Almanac Life: The Whitburn Coincidence

 

 

Ever heard of Whitburn Cricket Club?

 

No, nor had I until a couple of weeks ago. For information, it is situated on the North East coast of England between Sunderland and Newcastle. When I did first hear about it, within a couple of hours I was sitting at their pleasant home ground watching a game of cricket.

 

It became a destination for me after one of the more remarkable coincidences in my life occurred last month during a trip to England.

 

My son Samuel and I had travelled to England to visit my daughter Tallulah, who was working on the touring production of the wonderful stage musical Hamilton. She had been in England since January so we felt some family time was called for.  June worked for us with work and Uni.

 

Had this story evolved in, say, London, it may have been less remarkable as many young Australians head there to work. But the touring Hamilton visited regional centres like Liverpool and Southampton and was now in Sunderland. I suspect not many Australians head there for work – or any other reason.

 

One of my good friends in Perth was Jeff Zampatti. A fine cricketer, he had in the 70s and 80s opened in the A grade for Nedlands (later Claremont Nedlands). I also played at that club and one of our team mates was Ian Marshall, a lovely fellow whom I had also known in legal circles as a barrister.

 

Jeff (and Kate’s)  son is  Rufus Zampatti, who is also a fine young all-round cricketer building a career at Claremont Nedlands. Like many promising young cricketers, Rufus felt that he might benefit from a season in England to hone his skills. Contacts in Perth put the feelers out for a contract for a job and accommodation. A place was found and in mid-June he headed over.

 

I hadn’t spoken to Jeff for a few months since catching up in Perth back in April. I had no idea Rufus was heading to England. Living in Melbourne, I had not seen Ian for many years.

 

Sadly, Ian recently passed away. His funeral service was held in Perth  and Jeff Zampatti went to pay his respects. That same day, Samuel and I arrived in Sunderland.

 

I am not sure who selected the photos to display at Ian’s In Memoriam but of the many thousands that must have been available, one of those chosen was a picture of Ian and his teammates in a Nedlands Second Grade team posing for a team photo at the old Midland Guildford ground, in the early 1980s. I am in that photo standing just behind Ian. As you probably know with the In Memoria, each photo is shown for a few seconds.

 

Jeff, in Perth at the service, noticed me in the photo and made a mental note to let me know. He assumed I was at home in Melbourne.

 

So,  later that night, he sent me a text, letting me know the sad news that Ian had passed away and noting my appearance in the photo with Ian during the service. When I got the text in Sunderland England on the Saturday morning, I was sad to hear about Ian and thanked him for letting me know. I mentioned I was in the UK.

 

Jeff texted back: “You’re not anywhere near Newcastle in the north-east are you?”

 

Me: “I was in Newcastle yesterday. Maybe today as well”

 

Jeff then texted a line we often shared from Blazing Saddles when taken aback: “Are you pulling my lariat?”

 

Jeff said that Rufus was playing cricket that day at the Whitburn Cricket Club.

 

I googled. 22 minutes by bus from where I was sitting.  I couldn’t comprehend the totality of the serendipity!

 

The son of one of my close friends on the other side of the world, was, that very day, playing cricket 22 minutes away from where I had just arrived to see my own daughter in North-East England.

 

And the only reason I knew about it was that someone had chosen a cricket team photo to show at a memorial service attended by my friend (who had no idea I had even left Australia), 9055 miles away in Perth, the day before.

 

Australian music legend Dave Warner in Bicton vs Brooklyn once sang about a fated meeting on the mean streets of New York between a boy from Bicton (WA) and a hood from Brooklyn. The violent confrontation could be avoided if either, by chance, turned off on West 24^th and they might never meet. Such a concatenation of fates was what occurred to me now.

 

Look at all the things that had to happen;

 

My daughter goes to work on the travelling show and is in Sunderland in June.

 

We decide to visit her in mid-June.

 

Rufus Z. decides to play cricket in England. There are hundreds of cricket clubs in England.
The place he is offered is at Whitburn near Sunderland. He goes there in mid June.

 

A mutual friend sadly passes away and an old cricket mate goes to the service.

 

At the service, one of the photos – of many thousands that could have been chosen – has me as one of 11 cricketers in it.

 

Jeff notices me and decides to text to tell me about it.

 

I tell him I am in England. He tells me his son is in England too. A place called Whitburn.

 

Whitburn is 22 minutes away. Rufus is padding up to bat as we speak.

 

Samuel and I caught the bus to the lovely Whitburn ground and settled down to watch Rufus complete a solid half century (77). There was a live internet stream of the game and so we positioned ourselves in its scope and waved at Jeff and Kate who were back in Perth watching late on Saturday night.

 

That night we went to see Hamilton.

 

Record crowds have attended the Sunderland Empire Theatre to see Hamilton.

 

Down the road, Rufus Zampatti is currently averaging 54 with the bat for Whitburn CC.

 

Incredibly enough, this time, no one had turned off on West 24^th.

 

 

 

Rufus Zampatti reaches 50 at the  historic and delightful Whitburn Ground

 

 

Rufus Zampatti (right) not out at lunch

 

 

To read more by John Gordon click HERE.

 

 

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