Bottom Paddock
Sunday February 4 near Masterton in the
Wairarapa Valley
Strollers won by 99 runs
Strollers 231-7
(35 overs;
Wyatt 41ret, Timperley 40ret, Scanlon 32, Ovenden 30no, Swan 25, McDougall
20no, Thomas 12)
Bottom Paddock 119
(23.1 overs; Swan 3-10, Thomas 1-7, Tom Addis 1-8, Walter 1-18, Jono Addis
1-23, Logan 1-35).
The cricket season always sneaks up on you, a split
hemisphere commencement further confuses the issue…so whilst the annual dinner
was under way in London, cricket kit was being prepared for the first match of
the new season in the Wairarapa, New Zealand.
With the match falling across Waitangi weekend the initial
discussion was of multi-day camping. As the weekend approached, family and work
commitments meant that the proposed Friday night camping idea faded. Through
the course of Saturday the developing weather forecast meant that the committed
camping numbers dwindled. The outcome was that late Saturday afternoon the
Timperley and Ovenden families assembled under the trees at Bottom Paddock,
enjoying the outlook of bright sunshine, a dampish pitch and ominous clouds.
Tents were pitched and dinner preparations begun just as
the thunder and lightning really took hold. Retreating to tents allowed the
skipper to spend time visualising and preparing, which was to pay off the next
day. The morning dawned delightfully, once coffee had been consumed, alongside
a copious supply of pancakes and Nutella sandwiches the youth policy were off
to get their first net of the day in.
By late morning the Strollers (and camping avoiders)
started to roll in – more tents were pitched – and reports of Tube trains being
awash with red wine post the dinner in the UK were received. Stories were
exchanged, events of the last year recounted and Piers, resplendent in club
blazer, strode to the wicket and lost the toss.
We were asked to bat by our hosts on a pitch that had some
venom at one end in particular. With the temperature rising, expectations were
of an improving batting surface through the day.
Jono Addis received a brute of a ball early on but Glen
Scanlon, Andrew Thomas and Tim Swan set about patiently building an innings and
seeing off the worst of the bounce (post-match X-rays confirmed a broken wrist
for Scanlon and consequently a player shortage for the following week). A score
of 102 at the drinks break was a great platform. James Timperley and
Doran Wyatt were able to score freely after the break with Wyatt making
excellent use of the ‘hit the tree and it’s six’ local rules (twice in a row).
Following the retirements of Timperley and Wyatt it was
left to Hamish McDougall and Ovenden to finish the innings. Piers hit out well,
taking full toll in a final over which yielded 21. Notably in the course of his
innings Hamish moved past Tom Wood to become the third-highest run-scorer in
Strollers history. A fantastic achievement with many more runs to
come.Conjecture at the innings break was whether this would spur Wood out of
his retirement…only time will tell. Our total of 231 from 35 overs looked formidable.
Under the trees, and now welcome shade the kids were
roaming and creating their own entertainment. Comments on the sideline focused
on how it got easier every year managing on that front (perhaps a biased view
from those able to escape to the middle).
Starting the chase Bottom Paddock were in early trouble as
they lost three wickets across the first three overs. Thomas, Steve Walter and
a run-out accounting for those. Then a partnership developed and the runs kept
flowing. Nick Logan found a particularly nice line as he eased into his spell,
with good grip from the pitch creating chances the longer he bowled.
At drinks the respective scores were comparable but wickets
in hand were a problem. Swan found his rhythm the other side of drinks and
quickly wrapped things up with three wickets and a direct hit run-out from a
shortish fine leg. A commanding performance and some welcome relief in the
field from those not required to bowl and field the full 35 overs!
The sacred grove was somewhat overrun by small children
which changed the dynamic of the post-match cool-down from previous
experiences. This author’s future keenness for the swim in the river
may have been somewhat dampened by the eel appearances that occurred later in
the evening.
The BBQ was top notch and speeches were gracious and well
received. As the dust settled on another fantastic weekend it was
left to those camping overnight to continue various cricket matches into the
twilight before testing our astronomical knowledge with a marvellous clear sky
and display of stars, obviously best viewed from the middle of the pitch with
beer in hand.
The following morning reflecting on the weekend it is just
left to offer thanks to all at Bottom Paddock for their fantastic hospitality
again and also to Piers for the match management, camp leadership, skippering
and general organisation. Those capable look forward to doing it all again next
weekend.
Capt: Piers Ovenden. Wkt: Hamish McDougall/Jono Addis.
Match report: James Timperley.
VUWCC
Sunday February 11 at Kelburn Park in
Wellington
Strollers lost by 12 runs
VUWCC 211-3
(35 overs;
Walter 1-24, Harris 1-28, Ovenden 1-34)
Strollers 199
(35 overs; Addis 58, Timperley 50no, Harris 44, Read 25).
Attempts to replicate
the triple crown of 2023 had got off to a good start with victory at Bottom
Paddock the previous weekend. The VUWCC quiz at the Waitoa bar on the Saturday
night proved to be a tight, nerve-jangling, affair. James, Hamish, Jono and Piers
led the whole way, only to drop a point in the final round, and then lose the
quiz on a tie breaker.
For future reference,
construction of the colosseum in Rome began in 72AD under the emperor Vespasian
(and was completed in 80AD under Titus). A quizzical eyebrow remains raised at
the Quiz master’s decision that James Cook’s visit in 1769 was to observe the
transit of Mercury (IT WAS VENUS!).
Any residual
disappointment had to be quickly shed for an early start at the gladiatorial
arena of Kelburn Park on the Sunday morning. There were five changes to the
side from the previous week, with Julian Read, Mike Loan and Jake Pearson
replacing Nick Logan, Andrew Thomas and Tim Swan. Phil Harris and Tim Prebble
made their debuts in place of Tom Addis and Glen Scanlon (fractured wrist).
Jono negotiated the
toss with Colin Owens and invited the Old Lions to bat first. A blustery
Wellington day dictated terms for a while, with plastic chairs careering like
tumbleweed across the adjacent croquet lawn. Steven Walter made an early
breakthrough with the new ball but wickets were hard to come by against a
line-up that included three ex-first class cricketers. Pies Ovenden maintained
his composure to collect the wicket he paid for when Robbie Kerr deposited him
in the car park on the other side of the groundsman’s shed. Phil returned at
the death to claim a scalp after his excellent opening spell went unrewarded.
There was a welcome
break for lunch, once again laid on by our generous hosts. The consensus was
that the Exiles had done well to restrict the Old Lions to 211, on a good pitch
where a run a ball was achievable – if you were fit enough to keep running them,
the boundaries being on the larger end of the scale.
Wickets were easier to
come by after the break as the Strollers attempted to knock the top off the run
chase. Jono and James stabilised things and then picked up the run rate. Their
departures from the crease - due to retirements being required at the end of
the over the batsman reached 50 – meant something special was required from the
lower half of the order.
Phil survived a couple
of lbw shouts (no quizzical eyebrows here) and then played fluently for 44,
ably supported by Julian. Thereafter…the Old Lions held a couple of stunning
catches and we managed to bat out our 35 overs.
The post-match drinks
in the pavilion were well attended by partners and children on both sides, and
speeches and prizes well received. It became clear that this fixture is
becoming a much anticipated annual reunion for past players of VUWCC. We can
therefore look forward to a rematch in 2025.
Capt: Jono Addis. Wkt: Hamish McDougall.
Match report: Piers Ovenden.
Royal Ascot
Sunday May 5 at Ascot
Strollers won by 62 runs
Strollers 197-6
(40 overs;
Travis 50no, Smith 36, Mangham 27, Oliver 16no, Dela Rue 14no
Royal Ascot 135-9
(40 overs; Mangham 2-24, Rogers 1-4, Smith 1-5, Hodgson 1-6, Dela Rue
1-10, Brodbeck 1-13, Macaulay 1-14, Travis 1-14).
After two cancellations, and rain in the forecast,
Strollers were understandably nervous in the run-up to the match at Royal
Ascot. Updates from Reading, High Wycombe and South London during the week on
the WhatsApp were balanced by quiet confidence from Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Even in the dressing room, there was detailed discussions of favourite weather
apps ranging from the Met Office to Norway (yr.no).
Many Strollers were getting their excuses in early for
under-performance in the first match of the season - age, missing internal
organs, lack of nets, too much golf, not enough golf, inflexible knees etc. A
new scorer's bag has replaced the old one, a victim of cat's pee. We are still
not sure if Simon Brodbeck's Stroller cap suffered the same fate, as he took
the field in a blue cap to match his hipster Nikes. At least it wasn't on
backwards.
Royal Ascot had primed us that they were quite weak, though
as it turned out, their team was made up of their Thirds desperate for a game
and a few more-than-competent teenagers. A 40-over match was agreed with a
retire-at-50 rule. For most this would be aspirational.
Skipper Glen "one job" Oliver put himself down as
a non-bowling No 9 and duly lost the toss. We were put in on a green wicket
that looked like it might do a little. Even Glen's missing appendix might have
fancied a bowl.
Blair Travis and Pete Robertson were naturally circumspect
against tight bowling and some variable bounce from Raphael Bocchio and Omair
Sheikh. Robertson heaved at Bocchio and was bowled for seven. Blair seemed to
be quite agitated at the incompetence from the scorer's table when he was on
13, but it turned out that it was his 2000th run for the Strollers (av 43.2).
Steve Rogers was also bowled by Bocchio for six.
Rowan Smith and Blair steadied the ship and Rowan in
particular started to push the score along with a string of boundaries. After
20 overs the score was a healthy 93-2.
After drinks, Rowan played round a delivery from young
spinner Yeshas Vijay who was bowling in tandem with his marginally older
brother, Vishay. Ben Mangham took an aggressive approach from the off as Blair
made it to a well-earned 50 and retirement.
Two sixes off the older Vijay in the same over were the
highlight of Ben's innings (the only sixes of the match). Ben and Evan Samuel
(a last-minute volunteer from the golf course) gave a masterclass in the
well-judged single and reluctant two before Evan departed caught off the
younger Vijay. Ben was also bowled by Tom Clarke for a breezy 27. Jim Hodgson
and James Dela Rue kept the momentum going until Jim was caught at cover for
nine. James and Oliver added a quick 30 in the last four overs as the Stollers
finished on 197-6.
A quick turnaround of innings was thwarted by a rain
shower but on the resumption, both Dela Rue and Smith proved to be a real
handful, missing the bat multiple times. They took a wicket each but could have
had more. After 10 overs Ascot were 18-2, slipping behind the run rate. Rowan
took 1-5 off his five overs and James 1-10.
Mangham then had opener Will Osgood caught at mid-off by
Glen and Steve Rogers had the impetuous Ashwin Vasudevan lbw sweeping and
missing (the latter played for us last year in similar style). Four down and
the game looked to be slipping away from Ascot.
However, the No 6 was Clarke, who has scored heavily
against us in the past. But before he could get going, Ben bowled him for two.
Ben's cry of triumph would have startled the horses on raceday. His explanation
was that Clarke had bowled him and revenge could not wait to get cold. Ben
ended with 2-24.
After that, the game petered out as victory seemed
inevitable, Glen rang the changes on the bowling. Alastair Macaulay lured Sadiq
Khan to hole out to Dela Rue at cover and did not bowl down the legside at all
in his five overs, a bit of a result given his desultory net practice. The same
fielder then dropped a simple catch off Brodbeck - a drop that may be
referred to throughout the season. Travis then took a steepler off Simon -
justice restored.
Hodgson and Travis also took wickets, both caught
behind Robertson, a tall man and not one of life's natural wicketkeepers. He
volunteered to keep and got his first two victims for the Strollers. The match
ran its course of 40 overs as a net session for the Nos 9 and 11. Samuel was
the only bowler to miss out and was probably unlucky as fielding standards
dropped to comical levels of incompetence in the last few overs.
The Strollers won by 62 runs. Both sides were happy to
escape the rain and get a match on and ease into the season.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Pete Robertson.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Alastair Macaulay.
Jordans Taverners
Sunday May 12 at Coleshill
Strollers won by nine wickets
Jordans Taverners 139-9
(36.1 overs;
Brodbeck 2-8, Dela Rue 2-20, Macaulay 2-30, Broster-Turley 1-12, Martindale
1-24)
Strollers 142-1
(20.2 overs; Pittams 86no, Travis 35no).
What a lovely day for a game of cricket in the sleepy
Buckinghamshire village of Coleshill. Sadly Coleshill CC folded several years
ago, but the ground and clubhouse have been maintained and host Chesham CC on
Saturdays and Jordans Taverners CC on Sundays. For those with an interest in
architecture, the ground is overlooked by the Grand Designs water tower house.
To save you the walk over there from the club house, you can’t see much of the
interesting parts as they’re buried in a large grass bank.
The Strollers assembled to be greeted by the charming Robin
Yolland, now retired from active service, but an ever-present for Jordans
Taverners since our first game in 1985. Since you ask, the Strollers recorded a
thumping win 39 years ago, declaring on 173-3, then bowling out the Taverners
for 49. Since then honours have been pretty even.
Glen ‘Mr Consistency’ Oliver lost the toss and we were
asked to take the field. James Dela Rue and Gus Wills opened up and James
promptly bowled Joe Baker for two and shortly after encouraged Will Barton to
nick one into the safe hands of Blair Travis in the slips, for a duck.
Ashley Turney, looking his usual solid self, was joined by
the left-handed Simon Hungin, who immediately rattled off a series of
boundaries. Freddie Broster-Turley replaced Gus, and after a few sighters,
settled into a good line and length.
James was unlucky to not pick up another wicket. Turney
edged one to Freddie in the slips, but despite several attempts at the catch
the ball was finally grassed. Then Hungin offered a very low caught and bowled,
was given out and walked off, but being the decent man that he is, James
recalled him as he couldn’t be sure he’d taken it cleanly. We then had an IT
intermission as the scorer, using an iPad, had recorded Hungin out, but didn’t
know how to undo this. IT support, in the shape of the square-leg umpire,
sorted it after a few minutes delay. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Maggie
Patston scoring with an iPad any time soon!
Support arrived, in the shape of Jo Perrin and a friend.
Having taken her customary walk up from High Wycombe, it will come as no
surprisethat Jo reported being able to
hear Glen seven minutes before arriving at the ground.
James completed his eight overs (2-20) and Travis took
over. A rare full toss was smashed by Hungin straight at Jim Hodgson at
mid-off, but he didn’t get enough of a hand to it to take the catch – however,
he did get a decently bruised thumb. Glen showed us the way by cleanly taking a
catch off Freddie’s bowling to dismiss Hungin for 24.
Turney was going nicely at the other end, hitting a series
of powerful shots straight down the ground. Unfortunately the new batsman,
Oliver Myers, took one of these full on the back of the head. Wisely, he was
taken from the field and went to be checked out at A&E. A drinks break was
taken and the pre-arranged keeper swap took place with Mike Pittams handing the
gloves to Wills.
Alastair Macaulay was brought into the attack and was
unlucky not to make an immediate impact. Freddie entertained us again with his
juggling skills, again unsuccessfully, and promptly dropped another, rather
more difficult, chance. James was enjoying Freddie’s misfortune, as last week
at Royal Ascot he had been on the receiving end of the team’s ‘support’ for his
drops.
Alastair then got his man with Cameron Hunter holing out to
Glen at long-off. How many times has he lured batsmen to their doom in the
long-off, long-on, cow corner zone? Alastair also bowled his full eight overs,
adding the wicket of Nick Gradel, bowled, to his analysis to finish with 2-30.
Our debutant, Hugh Martindale, showed no cobwebs from
having rested from cricket for a few years, having the danger man Turney (whose
61 was the highest score by some way!) smartly stumped by Wills. Simon Brodbeck
was tossed the ball and trapped Tim Sonnex lbw, then had Austin Tinsley caught
by Gus. The innings was completed when the two keepers combined to run out Matt
Bingle. 139 didn’t seem a daunting total but we were mindful of last year’s
match when, chasing 136, we were bowled out for 98.
Sadly, tea is not a given these days, but Jordans Taverners
put on a good spread for us. Finlay Perrin, taking a break from A Level
revision, timed his arrival well and didn’t hold back on the cakes and
sandwiches - after the players had taken theirs, of course!
Glen sent Mike Pittams and George Love out to open. The
first few balls from Nick Gradle whistled past Mike’s outside edge, creating a
little unease on the boundary, but then normal service was resumed as Mike
dispatched the ball to all parts.
George was run out for five with the total on 39. He claims
he was ‘barbecued by Pittams’, but as your scribe wasn’t watching, this can’t
be confirmed. Blair joined Mike and that was pretty much it. We were treated to
a fine display of aggressive batting from Pittams, ably supported by Travis.
Victory was achieved in the 21st over with Mike finishing on 86 not out and
Blair 35 not out. 70 of Mike’s runs came from boundaries.
All this excitement made for a thirsty crowd, so we
decamped to the spiritual home of Jordans Taverners, the Jolly Cricketers in
Seer Green. Over the years we have enjoyed many a pint here with our friendly
hosts as their former ground was just round the corner. It’s great to still be
playing these long-standing fixtures.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Mike Pittams/Gus Wills.
Match
fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Jim Hodgson.
Winchmore Hill
Sunday May 19 at Winchmore Hill
Strollers lost by 55 runs
Winchmore Hill (Penn) 271-4
(40 overs;
Rogers 2-38, Macaulay 1-31, Skinner 1-51)
Strollers 216
(33.2 overs; Travis 68, Skinner 38, Rogers 27, Mangham 24, Dela Rue
17, Bowden 13).
The Strollers returned to Amersham for a second week in
succession, this time for the game against Winchmore Hill. It was a splendid
day and no better place to spend it than on a picturesque ground surrounded by
trees.
With the hot conditions, 2pm start and the possible arrival
of the eleventh man (Michael Pittams) later in the day, many Strollers were
dearly hoping to bat first. They were out of luck, however. Blair Travis, the
matchday captain, was unsuccessful in the toss and the Strollers were fielding
first.
On a flat deck and glorious batting conditions, the
Winchmore Hill openers wasted no time. James Dela Rue and Richard Skinner
opened the bowling for the Strollers, but with the opening batsmen playing
freely on a placid deck, the runs began to stack up quickly.
After a tough first few overs, Skinner began to find his
range and was eventually rewarded with the wicket of opener Stuart Banham,
caught Travis for 38. However, Winchmore Hill had got off to a lightning start,
at 91-1 after 10 overs.
Hugh Martindale and Travis also had a go but were met with
a similar disdain from the batsmen. Steve Rogers, however, managed to stem the
flow of runs with his spin bowling. He picked up a wicket quickly, dismissing
No 3 batsman Lenny Balendra for just nine runs, courtesy of a Dela Rue catch at
mid-on. Rogers took another not long after, with wicketkeeper Martindale
(switching to take the gloves after his brief bowling spell) taking a good
catch to his left, to remove the Winchmore captain.
Despite these wickets, the danger man, opener Harry
Balakrishnan, charged on at the other end, playing some glorious strokes and
continuing to dispatch the bowlers to all corners. By this point well on his
way to a century, the Strollers had few answers to his dominant stroke making.
However, Ben Mangham, brought on first change with the unenviable task of
trying to stem the almighty flow of scoring bowled an excellent spell.
At times it looked like he was simply bowling on a
different pitch to everyone else, proving extraordinarily difficult to get away
and commanding the utmost respect of the batsmen, including the well set
Balakrishnan. Unlucky not to get a wicket, but testament to the respect shown
to his bowling, Ben completed his 8 overs for just 26 runs.
The Winchmore middle order provided Balakrishnan with some
support, but it was scarcely required such was his dominance. After bringing up
his century shortly after drinks, the juggernaut rolled on before he eventually
retired on 150 not out.
The Strollers were ruing several dropped chances in the
latter overs but were thankful to have seen the back of Balakrishnan. Alastair
Macaulay picked up a late wicket, clean bowling the No 6 batsman. Neal
Mulholland also bowled some late overs, showing some promise with the ball.
However, Winchmore Hill, on the back of Balakrishnan’s phenomenal innings,
finished with 271 runs for the loss of just 4 wickets.
That total of 271 was always going to be a tall order, but
on a flat track and with in-form opening batsmen Pittams and Travis (Mike
having arrived towards the end of the first innings), the Strollers had some
hope. That hope dissipated quickly, however, as the Winchmore bowlers ripped
through the Strollers top order.
Pittams was first to go, given out lbw last ball of the
first over, after being struck on the pad multiple times in the previous
deliveries. Scott Findlay and Martindale didn’t fare much better, dismissed for
nought and one respectively in short order.
With the Strollers languishing at 14-3 after only a few
overs, it looked like it might be an early beer in the pavilion. Captain Travis
had other ideas. Playing some superb shots and hitting the ball clean as a
whistle, he piled on the runs. He found more than able support in Skinner, in
at No 5, and the two had the scoreboard ticking over at an impressive clip.
Both were scoring freely and brought up a 100-run stand,
giving the Strollers some hope of pulling off this monumental chase.
Unfortunately Skinner was then dismissed caught behind for an excellent 38 with
the Strollers 114-4. Blair’s innings came to an end shortly thereafter when he
tried to play a reverse sweep first ball after drinks - out for a well-made 68.
With the partnership broken and the Strollers’ key batsmen back in the dugout,
Winchmore Hill were right on top once again.
Tim Bowden came in at No 6 and after surviving an early lbw
scare, hit a glorious six over square leg and another majestic boundary. It was
a short and sharp innings from Tim, however, out for 13.
Mangham and Rogers came together, providing some rearguard
action, entertaining those watching in the pavilion with some stroke making.
Steve hit a number of boundaries before being bowled for 27, Mangham followed
suit before being caught for 24.
Mulholland, in at No 9, played some impressive strokes,
including a majestic punch down the ground to get off the mark, but ended run
out for seven. Dela Rue and Macaulay were the last men standing, being left
with a bit too much to do. Dela Rue played a few shots in the dimming light
before being caught for 17, Macaulay adding to his not out tally with two runs
to his name. The Strollers finished all out for 215 in the 34th over.
Both teams congregated for a joint photoshoot post match,
along with a cleansing ale or two.
Capt: Blair Travis. Wkt: Steve Rogers/Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: James Dela Rue.
Bricklayers Arms
Thursday May 23 at Barn Elms
Strollers won by seven runs
Strollers 123-8
(20 overs;
Smith 46no, Travis 19, Findlay 13)
Bricklayers 116-4
(20 overs; Macaulay 2-14, Smith 1-12, Richie Stubbs 1-12)
Spring has really arrived once the midweek Strollers emerge
from hibernation, several weeks after their weekend brethren. As has become
typical in recent seasons, the opening midweek fixture was against old friends
and rivals The Bricklayer’s Arms, who were very sadly without their founder,
manager and secretary (and longtime Stroller) Chris Locke, who passed away a
few weeks earlier, having set the fixture up in January. Tom Poulter has picked
up the reins and The Brick are playing on in Chris's memory.
Having won the toss, captain Rob Wall strode out to bat
with Scot Findlay, with the batting line-up somewhat influenced by the fact
that the Strollers X were not all present. [Any questions as to why the
Strollers were a X not XI are to be addressed to match manager Glen Oliver, who
apparently has a David Beckhamesque metatarsal injury and/or repetitive strain
injury from explaining that all directions to all venues are available on the
FSS website]
After a good start, Wall delicately cut the ball straight
to the fielder at backward point for eight, while Findlay came back for a
second that Smoking Joe Rokocoko would have struggled to make and was run out
for 13.
Will Baylis-Allen made a quick five before being caught
behind to leave the Strollers at 30-3 (off 5 overs). Steady batting from Blair
Travis (19) and aggressive strokeplay from Rowan Smith (42 retired) led the
recovery with the Strollers 94-3 (12).
Three quick wickets followed (Mike Pittams bowled, James
Dela Rue caught and Nyan Patel bowled) off the same bowler, as the Strollers
chased runs. Richie Stubbs edged behind and Smith came back in to join Alastair
Macaulay and hit another four to bring the score up to 123-8 (20).
In reply The Brick got off to a strong start with captain
Poulter opening before retiring on 34 after hitting six boundaries. The
Strollers opening attack of Dela Rue and Patel suffered some damage, with the
Brick 58-0 (6).
Next up were Baylis-Allen and Smith, who both bowled tidy
spells, with Smith picking up the other Brick opener for 14, to leave them at
89-1 (14). The guile of Macaulay was up next, picking up two wickets - stumped
and bowled; with Stubbs bowling a couple of tidy overs to leave the Brick at
110-3 (19), requiring 14 off the last over.
Stubbs bowled the Brick No 5 with the first ball of the
over, and saw out the rest of the over for six runs, and the Strollers sneaked
home by seven runs.
Both teams headed off to the Red Lion for a pint or two.
Chris's former employer, the Evening Standard, have written
a nice article about him:
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/tributes-chris-locke-journalist-evening-standard-city-death-b1152532.html
Capt: Rob Wall. Wkt: Rob Wall/Mike Pittams.
Match fees: Glen Oliver. Match report: Richie Stubbs.
Roehampton
Sunday May 26 on Putney Heath
Strollers won by 49 runs
Strollers 220-7
(35 overs;
Findlay 58, Mangham 57no, Wall 32, Rogers 16, Travis 16, Dela Rue 15no, Hartley
13)
Roehampton 171-9
(35 overs; Dela Rue 2-21, Mangham 2-29, Wills 1-11, Brodbeck 1-13, Findlay
1-13, Macaulay 1-18, Wall 1-23).
Blue skies met damp pitch as an eager bunch of Strollers
congregated on the Putney Heath ground for the match v Roehampton Cricket Club
- the most central fixture on the Strollers calendar.
Puddles in the bowler's run-up meant Ben Mangham leapt into
action with a towel and bags of sawdust to quickly get the ground in a safer
condition. Captain Blair Travis won the toss and elected to bat in a 35-over
match with a delayed start to allow time for the pitch to dry.
Rob Wall (playing his first game of the season) and Travis
opened up with both starting freely and finding the boundary regularly. Travis,
having had a tough chance dropped early, was dealing in boundaries only and
flayed the ball again through the covers but was spectacularly caught for 16
with the score 25-1.
Neil Hartley joined Wall in the middle and lived
dangerously but ticked the score over. Wall was in a mood and produced three
vicious pull shots out to the short leg-side boundary. A fourth was a pull-shot
too far, skying it to mid-on from outside the off stump for 32. A solid start
of 63-2 inside 10 overs was a great base to build from.
Roehampton’s first change bowler Zain Latif had different
ideas, trapping Mike Pittams lbw for three followed by a first-ball in-swinging
yorker to the base of Gus Wills’ stumps. Steve Rogers was sent in to face the
hat-trick ball with the Strollers in a spot of bother at 70-4.
Rogers and Hartley were able to stem the wicket-flow
momentarily before both were bowled - by Latif and Abi Ramesh. The Strollers
found themselves in a hole at 96-6. A saviour or several would be required…
Enter Mangham (in recent form with the bat) and Scott
Findlay, who both started carefully but confidently put the bad balls away. In
time, even good balls were being dispatched as both men raced past 50 and put
on a match-defining seventh-wicket partnership of 108 to guide us towards
safety. Special mention to Mangham (57*), who scored his first 50 in any form
of cricket. Ben had been vocal in his goal of wanting to score a 50 this
season. Now achieved, we eagerly await an update to “Mangham’s goals for the
season” - perhaps three figures (with the bat) is the next target.
Findlay was run out on the last ball of the penultimate
over for 58. A final over onslaught from James Dela Rue (15* off five balls)
helped post a seemingly competitive total of 220-7. The innings was not without
controversy as it was noted that no less than four Strollers went out to bat in
black sneakers, a topic that may well need further dissection at the next AGM.
It was a pleasure to see the Strollers youth policy in
action with Peter Wood (Sloane) and Rob Wall (Siena) bringing their daughters
along to watch some action-packed Sunday cricket. Special mention to Wall, who
swiftly identified that a massive six from Mangham was heading uncomfortably
close to the viewing families and saved the day with an athletic leap to parry
the ball away.
Following tea, it was pace from one end (Dela Rue) and spin
from the other (Rogers) with Roehampton openers Monis Haris and Fozan Ahmad
starting strongly. Monis in particular, having faced two maidens in a row from
Rogers, proceeded to dispatch him for 24 in two overs. Dela Rue quickly found rhythm and was duly
rewarded, taking two wickets in the final over of his spell for excellent
figures of 7-0-21-2.
Wall returned to the bowling crease for the first time
since creating no less than 10 chances at Pinkneys Green in the final game of
last season. Straight into his work, Wall was beating the batsman on both sides
regularly with keeper Pittams collecting more than a few to the body. The
pair combined to dismiss Awais Khan caught behind as regular wickets with not
many runs put the Strollers strongly on top - Pittams was heard after the game
telling everyone how much he loved keeping. Wall with figures of 1-23 did his
chances of opening the bowling at Bray no harm.
Mangham, not content with a match-turning 50, started
loosely before honing in on the “Mangham Channel” around off stump. Wickets in
his third and fourth over meant he returned very tidy figures of 2-29 from five
- “You’re owning that No 7 spot” claimed skipper Travis in a clear indication
that the “Strollers All-Rounders Club” (which 95% of Strollers belong to) had a
new leader.
Mangham’s second wicket of Monis for 42 was particularly
important as a successful chase for Roehampton was still a possibility with him
at the crease. The catch from Travis rivalled his own dismissal - spectacularly
held one-handed in mid-air at mid-wicket.
Alastair Macaulay, Findlay, Wills and Simon Brodbeck all
combined for a wicket each in the latter overs to see the Strollers home
comfortably with a 49-run win. A quick beer in the club rooms was followed by
some longer beers at The Telegraph pub. The general consensus was that a bank
holiday Monday was a fitting reward (and requirement) for some tired Stroller
bodies.
Capt: Blair Travis. Wkt: Mike Pittams.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Steve Rogers.
Tilburg Regents
Thursday May 30 in Dulwich
Strollers lost by four runs
Tilburg Regents 151-7
(20 overs;
Baylis-Allen 2-11, Macaulay 2-22, Low 1-5, Patel 1-25, Stubbs 1-27)
Strollers 147-7
(20 overs; Love 32no, Travis 30no, Kyne 29, Skinner 15)
After a win last time out against the Bricklayers, the
Strollers were keen to build on the good form. This anticipation equated in a
full XI turning up on time prior to the match start time, a midweek rarity!
It is fair to say emotions over the midweekers are somewhat
mixed amongst the Strollers membership. At one end of the spectrum are the T20
enjoyers like George Love, who can be quoted as 'frothing' the midweekers. At
the opposite side, are the cricket purists such as Simon who described the
midweekers as 'not proper cricket' according to onlookers [Editor’s note:
Simon, who just happens to be the editor, strongly denies ever having expressed
such opinions. On the contrary, he is an avid and supportive follower of the
Notts Outlaws and the Strollers T20 Army]
It is difficult to disagree with Simon's position having
witnessed the following in last week’s midweeker:
*A severe lack of whites on display;
*An abundance of black socks and shoes;
*A field set-up with one singular fielder on the legside coupled with two
fielders quite literally holding hands at silly mid;
*Some spin bowling which was so high in trajectory it was reported by NASA as
an incoming meteorite;
*A team member still wearing pads in the pub circa one-hour post match.
Moving back to this week’s game, there was some pessimism
over whether the rain would hamper proceedings. Everyone seemingly became Met
Office weather experts, types of cloud were studied, winds were estimated. All
fears were alleviated by the presence of covers on the pitch.
We bowled first with an opening bowling partnership of
Scott Findlay and Freddie Broster-Turley, who started pretty well. Freddie
bowled four overs for 26 runs and Scott bowled three for 22. Their openers were
pretty handy players but we came into the 10-over mark with them 62-2. It could
have been even less but some lax fielding on the report author's part and some
slippery outfield mishaps did shell a few runs. A delightful run-out by
keeper Love off Nyan Patel's first ball and a nick off Richie Stubbs’ bowling
got the half-time wickets.
Captain Blair Travis then made sure the bowling changes
were thick and fast, with the next 10 overs being bowled by five different
bowlers. Wickets were frequent but so were the boundaries.
Will Baylis-Allen drew a wicket thanks to a catch at cow
corner from Blair, who admitted to wanting the ball to stop short to prevent
any embarrassing dropped catches in the slippery conditions. George got a
stumping in amongst the action, with the Tilburg player so far out of his
crease that even when he retracted his foot back he was still a foot out
of the white lines. He then proceeded to ask the square leg umpire if he
was out, whilst still remaining a foot out of his crease. It is fair to say
that was one that did not need a VAR check.
Russell Kyne bowled two tidy overs, with Alastair Macaulay
and John Low providing a further three wickets between them. Richard
Skinner took on the final over, displaying a nice array of Strollers
bowling variations.
Tilburg ended their batting innings on 150, setting 151 to
win. Our opening pair of Kyne and Love piled on 29 and 32 respectively. A few
huge sixes thrown in the mix put us in the driving seat.
Travis then came in to continue the damage, meaning we went
into the 11th over on 95-1. It looked like it could be a cruise, but a vintage
Strollers collapse was on the horizon.
Skinner hit a quick 15 before an almighty slump from 101-2
to 124-6. At over 17, we need 27 runs to win with No 9 and No 10 batsmen in. A
valiant effort in the final three overs left us four runs short, with Tilburg
tactically leaving some overs for their best bowler until the final part of the
game. Overall, a good performance against a very decent team.
Capt: Blair Travis. Wkt: George Love.
Match fees: Glen
Oliver. Match report: Will Baylis-Allen.
Maidenhead and Bray
Sunday June 2 in Bray
Strollers lost by five wickets
Strollers 178-8
(40 overs;
Oliver 61, Love 32, Travis 31, Wall 19)
Maidenhead & Bray 180-5
(36 overs; Macaulay 1-7, Oliver 1-10, Mulholland 1-17, Rogers 1-25,
Wall 1-35).
The week started off ominously with the Daily Mail
headline: “Met office warns the Government of 50 days of rain in just three
months as Britain braces for one of the wettest summers on record”. Ironically
when Sunday rolled around for the match against Maidenhead & Bray, we had
clear sunny skies and a mild 19C forecast; A+ weather conditions for playing
cricket and which frequently grace the Strollers for matches at Bray.
It was also A+ weather conditions for all Londoners, who
were out with full gusto following a dreary spring which led to some travel
complications for the Strollers due to assemble by 1pm. The WhatsApp chat was
abuzz with travel alerts: “Carnage at Paddington” (G. Love); “I
missed Liz” (R. Smith); “I missed also but looking at a similar ETA
hopefully” (J. Dela Rue). Your scribe was fairing no better on four wheels:
“I’m stuck in traffic in Fulham” (B. Travis). Some sage advice was
shared upon arrival, “Never through Fulham, Blair” (R. Wall).
The WhatsApp chat was similarly abuzz with the debutant
skipper’s strategy leading into the match: “Strategy 1 is to win the toss.
Beyond that…” (S. Rogers). Well “beyond that” happened to be opting to bat
first with the seven or so Strollers present and ready to play. And that’s how
the toss went, possibly the decisive act of the match.
The skipper found two willing volunteers to open in Rob
Wall and George Love. The early scoring rate was slow, 29 runs came off the
first 10 overs, as our openers began cautiously without the loss of a wicket.
MBCC opening bowlers Ambar Moorthy and Krithin Chatterjee were lively and
accurate. Opposition stalwart Matt Armstrong had noted the pitch was used
in their 1st XI’s low scoring match the previous day, so there was no panic yet
regarding the run rate.
MBCC turned to their dynamic spin duo Yudhuir Dahiya and
Faizal Aziz, who were ideally suited to the slow grippy pitch. The wickets of
Wall (19) and Rogers (9) fell shortly afterwards to Dahiya leaving the score
59-2 after drinks at 20 overs.
Love’s innings was just kicking into gear (like a finely
tuned motor) when he was out bowled for 32. Rowan Smith hit two lusty
boundaries before being Aziz’s second victim, out bowled for eight. Blair
Travis eeked out 31 before being caught out on the boundary in the 33rd over,
aiming to increase the scoring rate whilst No 6 Glen Oliver was settled at the
other end. Hugh Martindale and Paul Dorrans were dismissed playing selflessly
in the pursuit of quick runs, giving Abu Hussain three victims in total. Oliver
hit out towards the end of the innings, collecting 61 runs before being caught
out in the deep on the second to last ball of the innings. The Strollers ended
with 178-8 off the 40 overs.
Lunch was a much too short affair. Strollers WAGS, family
members (new borns, mums and dads) and general supporters crew were present,
similarly enjoying the arrival of summer. Aidan Selby, with whanau,
made his first appearance in 2024, enjoying a few cold lagers from the
boundary whilst minding his sons, Caleb and Rhys.
The tale of the second innings was largely a flattening out
pitch as the day wore on and MBCC’s opening bat Paddy Searing’s quickfire knock
of 79. There were chances there to grab; however, most were not taken or
missed. Maidenhead & Bray hit the required 180 runs for the loss of five
wickets in 36 overs. One wicket apiece went to Wall, Rogers, Oliver, Neale
Mulholland and Alastair Macaulay. Smith bowled a luckless spell with many
deliveries beating the bat.
Love received an absolute ribbing from teammates for his
boundary riding non-effort, ushering the winning runs over the rope, so
desperate was he for some respite. It was a hard fought match, played in
good spirits. Rogers led the Strollers valiantly, yet unfortunately we ended 50
runs or so short of a competitive score.
The players descended into the shade to join partners,
family members and friends, and sought solitude in pints of amber ales, cold
lagers and a strong orange squash. A fantastic day spent playing cricket
and a big thanks to Maidenhead & Bray CC for hosting us again. It was
finally beginning to feel like the summer had started.
Capt: Steve Rogers. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Blair Travis.
West Chiltington
Sunday June 9 in West Chiltington
Strollers lost by 45 runs
West Chiltington 306-4
(40 overs;
Broster-Turley 2-51, Travis 1-44)
Strollers 261-8
(40 overs; Travis 101, Oliver 45no, Broster-Turley 21, Mangham 21,
Love 13, Pittams 13, Wall 12).
A journey to the South Coast to contest the Marshall Cup is
one of the bigger occasions adorning a pocket-sized cardboard Strollers fixture
list. The sense of something special brewing only intensified when Glen Oliver
won the toss.
A long pause ensued while he scratched his head with
dumbstruck wonder and tried to remember what the social convention was in such
situations. Eventually remembering his words, Glen cordially invited opposition
Skipper Alfie Reeves to select his two lads bravest and truest and dispatch
them to face our (mariachi) music.
The music from the Tennis Courts End was rhythmical and
groovy. Freddie Broster-Turley’s fears that eight rounds of golf in seven days
in Portugal might leave him too stiff and sore to bowl effectively proved
unfounded, as he immediately hit his straps.
In his third over, after four consecutive deliveries on a
lovely off-stump channel that resulted in defensive pushes or plays and misses,
he induced an edge that flew to wicketkeeper George Love who took a sharp catch
low to his right. This was a proper cricket dismissal. I have nothing against
caught on the cow corner boundary more commonly seen in Strollers fixtures, but
this was a delight to witness. It also provided food for thought for Freddie –
should he quit his job and play golf and cricket full time? The regime appeared
to be agreeing with him.
The music the Salt & Pepper Princess [alias Rob Wall]
was playing from the Houses End was slightly out of tune – as though he was
blowing on a corroded trombone (which he does have form for). Coming off an
all-too-rare golfing victory over Mike Pittams the previous day perhaps His
Princess-ship, in contrast to Broster-Turley, was feeling a little too smug
from his golfing success to find his best bowling form? Or perhaps, with Puss’s
parents Ian and Tania Porter visiting from NZ and on hand to cast a shrewd eye
over proceedings from the sideline, he had performance anxiety.
I didn’t offer Ian a penny for his thoughts on the
boundary, but if I had to guess the pensive look on his face indicated a train
of thought very much along the lines of ‘I’m yet to understand what my eldest
daughter and apple of my eye sees in that man, but perhaps it’s his ability
with the new ball?’ Anyone would struggle to perform under such pressure!
Wall was replaced by Ben Mangham, and Broster-Turley by
Blair Travis (in an off-spinning, not seaming, capacity). Travis quickly picked
up the Strollers’ second wicket with the score at 82, via an extremely smart
stumping from Love.
Jorgito has been reluctant to keep wicket so far this
season, complaining of one or more sore knees suffered as a result of the work
he has been putting in on his sizeable new motor (to help him run a
half-marathon). No longer will such excuses be accepted, as his keeping was of
the highest standard.
Soon after the combined pressure of Mangham and Travis
caused a suicidal single attempt, which Freddie BT cut short with a direct hit
run-out from short fine leg to send the West Chilts No 4 on his way for a duck.
The scoreboard read 89-3 and things were looking bright for the Strollers.
It would be 196 runs before a further breakthrough would be
made; a period of time that felt quite long, but in reality wasn’t because the
opposition scored them pretty rapidly. Also, our over-rate was exemplary. It’s
important to cling to the positives when conceding 306-4 off 40 overs, and a
most tidy over-rate it was indeed.
The fielding effort was also remarkably sharp, up until the
final ball of the penultimate over. Skipper Oliver induced a false stroke from
the latest brave young lad West Chilts had conscripted to face our music,
resulting in a skied dolly catch to Broster-Turley at point.
Freddie, who is not having a great catching year so far it
would have to be said, contrived to bungle the catch. When his frustrated shy
at the stumps resulted in two overthrows, we had reached peak Sunday cricket.
One grumpy skipper and one sheepish opening bowler were all that prevented the
full house of on-field participants being doubled over in laughter.
Two Brodbecks [that’s Sam and Simon] and one Pittams joined
the grumpy brigade when they were controversially overlooked to bowl the
final over from the Houses End, with Travis’s very tall off-breaks preferred
for the task. It’s hard to say that this was definitely the losing of the game
for FSSCC, but I guess we’ll never know for sure.
Ben Van Noort (128*) and Alex Tatchell (74) did the
majority of the damage and were a privilege to watch in action. Fourteen sixes
were conceded by the Strollers, many into the backyards at the Houses End.
Mangham and Richard ‘Axebanger’ Skinner toiled from that end and both bowled
better than their figures suggest. Alastair Macaulay was unlucky to have a
sharp chance put down, and Pittams missed out on a possible hat-trick due to
not getting the final over. And did I mention the over rate? Exemplary!
Fortified by the usual excellent tea offered by West
Chilts, Pittams and Travis began the Strollers chase and put on 38 before
athletic Australian opening bowler Dan Williams found Pittams’ edge. First
slip, standing a good deal further back than we are used to seeing, gobbled the
chance like one of the cool and refreshing fruit kebabs served up for tea.
Sam Brodbeck, playing his annual home fixture, was just
getting going when he was trapped in front for nine, and Love fed his
ever-growing motor with a baker’s dozen before being yorked by yet another
young and rapid bowling Australian in J Sullivan.
“Always nice to have one’s castle stormed by a young
Australian,” purred George as he walked off, eyes misting over as he thought of
his paramore Shayne. Axebanger smote one lusty boundary before being sent
packing, which brought Wall to the crease to continue his quest to gain Ian and
Tania’s approval. It was about now that Blair brought up his ton, off 88 balls
featuring 15 fours and two sixes.
This was a heck of a ton. Let not the record not
be ambiguous on what a magnificent innings this was – one of the best this
reporter has seen in Strollers colours (although were they Strollers
colours? Blair’s brand-new cricket boots were a lovely clean white, which was
nice but only served to accentuate just how beige his batting pads – passed
down from father to son of the Travis family since they were originally
purchased in 1934 – are. One of the opposition mistook the heavy beige for
bright orange, outlandishly, and was overheard speculating that Blair must
usually turn out for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL).
The momentum behind Travis’s masterpiece was most likely
Steph Oliver’s inspired music choices, which she played as Strollers batsmen
journeyed to the middle. In Blair’s case ‘I am Giant’ was the tune in question,
and a giant of an innings it was too. When eventually the weight of his ten
teammates on his shoulders got too much and he succumbed for 101 the score was
158-5 and our chances looked slim.
Broster-Turley hit a quick 21 and Wall a less quick dozen
that looked unlikely to have impressed Ian enough to encourage Wall to open
matrimonial negotiations. Mangham went downtown with a big six into the
houses, and Oliver narrowly escaped being timed out as the opposition
considered appealing during his usual rainman performance of taking five
minutes to walk to the crease before counting all the fielders six times prior
to facing up.
When eventually he pronounced himself ready to face and the
wicketkeeper had been nudged awake he sparked things up nicely with a rapid 45*
which, alongside Mariachi Macaulay (1*), got us scoreboard respectability the
likes of which the Chiefs are absolutely dreaming if they think they’ll achieve
in the Super Rugby semi-final against the Hurricanes next week, Aidan Selby.
Absolutely dreeeeeeaaaaaaming!
At the traditional post-match presentation ceremony West
Chilts skipper Alfie paid us the backhanded compliment of telling us that
they’d only played such a strong team and thrashed us so comprehensively
because they have so much respect for both the Strollers and the fixture
generally. It sounded a little bit like a political campaign speech – perhaps
Alfie is planning to run for the Arundel and South Downs seat in July – but I
for one lapped it up delightedly.
The safest recipe for a pleasant journey home from West
Chilts is not to start it too soon. I’m delighted to report that I followed my
own advice on that one to an absolute T and enjoyed renewing my acquaintance
with the edge of the boundary and some local glassware. Big thanks to West
Chiltington for having us, I’m looking forward to next year already.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Mike Pittams.
Hurley
Sunday June 16 in Hurley
Strollers won by eight wickets
Hurley 129
(42 overs;
Rogers 3-13, Brodbeck 3-21, Macaulay 2-25, Martindale 1-13, Broster-Turley
1-24)
Strollers 130-2
(16 overs; Oliver 70no, Wall 35no).
Open this
link to Ben Mangham's match report...
REPORT CARD
FLEET STREET STROLLERS CC vs HURLEY CC
Score: HCC 129 / ao (41) FSSCC 130 / 2 (16)
Class/Section: SUNDAY 1st XI’s
Date: 16/06/2024 Teacher Name: Mr. B Mangham
Subject 1st Innings 2nd Innings Joint
Grade FSSCC Honorable Mentions
Fielding FSS: A+ H: B- A Love’s pre-match
fielding drill - superb.
Captaining FSS: D H: B+ C+ FSSCC lost the
toss, again, must do better.
Bowling FSS: B+ H: A A- Brodbeck 3-21 and
Rogers 3-13
Catches FSS: A+ H: B- B Oliver 2 screamers.
Wall breaching - 1 catch.
Wicket Keeping FSS: B+ H: A+ A Love: 1
stumping, 1 catch (1 handed).
Banter FSS: A H: A FSS: A H: A A Good
spirits all round. Good cricket.
Opening Batters H: A+ FSS: D- C+ FSSCC
appalling… See me after next class.
Middle Order H: B+ FSS: A A- Ruthless. Oliver
(70*) & Wall (35*)
Tailenders H: C+ N/A C+ FSSCC Not
Required. Rest your bowling arm.
Overall Batting H: B FSS: B B FSSCC Openers:
Detention.
Extracurricular H: A FSS: A+ A HCC Tea
outstanding and Jo & Jim engaged!
TEACHER’S FURTHER FEEDBACK
The FSSCC 1st XI have shown glimmers of improvement during
the early part of this term, a move in the right direction
that
continued at Hurley Cricket Club last Sunday.
The fielding has become rather unstroller-esque! Keep up
the
spectacular effort.
Please continue with the hard work whilst representing the
school on tour in the Cotswolds.
A special mention and thanks to Jacky Haines for a truly
stunning score book.
Capt: Mike Pittams. Wkt: George Love.
Match fees:
Alastair Macaulay. Report card: Mr Mangham.
Dodgers
Thursday June 20 at Barn Elms
Strollers won by 11 runs
Strollers 144-4
(20 overs;
Wall 30, Findlay 25no, Skinner 22no, Travis 16, Oliver 15)
Dodgers 133-5
(20 overs; Findlay 2-20, Skinner 1-10, Travis 1-17, James Stubbs
1-25)
It was a beautiful, balmy day at Barn Elms and the pitch
was in perfect condition, promising an exciting contest between The Fleet
Street Strollers and The Dodgers. Adding to the day's splendour was the
presence of Maggie Patston - widely regarded as the best scorekeeper in the
United Kingdom - at her first-ever midweek game. Maggie brought unparalleled
professionalism and perfection to her work, transforming scorekeeping into a
true art form.
Fleet Street Strollers Innings
Winning the toss, Fleet Street Strollers opted to bat
first. Mike Pittams, opening the innings, managed to score only four runs, with
two of those coming from a blatant misfield by Scott Findlay, who was filling
in for the opposition. However, Rob Wall, despite forgetting his shoes, played
a stellar innings, scoring 30 runs and retiring after hitting a magnificent six
on his last ball, the shot of the day.
Glen Oliver contributed with a steady 15, while Findlay
provided a crucial boost with 25 runs before retiring. Blair Travis added 17
runs, ensuring that the Strollers posted a respectable total of 144-4 in their
20 overs.
Key Performances:
R Wall: 30 runs (retired)
S Findlay: 25 runs (retired)
G Oliver: 15 runs
B Travis: 17 runs
Dodgers Bowling:
Hilary: 4 overs, 34 runs, 1 wicket
Bose: 4 overs, 18 runs, 2 wickets
Tell: 4 overs, 22 runs, 1 wicket
The Dodgers bowlers faced a challenging task on such a
well-prepared pitch. Bose stood out with his impressive figures, taking two
wickets for just 18 runs in his four overs, while Hilary and Tell each managed
to claim a wicket.
Dodgers Innings
Chasing 145, the Dodgers innings began with M Bollin being
bowled by Travis for 17 runs. Despite this early setback, C Smullion and N
Patel battled on with accurate bowling from Freddie Broster-Turley, Travis, and
young James Stubbs. The road trip back with Dad did not affect James. Wall
snatched a good catch to give James a well-deserved wicket, especially after
the old campaigner spilled one, albeit a tricky chance. J Mohan composed a
good 26 retired for the Dodgers and was their best batsman, but the Dodgers
struggled to build significant partnerships. As a result, the team fell short,
scoring 133-5 in their 20 overs.
Key Performances:
J Mahon: 26 runs
C Smullion: 21 runs
M Bollin: 17 runs (retired)
Fleet Street Strollers Bowling:
Findlay: 4 overs, 20 runs, 2 wickets
Travis: 3 overs, 17 runs, 1 wicket
J Stubbs: 3 overs, 25 runs, 1 wicket
The Strollers bowlers executed their plans effectively,
with Findlay and Travis delivering crucial breakthroughs. Findlay’s two wickets
and Travis’s economical spell of 1-11 were pivotal in stifling the Dodgers
chase. R Skinner, who has the best salad in the team, chipped in at the end
with a clever stumping by Wall.
Match Summary:
The Fleet Street Strollers triumphed by 11 runs in a
thrilling encounter. Captain John Low orchestrated his team like a chess
grandmaster, making strategic decisions that outmanoeuvred the opposition. His
astute field placements and timely bowling changes were key to the Strollers
success - even bringing himself in to bowl the penultimate over when there was
still a chance the Dodgers could win.
Adding to the day's narrative was the humorous incident of
Rob Wall forgetting his shoes, adding a light-hearted moment to the competitive
spirit of the game.
Man of the Match:
R Wall for his solid batting performance and setting a
strong platform for the team.
This victory highlighted The Fleet Street Strollers'
cohesive team effort, with significant contributions from both batsmen and
bowlers. The Dodgers put up a commendable fight but ultimately fell short. The
presence of Maggie added an extra layer of professionalism and beauty to the
match. Meanwhile, Richie Stubbs’s dedication and Rob Wall's amusing shoe mishap
will be remembered fondly, adding to the rich tapestry of the game.
Capt: John Low. Wkt: Rob Wall.
Match fees: Aidan
Selby. Match report: Scott Findlay.
Broughton Gifford
Saturday June 22 in Broughton
Gifford
Strollers won by 69 runs
Strollers 235-9
(40 overs;
Travis 104no, Rogers 43, Oliver 24, Macaulay 12no, Love 12)
Broughton Gifford 166 (28 overs; Broster-Turley 4-4, Brodbeck 2-23,
Macaulay 1-7, Oliver 1-29).
The annual Cotswolds tour was a maiden journey for this
writer, the summer weekend hyped up as a salubrious event that should not be
missed. It proved to be just that tonic.
Saturday saw what could only be described as a “relatively
strong” Strollers take on Broughton Gifford at their lovely ground in
Wiltshire. The oval noted for its unique boundary surrounded by tall grass was
a site meant for theatre, providing an obligation that the crowd should be
entertained…and so they were.
The pre-match is where we should start. For half the
touring 11 this was Friday night where some craft beers in a Bath industrial
estate opposite a Topps Tiles that had seen better days was the logical place
to limber up before the tour. A distinct lack of mid-strength beers and a food
stall offering only vegan meze proved a catalyst for liquid refreshments, drunk
at pace. With Electric Bear going into hibernation at 10pm that evening, the
parties were left wanting. A night cap at Maggie Patston’s for half of the
group and a cocktail bar for the rest, led to an evening ending in the early
hours of the morning much to captain Alastair Macaulay’s displeasure.
In true Stroller fashion, despite a match time and
directions that had not changed from the printing of the fixture list, messages
of tardiness flooded in just before the game. Some of the Friday night
revellers had no excuse and clearly demonstrated that timekeeping should be
right under catching on the Strollers practice list.
Turning up to the ground it was revealed that the
much-anticipated grass boundary had been mowed! Word was of a greedy farmer who
wanted two yields of silage in a season. The battle arena was no more. A
travesty in the view of this writer, but a blessing for the over-rate.
It was pleasing to see the changing sheds lived up to their
fandom, signs clearly warning all those who pass through to securely close the
doors and not to let the ducks out. Ironically, there were no signs to “duck”
just above the low door frame which took several Strollers as casualties.
Captain Macaulay did the almost unbelievable and actually
won the toss and chose to bat on a slightly green wicket. Two Strollers
gladiators in Rob Wall and Mike Daly opened the batting effort. Prior to the
first ball a rumour had already began to make the rounds that Wall had
proclaimed in the sheds that he had “never been dismissed in his long sleeve
polo”. From any other player this might have been a worthy statement of intent,
but alas Wall had only received the polo the week prior and had played just once
midweek, being forced to retire on 30 not out.
A young bowler that could only be described as an athletic
under-21 colt at the wrong oval opened proceedings. With a very long run-up,
you could already sense Wall worrying about the over-rate and not the pace (you
see dear reader, he had never been dismissed in this kit).
He hits a tentative single to start off the Strollers
innings. The crowd murmurs after a similar single from Daly – this kid could
bowl.
A few more singles settled the openers until the first
wicket fell – a beauty of a delivery hits the off-stump and Daly is the first
victim, an unfortunate commentator’s curse after Mike Pittams is heard noting:
“He looks good for his first game in a while”. Wall and the infamous, and
short-lived long-sleeve, go in quick succession following a repeat delivery
that claims Daly.
End of the first: 7-2
A less than advantageous start meant spin-whiz Steve Rogers
and safe hands Blair Travis had to steady the ship at No 3 and No 4
respectively. The two led a solid 125-run partnership before the colt came back
and got his third scalp in Rogers.
132-3
Pittams was up next but left prematurely (much like his
recent visit to the barbers) with seven. Much to the vast crowd’s pleasure,
Simon Brodbeck was next in to attempt to reach his milestone 8,000 career runs.
He needed eight runs, or was that nine, or seven? No one seemed to know the
exact requirement but there was a consensus it was eminently achievable.
Brodbeck had to wait his turn as a soft-handed Travis
continued to accrue boundaries and twos. A nasty wide that hit the keeper’s
ankle saw her limp off and a Stroller is asked to assist in the field. Pittams
obliges without thought.
Brodbeck is on strike.
A single! Another! A third!
Soon the Broughton spectators know all about the record.
Time moves slowly but then a four!
A great shot as the run tally jumps to seven. Another
single. Eight. It had been confirmed there is one run to go. A fresh bowler
looks to halt Brodbeck’s advance. Facing an awkward length delivery, Brodbeck
pops it up to cover only to be safely caught by no other than a remorseless
Pittams…Brodbeck is caught and out on his 7,999th run!
Travis continues and is forced to retire after 73 minutes
with a lovely ton, his second in two matches as he continued his great run of
form. Glen Oliver adds double digit extras, and the remaining few batsmen
endure a mini-collapse. This writer hits his first boundary for the Strollers.
Captain Macaulay comes in as last man and holds out with
the recalled Travis, who had only just removed his great-great-grandad’s pads.
Macaulay hits two lovely boundaries, one just short of a six, with Travis
adding a few extras to see out the innings. 235-9.
If the first innings was a spectacle with Brodbeck’s
jeopardy and Travis’s ton, the second innings was *chef’s kiss*.
The Strollers bowling attack was hampered due to a serious
lack of spin. Rogers, having sustained an unfortunate repetitive strain bicep
injury, ruled himself and his right-arm out of bowling the innings. The
Strollers needed a fast start from the young pacers in Freddie Broster-Turley
and George Love.
Broster-Turley opened with great speed and set the intent
early with just two singles. Love at the other end was a little loose but got
into the swing of it. End of the second, 8-0.
Broster-Turley fanged it in repeatedly with a lovely maiden
for his second over and Love followed suit with a few singles. The Strollers
were looking sharp.
Broster-Turley opens the fifth over conceding two. His
second ball is edged and caught! A great first wicket. His third, edged
again…but there is no appeal and the batsman remains. His fourth, the lucky
batsman’s luck runs out and he walks with a plum lbw the ump had to call. Fifth
ball and Broster-Turley’s lovely delivery trims the bails. 2-2.
The Strollers converge on the batter like vultures to a
cadaver. With a full set of slips and all the WAGs upright and watching, the
hat-trick was there for the taking.
The final ball from Broster-Turley and he lines up and
fires down a screamer. Broster-Turley’s effort sends the bails flying and the
visiting crowd wild.
TIMBER! HAT-TRICK!
For his efforts, Broster-Turley has to resign from bowling
with immediate effect. End of fifth, 13-4.
This writer enters the fold to keep up the pressure.
However, the opening batsman had other ideas and valiantly began to re-balance
the game. The fifth wicket comes with a lovely ball from Oliver hitting the
stumps on his second over. 101-6.
Macaulay, seeing a need to shake things up, takes the
bowling reins and provides immediate impact. A combination of height, length
and pace works wonders as the opening batsman, and key wicket, mishits the first ball of his second over and is caught
crocodile-style at deep-midwicket by Travis. Macaulay ends his second over with
a wicket maiden.
The next blow to Broughton comes from an accurate pick-up
and throw by Daly to cause a great run-out from square leg.140-8.
Brodbeck then hits the stumps to begin to put the innings to bed.
It feels appropriate to interrupt the match report briefly
with an exchange overheard on the boundary. Pittams had been seen helping the
local lads in with retrieving their football. Sarah Porter, not one to
fabricate, attests to over-hearing the following exchange:
Local Boy One: “When I grow up I want to be that guy – look
at his moustache!”
Local Boy Two: “No way – have you seen how rubbish his lid
is!”.
The game was well in hand at 148-8 but this did not stop
the Strollers looking sharp in the field. Batter No 10 walks in and after a few
blocks she gets her eye in. She hits a single to Daly at square leg and makes a
poor choice to call the run. Confusion as her partner hesitates and she has to
double back. Without missing a beat, Daly hurls the ball at the stumps for a
direct hit. There was no celebration. 158-9.
The final wicket was Brodbeck’s second of the day thanks to
a lovely diving catch from keeper Love. Strollers win by 69 runs.
Following the game, Stair presented Broster-Turley with his
eagerly awaited 10th cap (read: hat)…fully deserved after that sensational
bowling effort. The afters and
aperitifs (Pernod anyone?) flowed at The Bell On The Common. The team then made
their way to the Green Dragon about an hour later than booked.
Then the drama began. In an effort to get the orders in
before the kitchen closed – despite six of the 18 diners being still missing –
things proved tricky. Stair managed to bamboozle the waitress simply by
ordering four extra meals that were the same as his. Luckily, sirloin steaks
cooked medium rare with peppercorn sauce were popular among the crew. Wall
ordered an extra starter to complicate matters even more.
A couple of extra prawn starters were the only collateral
damage from the ordering confusion as wines flowed swiftly between the courses.
Brodbeck made a nice tour address, paying tribute to club legends Peter Patston
and Ivor Fiala. Peter’s great slip catch against Cricklade was compared to
Oliver’s general lack of movement on the pitch – to applause. In fairness
Oliver’s recent newfound agility on the pitch and slip was noted, producing a
wry smile from Steph, only seen by this quiet observer.
Time passed and the convivial hosts continued to procure
more wine. Baritone chants of “wine me” and “Delarue my Lord” ensured the rest
of the inn emptied swiftly.
An hour later last drinks were called. Daly managed to
wrangle three additional bottles of red – noting that you could only order in
trios. Festivities continued as Daly endearingly addressed Maggie as a “very
busy lady with coloured pencils” and suggested the group could continue as his
bartender friend has a late tee-off time at 8.36am. A mere 10 minutes later and
with the liquor run dry, Stair settled the tab, closing the first day of the
tour and ending with potentially the largest Strollers wine bill on record.
Capt: Alastair Macaulay. Wkt: Rob Wall.
Match report: Neale Mulholland.
Inkpen
Sunday June 23 in Inkpen
Strollers won by 146 runs
Strollers 188
(32 overs;
Oliver 45, Rogers 29, Broster-Turley 26, Daly 20, Pittams 20, Travis 13no)
Inkpen 42
(14.3 overs; Mulholland 2-4, Travis 2-4, Brodbeck 2-11, Pittams 2-14,
Macaulay 1-2)
As is often the case with tour match reporting, it's hard
to know when one reporter's duties end and the next begins. We'll briefly
mention the festivities at the Green Dragon, which wrapped up the first night
of the tour. A wonderful meal was had by all, with ample wine flowing
throughout the night. As the wine flowed and comments regarding hangovers
abounded, our friendly waiter noted he would rather “a bottle in front of me
than a frontal lobotomy.”
This reporter was among the unfortunate few who, due to the
larger than usual travelling party, was unable to lodge at the Green Dragon and
had to seek accommodation in the surrounding area. This required an early exit
and taxi before things got too out of hand or too late. We left the party to
the cries of "wine me!" echoing throughout the emptied restaurant.
The next morning, this reporter and fellow player George
Love, along with our partners, were collected by Simon Brodbeck after a
wonderful breakfast prepared by our Airbnb host. After collecting our vehicle,
we made tracks for the Inkpen cricket ground in Hungerford, which,
interestingly, we were later told by the opposition scorer is the largest
village in Europe by square footage. Do with that as you will.
After an easy hour's drive through rolling hills and what
seemed like never-ending earthworks, we finally arrived at our destination: a
lovely looking ground.
With our usual Sunday opponents Cricklade suffering from
flooding earlier in the year and finding themselves a) without a ground and b)
unable to raise a team, Simon took to "Tinder for Cricket" and was
able to find us an opponent for the day in Inkpen. Unsure of the respective
calibres of each team and with the aim of making a match of it, both captains
agreed that the Strollers should open the batting. This was a good outcome for
Captain Oliver, who, as all readers will know, is a historically terrible coin
caller.
Captain Oliver opted for an unusual approach of mixing the
batting lineup, which saw usual opener Love paired with spin king Steve Rogers.
After suffering an injury to his bowling arm, Rogers decided to turn himself
into a useful top-order batsman. The two opened well, with Rogers scoring
rather more freely than Love at the other end. The first wicket fell when Love
put one straight down the throat of mid-on, out for nine.
This brought Mike Daly to the crease, who proceeded to look
strong and score quickly until he too was undone and caught off the bowling of
Jacques. With the Strollers sitting at 61-2 after 11 overs this brought a
somewhat befuddled opening bowler to the crease batting at No 4 (this
reporter).
Seeing this as a good an opportunity as any to pad out his
batting stats and batting credentials, this reporter set about “building an
innings”. Having played most of his cricket these last few years in the social
T20 leagues of Wellington batting as a number 5-7 he’s not quite sure what that
is. After looking solid for long periods of time Rogers was finally undone out
caught for 29.
Welcome to the middle HRH Rob "I don’t get
hangovers" Wall, looking to have suffered the most ill-effects from the
previous evening's festivities. He was at pains to reassure everyone it was not
a hangover, thus keeping his reputation intact. If it was not a hangover,
perhaps he had suffered a frontal lobotomy? Actions throughout his innings with
Freddie Broster-Turley leave more questions than answers.
Broster-Turley and Wall, noting the ample number of overs
remaining, chatted in the middle about taking their chances and avoiding
anything silly. For Broster-Turley, this meant slashing at anything and
everything, resulting in quick runs and the only six of the day. For Wall, it
meant numerous attempts to sell Broster-Turley down the river with quick
singles that were never there.
Finally, Wall called for another quick single, with the
fielder at square leg producing a quick pick-up and throw resulting in a direct
hit, leaving Broster-Turley inches away from safety. Some on the sideline said
even Usain Bolt in his prime wouldn’t have made that run. Broster-Turley was
out for a quickfire 26.
Wall fell shortly thereafter to a brutal yorker, which he
popped to first slip, troubling the scorers as much as Love did with nine.
Simon, in at No 7, having been caught ruthlessly on 7,999 career runs by our
own Mike Pittams the previous day, was sent out to bat and duly scored his
8,000th run for the Strollers to cheers from the sidelines. That was as good as
it got for Brodbeck, as he was bowled by Knape soon after without adding to the
score.
Next to fall was Captain Oliver, who had anchored the
innings, coming in at No 6. He rode his luck early in the innings against the
young Inkpen bowler Yash. Yash kept a tight line and induced Oliver to go
straight down the ground, only for Yash’s father, riding the long-off boundary,
to drop a tough chance while Oliver was only on single digits. Ultimately,
Oliver was undone by an edge through to the keeper, out for a solid 45.
In at No 8 was usual top-order batsman Pittams, who scored
a quickfire 20 before being bowled by Dixon. Neale Mullholland, in at nine, was
the next man to fall after he skied his first ball, which was comfortably
taken, out for a duck. Durham had his second, and the Strollers were teetering
at 164-8 with plenty of overs remaining.
This saw an unusual final wicket pairing of Stair Macaulay,
batting at 10, who, having recently found some form with the bat, informed the
sideline this was due to a new pair of spectacles procured two weeks prior.
These spectacles not only allowed him to see but also somehow stopped him from
hitting across the line quite so much. Stair was paired with previous day's
centurion Blair Travis, demoted to 11 to see us home. Some lofty blows from
Travis and quick singles later, eventually saw Stair caught for seven, and the
Strollers' innings ended all out for 188.
It was time for tea, and thanks to our hosts who put out a
magnificent spread in a wonderful location. After bellies were filled, it was
time to see what unusual bowling choices Captain Oliver would produce today. He
did not disappoint, choosing to hand the new ball to rampaging Pittams at one
end and the spin of Travis at the other.
Pittams is the first to admit he’s unsure why captains
continue the Pittams bowling experiment when one week it might be bouncers and
full tosses, and the next might be an exhibition of pace bowling. This week was
a mixture of both, with the grunts from the bowler's end getting louder and
louder, and the pace from Pittams faster and faster.
No one was hurt in the opening salvos and Pittams was able
to prise out the first wicket in his second over. The score was 12-1. Pittams
snared the second wicket in his fourth over and was duly taken out of the
attack, finishing with figures of 2-14-4 -- a Pittams experiment that can be
considered a roaring success.
Pittams’ second victim began a string of wickets to fall in
every over from the seventh through to the 12th over, producing six wickets for
only eight runs.
From the other end, Travis toiled away, going at a miserly
rate, having conceded only four runs off his first three overs. In his fourth
over, Travis struck, dismissing the dangerous-looking Jake Whiteway for 12.
Replacing Pittams was Neale Mulholland, who struck in his first over, producing
an edge through to keeper Love, leaving our hosts teetering at 26-4.
Tag teaming back to Blair, who struck again in his next
over, snaring the wicket of Richard Mitchell to finish his spell with
back-to-back wicket maidens. It must be noted that it is usually the domain of
fiery fast bowlers to intimidate the opposition batsmen; today it was Blair’s
turn, bouncing the unfortunate Yash, who was all of about 13 years old and half
Blair’s height. Whether this was an intentional ploy from the bowler or an
unfortunate outcome of the height disparity, we may never know.
Stair was brought into the attack, replacing Mulholland,
and promptly struck as he often does in his first over, again inducing the edge
through to Love. Replacing Blair at the other end saw Mr 8,000 Man himself take
the ball and promptly take a wicket in his first over as well. After a brief
interruption in the run of wickets, Simon struck again in his second over,
which was the 14th of the match.
Having been taken off after only one over, Mulholland was
brought back to replace Stair and Neale duly proceeded to finish affairs in the
15th over. Inkpen all out for 42.
With the game at an end, the locals informed us the place
to head to for a post-match beverage was the Crown and Garter, just a short
drive and a few lefts and rights down the road. The Crown and Garter was a
lovely spot to end the tour and reminisce about the good time had by all.
Thank you to Simon and Stair for the organisation that goes
into one of these tours and thank you to all the WAGs and babies who came along
and enjoyed a wonderful weekend in the Cotswolds.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love.
Match report: Freddie Broster-Turley.
London Transport
Thursday June 27 at Barn Elms
Strollers won by seven wickets
London Transport 109-8
(20 overs;
Pittams 2-10, Travis 2-10, Gregor Findlay 2-20, Oliver 1-2, Bayles-Allen 1-18)
Strollers 110-3
(16.2 overs; Love 25no, Travis 25no, Broster-Turley 17, Oliver 15,
Robertson 11no)
Lateness is an undesirable trait at the best of times, but
with a 6pm start time looming and an overrunning meeting in Brighton making any
chance of your correspondent’s prompt arrival a mere pipe dream, it fell to
Glen Oliver to fill us in on the first nine or so overs of this midweek
duel.
"Interesting stuff from before you got there. We were
supposed to be batting, but when we realised that we had no kit, we agreed with
the opposition to change around and bowl first.
“Aidan was roundly abused. Richie saved us after an
emergency call from Alastair and brought the kit down. Freddie bowled well for
his short spell. Will bowled a decidedly un-Thursday length which probably led
to George nearly getting killed later in the match.
“Stair bamboozled the opposition with a complete lack of
pace that they couldn’t work out what to do with. Scott, the skipper, nearly
got killed at extra cover after being pinned with a tracer bullet that he had
absolutely no chance of getting out of the way of. Gregor, son of Scott,
appears a proper cricketer and bowled tight lines with a couple of edges going
to vacant areas, then took a good catch off Will."
In short, a shambles. Nine then 10 players before the match
reporter’s arrival, no kit, a reversal of the toss and the captain surviving a
near death experience. Just the usual Strollers Thursday then!
Upon my arrival I was immediately invited to bowl two overs
of very stiff bowling (first overs in at least a year!), but runs were heavily
restricted with some tight bowling by Oliver (1-2) and Blair Travis
(2-10).
The surprise call, however, was the skipper throwing the
ball to one Michael Pittams for a spell of who knows what will come out. Oliver
openly told the batsman to watch his teeth and toes simultaneously, but it was
the batman's edge and the stumps themselves which needed to watch out - Pittams
bowled superbly and finished with 2-10.
Chasing 109, Freddie Broster-Turley (17), George Love
(25no), Travis (25no) and Oliver (15) made light work of what was some
aggressive, fast and difficult bowling - a reply it seems to the similar stuff
dished out at the top of the match by Will Baylis-Allen.
With just a few runs to get, Pete Robertson joined John Low
at the crease with the rousing words of "finish this quickly, I'm
thirsty" from his captain still ringing in his ears. There followed 11no
from seven and it was job done with the target reached with four overs to
spare.
Refreshments followed at the Red Lion as the Juggernaut
rolls on.
Capt: Scott Findlay. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Aidan Selby. Match report: Pete Robertson.
Demijohns
Sunday June 30 at Pinkneys Green
Strollers won by three wickets
Demijohns 229-9
(35 overs;
Oliver 2-15, Wood 2-21, Macaulay 1-22, Pittams 1-26, Travis 1-29, Mangham 1-35)
Strollers 230-7
(32 overs; Pittams 44no, Wall 41, Travis 36, Oliver 35, Wood 28,
Rogers 11, Mangham 10no)
With a five o’clock kick-off scheduled for England’s Euro
24 round of 16 fixture against Slovakia, it was decided that the match against
Demijohns would be a 35-over innings match in the hope that both teams would be
able to catch the tail end of the match in the pavilion post-game.
Captain Blair Travis won the toss and elected to bowl
first, with the outfield at Pinkneys Green known to be rapid in late afternoon
summer sun.
Infrequent opening bowler Mike Pittams was entrusted with
the fresh cherry, keeping the wicketkeeper busy with a couple in swinging
leg-side wides to start, before adjusting his line to bowl the Demijohns opener
for a first over duck.
To keep the overrate swift, Captain Travis bowled himself
from the other end, rolling through some quick overs of efficient off-spin and
gaining himself an early wicket, bowling the No 3.
With wicketkeeper Gus Wills unable to cleanly gather
run-out attempts from Steve Rogers and Pittams, seam bowlers Peter Wood, Glen
Oliver, Rob Wall and Ben Mangham took the ball through to the 20-over drinks
break, with one wicket for Oliver and two for Wood.
Oliver’s victim was Chris Kulasingan, who struck a fine 30
before inadvertently hitting the ball onto the stumps in attempting to stop it
rolling back. Thus was the Demijohns’ momentum halted any time it threatened.
Mangham and Alastair Macaulay started things positively
post drinks, with wicket maidens apiece, before Demijohns put on an impressive
75 for their eighth wicket, including a lost ball for six.
A fine stand was finally broken when Wood's strong arm
and a clumsy bit of wicketkeeping by Wills resulted in both a run-out and the
stumps being demolished as the balletic Gus lost balance attempting to
delicately whip off the bails.
Oliver came back to replace Hugh Martindale – who had been struck fiercely in
the knee fielding off his own bowling – and picked up another victim in the
final over, with Demijohns finishing their 35 overs at a competitive 229-9.
After a magnificent and surprise tea courtesy of Mr
Waitrose and Simon Brodbeck – his only positive contribution to the game – Wall and Steve Rogers had a brief pre-innings
chat about starting positively.
They opened aggressively, staying ahead of the required run
rate while being dropped once and twice respectively, before the partnership
was broken for 29 as bat missed ball and Rogers was bowled for 11.
Wood came in at first drop and continued the fast tempo
with Wall, putting on 53 for the second wicket before Wall was caught for 41
and Wood was dismissed lbw shortly after for 28 after surviving a big shout the
ball before.
Travis and Oliver picked up where the previous pair had
left off, building into a 67-run stand for the fourth wicket. With 66 runs
required for victory with six wickets in hand, the Strollers looked set to
comfortably chase down the target. But a quick double blow saw Oliver and
Travis both bowled for 35 and 36 respectively. That left things looking a bit
less straightforward with no established batsman at the crease.
Pittams took it upon himself to anchor the remainder
of the chase, top scoring with an unbeaten 44 with support from Martindale
(4), Wills (8 and fortunate to avoid a fourth duck in five innings after
being dropped on 0), and Mangham (10 not out).
Thus the lower order reached the total with three overs and
three wickets remaining, allowing both teams to get into the
pavilion to watch England come within a minute of yet another
embarrassing tournament exit at the hands of a minnow.
Capt:
Blair Travis. Wkt and match report: Gus Wills.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck.
Agricola
Thursday July 11 at Barn Elms
Strollers lost by 32 runs
Agricola 131-4
(20 overs;
Oliver 1-6, Squires 1-19, Broster-Turley 1-21, Findlay 1-22)
Strollers 99
(15.4 overs; Oliver 23, Love 14, Squires 10. Extras 22)
Pity your poor correspondent who has slaved for over two
weeks to try to create a narrative for this game that might emulate the
wondrous flights of literary fancy that have elevated so many recent Strollers
match reports into an art form. However, in the event prosaic reality sadly
prevailed and a recital of events will have to suffice.
After a two-week break – the general election having
stymied the previous week’s game – Strollers gathered at Barn Elms somewhat
keen to get back into their stride, though with not enough keenness to be able
to muster the full 11. As the customary internecine WhatsApp banter had
revealed during the day, we could only muster nine men and despite late
scratching around this number failed to improve. After the late arrival of the
kit for the last game, some overcompensation resulted in two kits being on site
as Glen Oliver had brought the weekend kit along ’Just in case’. Two extra men
might have been more useful.
With a so-far sunny evening but with storm clouds ominously
looming in the distance, Agricola unsurprisingly elected to bat and the
Strollers took the field with two borrowed fielders. Opening bowlers Freddie
Foster-Turley and Mike Pittams settled into their stride and the two combined
for the first wicket at 22 with Mike at mid-off taking a brilliant diving
catch off Freddie to dismiss the No 2 Craig. Thereafter wickets were hard to
come by and runs began to accumulate, with catch-inducing short balls from
Pittams off a bare hard pitch falling frustratingly into unmanned areas of the
ground, despite the constant ministrations of fielding czar Oliver.
Opener Aman continued to accumulate, retiring at 25. The
second wicket did not fall until 47 to a Freddie catch off accurately flighted
bowling from first-timer James Squires (a late recruit via Richie Stubbs) who
belied his claim not to have played a single game for 15 years.
However, this was to be the last wicket for most of the
innings as No 4 Sam ploughed on, helped by some frustrating not-quite catches,
finally retiring at 30 with a six off his last ball. Pete Robertson and
Scott Findlay took over bowling duties and helped keep things under control but
further wickets did not fall until Blair Travis and Oliver took one apiece
towards the end with Agricola’s No 5 Michael ending on 23 not out
contributing to a final total of 131.
This would normally be a very gettable target but with only
nine batters and storm cloud induced gloom descending it proved difficult
from the start. This was especially so as Agricola cannily confined themselves
to slow loopy bowling which, with a tight off-side fielding cordon, made the
necessary boundaries hard to come by.
George Love and Travis opened solidly until Love was caught
for 14 and Travis enticed out of his crease for a stumping for eight.
Squires and Low accumulated with ones and twos but subsequently fell being
bowled with Low playing all round a straight one.
All then depended on titan batters Pittams and Oliver with
a desperate need for at least one to get to the magic 25 not out to enable
some quick recycled batting at the end of the innings.
However, Pittams quickly fell, going for a big hit, from a
brilliant catch on the long-on boundary. Oliver steadily accumulated but
his promising late spurt of boundaries was cruelly cut short going for the
long-on big hit which would have brought the magic 25 up – again another good
catch in the gloom. Meanwhile Foster-Turley and Robertson kept up their ends up
but with their wickets the short tail abruptly fell well short of the target at
99.
Bloodied, but unbowed after possibly our worst evening
result in years, the team repaired to the Red Lion, along with Glen’s mother
Jan, who had graced the match as part of her regular tour of duty in the UK to
make sure the proper standards of cricket expected back home were being
properly maintained in the Old Country.
Let’s hope we lived up to them…
Capt and wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Richard Keightley. Match report: John Low.
Chessington
Sunday July 14 at Chessington
Strollers won by six wickets
Chessington 123
(26.5 overs;
Salvesen 4-19, Rogers 1-1, Broster-Turley 1-10, Travis 1-11, Mangham 1-18,
Skinner 1-22)
Strollers 127-4
(25.3 overs; Oliver 42no, Rogers 26, Pittams 25, Travis 23no)
Our original opponents Prestcold – some of whose lads were
away on a stag do – were unable to field a team. Simon Brodbeck worked his
fixture magic and quickly arranged for Chessington to host us at their very
convenient Sir Francis Baker recreation ground instead. That turned a long
drive into a much more convenient journey for most…although not for Tom
Salvesen, who commendably still agreed to the three-hour trek each way from
Northampton to join in the recreation.
Skipper Glen Oliver worked some magic of his own, losing
the toss but managing to hoodwink Chessington (whose Sunday cricket attire is
emblazoned “We Bat First on Sundays”) into batting first on a patchy green
wicket.
James Dela Rue took the fresh pill from the Barwell Kebab
end with the look of a man who had spent the night devouring pills and kebabs.
Freddie Broster-Turley kicked off his tidy spell from the Busy Bees Softplay
Playcentre/Clubrooms end, immediately taking advantage of the unpredictable
strip with an unplayable third delivery which seamed wildly, clipped a bail and
ran through to the boundary. He was flummoxed about the fielders cheering a
boundary, having missed the event entirely with his mind still focused on his
unorthodox run-up.
Michael Sachdeva, Chessington’s No 3, came in to steady the
ship, forming a strong partnership to see off DLR and Broster-Turley and find
his way to his half-century. DLR was politely asked by his captain to have a
rest - and sober up - after his fourth over went for four fours and five no
balls, which brought Ben Mangham in at the Barwell Kebab end to wrestle back
control.
Blair Travis hit his off-spinning straps and helped contain
the damage, coaxing the top-scoring Sachdeva into mistiming a drive in the 13th
over, which was beautifully pouched by a back-pedalling Broster-Turley at
mid-off, putting the game in the balance at 77-3.
The balance tipped in the Strollers favour the following
over when Travis took a good catch from a thick top-edge off Mangham. In fact,
Strollers fielding was generally terrific throughout the day, with the notable
exception of a butchered catch from Richard Skinner off Travis, in which
Skinner negotiated his way to the ball in time but was undone by a loosely
fitted cap and scraggly hair obscuring his view. Thankfully Steve Rogers undid
that batsman after drinks a few overs later, fighting off an arm niggle to
record delightful figures of 1-0-1-1.
Despite a fine performance behind the stumps before drinks,
George Love - who spent the day with “It’s Coming Home” rattling around his
head - was asked by his captain to give him another bowling option,
relinquishing the gloves to Hugh Martindale, who performed just as admirably
but with fewer random appeals and yelps from behind the stumps.
Salvesen combined with Skinner and together they focused on
increasing the over-rate to ensure maximum Wimbledon and Euros watching time;
Skinner battled the yips for a few overs, displaying a wide array of bowling
variations and mystery balls before discovering he could actually spin the ball
if he managed to get it to bounce, inducing Darley’s edge into Martindale’s
sticky gloves.
It soon became apparent the Strollers had cracked into the
lower order as the final four wickets fell for only one run. Salvesen made his
commute worthwhile with a terrific three-wicket maiden which had it all
(except, of course, runs): a caught, a bowled, a hat-trick opportunity, and an
lbw in which the umpire squirmed and writhed before admitting it was undeniably
plumb.
The final ball of the innings was the finest example of
village cricket since last Sunday; Gavin Stuart, Chessington’s No 11, pulled
Salvesen’s delivery to square leg, and the ball skipped off a drain cover to
bounce over DLR’s long barrier (and head).
After running one comfortably, one of the batsmen was most
of the way through his second without realising his partner was ball-watching.
Bloodcurdling screams from the bowler’s end were mistaken to be appeals until
Martindale realised a herd of cows must have made their way onto the pitch to
be loudly put to their death at the other end; he looked up to find a simple
opportunity to loft the ball to Broster-Turley and find the batsman well short
to bring the innings home: 123 off 26.5 overs.
Mike Pittams and Love kicked off the Strollers campaign,
their helmet-less approach noted as clear disrespect by the opening bowler, who
proved himself to be the better of George by whooping in an in-swinger on his
third ball to catch the inside of Love’s back thigh and send him packing for a
golden duck. Love was unimpressed, having stayed sober all weekend in
preparation for a long innings.
Martindale took the crease and partnered Pittams for a
brief spell of tense running between the wickets before Pittams shelled one to
the leg side and was taken by a good running catch at midwicket, a quick 25 off
22.
Dead areas in the pitch continued to cause trouble for the
batsmen, with Martindale taken a few overs later for eight by one that bounced
erratically, forcing an exceptional diving
catch from the fielder at short cover.
Oliver and Rogers combined well to steady the ship in a 12-
over partnership which saw Rogers initially troubled by the “Stairesque”
Chessington bowler who adopted a loopy, unpredictable style which looks
enticing but undoubtedly gets a good share of catches on the boundary.
Rogers eventually realised he did not have to hit every
ball onto the road and started making good contact, including one which
absolutely rocketed into midwicket’s belly - a bruise we’ll surely still see
when we meet Chessington again next year.
Another notable event of the partnership involved one
Oliver left alone down leg to be collected by the keeper, eliciting a loud and
emphatic appeal from Love who was watching from the sidelines with a beer in
hand. Love - being the only person on earth to have heard anything - received a
filthy look from Oliver, and umpire Pittams raised his finger in jest, causing
Oliver further consternation, to the delight of all.
Meanwhile DLR, who had been asked to attend to the scoring,
was doing so like his life depended on it, though the aforementioned pills
didn’t help things; he spent half the innings trying to reconcile a single
which had gone missing somewhere - it was clearly not the Lord’s day, despite
it being the Lord’s day.
The strong Oliver and Rogers partnership was undone on 57
when Rogers (26 from 37) got rogered by a tricky outswinger to bring Travis to
the crease, the Strollers well in control at 92-4 with 14 overs left to play.
Travis clearly did not get the memo about letting the
captain get his fifty; he quickly saw himself in and set to work dispatching
the loose balls, earning 23 off 15 including the only six of the day, while
Oliver top-scored with a faultless 42 not out from 52.
This ensured victory was brought home with six wickets to
spare and in time for the team to catch the tail end of Carlos Alcaraz’s
three-set destruction of Novak Djokovic to bring home the The All England Lawn
Tennis Club Single Handed Championship of the World; though it would be remiss
not to note that these were the only two trophies brought home that day.
An exceptional day of cricket, Oliver rounding things off
with a rousing speech to celebrate Salvesen’s 100th appearance, and observing
that every Stroller - but for Love and DLR - either took a wicket or got some
runs; an issue which can only be remedied by more Saturday beers for the former
and fewer for the latter.
Top honours go to Chessington for hosting at late notice,
and we’re all looking forward to this fixture becoming a regular one in seasons
to come.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love/Hugh Martindale.
Match fees: Simon
Brodbeck. Match report: Richard Skinner.
Tadworth
Sunday July 21 at Tadworth
Strollers won by seven wickets
Tadworth 188
(34.2 overs;
Low 3-1, Oliver 2-5, Richie Stubbs 2-30, Pittams 1-3, Squires 1-24, Dela Rue
1-26)
Strollers 189-3
(30.3 overs; Oliver 102no, Pittams 32no, Squires 20, Travis 17)
Summer 2024 has been a difficult one for the match
management supremos at the FSSCC, with the hierarchy never quite sure if the
weather will cooperate or the opposition will be available. To add to the
difficulties, scheduled match reporter Rowan Smith strategically injured
himself the day before (allegedly bowling for another cricket team, no less) in
order to avoid penmanship duties, and your humble correspondent stepped into
the writing breach. Fortunately, match manager Mike Pittams had cleverly kept 200-match
veteran supersub John Low on ice to fill the gap in the playing squad for the
35-over fixture against Tadworth. It was to prove a wise decision.
Pre-match WhatsApp chat centred on skipper Rob Wall’s
penchant for unique fielding positions (a cluster around cover, no-one catching
behind point), with rumours of a new diamond formation lifted from England’s
football team. His parents had been flown in from New Zealand to observe
proceedings, sitting next to Glen Oliver’s mother to discover they had worked
together c.50 years ago. Small world indeed.
To the surprise of many, Wall set a relatively regulation
field with no fewer than three catchers behind point when opening with in-form
bowler Freddie Broster-Turley. Broster-Turley bowled a very accurate spell
for no reward (although he may have finally worked out that if you take a
hatful of wickets in your first few overs, you don’t tend to be allowed to bowl
for very long).
Regular opening partner James Dela Rue had to deal with not
only trying to rediscover his rhythm after a recent sojourn to Asia, but also
the tricky steep run-up at the opposite end. After bowling an early ball à
la Aidan Selby (over the batter’s head on the fly), he was rewarded for his
improvement with the opening wicket after a pinpoint yorker.
Having secured just one wicket from the opening 12 overs,
regulation fields were summarily tossed out as Wall reverted to the unique
field positions that have become the hallmark of his captaincy.
It was only a few balls later the first chance sailed
agonisingly over the head of one of the close catchers – the skipper’s apparent
failure having been not to have supplemented three short covers with a fly
short cover. Almost immediately afterwards the approach paid dividends, as
the no doubt baffled batter chipped straight at the tall figure of Blair Travis
at – you guessed it – short cover to give Richie Stubbs the first of two well
deserved wickets.
Richie’s son James was given the ball at the other end,
bowling in bright orange trainers courtesy of a mix-up with his kit. Stubbs Jr
appeared to have developed a ball that swung prodigiously away from the
plentiful supply of left-handers in the Tadworth team. However,
controlling such a weapon proved a little trickier – Stubbs Jr at one stage
taking instructions to “bowl to your field” somewhat literally by sending one
ball directly to his somewhat bemused father at third man.
A change of bowler to bring on debutant James Squires
(fresh from the midweek production line) saw Dela Rue rotated into the
unfamiliar position of gully. He was in the process of frantically trying
to catch the skipper’s eye to suggest a move to literally anywhere else on the
pitch when Squires induced a thick edge. Dela Rue took a sharp reflex catch to
gift Squires his maiden Strollers wicket.
The bowling enigma that is Pittams (one week a study in
near perfect length, the next a danger to his own toes) was gifted the next
spell. Fortunately we got the former this week, and he produced an
excellent mini-spell that resulted in one victim clean bowled.
With Tadworth in danger of falling short of a defendable
total, Tod Harrison arrived to shore up the lower order. He proceeded to
get stuck into everything that moved, putting a sizeable dent in the bowling
figures of such luminaries as Travis and Simon Brodbeck in the process. At
this point, Wall turned to his ace and trump card – John Low. It was a
masterstroke.
Low, proving that class is indeed permanent, shrugged off
the minor inconvenience of only having bowled two overs – total – in the last
four seasons combined. He dispatched Harrison with his very first ball via
a simple catch in the deep, bamboozled the new batter into missing a straight
one several balls later, and completed the demolition job via another catch in
the deep with his last to finish with 3-1 off his single over.
Either side of the Low masterclass, Oliver chipped out the
stubborn Tadworth No 4 and the last Tadworth wicket to fall (reaching the
milestone of 100 Strollers wickets in the process), and the Strollers had
turned the match on its head by taking the last five wickets for a single run.
Wall had restricted the score to a gettable 188 and followed the Strollers
ethos of “give everyone a go” to the letter with all 10 fielders getting a
bowl.
Thus onto tea. Oh, the tea. Law 41 of the Laws
of Cricket sets out an array of actions that are deemed “unfair” and contrary
to the Spirit of Cricket. “Tea at Tadworth” should be added to that list;
every year an exceptional array of sandwiches and cakes that appear designed
for one purpose only – render opposition batters incapable of moving.
Wall surveyed his batting options, with Oliver slated for
No 5 before he foolishly opened his mouth and offered to bat wherever he was
needed. Wall punished such selflessness (and solved his opening
partnership/who had eaten the least dilemma at the same time) by sending him
out to open with Travis against a small army of left-armers.
Travis looked solid early – hitting one excellent six –
until he was caught by surprise by a ball that cannoned into his middle stump
without troubling the pitch.
Squires, playing his first “competitive” fixture in around
15 years, scored a solid 20 on debut (including an impressive six) and looked a
decent prospect before holing out attempting to up the scoring rate.
Oliver started well and chose to ward off the niggles in
his ever-creaking body by avoiding running whenever possible, with a streak of
seven boundaries seeing him quickly reach 50. He nearly killed a helpless Dela
Rue, who was minding his own business as the bowler’s end umpire – only saved
by the bowler almost catching a rocket on front of Dela Rue’s face. It was to
be the first of three times Oliver was dropped by the same fielder.
Low, fresh from his bowling heroics, took over from Squires
and held up an end well. Oliver then appeared to mistake him for someone half
his age and ran him out by a yard. Tadworth’s layout meant that any batter
dismissed in a such a way had a very long walk back to the changing rooms to
contemplate the injustice.
Pittams, in at five and with memories of his own exploits
at this venue last year fresh in mind, was torn between playing his natural
attacking game and the realisation that Oliver was creeping closer to a ton but
running out of runs to chase. He edged several to the third man fence, to
the amusement of his own teammates.
The Tadworth fielder who clocked what was going on got the
loudest cheer of the day after threatening to throw a Pittams single for four
overthrows – via the boundary he was standing next to. With teammates like
these, who needs opponents?
Fortunately for Oliver, Pittams was good enough to allow
him just enough time to nudge through the covers to bring up his first hundred
for the year before the winning run was struck.
The victorious Strollers retired to the clubhouse to enjoy
a quiet drink in the glorious Tadworth sunshine and digest the remnants of
their tea. Onwards to Chenies & Latimer!
Capt and wkt: Rob Wall
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Glen Oliver.
Ministry of Justice
Thursday July 25 at Barn Elms
Strollers won by eight wickets
Ministry of Justice 105-9
(20 overs;
Robertson 2-9, Macaulay 2-12, Jish 2-14, Broster-Turley 1-10, Hawkings 1-10)
Strollers 107-2
(15 overs; Hawkings 29no, Oliver 27no, Wall 25no)
Toss and Innings
MOJ won the toss and decided to bat first, giving us the
chance to bowl.
MOJ Innings
MOJ had a tough time getting runs on the board thanks to
our tight bowling. Freddie Broster-Turley got us off to a great start with four
overs for just 10 runs, including a catch by Glen Oliver that went straight up
in the air and was very well taken.
Mike Pittams made an awesome diving salmon catch while Nyan
Patel and Mahendra Jish both bowled brilliantly, with Mahendra grabbing two
wickets for 14 runs and Rufus Hawkings taking a sharp catch at fly slip –
reading the situation well. Rufus, warmed up from his LMS season, bowled a
fantastic spell, clean-bowling a batsman and finishing with 1-10.
Skipper Pete Robertson was on fire, taking two wickets for
just 10 runs with his spin bowling. Alastair Macaulay also had a great spell,
teasing the MOJ batsmen and picking up 2-12. Rob Wall’s record-setting
60-second over was also a highlight.
Superb wicket-keeping and enthusiastic appeals from our
bowler-turned-keeper George Love made the innings even more enjoyable.
MOJ finished their innings at 105-9 in 20 overs.
FSSCC Innings
Chasing 106, we started strong with Love scoring a quick
eight. Wall’s classy 25 not out included some beautiful shots with one
dedicated spectator (Glen’s mother Jan, visiting all the way from New Zealand)
exclaiming how his “reverse-hook” shot looked like a “twirly whirly”,
especially a clever dab to third man.
Hawkings was in top form, smashing boundaries and retiring
on 29 not out. Glen was solid as a rock, scoring 27 not out and forming a great
partnership with Rufus to keep us on track.
Will Baylis-Allen, arriving just in time from Cambridge,
finished the game with a huge six, wrapping it up at 107-2 in just 15 overs,
meaning we got to the pub nice and early.
It was great to celebrate the end of a successful season at
the Red Lion afterwards with the fellow members of the Juggernaut. Captain
Robertson summed it up well: “A lot of fun”, highlighting our team spirit and
determination to get through the rain and secure the win.
Capt : Pete Robertson. Wkt: George Love..
Match
fees: Aidan Selby. Match report: George Love.
Chenies and Latimer
Sunday July 28 at Chenies
Strollers won by nine wickets
Chenies and Latimer 126
(37 overs;
Macaulay 3-5, Love 2-0, Travis 2-17, Oliver 1-0, Rogers 1-6, Broster-Turley
1-10)
Strollers 131-1
(20.3 overs; Pittams 84no, Travis 28no, Rogers 14)
Another beautiful Sunday for cricket saw the Strollers
visit Chenies and Latimer. As is customary, captain Ben Mangham, having
recently become armchair expert at many Olympic events, expertly failed with
the toss and we found ourselves fielding first, again. Fortunately our number
was increased to 11 by the adoption of one of the Chenies and Latimer players,
none other than Brian Shipley, taking a break from recent exploits playing for
England Over 70s.
In an unexpected and slightly unwelcome twist of the rules
it had been decided that nobody could be out lbw first ball, though happily the
offer of one hand one bounce was rejected! The wicket looked good, with the
prospect of plenty of runs.
Freddie Broster-Turley and James Dela Rue opened the
bowling and initially scoring was fairly brisk with the score at 13 after the
first two overs. James had had the Chenies and Latimer No 2 Mike Pickard plumb
lbw third ball by then but confusion reigned as the umpires assumed the
batter’s first instance of lbw was to be chalked off rather than lbw first
ball. Disappointing for James, but although the umpire’s call stood fortunately
this was the only time the rule was applicable in the game.
The bowling and fielding tightened up after this and after
10 overs the score was only 27. The No 1 Shan Patel was striking the ball well
but could not get it away with any frequency, while in contrast Pickard had
produced increasingly aggressive cuts, slashes and drives without connecting
with any of them. Finally in the 11th over, Freddie’s sixth, the pressure
earned reward with the wicket of Patel, the fourth ball of the over clipping
top of middle and leg stumps with the score on 32.
In the 12th over Pickard began to find his range and took
12 off the over, putting a dent in James’ otherwise excellent spell. After a
final maiden over from Broster-Turley, Mangham rang the changes and took over
himself from James, with Blair Travis coming on in place of Freddie.
Drinks were taken after the 16th over with Chenies on 63-1,
Pickard finally with his eye in and scoring several boundaries square on the
offside. Drinks, however, duly served up a wicket, with Pickard bowled by Blair
for 36 in the very next over, ending a second wicket partnership of 37 runs.
With new batsman Wesley Cerlin taking time to settle in,
Dias now took over the scoring with a brisk 20 runs off 13 balls. At the
halfway point after 20 overs wicketkeeping duties were taken over by Hugh
Martindale, releasing George Love for a bowl in the later stages. The score was
poised at 89-2, representing a reasonable recovery from a generally slow start.
However, Blair’s next over saw Dias caught comfortably by
Mike Pittams in the covers and in the following over new bowler Glen Oliver
trapped new batsman Chunot Shah for a second ball lbw. This brought the No 6
Luke Marsden to the crease and although he survived the rest of the over he was
still audibly bemused by Glenn’s pace off virtually no run-up. Shipley took
over from Blair, beginning a spell of well controlled off-spin bowling which
should have had a wicket, a faster ball edged away between keeper and first
slip.
Glen followed his wicket maiden with another maiden, but a
tight hamstring curtailed his spell at 1-0. This allowed Love to join the
attack to immediate effect, with Marsden trying to up the pace but mistiming
his first ball high and into Dela Rue’s grateful hands at mid-on.
In his next over Cerlin top-edged a pull shot which flew
straight up in the air to be claimed by Blair at slip, his shout of ‘mine’
still ringing in the keeper’s ears the next day. At 113-6 skipper Mangham
decided to have spin at both ends calling on the experienced Alastair Macaulay
to bamboozle the tail, leaving Love with the excellent figures of 2-0 off two
overs. Not to be outdone, Macaulay also started with two wicket maidens,
claiming Michael Lurie caught by Steve Rogers at point and then the No 9 Kineel
Natthurata caught second ball by Love at a very silly mid-off, both soft
catches.
The No 10 Rayan Patel managed to get some runs but soon ran
out of partners, with Goddard losing patience and bottom-edging Macaulay behind
for three and last man Hargreaves being bowled by Rogers in his second over for
nought, the ball keeping a little low. Macaulay’s spell returned three wickets
for five runs and Rogers’ one for six. The Chenies innings had lasted 2 hours
16 minutes and 37 overs.
Pittams and Rogers opened the Strollers innings with some
intent, and after six overs the score had reached 42 for no loss, with Chunot
Shah having been replaced after only his second over by Kuneel Matthurata. But
in the next over Rogers missed a pull shot and departed bowled by Matthurata
for 14, bringing Travis to the crease.
After the 10-over mark was reached with the score on 56-1,
the innings raced towards its conclusion, duly arriving in the 21st over with a
majestic six from Pittams over midwicket and over the road, his second of the
innings, leaving him on 84 not out (13 fours, 2 sixes) and Blair 28 not out (4
fours).
The innings had only lasted 70 minutes. The early finish at
16.50 had its advantages however, with cooling beers, lovely early evening
sunshine, good company and a fantastic setting being the perfect way to round
off the weekend…
Capt: Ben Mangham. Wkt: George Love/Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Hugh Martindale.
Bledlow
Sunday August 4 at Pinkneys Green
Strollers won by 31 runs
Strollers 266-8
(40 overs;
Oliver 90, Travis 87, Broster-Turley 30, Rogers 10)
Bledlow 235-7
(40 overs; Macaulay 3-33, Broster-Turley 1-22, Robertson 1-30,
Brodbeck 1-31, Dela Rue 1-35)
The Strollers hosted their second home match of the season,
welcoming Bledlow to Pinkneys Green. The team WhatsApp was opened with a flurry
of messages early in the week in response to the news that tea would be
supplied.
To the toss and there was a statistic of significance that
may need triple checking by Maggie (and supports more games being hosted by the
Strollers). Captain Glen Oliver boldly claimed he was 100% in tosses where he
does the flipping of the coin as the home captain! The record remains intact as
Glen correctly induced an incorrect call by the opposition and elected to bat
in a 40-over match. Bledlow were only able to field nine players and it was
somewhat of a comical scene with Oliver working the sums in his head trying to
organise a batting top-order, a scorer, two umpires and lending two fielders to
Bledlow.
There were early murmurings of sabotage as a sub-fielding
Stroller put down opener Pete Robertson in the first over. Bledlow opener Oscar
Frost took it upon himself to make amends, trapping Robertson in front for four
in the sixth over with the score 25-1.
Oliver joined opener Blair Travis at the crease for a long
and chanceless partnership of 151 in 21 overs with Travis the next to fall for
87 trying to put the ball in the Pinkneys car park but instead producing a fine
catch from James Stubbs as stand-in fielder. Sabotage murmurs were strongly put
to bed as Strollers fielding for Bledlow took three catches in all on the day. Hugh
Martindale, Stephen Rogers, James Stubbs and Richie Stubbs all came and went in
quick succession for a combined total of 13 while Oliver remained as solid as
ever at the other end - eventually dismissed for 90, clean bowled by a fine
yorker from young Bledlow pace bowler James Hawkins with the score 260-7.
Not content with 20 overs of fielding for the opposition,
Freddie Broster-Turley peeled off a blistering 30 off what felt like half as
many balls and would have been not out if not for a spectacular one-handed
catch from opposition skipper Harry Bond on the last ball of the innings at
deep mid-off. A more than competitive total of 266-8 was posted for Bledlow to
chase.
Many thanks to Simon Brodbeck for organising a great tea
which was gratefully received by both teams. James Dela Rue, a vocal supporter
of pro-tea sentiments, took it upon himself to enlighten us all to the outcomes
of running the stats on number of teas supplied this season - apparently we are
sitting at 40% of matches having tea (not including tours). Dela Rue has been
offered full access to the club database to continue his thesis.
With an unusually short boundary on one side and an
enormous boundary on the other (due to playing on the furthest wicket on the
block) it took some creative captaincy from Oliver who chose to open with
Rogers and rotate spin from one end and asking Broster-Turley and the quicks to
defend the tiny boundary from the other.
Nearly recovered from a shoulder injury in June, your match
reporter was pleased to get through six tight but wicketless overs.
Broster-Turley opening from the other end produced an early chance that was put
down. Having fielded so strongly for the opposition there were more than a few
quizzical eyebrows with the fielding performance in the early stages of the
second innings best described as tardy.
Broster-Turley was rewarded not long after with Bledlow
opener Kashif Qureshi top-edging to James Stubbs for his second catch in the
match - one in both innings! The score 31-1. The fielding performance improved
a lot with four of the Strollers that fielded for Bledlow taking a catch in the
innings. Presumably a record.
Bledlow were able to build again before James Zobel was
bowled by a beauty from Dela Rue which kissed the bails. Rogers fielding at
short fine leg looked on in despair as the whole team celebrated while he
trudged down to fish the ball out from under the covers beyond the boundary
with the score 71-2.
At drinks, Bledlow needed a run rate of about 10 per over
to win the game after spin king Alastair Macaulay ran through the middle order,
returning figures of 3-33 from his six overs. A flurry of late-order hitting
pulled things back remarkably for Bledlow before a stunning one-handed return
catch from Robertson removed skipper Bond and with it reduced significantly
Bledlow’s chances of a successful chase. A late wicket for Brodbeck capped off
a great day's action and a 31-run win for the Strollers.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Steve Rogers.
Claygate
Sunday August 11 in Claygate
Strollers won by 88 runs
Strollers 243-5
(40 overs;
Pittams 98no, Oliver 81, Travis 16, Mangham 13, Love 12, Rogers 12)
Claygate 155
(33.2 overs; Macaulay 3-47, Mangham 2-0, Richie Stubbs 2-14, Rogers
2-25, Broster-Turley 1-5)
It was mid-August, the height of summer, and there was
tremendous excitement for this week’s fixture. A scheduled 2pm late start would
allow plenty of time for the bucket list worthy golf & cricket
double-header (aka “the longest day in sport”) to be summarily struck off said
list having been concocted as a very achievable (and worthy) feat just two
weeks prior in the fading sunlight at Chenies and Latimer over more than one
thirst quenching post-match lager.
A “transparency update” posted very early in this week’s
match WhatsApp chat announced that an expeditious (and hyperactive) threesome
of Michael Pittams, Freddie Broster-Turley, and George Love had secured a
8.32am tee slot for a “swift and no doubt erratic 18 holes” at Pine Ridge Golf
Club; a well struck 9-iron away from Valley End CC at Lightwater, Surrey.
Steve Rogers quickly accepted the spot on offer for the
final ball in the foursome and hastily set about procuring some golf clubs (“I
shall consult old FB marketplace and try not to get scammed” quickly changed to
“seems like a good excuse to buy some new clubs”).
More on the golf later.
As it transpired, Valley End could not raise a side so an
alternative fixture was found against Claygate CC in Surrey. Indeed, match
fixture secretary Simon Brodbeck had played a blinder, doing an exceptional job
finding an alternative fixture within a cooee of Pine Ridge’s locality and
negotiated a 1.30pm start to enable the golfing quartet to get to the match on
time. And tea would be provided!
When Sunday came, it really was a scorcher (28C high). The
pre-match WhatsApp chat was filled with glorious video footage from Pine Ridge,
with swing analysis welcomed. The all-Kiwi quartet completed their round by
12.15pm, leaving time to “quickly rehydrate” on the 19th hole whilst watching
Ellesse Andrews win New Zealand’s 10th and final gold medal of the 2024 Paris
Olympics in Women’s Sprint Cycling. [For the record, Pittams shot the
lowest score (low 80s), followed by Broster-Turley, then Rogers and Jorgito
Love losing count somewhere during the round].
Now to the cricket.
What greeted the Strollers at Claygate was a glorious
setting: a proper club based in the village recreation ground with excellent
facilities. The pavilion was recently rebuilt and included a lovely modern cafe
selling the usual cafe food but also lattes, ice cream and draught beers. The
cricket field contained two mature trees: one at fine leg and one at wide
long-on for a right-hander batting at the pavilion end.
More on the trees later.
There really was some pressure on James Dela Rue, today’s
skipper, to win the toss and bat first to give the golfers time to recover.
Rogers proposed a novel strategy for Dela Rue - take Glen Oliver out to the
middle with him and inform the opposition skipper that whatever Oliver called,
Dela Rue was calling the opposite. However, the skipper had a more cunning plan
and negotiated the toss with FSSCC to bat first.
Blair Travis and Love were selected to open, whilst No 3
bat Ben Mangham was the first to succumb to the temptations of the cafe, seen
devouring two scoops of ice cream fully kitted in batting pads as the openers
strode out.
Claygate opted for slow bowling from the outset,
well-suited to the dry and dusty pitch. It was immediately evident the
opposition were a good fielding side, stopping many firmly struck shots in the
early overs. As James Stubbs would later compliment, Claygate was stacked with
“high functioning ex-grade cricketers, strong in their youth”.
The off-spinning Umar Nasir proved a particular thorn in
Travis and Love’s side with neither overly keen to face a bowler turning the
ball voraciously. Love, aiming to make Strollers history by becoming the first
player to score 150 twice in the same day, was the first to be dismissed,
bowled for 12 in the sixth over. Travis departed two overs later for 16,
dismissed in a similar mode to a violently turning Nasir off-spin delivery.
Thus, Nasir was relieved from bowling with 2-12 from four overs, but came back
later for a second wicketless spell. Mangham’s stint at the crease went similar
to Travis and Love’s: bowled for 13.
Progress was slow in the first 20 overs with a score of 93
and only six boundaries struck. Fortunately, Oliver and Pittams had brought
their A-game to spare the blushes of the top three bats and were able to
dominate in the final 20 overs. The pair put on 139 runs for the fourth wicket
as the sun shone and the onlooking Strollers made full use of the cafe’s
refreshments. Single runs dominated the scorebook as the temperature soared and
Oliver’s enthusiasm for running wilted to an all-time low. [Noteworthy
fact: Oliver had eight twos; Pittams had zero twos #statchat (@mpittams
jeez, can’t you hit the gaps!)].
More on Oliver’s running later. Now back to the trees.
Pittams, looking resplendent in his 80s open neck polo,
sweat on the brow, chest hair flowing, thick moustache with greying hairline,
and very much cut from the same ilk as famous Australian cricketers like Dennis
Lillee and Rod Marsh, really does like to give the cricket ball a good wallop.
Whilst the scorebook would correctly reflect four sixes in
his innings, Pittams’ first walloping of the cricket ball was mis-directed, and
thus brought into play the local rule whereby any contact on the full with a
tree situated in the field of play would be recorded as four runs, regardless
of the likely outcome, which in this instance was never in doubt as the ball
sailed out of the recreation ground flicking a twig on its way. Nonchalantly,
Pittams shrugged off the result. Two runs lost, surely inconsequential.
Now back to Oliver’s running.
Into the 37th over, the epic partnership was headed towards
its finale. Both Oliver and Pittams, very much aware thanks to the electronic
scoreboard, were faced with a dash to their hundred milestones with remaining
deliveries quickly diminishing. Oliver attempted to steal a bye off a fumble by
the wicketkeeper, but a quick recovery and direct hit brought to an end his
valiant innings of 81.
Fast forward to the 40th over.
The innings ended in curious fashion when Pittams declined
an easy second run, ran out the luckless Steve Rogers (“sold him up the river”)
and ended up stranded at the non-striker’s with one ball remaining, thus ending
just short of what would have been a glorious century. [It really is
difficult to do justice to this acrimonious act of jug avoidance, so I shall
repeat what happened].
Rogers on strike. Pittams on 97 not out.
Ball 1: dot - quite wide, actually very, but we like to be
lenient with our application of the wide law, especially on searing hot days.
Ball 2: dot - swing and a miss!
Ball 3: four runs - clipped cleanly off the hips to fine
leg, possibly the first Strollers leg glance of the season!
Ball 4: one run - bat on ball, does the job!
Pittams on strike:
Ball 5: one run - walloped to deep mid-wicket, loud call of
“two” from Pittams. Rogers tears off for the first, turns for the second and
pumps his legs with urgency knowing full-well Pittams will DEFINITELY be haring
back for the second (bet your house on it). Rogers, now halfway down. An
acrimonious shout of “NO!!” from Pittams. Rogers departs… [Ed: the remainder
of this sentence has been screened for inappropriate use of foul language in a
match report, however, the scribe wished to note Rogers was unimpressed].
Broster-Turley on strike:
Ball 6: dot - rather forgettable!
The Strollers innings ended on 243-5. Pittams ended on a
magnificent 98 not out. “I am not a man who looks for personal glory,” said our
bashful hero.
To tea.
Pizza, sandwiches, cake. Fantastic! All put on by the cafe.
Cunningly, each team were allocated a separate table. Word had gotten out on
the Strollers reputation for being prodigious tea connoisseurs.
Claygate made a valiant effort in pursuit of a daunting 244
for victory but fell short by 88 runs. Broster-Turley produced his usual
impressive opening burst (5-1-5-1) before Alastair Macaulay (8-0-47-3) wove his
mid-innings web. Richie Stubbs (2-14) and Mangham (2-0) also picked up wickets,
whilst Rogers toiled away lucklessly with some off-spinners only to cop a nasty
bruise from a tracer bullet smacked back at him.
Pittams, satisfied from having scored more runs playing
cricket than strokes hit playing golf, treated himself to an ice-cream cone at
the drinks break, later finished off whilst fielding on the midwicket boundary.
The post-match inquest into the day’s matters went on deep
into the evening as the late summer sun set slowly in the west. The hospitality
was much appreciated and the day was declared a resounding
success. We hope to see Claygate on next season’s fixture list.
Capt: James Dela Rue. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Blair Travis.
Ripley
Sunday August 18 at Ripley
Strollers won by 76 runs
Strollers 238-3
(35 overs;
Travis 86, Oliver 53no, Love 40, Pittams 38no)
Ripley 162
(27.4 overs; Mangham 5-20, Broster-Turley 2-46, Brodbeck 1-13,
Macaulay 1-13, Le Serve 1-30)
A trip to Ripley is always a pleasant one for the
Strollers, but has more meaning for Archibald Geale David Charles Brenda
Francois Benedict (Ben) Mangham than most. Ben likes Ripley so much he named
his son after the clubrooms. Or was it a beach in Goa? Who can remember. In any
case, Mangham arrived looking frisky and dapper in a psychedelic kitty cat
T-shirt with just the right amount of lilac in it. Look good, play good, feel
good? Read on to find out.
Captain Steve Rogers, no doubt inspired by the memory
of his nonchalantly lofted winning runs at Ripley last year, took his Ripley
counterpart to the cleaners in one of the finest displays of après-midi tossing
this scribe can remember witnessing, and opted to reverse-insert the home side
in balmy conditions.
The decision of who he should send out to open the batting
was a simple one: George, to avoid a tantrum, and Blair, whose wife Jen,
parents and progeny (albeit still waiting to appear) had come to see him in
action! Beyond cute.
Mr Travis Senior, in particular, was all pride at seeing his favourite son
stride to the middle, still wearing the beige family pads. Not a skerrick of
white on them, and not a dry eye in the house. Because who in a Strollers
relationship is reaching and who is settling falls and will always fall within
the purview of a Strollers match report, I would also like to also record my
view that Jen is settling – possibly egregiously.
Jorgito and Blair began circumspectly, faced with a quite
spongey greenish pitch and accurate opening bowlers – one of them called
Freddie. This must have been confusing for Jorgito, torn between wanting to
kiss the bowler and wanting to smite his offerings lustily. On the bright side,
he appeared to harbour no confusion whatsoever with regards potentially
glancing any of Freddie’s leg-side offerings.
As our Lord (De-la-Ruuuuuuuuuuuuueeeee) frequently
proclaimed, Jorgito wasn’t getting within cooee of those. Love and Travis
gradually worked their way through what gears they had available to them. In
Blair's case, that’s quite a lot of gears.
Mother and father and Jenny looked proud as punch as he
lofted down theground with the wind and played sensibly along the ground into
it. Jorgito put his gears (and robust motor) under greater strain than usual by
running between the wickets with something approaching urgency, and called
quite a lot of those runs with something mistakeable for clarity. This was
confusing for all assembled Strollers.
The Travis-Love partnership grew, and not even the Lord's
frequent exasperated proclamations about George's legside play were enough to
provide his usual Lord's Kiss and end the 'tnership (which can be a useful
abbrev’ for partnership when one is pressed for time or wordcount).
Blair fell for a chanceless 86 (just a couple of weeks
after he made 87. Make of that what you will. #statchat), inclusive of one
lusty maximum, bringing to an end an opening stand of 138.
If pressed to compare their opening stand to a purveyor of
burgers and fries, I would select Chicago Grill – that world class Hammersmith
eatery and provider of generous and weighty dishes. That reference will
unfortunately fly over the heads of the Strollers’ own Weasley twins Freddie
and George, who don’t know what is good for them when it comes to vendors of
later night burgers in the W6 postcode.
George fell a few balls later, caught at slip from the
bowling of George Geaves for a personal season's best 40, which he later
attempted to negotiate up to 60 due to degree of difficulty of the pitch and
bowling attack.
I have my own views on this, but will defer to the
judgement of our esteemed President and Statistician Magatha Patston when she
tidies up the scorebook at season end (if the Salt and Pepper Princess Her
Majesty’s Ship Robert Eugene Wall hasn’t fenced it before then).
Regardless of where we land on overall value of George's
innings, it definitely fell short of the 100 required to trigger the Princess
to tattoo the very large and very white mainsail that is the canvas of his
regal body with the Flensburger Pilsener logo. [After the tradition started
last season with weeee Mitchy Alley, if a pre-selected Strollers opening bat
makes a ton at Ripley everyone, or at least some people, has to get a tattoo,
of a design of my choosing. Whoever is match manager for Ripley next year: my
apologies in advance for the selection headscratcher you’re going to have when
26 Strollers put their hands up for the fixture].
Western Australian debutant Jack Le Serve, having set back
Steve’s arm injury by several weeks with the 300 throwdowns he’d faced during
Blair and George’s generous and delectable opening stand, trotted out to join
Glennary Oliver at the crease. The Lord had moved his proclamations away from
his usual stentorian medium, and towards one of physical demonstration. No, he
wasn’t doing another one of his one-man interpretive dance shows, he was
umpiring! Including some very strong Christ the Redeemer poses while signalling
wides from the centra umpiring position.
Le Serve was sent on his way lbw for two, giving the
impressive Sam Nash his second wicket. During Le Serve’s stay he nearly managed
to lap Oliver while running three – a level of athleticism the Strollers are
only too delighted to recruit. Pittams and Oliver then combined for a ‘tnership
of 78. Oliver recorded 53 not out inclusive of a lot of twos, because he likes
to showcase his speed between the wickets and prefers to demurely nurdle the
ball than to spank it.
Pittams was more overt in his lust levels and deposited one
smite beyond the straight boundary in an innings of 38 not out that George did
not seem to feel strongly should be upgraded to anywhere near 60 using the
patented Love accounting system. That left 238 on the board for Captain
Rogers to defend, each of them expertly recorded by Ally-Mac, and it was
upstairs to transition the attack to the sandwiches and scones!
Freddie Broster-Turley and James Dela Rue opened the
bowling and ran into the obstacle of Ripley’s aggressive Australian opening
batsman Braydon Pink, who appeared to have a prior engagement starting at
about 5pm and was attempting to complete the run chase by that time. He was on
track to do it too, before being well caught by Oliver from the bowling of
Broster-Turley just after raising 50.
Having earlier bowled the other Ripley opener through the
gate, Freddie had the honour of banking the full set of Ripley openers in his
wicket gîte – a feat known locally as a Ripley Double Dipley. At 80-2 after
about eight hours, the match was delicately poised. Dela Rue toiled into the
wind, bowling some hard overs against Pink and the Ripley first drop without
luck, before being replaced by Mangham, who was immediately incisive, bowling
Ripley's No 3 for a hard-pounded 38.
Le Serve replaced Broster-Turley downwind and enjoyed
bowling in ‘tnership with Mangham. Le Serve was fascinated by Mangham's
profession and couldn't wait to find out more about how Mangham finds couches
to film on week-in week-out. Mangham, in turn, was intrigued to meet a
real-life miner for the first time. Such are the foundations that bowling
‘tnerships are built on. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, famously, first
developed a mutual appreciation of each other when comparing stamp collections
at a cricketing philately meet in St Lucia in the early 1980s.
Le Serve snared his first wicket for the club via a skied
catch, and Mangham added two more wickets to his tally via edges to first slip
where Travis ganneted the ball up like it was a bottle of Castrol engine oil
and his hands were Love's generous power unit. From 125-3 at drinks, Ripley had
stumbled to 135-6 and skipper Rogers' brow began to unfurrow.
Mangham skittled two more of Ripley’s middle order and
finished with the exceptional figures of 5-20 off his seven-over allotment. In
the context of the run rate at either end up until that point, this was a
seriously economical effort and one that Love and I agree should be upgraded to
figures of 5 for minus 26 – Magatha please note accordingly. A
seriously impressive effort (as one would expect from a man wearing a
psychedelic cat T-shirt with neither too much nor too little lilac) and one
that was in a few ways quite similar to Keeley Hodgkinson’s 800m Olympic
victory…while in most other ways not being comparable at all.
Le Serve's spell also ended - as a miner he needs to be
careful not to overexert himself lest it provoke his early stage black lung -
paving the way for Simon Brodbeck and Alastair Macaulay to operate in tandem
for about the 370th time in their careers.
Wearing matching shoes - after wearing matching shorts and
shirts last week - they recorded identical figures of 1-13. Nearly as cute as
Travis Junior listening to the calming sounds of leather on willow and being
indoctrinated into the #cricketlife from the boundary.
Broster-Turley managed to take a catch to provide Simon's
wicket (after earlier dropping two earlier chances, the difficulty of which
doesn't necessarily need to form part of this match report, and generally
flopping around on the ground a lot like Raygun the B Girl), while Dela Rue was
the catcher for Macaulay (two balls after dropping one from the same bowler -
much to the mirth of Love who returned several proclamations in the Lord's
direction and told him to 'walk 500 miles in those shoes LORD!!!!').
A 76-run win for the Strollers, expertly shepherded by
Captain Rogers, who selflessly neither batted nor bowled while managing to
ensure that everyone else enjoyed a lovely day (and, all importantly, had their
expectations managed). To provide himself with physical and mental stimulation,
Rogers opted to pack up the team kit while we all watched him and provided
pointers and advice from the comfort of our seated positions in the dressing
room.
Refreshments were taken in the fading sun, and Ben phoned
Paige to fist pump while filling her in about his Ripley Triple fWhip with
double Travis Dip – no doubt while envisaging future use of tip. This call
revealed that Paigey had bagged four wickets of her own! What a day.
Capt: Steve Rogers. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Mike Pittams.
Concorde
Sunday August 25 in Send
Strollers won by 75 runs
Strollers 247-4 dec
(45.4 overs;
Oliver 66no, Love 44, Travis 42, Pittams 41, Robertson 40)
Concorde 172
(42.4 overs; Le Serve 3-29, Oliver 2-0, Travis 2-16, Macaulay 2-33,
Baylis-Allen 1-26)
The Strollers descended upon the lovely ground of Concorde
on a balmy Sunday afternoon. A few dusty souls were collected from Woking
station after a heavy Saturday session the day before at the All Points East
Festival, featuring a stellar electronic line-up including such acts as the
French duo Justice, Belgian great Charlotte De Witte, and hard hitting DJ
spectacle Brutalismus 3000.
The team assembled promptly despite the previous day’s
antics where we were greeted by a clean cut and laidback Captain Glenory, who
was quite relaxed following a pleasant Thai massage earlier in the week. He
managed to win the toss via extended negotiations with the oppo captain and a
bat first decision was to bless the Strollers who settled in for a rare timed
game, always an interesting format.
Blair Travis and George Love - a duo who had opened
together in the previous two matches and looked to continue their productive
partnership – began proceedings. Both experienced a strong start, slashing away
at the Concorde bowlers who both delivered lovely line and length on a pitch
which delivered very variable pace and bounce.
Both batsmen delivered some striking shots including
delightful cover drives and reverse sweeps. Concorde openers Justin Rowland and
David Nash both bowled lengthy spells with Nash finally getting the better of
Love after an immense display with the bat, with Blair following shortly after
a catch in the deep. Love and Travis departed for 44 and 42 respectively
followed by the next partnership of Pete Robinson and Capn Glen who continued
to build on the positive start to the game.
Some lovely batting followed. Highlights included a
stunning six - which was just tipped over the rope by a fielder’s outstretched
fingertips - and some simply lovely drives. Pete started strong and scored an
impressive 40 but alas was bowled by Rowland after a deserving spell from the
opener who produced an unplayable ball which ripped out middle stump. Mike
Pittams then joined Glen at the crease.
The runs flowed as the two stroked ball after ball, the
sound of leather on willow pleasing the ears of the Strollers. Albeit Glen was
lucky in this stand, with three chances not taken. Pittams scored a quick 41
which included one very large and gorgeous six which cleared the scoring box
and landed in the adjacent rolling field.
When Pittams was caught in the deep Glen was left with no
option but to protect his average, scoring 66 not out on this occasion, and
declare just before tea-time, with the opposition required to chase 247 for the
win. Is it the first time in Strollers history that the first five batsmen have
all scored more than 40 runs each?
The tea was lovely - a special shoutout to the hosts as it
greatly improved the stats of the season. Tea-master James Dela Rue has used
his summer hours to collate the tea figures for the campaign, with some
interesting observations. As of early August there had been 11 games played. In
four games (36%) tea had been provided, six games (55%) tea had not been
provided, with the remaining game being self-provided (9%). A lovely spread
only helped improve those stats, with many sandwiches being enjoyed by all.
The Concorde openers eagerly approached the crease to start
the second innings. And boy what a show was put on by Jordan Dyer. A man with
immense talent, he crushed the opening bowling of Posh Will Baylis-Allen and
Rowan Smith, crunching boundaries all over the park but particularly through
the once nimble Oliver.
The opening pair battled hard but unfortunately only
Baylis-Allen was rewarded, thanks to Pittams who took a great catch at deepish
point. It took a particularly brilliant spell by Jack Le Serve, who served up a
lustrous few overs, taking a three-for and the all-important wicket of Dyer
caught in the deep by Smith.
Jack continued his Strollers debut success from the
previous week and is already frothing for the September fixtures to continue
his hot streak. Dela Rue also pitched in to bowl and was unlucky with a few
tough chances dropped but bowled a solid seven overs on the trot to apply the
pressure.
Alastair Macaulay and Travis were utilised for their
spinning prowess with Macaulay being rewarded with two wickets, including a
stumping from ‘quick fingers’ Love. Travis had an important part to play,
applying pressure to the middle order by also taking two wickets.
With only 10 overs to go the Strollers still required two
more wickets to win the match. Captain Glen took it upon himself to wrap up the
tail, bowling some very quick left-arm bullets to seal the match with 4.2 overs
to go. An exciting end to a much enjoyed game. It was indeed a very happy
ending for the captain, with some lovely hand pulled ales being the icing on
the cake to finish off the day. We stroll on to the Two Counties tour…
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: George Love.
Wall
Saturday August 31 in Burntwood
Strollers lost by one wicket
Strollers 162-7
(35 overs;
Rogers 70no, Broster-Turley 44, Macaulay 23no, Oliver 13)
Wall 166-9
(34.2 overs; Salvesen 3-18, Oliver 2-7, Broster-Turley 1-9, Hodgson 1-17,
Macaulay 1-17, Smith 1-29)
The week leading up the game saw a frenzy behind the scenes
as Wall found that they did not have a pitch. Their usual ground at Lichfield
CC was in use for league games. Many phone calls between Simon Brodbeck and
David Craig to every cricket club in Staffordshire paid off in the end as
Burntwood St Matthew was available. Careful instructions to find the ground in
a new housing estate (and in the grounds of the old Burntwood Asylum) and the
need to drive around inside the perimeter were issued.
As skipper Alastair Macaulay arrived at the ground he was
feeling confident that all was well - accommodation booked, meals had been
ordered, a batting order firmly in his head. However, it was announced that
Rowan Smith had missed the train that he was supposed to be on (Richard Skinner
did manage it), the following one was cancelled and that he would be at Rugby
waiting for the next train to Lichfield. Nonetheless Alastair won the toss and
elected to bat, figuring that Rowan could bat down the order a bit on arrival.
The pitch was pretty lively and had a bit of a concave
aspect and variable bounce. Disaster struck immediately when Mr Reliable
Blair Travis was bowled third ball by Faisal Yasdan (of whom more later),
followed in the second over by George Love lobbing one back to the other
opening bowler Peter Atkin. Richard Skinner was then bowled by Atkin with the
score 7-3. Glen Oliver and Steve Rogers put on 30 for the fourth wicket when
Glen chipped back to Simon Foulds. Jim Hodgson and Tom Salvesen, both normally
reliable in the middle order, quickly followed. At 48-6, the end was looming
with our 11th man still supping Guinness in Rugby station researching the life
and times of William Webb Ellis.
Alastair was at this point reminded of the wise words of
Robert Burns that “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft
agley”. Everything was ganging aft agley rapidly. However, rescue came in the
form of Freddie Broster-Turley as he and Rogers started rebuilding the innings.
Freddie played his normal game of see ball, hit ball and the pair put on a
potentially match-changing 61 in eight overs before Freddie was bowled for a
valuable 44 off 26 balls including a six and seven fours.
It was still only the 25th over (and 10 overs left) and
with the arrival of Rowan promised, Macaulay strode out with the intention of
keeping Steve company for as long as possible. Alastair started circumspectly
trying to rotate the strike to the in-form bat. The bowling became easier and
slower so anything short was fair game for both. Steve reached his 50 off 80
balls and the pair attacked more in the last five overs. By this time Rowan had
arrived to the ironic cheers of the rest of the team and hustled into pads.
However, he wasn’t needed as the eighth wicket put on an unbeaten 54 with Steve
on a Strollers best 70 not out and Alastair 23 not out (remarkably his highest
score since 2013). 162 was at least a defendable total.
The Strollers had had fair warning about the magnificence
of the Wall tea and were not disappointed - including sandwiches, muffins,
samosas, scones and torte a Viennese café would be proud of. If only James
DelaRue, our keeper of the tea stats, hadn’t chosen this very day to get
married in Bath. Despite the sheer volume of food, Blair was spotted with a
muffin in his pocket as we headed out to field. Pocket pastry just the thing
for a peckish first slip.
Broster-Turley and Salvesen opened up after tea and the
combination of bounce and away swing kept the opening batsmen quiet with much
playing and missing. Freddie had Laurence Skermer caught by Richard Skinner in
the seventh over. In the following over Salvesen induced a catch to gully by
Foulds where Freddie snaffled it. The very next ball, new bat Abi Ray hit one
hard and high to Freddie at gully again, a candidate for catch of the season.
Salvesen also had Peter Richards caught by Blair at first
slip and bowled out his seven overs with a very good 3-18. Smith bowled quickly
without much reward but did get Soumi Bhattacharya caught in the gully by
Hodgson: 49-5 and the Strollers were cruising. Raj Bankenhally and Atkin
started to push to score along so Alastair turned to Oliver who came on for a
single over and took two wickets. Alastair replaced Glen and was surprised
when keeper Love had a bit of a brainfart and stuck his gloves in front of the
wicket to prevent the ball hitting the stumps of Chris Bryson. A no ball rather
than a wicket and a reprieve that was to prove costly.
Bankenhally was bowled by Alastair and this brought young
Faisal to the crease. He took a liking to the bowling of the unfortunate Simon
Brodbeck with three consecutive sixes and with five overs to go, suddenly Wall
had a glimpse of victory. Bryson and (mainly) Yasdan put on 51 for the 8th
wicket before Hodgson bowled Bryson.
The canny David Craig came at 11 and resisted all efforts
of Oliver to winkle him out. Jim had the unenviable task of bowling the last
over with 10 needed. Yasdan then smote the first two balls out of the ground to
see Wall home by four balls. He scored 49 not out off 25 balls including
five sixes.
It wasn’t entirely chanceless as there was a difficult
chance dropped on the boundary but his innings was a surprise to both teams.
Somehow the Strollers had snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, succumbing
to hubris.
Both teams then went to the Wellington in Lichfield to mull
over the extraordinary events.
Special thanks must go to David Craig and his wife Rae-Ann
for finding a venue and providing the magnificent tea. Moreover they generously
provided everything for no cost.
Capt
and match report: Alastair Macaulay. Wkt: George Love.
Stanton by Dale
Sunday September 1 at Stanton
Strollers won by 68 runs
Strollers 261-3
(40 overs;
Travis 100no, Oliver 81, Salvesen 27no, Skinner 19no)
Stanton 193
(34.6 overs; Macaulay 3-35, Hodgson 2-17, Broster-Turley 2-22, Salvesen
1-27, Rogers 1-39, Love 1-31)
Sunday morning saw the usual shuffling into breakfast at
the Riverside Hotel, Branston. Richard Skinner, George Love and Freddie
Broster-Turley were first up as they had planned a trip to a local driving
range with Steve Rogers.
Love ordered smoked salmon and poached eggs on toast, that
proved such a popular order it was renamed The George. Jo and Jim took their
traditional walk along the banks of the River Trent, right behind the hotel,
and were blessed with the sight of an otter, a first for both on British soil.
Thankfully there were none of the travel dramas of Saturday
and everyone arrived on time. This is one of our longest standing fixtures,
going way back to 1977, although the sporting activity in that first match
mostly involved Trivial Pursuit as rain stopped play.
But this was a sad day for the club. Derek Gregory had very
recently passed away. In addition to playing against us many times, he was
Stanton by Dale Treasurer for 65 years and President from 2013 until his
passing. Family members - including son
Phil (Stroller # 536), whom we have played against for years - were in
attendance. Prior to the start, both sides lined up on opposite sides of the
wicket, joined by Brian Taylor and another Stanton stalwart, Ben Turner, for a
minute of silence.
Following those poignant proceedings the game commenced. A
negotiated toss saw the Strollers bat first in a 40-over game. Does that mean
skipper Glen Oliver gets a much-needed tick in the positive column?
Blair Travis and Love were sent out to open and faced the
lively Charlie Hampton and Will Mellor. 17 were on the board when George missed
a thigh-high full toss and was bowled for seven. Rowan Smith, due to bat at No
3 on Saturday, but foiled by the public transport gods, entered. Four dot balls
later he was back in the hutch: 21-2. Glen ‘I might have drunk a bit too much
red wine last night’ Oliver, joined Blair.
There followed a prolonged high calibre jousting match.
Travis and Oliver batted extremely well,
apart from a brief spell when they tried to run each other out. Blair hit the
tiring Hampton for four off the first five balls of one over. A record?
Change bowlers Oliver Morley, Lee Bradley
and leg-spinner Abhishek Thakar gave few loose balls but our trusty lads
were delivering runs. Blair brought his 50 up from 49 balls; Glen was a little
slower bringing his up from 65 balls. Sadly Glen departed for an excellent 81,
part of a wonderful 186 partnership against a quality attack.
Richard Skinner entered in the 37th over, full of intent.
He accompanied Blair to another fine century. Blair retired and Tom Salvesen
arrived. The opening bowlers had returned, but opted to bowl spin, which
Richard and Tom enjoyed, finishing not out on 19 and 27 respectively, and the
total on 261-3.
The Strollers had been perturbed to learn the tea skipper,
Tricia Taylor, was away on family business, but they soon relaxed seeing the
wonderful spread Steph and her helpers had produced, with several hot options,
and a wide variety of homemade sandwiches and cakes. Delicious!
In a ceremonial start to the Stanton innings, Phil Gregory,
wearing his father’s cap and using his father’s bat, both of a fine vintage,
took a left-handed stance, as his father had done on many occasions when
opening the batting for Stanton, and prepared to face Simon Brodbeck.
It had been agreed before the game that Phil would score a
run or two to retire his father’s bat with a not out. Jo Perrin and Steph
Oliver were positioned at silly mid-off and silly mid-on to capture the event
on mobile phones. Not being left-handed, Phil missed a couple, then pushed one
through point for two, and retired to the pavilion to prolonged applause.
Maggie Patston, at the scorer’s table, could be forgiven for looking very
bemused by the opening few balls, as no one had told her what the plan was! Of
course Maggie dovetailed these events into the scorebook and, yes, the two runs
did count.
Jonathan Kempster joined John Fitzpatrick while Salvesen
and Broster-Turley took over from Simon. Tom quickly took a sharp caught and
bowled chance from Kempster, and Freddie, bowling with real venom, demonstrated
the perfect ‘top of off stump’ delivery to dismiss Fitzpatrick.
So Bradly and Dylan Duke then accelerated the scoring,
especially Bradly, who liked to deal in boundaries. Freddie got involved again
and bowled Duke, bringing Morley to the wicket.
He had bowled a decent spell and we knew from previous
years he was a destructive batsman, so the prospect of having him and Bradly
together was a worry After an over or two Oliver weighed up the options and
called for Love from the orchard end. Glen might be hopeless at the coin toss,
but this was inspired. Morley nicked the fourth ball into the safe hands of
Travis, to trigger a joyous celebration from George.
Thakar was the next man in. He is a medical student and
Nottingham High School old boy, as are our own Simon and Brian (and while we
are at it, my father and uncle too, though from rather more distant times).
Thaker supported the aggressive Bradly well and the
partnership was building. Love and Rogers bore the brunt of it, and the ball
was regularly picked out of the adjoining fields. Steve was hit clean over a
hedge 20 metres past the boundary, but revenge was sweet as Bradly was bowled
by his next ball for a very good 80. He and Thakar had put on 50 in five overs,
but we felt this was a key wicket.
Gregory returned to the crease. He’s a proper bat and has
scored several 100s against us over the years. Batting in his normal
right-handed stance he looked comfortable as ever, picking off runs and
boundaries. Jim Hodgson replaced Love from the orchard end. He has sparred many
times with Phil over the years, but today was his turn as Blair pouched another
catch, his 16th of the season, and Gregory departed for 22.
Mckenzie Lewis arrived, but was quickly back in the
pavilion, courtesy of an over the shoulder catch from Hodgson off Alastair
Macaulay. Thakar then missed a straight one from Jim and was lbw for 25. Skipper Mellor was not able to rally the
troops, although he did finish on 31 not out. Macaulay took the final two
wickets, a stumping from Rowan and bowling John Webb. Stanton finished some way
short on 193.
The David Tranter Cup was handed back to the Strollers by
Brian Taylor, and gratefully accepted by Simon and Glen. Not satisfied with
providing a lovely tea, Steph and her team produced burgers, hot dogs and other
delicacies, washed down with a beer or two. As the teams and supporters chatted
amiably into the evening, I’m sure Derek Gregory would have recognised and
appreciated the spirit in which this game has been played for 47 years…
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Rowan Smith. Match report: Jim Hodgson.
The Lee
Sunday September 8 at The Lee
Strollers won by 81 runs
Strollers 210-9
(40 overs;
Rogers 55, Oliver 48, Love 36, Wall 15, Travis 11)
The Lee 129
(30 overs; Broster-Turley 3-18, Macaulay 3-26, Oliver 2-0, Travis 1-6,
Rogers 1-27)
The weather looked ominous. Rain was falling. “Surely this
will be a wasted journey,” came the voices of doom from all over London. “We
can’t possibly play.”
But The Lee reported that the deluge had largely escaped
them; the ground was playable; the forecast was not altogether hopeless.
Fortunately The Lee boasted similar characteristics as Upper Hutt, Wellington,
NZ, which often has a micro-climate escaping the rain from all other nearby
locations.
Skipper for the day George Love decided to bat first and
showed the way with a dashing 36, before being undone with a delicious slower
ball that clipped the top of off. Glen Oliver (48) came in and established
solid partnerships with the fast-scoring Rob Wall, who tried one too many a
swing, and then Hugh Martindale.
The Oliver-Martindale partnership ended in the most
unfortunate of circumstances. Oliver hit the ball to the boundary and called
through a single (loud and clear). Hugh must have thought there was a boundary
as instead of running between the wickets he cantered through not watching the
ball which was flying in from the boundary - finding himself left about six
yards short at the other end. Weeks later at Marlow Hugh was still cursing his
inattention!
This was not the only odd situation to mar the Strollers
batting performance. A strong partnership between Oliver and Steve Rogers
should have been finished early when Oliver was struck plumb in front. However,
Skipper Love stood firm and did not raise his finger. Even Oliver remarked to
Wall, umpiring at the other end, that he felt quite adjacent and was quite
confused at events.
A couple of overs later Rogers was struck on the pad not
far away from the wide line. The bowler jokingly appealed and Love obliged by
raising the finger. The bowler asked George what was going on and he responded
that he had to give that after the howler he had accidentally let through a
couple of overs before. The good news is that the lads at The Lee are an
understanding bunch; Rogers less so!
Opening bowler and opposing skipper Ed Boakes kept things
very tight with 9-1-28-1 and the evergreen Jon Swain (7-0-18-2) allowed nobody
to get away. Even the free-flowing Alastair Macaulay (1 not out) and the
dashing Simon Brodbeck (0 not out) could not up the tempo. Runs were hard to
come by.
But it proved the same for The Lee. After a splendid and
refreshing tea, they could not get going.
Young Daniel Boakes showed his precocious ability with a
fine 33 early and the game was getting away from the Strollers. Enter Oliver,
who got one through his gate. Glen celebrated in full Oliver style, launching
down the pitch with his characteristic Warneresque fist pump. A great
delivery, though perhaps the Lee lads were not used to seeing such celebrations
on a Sunday.
Enter Skipper Love’s diplomacy who, when Boakes Senior came
out to bat, smoothed over any worries about there being a send-off – explaining
(as we all know) that this was a normal reaction from Glen with no malice
intended, indeed it was a reflection on how good Daniel’s batting had
been!
Freddie Broster-Turley blazed the way with a 6-3-18-3
opening burst. Alastair Macaulay (3-26) and Oliver (2-0) completed the job.
The rain began to fall minutes after the game was over.
But, again, we managed to beat the elements and savour the evening on the most
beautiful of grounds. The absolute most beautiful of grounds!!!
Skipper Love claimed the tactical credit for the day. But
the main news was that Mike and Fanny had welcomed baby Isobel into the world.
A toast was called to celebrate her arrival…and to thank The Lee for making the
day possible when all the weather gods seemed against us.
Capt: George Love. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Rob Wall.
Marlow Park
Sunday September 15 in Marlow
Strollers won by 29 runs
Strollers 237-6
(40 overs;
Oliver 104no, Travis 46, Dela Rue 20, Pittams 17, Skinner 12no)
Marlow 208-9
(40 overs; Le Serve 3-22, Skinner 3-28, Salvesen 2-26, Wood 1-24)
The Strollers’ annual excursion to Marlow was highly
anticipated by all, particularly Jim and Jo, who were itching to make the short
stroll down from their home. To earn that stroll, Jim was placed in charge of
travel arrangements, these logistics dominating the WhatsApp in the preceding
days and leaving no space for sausage roll chat. In spite of this oversight,
all players — and a few important spectators — arrived at the ground on time.
After a mutually-agreed toss, captain Rob Wall elected to
unleash the Strollers’ strong batting force. Glen Oliver and Blair Travis both
stood at the precipice of greatness — racing each other to 1,000 season runs
—so they were sent out to settle the score.
Tensions were high, and Oliver — still hung over from
Friday’s golf outing and having not slept a wink the night before in
anticipation of the match — attempted to stall proceedings by instructing the
fielders to move the sight screen a foot to the right, resulting in a fielder
pulling a hamstring. Mike Pittams was equally unlucky a few overs later, as he
returned from his trip to the Mr. Whippy with two soft serves lacking
sprinkles.
On the pitch, Oliver and Travis combined well, both in fine
touch through the off side, picking off the loose deliveries from the opening
bowlers Shaz Aslam and Sandeep Reddy. After these two bowlers were seen off and
15 overs had passed for only 61 runs, Captain Wall sent out word to pick up the
run rate, in the form of some characteristic sublinguistic grunts and groans.
Travis — clearly speaking Wall’s language — obliged, blasting a few cracking
boundaries, before mistiming a drive and being caught at mid-wicket on 46.
James Dela Rue was in next with one mission: to swing for
the fences. With a wide stance and intent, he and Oliver delighted the
spectators with some powerful strikes, including a few elegant boundaries.
Feeling the pressure, Marlow brought forth Donovan Pullin, their spinner, to
take the pace off the ball and restrict the damage.
With the score at 139-1, Dela Rue’s stumps were rattled
while he attempted to send the ball into the Thames. Captain Wall strolled in
next, carrying the weight of his aforementioned grunts and groans about run
rate. After two quick boundaries, he mistimed a low full toss and was caught
out for eight, much to the disappointment of his spouse and child who were
looking on.
That sent Pittams in, injecting pace and urgency between
the wickets. Oliver’s heartrate picking up markedly as a result, leading to the
pair conferring at Oliver’s end at the close of each over, with Oliver hunched
and waving his drink bottle in. Approaching his century rapidly, Oliver was
dropped by the keeper on 91 before Pittams was bowled while swinging with good
intent. The wickets of Tom Salvesen (caught) and Peter Wood (also caught)
quickly followed, but not before Oliver raised his bat to acknowledge another
spectacular century, with the Strollers at 213-4 with a few overs to spare.
Oliver's retirement left Richard Skinner and Hugh
Martindale to have a bit of fun, adding 16 to the total — including a six that
was guided by the fielder at deep mid-wicket and dropped over the boundary —
closing the innings with a respectable 237 on the scoreboard.
With a few sandwiches on board, the Strollers took to the
field with trepidation; the Marlow openers have been known in past years to
enjoy their time at the crease, and given the relatively friendly batting
conditions, it would be crucial to take some wickets early. Wood grasped the
new ball from the Thames end, with Jake Helsby bowling from the Lower Pound
Lane end. Opening batter Vaughan Van Der Linde showed his intent early,
slashing away from the outset, while the bowlers took a few overs to shake off
the cobwebs.
It took a cracker of a delivery from Wood in the seventh
over to trap Van Der Linde in front, giving the umpire no option but to raise
the finger. This was the only breakthrough from the opening bowlers, and an
inspired bowling change brought the forces of Jack Le Serve and Salvesen, who
combined brilliantly to take three wickets in quick succession.
Two of these came from Salvesen; the well-established
opener Aslam was visibly frustrated to hole out to Dela Rue, who had been
expertly manoeuvred to point that very ball, and Waqar Shabir, who — based on
the extravagant shots he was attempting — clearly had some important business
to attend at home and was caught by Le Serve for only four runs. Le Serve
picked up a second crucial wicket a few overs later, caught tentatively at
long-off, leaving the hosts reeling on 58-5 before drinks.
Having snatched their fair share of wickets, Le Serve and
Salvesen were told to have a rest, with captain Wall employing himself,
Skinner, and Pittams to take the Strollers’ foot off the throat and keep Marlow
in the game.
Pittams took this instruction literally, as his solitary
over took a pounding from the Lower Pound Lane end; starting with
extreme-effort pace and ending with looping leg spin, with a few wides,
no-balls, and dead-balls along the way. After contributing 15 to Marlow's
total, the captain realised Pittams’ skills were far more valuable in the
outfield and brought himself on in an off-spin capacity.
From the Thames end, Skinner’s off-spin struggled to find
line or length, and the batsmen capitalised, inching the hosts past the 150
mark. Skinner did find the right spot on a few rare occasions to trouble the
batsmen in Stairesque fashion. With fielders posted on the boundaries, three
mishits were scooped up well, exemplifying the exceptional fielding from the
Strollers throughout the day.
With no batsmen left in the sheds and 60 runs to score off
the final eight overs, Dela Rue was given a chance to close proceedings
alongside Helsby. The final partnership of Gareth Crowther and Donovan Caalse
fought valiantly to push their side past 200, but they ran out of overs with 30
still to score.
An excellent day of cricket for the Strollers at the
splendid Marlow Park ground. Thanks to the marvellous hosts and spectators,
we’re already looking forward to the same again next year.
Capt: Rob Wall. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match
fees: James Dela Rue. Match report: Richard Skinner.
Pinkneys Green
Sunday September 22 at Pinkneys
Strollers won by 22 runs
Strollers 154-8
(35 overs;
Oliver 50, Travis 37, Love 30)
Pinkneys Green 132-9
(35 overs; Oliver 3-6, Macaulay 3-38, Simon Brodbeck 1-7, Helsby 1-17,
Rogers 1-24)
What was initially set as the Strollers' season-closing
game in the UK before heading to France began in typical Stroller fashion.
Despite heavy rain in London and reports of torrential downpours from Reading
and High Wycombe, our own Simon Brodbeck was quick to confirm with Pinkneys,
via the groundsman (BBC weatherman Phil Avery), that the pitch was playable.
There would be a window for the game.
However, the day's chaos started early. Simon had
meticulously arranged transportation, only for the designated driver to pull
out an hour before pick-up. Jim Hodgson was quickly recruited to fill in,
reinforcing Robert Burns’ famous line: “The best-laid plans of mice and men
often go awry.”
The next bit of drama came from our lord James Dela Rue,
who had been celebrating his belated stag party and requested an early decision
on the game. His motives? Likely more to do with needing a sleep-in than
concerns about the weather.
Meanwhile, skipper Glen Oliver’s day was just beginning to
unravel: Alastair Macaulay missed his train, George Love – continuing the
season’s tradition of bringing a parent to a Strollers game – was en route with
his folks, and Dela Rue had not been heard from since 1a.m.
With the game scheduled for noon, Oliver was left wondering
if he would have a full team. Stair arrived first, followed by George and his
parents, while James finally showed up an hour and a half late, midway through
the first innings.
Some confusion reigned around what changing room the
Strollers were using being accustomed to being the home side; on this occasion
we were the visitors.
Before the match began Pinkneys marked the passing of their
long-serving groundsman Paul “Ginger” Savage by scattering his ashes next to
the block he had so lovingly tended for many years.
Paul made his debut for the Green as a teenager over 40
years ago.
A fast bowler, he opened the bowling for the 2nd XI for
many years, captaining the Sunday team. It was his lifelong commitment to the
club as groundsman for which he was most valued. He initially assisted Dudley
Jinman in preparing pitches, going on to lend his hand wherever it was needed
to maintain the beautiful village ground.
He remained devoted to the club year after year, working
countless hours on the playing field come rain or shine, often popping up to
the Green on his bike several times a day to ensure everything was in order.
Sadly as the 2023 season approached he was diagnosed with
cancer and died in the early summer.
Skipper for the day Oliver having learnt, after many failed
attempts to correctly call a toss, that it's better to negotiate matters,
masterfully arranged a bat for the Strollers in a 35-over match.
Love and Travis were sent out by the skipper to see off the
new ball. After a season of batting together the two openers were playing well
together and looked solid for the first 13 overs, before George – perhaps
deciding the run rate needed a push – rashly danced down the wicket, playing
all around it and was stumped well out of his crease for another solid 30 and
an opening partnership of 62.
This brought Oliver to the crease with Glen and Blair
locked in a ferocious battle for the honours of being top run-scorer and
passing the coveted 1,000 runs for the season. Blair – needing 90 runs to make
the mark – was only able to add 37 to his tally before he was bowled by the
young Oliver Fennell.
Glen continued his fine batting, which has been one of the
constants throughout the season, and somewhere along the way to his 50 he
brought up that coveted 1,000-run milestone.
Our venerable skipper – after reaching 50 for the umpteenth
time this season – was then lbw. Oliver was one of three scalps claimed by the
second Fennell brother Alex, who bowled very tidy spells and looks like he
could be a thorn in the Strollers’ side for many years to come.
The rest of the batters to produced exactly nothing worth
noting as the Strollers scraped their way to 154 – a score that looked somewhat
short of a respectable total.
As has become customary for games hosted at Pinkneys,
Brodbeck put on a delectable spread for tea. Thank you for organising and going
out of your way to pick this up, Simon.
With tea weighing heavily in our bellies we strolled to the
middle in an attempt to defend the modest total under skies which, after the
morning’s rain, had begun to improve. We even had a spell of some beautiful
late September sun.
Freddie Broster-Turley and newcomer for the last few games
of the season, Jake Helsby, were given the opening spell. Broster-Turley, as
has become the norm, was tidy and economical getting through four overs for
only four runs. From the other end Helsby bowled a wonderful wicket-maiden to
remove opener Charles Berger for three.
Broster-Turley and Helsby were replaced by Steve Rogers and
a Dela Rue still baring the hallmarks of a long night out. The pair bowled the
next 14 overs uninterrupted, with Rogers claiming the scalp of opener James
Hemmings for a solid 30 in the 19th over, with Pinkneys looking comfortable in
their chase.
With wickets seemingly hard to come by and runs coming
regularly Oliver turned to Mr Reliable, Alastair Macaulay, while taking the
ball himself at the other end. Oliver struck with his first over, removing
Youssef Arshad for 24.
Pinkneys skipper Ben Purchese, having joined the fray in
the 19th over, batted with intent scoring a quickfire 33 before succumbing to
an Oliver ball that went straight through him, after a good battle between the
two. After the fall of Purchese the wickets began to tumble with Stair mopping
up the tail taking 3-38 off his seven and Oliver grabbing another wicket to
finish with 3-6 off five.
Brodbeck bowled a solitary over and claimed another wicket.
After a strong chase from the Pinkneys batters, they
ultimately fell short of the required runs, managing 132-9 off their 35 overs.
Thanks to Pinkneys and we look forward to seeing them again
next year.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match
report: Freddie Broster-Turley.
Watford Town
Sunday September 29 in Watford
Strollers won by four wickets
Watford 204
(38.4 overs;
Le Serve 2-29, Copsey 2-33, Oliver 1-10, Brodbeck 1-16, Wall 1-24, Macaulay
1-29, Dela Rue 1-41)
Strollers 206-6
(37.3 overs; Pittams 89, Travis 28, Love 27, Oliver 23, Le Serve 22no)
An eager Glen Oliver was anxious to prolong the summer.
Perhaps to help Blair Travis find just 53 more runs to join
Glen on the 1,000 mark for the season. Perhaps just to keep up the winning
streak on what has been a golden second half of the campaign with the last
Sunday defeat coming on June 9.
Old Wimbledonians were all set up to host. Very handy as
just down the road from Glen and Steph in nearby Raynes Park. But Wimbledonians
had forgotten that the ground was scheduled to be put to bed, so that was ruled
out.
A plea on the fixturelist website brought help in the shape
of Watford Town – a little further away from Raynes Park but still worth the
trek if the weather would allow us to get a game in.
Simon Brodbeck vaguely recalled playing there a lifetime
ago. Statistical supremo Maggie Patston dug deep into the archives and
reported:
I remember playing Watford Taverners at the cricket ground
by Watford Leisure Centre. We played four times: won two, lost two.
We played there in 1980 / 1981 / 1983 and 1984. I
particularly remember the match in 1981. It was the summer of Botham’s
Ashes and our match was when the Fourth Test was being played at
Edgbaston. Australia needed 150 runs to win in their second
innings. It was the fourth day and they started at 9-1 overnight.
Someone had brought a transistor radio which had been put next to me on the
scorers’ table but The Strollers were fielding. Richard Littlejohn kept
getting an update when he was at long leg and relayed it to the players.
This was the match when Botham took 5 wickets for 1 run in 28 balls.
England bowled them out for 121 to win the match. I think everyone came
to listen to the radio for the final over or two. It was very exciting.
The Ashes stopped play!
The last time we played there in 1984 was a heavy loss for
us:
Watford, 166-7 dec in 34.3 overs: Littlejohn 3-36, Danny John 2-23,
Brodbeck 1-16, Hayter 1-31.
Strollers,72 all out in 29 overs: Meade 12, Fiala 10, Smyth 7*
So much for the history. That was Watford Taverners.
Watford Town are a different side just over the wall.
Oliver lost the toss (again) and Watford batted on an
artificial strip which made play possible after a week of grey rain. And scored
what seemed 30 runs too many.
Jack Le Served up a steady spell with 2-29 and almost
pulled off the catch of the century with an acrobatic swallow dive at mid-off
to get fingers to what was hardly a chance. Paige Copsey, who has been busy all
summer pushing the boundaries of women’s cricket, made her 2024 debut and
showed the men how to do it with a very tidy 2-33. She also got her shin in the
way of a booming straight drive, deflected it onto the stumps only for the
bails to remain firmly in place.
Alastair Macaulay sported horrifying black trainers which
stunted his normal wicket-taking powers. Figures of 1-29 were comment enough.
In fairness, the usual draconian rules re proper cricketing footwear were
suspended because of the ‘no spikes’ warning on the plastic pitch.
Watford swung the bat and – thanks to a profligate spell
from Simon Brodbeck, who somehow managed to concede 16 runs off 10 balls – racked up 204 before their final wicket
fell to a run-out.
The key thing as the Strollers openers took to the field
was, of course, that Travis required a little matter of 53 runs to reach 1,000
for the season. Could he do it? All was going swimmingly with George Love (27)
bashing it about and Blair crashing it through the covers with his trademark
shot…until disaster struck. With Travis’s score on 28, short extra-cover took a
blinding catch above his head and a dejected Blair had to depart, left stranded
on 975 for the season.
[Travis was the victim of three wonderful catches – at
Roehampton, The Lee and Watford – which effectively scuppered his record bid].
But his 28 brought him up to joint fifth place in the ‘Most
runs in a season’ category, level with Hamish McDougall’s effort in 2011.
Oliver’s 2024 efforts bear repeating. He currently stands
at 1049 at an average of 95, with two games in France still to come. That is
just 142 behind Chris Meade (1989) and a seemingly uncatchable 381 behind James
Timperley in 2009.
Mike Pittams, the third of the three musketeers, had a
prolific season too, with 593 runs at an average of 66. Modest as ever, shy
hero Pittams – who never counts his runs and often elects to get out on the
brink of another century – did announce his personal statistics for 2024:
*0 misfields
*0 dropped catches
*0 matches arrived at late
*1 false stroke, back in June
*206 cheese and pickle sandwiches consumed during teas
Impressive.
And it was Pittams who blazed the victory trail. After
Oliver (23) fell to a brilliant, low, left-handed catch at slip, Pittams took
over and began to hit some monster blows, off-driving and pulling with
tremendous power.
With victory in sight Pittams essayed one drive too many
and there was still some way to go.
But Le Serve nervelessly took the Strollers home with some
scything off-side shots. With just 15 balls to spare, the task was done.
And so the sun (or rather glowering skies) set on the 2024
domestic season as the vast crowd and our friendly hosts hailed the conquering
heroes. Le Serve was watched by his adoring fan club of partner Ellen. George’s
parents, Terry and Lesley, were there to watch their boy before returning to
New Zealand. Aidan Selby and son Caleb popped down from St Albans.
The finale deserved a lap of honour: 13 consecutive Sunday
wins since defeat by West Chiltington on June 9. Just five defeats: VUWCC on
Feb 11; Winchmore Hill May 19; Maidenhead & Bray June 2; West Chiltington
June 9; Wall Aug 31.
Impressive…
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: George Love.
Match
fees and match report: Simon Brodbeck.
Goodbye to All That
Played: 25. Won: 20. Lost: 5.
The 2024 campaign began, as is now customary, with the
Strollers in Exile buckling on their whites in the depths of the English
winter, which translates as the height of glorious summer in New Zealand.
Tim Swan (3-21) led the charge at Bottom Paddock where the
Strollers youth policy frolicked in the overnight camping while a 112-run
victory was only marred by Glen Scanlon’s broken wrist.
Seven days later and the real action took place at The VUWCC quiz at the Waitoa bar on the Saturday
night. It proved to be a tight, nerve-jangling, affair. James Timperley, Hamish
McDougall, Jono Addis and Piers Ovenden led the whole way, only to drop a point
in the final round, and then lose the quiz on a tie breaker.
For future reference,
construction of the colosseum in Rome began in 72AD under the emperor Vespasian
(and was completed in 80AD under Titus). A quizzical eyebrow remains raised at
the Quiz master’s decision that James Cook’s visit in 1769 was to observe the
transit of Mercury (IT WAS VENUS!).
The answer to the most
important quiz question was…we lost, despite half-centuries from Addis and
Timperley. No disgrace in that, as the opposition fielded three ex-first class
cricketers.
But before the UK
domestic season was due to start came the sad news that Chris Locke had died. Emmanuel
College Cambridge-educated Chris served a total of 11 Evening Standard editors
and was latterly production editor of the Standard business pages.
More importantly, Chris was an important Strollers in the
early days, playing some 53 games between 1992 and 2013. He set up and
masterminded his own team, The Bricklayer’s Arms, based around his beloved pub
in Putney.
His wry smile and unfailing good humour meant he was loved
by many friends. He sported a pair of prehistoric wicketkeeping pads which will
now be on display at the Lord’s museum.
Five days later, the
season should have got under way at Great Missenden but weeks of spring rain
meant that play was impossible. The deluge continued, wiping out the April 28
game at Bledlow Ridge. Would the sun ever shine?
Simon Brodbeck’s cat
peed on the scorer’s bag, which meant a new one had to be provided for the
start of the season, which came at windswept Royal Ascot where, by some
miracle, a full game was possible.
Match reporter Alastair
Macaulay noted:
Blair Travis seemed to be quite agitated at the
incompetence from the scorer's table when he was on 13, but it turned out that
it was his 2000th run for the Strollers (average 43.2).
Travis and Rowan Smith (36) put on 78 for the third wicket
and that proved decisive as the Strollers ran out winners by 62 runs. Ben
Mangham claimed his bottle of bubbly to mark his 100th appearance,
which took him a little matter of 31 years. He promises to break the 200
barrier a little quicker…
At Coleshill (now the home of Jordans Taverners) the
Strollers assembled to be greeted by the charming Robin Yolland, now retired
from active service, but an ever-present for Jordans Taverners since our first
game in 1985. Since you ask, the Strollers recorded a thumping win 39 years
ago, declaring on 173-3, then bowling out the Taverners for 49. Since then
honours have been pretty even.
[In early September, sad to say, came the news that Robin
had died. Ever cheerful and hospitable, Robin has been there to greet us every
year since 1985. Our thoughts and condolences go to Robin’s family and his
beloved club.]
This time – in 2024 - the game went our way. Reporter Jim
Hodgson said:
George Love was run out for five with the total on 39. He claims he was
‘barbecued by Pittams’, but as your scribe wasn’t watching, this can’t be
confirmed. Blair Travis joined Mike and that was pretty much it. We were
treated to a fine display of aggressive batting from Pittams, ably supported by
Travis. Victory was achieved in the 21st over with Mike finishing on 86 not out
and Blair 35 not out. 70 of Mike’s runs came from boundaries.
More melancholy news came when Evan Samuel reported that
former Strollers stalwart Steve Pryer had collapsed and died on May 12.
Steve played 171 games for the club between 1984 and 2010
and was a big presence during that time. With a highest score of 83 against Pat
Stoddart’s Fullerian All Stars in 1994, he ensured that everyone’s Strolling
days were sociable and cheerful.
He leaves wife Jenny plus children Harry, Georgia, Sophie
and Ben. Our thoughts go to them.
At Winchmore Hill we came up against one Harry
Balakrishnan, who kindly retired after explosively hitting 150 not out. That
proved enough to bring the Hill victory.
The midweek programme began with a poignant game against
The Bricklayer’s Arms. Reporter Richie Stubbs noted:
Spring has really arrived once the midweek Strollers emerge
from hibernation, several weeks after their weekend brethren. As has become
typical in recent seasons, the opening midweek fixture was against old friends
and rivals The Bricklayers, who were very sadly without their founder, manager
and secretary (and longtime Stroller) Chris Locke, who passed away a few weeks
earlier, having set the fixture up in January. Tom Poulter has picked up the
reins and The Brick are playing on in Chris's memory.
A seven-run victory went in our favour this time before
glasses were raised in The Red Lion to dear departed Chris.
On Putney Heath we beat the overnight rain…and Roehampton.
It was a pleasure to see the Strollers youth policy in
action with Peter Wood (Sloane) and Rob Wall (Siena) bringing their daughters
along to watch some action-packed Sunday cricket. Special mention to Wall, who
swiftly identified that a massive six from Ben Mangham was heading
uncomfortably close to the viewing families and saved the day with an athletic
leap to parry the ball away.
Mangham celebrated his first 50 and with Scott Findlay (58)
put on 108 for the seventh wicket, which proved to be the match-winning
contribution.
Reporter Steve Rogers noted:
Mangham, not content with a match-turning 50, started
loosely before honing in on the “Mangham Channel” around off stump. Wickets in
his third and fourth over meant he returned very tidy figures of 2-29 from five
overs - “You’re owning that No 7 spot” claimed skipper Blair Travis in a clear
indication that the “Strollers All-Rounders Club” (which 95% of Strollers
belong to) had a new leader.
The midweek men ventured into deepest Dulwich to take on
Tilburg Regents. But reporter Freddie Broster-Turley was not happy:
After a win last time out against the Bricklayers, the
Strollers were keen to build on the good form. This anticipation equated in a
full XI turning up on time prior to the match start time, a midweek rarity!
It is fair to say emotions over the midweekers are somewhat
mixed amongst the Strollers membership. At one end of the spectrum are the T20
enjoyers like George Love, who can be quoted as 'frothing' the midweekers. At
the opposite side, are the cricket purists such as Simon who described the
midweekers as 'not proper cricket' according to onlookers [Editor’s note:
Simon, who just happens to be the editor, strongly denies ever having expressed
such opinions. On the contrary, he is an avid and supportive follower of the
Notts Outlaws and the Strollers T20 Army]
It is difficult to disagree with Simon's position having
witnessed the following in last week’s midweeker:
*A severe lack of whites on display;
*An abundance of black socks and shoes;
*A field set-up with one singular fielder on the legside coupled with two
fielders quite literally holding hands at silly mid;
*Some spin bowling which was so high in trajectory it was reported by NASA as
an incoming meteorite;
*A team member still wearing pads in the pub circa one-hour post match.
To add to the black socks and trainers blemishes the side
fell short by four runs. Would white shoes have made the crucial difference?
On to the beautiful ground at Bray. Their president,
Michael Parkinson - who would occasionally come along to check on the
representatives of Fleet Street - died in August 2023 at the age of 88.
This time we struggled to 178-8 thanks largely to Glen
Oliver, who was bravely bearing the pain of a broken toe - the latest in a long
line of curious injuries. This one came when he decided to kick the stairs.
Glen powered his way to 61 but the total proved a comfortable chase for M &
Bray.
Down to deepest Sussex and the annual battle for the
Marshall Trophy in memory of John and ‘Dave’ Marshall, who first hosted us
there many years ago.
Ben Van Noort (128*) and Alex Tatchell (74) gave West Chilt
an imposing total of 306-4. Rob Wall was not at his best as match reporter Mike
Pittams was quick to point out:
The music the Salt & Pepper Princess [alias Rob Wall]
was playing from the Houses End was slightly out of tune – as though he was
blowing on a corroded trombone (which he does have form for). Coming off an
all-too-rare golfing victory over Mike Pittams the previous day perhaps His
Princess-ship, in contrast to Broster-Turley, was feeling a little too smug
from his golfing success to find his best bowling form? Or perhaps, with Puss’s
parents Ian and Tania Porter visiting from NZ and on hand to cast a shrewd eye
over proceedings from the sideline, he had performance anxiety.
I didn’t offer Ian a penny for his thoughts on the
boundary, but if I had to guess the pensive look on his face indicated a train
of thought very much along the lines of ‘I’m yet to understand what my eldest
daughter and apple of my eye sees in that man, but perhaps it’s his ability
with the new ball?’ Anyone would struggle to perform under such pressure!
The Strollers’ reply was led by a scintillating 101 from
Blair Travis in his finest knock to date. Against top quality bowling Blair
proceeded at a blistering pace:
This was a heck of a ton. Let
not the record not be ambiguous on what a magnificent innings this was – one of
the best this reporter has seen in Strollers colours (although were they
Strollers colours? Blair’s brand-new cricket boots were a lovely clean white,
which was nice but only served to accentuate just how beige his batting pads –
passed down from father to son of the Travis family since they were originally
purchased in 1934 – are. One of the opposition mistook the heavy beige for
bright orange, outlandishly, and was overheard speculating that Blair must
usually turn out for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL).
But sadly nobody could stay with him for any length of time
and the Strollers’ reply fell well short by 45 runs.
At Hurley Ben Mangham summed up the side’s efforts with a
teacher’s report card and concluded:
The FSSCC 1st XI have shown glimmers of improvement during
the early part of this term, a move in the right direction that continued at
Hurley Cricket Club last Sunday.
The fielding has become rather unstroller-esque! Keep up
the spectacular effort.
The midweek crew took on The Dodgers and inched home in a
game which saw President Maggie Patston make her midweek debut after 48 years.
And Rob Wall forgot his shoes…
The Cotswolds tour nearly began with a calamity when a late
text came through from Cricklade that, with a flooded home ground, they could
not raise a side. Disaster!
But a note on thefixturelist.org brought divine
intervention from Dave Lester at the beautiful West Berkshire village of
Inkpen. They saved the day on the Sunday…and the sun shone.
The day before was notable for the squad being in recovery.
Reporter Neale Mulholland noted:
The pre-match is where we should start. For half the
touring 11 this was Friday night where some craft beers in a Bath industrial
estate opposite a Topps Tiles that had seen better days was the logical place
to limber up before the tour. A distinct lack of mid-strength beers and a food
stall offering only vegan meze proved a catalyst for liquid refreshments, drunk
at pace. With Electric Bear going into hibernation at 10pm that evening, the
parties were left wanting. A night cap at Maggie Patston’s for half of the
group and a cocktail bar for the rest, led to an evening ending in the early
hours of the morning much to captain Alastair Macaulay’s displeasure.
But the late night shenanigans had no effect on the
mercurial Freddie Broster-Turley.
Let Mulholland tell the story:
Broster-Turley opened with great speed and set the intent
early with just two singles. Love at the other end was a little loose but got
into the swing of it. End of the second over, 8-0.
Broster-Turley fanged it in repeatedly with a lovely maiden
for his second over and Love followed suit with a few singles. The Strollers
were looking sharp.
Broster-Turley opens the fifth over conceding two. His
second ball is edged and caught! A great first wicket. His third, edged
again…but there is no appeal and the batsman remains. His fourth, the lucky
batsman’s luck runs out and he walks with a plum lbw the ump had to call. Fifth
ball and Broster-Turley’s lovely delivery trims the bails. 2-2.
The Strollers converge on the batter like vultures to a
cadaver. With a full set of slips and all the WAGs upright and watching, the
hat-trick was there for the taking.
The final ball from Broster-Turley and he lines up and
fires down a screamer. Broster-Turley’s effort sends the bails flying and the
visiting crowd wild.
TIMBER! HAT-TRICK!
For his efforts, Broster-Turley has to resign from bowling
with immediate effect. End of fifth, 13-4.
So another hat-trick enters the Strollers records. Travis’s
usual ton, achieved earlier in the day, somehow got forgotten…
London Transport had their tickets clipped, courtesy of
Parfray Street’s finest. Scribe Pete Robertson noted:
The surprise call, however, was the skipper throwing the
ball to one Michael Pittams for a spell of who knows what will come out. Oliver
openly told the batsman to watch his teeth and toes simultaneously, but it was
the batman's edge and the stumps themselves which needed to watch out - Pittams
bowled superbly and finished with 2-10.
Demijohns were dispatched at Pinkneys Green where England’s
game against Slovakia in the Euros was overshadowed by the fare:
A magnificent and surprise tea came courtesy of Mr Waitrose
and Simon Brodbeck – his only positive contribution to the game.
Agricola ploughed the Strollers under with a shameful
32-run defeat. John Low saw the team slink away to the pub:
Bloodied, but unbowed after possibly our worst evening
result in years, the team repaired to the Red Lion, along with Glen’s mother
Jan, who had graced the match as part of her regular tour of
duty in the UK to make sure the proper standards of cricket expected back home
were being properly maintained in the Old Country.
The Prestcold fixture fell by the wayside:
Our original opponents Prestcold – some of whose lads were
away on a stag do – were unable to field a team. Simon Brodbeck worked his
fixture magic and quickly arranged for Chessington to host us at their very
convenient Sir Francis Baker recreation ground instead. That turned a long
drive into a much more convenient journey for most…although not for Tom
Salvesen, who commendably still agreed to the three-hour trek each way from
Northampton to join in the recreation.
Victory over Chessington was followed by a similar result
against Tadworth where an unbeaten Oliver ton sealed the deal – with a little
help from evergreen Low:
Low, proving that class is indeed permanent, shrugged off
the minor inconvenience of only having bowled two overs – total – in the last
four seasons combined. He dispatched Harrison with his very first ball via
a simple catch in the deep, bamboozled the new batter into missing a straight
one several balls later, and completed the demolition job via another catch in
the deep with his last to finish with 3-1 off his single over.
The Ministry of Justice were sentenced to defeat and AI
made his first appearance as a match reporter with his rather stilted
observation that:
Superb wicket-keeping and enthusiastic appeals from our
bowler-turned-keeper George Love made the innings even more enjoyable.
Pittams’ 84 not out saw the target chased down at Chenies
before we entertained Bledlow. There:
The Strollers hosted their second home match of the season,
welcoming Bledlow to Pinkneys Green. The team WhatsApp was opened with a flurry
of messages early in the week in response to the news that tea would be
supplied.
To the toss and there was a statistic of significance that
may need triple checking by Maggie (and supports more games being hosted by the
Strollers). Captain Glen Oliver boldly claimed he was 100% in tosses where he
does the flipping of the coin as the home captain! The record remains intact as
Glen correctly induced an incorrect call by the opposition and elected to bat
in a 40-over match.
Claygate saw Mike Pittams narrowly miss out on a ton with
98 not out but the icecreams and the café offerings of our new opponents made
it a splendid day while Ben Mangham’s 5-20 at Ripley proved the decisive
contribution.
On August 22 we said goodbye to Patrick Stoddart:
In the mid-1970s the office raised a cricket team for John
Marshall (a former Evening News editor) to do battle against West Chiltington
in faraway Sussex. That became the Northcliffe Strollers and very soon the
Fleet Street Strollers.
Peter Patston and Simon Brodbeck, Danny John, Stan
Slaughter, John Low, Steve Pryer, Barry Miller and Patrick were the key players
in those early Strollers days.
The curious thing was, as club president and statistician
Maggie Patston will testify, is that Patrick’s contribution on the field was,
to put it kindly, somewhat limited.
He made 131 appearances between 1976 and 2004. That’s a lot
of games. He scored 52 runs in 81 innings, at the scarcely believable average
of 1.04 runs per innings. I was there at Peppard when he snicked the ball
through the slips for the only boundary of his long career. And I was there for
his highest score of six not out in Bromley. And, don’t forget, he bowled one
over in 1978.
But never was it more true that statistics do not tell you
the full story. They may be astonishingly unremarkable figures but they hide
the enormous contribution Pat made to our summers. He sometimes protested that
he was not much value to the club but he could not have been more wrong.
In those early days, we did not win many games, a narrow
defeat was often the best we could hope for. But having Pat in the team and
particularly on tour made a tremendous difference.
Forever cheery, very funny and great company, Pat lifted
our spirits.
Stan Slaughter recalls one occasion when Pat walked out to
bat as our number 11 with quite a few runs needed for victory.
The bowler he was about to face was young, tall, broad
shouldered and unreasonably fast. As he pawed the ground before starting his
long and intimidating run-up, Pat stepped smartly away from his crease and
demanded that the sight screens be moved.
The opposition skipper politely asked Pat if he wanted them
moved to the left or right. “No”, Pat explained, “I want them moved to between
me and the bowler.”
At Concorde Jack Le Serve took three wickets to help us to
victory but it was the tea that took centre stage:
The tea was lovely - a special shoutout to the hosts as it
greatly improved the stats of the season. Tea-master James Dela Rue has used
his summer hours to collate the tea figures for the campaign, with some
interesting observations. As of early August there had been 11 games played. In
four games (36%) tea had been provided, six games (55%) tea had not been
provided, with the remaining game being self-provided (9%). A lovely spread
only helped improve those stats, with many sandwiches being enjoyed by all.
Off to the Three Counties Tour (actually just two these
days), where things began with a few problems:
As skipper Alastair Macaulay arrived at the ground he was
feeling confident that all was well - accommodation booked, meals had been
ordered, a batting order firmly in his head. However, it was announced that
Rowan Smith had missed the train that he was supposed to be on (Richard Skinner
did manage it), the following one was cancelled and that he would be at Rugby
waiting for the next train to Lichfield. Nonetheless Alastair won the toss and
elected to bat, figuring that Rowan could bat down the order a bit on arrival.
But Steve Rogers’ masterly 70 not gave us a defendable
score on a tricky wicket. Victory looked inevitable until young Faisal Yasdan
came to the crease:
Bankenhally was bowled by Alastair and this brought Faisal
to the crease. He took a liking to the bowling of the unfortunate Simon
Brodbeck with three consecutive sixes and with five overs to go, suddenly Wall
had a glimpse of victory. Bryson and (mainly) Yasdan put on 51 for the 8th
wicket before Hodgson bowled Bryson.
The canny David Craig came at 11 and resisted all efforts
of Oliver to winkle him out. Jim had the unenviable task of bowling the last
over with 10 needed. Yasdan then smote the first two balls out of the ground to
see Wall home by four balls. He scored 49 not out off 25 balls including
five sixes.
Defeat by one wicket – but what a game! And what a tea –
Rae-Ann had seemingly been baking for weeks as a wondrous spread was laid out
at the Burntwood ground.
On to Stanton where Steph Turner and her helpers produced
another banquet to greet the Strollers
and Travis took advantage of fourth helpings to help himself to another ton.
After the new-look Three Counties Tour [Wall and Stanton
are on the weekend after the bank holiday now that Sutton on the Hill are sadly
no longer in business] came the visit to the lovely ground at The Lee.
The weather looks highly dubious but play was possible and
Steve Rogers’ 55 set us up for 210-9. Freddie Broster-Turley continued what has
been a fine season with a match-winning burst of 6-3-18-3.
To Marlow Park and another Oliver century.
Richard Skinner reported:
Tensions were high, and Glen Oliver — still hung over from
Friday’s golf outing and having not slept a wink the night before in
anticipation of the match — attempted to stall proceedings by instructing the
fielders to move the sight screen a foot to the right, resulting in a fielder
pulling a hamstring. Mike Pittams was equally unlucky a few overs later, as he
returned from his trip to the Mr. Whippy with two soft serves lacking
sprinkles.
After posting 237-6 Jack Le Serve, Tom Salvesen and Richard
Skinner took wickets to put Marlow on the back foot.
Then:
Having snatched their fair share of wickets, Le Serve and
Salvesen were told to have a rest, with captain Wall employing himself,
Skinner, and Pittams to take the Strollers’ foot off the throat and keep Marlow
in the game.
Pittams took this instruction literally, as his solitary
over took a pounding from the Lower Pound Lane end; starting with
extreme-effort pace and ending with looping leg spin, with a few wides,
no-balls, and dead-balls along the way. After contributing 15 to Marlow's
total, the captain realised Pittams’ skills were far more valuable in the
outfield and brought himself on in an off-spin capacity.
Victory came by 29 runs…and so on to what is usually the
final game of the season, our visit to Pinkneys Green.
There looked zero chance of play with Sam Brodbeck (on a
rare outing and at the ground early) reporting that it was “torrential”. But
the rain stopped, the skies cleared and groundsman Phil Avery generously gave
the go-ahead.
And a tight battle it was. Runs were hard to come by but 50
from Oliver [during which he gloriously passed the 1,000-run mark for the
season], 37 from Travis and 30 from Love gave us a chance with 154-8.
The high spot of the game was another Brodbeck/Waitrose tea
production which gave both teams added fuel to keep the tension high.
Macaulay’s key spell of 7-0-38-3 and Oliver’s contribution of 5-3-6-3 meant
Pinkneys were always just behind the rate. When Pinkneys skipper Ben Purchese
fell after a high-class innings, that was that.
And we actually got a game in. Something of a miracle.
Glen Oliver was determined to keep the season going….and
Watford Town came to the rescue with a ‘last day of the summer’ fixture. Travis
fell just 25 runs short of his 1,000 for the campaign but a belligerent Pittams
was the architect of the 13th consecutive Sunday victory with 89.
The 2024 season saw some golden days: just five defeats and
often a hatful of runs. Thanks to everyone who appeared; thanks to the real
heroes, the match managers, and to the match referees who ensured that everyone
caught the 1105 from Paddington.
We said a sad farewell to Chris Locke, Steve Pryer, Patrick
Stoddart and Robin Yolland.
Jim Hodgson’s armada sets sail soon to conquer the French
with two games in Bordeaux. The autumn leaves are falling but Piers Ovenden has
already sent out his availability call for the Strollers Exiles in February.
The 2025 season is that distant speck on the horizon…
All corrections and additions to match reporter Simon Brodbeck.
Bordeaux Giscours
Saturday October 12 in Bordeaux
Strollers won by 122 runs
Strollers 187-6
(35 overs;
Oliver 100no, Wood 20, Daly 19)
Giscours 65
(29.4 overs; Hodgson 2-5, Broster-Turley 2-10, Macaulay 2-10, Hartley
1-2, Wood 1-12)
The Strollers assembled in Bordeaux on a warm and bright
Friday, with the weather a promising sign of things to come. Rob Wall was all
set to inflict his Franglaise on unsuspecting locals and restaurateurs.
An evening of wine and charcuterie was enjoyed at Le
Metropolitain and it was wonderful to see so many wives, partners and young
Siena making the trip and getting involved. The attention quickly moved on to
the cricketing challenges ahead.
The Ibis provided breakfast and everyone made their way out
to Chateau Giscours, where records of the vineyard go back to 1552. They
produce 25,000 cases of Grand vin Chateau Giscours every year,
an amount that even Ben Mangham conceded he would struggle to fit in his
campervan and finish before Christmas.
Regular readers will know the struggles the appointed
captain, Glen Oliver, has had with the coin toss. An agreed toss spared any
blushes and saw the Strollers put in to bat.
Wall and Mike Daly headed out to face the music, quite
literally as the band to celebrate the end of the summer harvest were starting
to find their voice along with the celebrating grape harvesters. The
walking crew, led by Jo, went off to inspect and explore the grounds of the
Chateau.
Wall and then Aidan Selby got caught with balls that stuck
in the pitch. Daly crawled his way to 19 before being relieved by Selby’s
trigger finger.
Looking on, Brian Taylor found the music to his liking and
started to cut shapes that are usually reserved for dance nights at the
Nottingham Liberal Democrat Club after big election wins.
Oliver found no issues with the pitch and slow outfield.
The music moved up a gear, and so did Oliver on his way to a nicely crafted
hundred.
Sayem Rahmen had recently joined Giscours and proved to be
rapid with a few Strollers pleased not to be on the receiving end of his pace.
Peter Wood played nicely to pick up 20 and Freddie Broster-Turley found the
pace to his liking in his 12, including a fine six over the bowler’s head.
Mangham added four, Neil Hartley was unlucky to be
dismissed for one and Jim Hodgson enjoyed his time in the middle.
The Strollers finished on 186 from 35 overs before heading
for tea. Tea was a slightly different affair from the English garden
variety as Giscours brought out a few bottles of rose and claret to wash down
the spread.
There was some suspicion the wine was brought out to derail
the Strollers performance, although fears were quickly allayed as Wood and
Broster-Turley found early wickets.
Resistance was provided by Clinton, Giscours’ elder
statesman, who frustrated the Strollers attack for a solid 19 before the
Strollers’ own statesman, Hodgson, found the breakthrough.
Steph Oliver led the charge for the wine tasting and had no
trouble finding willing participants to join in. The tasting ended with a ride
back in a golf cart from a tipsy wine guide whose cart was listing from all of
the purchases.
Back on the field, wickets from Alastair Macauley and
run-outs on the strong arm of Wood kept up a steady stream of wickets. Paige
Copsey bowled with great line and length, unlucky not to take a wicket.
An intriguing moment in the match came with the Strollers
requiring one wicket, Hartley ever so slightly misjudging a catch. The look on
his face said it all and he was told to limber up for a bowl. Hartley should
have had no concerns as he bowled with vigour usually reserved for last orders
at 11.59pm in certain French hotels. Hartley found the edge and a fine juggling
catch was taken by Selby at first slip.
Giscours were all out for 68 and the Strollers enjoyed
refreshment with the opposition in the sunshine. Clinton from Giscours
suggested that the fixture next year might involve a BBQ under the Chateau;
this got the Strollers thirsting for a return next year.
Tracks back to Bordeaux started to be made. Wood and Selby,
giddy with the excitement of the day and the prospect of bunking in together
again, jumped into the back of Mangham and Copsey’s camper with some of
Giscours finest tucked under their arm for the ride.
A dinner at Mille Et Une Saveurs, a Lebanese family
restaurant, provided a perfect end to an enjoyable day in the sun.
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Rob Wall. Match report: Mike Daly.
Damazan
Sunday October 13 near Bordeaux
Strollers lost by seven wickets
Strollers 105-9
(35 overs;
Broster-Turley 30, Oliver 20, Hartley 12no)
Damazan 106-3
(12 overs; Macaulay 1-15, Oliver 1-21, Copsey 1-24)
After a rush order of wine at 11:59pm on Saturday night
just before the hotel bar closed, Sunday morning began earlier for some than
for others. Those who did remain up for the 'afters' were said to have made
some bold batting order demands to Sunday's captain, Rob Wall. Would there be
any regrets?
Once stepping out into the sunshine about 10am, spirits
were significantly lifted by the blue skies and the promised mid-20s
temperature — a treat for mid-October especially when compared to the
rain and 10 degrees in London leading up to the weekend.
An hour or so later we arrived in Damazan and were greeted
at a delightful ground sandwiched between the local lake and a collection of
gites (holiday gites to be precise, which most definitely should not be
confused or grouped with any other type of gite).
We were greeted and warmly welcomed by two stalwarts of the
club — Jean-Claude and John. Groundsman John was approaching his 90th
birthday and this was to be his last match before finally being allowed to
retire; time will tell if we see him again next year! Worryingly, we also
spotted some of the opposition warming up in the nets a full 45 minutes prior
to the first ball.
Allegedly a game of cricket occurred shortly after.
Moving on, a few highlights from the day:
*A delicious tea was provided, including freshly baked
goods including scones with jam & cream, a range of sandwiches and actual
tea!
*A wonderful post-match presentation from Jean-Claude
including numerous insults to the English in general, and rightfully none
whatsoever for the Kiwis.
*No less than five gifts to the Strollers from Jean-Claude and the Damazans
club: an urn from the club containing some of the turf; a local bottle of wine
for the supporters; a dozen local craft beers, a puzzle for Siena; a foie gras
plate in the shape of a duck (appropriately gifted to quite a worryingly high
number of the Strollers top six whose scores for the day happened to correlate
quite well to the shape).
*A third straight fantastic dinner location selected by Jo
and Jim — this time on the east banks of the river Garonne with a
fantastic view back across to the town centre.
*Freddie Broster-Turley, who (eventually) proved that despite all previous
evidence to the contrary, it is actually physically possible for a Stroller to
catch a cricket ball on the full on a Sunday in Damazan.
After a second successful toss "negotiation" of
the weekend, the Strollers were batting. Ben Mangham and Freddie were sent out
for the first look at a skiddy artificial pitch with the last of the morning's
dew burning off. Both began positively with 20 runs coming from the first five
overs, Broster-Turley in particular was quick to pounce on any rare loose
balls.
A double bowling change soon dried up the runs though, and
as the last of the previous evening's red wines oozed out of Mangham's pores,
he attempted a tight single to mid-off. A running one-handed pick-up combined
with a side-armed throw and direct hit saw him at least five yards short.
Luckily his direction of travel was already toward the changing shed, so no
additional energy was wasted as he jogged off.
Expertly timed videography from Paige Copsey allowed the
rest of the team to analyse the alternate angles of regret crossing his face as
last night’s decisions were revisited.
*What followed was a procession as Aidan Selby (second duck
of the weekend), Wall (golden) and Peter Wood did not trouble the scorebook.
Brief interludes from Alastair Macaulay (6) and Mike Daly (1) were a shade
better and Broster-Turley (bowled after a hard fought 30) left the Strollers
hanging very precariously at 54-7.
Paige and Neil Hartley stopped the rot, though the
continued accurate swing bowling made runs hard to come by. After Paige was
caught and bowled, Glen Oliver walked out at the unfamiliar position of No 10
after his exploits the previous day. Together with Hartley he added 30 for the
ninth wicket, just dragging the Strollers over triple figures. Hodgson
(2*) then joined Hartley (12*) to see out the last couple of overs leaving
the Strollers at 105-9 after the allotted 35 overs.
To say that Damazan's opener Redwan did not waste time
getting about his work would be an understatement. Copsey dropped ever so
slightly short of a length on the fourth ball and was promptly deposited well
over the midwicket boundary, nearly into the lake.
Hartley and Jim Hodgson also come under attack with both
seeing an over go for more than 20. Betwixt the assault was some truly awful
catching - in the 12-over run chase eight chances were shelled. Copsey was the
most unfortunate bowler with four chances put down and Oliver next in line
with three. Both eventually got a wicket via the only sensible (possible?) way —
clean bowled. Broster-Turley finally held a catch off Macaulay's bowling, but
it was too little too late as we were put out of our misery very early in the
evening.
Thankfully the sun was still shining and there was some
time to enjoy a few drinks in the warmth of the evening. A great tour and
thanks once again to Jim, Jo, Stair and others who all contributed to making it
happen.
Capt: Rob Wall. Wkt: Mike Daly. Match report: Peter Wood..
