A very worthy entrant into the Life Members club is the fifth captain of the Tokyo Wombats, our very own token Pom….Alex Patmore.

Born in Japan, Alex popped out making a huge scene, crying and in hysterics as usual, in what would be his first premature and over exaggerated appeal! The nurse later confirmed that he was in fact not-out.

Early in childhood, Alex moved back to the UK and started his cricket career in Norfolk, UK — playing for Sprowstown and Vauxhall CC before bribing his way into impressing enough to force his way into the Yorkshire youth team. A prodigious run-scorer from his early days, at Yorkshire played alongside a young Joe Root where the locals described Alex as a “dud root” promising batsman.

Destined for greatness and to become an international, somewhere along the line things got lost in translation, and although he would follow Joe Root into International Cricket, it was to not to be at the Oval, or Lord’s, or Edgbaston, but the even more unique and exotic locales of Sano 3, Fuji “International”, Samoa, and the Philippines.

After getting in touch with the Tokyo Wombats, after much debate and discussion, the board reluctantly withdrew their ban on Pommy players, and allowed Alex into the club. It was an opportune time for Alex to join the club, as the knees of incumbent keeper and former captain Jarrad “Dino” Shearer were about to give out….as well as his calves, hamstring, hips, kidney, liver and spleen. Patmore was joining one of the strongest clubs in Japan, dominant in the Japan Cricket League having won 4 x Division 1 titles in the last decade, and always featuring at the top of the table. Needless to say then, that in his 13 year stay the trophies continued  the Wombats remained number 1 never won anything! Coincidence….?

Immediately, Alex made an impression at the top of the order, forming a great partnership with Gavin Beath and scoring runs for fun and flaying balls to the boundary, putting the fear of god into opposing bowlers, boring the shit out of the few spectators with his Boycott like atritional style…

Alex not only had an aversion to scoring a 6, he also had an aversion to scoring a ton, tantalisingly getting out in the 80s and 90s multiple times before finally cracking a maiden century for the Wombats. He went on to score 5 centuries, the most for the Wombats at the time of printing. Alex’s performances for the Wommies not only saw him score prodigiously and rack up many wins for the club, he also got the attention of the Japan selectors and went on to get many caps for the national team, where he is still representing his country proudly. In 2012, Alex and the Wommies made the Grand Final only to “run out of luck” vs Sano, and again in 2015 to a strong Max outfit.

“Mirrors” continued to knock out the runs, and knock out fellow Englishmen too across the years, and it was no surprise when Beefy left the club that the natural successor would take over as captain. Unfortunately, the first half a dozen people we offered the position to turned it down, so we had to turn to Alex, and once again look past our No-Poms policy. In Alex’s reign, that no-pom policy would be trashed, and in recent years the club changed from one token Pom per XI to one token-Aussie, with often half a dozen infiltrating the line up. The Wommies were always competitive with Alex in charge, mostly because of his runs keeping us in games, but sadly over the year the strength of the team has waned, and the last few years have seen us fall on hard times. Alex will go down in history as the only captain of the Tokyo Wombats not to win a premiership as one of the best batters, and captains the club has ever had.

Captaining any team isn’t easy, and captaining the Wombats is more like a capital sentence, that you wouldn’t give your worst enemy! Alex gave years of great service and dedication on and off the field to the Wommies, and without him the club probably wouldn’t still exist, and he single handedly kept us competitive for years. We thank him for his efforts, and he is always welcome back in the burrow!

After 5 centuries, over 4000 runs, 98 catches (jug avoidance! also 4 behind dino fyi!), and a swinging left hook to the jaw of a rowdy fellow Englishman in the Golden Gai, Alex will be fondly remembered at the Wombats and is a very worthy entrant into the Life Members club!