping him away. He returned to Kings late in 1997 when he made a very patient 49 on a 'sticky dog' at Brookwood, needless to say he got plenty of stick for jug avoidance. It was in this game that he earned the nickname 'Gateaux'. The home team that day provide some fabulous home made cakes and Murph was so keen on them he went back time and again for another piece. Needless to say this caught the attention of his team mates and the name stuck. In the next game against Thurlow he also made 49, this time an unbeaten one, but still got grief for his jug avoidance. Innings of 29* and 31 followed before he came in for one ball at Battersea ironsides with four needed to win, he duly scored the four needed off his first ball and with it qualify for the averages with what at the time was a record 81.00 for the highest qualified average. This record stood until 2008 when it was finally bettered by Dave Miller. In the same period his bowling did not live up to expectation as he returned combined figures of 3-132.
However all was to change the following season. With the bat he made 257 runs from 17 innings, with a top score of 64 in the tour match at Hastings Civil Service. But with the ball he had an outstanding season, taking 27 wickets at 11.77 a piece, including two 5 wicket hauls in back to back games on tour, including in the aforementioned Hastings game where he took 5-19 and then he followed it up the next day with 5-23 against Maresfield. But it was in 1999 that we saw the best of Murph. With the bat he made an impressive 384 runs at an average of 34.55, inlcuding fifties of 58*, 52*, 59 and 50. Whilst with the ball he took 21 wickets for 277 runs at an average of 13.19. That was the last we saw of the Murph on a full time basis. A move with his family up to Derbyshire meant the end of his regular Kings career, however, he did join our tour for two seasons. In 2000 he made his highest score for Kings with 66 at Hastings, and 34 not out at Salfords, whilst picking up two wickets. Then in 2002 he joined the tour again, this time with less success, picking up a 'duck' at Hastings and then a slow scoring 21 at Shere.
Beyond his playing abilities it was his pleasing personality and dry sense of humour that made him fit into the the Kings set up so well. He had a passion for buying new bats, sometimes it seemed like he had a new one each week, and his kit bag would be bursting with all sorts of additional kit. His some what unusual bowling action, bowling off the wrong foot - earnt him another nickname - CIC - or 'care in the community' - he also would try and bowl leg spin, which he did have a reasonable level of success with. Among the great moments he brought to the side off the field took place on tour in Hastings. During the tour Murph had christened Pipey 'Bod' after the TV character. While Murph was in a shop he saw Pipey heading to the same shop, Murph quickly advised the shop assistant that Pipey's name was 'Bod'. Pipey duly entered the shop as when paying for his purchase the assistant duly called him Bod, much to Pipey's total shock and disbelief. Hiding in the background was Murph, cracking up and eager to tell all that the shop assistant had also believed Pipey to look like Bod. One moment that Murph would want to forget also happened on tour. In the match against Glynde and Beddingham Murph was tasked with bowling into a howling gale, the wind being so strong that it blew the sightscreen over. One particular batsman came into bat and offered up a simple catch to mid off, where unfortunately Oz grassed the ball. The batsmen duly went on to score 103* - but only after taking Murph for 28 in one over! Murph ended up with the less than impressive figures of 9-1-76-0.
But all in all his record stands up there with some of the best to have played for Kings, always chirpy in the field, always a threat with the ball and with the bat a very solid and talented batsman. Above all else though he was one of the nicest guys you could want to meet.
SQUAD NUMBER: 022
DEBUT: 14.8.94 vs. Bessborough CC (12)
MATCHES: 42
BATTING
INNINGS: 41
HIGHEST SCORE: 66* vs Salfords CC 2.7.00
RUNS: 1037
CAREER AVERAGE: 32.41
50's: 6
100's: 0
BOWLING
OVERS: 220.4
RUNS: 824
WICKETS: 58
BEST RETURN: 5-19 vs Hasting Civil Service CC 27.6.98
AVERAGE: 14.20
5 wickets: 2
Hat-tricks: 0
CATCHES: 16
|
Matches |
Innings |
Runs |
High Score |
Bat Average |
Wickets |
Best |
Bowl Average |
|
|
1994 |
6 |
6 |
115 |
40 |
28.75 |
4 |
4-23 |
8.75 |
|
1997 |
5 |
15 |
162 |
49 |
81.00 |
4 |
2-15 |
33.00 |
|
1998 |
14 |
13 |
257 |
64 |
21.42 |
27 |
5-19 |
11.71 |
|
1999 |
13 |
13 |
384 |
59 |
34.55 |
21 |
4-48 |
13.19 |
|
2000 |
2 |
2 |
98 |
66 |
98.00 |
2 |
1-5 |
18.00 |
|
2002 |
2 |
2 |
21 |
21 |
10.50 |
0 |
0-4 |
- |
|
Total |
42 |
41 |
1037 |
|
32.41 |
58 |
|
14.20 |
