ANY lover of Alan Ayckbourn's plays, particularly the sunnier early ones, will feel very much at home in the country occupied by the characters in Richard Harris' comedy Outside Edge.

Maybe Harris is a bit kinder, but his plots and the people who activate them certainly have much in common with Ayckbourn.

Unlike Ayckbourn, though, Harris has written extensively for television, including episodes for The Avengers, The Saint, The Sweeney, and A Touch of Frost.

The late Paul Eddington starred in a TV broadcast of Outside Edge, and it was subsequently developed into a television mini-series.

Another of his most successful plays, Stepping Out, was developed into a musical, and filmed with Liza Minnelli.

Outside Edge, which the Tamaritans are currently rehearsing for their next public performances, centres on cricket, and the people besotted with it, dragged in to make up the numbers, their tea-providers, or some simply there to enjoy an afternoon relaxing in the sun.

The setting is the club pavilion at the edge of the cricket ground.

King pin is fanatically dedicated team captain Roger.

Every club, sporting, dramatic or whatever, needs a Roger, but this Roger's well-meaning is undermined by him not really being a people-person.

Queen bee is his wife Miriam, equally fanatically in charge of all ancillary matters, and determined to ensure that everything goes according to plan.

They are surrounded by the usual mismatch of local players and their womenfolk, including spin bowler Kevin and his motherly, overpowering wife Maggie, womaniser Dennis who claims to get things wholesale but doesn't, smart and snooty solicitor Alex and his previous night's conquest, the dumb blonde go-go dancer Sharon, and the weak willed Bob and his hard-as-nails wife Ginnie.

The occasion is the regular fixture with the formidable British Rail Maintenance Team, and tensions are running high even before the home team can get the pitch rolled.

Director Noel Preston-Jones has a cast that mixes regular company members with some newcomers.

George Sutton is cast as Roger, Geoff Strickland and Nicola Dobinson as Bob and Ginnie, Helen Scott and Rob Howard as Maggie and Kevin, and Richard Haighton as Dennis.

The new members are Ruth Thomas as Miriam, Paul Gillard as Alex, and Abi Gascoyne as Sharon.

Performances run at the Edgcumbe Theatre, Devonport High School for Boys, from Wednesday to Saturday, March 24 to 27 at 7.30pm, with a 2.30pm matinee on the Saturday. Tickets cost £8 and there are concessions.

They may be obtained from the company's co-ordinator on 01752 783981, on the door or an email to tickets@thetamaritans.org.uk.