Tom Kerridge tells Chris Evans about recruiting an Ashes-winning captain for his charity cricket team

Virgin Radio

18 May 2023, 10:22

Super-chef Tom Kerridge joined the Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch to talk about how he’d love to face an England fast-bowler, and about the big names he has signed up for his upcoming charity cricket match against Chris.' team.

Chris and Tom’s teams will go head-to-head at Marlow Park Cricket club as part of the Pub in the Park Festival, tomorrow (Friday 19th May) at 2:30pm. Voluntary donations go to the local food charity, Meals from Marlow.

Tom will be captaining Team Foodie, and has been hitting up his celebrity contacts to join him. He told Chris: “I heard you were pulling in some big names. I thought. ‘I’d better go through the phone, and who do I know that can play cricket?’ Funnily enough, Sir Andrew Strauss is one of the numbers that’s in my phone.

“I mean, an Ashes-winning captain! I thought I'd better give him a quick tinkle, see if he fancied coming to Marlow and having a knockabout for a charity, and he was well up for it!” 

On the other famous faces that will be joining him, he said: “I thought, ‘What other England captains do I know?’. Sadly, not any other cricketers. I thought ‘Right, I'll give Will Carling a tinkle. England rugby captain’. He said yes, of course he will come and play. We've also got, at one point, England's most expensive striker, Andy Carroll, who played for Liverpool. Newcastle legend. 

“The big problem is, both Andy Carroll and Will Carling have said they've never played cricket. They don't know what they're doing.”

Chris’ team, meanwhile, will include himself and co-presenter Vassos Alexander (who will be commentating while playing), as well as England players Kate Cross and Grace Scrivens.

Regarding his own prowess at the crease, Tom admitted: “The last game of cricket I played was when I was 12!”

However, the chef’s lack of recent cricketing experience hasn’t tempered his enthusiasm. “I've always fancied facing an over from an England fast-bowler,” he said. “Like, the fear of someone throwing a ball, rock-hard at you at 90 miles an hour. And you've got a helmet on, some gloves and something covering your little bits, right? I absolutely love the idea of it. 

“I'm 100% in for getting battered.”

Meals from Marlow was started during the pandemic and so far has raised just over £370,000 and delivered 190,000 meals to key workers.

Pub In The Park Marlow takes place this weekend. For tickets visit pubintheparkuk.com.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.