After last year’s Covid-imposed hiatus, a number of enthusiastic researchers joined together to play cricket in the University Inter-departmental Cricket League in June and July.
Team Chemistry played a total of six matches against the Departments of Archaeology, Zoology, Molecular Biology, Physics, the Genome Campus and the Perse Teachers.
Although sadly they were defeated in all six matches, team spirits remained buoyant throughout the season, in which good weather meant all the games were played at their appointed days and times – usually unheard of in an English summer!
“Yes, it was a bit frustrating to lose, especially against the Cavendish, but we were also proud that we got better as time went on," says Fergal Hanna, a first year PhD candidate who helped organise the team. “It didn’t particularly affect our morale, we were just happy to be out there playing, and it was good fun. It was a nice, relaxed atmosphere – obviously you wanted to win, but if you didn’t it wasn’t the end of the world.”
“It was also nice to meet other people from the Department you wouldn’t meet necessarily,” says Fergal, who is researching the polarisation effects on hydrogen bonding in the Hunter group. “There were people literally working in the lab next to us that we wouldn’t have known.”
The team is open to all skill levels, and Fergal says most members didn’t have a lot of experience, usually having played a bit of college or club cricket. Games are 20 overs and played mid-week starting around 6pm. The squad also included a few ‘ringers’ from other departments who didn’t have teams, meaning they were able to field a full team for most of the matches, despite several incidents of self-isolation.
Fergal himself says he “played a bit of college cricket (he was a Caius undergrad) and a bit at school” but does not consider himself an expert. As the ‘nominal’ captain, Fergal says: “I did a bit of whatever was needed. I filled in where we’ve been short, bowled if we needed a bowler and batted occasionally. Basically, I’m a Jack of all trades, master of none.” He has also occasionally kept wicket when Finian Leeper, the only PI on the team, couldn’t make it.
Fergal says the most memorable match they played was versus the Genome Campus at the Hill’s Road sports ground. Although they ultimately lost the match, Fergal recalls: “We played quite well, we posted our best score, and everyone got a chance to bowl, which was really fun.”
Fergal says he has found it relatively easy to juggle his commitments with working in the Hunter lab and organising the team. Lab members have been wearing masks and working in shifts to maintain social distancing, but Fergal says he found this just made him work more efficiently. “It actually means you’re more focused in the lab because you know you only have so many hours in a day.” Recently lab space has become more available and although there are still limited capacities in certain rooms, Fergal is happy with his research. Altogether four team members came from the Hunter group, and two were in the Lee group just down the hall. “That meant half the team came from the basement corridor!” he points out. Players also joined from a wide range of other groups, including Bronstein, Bernardes, Scherman, Thom, Giorio, Phipps, Reisner and Vendruscolo.
On the positive side, Fergal says most of the participants were in their first year, so he expects next year’s team to do better, and he hopes to stay involved.
