Peter Pan and Sherlock Holmes authors form Surrey cricket team
"They got absolutely trashed," said Andrew Baker, a Shere historian."Everyone else took it seriously and they came along being much less serious."Some of them didn't get a lot of runs or wickets. Barrie was very proud of occasionally scoring one run."
'Heaven help us'
Formed by Barrie, the team was named the Allahakhbarries, a play on the Arabic phrase meaning "God is great" and the author's surname.Pointing to his humour and recognition of his cricketing ability, however, the name reportedly came from a mistaken belief that the phrase actually meant "heaven help us".In their first game, on a pitch in Albury Heath, Barrie and his band of authors were beaten by the landlord of The White Horse in Shere, who as a handy cricketer scored many of the opposition's runs and took many of their wickets.The Allahakbarries, regarded by some as the first celebrity cricket team, originally included Barrie and Conan Doyle alongside Jeeves and Wooster creator PG Wodehouse.AA Milne joined later and unsuccessful attempts were made to recruit Rudyard Kipling and HG Wells.
Of the group, Conan Doyle stood out for his sporting aptitude. Having also featured for the Lords-based Marylebone Cricket Club, the Sherlock Holmes' writer's ability towered over that of his teammates.On Barrie, Mr Baker said: "He wasn't an athletic man, he was short, asthmatic and wore glasses."There's a picture of him bowling left handed where his arm is not quite at the vertical."Writing in a booklet on the team, Barrie recalled the tails of the team, including allegedly only learning on the way to a game that a new player did not know which side of the bat to use to hit the ball.The team played semi-regularly until the outbreak of World War One, when they disbanded.In his diary, Barrie reportedly wrote: "The Last Cricket Match. One or two days before war declared – my anxiety and premonition – boys gaily playing cricket at Auch, seen from my window. "I know they're to suffer. I see them dropping out one by one, fewer and fewer."
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