By CONRAD SUTCLIFFE
THE captain who led Plymstock to their only Devon League title way back in 1973 has died aged 81.
Adrian Pate led Plymstock for 10 seasons between 1969-1978 and was captain of the side when they entered the new Devon Cricket League in 1972.
Torquay won the league title in the inaugural season ahead of Exmouth with Plymstock less than half an average point behind in third.
Spool forward 12 months and Plymstock were top of the table on 3.69 average points with all their games played. Chasers Exeter St Thomas had to take a winning draw off South Devon to overhaul Pate’s side, but failed and the title went to Dean Cross for the first and only time.
Plymstock were in a similar situation in 1974 when Paignton denied them the title, which promptly shuttled back to Torquay!
Colin Gill, who was a regular in the Plymstock side, said Pate’s stint as captain proved to be one of the most successful in the club’s history.
“For the first seven years of the Devon League, and it was only one division then, we only finished lower than fifth once,” said Gill.
“Adrian was captain in all those seasons and it was a case of the right man in the right place at the right time.
“We had a good team then with three county players in it – Ian Roberts, Haydn Chick and Brian Lambert – and a few more who were not far away.
“Adrian was a no-nonsense captain who knew when to make bowling changes and once a bowler started going for a few runs he had no qualms about taking them off.
“You only need to look at Adrian’s statistics as captain to see how good he was at reading games. Of the 121 games he captained in the league, Adrian won 54, lost 23, claimed winning draws in 29 and losing draws in 15. We did not lose many games in those days.”
Plymstock did not lose very often in the Major Cup either. During Pate’s reign the club won the midweek-evening competition four years in a row between 1969-72.
Adrian Roy Pate was born in Plymstock in 1940 and went into the insurance industry after leaving Plympton Grammar School. He started playing cricket as a 15 year old and was a prolific run scorer in the days of friendly and evening league and cup cricket in the 1950s and 1960s
Pate dropped down the order when he became captain in order to concentrate on leading the side and managing the players in it.
“He was the right person at the right time when the League started to galvanise the players, young and experienced, who were keen to show the rest of the county that they were playing in the right company,” said Gill.
“Before the league started we could not get a first-team game against Plymouth, who regarded Plymstock as just suburb of the city and only worth a 2ndXI fixture, and there were other clubs who looked down on us because we shared a ground with the football team.”
Pate worked for Co-op insurance until his retirement then allocated endless hours of his spare time to Plymstock CC. He was groundsman, secretary, assistant treasurer and finally president of the club.
Adrian Pate is survived by wife Yvonne. The couple, who were married for 51 years, had no children. His funeral has already taken place.
“Adrian has asked for his ashes to be scattered on the ground at Dean Cross, which is totally appropriate for someone who gave to much to the club,” said Gill.
