Classical musicians at the cricket crease
What’s the score
When members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra prepare to go on tour this year they’ll be packing some unusual luggage.
Bats, pads, helmets and gloves will accompany the musicians in their travels as a selection of orchestra members hone a different set of skills in their newly formed cricket team.
The team was a recent recipient of an ANZ Cricket Programme grant, furnishing them with enough protective kit for a T20 match, to ensure the safety of some of the country’s most precious musical assets.
French horn player and team captain Samuel Jacobs applied for the grant at the beginning of the year. He said a hit out in the nets was a great way to help his fellow musicians ‘‘let off some steam’’.
Jacobs admitted the team, which consists of players from a variety of sections of the orchestra and some management staff, was ‘‘a little rough around the edges’’ when it came to skills with the bat and ball.
‘‘When you play an instrument in an orchestra, your other hobbies take a back seat. The time we’re at work is everyone else’s social time, so it can be difficult to join a local club. Being the best in the country at playing a certain instrument sadly doesn’t correlate to cricket ability,’’ Jacobs said.
Principal percussionist Lenny Sakofsky says the team covers a broad range of skill levels and experience. ‘‘I grew up in the US so cricket is all new to me. I’m on the bottom of the team, but I’m the most enthusiastic,’’ Sakofsky said.
Sakofsky was raised in New York and arrived in New Zealand in 1997. His conversion to the joys of the game began when he joined the Auckland Philharmonia alongside timpanist Richard Horne, brother of former New Zealand test cricketer Phil Horne.
‘‘He tried to indoctrinate me into cricket and I thought it was the stupidest game in the world. Now I am all over everything that’s cricket. I immediately put my hand up to play,’’ Sakofsky said.
The team boasted five or six players with a background in the game, and they were instrumental in helping the less experienced members get up to speed. Tuba player Andrew Jarvis had been challenging the team’s fielding skills in practices.
‘‘Andrew is very serious, he really knows what he’s doing. He was heaving some balls in the air and that scared the crap out of me,’’ Sakofsky said.
Associate principal trombone player Matthew Allison recalled chipping a tooth top-edging a pull shot in his teens, and said a similar injury could be ‘‘careerthreatening’’ for someone in his role.
‘‘Getting this gear means that we can play cricket safely. We suspect our audiences and our management might be a little relieved by this,’’ Allison said.
Principal second violin Andrew Thomson said he was still feeling the effects of a recent practice session, but the added camaraderie and boost to morale outweighed potential risks.
‘‘I was only able to bowl at the first session and I still can’t raise my arm afterwards,’’ Thomson said. ‘‘There’s so many ways of hurting yourself, though... you
‘‘Getting this gear means we can play cricket safely. We suspect our audiences and our management might be a little relieved by this.’’
Matthew Allison Associate principal trombone player
can’t bubble-wrap yourself.’’
Plans are afoot for the players to prove their mettle in the heat of competition next summer, but finding a team able to fit with the musicians’ busy schedule meant the team would have to look outside the box for an opponent.
Matthew Allison said that the orchestra’s itinerary made it difficult to go head-to-head with other club teams on the weekend.
‘‘Standing out in the wind all Saturday is not the best preparation for an NZSO concert, sadly. Maybe we should consider issuing a challenge to all the other orchestras of New Zealand.’’