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In pleasant conditions, the Strollers converged on the village of Bray. Famous for Michelin Star restaurants - “the highest concentration of these anywhere”, this reporter was informed by one of the hosts. Set against the backdrop of St Michael's Church (1293) and adjoining accommodation – surrounded by trees and flanked by the Thames, an expansive outfield, and what looked on first observation to be a fairly flat surface, the scene was set.
The host's pacey openers bowled with control and enthusiasm, much to the dismay of Hamish McDougall who, in his own words, promptly confessed that he "probably left one that maybe he shouldn't have". Lloyd Belton joined Kelvin Davidson at the crease, and the pair went about the task of constructing the innings. Belton, who looked compact and confident from the outset in his first innings for the Strollers, consistently timed the ball well and kept the fielders around the circle busy. Davidson punched a few holes in the field at the other end and was particularly strong through the point and cover region. The pair put on 69 before another quintessential Davidson flourish was misdirected to a straightening delivery. He fell just short of a deserved 50, making a feisty 47, and going a long way toward seeing off the openers in the process, who bowled through their quota of overs.
Belton was in the groove at this point, and was now finding the gaps and getting value for his shots. Sam Brodbeck played a fine supporting role initially, keeping the scoreboard ticking over. Drinks were taken with the Strollers in the comfortable position of 77- 2 after 20 overs.
Belton departed for a solid and assured 38. Ryan Duff joined Brodbeck at the crease with the score at 104-3 after 25 overs, and the pair went about increasing the tempo of the innings, knowing wickets were in hand. Duff fell for a lively 21, and Peter Patston shortly followed, falling victim to an unfortunate run-out.
Warren Crocker made an immediate impression, not least on the four-piece, dispatching the ball for a maximum on the first delivery faced. His brutality continued, as he unleashed a flurry of fours (4) and sixes (2) all over the show in splendid knock of 37 from 15 balls, before holing out on the deep midwicket boundary. The knock not only provided impetus to the Strollers innings, but also inspired Brodbeck at the other end, who also got into the act with some glorious shots, including a towering six down the ground. Brodbeck was duly rewarded with a fine 50, and a final contribution of 58no, navigating the Strollers to the eventual total of 219-6.
Tea was taken with Michael Parkinson, local and chairman of the club, along with his charming wife Mary and others so famous nobody recognised them. In reflecting on proceedings over a generous spread of sandwiches and cakes at tea, the consensus among the troops was that deck was perhaps not as flat as it initially appeared, and did produce some variable bounce on occasion. Further comfort was taken when Piers Ovenden's voice came through from his nest in Islington that "anything over 200 is gravy". With that, and after a short motivational speech from the skipper, Jim Hodgson led the Strollers onto the field to defend the target.
Crocker bowled superbly in his opening spell of six overs, tightening the screws from the outset, and was rewarded with the opening wicket to a full delivery outside off-stump that ballooned to Duff at point. Paul Dorrans, too, got into his work at the other end, after finding that bowling full length on the wicket was the order of the day. He, like Duff who replaced him, was greeted with nothing but misery for bowling anything on, or certainly short of a length. Both toiled, and succeeded (despite the persistent self-loathing) in containing the hosts under the required rate.
Hodgson replaced Duff at one end, and Simon Brodbeck replaced Crocker at the other, at a delicate time in the innings - when the opener, A. Cheema, was starting to not only punish the bad balls, but also decent deliveries. Brodbeck stuck with the first delivery of his second over, before drinks were taken with the hosts 73-2.
Brodbeck resumed from the river end. Perhaps inspired from the cathedral bells ringing nearby, perhaps not, the No 4 batsman was removed in the first over after tea. Hodgson continued to bowl with the metronomic precision that we have come to expect, both combining well and having regular success with excellent support in the field, notably the work-rate of Dorrans, whom the ball seemed to follow around the field, and some sharp glove work from McDougall behind the stumps. Hodgson soaked up pressure, bowled with accuracy to remove the remaining middle order batsmen and, just as importantly, continued to build pressure in the process.
At 104 with 10 overs remaining, the pressure placed on the batsmen eventually told and we were now into the tail. Cheema was playing freely and with increasing intent - there was no comfort to be enjoyed as long as he remained in the middle. Bowlers were shuffled and fielders marshalled, and the hope of victory slowly faded for the hosts. Crocker returned to bowl out his overs and finished with the excellent figures of 8-2-27-1, cruelly conceding 12 runs off his final over.
Perhaps riding his luck on occasion, it was a patient, clinical and at times merciless display from the opener, and he was justifiably rewarded by reaching the century milestone and ultimately finished on 116 not out. Dorrans was duly rewarded upon his returning spell, with a ball that clattered into the stumps on the penultimate delivery of the game, which came to a close - the hosts falling 25 runs short. "The closest 24-run victory" that this observer had been involved with.
Post-game refreshments were taken with the hosts around the pavilion afterwards, and stumps pulled on a thoroughly enjoyable fixture, as always.
Capt: Jim Hodgson. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Chalfont Taverners
Saturday May 10 in Seer Green
Strollers won by nine wickets
Taverners 129-8
(25 overs; Butt 3-12, Allsopp 2-30, Thomas 1-15, Simon Brodbeck 1-22, Crocker 1-23)
Strollers 131-1
(23.1 overs; Swan 52no, Addis 41no, Davidson 30)
As Yogi Berra would have put it, it was “déjà vu all over again” – if it’s the Strollers versus Jordans Taverners in England in May, it must mean rain. But despite waking to a wet and windy day, with a dodgy forecast for the entire afternoon, the decision was made that the game would go ahead. As it proved, this was the right call and the Strollers emerged with an impressive victory.
Proceedings began with all 11 Strollers present and correct prior to 1:30pm (is that a first?), some even keen enough to have a net practice before the game started. However, right on cue at 2pm, the heavens opened and dampened what was already a soggy pitch and outfield. The inevitable delay provided some interesting insights into the psyche of various Strollers, bearing in mind that the clubhouse at Seer Green is a Montessori pre-school...
Warren Crocker and Jono Addis were seen in a quiet corner discussing parenting. As the elder statesman of the team, it was natural for Simon Brodbeck to find his way to the rocking chair, and reports were that from their perch on the storymat Sam Brodbeck, Kavit Shah and debutant Saleem Butt all enjoyed the fairytales of cricketing years gone by. Eric Swale paced about, looking very out of place in such miniature surroundings. Andrew Thomas, after preparing for cricket by staying out until 3am the previous night, found a beanbag and fell asleep – fully living up to the “Bone Dog” moniker. Meanwhile, Laurie Allsopp lost himself in a newspaper, perhaps mentally preparing for bowling spin on what was sure to be an unhelpful wicket for the craft. In a similar vein, the designated opening batsmen Tim Swan and Kelvin Davidson were quick to re-change out of their whites, a none-too-subtle hint to the decision-makers that surely no play would be possible.
But 3pm then rolled around and after a few trial run-ups the call was made to go ahead with a 25-over game. Captain Addis lost the toss but got what he wanted anyway by the opposition choosing to bat first. Towels and sawdust were the order of the day for the bowlers, but despite the tricky conditions Crocker and Thomas bowled testing opening spells, Thomas bowling out his full five-over quota to claim 1-15.
As the ball got wetter the inevitable grip problems began for the bowlers, but perhaps encouraged by Tom Wood’s emergence and customary moral support/dog-walk around the boundary, Brodbeck Senior, Allsopp and Shah all bowled admirably through the middle stages of the innings, before Butt came on to wreak havoc with debut figures of 3-12, including an early contender for catch of the season – a remarkable one-handed c&b, off a bullet-like straight drive. Crocker returned to finish the innings and after 25 overs Jordans had posted a decent score of 129-8.
After a fine tea – including an excellent Victoria sponge and “some kind of apple cake” – play resumed. By now the wicket had turned into something resembling a rugby field after 10 reset scrums on the same spot, but with the help of Swale’s sawdust, and despite their earlier misgivings, Swan and Davidson were able to get the innings off to a good start – meaning that earlier comparisons to the legendary Hayden/Langer left-handed opening partnership were not entirely spurious.
Davidson’s cameo came to an end at 30 with the team score on 40, which brought the serene pair of Swan and Addis together. Both illustrated the merits of playing straight on a slow pitch and their partnership of 91 took the Strollers to a nine-wicket victory in the 24th over, Addis playing several trademark straight drives and Swan lofting a couple of elegant straight sixes. Addis ended on 41 not out, with Swan hitting a boundary for the winning runs and his own unbeaten 50.
Both teams then retired to the Jolly Cricketers and enjoyed a few jugs of ale courtesy of Tim Swan. So despite the weather, all were happy to have got in a game and the victory continued the solid start to the Strollers’ 2014 season.
Capt: Jono Addis. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Wooburn Narkovians
Sunday May 11 at Bledlow
Strollers lost by 43 runs
Wooburn Narkovians 197
(40 overs; Timperley 4-25, Calvocoressi 2-12, Hodgson 1-27, Swale 1-46)
Strollers 154
(37 overs; Hartley 23, Timperley 20, Swale 17, Calvocoressi 16no, Belton 12, Thomas 11, Ball 10)
On the 4th of May Bledlow Village marched into the semi-finals of the Buckinghamshire Senior Cup with a 20-run victory over Beaconsfield. Although well played by Bledlow, this had ramifications for the Strollers. The Bledlow Sunday XI would now meet Dinton CC up the road for a place in the final.
Bledlow, however, kindly offered the use of their lovely ground for the Strollers to host a match of their own. A few phonecalls later and club secretary Simon Brodbeck had organised a game with the Wooburn Narkovians (for an explanation of the origins of the name, please see http://www.wncc.co.uk/clubhistory.asp
Luckily for all involved, the forecast inclement weather held off, and the Strollers assembled at the picturesque Bledlow ground to be greeted by an expertly prepared (and under cover) pitch and cup of tea (all thanks to Andy Harman from Bledlow Cricket Club, who sacrificed viewing the semi-final to open the club house).
Captain James Timperley and the Narkovians' Rob Hall took the toss, and the Strollers headed into the field for the 40-over fixture. Andrew Thomas opened the bowling down the steep hill. Despite a lot of exertion, tight lines, prodigious movement and some close leg-before appeals Andrew was unlucky not to get a breakthrough. At the other end, Jim Hodgson was miserly and equally unlucky (aided by some great stops at cover by Jeff Ball). Notwithstanding the short boundaries on one side, after the opening nine overs the Narkovians were only on 18, albeit for no loss.
The captain turned to the leading wicket-taker for the club to get the breakthrough. Brodbeck, however, was unable to make an immediate impact from the downhill end. After two more tight overs from Hodgson, George Calvocoressi was brought on with an immediate impact – his first ball sliced through the defences of the Narkovians opener to take the top of off stump. Another tight over from Brodbeck followed, before George once again struck with the first ball of an over, again with stumps flying.
Some quick work by Eric Swale at mid-on had the other opener caught short on the stroke of drinks, and after 20 overs, the Strollers could be pleased with their efforts to keep the opposition to 58-3. Unfortunately for the Strollers the wicket of McGlachlin brought the Narkovians skipper, Hall, to the crease. From the first ball he faced his intent was clear, a crisply hit on-drive that sliced midwicket and mid-on and raced away to the boundary. What followed was a remarkable display of power batting.
At the other end, some quick work by Calvocoressi and interim keeper Neil Hartley (on debut) saw the end of another Narkovian. Still, there was no respite for the Strollers as Newman had joined his captain. Now boundaries flowed from both ends. Peter Patson and Swale had a particularly torrid time, as did the boundary riders who had to search for the ball in the deep nettles, brambles and blackberry bushes. Bodies were put on the line, George taking a particularly nasty knock on the shin saving a certain boundary, and eventually the captain, who took a very good catch using his chest (and then hands) to a rocket from Newman.
Now the Strollers were into the tail, and, even though regular wickets fell at one end (all for nought), Hall was in control at the other. Captain Timperley’s crafty left-arm orthodox was the only bowling that had any measure of the man – although that didn’t prevent a good-length delivery being deposited over the sightscreen. Hall, having come to the crease in the 21st over, reached his well-deserved century off the penultimate ball of the innings. Both teams retired to the clubhouse for a long-awaited tea (the innings made longer searching for five lost balls (a Strollers record perhaps?).
Refreshed after the delicious tea both Strollers wicket-keeper batsmen (Hartley and Lloyd Belton) strode to the crease to begin the chase of 198. The Narkovians bowling was tight. Their consistent line and length made it difficult for the Strollers to keep the scoreboard ticking over – even with the hard running between the wickets.
The pressure eventually told and Belton tried to up the tempo by attempting a lofted cover drive to the short boundary. Unfortunately for the Strollers, a sharp catch was taken by the cover fielder to give the Narkovians opening bowler the wicket (please don’t mention to Lloyd that the bowler was aged 14).
That brought captain Timperley to the crease, and after surviving a close lbw shout early in his innings looked his usual solid self. A couple of deft flicks to the boundary of the captain’s pads and some crisp hitting from Harley pushed the partnership towards the half-century and increased the run rate. But with the score on 64 Hartley played to point and called the quick single. Timperley was quick off the mark but not as quick as the fielder, who made a clean pick-up and completed the run-out.
Next at the crease was Ball, who immediately set about rectifying the run rate situation. The bowlers kept their lines tight, however, and despite some clean hitting Jeff only found the boundary once.
At the other end, Hartley tried to go over the top, but didn’t quite get enough on the ball, and was taken by midwicket standing on the edge of the circle. The led to a flurry of wickets, with Ball and Hodgson following shortly thereafter – both falling to good-length deliveries hitting the top of off stump without overly troubling Maggie Patston (as usual, doing a fantastic job with the scoring).
That brought John Gibson and Swale to the crease. Both regularly found the middle of the bat, but, perhaps showing a lack of time in the middle, also tended to find the fielders. Swale hit a handful of boundaries, before trying to use the aerial route to avoid the Narkovians and succeeding only in hitting a half-tracker a greater distance vertically than horizontally. In the dry conditions the Narkovians made no mistake with the catch.
In strode Thomas, with the required run rate now over 7.5. Both batsmen were aware of this and sought quick singles – unfortunately for Gibson they weren’t after quick singles at the same time, and both ended up at the non-striker’s end. A short Mexican stand-off followed, before Gibson made his way back to the marquee. The partnership that followed between Calvocoressi and Thomas gave the Strollers hope. Some big shots followed, including an exquisitely timed bunt by Thomas for six over extra cover. That came to an end when Thomas pulled a short ball straight to the square leg fielder, who looked very assured despite claiming to not have stepped on the field in 30 years.
Brodbeck and Patston then followed, and valiantly attempted to pick the run rate up and get the Strollers home. Brodbeck ran some quick twos, and Calvocoressi at the other end continued to dig away. Alas, it was not meant to be, and the Strollers fell with 43 runs still required off the last three overs.
Special thanks must go to Andy Harman and the Bledlow club for kindly allowing us to use their ground, and Kevin Dolan and the Wooburn Narkovians for getting a team together at such short notice. Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Lloyd Belton/Neil Hartley.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Roehampton
Sunday May 18 in Putney
Strollers won by 105 runs
Strollers 157
(Ferrick 101, Read 19)
Roehampton 52
(Read 4-19, Crocker 4-27, Macaulay 2-4)
It was a beautiful day for cricket: 25C, barely a cloud in the sky and just enough breeze to prevent overheating. Alastair Macaulay encouraged sunbathers from the playing area while skipper Tom Wood went out for the toss, lost it, but was pleasantly surprised to be asked to bat in the agreed time game. It was good to see Tom returning to action for the first time this season, his bad back responding well to a cocktail of pain-killers and anti-inflammatories washed down with plenty of gin and tonic.
Sam Ferrick and Mike Loan opened the innings while starting scorer Simon Brodbeck installed himself inside a large leafy bush to avoid the strong sun. Sam was quick to punish any stray balls and was particularly severe on young Lelean coming up the hill, who also had a short leg-side boundary to contend with. Mike played straight and true but fell to the plucky Lelean. Debutant Andy Crosby, from Melbourne, came and went to a good in-swinger as Sam rocketed to his half-century. Captain Wood kept Sam company for a few overs but understandably did not look in great touch and fell to the left-arm change bowler Bromage. John Low, Morgan Francis, Warren Crocker and Jim Hodgson fell in very quick succession to Bromage and the youngster Patel, which brought Julian Read to the crease. He, thankfully, wasn’t seeing any demons in the track and set about the bowling.
The good weather and London venue brought chairman Kimball Bailey, fresh from the exertions of house renovations and moving in Melissa’s belongings, Evan Samuel fresh from the ski slopes of California and Austria, with accompanying knee issues and John Gibson fresh from a morning’s gardening to watch the proceedings. They were joined later by Julian Read’s father Stuart, passing through from NZ. Meanwhile Sam, slowing a little from his initial onslaught and watching the wickets tumble at the other end, continued to dispatch the bad ball to all parts of the ground and brought up a well-deserved century with a flamboyant back foot drive over extra cover for six. His century featured 16 fours and 3 sixes before perishing on 101.
Alastair Macaulay and then Simon Brodbeck joined Julian and the innings finished on 157 all out off 31.5 overs. There was debate as to whether a record had been set for the highest proportion of a total innings being scored by a single player but following later consultation with club president and stats supremo Maggie Patston the 64% achieved by Sam was adjudged close but not a new record.
Tea was taken back in the recently refurbished clubhouse, sporting a very on-trend palate of off-white and almost Cotswolds green. Later reports agreed that new showering facilities were fit for purpose.
Captain Wood decided he was going for firepower from the off and would have been pleased with Read delivering two wickets in the first over. He went on to take 4-19 in a hostile spell where pace, a good length and appreciable swing were too much for the Roehampton batsmen. Crocker bowled intelligently as usual and picked up a deserved four wickets in his spell. The two of them really did run through the batsmen but Alastair picked up the final two wickets in four balls to finish the Roehampton innings on 52 all out, leaving the Strollers winners by 105 runs, just exceeding what Sam scored on his own!
Refreshments were taken back in the clubhouse followed by some players and spectators joining Kimball for curry and beers in Putney. What a good day!
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Mike Loan.
Marlow Park
Sunday May 25 in Marlow
Strollers won by 31 runs
Strollers 163
(Addis 73, Crocker 34, Simon Brodbeck 11no, Davidson 10, Timperley 10)
Marlow Park 132
(Crocker 3-11, Timperley 3-18, Macaulay 2-32, Simon Brodbeck 1-31)
Marlow Park in the sunshine is a splendid sight - with the river only yards away, the statue of Sir Stephen Redgrave with his large oar and the ground surrounded on three sides by ancient trees. We definitely had the best of the Bank Holiday weather.
Skipper James Timperley lost the toss and we were put in for a 40-over match. Kelvin Davidson and Jono Addis made a brisk start, scoring 31 off the first four overs. Kelvin survived a couple of scares while going for his shots and was caught soon after off Hanan for 10. Jono was then joined by Timperley. The rain the previous day had made the pitch two-paced with short balls sticking slightly and making timing difficult. The two proceeded carefully to the 14th over, putting on 36, when James chased a wide delivery and got a thin edge to the keeper.
Kieron Kerr then made his return to Strollers cricket after a 12-year absence. However, his stay at the crease was brief as he steered his sixth delivery to gully and was out for 0. His day couldn't get any worse, could it? Warren Crocker was elevated to No 5 to join Jono, who was one of the few Strollers batsmen to take advantage of loose deliveries and racked up another 50 in even time. Crocker and Addis put on 43 against tight bowling before Jono holed out for a fine 73. Tom Wood and Warren accelerated the score with Crocker taking 12 off one over. Tom was then run out for five by the wicketkeeper when returning to the crease at the bowler's end. It was a moot point if it was a dead ball, but Tom made his way off without complaint or raised eyebrow.
George Calvocoressi was then out first ball to Chahal and the innings was creaking. Crocker was bowled by Barlow for a very useful 30 and Alastair Macaulay soon after by Chahal for one. Laurie Allsopp and Simon Brodbeck saw out the innings, adding a further 18 runs including a six over square leg from Brodbeck which did raise eyebrows in the pavilion. The Strollers finished on 163, a score the local cognoscenti ventured was below par.
The highlight of tea was the appearance of Snowballs, a sugary coconut confection that most had not seen for years. They are not, however, going to replace the Tunnock Tea Cake in our affections.
Stallwood and Hanan made a steady start for Marlow Park who only required just over four an over to win. The Strollers really had to bowl them out to win. The first wicket came in the fourth over when Stallwood hit Crocker hard to Wood at mid-on, who clung on gratefully. Brent Lombard then came to the crease - apparently his first game for two years - and immediately looked assured. After 11 overs Marlow were 43-1 as they punished the bad ball and took the singles. Poor Kerr dropped Lombard at mid-on and split the webbing on his hand and had to go off once he realised that there was a lot of blood. He was still at A&E at 11.30 that night. Hopefully he hasn't been put off and will be back soon.
Lombard then hit the ball hard off Brodbeck to Addis at deep mid-off and called his partner through. Hanan was slow to start and was beaten by Jono's swift pick-up and throw. Munsha was then bowled first ball by Brodbeck and the game was suddenly well in the balance. At the other end Crocker, who had 8-1 off five overs, was replaced by Macaulay to offer some flight and guile. In his third over left-hander Hawkins played across the line and looped a catch up to Davidson behind the stumps. Alastair then had an interesting duel with Lombard, who was determined to get to the pitch of the ball and knock the ball around for singles. His partner at the other end, Barlow, did succumb to Alastair's F&G hitting the ball straight to Timperley at mid-off to leave Marlow Park at 86-5 and the match swinging in the Strollers’ favour.
James then brought himself on and quickly had Handcock caught behind for three. However, the dangerous Lombard was still there and the score has got up to 129-6 when the captain decided it was Crocker time with 10 overs left and see where we were after he'd bowled his last three overs. Before Warren came back, however, Lombard charged down the wicket, James spun it past his bat and gave Kelvin an easy stumping. Lombard has made a good-looking 60. Timperley immediately had the next batsman caught by Addis at mid-off. The remaining batsmen couldn't get the ball away off Crocker, who cleaned up the final two wickets, one to a fine catch by James at deep mid-off. He finished with a splendid 3-11 off his 7.4 overs and James 3-18 off six.
A thoroughly satisfying victory against a good bowling side on a tricky pitch. The match was in the balance until the final overs. The Strollers enjoyed some Rebellion ale in the evening sunshine.
Historical note: There is a photo in the pavilion of when William Pratt (aka Boris Karloff) brought his XI to play Marlow Working Men in the 1930s. William Pratt had an older brother called David Cameron Pratt. Make of that what you will...
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Tom Wood.
The Times
Saturday May 31 in Dulwich
Strollers won by 96 runs
Strollers 180-7
(40 overs; Sam Brodbeck 33, Read 29no, Timperley 29, Grigor 20no, Crocker 20, Swan 12, Ball 11)
The Times 84
(30.2 overs; Crocker 3-5, Swan 2-3, Read 2-4, Macaulay 2-19, Butt 1-32, Grigor 1-10)
The attacking instincts of Kelvin Davidson ensured the Strollers got off to a less than perfect start against The Times in a muggy south London. New Zealand's answer to Marc Friday (see Top Runmakers) recorded a rare “royal duck” by paddling the first ball of the innings to a 12-year-old debutant.
After the early setback the Strollers put together several small but significant partnerships. They were held back at regular intervals by some tidy swing bowling and an unusually bouncy pitch. The youngster was the pick of the bowlers, pegging down the normally free-flowing Tim Swan. Sam Brodbeck top-scored with 33 while Jeff Ball hit 11 quick runs, far surpassing his pre-match target of five.
“I think 160 will do it,” opined local seer Alastair Macaulay. It was left to Julian Read and new boy James Grigor to push the Strollers to a strong-looking 177-7 off their 40 overs.
Treasurer Tom Wood made a surprise visit at tea-time in a bid to boost morale, but appeared confident in the Strollers' ability to see off the rival newspapermen. "We look a bit strong for them", he said, eyeing Read and Warren Crocker as they limbered up.
And so it proved. From the moment Read had hit the Times's opener square in the box the game looked over. He and Crocker leaked just nine runs in the opening 10 overs for the first five wickets.
Spin twins Macaulay and Saleem Butt added three scalps before Swan wrapped up the tail, with the 12-year-old left undefeated.
Another victory for a Kiwi-studded Strollers side was only dampened by the news of UKIP's triumph in the European elections. A source close to leading Strollers revealed the club has begun work on a crisis plan in the eventuality that New Zealanders are expelled from the country.
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Kevin Davidson. Match fees: Warren Crocker.
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Berkhamsted
Sunday June 1 in Berkhamsted
Strollers won by eight wickets
Berkhamsted 174-5
(40 overs; Simon Brodbeck 2-22, Swan 2-55, Macaulay 1-20)
Strollers 177-2
(35.3 overs; Addis 76, Wood 61, Swan 18no)
A beautiful day in West Hertfordshire saw the Strollers play one of their most northerly fixtures against Berkhamsted CC at the very picturesque Castle Hill ground surrounded by rolling hills, fields full of sheep and a Norman motte and bailey castle. Debutant Dave Fyfe was forced to pull out having injured his knee training during marathon training, leaving the Strollers one short. The toss was won by the Berkhamsted captain, Will Steed, who elected to bat in a 40-over game.
Parsimonious bowling from Warren Crocker and Ryan Duff kept the run rate down as the Berkhamsted openers reached 27 without loss after 10 overs. Captain Tom Wood brought Simon Brodbeck on from the country end and the breakthrough soon came as the dangerous looking opener, Robert Prunty holed out to Croker on the boundary at square leg.
Duff finished his eight overs and was replaced by Tim Swan at the pavilion end, who picked up a wicket in his first over as Richie Stubbs made a low diving catch to his right at mid-off. With the score on 50-2 after 18 overs, this brought the Berkhamsted captain to the wicket. Stubbs replaced Brodbeck at the country end and Swan picked up his second wicket as Mike Loan took a catch at cover, but the Strollers medium-pace attack was conceding runs.
Steed mistimed a pull shot off Stubbs, but it landed safely between the converging fielders and he soon reached his 50. Captain Wood changed tactics with Macaulay on at the country end and Brodbeck at the pavilion end. The change worked as Steed was caught on the rope at deep long on by Duff off Macaulay for 62 and Brodbeck bowled the incoming batsman first ball. This brought two of the younger members of the opposition to the wicket and they put on a further 24 runs to produce a total score of 174-5 after 40 overs.
A fine tea was had in the pavilion - at the Lord’s end rather than the Oval end of the Bailey scale of cricket teas. Of particular note were the hot dogs, the pesto pasta and the scones with enough lashings of strawberry jam and cream to fill an Enid Blyton novel.
Play resumed as a red kite circled the ground with Jono Addis opening alongside Wood, who escaped first ball when a sharp chance to gully was put down. The openers scored at a steady rate reaching 50 in the 12th over and 100 in the 21st. Wood took one on the chin, but stood as firm as Carl Froch had the previous evening while Addis dispatched 12 fours and a six in the direction of the castle which required a replacement ball.
The pick of the home bowlers, Toby Gribbin, bowled Addis for 76 with one that nipped back off the seam. Swan came in and soon picked up the pace with a number of straight drives, one of which was nudged onto the wickets by the Berkhamsted bowler to run Wood out for 61 with two required. Sam Brodbeck strode to the wicket to see Swan dispatch the next ball for four and finish the game.
The Strollers returned to the pavilion for a quick drink with their hosts before heading home.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Jono Addis.
L J Clark
Thursday June 5 on Wandsworth Common
Strollers won by eight wickets
L J Clark 106-5
(20 overs; Ferrick 3-27, Stubbs 2-15, Troughton 1-2, Duff 1-12)
Strollers 108-2
(14.3 overs; Ferrick 45no, Swale 25no, Loan 18no, Addison 11no)
The Strollers’ midweek team opened their 2014 season on Wandsworth Common with a fixture against the LJ Clark team on a sunny warm evening. The LJ Clarks were light on numbers and Strollers captain Tom Wood decided to field first in a 20-20 game with retirements.
Steve Tjasink opened the bowling from the County Arms end and Ryan Duff opened from the Windmill Green end. Duff took a wicket in the fourth over by bowling one of the openers. Richie Stubbs replaced Duff for the sixth over and bowled the other opener in the eighth over.
Christian Troughton took over from the County Arms end and picked up a wicket with his first ball as Duff took a regulation catch at midwicket. Stubbs picked up his second wicket in the 12th over by bowling the No5 to leave LJs in trouble at 40-5.
They rallied with some good stroke play from Jon House, who retired on 31. Keith Shannon and Eric Swale bowled an over each before Sam Ferrick came on at the County Arms end and in his third over bowled the No 6. The last two batsmen picked up a few runs to produce a final score for the LJs of 106-5 after 20 overs.
Ferrick and Wood opened the batting for the Strollers, but the reply did not start well as Wood was bowled for two in the first over, Troughton was run out first ball, and Ferrick gave a very sharp bat-pad chance to the LJs’ keeper but it was dropped. This proved to be the turning point as Ferrick and Eric Swale set about the LJ bowling with Ferrick retiring on 45 (after three sixes) and Swale on 25. Next in were Mike Loan and Richard Addison, who batted a little more conservatively to reach 18no and 11no as the Strollers reached their target in the 15th over.
A quick pint in the County Arms was a good way to finish off a winning start to the midweek season.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Mike Loan.
Pinkneys Green
Sunday June 8 at Pinkneys Green
Strollers won by 48 runs
Strollers 203-5
(40 overs; Crocker 39no, Swale 36, Thomas 30no, Sam Brodbeck 28, Addis 26)
Pinkneys Green 155-9
(40 overs; Walder 5-36, Patston 1-17, Simon Brodbeck 1-43)
This is why we play cricket. Temperature in the mid-twenties, glorious sunshine, idyllic English countryside, tea and scones, the Sunday Times with a mild hangover… the game itself was almost irrelevant on such a magnificent day. But it wouldn’t be much of a match report if I only talked about the aesthetic qualities of barley fields in the early summer breeze, the buzzard’s use of its fan-shaped tail to maintain its glide or the well-balanced malt and hop flavours of the Rebellion IPA that continue to a long, refreshing and clean finish.
Ten Strollers were punctual and thankfully, captain Jono Addis won the toss, and, not surprisingly, elected to bat. The pitch, kept under cover, was unaffected by the recent rains and looked hard and true. Addis and Jim Hodgson strode out, confident of setting a challenging target. The first over looked ominous for Pinkneys, with Addis immediately finding the middle of the bat and the boundary. Keen to see the most of the strike and score freely, Addis called Hodgson through for a tight single and a sharp throw from square leg found Jim short.
Despite initial impressions, the pitch was difficult to score on, and both opening bowlers Shiv Sharma and Ben Purchese were gaining appreciable movement in the air. John Low and Addis set about building a foundation, playing safe against the good balls and dispatching the few loose deliveries on offer. With the new ball pair seen off, Addis sensed a chance off the first-change bowlers – but succeeded only in flicking a half-volley off his pads straight to square leg.
In strode Sam Brodbeck, who, despite some dubious calling (yes, yes NO) put on another 23 runs before Low was bowled through the gate by one that nipped back off a good length from Anthony Fuller. That brought Eric Swale to the crease, who also seemed determined to do his best to run both his batting partner and himself out. Anything struck well, regardless of whether it went straight to the field, was followed by a loud “YES”. Remarkably both survived, and managed to put on 60 runs for the fourth wicket before Brodbeck was neatly caught behind trying to push the pace.
With the end of the innings approaching, Warren Crocker and Swale started to up the tempo, and picked up some hard-run twos and threes. This was nothing however, compared to the running of Andrew Thomas, who joined Crocker after Swale chased a wide one off Shiv and deposited the ball into the safe hands of third man. Deft late cuts, across the line heaves and straight chip shots were the order of the day for the pair, just as long as it didn’t reach the boundary. Word was that Thomas had taken his marathon training to the cricket field; Crocker was not impressed. Between them they took the Strollers to a respectable 203.
Tea was taken with the Strollers satisfied they had reached a challenging total. Cathy Snapes provided her usual high-class selection of pizza, pies, sandwiches, fruit scones and unbelievably moist chocolate cake. The satisfied Strollers then headed out in the afternoon sun to defend their total.
Crocker and Hodgson opened the bowling and were, at best, miserly. The display of controlled swing bowling was remarkable. Nine overs and a couple of close calls later and the screws had been tightened; Pinkneys Green were on 9 for no loss. The pressure told, and the batsmen chased quick singles. Unfortunately for William Heyes he chose a bump and run tactic on Sam Brodbeck, who was over the ball like the aforementioned buzzard and completed a sharp run-out at the non-striker’s end.
Livewire Pinkneys keeper Tim Snapes then came to the crease and immediately started with positive intent. Swale did his best to look athletic in the covers, but only succeeded in staining his whites by regularly diving over the ball and watching it go to the boundary. George Calvocoressi and Simon Brodbeck bore the brunt of Snapes’ assault. Simon had the measure of Snapes’ partner though, and Addis took a sharp catch behind the stumps.
Thomas controlled the other end, troubling the batsmen with a tight display of swing bowling. In the bright sunshine the ball was somehow swinging both ways.
As the required run rate increased Aaron Walder was brought on from the southern end with immediate effect. A top display of leg spin bowling followed, and the wickets tumbled. The pressure also forced tight singles, and for all his pointless diving Swale actually managed to affect a run-out. Hodgson, now warmed up, was also unlucky not to have his sprint to third man rewarded with another the following ball. Shortly after Snapes hit a well-deserved half-century Thomas nonchalantly took what might easily be the Strollers catch of the season. Standing on the midwicket boundary, looking straight into the evening sun, Thomas casually took a few large steps forward and to his right to clutch the ball at his bootlaces. The fact that it had come off the bat like a rocket seemed to make no difference to Andy.
That wicket broke the back of the resistance; Walder took five and Peter Patston finished off the innings with a tidy over, claiming the wicket of Sharma hit wicket (although there is some debate about whether it was ball or pad that hit the wickets first).
All in all, a wonderful day of cricket in the sun against top quality opposition followed by good conversation and a jug of Rebellion courtesy of the five-for. It simply doesn’t get better than that.
P.S. I should note that the author had ‘man flu’ at the time of writing, and was dosed up on non-prescription medicines.
Capt and wkt: Jono Addis. Match fees: Simon Brodbeck/John Low.
The Bricklayer’s Arms
Tuesday June 10 in Wandsworth Park
Strollers won by 11 runs
Strollers 111-6
(20 overs; Leach 25, Wood 22no, Mahadeva 20, Troughton 18)
The Bricklayer's Arms 100-7
(20 overs; Stubbs 3-17, Read 1-7, Timperley 1-10, Mahadeva 1-23, Duff 1-26)
Another fine evening saw the Strollers’ midweek team play their second match of the season against the Bricklayer's Arms XI at Wandsworth Park, Putney. With a east-west pitch and a very bright, low sun at the Putney end, the two captains, Tom Wood and Chris Locke, agreed to have all the overs bowled from the Wandsworth end in a 20-20 game without batting retirements. An injury picked up in morning training saw Jeff Ball drop out of the Strollers team to be replaced by James Stubbs for his second game of the day.
Tom Wood won the toss and decided to have a bat with Amar Mahadeva and Rory Wood opening. Wood was bowled for one in the third over, which brought James Timperley to the middle, but he was deceived three overs later and was out lbw for three. Christian Troughton came in at No 4 but tight bowling from the Bricklayers' bowlers restricted the scoring rate and the Strollers had reached 38 when Mahadeva was caught for 20 at mid-on in the ninth over.
Spencer Leach was next man in and the scoring rate increased with Troughton hitting a six before being bowled for 18 and Leach hitting three fours on his way to 25. Tom Wood was next in and finished on 22no; Simon Tong was run out for one and Ryan Duff was four not out at the end of the 20 overs with the Strollers having reached 111-6.
Julian Read and Ryan Duff opened the bowling for the Strollers with Duff bowling one of the opening batsmen in his first over. The Bricklayers recovered and, helped by some dropped catches, were looking good having scored 70 before the breakthrough came in the 13th over when Duff took a fine catch in the setting sun at long-on to dismiss Caley for 30 off the bowling of Mahadeva.
Richie Stubbs bowled the incoming batsman second ball and picked up two wickets in his next over by bowling the Bricklayers' opener, Steve Thavam, for 28 and trapping the new batsman lbw to reduce the Bricklayers to 84-5 after 16 overs. The result was still in the balance, but was decided as Strollers' wicketkeeper Leach took a lobbed catch off Timperley; Read bowled the eighth Bricklayers batsman and Troughton bowled a tight last over to leave the score on 100-7.
Both teams retired for some fine beers to the Bricklayer's Arms, which has twice been CAMRA London pub of the year.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Spencer Leach. Scorers: Kimball Bailey/Simon Brodbeck.
Mayfield
Saturday June 14 in Palmers Green
Strollers won by nine wickets
Mayfield 107
(46 overs; Selby 4-20, Thomas 2-6, Shah 2-25, Crocker 1-2, Ball 1-10)
Strollers 111-1
(21.5 overs; Loan 37no, Davidson 32, Sam Brodbeck 24no)
Ten-Pin bowling is a fun game, although it should probably be best left to those indoors wearing slippery shoes. It usually involves bowling the ball down the lane with as few bounces as possible, hopefully knocking over a few sticks in the process. Not too dissimilar to cricket, although we of course would prefer one bounce (sometimes zero depending on your intending delivery) before clattering the top of off stump. Alas for our enjoyable game at Palmers Green we seemed to have our sports mixed up.
An Antipodean VIII supplemented by a few native gentlemen including our fearless captain strode off to Palmers Green for what turned out to be a very strong Strollers performance. Captain Sam Brodbeck lost the toss and the opposition chose to bat. Warren Crocker, with an runs-per-over rate of 1.1 from his previous three games but unlucky in the wicket column, started in his usual expert line and length manner.
Andrew Thomas then rather surprisingly (considering the usual standard of his warm-up deliveries) claimed a wicket off his first delivery and Mayfield were 0-1 after two overs. That famous line from Forest Gump talks about “life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get”- well replace “life” with “cricket pitch” and keeper Kelvin Davidson will totally agree with you. One short of a length ball from Thomas roared off the pitch, took the outside edge, and then thumped him right in the chest (and disappointingly for Thomas was not lodged long enough to be deemed a fair catch). A rather large red circle was noticed at the half-time interval. Then in the fourth over, the second wicket came with the first instance of sporting confusion mentioned earlier when Thomas pitched the ball on a good length, and the ball rolled towards the three pins resulting in a strike. More was to follow.
Mayfield were slow and measured in their approach and were building nicely notwithstanding spells of diligent and accurate, albeit unlucky, bowling from Messrs Piers Ovenden and Rory Wood. Then Kavit Shah came on and took two quick wickets and the balance was restored with some great catching in the slips by Crocker. Some very wily and sharpish bowling from Aidan Selby was the death knell with a game-changing spell. A combination of three-pin bowling and some excellent lines resulted in four wickets and Mayfield were in trouble.
Jeff Ball was brought on to add some variety to the attack as it had all been military medium at this point. What transpired was breathtaking: a long hop on leg stump, dispatched with vigour to the square-leg boundary where it was brilliantly caught by Selby at full stretch to his left. Ball was stunned. Mr Crocker then got his deserved wicket as the tail was wrapped up and Mayfield were dismissed for 107.
A very delicious tea ensured we were raring to go on the chase. In strolled Davidson and Mike Loan to open the ledger and a steady partnership accrued that, in many ways, made many wonder what was actually wrong with the pitch. Davidson fell for 32 before a fine partnership between Brodbeck and Loan moved us quickly towards the target. It was an excellent display on how to play on a difficult wicket with straight bats all round and many shots delightfully played through the V to the boundary. The Strollers crossed the finish line after only 24 overs with an excellent not out for Mike Loan of 37, ably supported by Sam with a not out innings of 24.
The afternoon ended with a few pints of the Antipodes’ finest blue can lager and a good day’s cricket came to an end.
Capt and match fees: Sam Brodbeck. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson.
West Chiltington
Sunday June 15 in West Sussex
Strollers won by 12 runs
Strollers 253-6
(40 overs; Timperley 77, Swan 52, Ferrick 42, Crocker 34no)
West Chiltington 241-9
(40 overs; Hodgson 3-45, Read 2-25, Simon Brodbeck 2-53, Swan 1-27, Crocker 1-30)
The Fleet Street Strollers have played in many lovely places but it is unlikely they have experienced a finer pavilion than West Chiltington and Thakeham CC’s new home.
At a cost of £300,000, the brand new building comes with spacious changing rooms, polished wood floors, leather couches, flat screen TV, electronic scoreboard, fresh blue flowers in clear glass vases and bathroom facilities that would make the Dorchester proud. It is a picture from within and without. Viewed from the pitch the honey-coloured, symmetrical, cedar-shingle roof recedes into the oak leaf background. It is a credit to the club, to cricket and to aesthetics in general.
The match was cracking too. Captain Mike Morgan won the toss and batted. Sam Ferrick (42) blazed away merrily before falling to a fine catch behind the wicket. James Timperley (77) made his first half-century of the season, showing glimpses of old form. Tim Swan (52) also batted well, making use of the extra pace in the wicket with some lovely straight drives.
Warren Crocker strode to the wicket at 207-5 in the 30th over, which signalled the now familiar start of ‘Wozza Hour.’ His blazing bat carted two sixes and two fours in a hard-hit 34 not out, leaving an imposing target of 253 off 40 overs.
The tea nearly rivalled the pavilion in quality. Duck wraps, a fruit platter, sweet chilli meatballs and pasta salads were among the highlights.
Julian Read unleashed pace, bounce and movement at the start of the West Chiltington innings; however it was the slow and steady Jim Hodgson at the other end who made early inroads (3-45). “That’s a good one,” he said, after nipping one through the gate and hitting off stump. There were no arguments.
The Strollers’ fielding was inspired and calamitous in equal measure. Ferrick took a fine boundary catch, only to step on the rope. Crocker nearly did the same, but managed to stumble infield with the ball in hand. Ferrick and Crocker also collided headlong into each other while trying to stop a boundary. In the clash of the codes it is unclear whether the Canterbury Scrumhalf or the Collingwood Ruckman came out on top.
Gallant hitting by Mick Armstrong (50), Tim Monday (49) and Matt Goring (78no) kept West Chiltington in the hunt throughout, and it took an another amazing diving catch by Ferrick, along with a deadly death spell by Read (2-25), to finally swing the match the Strollers’ way. The chase faded 12 runs short, but not before Strollers’ nails were chewed.
Afterwards, West Chiltington Club President Peter Jones presented the John Marshall Cup back to Strollers’ Captain Morgan. John Marshall, a former editor of the London Evening News and resident in nearby Thakeham, founded the annual fixture against a Fleet Street side in 1970. Although John died a few years back, it is certain that he would have been so very proud to see the new club pavilion in use, and that the fixture named in his honour is still played in such good spirit 44 years later.
Capt: Mike Morgan. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Thames Valley
Wednesday June 18 at Spelthorne
Strollers won by 16 runs
Strollers 144-2
(20 overs; Leach 31no, Shannon 25no, Mahadeva 25no, Swale 18, Rai 16, Knowles 11no)
Thames Valley 128-7
(20 overs; Mahadeva 3-6, Thanushan 3-14, Rory Wood 1-24)
A green wicket greeted debutante Captain Rory Wood as he strode out to the middle to make his first toss. After winning the toss (a sign of things to come?) and glancing back at the pavilion to see strollers strolling in at five to six he decided that having a bat first against the opposition would be the best course.
Thankfully at 1759 Spencer Leach was able to pad up and accompany Eric Swale to the middle for what would be an outstanding opening partnership seeing Leach retiring on 31. Bashful swinging and powerful stroke play was the theme for the two openers and when Robin Rai entered the fray he was able to continue this course while riding his luck after three dropped chances. Swale was soon caught and bowled by Ian Doggett for 18. After 10 overs the Strollers were 70/1 and smiles were a plenty as the rest of the side had managed to find there way to the ground. Keith Shannon’s innings was exemplified between leaving the good balls and really getting into the bad balls. A Thames Valley pot plant failed to field the ball properly and exploded on impact when Keith slapped short pitched delivery to mid wicket. With his next scoring shot he sought out to scatter the scorers with a lofty six in the same location. When Robin Rai departed Amar Mahadeva came to the crease and almost as quickly as he came, he provided great impetus towards the end of the innings retiring on 25 with hard running and great placement epitomizing his time in the middle. Mike Knowles and Shannon finished off with some telekinetic run calls and lusty blows to leave the strollers with a respectable 144/2.
Richie Stubbs and Rory Wood were to open the bowling with the talented Graham Doggett at the crease. Doggett was able to capitalise on the early overs getting Thames Valley off to an excellent start with a firebrand 25. The first breakthrough came when Wood was able to use the pitch; a shorter length ball deviated off the seem, hurried the much feared I. Dogget into a hook and a gloved ball lobbed to Dan Rajendrarajah at first slip for an easy pouch. This was enough to impress Captain Wood and Rajendrarajah was sent into bowl. Some excellent left arm spin and challenging lengths saw the other opener C. Lewis bowled on 26. With Thames Valley ahead on run rate at the 10 over mark with 72/2 the game was in the balance. What followed was some excellent bowling from the young Jamie Stubbs and the not so young Mahadeva whose tidy lines and impeccable length saw the strollers slowly wrestle back the grip on the match. With five overs to go it was 105/4. Rajendrarajah then re-appeared in the attack and had an amazing double wicket maiden which was greeted with great delight at the end of the 16th over. After a 1st innings injury the Thames Valley 10 was reduced to 9 and it was agreed that the first retiring batsmen would be allowed to return to the crease. This worryingly, meant the re-appearance of the star batsmen G. Doggett. V. Lewis rotated the strike excellently and with one over to go Graham Doggett was on strike and left with 17 to get, easy for a man of his talents.
Cue Amar Mahadeva, cometh the hour, cometh the man. The first three balls of the over we straight in the block hole, three dots! Strollers were poised for victory but well aware of the batsmen’s ability to hit three sixes in a row then…BOOM, Mahadeva bowls him, full and straight. Relief for the strollers and heartbreak for the Valley.
A rousing game over all, polished off by a delightful array of sandwiches and chutneys. Credit must go to John Gibson who for the past few weeks has managed to get together 11 men for the mid week games. He is now passing on the midweek management baton to Richie Stubbs, citing “If I am to get a century this season I need to concentrate on my weekend form”.
Captain: Rory Wood. Match Fees: Eric Swale. Wkt: Spencer Leach.
Kempsford
Saturday June 21 in Kempsford
Strollers lost by five wickets
Strollers 85
(Sam Brodbeck 39)
Kempsford 86-5
(Crocker 2-24, Macaulay 1-7, Timperley 1-12, Hodgson 1-19)
They came from all points of the compass to The George.
Piers Ovenden walked 88 miles along the Thames Path from Windsor to lodge the night at Kempsford Manor. The Patston party arrived from Bath after watching England lose 36-13 to the All Blacks and complete a 3-0 series whitewash. “This defeat should fire a steely determination to never let it happen again," said coach Stuart Lancaster. "We were beaten by a better team” – a sentiment that this Strollers side could empathise with at the close of the day.
Brian Taylor came hot-foot from Trent Bridge, having witnessed the highest successful run chase on the ground since 1926, Nottinghamshire knocking off a little matter of 385 to beat Middlesex. Mike Morgan and James Timperley came by a circuitous route through Brighton, Wandsworth and the suburbs of Guildford.
And so the troops were assembled, were put into bat and succeeded in carefully crafting a pig’s ear of an innings.
Ovenden mistimed a slower ball. Taylor was well caught at slip. Timperley edged behind. Chairman Kimball Bailey put up stout resistance and gleefully pointed out that his contribution of four equalled the aggregate compiled by Ovenden and Timperley put together – and that has not often been said.
The procession continued in the face of fine Kempsford bowling by Anthony Axel-Berg, Tom Beechey, Ben Saunders and Seb Francis. Only Sam Brodbeck stood firm amidst the ruins, playing with application and resolve. But he too fell – for 39 off a leading edge – and an ignominious double somehow summed up the Strollers’ woeful performance as Alastair Macaulay and Simon Brodbeck both contrived to run themselves out.
So, on the most perfect of midsummer days, Timperley’s humbled troops concentrated on what they are good at – eating tea. And what a tea. Masterminded by Joanne Simpkins, it was a mouthwatering feast - highlighted by delicious scones and jam - which was clearly and cunningly designed to slow down the visitors in their attempt to force an unlikely victory.
Could the visitors defend 85? With Kempsford’s reply standing at 19-3 there was a slender chance. But catches went down, home skipper Ashley Tranter played some crushing off-drives and Ben James put bat to ball before Mark Strange marched out to finish things off with some fine straight hitting.
Still the summer solstice sun beat down on the idyllic Kempsford ground where to just stand and watch in the soft air was a pleasure in itself...
And willows, willow-herb, and grass,
And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,
No whit less still and lonely fair
Than the high cloudlets in the sky.
...and the humbled Strollers adjourned, not to Adlestrop but to The George for the post-match inquest. “It all started to go wrong when we got stuck on the motorway,” confessed Warren Crocker. But in truth, Stuart Lancaster had got it right: we were beaten by a better team, whose warm hospitality made it a day to remember, even if that batting performance was one to forget.
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Mike Morgan.
Cricklade
Sunday June 22 in Cricklade
Strollers won by 71 runs
Strollers 249-3
(40 overs; Ovenden 131, Timperley 38, Sam Brodbeck 26no, Taylor 18)
Cricklade 178
(32 overs; Macaulay 3-25, Morgan 2-10, Patston 2-17, Wood 1-15, Taylor 1-22, Hodgson 1-49)
The Strollers gathered at Cricklade determined to make a better fist of batting than the previous day’s debacle. They chose to prepare in different ways. Some went to Cirencester, Mike Morgan and James Timperley warmed up in lycra with a 50-mile cycle ride while Alastair Macaulay and Tom Wood took Oonagh for a walk round Cricklade churchyard. The church has impressive pinnacles on the bell-tower and the third-longest bell ropes in England. Sadly Wikipedia neglects to say which are the longest.
Cricklade prides itself on being a Saxon town and the first town on the Thames (it is where Ermine Street crosses the river). Indeed the river flows slowly past the Cricklade cricket ground, a nine-iron from the square and it lured many a ball to watery doom later in the day. The ground looked splendid despite having spent much of the spring under water and the outfield was mown short to give full value for shots.
Skipper Morgan lost the toss and the Strollers were asked to bat first in a 40-over match. In pre-match discussions the locals pointed to their admirable policy of playing the youngsters on a Sunday. They did say they had a couple of bats though...
Indeed young Danni Dewsbury (Wiltshire Under-13s last season) was asked to open the bowling against Piers Ovenden and Brian Taylor. She also bowled the last over of the innings. One or two in the pavilion were concerned at being potentially dismissed by a girl but Piers was unencumbered by such unworthy doubts and was quickly into his stride, taking advantage of any loose deliveries and the short boundary. Brian seemed to hit the fielder every time and did not get off the mark until his 22nd delivery which he hit to the boundary. After that the runs started to flow and the run rate was over six an over for the first 10 overs. Brian was eventually lbw to Steve Hazell, having put on 78 for the first wicket.
James Timperley then came to the crease and he and Piers continued to keep the score going despite some good bowling from Dave Bray and Paul Dewsbury in particular. Piers reached his 50 after 46 balls. Cricklade continued to rotate the bowling to give all their players a game. James was eventually caught off Ewan Palmer for 38 as they put on 102 for the second wicket. Piers was joined by Sam Brodbeck and was soon celebrating his third Strollers hundred (in 83 balls including a six into the river). It was a superb chanceless knock. Piers and Sam then added 48 before Piers was caught in the deep for 131. Sam and Tom Wood then saw out the innings which ended on 249-3.
Warren Crocker was behind the stumps as the Strollers kept their options open. Clearly Morgan fancied a bowl. Jim Hodgson took the new ball and has success with his fourth delivery, bowling Ian Hazell for nought. This brought Bray to the wicket. We had been warned that he was a good bat and he started slowly against tight bowling from Jim and Simon Brodbeck. He started to find his range and was soon peppering the boundary. After 12 overs Bray had a 33-ball 50 and Cricklade were up with the run rate. Jim was replaced by Alastair Macaulay at the river end and he promptly had the other opener Andy Hazell caught by Hodgson at midwicket. A change at the other end also paid off as Peter Patston bowled the dangerous Bray with his first ball for 65. Peter then claimed another victim in the next over (there was some debate about how many times the ball had bounced) and the game looked up for Cricklade.
Robert Smith and Richard Berryman continued to push the scoring along with Smith taking three consecutive boundaries off Alastair. Taylor then purveyed his left-arm twirlers and lured Smith to give up a catch to Morgan. The relentless Strollers spin attack continued as Mike bowled an accurate spell of leggies from the, um, non-river end. He quickly got an lbw and a stumping as Crocker pounced. Warren's yell of triumph was probably a bit disconcerting for his 13-year-old victim. Alastair returned at the river end and had Berryman caught by Peter at slip and Danni Dewsbury bowled. There was even time for the long-awaited return of Wood as a bowler. It was an interesting loosener of an over: six wides, a couple of boundaries and an lbw to finish the Cricklade innings.
We then all retired to the Red Lion - real ale pub, spiritual home and sponsor of Cricklade CC - for post-match analysis. It was a lovely ground, friendly opposition and we would love to return.
Capt: Mike Morgan. Wkt: Warren Crocker.
Westminster
Wednesday June 25 in Wandsworth Park
Strollers won by 48 runs
Strollers 141-3
(20 overs; Belton 30, Leach 27no, Swale 27no, Loan 15, Ackery 11)
Westminster 93-4
(20 overs; Selby 2-14, Loan 1-10, Mahadeva 1-15)
The Strollers gathered at Wandsworth Park for this 20/20 fixture against Westminster. As captain Tom Wood walked out to the middle for the toss, eyes were on a live streaming of Lionel Messi wreaking havoc against Nigeria and the talk was who would make the final 16 in the football World Cup.
The Strollers quickly found their focus, however, as Wood won the toss and elected to bat. Duncan Ackery and Lloyd Belton began proceedings and immediately caused some havoc of their own for the opposition. They scored 25 runs from the first three overs before the bowlers found the right length and tightened things up. It was a very lively pitch, with an incline at one end causing a lot of bounce and in some cases concern for the striker’s head.
Ackery was soon bowled on 11 and Spencer Leach then joined Belton in the middle. With good strokeplay on all sides of the pitch, Belton and Leach set the base of the Strollers innings and batted through to retirement on 30 and 27 respectively. Eric Swale picked up where they left off and swung hard to keep the score ticking over. Swale received support from Mike Loan (who drove strongly before being bowled on 15) and the Strollers finished on a solid 141-3 from their 20 overs, with Swale on 27 not out.
Amar Mahadeva opened the bowling for the Strollers and quickly found a good line and length. He was joined by Christian Troughton at the other end and together they gave little for the Westminster batsmen to work with. Aidan Selby soon replaced Mahadeva (who was brought back on later) and picked up two wickets in his first two overs, with both balls beating the batsmen and crashing into the stumps. Westminster were at that stage on 27-2 after 8 overs and struggling to stay in the chase towards the target of 142. After Troughton’s spell, Richie Stubbs was next and continued the theme of giving little away.
Despite some more determined hitting in the latter stages of their innings, Westminster was unable to get back into the game and, after losing two further wickets (one to Loan and one to Mahadeva), finished the game on 93-4 after 20 overs.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Spencer Leach.
Peppard
Sunday June 29 at Peppard
Strollers won by seven wickets
Peppard 137
(Crocker 3-14, Macaulay 2-19, Thomas 2-19, Simon Brodbeck 2-45, Selby 1-38)
Strollers 139-3
(Addis 63no, Calvocoressi 35no, Taylor 13)
“The last seven games at Peppard have been won by the team batting second,” declared captain Jono Addis, prior to the toss at a sunny Peppard. Such considerations cut little ice with home skipper Olly Nicholson, who chose to bat first. Perhaps he was aware that the Strollers could only muster nine players to start the game, with George Calvocoressi (National Childbirth Trust class) and John Low (traffic) nowhere to be seen.
The attention to detail that informed Jono’s comment was also shown in the way he organised the Strollers in the field. His team comprised two demographics: old British and young antipodean. The latter had the more active roles: keeping wicket (Hamish McDougall), bowling quick and/or patrolling the outfield with their big arms (Warren Crocker, Andrew Thomas and Aidan Selby). As for the old Brits – they were deployed in an inner ring of grey, making the most of the skills of the 25-yard under-arm return (Alastair Macaulay and Simon Brodbeck) and Brian Taylor’s jolly hard throw over the same short distance. Peter Patston was at first slip, as he has always been since time immemorial.
Peppard set off in a hurry, with the talented young opener Jake Leach in particular displaying a range of powerful shots, some of which made contact with the ball, until he was caught behind to the deserving Thomas for a run-a-ball 21.
At some point the Strollers numbers went down to eight as Brodbeck disappeared from the field. (No-one quite knew why, but we were gladdened by his news that Notts had reached 176-2).
At 34-3 the persevering Thomas and Crocker were taken off, having wrested the initiative away from the opposition. Selby and Brodbeck were introduced to the attack. Also, by this time, Low and Calvocoressi had appeared, the former clearly an old Brit, the latter more difficult to pigeonhole with his exotic name and equally flamboyant cap – the sort that would make Fred Trueman bowl 10 yards faster. Best move on.
The next 10 overs produced 60 runs which threatened to take away the game from the Strollers. Nicholson hit powerfully without restraint, occasionally riding his luck, but hitting three sixes in his score of 42. Old Brit Macaulay did for him, luring him down the track for McDougall to effect a stumping. Meanwhile the grey inner ring was raising its game: Brodbeck clutching a scorching off-drive from Lake to his midriff – it could have been nasty – and Taylor diving to catch the dangerous Legg for 21 – a catch which some thought would have been easier had the fielder got underneath the dropping ball and caught it with hands pointing upwards. Look in the book.
An eighth-wicket stand of 21 delayed the Strollers’ progress but, with Crocker back in the attack, the last three Peppard wickets fell for three runs. Wickets were shared by all the bowlers. The total of 137 was an under-par performance by a talented but profligate home side, which was all out in under 32 overs.
With a new ball and considerable away swing, Peppard’s probing opening attack demanded that the Strollers proceed with caution at the start of their reply. McDougall never quite settled, perhaps thinking of a colour scheme for his new flat into which he had moved the previous day (try all black, Hamish) and was caught behind chasing a wide one. Addis edged an early ball to third man, but cognoscenti muttered appreciatively about “soft hands.” Taylor pottered on quite comfortably until undone by an inswinger from Hamish Scott.
Score 49-2 in the 14th over. A good bowling attack now had slow left-armer Nicholson extracting some prodigious turn and bounce. Addis continued watchfully. Low went to an outswinger – 58-3.
There could have been a crisis. Instead, the captain, playing with increasing freedom, played a match-winning innings of 63 not out off 65 balls supported in a stand of 81 by Calvocoressi, whose dashing 35 not out (seven 4s) is his highest Strollers score.
In the end, the Strollers won in comfort, but had the home side used up its full allotment of overs, the victory would have been much harder to achieve (which is, when re-read, a statement of the obvious, but no less relevant for that).
A sunny day, a lovely ground, competitive but friendly opposition; it’s why we play.
Capt: Jono Addis. Wkt and match fees: Hamish McDougall.
Bounders
Saturday July 5 in Wandsworth Park
Strollers lost by three wickets
Strollers 161-6
(25 overs; Davidson 42, Low 25, Thomas 12no, Crocker 11no, Loan 11)
Bounders 162-7
(25 overs; Thomas 2-25, Stubbs 2-29, Crocker 1-32)
There are certain requirements to playing a game of cricket: two teams, bat and pads, a ball...oh yes, and something to aim at, like stumps. While the Strollers, duly gathered at the appointed hour, patiently waited for these necessary components to slowly assemble it transpired that the car containing the Bounders’ kit, carelessly parked at Parson’s Green, had ended up in a car pound at Croydon, well out of reach and there were therefore no stumps to be had.
The changing rooms and groundsman’s office having sadly proved stumpless, a delegation was dispatched to the nearby Sports Direct and returned somewhat later clutching a suspiciously small package. These transpired to be the only available stumps, junior ones – (clearly not much call in Putney for adult equipment, well for cricket anyway). These were duly installed, albeit at a somewhat rakish angle, having to fit into the pre-existing larger holes. Not an auspicious start and it rather set the tone for the afternoon.
Having won the toss, the Strollers proceeded to bat, now under looming rain clouds, with the game reduced to 30 overs each. Mike Loan and Kelvin Davidson got the innings off to a steady start despite the uneven bounce before Loan fell with the score at 48, followed in short order by Andy Clarke and Tim Swan, all to bowling from Ostro. At this stage rain – well mild drizzle really, which did not prevent every other sport on the park continuing unconcerned – caused another time loss and a further reduction to 25 overs. Following resumption of play Davidson was joined by John Low and the pair proceeded to consolidate the innings. Their efforts were ably abetted and indeed overshadowed by an extraordinary number of wides, resulting in several double-digit overs for balls bowled with many being delivered straight into the keeper’s gloves at around second or third slip. Davidson finally fell for 42 and Andrew Thomas and Warren Crocker in the final overs got the total to 161-6. The extras provided 52 of the total (41 of them wides), which must be a club record.
There being no tea on offer, the game resumed with barely a break and the Bounders’ openers, after a cautious start, struck the ball hard to all corners in the continuously improving conditions. They looked set but the Strollers clawed their way back in to the game with wickets from Richie Stubbs and Thomas and the scoring rate dropped.
The game was interrupted yet again when Richie Stubbs’ son James (aged 11 – another record?), who was subbing in the field, stood his ground in a most unStrollerlike manner to a mighty cover drive and received a resounding thwack to his upper shin which would have felled the strongest of us.
The Bounders’ middle order, with the field scattered, proceeded to nudge and nurdle for ones and twos but after two run-outs from throws from Thomas (whose throws from the boundary were wonderfully fast and accurate) and Clarke, the game was perfectly poised with 35 to get off five overs.
Confusion over the runs required set in at this stage. Four were suddenly needed off the last ball - which was duly smitten to the boundary. The Strollers - like young James - retired somewhat wounded. Maybe the real heroes were the fragile looking stumps which survived the afternoon’s battering and set an example to us all.
Capt and match fees: Warren Crocker. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson.
Amersham Hill
Sunday July 6 in Amersham
Strollers won by 116 runs
Strollers 262-4
(40 overs; Addis 97, Timperley 50no, Ferrick 36, McDougall 33, Ball 11no)
Amersham Hill 146
(31.3 overs; Simon Brodbeck 3-13, Crocker 2-9, Rory Wood 2-25, Herath 2-49), Tjasink 1-49)
With the sun surging through the puffy altostratus clouds meaninglessly meandering across the midday Amersham sky, the Fleet Street Strollers arrived with an extremely high ratio of flip-flops/jandals/thongs to feet at the Amersham Hill Cricket Club.
Smiles were all around as a lovely manicured pitch and outfield beckoned. This was even enough to crack the scowl on Warren Crocker’s remonstrative face, a hangover from the previous (half) day’s cricket [The Strollers’ interesting clash with The Bounders in Wandsworth Park...see Match Reports]. The sweet smell of sunscreen was abundant as captain James Timperley made a characteristically smooth walk to the middle for the toss. He won the toss and decided that enjoying the sun sitting down was the best move, so elected to bat first.
Jono Addis and Hamish McDougall marched out to the crease to face the pace of Greg Mackenzie from the Northern end and spin from Anurag Abindashi from the Southern end - a gamble by the Amersham captain which did not seem to pay off, with the 50 coming up in the ninth over.
The Strollers lower order unravelled their Sunday papers and started peeling off layers of clothes in a vain attempt to culture a ‘base tan’. Conversation quickly jumped between possible holiday destinations, diving in Dahab (a small town situated on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula, in case you did not know), Rory Wood’s upcoming nuptials, the World Cup, Le Tour, Stephen Tjasink’s completion of the Strollers database and, of course, the confidence which Addis and McDougall were exuding.
The next 17 overs saw a display of excellent placement, helped by a seemingly frictionless outfield and a slight north to south slope. Addis used this expertly and quickly notched another 50. So confident was Jeff Ball that he almost set up an impromptu betting agency offering odds on mode of dismissal for the openers, with some very long odds. No sooner had the odds been discussed than McDougall was walking back to the pavilion after being caught at point. Sam Ferrick joined Addis and the boundaries and spritely running continued.
Addis, with half a mind on a century, was tempted into a drive by a fuller ball, but was undone by the pitch and he played through the delivery to gift an easy catch at shin height for the bowler, John Attley. Never has a facial expression screamed 97 before.
Ferrick’s upbeat innings was undone by the ball of the day. Tempted down the wicket by a lofted ball, he was left stranded and stumped when Attley’s right-arm bomb dipped and turned off the pitch. John Gibson walloped a four and ran a few quick singles with Timperley before being caught. Keen not to become a victim of his own odds, Ball wisely turned over the strike to Timperley in the last five overs. Ball then had the best seat in the house to witness James’s bludgeoning innings of 50 not out with four fours and three sixes. Ball was able to nudge his average up with a very handy 11 not out.
Smiles were all around, whether that was because of the handsome total of 262-4 that had been reached or because of the freshly baked bread which was being assembled in the pavilion for tea. Thick layers of butter, roasted ham off the bone, iceburg lettuce and juicy tomatoes accompanied the bread. The conversation for the next 20 minutes consisted of “mmmmm”, “ooooh yum”, and “seconds” in a not so subtle nod to the organisers of tea.
So good was the tea, that while Timperley was setting up Crocker’s field for the first over, a large piece of coffee-flavoured swiss roll occupied his right hand and mouth, with another piece being sighted in his left pocket.
Crocker continued his fine summer with a miserly start on a pitch that offered some variable bounce. The same bounce which Addis and McDougall conquered earlier was causing problems for the Amersham openers, so McDougall came up to the stumps, leaving Timperley a lone figure at first slip. Luckily Timperley stayed put as the very next delivery left the batsman slightly and sailed straight into the swiss roll-covered hands of the captain.
At the Southern end Rory Wood was the beneficiary of an amazing Ferrick catch at short-cover, plucking a head-high screamer akin to a bat gorging on moths around a light. Wood picked up his second when the variable bounce caused Attley to chop a ball onto his stumps. Tjasink and debutant Raj Herath held down the middle overs, Tjasink’s action extracting some untamed bounce from the pitch following a brief mid-afternoon shower which saw two slips and two gullys in place. The bounce once again got the better of the batsman and James Newbury was bowled for 22.
Herath toiled into the wind from the Southern end and was rewarded when a lofted drive was clasped at long-on by Crocker. Simon Brodbeck then had three masterly overs that all Strollers are used to, picking the only thorn in the Strollers’ side - Abindashi who was lbw for 41. A bowled and another catch from Ferrick rounded off a skilful spell. With whispers of the Djokovic vs Federer Wimbledon final drifting across the ground, Crocker was reintroduced to the attack and quickly picked up the final wicket to see Amersham all out for 146 from 32.2 overs.
A wonderful day for the Strollers and for Crocker, excellent therapy after his emotional toils the previous day. A few beers were enjoyed after the match as the Strollers soaked up the last of the Sunday sun.
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Thames Valley
Wednesday July 9 in Spelthorne
Strollers lost by five wickets
Strollers 132-4
(20 overs; Tom Wood 29no, Leach 27no, Mahadeva 14no, Shannon 14, Garside 11)
Thames Valley 133-5
(19.3 overs; Garside 2-9, Thanushan 1-3, Rory Wood 1-19, Mahadeva 1-46)
Keen to continue the run of midweek form shown by the Strollers to date, the first arrivals at Sunbury were confronted with cars parked at various locations along the busy A308, having been stymied by locked gates preventing access to the ground. Fortunately, after only a moderate wait, the charming and effusively apologetic keyholder arrived to let us in and the game was on.
Skipper Tom Wood won the toss and put the Strollers in to bat on a very green wicket (which was to prove difficult for batsmen and keepers alike), with Keith Shannon and Dan Thanushan striding purposefully to the middle. Dan made nine before being trapped in front off the difficult bowling of Graham Doggett, bringing Wood to the crease, warming himself up by running the first six of his 29 as quick singles. Twenty of the remaining 23 would be boundaries. Shannon meanwhile took his total to a well-struck 14, including three fours, before Graham Doggett had a hand in the second dismissal, catching Keith off Paul Briers, bringing Mike Knowles into play. Mike managed five before failing to ground his bat in time during a scampered single, to usher in the debutant, Tom Garside. As Wood retired, John Gibson came into assist, only to watch as, having struck 11, Tom engaged in a pas de deux with the ball before directing it onto the stumps off his left leg.
Spencer Leach joined Gibson and set out his stall by spanking his first ball to the long-off boundary, continuing in the same vein to go on to retire on 27. It was beginning to look better for the Strollers. Amar Mahadeva joined Gibson and the pair saw the overs out, with Mahadeva leaving on 17 and Gibson wondering whether or not it was worth the sweat for a mere 10 (Then perhaps he should hit it harder! Ed).
The Strollers finished on 132 – maybe a bit shy of par, but defendable.
However, Graham Doggett had other ideas, quickly reaching 33, including three maximums, before being removed by a relieved Mahadeva. Ciaran Lewis at the other end retired on a well-struck 33 and by the time Liam Manning was caught for nought off the bowling of Rory Wood, the Valley were well ahead of the required rate. Proving that every Doggett has his day, the younger of the two brothers, Ian, struck hard and well to retire on 35.
Thanushan, with his excellent left-arm spin, removed Doggett Senior with a ball that dropped onto the stumps and in the process broke the second bail of the evening. A fine running catch by Shannon removed Manning and brought Briers to the crease. With Stubbs, Mahadeva and Rory Wood finished, Tom Wood brought himself into the attack to try and stem the flow of runs. After the nine off the skipper’s over was added to the score, it was down to Thanushan and Garside to see the Strollers home. Both bowlers were suitably miserly and every dot ball was greeted with increasing hope. Came the last over, with two to win. Dot, dot – dash! The required two were struck by Briers and Thames Valley were home.
Tom Wood suggested hopefully that perhaps cricket was the only winner, but actually Thames Valley were. Some much appreciated sandwiches and snacks, washed down with the odd pint, finished off another warm and enjoyable evening. We do so like this fixture.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Spencer Leach.
Demijohns
Saturday July 12 at St John's College ground in Oxford
Strollers won by six wickets
Demijohns 86
(Read 3-15, Salvesen 2-5, Crocker 2-25, Simon Brodbeck 2-28, Macaulay 1-6)
Strollers 87-4
(Tom Wood 38no, Duff 27)
Man naturally loves delay,
And to procrastinate;
Business put off from day to day
Is always done too late...
...wrote famous Oxonian Lewis Carroll. Replace “man” with Paul Dorrans and he would be bang on the money.
Ten Strollers assembled at the immaculate St John’s College ground in Oxford for the game against the Demijohns. Tom Wood (punctual as ever, notwithstanding the considerable traffic on the M40 and Oxford ring road) lost the toss and the Strollers took to the field.
Julian Read (on time) opened the bowling from the Southern End. The Demijohns, facing some fine quick bowling, had another unpleasant conundrum: use the sightscreen in the traditional manner, but be blinded by the sun reflecting off a poorly placed loft window, or shade the window and lose the bowling hand in the trees behind Julian’s arm.
The Demijohns had a torrid time facing the opening pair – Read extracting good bounce and Warren Crocker (on the dot) tight at the other end after a loose initial over. Read took three wickets in his first three overs, including that of Demijohns captain Tom Parsons, who looked threatening with some lusty blows through the covers (resulting in a quickfire 18).
Read was replaced by Simon Brodbeck (prompt), who was just as miserly (if slightly slower) than Read. At the other end, fearing being replaced, Crocker conspired with Hamish McDougall (reliable) in the gloves to have Demijohn’s wicketkeeper Stuart Bachelor stumped. This only went part of the way to assuage Crocker’s disappointment at having a wicketkeeper stand up to his bowling. Crocker stayed on for another over and soon has his quota of wickets for the day; bowling Darling for 10, with the Demijohns’ score on 54.
The Demijohns found it difficult to pierce the field to make the most of the bowling-green-esque outfield (a real credit to Ian Madden, the groundsman) and scoring was difficult.
Drinks were taken, and urgent phone calls made to the missing team member to ensure his safety. Nothing was heard, and the Strollers were anxious. The Strollers were throwing themselves around in the field – but perhaps their concern for the missing Dorrans showed through as a couple of chances were put down by Eric Swale (timely) and Ryan Duff (precise) (although, in fairness, a more generous reporter might say that four runs were saved given the difficulty of the catches).
With the Strollers dropping catches, it was left to Demijohn Johnny Golec, on as a “substitute” fielder for Dorrans (late, tardy, overdue, delayed) (ed. is it a substitute if there is no one there to substitute?), to finally hold on to an honourable catch in the gully off Brodbeck to remove Jones, who was looking good in getting to 17.
Tom Salvesen (dependable) at the other end bowled some very tight lines, and took a marvellous caught and bowled. Unsighted by Swale flapping around at silly mid-off, he dived full length to grasp the chance millimetres from the turf with his left hand. Simply outstanding.
Finally, at about the same juncture, a little four-door with two missing hubcaps appeared, and Dorrans was seen shuffling back and forward to the changing room. Fifteen minutes later (and with the Strollers requiring just one wicket to end the innings) ’Cano strode onto the field to rapturous applause. He later explained his 35-minute tardiness with references to bike accidents and the M25. Even without calculators the Strollers were unsure how this could explain Dorrans’ one hour and 35-minute delay in attending.
Alastair Macaulay (exact) replaced Brodbeck and Duff began warming up. Unfortunately for Ryan, Macaulay struck with the second ball of his second over and the Demijohns were bowled out with the score at 86, with an hour to play before tea was taken.
To make up for the lack of bowling, Duff was promoted to No 1, and strode to the crease with Swale, who gave the sage advice “just don’t get out”. Swale’s advice may have been good, but he could have done with listening to it himself as he walked back for a second-ball duck.
Golec, still fresh despite already fielding almost an entire innings, extracted good pace and bounce, and found Duff’s edge on numerous occasions. Luckily for Duff, only one found the fielder, or, more correctly, the fielder’s forehead and then the boundary. Mike Loan (in good time) played some convincing shots but, as with Swale, was out lbw to Khan, whose full, stump to stump bowling was proving challenging.
Captain Wood then started what could only be described as a chanceless innings. With Duff he put on 47 for the third wicket and swung the game firmly in favour of the Strollers. Duff finally fell to Heaton for a well-deserved 27. In at five was Mr Dorrans, who with a bit of goading made it to the crease only marginally later than your average bat.
The clock struck four, and the players retired for what can be accurately described as one of the best teas that this author has taken: delicious fresh sandwiches, freshly cut fruit (not your average half-time oranges, but a medley of pineapple, rock melon and watermelon), scones with clotted cream, and to the delight of Loan, ice creams.
Tea was over all too soon, but the Demijohns were keen and eager to put pressure on the Strollers batting line-up. Wood was in his pads in a flash, but where was his batting partner? The umpires, fielding 11 and Wood were waiting on the pitch when Dorrans ambled out of the hutch, barefoot and unpadded. As it transpired, Dorrans need not have concerned himself overly, as once finally ready to go out on the pitch, he was promptly caught without scoring.
McDougall strode to the crease to watch Wood smash numerous boundaries and take the Strollers to a six-wicket win.
At this stage, the glorious Oxford sun was still shining and it was decided between the captains to play an informal 12-over game. It was completed in good spirits, slightly delayed fielding reactions by Dorrans carrying on the theme for the day and Swale finally hitting the ball.
The players then retired to the clubhouse terrace and were again treated to Ian Madden’s hospitality. Carlings and Fosters were a perfect way to cap off a great day.
To end, Lewis Caroll capped off his poem with a moral, which appears to have also been aimed at Paul…
Let punctuality and care
Seize every flitting hour,
So shalt thou cull a floweret fair,
E'en from a fading flower
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Peper Harow
Sunday July 13 at Peper Harow
Strollers won by 95 runs
Strollers 159-9 dec
(Timperley 51, Sam Brodbeck 35, Hodgson 16, Crocker 14)
Peper Harow 64
(Simon Brodbeck 3-17, Stubbs 2-11, Macaulay 2-21, Hodgson 1-7, Crocker 1-10)
The weather forecast for Sunday had been dreadful for the week, which shows that the Met Office knows as much about weather forecasting as I do about – well, probably batting. Murky skies and clouds full of foreboding, but shorts and dark glasses were the order of the day as the Strollers assembled on this lovely and historic ground. And much of the game was played in glorious sunshine…
Skipper James Timperley won the toss and elected to bat. Rory Wood and Jim Hodgson put up solid resistance to tight opening bowling from Leather and Crawford, but it was second change Arthur, arriving via Darwin, who took first blood, bowling Wood for nine and taking the chuntering Hodgson lbw for 16. Timperley at three started cautiously but his first scoring shot after being joined by Sam Brodbeck was a lovely clean six. The two put on 80 (with Brodbeck Minor’s fan club asking the scorer for regular updates) until JT was taken the first ball after his 50 through a sharp catch by Strickland off Fincham in the deep. Sam went to a fine catch by MacArthur for a solid 35; John Gibson (nominated twice for the champagne moment of the match for avoiding controversial umpiring decisions and for his sharp running between the wickets) came and went all too briefly for two. Warren Crocker hit Fincham for a six and a four before he fell for 14 to another sharp catch from MacArthur; Jeff Ball came and went, and we had lost five wickets for 30 runs.
Richie Stubbs looked nervous before pulling a couple of balls to the boundary; Alastair Macaulay’s stay was also all too brief once the opener returned. Kimball Bailey’s boundary (all too rare a thing these days) was applauded from the pavilion, but he sadly relied on the advice of umpire Brodbeck Minor that he and Stubbs were facing the last over and ran himself out rather stupidly – particularly so when it transpired that it was actually not the last over – by a country mile. Kimball showed that he had clearly studied chuntering under the tutelage of Hodgson while Brodbeck Major and Stubbs took us to tea. 159-9 was a defendable total, but it would be a tough ask.
Brodbeck Minor donned the pads and asked for it to be recorded after the game that he let not a single bye go past. Nice to see a young journalist get a bye-line. “Those gloves are going to sting, mate,” said Crocker, and as he roared down the hill full of venom he was clearly right. But the openers looked solid, and it was up to Hodgson at the other end to induce Acres to play on. The eyes of Bennett, so solid against Crocker, lit up when Brodbeck came on as first change, and he thrashed the ball to long off where Wood got a despairing hand to it. The next ball went exactly the same way, except that Wood was two feet to his right where he took an excellent catch. Arthur contrived to run out his partner Tait and then played across his first delivery from Brodbeck. Crocker then had some reward from his splendid spell (8-2-10-1) through a fine catch by Stubbs in the gully to remove Bates, and three wickets had fallen with the score on 26.
More bowling changes and more wickets. Timperley took two gully catches off Stubbs (we won’t mention his tribute to Meat Loaf) to dismiss MacArthur and Leather. Brodbeck induced Strickland to hit to the safe hands of Gibson at deep cover (another champagne moment nomination). Wood caught Crawford off Macaulay before bowling one massively memorable seamer in his 3-3-0-0 spell as Bradley and Fincham looked to hold out for the draw. But finally Macaulay tempted Fincham once too often, and the safe hands of Gibson at gully (shome mishtake, shurely – Ed.) did not let him down. Another champagne moment, regrettably missed by the beaming Gibson’s admiring spectators and their dogs, as Peper Harow subsided to 64 all out.
A drink or two in the evening sunshine with our hosts, and congratulations offered to Rory and Laura who tie the knot on Friday. Note to match manager – Rory is only available to play against Tadworth if absolutely necessary.
On a day when most of the population cared for little but oikball, cricket was undoubtedly the winner here.
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Sam Brodbeck. Match Fees: Jim Hodgson.
Bricklayer’s Arms
Tuesday July 15 in Wandsworth Park
Strollers won by 17 runs
Strollers 132-6
(20 overs; Belton 47, Ross 19, Ray 16, Thanushan 14no, Selby 10no)
Bricklayer's Arms 115-4
(20 overs; Thanushan 3-33, Ross 1-17)
Some of us are delayed by the mundane vagaries of London life: a closed bridge at Putney, a child to be picked up from karate, traffic on the M25 (copyright Paul Dorrans 2014). A tired looking Keith “Fingers” Shannon had something rare: “I’ve been briefing the new Foreign Secretary,” he announced. “Why does the Prime Minister have to have a reshuffle on a cricket day?” Why indeed? We feign indifference.
And so to the cricket: Shannon showed the wearying effects of a day’s officer of state briefing and perished, bowled in the third over to the useful looking Grout. A classy partnership of 52 between Kim Ross and Lloyd Belton then more than steadied the ship. Debutant and late replacement Sudip Ray played elegantly for 16 and some lusty clubbing and scampering from Eric Swale, Dan Thanushan and Aidan Selby took the total to a competitive looking 132.
As the skipper scribbled his side onto the back of an envelope the previous evening, he had been comforted by the prospect of eight steady overs from Christian Troughton and Amar Mahadeva. Come noon on reshuffle day, however, neither man was available. Where were these tight overs going to come from? Step forward the newly capped Swale, whose efficient off-spin in partnership with Selby’s energetic and parsimonious seam saw to it that the Bricklayers would always be behind the rate.
An excellent four overs of left-arm spin from Ross and a tight spell from Richie Stubbs meant that when the classy Thanushan came into the attack, he did so with ammunition, in the form of runs, to spare. He immediately drew the dangerous Steve Thavam down the wicket to be smartly stumped by the excellent Spencer Leach. Two further wickets would follow but it was all over. Belton wound things up with an accurate final spell that had him regretting a heavy late afternoon scone intake and the Bricklayers finished 17 runs short.
On this hot summer day, there was no draught lager available at The Bricklayer’s Arms. The match fee surplus was invested to good effect in Twickenham Brewery’s delicious Naked Ladies Ale and opposition and Stroller alike agreed that it had been rather a good reshuffle day.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Spencer Leach.
Tadworth
Sunday July 20 at Tadworth
Strollers won by 59 runs
Strollers 235-6
(40 overs; Belton 138, Swale 38, Crocker 19, Tjasink 18no)
Tadworth 176-9
(40 overs; Crocker 3-31, Tjasink 2-40, Belton 1-7, Herath 1-26, Allsopp 1-27, Macaulay 1-36)
It is always gratifying for the sub-editors when an obvious headline presents itself – for example, when Lloyd Belton scored 138 to take the Strollers to an unassailable total against Tadworth, “Belton belter” immediately sprang to mind. Those of a more red-top inclination may have gone for simply “BelTON”. Either way, it was agreed that Lloyd’s fine innings, first of patience and placement, then finally sheer power – or, as one Stroller put it, “those little things I don’t worry about: technique, timing, talent” – was the only story around.
However, it wasn’t quite the only item on the news list. The back bench, while carving out the page, ordered a sidebar on another achievement: Kimball Bailey’s 200th appearance. There was a little consternation on the desk as off-stone time ticked closer with the reporter yet to file, but this was down to a small dispute over when exactly the chairman made his debut – he suggested Valley End in 1987, but Maggie discovered a match in 1984 against LBC in which a K Bailey batted at nine, scored a run off his first ball then was bowled by his second. In the greater scheme of things this makes him Stroller 182 instead of 221 and in the England pantheon, Ciss Parkin instead of Jack MacBryan. (It’s up for debate whether this is an improvement for Kimball – MacBryan played one Test in 1924 and failed to bat or bowl, while Parkin is described on Cricinfo as “by any reckoning something of an oddball”).
Meanwhile, returning to Tadworth from the mists of time, Tom Wood had won the toss and elected to bat. A contingent of Strollers who had arrived early and volunteered for some grounds work raised an eyebrow, the pitch having sweated under its covers to leave a few damp patches and revealed itself to be a similar colour to the verdant offering at Lord’s.
None the less, bat they did. With the sun shining through the hazy cloud, Belton and Hamish McDougall got the innings under way, facing an impressively-bearded seam bowler at one end and a youthful off-spinner (one of many Robinsons) at the other. There was a stuttering start, as McDougall attempted to cut the spin and edged to slip for nine. Eric Swale helped Belton negotiate the opening spells, and things ticked along at around four an over despite the odd ball that found some extra bounce and required watchfulness from the batsmen. Belton was driving the ball nicely, including one crisp boundary to mid-on that was bizarrely signalled as four byes. The scorer chose to overrule the umpire, as all spectators agreed there was a suspicion of bat. The second wicket put on 91, until Swale was bowled on 38 while “trying to hit it to Africa”.
This was the cue for the Strollers middle order to perform a realistic impression of England’s, with the second, third and fourth wickets falling in the space of six balls for one run. Following Swale’s dismissal John Gibson took a leg bye from his first delivery, then Belton faced out the final ball of the over, Gibson blocked the first of the next, and then got a leading edge to cover. Wood immediately tried a sweep, missed, and was despatched lbw.
Warren Crocker dealt comfortably with the hat-trick ball before he and Belton put on 53 as Lloyd began to hit out, a six that crept over deep-midwicket a sign of things to come. Belton was still on 88 when a Tadworth bowling change saw the slow right-arm of Ireland step up. A long-on and deep-midwicket were already in place, and a man was placed in between them for good measure. The ball floated its way down, Belton strode forward, and sent it over all the fielders’ heads. Tadworth captain Mark Robinson decided to head over to the boundary himself, in what now resembled a long-on slip cordon. No matter, Belton took them on – and brought up his first ever hundred. Then he played the same shot to hit the next ball for six too. The damage from the over was 23, and the next from that end (following a bowling change) cost 16, with Stephen Tjasink getting in on the act as well. Belton hit another six down to the pavilion before eventually gloving a catch to fly-slip for 138 – the 10th highest score for the club.
Belton’s dismissal brought a belligerent-looking Bailey to the crease, and the chairman’s first ball was crunched through cover, accompanied by a full-throated “YES! RUN!” that could have been mistaken for one of the distant thunder-claps. The 40 overs were up with a very satisfactory 235 on the board, and tea was (as ever at Tadworth) mouth-wateringly excellent, with the scones proving particularly popular.
Stomachs full, the Strollers made for the field, and Crocker was soon into his groove with the clouds and muggy air making the ball move. There was much playing and missing that left the two slips and gully waiting expectantly, but the batsmen were failing to get anywhere near the out-swinger. Mulling this over, Crocker decided to aim at the stumps and soon got two wickets. From the other end, Raj Herath found some turn and picked up a wicket thanks to a superb diving catch by Crocker running forward from deep square leg.
The next batsman came out wearing a helmet. Wood correctly identified an under-18 and called for Alastair Macaulay. Sure enough, Stair swiftly induced a top edge from an attempted sweep that fell straight to Laurie Allsopp at short fine leg. Crocker then took his third, again bowled, which meant there were two colts at the crease. However, the expected Macaulay wickets-fest failed to materialise, mainly thanks to the mature head on young shoulders of Giles Baker, who got forward well and played a straight bat. Baker and Robinson J put on 51 before the latter was bowled by Tjasink, who would pick up a second wicket as he too regularly beat the bat.
Baker was one run short of what would have been a maiden 50 when he tried to loft a ball from Allsopp into the leg side and picked out Crocker, in a carbon copy of his earlier catch. Hard lines, but no doubt he’ll score plenty against us in the future.
The match was in the bag, and as a postscript there was a chance for Belton to give his medium pace an outing, which resulted in a wicket and a couple of surprise leg-breaks, not least to McDougall, who was standing back. But anyway, as Gibson remarked earlier, it’s not as if keepers do any work is it?
Tadworth’s last pair saw out the overs with the predicted rain at last coming in, providing the cue for a retreat to the pavilion for the presentation of a congratulatory bottle to Kimball. Here’s to a fine double ton.
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood.Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Tilburg Regents
Wednesday July 23 in Dulwich
Strollers won by 55 runs
Strollers 136-5
(20 overs; Wood 27no, Low 25no, Loan 18, Troughton 17no, Ball 11)
Tilburg Regents 81
(18.1 overs; Thanushan 4-7, Troughton 2-23, Ball 1-9, Selby 1-12)
Imagine playing cricket in the grounds of a stuccoed Regency country house on a perfect summer’s evening with sound of cool jazz floating over the landscape and, with a little suspension of disbelief, this was not far off the scene at Belair House, West Dulwich, for this game. All that was lacking to complete the fantasy was a liveried butler fetching iced drinks to the pitch…
The wicket marked out by Southwark Council for the occasion being deemed too close to one boundary to be affordable by either club’s treasurer in terms of likely lost balls, a somewhat battered used pitch was selected for the task, with an interesting ridge on one length. The Regents also marvelled that the Council had also managed to plant at least a dozen young trees around the boundary in the few days since they had last played there; one can only wonder at what their impact on play will be in a few years’ time.
The toss was won by Jeff Ball, deputed to the task by skipper Tom Wood, who was busy rescuing his car from one of the suggested parking spots a full half-mile from the ground, having lugged kit the entire distance by hand. The Strollers duly batted.
With newcomer Lloyd Belton and John Low opening, the scoring was somewhat fitful until, with Belton’s early fall, skipper Wood took control with some big hits, including one huge six in his four boundaries. With the addition of many scampered singles, and despite a pulled thigh muscle, he raced to his 27 not out in 20 balls. Low proceeded to his 25 in rather more leisurely fashion and the scoring pace was mainly kept up by Mike Loan with 18 off 12 balls, Ball, who twirled his bat characteristically and to good effect, and Christian Troughton with 16 of his 17 from boundaries, plus a late cameo from local lad Mike Shattock. The end total of 136 was reckoned to be very defendable.
Very defendable as it turned out as adroit bowling selection by the skipper quickly made inroads into the Regents’ batting order. Putting on beguiling spinner Dan Thanushan to open was a masterstroke with two quick wickets and an eventual four wickets for only seven runs. The other opener Aidan Selby bowled economically with a wicket and only 12 runs off his four overs. Wood kept rotating the bowling with good contributions from all. Troughton added two wickets with bamboozling flight and length and there were effective spells also from Shattock, Ball and Belton. Fielding was tight with a run-out and two other close decisions, and Belton took two good catches including a running, diving one-hander at mid-off. The Regents had been well out of the hunt by the halfway mark but a late flourish of 25 by their No 10 Lee gave them a rather more respectable total and kept the Strollers on their toes until the final wicket.
An enjoyable game which contributed to the Strollers’ fine evening record of six wins and only one loss this season, enabled by sterling work from match managers John Gibson and Richie Stubbs, who have coped admirably with getting teams out and coping with the inevitable late drop-outs. The guiding hand of skipper Wood made sure that all players got involved.
Who could ask for more than friendly, competitive cricket where everyone had their turn, in a lovely setting on a beautiful summer’s evening? Well, a butler with drinks maybe…
Capt and match fees: Tom Wood. Wkt: Philip Learoyd.
Old Wimbledonians
Saturday July 26 in Raynes Park
Strollers won by 39 runs
Strollers 232-9
(40 overs; Belton 79, Davidson 33, Swale 32, Crocker 25, Ledington 14, Selby 14, Loan 10)
Old Wimbledonians 193
(39.1 overs; Crocker 2-15, Duff 2-27, Belton 2-31, Sam Brodbeck 1-16, Loan 1-29)
It’s fast becoming a pattern in this glorious summer of 2014 that the Strollers win the toss and bat first under a blazing sun. Saturday’s visit to south London was no different.
The game marked Kelvin Davidson’s debut as captain – pundits debated whether he would live up to the lazy but brilliant standards of Indian skipper M.S. Dhoni. Warren Crocker admired the Old Wimbledonians’ huddle and enquired hopefully whether Davidson would entertain the idea. The skipper answered with a stare.
When Eric Swale hit the first ball of the innings to the boundary Aidan Selby felt confident enough to opine: “Doesn’t look like any of us will be getting a bat today”. More experienced Strollers knew better than to join in with the hubris. As if to teach Selby a lesson, opener Mike Loan fell soon and Sam Brodbeck departed for a duck. Swale and Paul Ledington chopped and chipped the score on. The Old Wimbledonians bowlers seemed to have the measure of the Strollers batsmen before Lloyd Belton strode to the crease.
He picked up where he’d left off after his mammoth 138 at Tadworth the week before, smashing the ball all around the ground. Ably supported by Davidson (33) and Crocker (25) he sent the run-rate worm heading to the sky, giving the Strollers a healthy total of 232-7.
The temperature has dropped by the time the Strollers took the field, but only marginally. A determined Crocker and by-now sober Ryan Duff (“I had two beers before 12pm”) charged in. Scribes are running out of words to describe Crocker’s bowling spells – “miserly/abstemious/tight/stingy” – and their thesauruses were not given a break here.
Davidson used eight bowlers in all in a masterful display that truly embodies the Strollers’ inclusive ethos. His eager bowlers did not disappoint. Despite the stubborn opener’s long innings of 65, the Old Wimbledonians were always behind the required rate. Though, as their captain commented in the post-match drinks, until Belton entered the fray the Strollers had scored just as slowly. In the end the game drew to an inevitable 39-run win in the muggy early evening.
The only sour note was finding Sam Ferrick playing at the Old Wimbledonians main ground for The Bank of England, his ‘other’ team. But any bitterness was dispelled as the Bank struggled to a draw and Ferrick recorded a measly five. Perhaps he’ll think twice before playing away from home again.
Capt and wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Eric Swale/Simon Brodbeck.
Prestcold
Sunday July 27 in Binfield Heath
Strollers won by 48 runs
Strollers 194-8
(40 overs; Sam Brodbeck 47no, Crocker 34, Ferrick 24, Thanushan 18, Addis 16)
Prestcold 146
(36.2 overs; Thanushan 3-7, Simon Brodbeck 3-35, Dorrans 2-20, Stubbs 1-10)
Originally formed by workers at the former refrigeration factory in Theale, Prestcold Cricket Club is now based at the idyllic private ground of Lord Phillimore on the Coppid Hall Estate in Binfied Heath. There, on Sunday, it was a beautiful day, with temperatures way up in the seventies. Under cloudless skies and with the polo ponies watching approvingly from an adjacent meadow, the Strollers conjured up a result to warm the cockles of the heart.
Skipper Jono Addis won the toss and batted, but the anticipated “road” of a wicket did not materialise. Addis got in and out for 16. Sam Ferrick pursued a similar route, stroking his way to 24 and then wandering in front to depart lbw. Warren Crocker, played as an opening batsman to help his pursuit of the mythical Strollers double of 500 runs and 50 wickets, looked as if he had found his true berth with some fine shots before falling for 34.
From 142-4, the score soon became 160-8 as the dreaded Dorrans finger laid waste before him. Paul Dorrans had started the day well: he was nearly on time, thanks to chauffeur Ferrick. “The secret,” said one observer, “is not to let him try to get to the game under his own steam.” Impressed by his own promptness, Dorrans proceeded to put his crucial stamp on the game with a string of lbws – all of which, to be fair, looked very out.
Amongst the departed ones was Russell Clough, taking a rare break from looking after his 17-month-old son. We hope to see more of him – particularly as another baby will arrive in December. He left with a treasured momento of his day out – a spectacular blister on the heel.
At 160-8 the innings looked in danger of ending with a whimper. But Sam Brodbeck made sure that did not happen. Batting with discipline, he went for a long period without finding the boundary but did not give it away and saw out the 40 overs in alliance with his somewhat older partner. The pair put on 34 with Sam hitting the final two balls for four, ending up on 47 not out and posting a final total of 194-8.
With the sun still high in the sky, Crocker was his usual parsimonious self with the ball (5-3-7-0). Stephen Tjasink, sporting a splendid new pair of blue-trimmed boots, took time to settle but found some rhythm. But it was Dorrans who, buoyed by his star performance in the umpire’s coat, set the scene. He raced in at a lively pace and bowled with real hostility, pinging the ball through to battered keeper Addis. He deservedly picked up two wickets to make the breakthrough after the Prestcold openers had put on 81 hard-earned runs.
Then two fine catches swung the match. The hyperactive Ferrick, on the deep midwicket boundary, broke off from chatting to the ladies to take a magnificent effort inches from the rope. Then Dan Thanushan at cow corner, leapt high and twisted in the air to take a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Luke Rosier.
Thanushan’s left-arm spin produced figures of 3-0-7-3. Simon Brodbeck bowled the dangerous Matthews and, somewhat fortunately, took 3-35. From 81-0 Prestcold were dismissed for 146. The sun had indeed shone on the Strollers.
Capt and wkt: Jono Addis. Match fees: Sam Ferrick.
Sutton
Sunday August 3 in Sutton
Strollers won by 10 wickets
Sutton 192-9
(40 overs; Macaulay 4-46, Simon Brodbeck 2-31, Rory Wood 2-48, Herath 1-36)
Strollers 193-0
(31.5 overs; Addis 100no, Davidson 86no)
At Sutton this week a new style of match report was suggested around 1630. So here we go, let’s get the important things out of the way first.
The Strollers Tea Time Report:
After a patient and hard-earned 40 overs in the field the Strollers retired to the Sutton pavilion to find an immense spread of food in front of them. To start were some beautifully prepared, vertically cut in half buns. Some filled with delicious sliced ham and others with boiled egg. From here taking a westerly step towards the kitchen the Strollers were greeted with the real highlight of the table, flat bread wrapped around iceberg lettuce, chicken goujons and some mysteriously good mayonnaise. Two types of pizza were finely sliced so that the hungry could come back for seconds.
The hot chips and cheese were wiped up quickly, obviously a favourite of the bowlers. The sweet department was equally well stocked. Two cakes (one carrot and ginger number and the other, the author sadly did not taste), raspberry tarts, a wonderful selection of biscuits and chocolate bars, and some raisin scones that were accompanied by some fresh jam and the West Country’s finest clotted cream. Refreshments comprised of an expertly brewed pot of tea and some well mixed squash. Overall, a delicious ensemble, a definite ‘bowl first’ tea, 8.5/10.
Now the match:
M1, M60, M4, The Netherlands, ironing board and road were all terms bandied about upon the Strollers’ inspection of the Sutton pitch. Quizzical eyebrows were raised when James Timperley turned up with his mum, as if to show her his batting skills.
Messrs Jono Addis, Kelvin Davidson, Timperley, Brodbeck Jnr, Eric Swale and Wood (T) were all very happy while Warren Crocker, Wood (R), Raj Herath, Brodbeck Snr and Alastair Macaulay all knew they were in for a long day, more so after Captain Timperley walked back having lost the toss and being instructed to field.
Crocker and Wood (R) opened the bowling, exploiting some early swing and bounce with the new ball. Crocker made a valiant effort at a caught and bowled, sprinting from his follow-through all the way to midwicket to try and take a top edge. Sadly the wind was always taking the ball away from Crocker and an extremely difficult chance was missed.
A tight few opening overs were followed by a small onslaught by the openers D Douthwaite and C Costa, but Rory Wood made the first breakthrough, trapping Costa plumb in front with an outswinging delivery for 10. Douthwaite then started to tee off, smashing Rory out of the attack. The run rate had quickly gone from twos to over fives and the field had spread, allowing Douthwaite and T Cooper to pick off singles easily.
It was at this point that the ball started to follow Addis around the field. Taking a catch from Herath’s tidy bowling was just reward for a good spell. Simon Brodbeck also picked out Addis as the go-to man for catches when P Liddiard departed for 34. Brodbeck Snr. also picked up the key wicket of Douthwaite. Brodbeck was right on the money managing to bowl him around his legs after a well-played innings of 49.
The commentator’s curse was heard tiptoeing around the boundary when the opposing captain had said: “He’s been playing well but hasn’t got a 50 all season.” A change of bowling bought Wood to the crease. He was able to chime in with a wicket first ball and finish off with a maiden.
It was to be Macaulay’s afternoon with the ball, however, after Davidson stumped the opposing keeper. Alastair managed to produce an edge which also ballooned to Davidson. He then picked up the last wicket of the innings, clean bowling No 9 C Moore. The Strollers could not pick up the last wicket and the innings finished at 192-9.
In hindsight it was probably a little unnecessary for the Strollers to be padded up all the way down to No 5. Davidson and Addis walked out to the middle, greeted by a 40-over old ball and a brown, flat wicket. Sutton opened with some excellent medium pace from S Woods at the road end of the ground. He was able to find an excellent line and length and a maiden to boot. S. Pusey’s spin from the other end was a welcome relief for the openers as they were able to carve a few runs from Pusey.
The pattern then emerged of tight line and length bowling from the road end and some spin from the other end. Addis was able to get into his groove quite quickly and Davidson seemed to be trying to find his mojo, somewhere between square leg and mid-on. At drinks the Strollers were 80-0 and a quiet confidence was starting to emerge. Along with this was a touch of disdain from Timperley, Brodbeck and Swale, who batting at three, four and five respectively, realised that this may be their day for pad-warming.
Talk seemed to centre around the previous year’s batting master class from Addis and Sam Ferrick at this very same ground where they chased down 262. A steady flow and increasing run rate saw 50s come for both Addis and Davidson. Davidson did not really look comfortable until he reached his 50.
Around this time the Strollers started changing and beers were being consumed on the boundary. Trying to send a message/intimidate his own batsmen, Sam Brodbeck went out to umpire at over 30 in his pads. This had little effect. The scoring rate had increased to a Greenidge and Haynes-esque rate. An extremely well-timed push for two saw Addis collect his 100 and the applause from the 40 or so adoring fans in the stands. He hit 11 sweet boundaries and took 110 balls to reach the century.
As if to add weight to Brodbeck Jnr padding up to umpire, Timperley was overheard telling his mum: “This is only the third time I have played for the Strollers and not batted…” All of this was in vain, however, as the total of 193 was reached in the 33rd over. Davidson walked off unbeaten on 86 – almost his best score, coming close to the 95 scored against Warfield in September 2013 – and Addis on 100 exactly.
During the post-match celebrations Sam Brodbeck took the entire team aside and said: “I am unavailable for the 2015 match – that’s two years in a row here I have sat with my pads on the whole game. However, I will be working on my pad-warming textbook.”
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Capt: James Timperly Wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Tom Wood | | |
Coldharbour
Saturday August 9 in Coldharbour
Strollers lost by two runs
Coldharbour 203-8
(40 overs; Crocker 2-25, Duff 2-27, Dorrans 2-44, Ovenden 1-40, Macaulay 1-44)
Strollers 201-7
(40 overs; McDougall 76, Crocker 42, Dorrans 30no, Ovenden 26)
Plot synopsis - The one where the Strollers fight hard against the odds but ultimately suffer an agonising two-run defeat, in which:
Dr David Kelsey is busier off the field than on; Ryan Duff prepares to bat by ‘channelling the cosmos’; and Paul Dorrans and Piers Ovenden debate the merits of various groin protection systems, as well as asking: “Was it Dustin Hoffman or Paul Newman who starred in All The President’s Men?”
The full story
After stern warnings during the week from skipper Piers Ovenden, all 11 Strollers were present and correct at the picturesque, but very small-boundaried Coldharbour ground well in advance of the 2pm start time.
To the toss, and unfortunately Friday’s rain had made one end of the wicket very damp and spongy, creating a dilemma for both skippers – bat first and risk being skittled, or bowl first and risk having to bat on a drier, but dented pitch? Ultimately the decision was taken out of Ovenden’s hands, with the opposition captain winning the toss and electing to bat first.
Opening bowlers Warren Crocker and Paul Dorrans quickly made that look like the wrong decision, both delivering accurate and testing spells, and both collecting early wickets to leave Coldharbour’s innings teetering. Alastair “the Brixton Tweaker” Macaulay and Richie “Dub-step” Stubbs were then brought into the attack and maintained the pressure, but by now the wicket was drying fast and Coldharbour’s batsmen were able to score more freely.
Cue the first casualty of the day. A flighted delivery from Macaulay was hit flat and with tremendous power to Sam Brodbeck at the deep square-leg boundary, who also had to contend with the sun in his eyes. It was a very tough chance and unfortunately the ball deflected into Sam’s right cheek, creating a deep wound and a considerable amount of blood. Never fear, Doctor David Kelsey was quickly on hand. After an on-field assessment, he and Simon Brodbeck shuttled Sam off to hospital.
After the shock of that incident, play eventually resumed and skipper Ovenden expertly managed his field and bowling resources (thanks to Coldharbour for lending us some fielders, one of whom took a catch, and to James Stubbs for also filling in) to have Coldharbour’s innings perhaps looking a little light at less than 150 runs on the board after 30-35 overs. The final few overs of the innings, however, brought a flurry of runs as Coldharbour’s young and muscular lower-order batsmen began to tee off. The innings came to a close after 40 overs at 203-8, with all of the Strollers bowlers doing well – Crocker, Dorrans and Duff each collecting two wickets, Ovenden and Macaulay one apiece.
Whilst enjoying the excellent tea, the Strollers were heartened further by the return of Simon Brodbeck and Dr Kelsey with the news that Sam was ok, no eye damage, but the potential for some serious bruising and no cricket for a month. Sam, get well soon buddy!
So as thoughts turned to batting, it would be fair to say that on this slow wicket, and despite the small boundaries, the target of 204 would not have been easy with 11 batsmen, let alone with 10. Unfortunately, this task was soon to become even more difficult, as that number quickly dropped to nine ....
Having not faced such fast and hostile bowling since his “Brian Close” moment on the 2012 CERN tour (see Match Reports), the helmetless (for the last time) Kelvin Davidson was slow to detect a quick bouncer and took a blow to the side of the head. With Dr Kelsey springing into action again – that man already deserves a Strollers playing cap! – Davidson retired hurt with a bruised ego and head, but no major damage. Richie Stubbs then entered the fray and fought valiantly against continued tight and fast bowling from both ends, he also taking a couple of body-blows.
Amidst the carnage, however, Hamish McDougall stood firm. So firm, in fact, that after 12 overs, the scoreboard was Strollers 32, McDougall 32. (A test for Maggie’s statistical prowess – is that the most overs at the start of a Strollers innings where only one batsman has contributed all the runs?) McDougall’s innings remained a masterclass, with short balls being treated with disdain, and after Stubbs’ departure and a Kelsey cameo (six and out), he and Crocker combined in an excellent fighting partnership, which put the Strollers within reach - Crocker eventually falling for a well-made 42.
Having tuned his mind via a number of varied sideline conversations with Dorrans (see synopsis above) – including the merits of the “Shock Doctor” groin protector versus Dorrans’ preferred “direct application” method for his box – Ovenden then joined McDougall at the crease. Both looked in command and continued to push the Strollers closer to the target.
It was at this point, however, that wickets began to fall: Ovenden for 26 and McDougall for 76. After looking for inspiration by ‘channelling the cosmos’ Duff came and went, as did Macaulay. This brought together the last pair of Dorrans and Simon Brodbeck, still with 30-odd runs needed from 5-6 overs. Cue tension. Brodbeck and Dorrans slowly but surely chipped away at the runs required, mixing good running with sensible defence and lusty hitting. It eventually all came down to a target of nine runs from the final over, to be delivered by Coldharbour’s young and quick opening bowler. Dorrans hit the first ball for four and the Strollers’ hopes were raised. Thereafter, however, the bowling was impossible to get away and Dorrans’ heroic innings ended on 30 not out, with the Strollers ending on 201-7, just three runs short of the winning target.
So as the Strollers relaxed afterwards with a refreshing ale, it was decided that a doctor should always be selected in the playing XI, and that it was indeed Dustin Hoffman who had starred in All The President’s Men alongside Robert Redford, with Paul Newman of course in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We also reflected on an eventful, competitive and ultimately tense game, but one in which we couldn’t quite manage to deliver the decisive act. It was a painful loss, in more ways than one.
Capt and match fees: Piers Ovenden. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Ripley
Sunday August 17 at Ripley
Strollers won by eight runs
Strollers 182-8
(40 overs; Ovenden 91no, McDougall 23, Swale 21, Crocker 11)
Ripley 174-8
(40 overs; Hodgson 2-18, Ovenden 2-23, Simon Brodbeck 2-33, Crocker 2-42)
Ripley Cricket Club, like Peper Harrow, is one of the oldest in the country, tracing its roots back to 1749 on Ripley Green:
August 1747
A great match at Cricket for 50 guineas aside is made by the noblemen and gentlemen, and to be played on Monday next, in the Artillery Ground, between the gentlemen of Ripley, Bramley and Thursdley in the west of Surrey, against the gentlemen of London. Wickets to be pitched by one o'clock. They play the following match the Thursday following on Ripley Green. These matches being attended with great charge, the door for the future will be six pence, two pence not being sufficient to defray expenses.
From 'Fresh Light on 18th Century Cricket by G.B. Buckley
It is also the club where the King of Spain, Ashley Giles, started before he moved to Surrey and then to Warwickshire. They run six academy sides and two Sunday sides so their team was a mix of experienced hands and youth players. The pavilion is unlike any other - a converted stables with ancient beams surrounding the upstairs bar. The best view of the game is from the veranda outside the bar where several of the non-playing Ripleians spent the afternoon. Admittance was free, the Strollers not being such an attraction as the Gentlemen of London.
The Strollers were put into bat in a 40-over game and were soon in trouble against accurate bowling from Murphy and Cliff. Jim Hodgson was caught by Harris off Cliff with the score on eight, Tom Wood caught behind for five and John Gibson was run out by Hamish McDougall for one: 22-3 after nine overs.
Eric Swale and Hamish then steadied the innings, putting on 30 before Hamish was bowled by Osborne for 23. Swale then departed lbw for 21 and Crocker lbw for 11, both fingered by Hodgson. There were few complaints, though. After 20 overs 77-6 was still a bit thin so the onus was on skipper Piers Ovenden, who had put himself down the order at No 7 for some reason. He proceeded to play a captain’s innings of real quality, hitting the bad balls to the boundary. He was kept company by Laurie Allsopp, who rode his luck at times. The two put on 67 for the seventh wicket of which Laurie contributed five before being bowled by the wily Allison, who accounted for Alastair Macaulay a few balls later.
The Strollers made it to the 40 overs as Simon Brodbeck and Piers added a further 30 runs to leave the total at 182-8, a rather better score than seemed likely after 20 overs. Piers closed on 91 not out with three sixes and scored about 80% of the runs in the second half of the innings.
Crocker and Hodgson opened the bowling and struck early with a wicket each to remove both openers. This brought M Harris in and he started to hit anything short powerfully to the boundary. After 10 overs the run rate had risen to four an over. Ovenden had replaced Warren and in his second over trapped Harris lbw, which in retrospect was the key wicket. Ten more overs and he could have taken the game away from the Strollers. The No 4 bat D Osborn started carefully against Piers and Jim, who then gave way to Macaulay and Brodbeck. Simon quickly had O'Brien caught behind.
Osborne and the No 6 Allison were content to play within themselves against both Alastair and Simon. Simon had Allison well caught at square leg by Crocker to leave the score at 106-5 in the 27th over and the run rate was creeping upward. Between them Simon and Alastair only conceded 62 runs in their 16 overs, a parsimonious rate that even Gileo (King of Spain) would be happy with.
The pressure was starting to build on Ripley and with 10 overs to go they still needed 65 runs. The wisdom of keeping four overs of Warren and two of Jim in reserve became clear. Osborne has crafted his way to a fine 50 and was now having to hit out supported by Hawkes at the other end. In the 37th over needing 22 to win, Osborne fell for 70 when he hit Hodgson to Piers at mid-on. Crocker then bowled Hawkes.
There was still time for a comedy run-out when Allsopp almost beat the batsman to the stumps before throwing the ball the last vital few feet. Skipper Ovenden took the responsibility of bowling the final over with 16 required and conceded only seven and took a wicket. For his batting, captaincy, bowling and fielding, Piers would have been a firm favourite for Man of the Match if we had such things. Instead he could bask in the evening sun with a pint, with the satisfaction of a job well done.
Both teams agreed that it had been a good close game and we look forward to returning in 2015.
Capt: Piers Ovenden. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Wall
Saturday August 23 in Lichfield
Strollers won by 70 runs
Strollers 228-5
(40 overs; Crocker 84no, Ovenden 46, Calvocoressi 35, McDougall 32)
Wall 158-9
(40 overs; Simon Brodbeck 3-31, Ovenden 1-9, Patston 1-9, Shearer 1-11, Crocker 1-13, Macaulay 1-50)
Back on the Three Counties Tour yet again,
Our party assembled once more in the rain.
Hopeful Simon was wearing his Panama hat,
When we learnt at the start we were going to bat.
Calvocoressi first up with McDougall
Scored 69 runs ‘fore a wicket would fall.
Mark Hatton’s fine slip catch sticking like glue,
Bowler Mehdi getting Hamish for a bright 32.
In his very first over David Craig took a brace,
Surpising both bats with a distinct lack of pace.
Mark Hatton dived right, holding onto the catch,
Sending poor George C. back into the hatch.
At least he had prospered, notching up 35.
Though skipper Tom Wood’s first nut he’d survive,
He gloved the next ball on its way to the keeper
Putting our side into trouble much deeper.
Jim Hodgson came in, qucikly striking two fours
Then holed out to D. Craig, not helping our cause.
At 89 for four we just had to improve
Piers Ovenden then got us back ino the groove.
Warren Crocker strode out to enter the fray,
Determined , it seemed, to really make hay.
And so it did prove that together with Piers
They concocted a stand to allay all fears.
We cheered as they added 109
In 17 overs with batting so fine.
Piers sadly got caught four short of his fifty
But Warren, dropped twice, ran runs quick and nifty.
84 unbeaten was his best ever score
Whilst Alastair Macaulay added five runs more.
At the 40-over mark we could duly celebrate
With only five wickets down we were two-two-eight.
Another shower happened whilst we were at tea
A very fine spread agreed unanimously.
Only five overs in we have Phelps in the locker
Comprehensively bowled by our Warren Crocker.
Jim Hodgson bowled his eight straight off the reel,
Then Ovenden had joy with an LB appeal.
Next came Simon B., to the stumps he strolled
And in his second over he had their opener bowled.
Fifty-two for three with nearly half their overs had,
So for the canny Strollers things were not looking half bad.
In only his third over Macaulay had H. Craig stumped
With Simon’s next victim caught, Wall had really slumped.
Mark Hatton and his partner David Craig put up a fight,
‘Till Simon snared D. Craig LB, increasing poor Wall’s plight.
Now one-o-seven for six down with near 30 overs gone
There was still a good chance that Mark Hatton could have shone.
Next came Peter Patston to try and tempt Mark to hit out
And on 23 found Warren, quite deep, giving it a clout.
Now one-three-two for seven in their over 34
Wall required to win just some 97 more.
But Warren had four overs left to bring the win much nearer,
When whom should claim their wicket eight – none but Alan Shearer.
Having reached their overs’ quota but at a slower batting rate,
Wall’s total for the game itself was only one-five-eight!
First day, first match, first win tasted very sweet
But hats off to our oppo Wall, so friendly in defeat!
Capt: Tom Wood. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Stanton by Dale
Sunday August 24 at Stanton
Strollers lost by three wickets
Strollers 213-6 dec
(Ovenden 80, Hodgson 32no, Tom Wood 25, Salvesen 22, Macaulay 11no, Crocker 11)
Stanton 216-7
(Crocker 3-66, Simon Brodbeck 1-14, Macaulay 1-21, Ovenden 1-22, Hodgson 1-26)
Captains have many reasons for their bowling changes but few can be as outré as Piers Ovenden’s in his first match as skipper at Stanton: it came to him in a dream. “A few days ago I dreamt I bowled Phil Gregory through the gate with a perfect off-break,” he confessed in his post-match interview.
And so it was he brought himself on first change with said Gregory and Martin Jackson plodding towards the Strollers total of 213 after miserly five-over spells from Warren Crocker (0-11) and Jim Hodgson (0-16). The Pies dream became a nightmare when Gregory smote his first wayward over for 17. Credit where it’s due, though, for his reality check next over. After yet another gifted four, Pies decided “no more pies” and bunged in a more customary - though still errant - seamer. Phil gloved it, just, leg-slip Crocker caught it, smartly, and Ovenden removed himself from the firing line, chastened, albeit with the match set on a new course.
Credit too, for his earlier captain’s innngs of 80. It made up the lion’s share of the Strollers’ score after they had been inserted by Stanton supremo Brian Taylor, who was in defensive mode and no mood to relinquish the Dave Tranter Cup, prised from the Strollers clutches last season after eight years of trying.
Despite a scheduled start of 12.30pm, a record crowd poured through the turnstiles for the festival occasion, including debutantes Isabelle Sofia Calvocoressi, oblivious to proceedings at just three weeks, and Bunty the benign retriever, having avoided the Salvesen clan’s late summer escapade to County Tipperary (well, it is a long way).
They saw the Strollers make a faltering start against the quick Walid Khan and the quirky Aditi Babla, who respectively dismissed George Calvocoressi and Hamish McDougall cheaply, neither being able to recapture the first fine careless rapture of their poetic fluency of the previous day. Tom Wood at the top of the order hung in for 25 until Babla had the temerity to come round the wicket and induce a nick to the keeper.
All the while Ovenden was intent on steadying the ship and patiently accumulating. Crocker holed out after briefly increasing the pace. Tom Salvesen was in the throes of doing the same when he was undone by the occasional left arm spin of Brian Taylor, playing for turn that wasn’t there (or was it playing straight at one that turned?) Whatever, Brizey’s celebrations told their own story. Although not strictly pukka, his animated demonstration of dancing on a length would have done Bruce Forsyth proud.
As usual, Hodgson showed no ill effect from the night before when, as usual, he and Peter Patston had put the world to rights until gone 4.30am in the Royal Hotel bar. He put on 34 with Cap’n Pies, who became the returning Babla’s third victim - the second caught behind - for his meaningful 80. As it happened, he was last man out. Against a tiring attack – Babla and Khan eventually chalked up 15 overs apiece – Alastair Macaulay chipped in to a useful unbroken stand of 40 with Jim before the teatime declaration.
As ever there was only one word to describe Tricia Taylor’s tea: verywondferfulanddeeplymoving. Mary Berry eat your heart out! What know they of cakes and baps, who only great British bake-offs know? Trish and her sous chefette Steph Turner win it at Stanton, year in year out, this time aided by new kitchen assistant Cherry Painter.
But hold on. If tea was absolutely fabulous, what superlatives are there left to heap on the player of the innings that came after it? Walid Khan, 26, has been turning out for Stanton’s Sunday team for the best part of two seasons since arriving from northern Pakistan to do an engineering PhD at Nottingham University. As we saw earlier, he opens the bowling. On this occasion he batted at number five after Macaulay and Simon Brodbeck had followed up Ovenden’s breakthrough by dismissing Jackson and Chris Guest, courtesy of nifty glovework by McDougall, to give the Strollers hope at 66-3.
Some hope. An hour later after one of the most astonishing displays of attacking batting the Strollers have ever seen, the game was up. Walid marmalised us. FOUR, one, dot, FOUR, one, SIX, SIX, FOUR, dot, FOUR, dot, SIX, one, dot, dot (he must have been drawing breath), then (against Salvesen of all people) FOUR, SIX, FOUR, SIX, FOUR, FOUR, two, FOUR, dot , one, before (switching his attentions to Crocker) FOUR, FOUR, two, SIX, FOUR… He eased up as his ton approached, bringing up his landmark score wth a flurry of singles, off a total of just 39 balls.
Remarkably, it was Walid’s first ever hundred. The feeling among the troops was that if we’d got him out, we’d have won and, in fact, wickets did fall regularly at the other end. Calvocoressi held two fine sharp catches at silly mid-off, the latter to dismiss Taylor for the only duck of the day, the fall-out from which echoed from the pavilion with a resounding thud. His anger quelled, though, Brian basked in the glow of victory which brought the tally in the 38th year of this exemplary sporting series to Stanton 12, Strollers 11, with 13 matches drawn and two abandoned.
The glow continued for the rest of the evening at the Stanhope Arms and later at the Mews Restaurant, the latest of Ashby de la Zouch’s fine-dining establishments to offer the Strollers hospitality and succour on this most convivial of tours. Unfortunately, this year’s was truncated by awful weather which forced the cancellation of the Bank Holiday Monday fixture at Sutton on the Hill and the delay of Alastair Macaulay’s eagerly awaited and long overdue debut as captain.
We shall return, of course, to fight another day. Are we not, after all, such stuff as dreams are made on?
Capt: Piers Ovenden. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Newdigate
Sunday August 31 at Newdigate
Strollers won by one wicket
Newdigate 174-8 dec
(Duff 2-10, Crocker 2-29, Selby 2-33, Tom Wood 1-8, Simon Brodbeck 1-18)
Strollers 175-9
(Crocker 38, Hodgson 26no, Loan 22, Simon Brodbeck 14no, Ball 12)
The best type of Sunday cricket – friendly hosts buoyed by league success 24 hours earlier, warm August weather, lovely surroundings in an area marked a spot of outstanding beauty on the Surrey/Sussex borders, a pleasant tea and a time game with all four results possible on the last ball.
At 1:30 all Strollers were present and correct. Newdigate used the fixture to blend experience with a number of colts. Had match manager Eric Swale known, he might well have rued the unavailability of Alastair Macaulay. However, the colts were to show that collectively they all have promising futures in the game.
Skipper Jim Hodgson won the toss, agreed a time format and inserted the opposition into bat. Both opening batsmen were ruthless with anything slightly full and after four overs had dispatched four fours and one six. He persisted with himself and Crocker and both bowled with their usual characteristics: Crocker, hostile and keeping a tight line just off the off stump, and Hodgson metronomic and continually putting the ball on a sixpence. Hodgson bowled tightly and after his first two overs yielded 18 runs, his next seven cost only 13 and he was unfortunate to remain wicketless. Crocker was just as miserly and removed the dangerous openers, both caught behind by Kelvin Davidson, having generated movement away from both right-handers and induced the edge.
Next came Aidan Selby and Ryan Duff; both were rewarded with wickets in their first overs: Selby finding his range fourth ball and bowling the No 3 and Duff with a stunning caught and bowled effort. The Strollers continued to apply the pressure and wickets continued to fall with both Duff and Selby taking one more wicket apiece. At the 30-over mark the run rate had fallen to three an over thanks to tight bowling and tigerish fielding.
Simon Brodbeck was brought into the attack and picked up a wicket in his second over and a welcome return of Tom Wood to bowl at the death saw him remove the danger man Andy Kehl in his solitary over. Kehl had bludgeoned his way to 46, particularly harsh on Kavit Shah, and combined with solid batting from Andrew Meads, who dropped anchor and remained unbeaten on 28, Newdigate made the most of the last 15 overs and ended with a competitive 174-8 at tea.
A delicious tea was taken with the Strollers pleased with the first half of proceedings. Mike Loan and Davidson padded up and opened the reply. Newdigate started with one of the colts Charlie Wyllie (by name) and the wily (by nature) Chris Moon. Both were to have early successes; Davidson was bowled by the dreaded double- bouncer, whilst Wyllie ripped out the top over, bowling with hostility and keeping a tight line on off stump; Dishant Kharbandia, Shah and Wood all having their stumps re-arranged.
Loan, who had played some nice shots and anchored the innings, was also despatched by a double-bouncer for 22 and at 40-5 the wheels had well and truly come off. Enter Crocker, who started off cautiously and then began to hit to all corners of the ground. Supported by Jeff Ball and a good number of extras, they put on a stand of 68 before Ball missed a straight one. Duff and Selby came and went and the Strollers stared down the barrel at 127-8. This then became 129-9 when Crocker was caught at slip for a fine 38.
Enter Messrs Hodgson and Brodbeck with 46 still required for an unlikely victory, and 10 overs remaining. Both defended stoically and picked off the bad balls, Jim playing a particularly fine shot for four to square leg with a roll of the wrists; and Simon showing off his cover drive.
As the overs ticked down so did the required run rate and with eight required off 12 balls, Brodbeck smashed a four over the head of square leg and to the boundary. A snatched single, led to three being required off the final over. A scampered single, three dot balls, another single and it was left to Simon to find a gap in the field.
A push beyond square leg and victory had been snatched from the jaws of defeat as the Strollers scraped home. Jim finished undefeated on 26 and Simon 14.
As the sun went down, we enjoyed a beer with our convivial hosts and look forward to returning next season.
Historical note: The Strollers returned to Newdigate after a gap of 27 years, having played there once before – in 1987. That encounter ended in ignominious defeat, bowled out for 46 and a loss by 10 wickets. The team that day was: Danny John (capt), Chris Meade, Simon Brodbeck, Neil Derbyshire, Peter Hayter, Steve Pryer, Peter Aspden, Barry Miller, John Smyth, Kimball Bailey and Stuart Rothnie. Thankfully, the team of 2014 fared somewhat better.
Capt: Jim Hodgson. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Harpsden
Saturday September 6 in Harpsden
Strollers lost by 97 runs
Harpsden 217-7
(40 overs; Dorrans 4-43, Macaulay 2-38, Crocker 1-20)
Strollers 120
(Selby 47, McDougall 14, Loan 13, Dorrans 10)
The week did not begin well; Warfield rang to say they could not raise a side. Jim and Clare Moulder were as helpful as ever: we could hire the ground and tea would be organised. So the search began for some opponents.
By Friday we had drawn a blank; until Rod Birkett from Harpsden Cricket Club came to the rescue: would we like to come to them? Indeed we would.
Across the road from Henley Golf Club, the Harpsden ground was a picture. With a newly levelled outfield, an immaculate wicket and a recently enlarged pavilion, it was a splendid setting for Alastair Macaulay’s first game as skipper.
After nearly 300 games for the Strollers Macaulay proudly led the side for the first time...and promptly lost the toss.
The opening attack of Warren Crocker and Paul Dorrans got the Strollers off to a flying start. With Crocker moving the ball away and Dorrans attacking the off stump with bounce and pace, Harpsden struggled along. At 62-5 and 80-6 things were looking promising. But then Adam Birkett came in at No 8 to join skipper Ben Hancock and the picture changed somewhat. They put on 127 for the seventh wicket with Hancock (133) despatching the ball to all parts, his 50 coming off 52 balls and his hundred off 113 balls.
The bowling figures took a battering, as did Simon Brodbeck’s left foot which took the full force of a Hancock drive. Curiously, he continued bowling without any problem, and finished his stint. But once off the field, he spent the remainder of the match groaning gently, with his throbbing foot in a bowl of cold water.
Birkett finished on 54 not out and clearly showed he was masquerading as a No 8. With 217-7 off their 40 overs Harpsden set a stiff target.
The Strollers reply did not cover itself in glory. Hamish McDougall, Mike Loan and Kelvin Davidson (“I must play straight” he admonished himself) came and went.
Warren Crocker departed after a disastrous run-out and only Aidan Selby carried the fight to the opposition, thumping a gallant 47.
Brodbeck could not be persuaded to abandon his bowl of water, despite Dal Crocker offering his services. It was proposed that Dal, who has the proud distinction of never having been dismissed in England, should adopt a bearded disguise and bat in place of Brodbeck. The idea was rejected by skipper Macaulay, anxious not to besmirch his captaincy record with any dirty tricks.
So Brodbeck was entered in the scorebook as absent hurt and Ivor Fiala registered yet another of his famous 0 not outs as the Strollers limped to a 97-run defeat.
“It’s not as easy as it looks, this captaincy lark,” confessed Macaulay, who finished the day with a presentation to Peter Patston to mark his 600th appearance for the Strollers. “I am just limbering up,” said Patston, a distinguished founding father of the club.
Brodbeck set off to drive home without using the clutch – a tricky operation – and was advised to adminster plenty of Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.
A curate’s egg of a day. But the sun shone on a wonderful ground against hospitable and sporting opponents. Even dazed skipper Macaulay (now the proud possessor of a 100% captaincy record) enjoyed it...
Capt: Alastair Macaulay. Wt: Hamish McDougall.
Match fees: John Gibson/Simon Brodbeck.
Hurley
Sunday September 7 in Hurley
Strollers won by 57 runs
Strollers 202-6
(40 overs; Ovenden 52no, Tom Wood 52, Taylor 29, McDougall 24, Addis 13)
Hurley 145
(39.4 overs; Kelsey 2-7, Ovenden 2-22, Calvocoressi 2-27, Patston 2-41, Addis 1-2, Crocker 1-10)
A beautiful, warm, sunny autumn afternoon at Hurley made it difficult to believe that earlier in the year the ground had been under water as a result of the winter floods. However, with a refurbished pavilion, the usual friendly opposition and a splendid tea, Hurley remained a lovely place to play an end of season match, giving players something on which to reflect, wistfully, over the long winter months – that cover drive, the late away swinger, perhaps the straight six, certainly the perfect forward defensive shot. Making the game even more enjoyable was the presence of a goodly number of Strollettes: Maggie, Betty, Tricia, Hanna and Piers’ Mum, Helen…..not forgetting Warren’s Dad.
The Strollers were without veteran medium pacer, Simon Brodbeck, stricken by injury in the previous day’s match. Like-for-like replacement Ivor Fiala stepped in at short notice, maintaining the Strollers’ policy of having at least four players over the age of 60. We are an inclusive club. There was some concern as to who would act as guardian of all that the Strollers hold dear - the raised eyebrow, shirts tucked in, no fancy caps - but in the end the team were self-policing in terms of preserving the spirit of the game in all its aspects, even to the point later in the match when our captain seemingly tried to convince the umpire to reverse an lbw decision which gave a Hurley batsman out.
On winning the toss, Piers Ovenden chose to bat. Hurley’s left arm spinner, Phil Ridgeway, proceeded to bowl five maidens on the trot. Openers Hamish McDougall and Brian Taylor struggled to do anything with him/decided to see him off (the continuous display of forward defensive shots had the padded-up Tom Wood purring with appreciation). It was a typical tired, end of season wicket with slow, low bounce. Better to face quicker bowlers.
This duly happened, resulting in McDougall being bowled off his pads from a ball that seamed back at him. At 35-1 in the 17th over, Jono Addis briefly injected some pace into the scoring rate, only to be caught off a full-toss. Slowly the rate increased. David Kelsey was run out and then Taylor was stumped.
Ten overs to go. Would the Strollers’ big guns feast from the table so meticulously laid, or would they feed on gruel? No worries, dear Reader. Wood scored a trenchant 40-ball 50, whilst Ovenden’s caressed half-century took 33 balls. U Pies! Their stand of 90 in 10 overs transformed the match. The innings concluded with a fine straight six from George Calvocoressi. Fine fare indeed and an unused Warren Crocker in the locker.
During the innings, Addis scored his 500th run of the season, and Wood became the Strollers’ all-time second-highest scorer, passing Danny John.Tom is now on 5,463.
Hurley’s reply started badly when their captain slapped an Ovenden long-hop straight into the bucket hands of John Low at cover. Hurley proceeded steadily, but lost two quick wickets in the forties, including the crucial wicket of Phil Ridgeway who contrived to mishit a Calvocoressi full-toss into Peter Patston’s hands at square leg. Triples all round. George was in the middle of a very tidy spell of away swing which included bowling opening bat Jono Patrick for 39 out of 64.
Then Patston produced as fine a 10-over spell as he has bowled for some while (eight overs,12 wides). With Addis strategically placed at deep mid-wicket, and other colonials stretching their young legs around the outer (Ovenden and Crocker), the usual inner ring of grey was serviced by the outstanding Fiala in the gully (Ivor’s favourite position), with Patston, Taylor and Low prowling in the covers.
Thus Patston claimed the key wicket of Naeem Akhtar, caught by Addis, similarly followed by Ben Fraser’s wicket. With the run rate creeping upwards, Hurley kept going, but were undone by the flighted leg-breaks from Kelsey, the 10th wicket falling neatly in the final over. (During the innings, Crocker gained his 50th wicket of the season when he claimed the wicket of the promising young batsman, Cameron Wright).
There followed a convivial drink or two. Piers said a few words. Glasses were raised. A lovely day. We look forward to returning to Hurley and hope they do not suffer the traumas of flooding in the coming winter.
Capt: Piers Ovenden. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Valley End
Sunday September 14 in Windlesham
Strollers won by ten wickets
Valley End 116
(39.4 overs; Crocker 4-18, Rory Wood 3-13, Ovenden 1-25, Macaulay 1-43)
Strollers 119-0
(19 overs; Addis 60no, Davidson 55no)
“Question for TfL: if you’re not going to set out the overground closures correctly, what is the point of your website?” raged a ruffled Piers Ovenden.
Some of course had the wisdom and foresight to arrive at the lovely, tree-lined, VECC ground near Windlesham from a holiday destination outside London. Or just to live outside London. The Crockers, Warren and Dal, arrived from the New Forest, Mike Morgan from the Sussex downs. Morgan, eschewing the bicycle that had carried him over the Pyrenees the previous week on the Haute Route, arrived in a new motor: a 2009 VW Polo with ‘blue motion’ technology.
“It gives you 80 miles per gallon and absolves you from paying tax,” said the proud owner. “It’s a lovely grey colour and the [enormous, ed.] cricket bag fits in the boot, with a bit of a push.”
It can’t have been that hard to get to the ground, though, because 12 Strollers turned up. Jeff Ball volunteered to beat the rush back up the M3 and round the M25 and wandered home after watching the first few overs.
Captain Morgan negotiated an 85 overs game in which the side batting first could use a maximum of 44 overs. There were no limits on the number of overs each player could bowl.
The skipper, his golden touch untarnished by his cycling absence, won the toss and inserted the opposition. A few quizzical eyebrows were raised among the bowlers. Historically this had been a batsman’s paradise. This year looked to be no different: the wicket was very firm and dry, almost dusty. But where our inspirational leader and King of the Tourmalet would go, so would we all.
Warren Crocker and Ovenden opened the bowling. Ovenden struck first, tempting Andy Goodman into a cover drive that drew the faintest of edges. Morgan, standing up behind the stumps, took the catch nonchalantly.
With the scoring rate under control Crocker settled into a formidable rhythm. Thrice he got the ball to move back up the slope to garner one lbw and two victims clean bowled, middle stump. His fourth victim came courtesy of a quick out-swinger and Morgan’s safe hands. Wazza finished with the fine figures of 10-4-18-4. His wickets tally for the season now stands at 54, the Strollers peak of 68 not yet out of the question for our wicket-taking maillot jaune.
At 42-5 and up to 25 overs remaining in the innings, a period of consolidation was called for. However, there was an unfortunate mix-up between the batsmen and Jono Addis and Crocker combined for a run-out at the bowler’s end.
Rory Wood, taking over from Crocker, then bowled Will Ames. At this point our hosts’ broad-shouldered skipper, Ray Ferris, came out to bat at a suspiciously low No 9. A run a ball from this point and the total could still have reached 180.
Steve Mitchell and Ferris put on 26 for the 8th wicket before Rory intervened again, getting a delivery to straighten and trap Ferris leg before wicket. Mitchell was then well caught by Crocker, prowling at short cover, off the bowling of Rory. Valley End 91-9.
Meanwhile, at the Jim Binks pavilion end, Alastair Macaulay had been quietly delivering one of his best spells of the season (12.4-1-43-1). Frequently he beat the bat with flight or line and length and a hint of off-spin. Luck, however, was not with him as two catches went down.
Ted Wordley, the Valley End No 10, decided he was going to go down swinging and ended up top-scoring with 26. Macaulay finally got some reward, and brought the innings to a close, when Marcus Fagent edged him to first slip. Simon Brodbeck, leaning forward slightly on the balls of his feet, hands together facing upwards, eyes tracing the arc, showed how it was done.
It is not often that the Strollers are confronted with a hog roast at tea time. Without a moment's hesitation they set about their task dutifully. The pork and apple sauce sandwiches were a fine elaboration. As the top order donned their armour, the rest of the team put their feet up with a cup of tea and reclined in the sun, a’ la Oonagh.
Kelvin Davidson and Addis opened the batting. Davidson, who had recently re-committed himself to playing straight, unfurled several classical forward defensives. It was a worthy homage to the display put on by Brian Taylor and Hamish McDougall at Hurley the week before.
It could not last. Davidson soon went aerial. Initially the ball went down the ground at least. The midwicket area, where the first leaves of autumn were falling from the great oaks, was soon being peppered by both batsmen. Addis, playing on length, punished anything short. Some fine running between the wickets (four times they ran three as the ball stopped short of the boundary) kept the momentum going and the Strollers were soon on the cusp of a fine victory.
There was time for a few beers in the warm sunshine and convivial conversation with our hosts. Touring Gascony in April seemed to be just as ill advised as touring Dublin in May. Maybe Magaluf was the solution. And should team gear bags be allowed in the locker room? Should individual gear bags be allowed on benches? The debate went on until the Strollers had to face the varying perils of their return journeys.
Capt and wkt: Mike Morgan. Match fees: Tom Wood.
Follies Farm
Saturday September 20 near Dunsfold
Strollers lost by four wickets
Strollers 142
(39.2 overs; Sam Brodbeck 29, Ross 29, Addis 18, Morgan 17, Crocker 13, McDougall 12)
Follies Farm 148-6
(30.1 overs; Crocker 3-19, Simon Brodbeck 2-18, Rory Wood 1-12)
And so it was that the Strollers arrived at Follies Farm for the first time; some arriving earlier than others thanks to confusion over the start time given by our match manager, who shall remain anonymous. And what a beautiful spot it is, with thanks to chairman Kimball Bailey for discovering this hidden gem through his extensive cricket network.
Created in 1991, on the private grounds of a pig farm, the club is presided over by Angelou Economou. It is a truly idyllic spot, eerily quiet at times with a wonderful pavilion reminiscent of an alpine lodge. The walls were covered in memorabilia from many an overseas tour, the showers accessed via cowboy saloon style doors and the pink pig flag flying.
Skipper Mike Morgan called correctly and decided to bat first. Panic buttons were temporarily pushed as it emerged John Gibson had forgotten his trousers, only to discover moments later that he had already taken them out of his kit bag and placed them on the changing room bench; crisis over. Dal Crocker and Rory Wood ascended the ladder to the scorer’s eyrie, where it was observed that they looked strangely similar to the old Muppet guys, Statler & Waldorf, albeit less witty.
Hamish McDougall and Kelvin Davidson headed out to the middle and were greeted by Jake Hardman, who appeared to be Shaun Tait’s twin brother. His pace and bounce was evident from the first over when Hamish managed to uppercut a short ball over the slips, whilst Kelvin fared less well with a painful bouncer to the ribs.
At the other end David Leng bowled with all the guile of an experienced man. Davidson could not repeat his heroics of the previous week and was bowled without scoring by Leng’s third ball. Jono Addis joined McDougall and the two kept the score ticking by despatching the rare bad balls. Alas, Hamish also fell to Leng for 12, caught behind attempting his favoured cut shot. The southern hemisphere theme continued with Kim Ross at four showing all the skill of a man in form from a summer of league cricket. The two punished anything full or short, Ross hooking a bouncer from Hardman over the fence towards the large farm house.
After negotiating Steve Harmison’s doppelganger, David Rowland, Addis (18) became Leng’s third victim as he attempted to drive down the ground only to sky a catch to deep cover. At 45-3 Sam Brodbeck strode to the crease, his first outing after having his face rearranged in Coldharbour back on August 9. Ross and Brodbeck set about rebuilding the innings, putting on 51 runs in 11 overs with a multitude of twos and threes as the dew continued to make the outfield slow.
The partnership was witnessed by Chairman Bailey who joined the other Strollers on the sidelines. Those within earshot were lucky enough to hear a lovely anecdote about a leaking hernia at the dinner table. Well, at least he didn’t save that one for the tea break.
Then the game changed in two overs, with Ross and Brodbeck back in the hut, each with 29 runs to their name. Ross was caught behind off Steve Hall and Brodbeck became Will Tebbit’s first victim (of five). The third lookalike of the day, Tebbit appeared to be the late Tony Greig sending down his off-spin.
Enter Warren Crocker, with only one thing on his mind: 10 more runs. After being cruelly run out at Harpsden and left sitting with the pads on at Hurley and Valley End, 500 runs for the season seemed like it might never come. Four scoring shots later and Warren had finally done it, and thus the rare milestone of 500 runs and 50 wickets for the season (only achieved three times before in Strollers history: Simon Brodbeck (1987 and 1988) and Peter Patston (1989)).
Alas it was over too soon as Tebbit struck again, removing Crocker for 13. Captain Morgan kept the ship afloat as John Gibson, Rory Wood and Alastair Macaulay all fell to Tebbit in quick succession, who ended with 5-17. The last pair of Brodbeck Snr and Morgan got the score to 142 before Mike (17) was bowled in the 40th over by the returning Leng, who ended with 4-18.
Back in the pavilion the Strollers were treated to a delicious tea, where quality was the order of the day. We were treated to a double selection of homemade sandwiches and a triple array of cakes. The thick-cut ham sandwiches deserved a special mention, but what else would you expect from a pig farm?
The man of the moment, Crocker, opened from the top end with possibly another goal in the back of his mind: 15 more wickets to pass the record held by Peter Patston (68 in 1988). But it was Wood at the Pavilion End who struck first, with a flying edge well caught at point by a diving Ross to remove Jamie Parsons for nought. Signs were good for the Strollers with four maidens in a row before Crocker, finally controlling the ball in the swing-friendly conditions, castled the other opener. In his next over things got even better, producing a leading edge from Steve Roser which was well held by Macaulay above his head at point. Three balls later and keeper Charlie Dickins had edged to Morgan at first slip and Follies were teetering at 16-4.
Jim Campling and Hardman had their work cut out for them to restore the chase for the Farm. Hardman was lucky to survive an inside edge from Addis, who was also taking a liking to the swinging conditions, whilst Campling looked vulnerable driving outside off. Crocker bowled out and finished with the impressive 8-4-3-19.
Skipper Morgan, having completed the time trial on the famous Col du Tourmalet, one of the highest roads in Europe and the most famous and toughest climbs on the Tour de France, proved totally unfit for cricket by pulling his calf in the act of delivering his first ball. After much groaning and stretching the ball was tossed to Macaulay.
After a period of settling in, Campling finally took the game by the scruff of the neck, ably supported by Hardman, who was happy to give him the strike. In a masterful display of power hitting he regularly cleared the short leg-side boundary with ease, many balls not returning from the pond. The spin of Macaulay and Morgan (now recovered, but not fully) was particularly singled out for punishment.
As the game seemed to be slipping away Simon Brodbeck was brought on and the runs dried up at one end. After a partnership of 104 Hardman (10 from 33 balls) was finally prised from the crease by Brodbeck and at 120-5 a glimmer of hope returned. Alas it did not last long as Campling brought up his hundred off 73 balls with a towering six over long-on. And with a four the next ball the scores were tied with 29 overs completed. The light was beginning to fade and ominous dark clouds were gathering; could the Strollers hold out for rain? The field was brought in to stop the single, and it worked. With only 60 balls left, Farm’s No 7 was clean bowled by Brodbeck attempting to finish it with a massive swing. Five tense dot balls followed, a wicket maiden, only nine overs left in which not to concede a run…
Keen to finish on a high, Campling duly dispatched the first ball of the 31st over far over mid-off to seal the game. In all he had struck nine sixes and was left unbeaten on 115 off just 75 balls. The Strollers led the applause from the field for a magnificent innings and were left to ponder how one valuable wicket might have changed the course of events. Cowboy showers were taken, another misunderstanding over trousers was resolved and the beers were poured by our host Angelou. Rumours were heard that losing first up is a sure-fire way of ensuring being invited back next year. Let’s hope this proves to be the case.
Capt: Mike Morgan. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Braywood
Sunday September 21 at Braywood
Strollers won by six wickets
Braywood 162
(40 overs; Simon Brodbeck 2-20, Hodgson 2-21, Thanushan 2-39, Crocker 1-28)
Strollers 166-4
(34.2 overs; Timperley 60no, Wood 30, Loan 30no)
The Strollers gathered at the Braywood Cricket Club in Fifield for this Sunday fixture. A sunny day provided brilliant cricketing conditions, but it was the cool autumn breeze which marked the impending end to the season. For many this was their moment to finish the season with a flourish.
Captain James Timperley lost the toss and was asked to bowl first on a green, but hard wicket. Warren Crocker took the new ball and was joined by Mike Loan at the other end. Crocker and Loan kept things tight in the opening spell but the Braywood opening batsmen held their nerve. It wasn’t until the 11th over that the Strollers claimed their first victim thanks to some straight first-change bowling from Jim Hodgson. Braywood were 40-1.
Braywood continued steadily onwards, however, and took the game to the fielders with some quick-run singles. A few shots went aerial but the Strollers could not capitalise. It was Dan Thanushan who, having found some turn on the grassy wicket, eventually broke the impasse with a caught-behind to Kelvin Davidson and an edge to Simon Brodbeck, who took a well-composed catch at slip. Braywood were 97-3 after 24 overs, but with wickets in hand were still threatening an imposing total.
Simon Brodbeck took up the challenge and after some economical bowling he found the stumps for his first wicket and the edge for his second (with another smart caught-behind to Davidson). Hodgson returned to the bowler’s crease and immediately picked up his second, combining with Davidson (who claimed his third catch) and leaving Braywood on 113-6 after 30 overs.
Braywood continued to fight on, and found some relief in some rather comical fielding close to the stumps. At one stage it appeared the Strollers were playing lawn bowls, with the ball being rolled towards the far-end stumps instead of run in to remove the bails at the near-end. It took a direct hit run out from Loan to put a stop to such nonsense. Crocker had returned at this stage and picked up a well-deserved wicket, before Braywood finished their innings on 162-8 after 40 overs and the Strollers returned to the pavilion to enjoy a fine array of sandwiches and cakes.
Tom Wood and Davidson padded up and opened the batting. Braywood included an off-spinner in their opening spell, who immediately found some sharp turn. It was his quicker ball, however, that angled into the stumps and sent Davidson back to the pavilion on seven.
In came the focused captain Timperley, eager to steer his ship towards a victory. Wood and Timperley soon took control, calmly working the ball around for ones and twos and pouncing on the rare wayward ball to keep the runs ticking along. Seeing the Strollers through to drinks at 84-1 after 20 overs, Wood and Timperley were a pleasure to watch. And so the Strollers were rather perplexed when Wood capitulated on 31 with an unfortunate hit-wicket. Too much orange squash perhaps.
Sam Brodbeck and then Jeff Ball were up next, but both lost their wickets to some straight bowling (falling lbw and bowled respectively). Timperley, watching the wickets fall at the other end, upped the ante and pushed the run-rate up with some great drives through extra-cover. The Strollers were 119-4 after 29 overs.
Loan then joined Timperley at the crease. Keen to follow his captain’s lead, who soon raised his bat for a superb 50, Loan batted positively with some nice shots through the off-side. As the required runs fell, Loan went on the attack and finished the game with a fine six down the ground to secure a victory for the Strollers.
The Strollers retired for a few beers on the pavilion and reflected on a great day’s cricket against friendly hosts. As the day drew to a close, Ivor Fiala soon reflected on an umpire’s earlier signal for a “half-wide”, which apparently involved one arm being raised at shoulder height in similar fashion to a no-ball… Or maybe it was just the signal for “no-ball”, Ivor?
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Kelvin Davidson. Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Beamers
Sunday September 28 at Alexandra Palace
Strollers won by three wickets
Beamers 167
(39.4 overs; Simon Brodbeck 4-34, Duff 3-19, Crocker 1-19, Stubbs 1-26)
Strollers 168-7
(37.4 overs; Davidson 37, Crocker 32no, McDougall 30, Sam Brodbeck 17, Timperley 15)
During the week the Beamers lost use of their home ground at Crouch End. Thanks to the enterprising Mark Pittman the game was relocated to Alexandra Palace Park.
Don Bradman played at the ground in 1934 and used it to shoot his instructional film ‘How to Play Cricket’. Anyone filming on Sunday would have been able to add several important sections to the cine reel: The Deadly Art of the Full Toss (starring Ryan Duff), How to Concede Overthrows (featuring various maroon-capped clowns) and, for the specialists, Why Wicketkeepers Should Not Kick the Ball. Some of the timeless virtues of the game were also on show: Richard Verity walking after a faint edge - inaudible to the umpire and indeed most of the fielders - was caught by Hamish McDougall off the bowling of Simon Brodbeck.
The pitch at Alexandra Palace Park was firm but with a variety of bounce that would have perturbed the Don himself. Batsmen on both sides were undone by the straight daisy-cutter. With the ball striking the batsmen at a range of heights from unforeseen angles, the hawk-eye minds of the umpires were kept busy by waves of appeals.
The bounce in the outfield was just as wild. Late in the Strollers’ innings, as the tension and barometer rose in the muggy atmosphere, Warren Crocker twice notched up an expected boundary: first the ball bouncing over the fielder at cow, next the ball taking a sharp right turn in front of the fielder at long-off.
The Strollers fielded first. Crocker found pace where others would find only baked mud. He was treated with caution. Duff started with a two-card trick: the full toss that went for four, quickly followed by the outswinger on a length that drew the edge. Unfortunately the chance was dropped at slip and the beneficiary, the opposing skipper, Alan Dixon, would go on to compile 62, almost carrying his bat. Dixon was dismissed in the 39th over when Piers Ovenden at midwicket pouched a screamer off the bowling of Crocker.
Never downcast, and ever pragmatic, Duff decided to stick to the one-card trick: the unplayable full toss that results in an lbw, the playable full toss that is caught at mid-on and the ground hugging, middle stump wrecking, Ally Pally special.
After the opening spells there was some tactical and technical sparring as Richie Stubbs, Alastair Macaulay and Ovenden wheeled through the middle overs without much profit or loss. Skipper James Timperley pushed his field out, brought his field in and generally jigged it all about. The constant, the man at deep midwicket, was a wise move, turning half a dozen potential boundaries into half a dozen singles. Wickets began to tumble again after the drinks break with the introduction of Simon Brodbeck from the Palace end, Stubbs making good ground from fine leg to hold a catch for one of them.
The Beamers pressed on, proving themselves to be keen runners between the wickets, taking advantage of some overthrows, and over-kicks. Sam Brodbeck took up the challenge and scored a fine run-out with a direct hit from square leg. This helped put the brakes on any acceleration. Timperley appeared pleased to have kept the score to 167 when Brodbeck took the tenth wicket, courtesy of another ground-hugging, middle stump wrecking, Ally Pally special. The last four wickets had fallen for 19 runs.
At the interval the Strollers demolished the Victoria sponge as they watched the final stages of the Ryder Cup on TV. Could anybody spot the Patstons on the Gleneagles fairway? Would the Strollers’ run chase be as calm, methodical and ruthless as the European team’s walk to victory? The answers were no and no.
That the Strollers made it to their target of 168 was due to three key partnerships. The first was between McDougall and Kelvin Davidson, the second between Sam Brodbeck and Crocker and the third between Crocker and Stubbs, who finished with a triumphant 0 not out.
Opening the batting, McDougall and Davidson mixed kitchen-sink like watchfulness with kitchen-sink throwing aggression. If you were going to go for it, with the ball jagging left and right, up and down, you had to go for it. This formula worked quite well until it stopped working quite well. The Strollers slumped from 65-0 to 112-5: McDougall was well caught behind off a bottom edge, Davidson succumbed, Ovenden flicked dreamily across the line and was lbw and David Kelsey tried to put one over the BBC aerial only to discover the ball hadn’t bounced.
The moment of intrigue was the dismissal of Timperley, who shouldered arms to a delivery from Joe Wood, bowling left-arm off-breaks from round the wicket. The off-bail was dislodged. Was JT bowled? Someone claimed that if it wasn’t bowled it was certainly, absolutely, cast iron lbw anyway, so it was all academic.
With 56 runs still required, the opposition on a roll and the sun now a dull oppressive orb behind the high cloud, things were feeling a bit sticky. Crocker calmed a few nerves by slamming 13 off his first five balls. Re-discovering that crucial balance between care and aggression, Sam and Warren moved the score along to 157. Surely now, with seven overs left, the Strollers could relax a little. They had not counted on the return of Verity (7.4-0-28-3).
Bowling very straight from wicket to wicket he made a double breakthrough. Sam was bowled off his pads. Duff crunched his first ball right out of the screws but straight at cover, who held on to the catch, falling backwards on impact. 157-7 and game on again.
Stubbs survived the hat-trick ball as an armoured Brodbeck Senior, the hero of Newdigate, paced and pawed in the enclosure. Richie responded well to Warren’s calls for sharp singles and induced his own share of byes and leg byes. His reward was to have an armchair seat for Crocker’s final two shots down the ground which won the match.
This was the 19th success for the Sunday side, with one loss, one abandonment and one cancellation. If you count the tour fixtures held on a Sunday against Toulouse, Cricklade and Stanton-by-Dale the record is 21-2-1-1. A fine summer either way, with the weather and all our hosts co-operating generously. With the exception of Brian Taylor, obviously.
Neville Cardus wrote: "One after another the cricketers say goodbye in the darkening evenings of late summer; they fold their tents and depart, and nobody sees them." There being no tents to pack away the Strollers took advantage of the large bar area in the pavilion. They stayed well past sunset. At which point, it is true, nobody could see them, or anybody else, as they made their way through the woods. Some prolonged the summer feeling a little longer at Bengal Bertie’s curry house.
Others will disappear off to the South of France to write the coda of the 2014 season. Bon voyage et a’ la prochaine!
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Hamish McDougall. Match fees: David Kelsey.
Riviera
Saturday October 4 in St Vallier de Thiey
Strollers lost by seven wickets
Strollers 183-6
(35 overs; Timperley 79, Walder 29, Crocker 20, Ball 12, Jones 11)
Riviera 187-3
(29.4 overs; Macaulay 2-57, Crocker 1-42)
Fair stood the wind for France. Tom Wood got his plane right on time, as did his fellow travellers heading to the Côte d’Azure for the ever popular and oversubscribed finale to the Strollers’ season. Even Paul Dorrans made it to the right airport with tickets, passport, money and kit in place, and sporting a nifty beige linen jacket pending delivery of the soon-to-be de rigueur club blazer. A flurry of smartphone messages confirmed similar punctuality from all the tourists making for the Friday evening rendezvous in Antibes, while Our Man on the Spot (the esteemed Mr Jones – Max, né Richard) reported plenty of sunshine and other sightings of great beauty from his enviable beach-head.
Aperitifs were taken on familiar ground in the Rue de la Republique, before dinner in a new venue, Le Brulot, a busy cavernous restaurant researched and reserved by Max. The locals displayed admirable sangfroid in the face of the Strollers’ increasing conviviality and even turned a blind eye to Mr Dorrans’s frequent comings and goings under the table. A number of the party sought further refreshment in the watering holes lining the old town ramparts, but no harm was done. When Antibes shut up shop at 1am, those Strollers who had not already retired did likewise.
So everyone was in fine fettle for the journey up the Route Napoleon next morning to St Vallier where Jean-Pierre, our genial host at Le Préjoly, was as welcoming as ever. The cricket, too, proceeded in a well rehearsed fashion with our openers, Messrs Jones and Brian Taylor, setting out their stall even as Riviera president Brian Ranger set out the drinks before taking up his umpiring position.
Jones survived for 20 minutes until the first bowling change when he was bowled by Bishesh Khanal. This brought James Timperley to the crease to continue his love affair with this ground, his average over his five previous tours standing at 74. James duly overhauled this figure with an attractive 79 that included five fours and three sixes, though after an hour and three-quarters he also succumbed to a first over from Bishesh, who on his return for his second spell held a sharp return catch.
Three of James’s partners, meanwhile, fell to Kevin Flynn’s seemingly innocuous off-spin. Taylor stumped for a typically patient nine, Wood lbw almost as an afterthought for a couple and Hamish McDougall caught behind while striving to get into double figures. Jeff Ball contrived to step up the scoring rate along with the entertainment value before failing to make his ground for a second run that would have brought him to 13. Unlucky for some. Warren Crocker and Aaron Walder added plenty of oomph with cameos that saw them both undefeated at the end of our allotted 35 overs. Aaron’s spanking 29 off 15 balls in less than a quarter of an hour was particularly timely.
At tea, which starred Brian Ranger’s excellent coronation chicken, the feeling was among most of the Strollers that 183 would be enough. Funny how things turn out, though. The history books tell it, they tell it so well. Only once in our previous 15 fixtures at this ground had the team batting first won, which was when we fell short of Riviera’s 188 in 2007. Our score that day? 183. Déjà vu all over again, you could say.
Of course, it might have been different. What if, say, Crocker had been able to recapture the zip and control that brought him a season’s fame of 50 wickets and 500 runs? Alas he laboured in vain. What if Dorrans’s bowling could have matched his sartorial elegance? Alas, his length and line came unravelled - and there was no Plan B. What if Walder had kept his footing to take a skier off Alastair Macaulay? Alas, he misjudged the contours of the St Vallier outfield and fell to earth, prompting ribald schadenfreude among his team-mates.
The damage was inflicted by two Riviera stalwarts, number three Bishesh, who brought up a fine 50 with the last blow of the match, and number five Phil Martin. whose undefeated 93 took just three minutes short of an hour and included nine fours, five sixes and a number of lost balls. Both these expats have expressed an interest in playing for the Strollers should they find themselves in southern England when their wanderings have stilled. We await their call.
Mind you, before we get carried away with the emphatic nature of their victory on this occasion, we should not forget that the Strollers still lead this most sporting and enjoyable series by 10 wins to five. And we continue to hold our own in Le Senat bar, the tabac next door to the hotel and the Relais Imperial restaurant over the road, where the entente was as cordiale as ever.
Capt: James Timperley. Wkt: Hamish McDougall
Beausoleil
Sunday October 5 in St Vallier de Thiey
Match abandoned
Strollers 219-3
(30 overs; Timperley 134no, Ball 62)
Beausoleil 35-0
(4.5 overs)
What could be more astonishing than Paul Dorrans arriving in the Riviera on time? Jeff Ball scoring 62, that’s what.
But first things first: the Strollers assembled at midday-ish. There was concern that Brian Taylor had, in Graeme-Swann-like fashion, retired mid-tour. To much relief, Brizey answered at roll call, a quorum was reached and the Strollers batted first.
As James Timperley and Tom Wood opened up there was precious little soleil. An ever steadying drizzle took the shine off the new ball, if not the enthusiasm of the fielding side. Neither could Wood’s wicket be described as beau, edging a short and wide ball to slip, just as the umpire began extending his arms.
Jeff ‘Dragon’ Ball trudged to the crease in the second over and Max Jones, next man in, must have fancied the chance of a good long bat. Our Jeff is no David Gower. He openly describes himself as “a terrible cricketer.” Indeed, the early overs involved regular near-misses of the Ball bat and stumps, infrequently interspersed with an array of edges between first slip and point. The Beausoleil bowlers were buoyant and Jones paced the boundary, poised to enter.
But for reasons known only to the cricketing gods, Ball’s wicket didn’t fall. His confidence grew and he began to hit the ball in front of square. The opposition tried a bouncer and he hooked it off his nose, rolling the wrists in the manner of Lord Gower. Others shots were less aesthetically pleasing; shovels around the corner and swipes aimed at mid-wicket which ended up in the covers. Touching down while running between wickets was repeatedly elusive. However Ball kept going and going, even managing a six over square leg. “It’s my first ever,” he told the exasperated fielders. Eventually 50 was reached, another first for Jeff, and he lifted his bat high to warm applause. It was the moment of the tour, perhaps the season.
At the other end Timperley, with his well-aired cricket gear, deployed a typically impressive innings. Some balls kept low, others popped up, but Timperley dealt with them all confidently. There is a theory that a good batsman has two shots for every ball. Timperley must be in that category. It was his twelfth 100 for the club and he moves to third on the all-time run scoring list, with Wood and Brodbeck in his sights. The Ball/Timperley partnership was 208, only 32 short of the club record for the second wicket; a wonderful effort. When Jones finally made it to the crease it was only to unselfishly throw the bat in the final few balls.
220 from 35 overs seemed a stiff target, but the Beausoleil opening bats started with rocket boosters, getting to 35 from the first four overs including depositing Warren Crocker over cover for six. Then, for the second year in a row, thunder clapped off the mountainside and persistent rain forced the players from the field. The Strollers thanked their friendly hosts and scurried to the comfort of Stephanie’s Café. Pie-eyed Stephanie may have pined for her missing beau Piers, but proved as hospitable as ever.
Over dinner at Le Relais Imperial, the absence of Laurie Allsop’s incohesive piano playing was lamented. Making up for it somewhat were seven-week old Yorkshire Terrier puppies, which had Tom Wood cooing.
Age was at the forefront of the discussion. “Is 22 too young?” Not if you are a parrot, apparently, and Hamish was able to renew an old relationship with his patriotic, feathered friend.
Later on, talk again turned to retirement. Dylan Thomas’ ‘Rage against the dying of the light’ was invoked. This correspondent prefers Tennyson:
“Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
See you next season.
Capt: Peter Patston. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
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