Watford Town
Sunday September 28 in Watford Match abandoned Watford Town 149-7
(20 overs; Dela Rue 3-40, Wall 2-22, Mulholland 2-30) The year of 2025 began with a Strollers
triumph in the fundraising quiz at Waitoa bar. A tactical sacrifice by
Jono Addis and Piers Ovenden saw most of the winning prize (a couple of
jugs of the sponsor's product) consumed by the Vintage Lions.
But sadly that did not
translate into glory on the pitch. Eleven runs was the margin of defeat which
was then followed by a three-wicket reverse at Bottom Paddock.
When the UK campaign began in
mid-April Jack Le Serve contrived to set a winning target at Great Missenden
before George Love bid a fond farewell to these shores in chasing a victory
target of 261 at Bledow Ridge :
In the process, Love’s 77 not
out eclipsed his previous personal best of 74 v Stanton by Dale on 27.08.2022
at Stanton. It was a record fourth-wicket unbroken stand of 228 for the
Strollers, beating the previous best of 180 by Mike Pittams, Glen Oliver, Ben
Mangham and Paige Copsey [who curiously were all involved] v Broughton Gifford
on 24.06.23
By now a party atmosphere had
developed in the clubhouse, a karaoke striking up with a familiar Eurythmics
song, which Love and Brad Trebilcock had to be discouraged from joining, the
latter doubtless in need of some activity after 28 overs padded up as next man
in.
But it was a fine way for Love
to sign off, an unbeaten highest score before leaving to travel the world and
the seven seas - well South America at least. A cool refreshing beer capped a
very satisfying win for the Strollers, which had more than once looked highly
unlikely. Sweet dreams are made of this. Hang on, it’s that karaoke song again.
And it was too, on and on like another broken record….
At Ascot a negotiated toss saw the Strollers bat first in a
40-over match which for the second week running was being filmed live. But the global
audience must have recoiled in disbelief as the Strollers limped to a disappointing
defeat – which surprisingly proved to be the first of just three reversals in
the Sunday season.
Jordans
Taverners were edged out by 36 runs as Glen Oliver racked up the little matter
of 157 not out. Brad Trebilcock’s adventures continued:
Next into the middle was the
newest and most enthusiastic recruit to the Strollers, Brad Trebilcock, coming
in having scored one run off three balls across his last two innings and having
been out in two different ways. Brad had said his goal for the day was improve
on his number of runs and get out in a new fashion.
Brad made some solid contact
with the middle of his bat and managed to double his run tally. But as can
sometimes be an issue with the Strollers batting, calling was a problem. After
one particularly lofty blow from Brad crunched straight to the man at mid-off,
our hero set off with the speed of a short-distance runner and was
three-quarters of the way down the pitch before Peter turned his head from
ball-watching to notice and yelled: “No run!” Poor Brad was stranded a long way
short of his crease as mid-off threw to the keeper for a run-out. While this
was unfortunate for Brad, his goal had been achieved.
At Winchmore Hill Blair
Travis’s season got under way, while Brad’s adventures continued:
Blair (102 not out) continued to knock the ball around
the park, playing like Kane Williamson to keep the ship steady. Trebilcock was
the next Stroller to the middle, where he continued his fashion of getting out
in any many different ways possible. This week was a stumping as he took off
down the pitch to send the spinner over the fence but failed – and departed for
three runs.
Another
Travis century (106 not out) followed at Roehampton as the Strollers chased
down a target of 254. At Maidenhead & Bray a Titanic struggle saw Oliver (83
not out) and Freddie Broster-Turley (56 not out) snatch glory from the jaws of
defeat.
As
match reporter Ben Mangham declared:
Well sports fans, we’ve had
The Rumble in the Jungle, The Thrilla in Manila…now there is another legendary
sporting tagline, The Affray in Bray!
Who would have thought that
this village oval, naturally church spired, vicarage observed with
picture-perfect beach hedge and picket fence would be the backdrop, nay arena,
for such a gladiatorial tussle, a coming of age, a fulfilment of destiny! A day, that in future years, “We few, we
happy few, we band of brothers”, will raise our chins slightly higher, blink
our now cloudy eyes, the fire reigniting in the steely blue momentarily once
more…and say I was there.
Our beloved game was served
well this day, Cricket is a team sport true, but within that team are 11 solo
artists strumming their cords and riffs making the one song and on this day the
song was sweet, so very sweet, that angels did weep.
Oliver and Broster-Turley put
on an undefeated 126 to see their side home as the welkins rang to the sound of
the rolling cheers…
West Chiltington outplayed us
but then the side began their winning Sunday roll. Hurley felt the force of
debutant Jonny Waugh:
Waugh, a recent recruit who
had attracted the eye of scout George Love during a midweek match, was called
in to open alongside Blair Travis. The pair worked the opening bowlers with
ease, and after a few overs’ grace, it became quickly apparent that Waugh’s
recruitment will be devastating to our opponents' new ball budget.
After dispatching both
Hurley’s new ball and its replacement into the neighbouring paddock, the
Strollers’ new ball was provided and was promptly dealt the same fate - Waugh
scored 26 runs from that over from Singh. This prompted calls from the
wicketkeeper to one fielder to “just stay over there” in the next paddock; a
suggestion that would have saved us all time, as another two sixes were
delivered to the same spot in the next over.
It’s not often that the
fielding side is brought back in from the ropes when Travis faces, but such was
the devastation of Waugh. With his mother-in-law watching from the boundary
with admiration, Waugh brought up his marvellous century off 52 balls and retired
in the 17th over.
The Cotswolds tour began with
victory at Broughton Gifford where Travis hit another century and Simon
Brodbeck recorded singular figures of 1.1-0-9-3 to keep his wickets tally
moving.
At Adlestrop the next day:
Yes. I remember Adlestrop The
name, because one afternoon
Of heat, the express-train drew up there Unwontedly. It was late June.
The steam hissed. Someone
cleared his throat. No one left and no one came
On the bare platform. What I saw Was Adlestrop—only the name
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 for that minute a
blackbird sang Close by, and round him, mistier,
Farther and farther, all the birds Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.
But on the idyllic Adlestrop
ground in 2025 it was Mike Pittams and Travis (again) who rescued the day and
set a target which the opposition could not reach.
Jane Austen saw it thus:
I happened to be in the
idyllic soundings of The Park in Adelstrop this Sunday past admiring the
livestock on the estate and came across an extraordinary scene in one corner of
the grounds. A cricket match was setting up and I availed myself of the opportunity
to gain insight into this game which I had hitherto dismissed.
A group of itinerant
scribblers from London called the Fleet Street Strollers were on tour in the
area and were playing the local team. Papa used to tell of the time when the
Fleet in London was a noxious open sewer and that the outpourings of the so-called
journalists were no better. I was hopeful that these Strollers were more
fragrant.,
Wendover and Peppard fell
under the remorseless Strollers sword before a sweet victory at Prestcold
thanks to Travis (94) yet again and Rowan Smith, whose stay in the UK looked
like coming to a close.
Wandsworth Cowboys in Thames
Ditton proved Smith’s farewell (or did it?):
Out in the middle, after a
sedate first over of three runs, Smith and Waugh looked on with envy at the
antics up on the balcony and decided they wanted to join as soon as possible.
70 runs came off the next six overs, including a particularly towering six from
Waugh over backward square leg. He departed for 24, of which 22 were delivered
in boundaries.
Smith was joined by Pittams,
who had clearly read the same memo and promptly crunched a few boundaries,
before departing himself for 18. Wall glanced up from his beer at this point
and considered whether he should get some whites on, let alone pad up given we
only needed 10 runs to win. Next over Smith bought up his 50 and then promptly
skied one, leaving Wall to rush out with about half his protective gear on and
finish things off with Glen Oliver.
The next over, the 13th, saw
the winning runs hit. An almost perfect send-off for Smith as he heads back to
New Zealand, with his only black mark being a dropped catch of this match
reporter’s bowling…
Chenies and Latimer fell (yet
another Travis ton) as did Bledlow (Travis only 91 this time) before a
nail-biter at Claygate (Travis 90) saw the Strollers take a 15-run win to keep
the hot streak going.
Harry Mangham reappeared at
Ripley before the Three Counties tour. That is now strictly the Two Counties
but although the Strollers beat the rain (getting in two games despite the
horrendous weather forecast) they could not beat Wall or Stanton by Dale. But
the real winners were Rae-Ann Craig (Wall) and
……………………………………………………………………………………………… On the midweek front it was a
tale of resilience and fortitude as the club was stretched to produce 11
players in an 11-match programme. But undaunted, the valiant nine – or
sometimes 10 and sometimes 11 men –- still contrived to record a successful
campaign: P8 W6 L2 [Three of the original fixtures had to be cancelled].
The real heroes were the
midweek match managers – Richard Keightley, Aidan Selby and Glen Oliver – who
somehow managed to persuade their troops to trek to King’s House and Barn Elms
in search of glory.
The flavour of it all was
captured by match reporter James Stubbs in the OSD Superstars triumph which
rounded off the campaign:
To replace Inigo Lendrum, Rob Wall
strode out, wielding James Stubbs’s new bat. Wall and John Low combined well,
albeit briefly, before Wall set off for an ambitious single, with Low unable to
make his ground.
Up stepped Mike Pittams and
with Wall they swung, slashed, and carved their way through the bowling attack.
With a bounty of boundaries, including two massive sixes to his name, Wall
retired on 31 not out.
With 20 to win, the Strollers
were down to the 10th batsman. Will Baylis-Allen stepped up to the mark.
Pittams swung wildly and dispatched one over the rope for six. Requiring 10 to
win off 12 balls, Will followed suit with a strong two into the covers and a
massive six over square leg. The match concluded with a wide from Anand, with
Mike and Will ending unbeaten on 22 and 12.
A strong middle/lower order
affair from both sides was followed by a strong ale/lager order affair in the
Red Lion, Barnes’ most popular of public houses. A well-earned prize after a
very good cricket match.
Altogether a strong midweek
order of events…
…………………………………………………………………………………
Tricia Taylor (Stanton) who
each produced a tea of groaning magnificence to weigh down the tourists and
prevent them from performing to an acceptable standard. Concorde fell by the wayside (they could not raise a side);
Marlow Park fell foul of the watery climate and the rot could not be stopped at
The Lee.
Despite a helpful contribution
from newcomer Inigo Lendrum (2-28 and 37) the Strollers fell short in their
chase of 223. But the rain held off and The Lee’s lovely ground was as
welcoming as ever. Then it was back to our old
friends at Pinkneys Green where Oliver chalked up another ton while Travis’s 17
took his season’s total to 967. With three games to go, could BT do the double:
1,000 runs and a fifth ton of the season to set a new record?
Chasing 277 Pinkneys fell
short once the dangerous Will Heyes had departed. Evergreen Jim Hodgson
returned the astonishing figures of 3.2-2-2-4. The knees may be creaking but
the metronome is still setting the tempo despite the passing years.
The domestic season ended with
a damp squib at Watford. The rain, which the Met Office had promised would push
through, did not oblige.
And after 20 overs of consistent
drizzle (with Watford on 149-7) the troops took tea and adjourned to the bar,
never to return to the field.
Discussion then centred on the
delights of a certain grill, haunt of those bon viveurs Rob
Wall and Mike Pittams. It describes itself as a burger restaurant which prides itself on juicy mouthwatering burgers with
quality ingredients. One Trip Advisor review was not so complimentary: “The menu was quite cheap, but there is a reason for
that.”
Other items on the discussion agenda
were: Favourite day of the season [victory at Maidenhead & Bray]/Afternoon
tea at The Ritz/Blair still requiring 33 more runs for his thousand/Baby tour
outfits being prepared for Bordeaux/Where in Brazil is George Love?/And who is
that lady in Oktoberfest uniform cavorting with Brad Trebilcock?
It was agreed that there were encouraging
signs over the summer with a long list of new names, among them: James Allan,
Will Bennett, Alex Diaconu, Hector Millar, Inigo Lendrum, Mrinal Madina, Isa
Pandor, Chris Stevenson, Brad Trebilcock, Jonny Waugh and more. They were all
most welcome; now they have to play more games in 2026…
When the discussion was brought
to a close the curtain came down on the 2025 domestic campaign. Soon Jim
Hodgson’s armada sets sail for France with two games to round off the year.
Will Bordeaux survive the 30-strong Strollers
party? Is Macron’s faltering
regime ready for such an invasion? Will Travis notch up that 1,000th
run? Still so many questions waiting to be answered… Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match report and match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
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