20th August 2016 at Streatham & Marlborough
Having suffered for several weeks with insufficient availability to field four Saturday teams, this week we had several players too many. Thanks to the unstinting recruiting efforts of Andy Hall we managed to assemble a 5th XI and he was able to arrange a friendly away fixture with a Streatham & Marlborough League side whose opponents had dropped out at short notice.
Over half of our team were new players to me, and I had no idea what to expect. In the event our bowlers and fielders were magnificent, but our batsmen were not. With uncertain weather in the offing we agreed a 35 over match and fortunately I lost the toss otherwise the match would have been over well before tea. All five of our bowlers performed really well, including two who are making a comeback to cricket this season after several years’ absence, and they shared all ten wickets between them dismissing the opposition for 135 on the last ball of the 35th over. Special mention must be made of three colts: Steve Barratt, who took four wickets including a hat-trick; Will East, whose controlled off breaks were exemplary; and Tom Mills, whose speed and control belied his age and whose figures of 7-3-10-1 speak for themselves.
The less said about our batting the better. We were all out for 36 in 28 overs, with another colt, Johnny Thompson, top scoring with 10. To be fair to our batsmen the pitch was proving difficult with uneven bounce during the Streatham & Marlborough innings, and it deteriorated considerably when we were batting.
Thanks to everyone who took part. It was a great pleasure to captain such a friendly and enthusiastic side.
D Vigus
Having suffered for several weeks with insufficient availability to field four Saturday teams, this week we had several players too many. Thanks to the unstinting recruiting efforts of Andy Hall we managed to assemble a 5th XI and he was able to arrange a friendly away fixture with a Streatham & Marlborough League side whose opponents had dropped out at short notice.
Over half of our team were new players to me, and I had no idea what to expect. In the event our bowlers and fielders were magnificent, but our batsmen were not. With uncertain weather in the offing we agreed a 35 over match and fortunately I lost the toss otherwise the match would have been over well before tea. All five of our bowlers performed really well, including two who are making a comeback to cricket this season after several years’ absence, and they shared all ten wickets between them dismissing the opposition for 135 on the last ball of the 35th over. Special mention must be made of three colts: Steve Barratt, who took four wickets including a hat-trick; Will East, whose controlled off breaks were exemplary; and Tom Mills, whose speed and control belied his age and whose figures of 7-3-10-1 speak for themselves.
The less said about our batting the better. We were all out for 36 in 28 overs, with another colt, Johnny Thompson, top scoring with 10. To be fair to our batsmen the pitch was proving difficult with uneven bounce during the Streatham & Marlborough innings, and it deteriorated considerably when we were batting.
Thanks to everyone who took part. It was a great pleasure to captain such a friendly and enthusiastic side.
D Vigus
Sunday Friendly XI Match Reports 2016
OD Cuaco Sunday 2nd XI 133/10 (37.5 overs) v Lamorbey Park Sunday Friendly XI (102/10)
OD Cuaco win by 31 runs.
Scorecard
The wandering Lamorbey Park XI arrived on a stunning day to ODC and were boosted by the return of old boy Andy Hall and the addition of Phil Parke - both playing against their home club.
ODs skipper Foxy won the toss and put his side into bat, with Egan-Wyer and Nott opening up. A super opening spell from Tibbs saw Egan-Wyer perish with 9 on the board and after the wayward spell of Cook was bought to an abrupt end by the Lamorbey skipper Hall came on to bowl. No doubt fired up from the derision of the partisan home crowd he tore in at (slow/medium) pace and somehow castled Nott with a mixture of foot, pad and sheer bad luck all combining. Billy Rouse now came to the crease, fresh from a quiet night at home, though his pupils appeared to be the size of microscopic bacteria. A few sharp singles on a hot day helped remove the previous evenings sins and he was soon his normal self, brutally dealing with anything loose.
After Parker took a short break after bravely stopping one with his face and Will Berry came to the crease to join Rouse. He was looking to get on with it but a shot across the line saw Hall take his second wicket. Lamorbey were up for it now and their spinners took over with Bone and Martin taking six wickets between them, the most crucial of which was Rouse, caught Oscar for 35. Howes completed an excellent display of glove work by stumping Patel (hope you were watching Henry) while Hall and Parke took catches to remove Hamilton and Sawko respectively. Shot of the match was a glorious straight drive from Tyler which splattered the stumps at the non-strikers end for the best dot ball you've ever seen.
Tea was particularly enjoyable with the cheesecake a highlight and the Lamorbey faithful were in agreement that it had been the best tea so far of the summer. A reluctant skipper Barnett finally made it to the crease after his third slice and the required total was 134 to win against a formidable ODC bowling attack.
ODC were straight into the wickets with Nott and Rouse striking early with catches from Egan-Wyer and Fox. It then turned into the Seth Tyler show who ripped out the heart of Lamorbey's batting before Fox saw pity and took him off. Sawko and Egan-Wyer bowled well and E-W took the wicket of Cook. Phil Bone then lead a fine counter attack with 41 not out and Parker saw fit to help out with a header for four but the nail in the coffin was Hall forcing Bone to run four to the ridiculously set boundary - Bone was shot and so were Lamorbey's chances. There was a further catch for Berry and two excellent run outs for Dave (what's he on?) Vigus and Henry (howzat) Hamilton (to a bemused Martin) and the crowning wicket of Hall for Tyler to much general amusement completed Lamorbey's innings and they had finished 31 runs short.
A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable day out for all concerned with Lamorbey keen to come back next season for more cheesecake, if not for the bowling of Tyler who ended with 8-2-10-5
OD Cuaco win by 31 runs.
Scorecard
The wandering Lamorbey Park XI arrived on a stunning day to ODC and were boosted by the return of old boy Andy Hall and the addition of Phil Parke - both playing against their home club.
ODs skipper Foxy won the toss and put his side into bat, with Egan-Wyer and Nott opening up. A super opening spell from Tibbs saw Egan-Wyer perish with 9 on the board and after the wayward spell of Cook was bought to an abrupt end by the Lamorbey skipper Hall came on to bowl. No doubt fired up from the derision of the partisan home crowd he tore in at (slow/medium) pace and somehow castled Nott with a mixture of foot, pad and sheer bad luck all combining. Billy Rouse now came to the crease, fresh from a quiet night at home, though his pupils appeared to be the size of microscopic bacteria. A few sharp singles on a hot day helped remove the previous evenings sins and he was soon his normal self, brutally dealing with anything loose.
After Parker took a short break after bravely stopping one with his face and Will Berry came to the crease to join Rouse. He was looking to get on with it but a shot across the line saw Hall take his second wicket. Lamorbey were up for it now and their spinners took over with Bone and Martin taking six wickets between them, the most crucial of which was Rouse, caught Oscar for 35. Howes completed an excellent display of glove work by stumping Patel (hope you were watching Henry) while Hall and Parke took catches to remove Hamilton and Sawko respectively. Shot of the match was a glorious straight drive from Tyler which splattered the stumps at the non-strikers end for the best dot ball you've ever seen.
Tea was particularly enjoyable with the cheesecake a highlight and the Lamorbey faithful were in agreement that it had been the best tea so far of the summer. A reluctant skipper Barnett finally made it to the crease after his third slice and the required total was 134 to win against a formidable ODC bowling attack.
ODC were straight into the wickets with Nott and Rouse striking early with catches from Egan-Wyer and Fox. It then turned into the Seth Tyler show who ripped out the heart of Lamorbey's batting before Fox saw pity and took him off. Sawko and Egan-Wyer bowled well and E-W took the wicket of Cook. Phil Bone then lead a fine counter attack with 41 not out and Parker saw fit to help out with a header for four but the nail in the coffin was Hall forcing Bone to run four to the ridiculously set boundary - Bone was shot and so were Lamorbey's chances. There was a further catch for Berry and two excellent run outs for Dave (what's he on?) Vigus and Henry (howzat) Hamilton (to a bemused Martin) and the crowning wicket of Hall for Tyler to much general amusement completed Lamorbey's innings and they had finished 31 runs short.
A thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable day out for all concerned with Lamorbey keen to come back next season for more cheesecake, if not for the bowling of Tyler who ended with 8-2-10-5
Chislehurst & West Kent v OD Cuaco Sunday friendly
28th August 2016
Our annual end-of-season fixture against HSBC became a friendly against Chislehurst and West Kent at their very pleasant ground opposite the Ramblers Rest. Skipper Andy Parker won the toss and we chose to bat. Notty opened with Sam de Vaux and immediately got the innings off to a quick start with a trio of 4s in the first 2 overs, the highlight being a sumptuous off-drive. He then nearly injured himself trying to get bat on a wide ball and departed caught at point for 13. Joe East then joined Sam and (one dropped catch apart) they treated the bowling with great caution, going from 13-1 off 2 overs to 16-1 from 8. Just as they were about to see off the opening bowlers de Vaux got a rank full toss and hit it straight to cover for 10. We were now 2 down with 2 quality batsmen out to the 2 worst balls bowled.
Hamilton now joined East and they proceeded to put on a 50 partnership gradually increasing the scoring rate. Hamilton continued his good form of late and displayed a sound defence mixed with cuts and flicks off his legs. After starting watchfully East started to dominate the bowling dealing particularly ruthlessly with the spinners. Hamilton eventually fell LBW for 31 which brought Louis Boyden to the wicket. The momentum didn’t drop and by 30 overs we were starting to build a decent total. Soon after Louis (25) and Joe (72) were out in quick succession. We needed to ensure the good work didn’t go to waste as 190-200 seemed the minimum we would need on a decent pitch and a quick outfield. Although Parker and East senior both fell for 4, Mills (9), Jasper (9) and Black (18*) ensured that ODCUACO reached 206-9. William Black, in particular, impressed with a series of quality strokes in a cameo innings.
Mills and Black opened the bowling and immediately a fine match started to develop. Chislehurst got off to a quick start with a combination of luck (4s through 3rd man and a genuinely unplayable ball from Mills that also evaded the keeper) and quality strokes in particular from Rogers. During this spell both bowlers took a wicket however these were the last wickets for a while. What followed was a 10 over period of Mick Boyden and Olly Jasper (5-1-19-0) bowling in tandem where the run rate went from just above required to somewhere below.
At drinks the score was 90-2 with the game very much in the balance. Boyden finished his spell with figures of 8-1-20-0 - it was this miserly spell that set the stage for the collapse that followed. Joe East and Ed Nott came on to bowl and the batsmen started to attempt to increase the run rate. Eventually Joe nicked out the number 4 who had hung around for a long time for 12. Mills came back on to replace Nott with the game finely balance at 146-3 off 33. At this point the dam broke - in the space of 3 overs 4 wickets fell and the game was effectively over. Joe East finished with 4-41, Mills 2-32 and Black chipping in at the end to finish with 2-35. Chislehurst and West Kent finished on 188-8 and the game was won by 18 runs.
A very decent performance in the field led by Ed Nott who set the standard and by Henry Hamilton with some fine sweeping on the boundary. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon topped by a victory.
28th August 2016
Our annual end-of-season fixture against HSBC became a friendly against Chislehurst and West Kent at their very pleasant ground opposite the Ramblers Rest. Skipper Andy Parker won the toss and we chose to bat. Notty opened with Sam de Vaux and immediately got the innings off to a quick start with a trio of 4s in the first 2 overs, the highlight being a sumptuous off-drive. He then nearly injured himself trying to get bat on a wide ball and departed caught at point for 13. Joe East then joined Sam and (one dropped catch apart) they treated the bowling with great caution, going from 13-1 off 2 overs to 16-1 from 8. Just as they were about to see off the opening bowlers de Vaux got a rank full toss and hit it straight to cover for 10. We were now 2 down with 2 quality batsmen out to the 2 worst balls bowled.
Hamilton now joined East and they proceeded to put on a 50 partnership gradually increasing the scoring rate. Hamilton continued his good form of late and displayed a sound defence mixed with cuts and flicks off his legs. After starting watchfully East started to dominate the bowling dealing particularly ruthlessly with the spinners. Hamilton eventually fell LBW for 31 which brought Louis Boyden to the wicket. The momentum didn’t drop and by 30 overs we were starting to build a decent total. Soon after Louis (25) and Joe (72) were out in quick succession. We needed to ensure the good work didn’t go to waste as 190-200 seemed the minimum we would need on a decent pitch and a quick outfield. Although Parker and East senior both fell for 4, Mills (9), Jasper (9) and Black (18*) ensured that ODCUACO reached 206-9. William Black, in particular, impressed with a series of quality strokes in a cameo innings.
Mills and Black opened the bowling and immediately a fine match started to develop. Chislehurst got off to a quick start with a combination of luck (4s through 3rd man and a genuinely unplayable ball from Mills that also evaded the keeper) and quality strokes in particular from Rogers. During this spell both bowlers took a wicket however these were the last wickets for a while. What followed was a 10 over period of Mick Boyden and Olly Jasper (5-1-19-0) bowling in tandem where the run rate went from just above required to somewhere below.
At drinks the score was 90-2 with the game very much in the balance. Boyden finished his spell with figures of 8-1-20-0 - it was this miserly spell that set the stage for the collapse that followed. Joe East and Ed Nott came on to bowl and the batsmen started to attempt to increase the run rate. Eventually Joe nicked out the number 4 who had hung around for a long time for 12. Mills came back on to replace Nott with the game finely balance at 146-3 off 33. At this point the dam broke - in the space of 3 overs 4 wickets fell and the game was effectively over. Joe East finished with 4-41, Mills 2-32 and Black chipping in at the end to finish with 2-35. Chislehurst and West Kent finished on 188-8 and the game was won by 18 runs.
A very decent performance in the field led by Ed Nott who set the standard and by Henry Hamilton with some fine sweeping on the boundary. A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon topped by a victory.
4th September 2016
OD Cuaco Sunday Friendly XI 185/7 (40 overs)
Orpington Sunday Friendly XI 186/8 (35.4 overs)
With overcast conditions and a precarious 14mph westerly breeze, debut skipper A Patel arrived at OD Cuaco Cricket Ground with the intention of winning the toss and bowling first. However, after consulting vice-captain J East and senior stalwart A Ainger, Patel promptly reversed his intentions, duly won the toss, and elected to bat. On a moist surface with a WASP of 190, Andy Parker and the second-fastest-Hamilton-after-Lewis opened the batting and saw off the new ball with textbook vigilance. Despite the occasional fishing without an angling licence, H Hamilton played with a tight technique and caressed some signature glides down to third man. At the other end, Parker punched pugnaciously before being bowled to a venomous delivery from an off-spinner. Hamilton fell shortly after for an enterprising 22, caught at slip off another vicious ball that turned and bounced.
Skipper A Patel and rising star J East had a solid partnership as they picked off the spinners and played the occasional aggressive stroke, East in particular providing a masterclass of putting rubbish in the bin. However, against the run of play, East received a half tracker that kept ludicrously low, and was fairly adjudged lbw for 29. T Boyden entered, playing his first game for over a year, but was dismissed for a duck by the same bowler, this time a viperous off-break that deceptively slid through the gate to hit the stumps. Shortly after, in a poorly executed effort to increase the run rate, A Patel chipped a ball straight to mid-off to be caught for 27.
This left L Boyden (20) and W Black to steady the ship, and Boyden in particular capitalised on some short pitched bowling from the opposition spinners to pick up some much needed boundaries. Both batsmen departed around the 30th over, to leave W East and A Ainger to accelerate the scoring rate at the business end of the innings. W East (18*) displayed some decisive footwork as he rotated the strike superbly. This left Ainger to finish off the innings in swashbuckling style, launching multiple maximums in the terminal over to take the final total to 185, Ainger ending on 40*.
Defending a moderately below-par total, OD Cauco came out enthusiastic after an inspirational speech from the skipper. However, the start of the innings did not go to plan as Harry Deans (5.4-0-35-0) and Ainger were quite rudely dispatched to the boundary several times as Orpington began their chase with sincere aggression. J East (8-1-41-2) was thus brought on to bowl to take pace off the ball, and eventually struck to dismiss one of the openers. Ainger (8-1-33-2) then took a couple of wickets in the sixth and last over of his spell, but at this stage ODC was behind the game with the opposition scoring at nearly 6 runs per over.
Enter W East (4-1-15-2), who bowled with great guile and intelligence, drying up the runs with impeccable control. At the other end, H Deans Senior (5-0-22-1) also compounded the pressure with some miserly bowling, and this bowling partnership saw wickets being taken a regular intervals to leave Orpington six down. Some memorable catches were taken, including T Boyden at gully (a high swirling ball that was well judged) and A Patel (the pink panther prowled in from square leg and dived to take the catch of the day inches from the ground).
L Boyden (2-0-15-1), W Black, A Patel and Harry Deans all bowled a couple of overs each towards the end, but ultimately Orpington’s batting was too strong as they crossed the line 8 wickets down and with 4 overs to spare. A thrilling end to a tempestuous season of one day cricket!
Special thanks must go to Andy Hall for organising this fixture, and Robin East for helping with the scoring, and boundary rope duties along with L Boyden and Harry Deans.
OD Cuaco Sunday Friendly XI 185/7 (40 overs)
Orpington Sunday Friendly XI 186/8 (35.4 overs)
With overcast conditions and a precarious 14mph westerly breeze, debut skipper A Patel arrived at OD Cuaco Cricket Ground with the intention of winning the toss and bowling first. However, after consulting vice-captain J East and senior stalwart A Ainger, Patel promptly reversed his intentions, duly won the toss, and elected to bat. On a moist surface with a WASP of 190, Andy Parker and the second-fastest-Hamilton-after-Lewis opened the batting and saw off the new ball with textbook vigilance. Despite the occasional fishing without an angling licence, H Hamilton played with a tight technique and caressed some signature glides down to third man. At the other end, Parker punched pugnaciously before being bowled to a venomous delivery from an off-spinner. Hamilton fell shortly after for an enterprising 22, caught at slip off another vicious ball that turned and bounced.
Skipper A Patel and rising star J East had a solid partnership as they picked off the spinners and played the occasional aggressive stroke, East in particular providing a masterclass of putting rubbish in the bin. However, against the run of play, East received a half tracker that kept ludicrously low, and was fairly adjudged lbw for 29. T Boyden entered, playing his first game for over a year, but was dismissed for a duck by the same bowler, this time a viperous off-break that deceptively slid through the gate to hit the stumps. Shortly after, in a poorly executed effort to increase the run rate, A Patel chipped a ball straight to mid-off to be caught for 27.
This left L Boyden (20) and W Black to steady the ship, and Boyden in particular capitalised on some short pitched bowling from the opposition spinners to pick up some much needed boundaries. Both batsmen departed around the 30th over, to leave W East and A Ainger to accelerate the scoring rate at the business end of the innings. W East (18*) displayed some decisive footwork as he rotated the strike superbly. This left Ainger to finish off the innings in swashbuckling style, launching multiple maximums in the terminal over to take the final total to 185, Ainger ending on 40*.
Defending a moderately below-par total, OD Cauco came out enthusiastic after an inspirational speech from the skipper. However, the start of the innings did not go to plan as Harry Deans (5.4-0-35-0) and Ainger were quite rudely dispatched to the boundary several times as Orpington began their chase with sincere aggression. J East (8-1-41-2) was thus brought on to bowl to take pace off the ball, and eventually struck to dismiss one of the openers. Ainger (8-1-33-2) then took a couple of wickets in the sixth and last over of his spell, but at this stage ODC was behind the game with the opposition scoring at nearly 6 runs per over.
Enter W East (4-1-15-2), who bowled with great guile and intelligence, drying up the runs with impeccable control. At the other end, H Deans Senior (5-0-22-1) also compounded the pressure with some miserly bowling, and this bowling partnership saw wickets being taken a regular intervals to leave Orpington six down. Some memorable catches were taken, including T Boyden at gully (a high swirling ball that was well judged) and A Patel (the pink panther prowled in from square leg and dived to take the catch of the day inches from the ground).
L Boyden (2-0-15-1), W Black, A Patel and Harry Deans all bowled a couple of overs each towards the end, but ultimately Orpington’s batting was too strong as they crossed the line 8 wickets down and with 4 overs to spare. A thrilling end to a tempestuous season of one day cricket!
Special thanks must go to Andy Hall for organising this fixture, and Robin East for helping with the scoring, and boundary rope duties along with L Boyden and Harry Deans.
ODCuaco Sunday Friendly XI Post-season tour of Kent Village Tour 2016
11th September v Cudham Wyse
ODCuaco 193/8 (40 overs)
Cudham Wyse 195/5 (39.4 overs)
Cudham Wyse win by 5 wickets (with two balls to spare)
On a sumptuous late-summers day ODC arrived at Cudham’s beautiful ground with a mixed team and looking forward to carrying the season on. Having won the toss, a task that seemed impossible during the league season, Hall put his side into bat. Patel and Egan-Wyer totally dismantled the home openers and put on a swift 71 runs before Egan-Wyer was stumped attempting to bring up his half century with a flourish. Patel then immediately ran himself out selflessly to ensure everyone got a bat. Deans came and went with Sawko hitting successive boundaries on his way to his top score of the season before he was triggered by Patel again looking to get everyone a bat. With Nott at the crease runs were beginning to flow but who could stay in with him? In truth no-one particularly scored many but they didn’t need to as Notty was piling on the runs. Hall, J East and McLaughlin all put on partnerships of 20 or more with Nott finally out for 64 having run himself out helping the team rather than looking after his average – a top innings. ODC had scored 193 from their 40 overs – game on.
The stingy Parke and impressive Oprych opened up for ODC and both deserved wickets but were denied by some poor catching (the skipper dropping the worst of them). Joe East and Harry Deans were 1st change with Deans finally taking a wicket by bowling the opener – a good job really as we didn’t look like taking a catch! Will East bowled a super spell of seven overs that belied his young age – what a prospect – with the oppo’s number one lucky to miss the fielders in the deep with some brutal hitting to the leg side. Sawko then showed us all how to do it by taking the catch from Halls’ bowling that snared the number one after he had reached 50 and the run rate began to slow. Sawko and Parke combined for the next wicket before a Deans run out gave ODC hope. Another catch from Sawko (off Deans) had Cudham 5 down but they snuck home with two balls to spare - John McLaughlin kept wicket superbly for only the second time with only four byes conceded – though the timing of these byes was unfortunate with Cudham needing 2 to win off off 3 balls!
Still an excellent match with ten of the team batting and eight bowlers and a game that lasted for 79.4 of the 80 overs planned with both teams having a chance to win – classic friendly cricket.
18th September v Meopham
ODCuaco 138/5 (35 overs)
Meopham 142/6 (34.3 overs)
Meopham win by 4 wickets (with three balls to spare)
Laurence Sanders was skipper for the day with De Vaux, Mick Boyden and Hamilton coming in for Hall, Oprych, Nott and Parke. Toss won and ODC were into bat. Runs were hard to come by with Egan-Wyer falling cheaply. De Vaux made 14 before missing a straight one bringing Patel and McLaughlin together who put on 59 before McLaughlin was out plumb LBW – no hawk eye required for this one – just short of his half century with 45. Sanders, Boyden and Joe East (in particular) added some valuable runs with Patel out for 27 and Meopham were set 139 to win from 35 overs.
Deans tore in and numbers 2 & 3 were removed without troubling the scorer. Mick Boyden then bowled Lucket and Meopham were wobbling though their opener was standing firm and advanced to his half century. Joe east finally snared him with some quick glove work from Hamilton before Joe helped his brother to a wicket with a good catch. Joe then bowled Tucker for ODC’s 6th wicket but Meopham managed to get home with three balls to spare – another close finish!
At this point it’s worth mentioning that this has been voted one of the top teas of all time by those who were there and that for this reason alone a return fixture has been booked for Sunday the 17th of September 2017 – mark it down in your diaries.
25th September v East Sutton
Alas the only lowlight of the tour with a mix-up denying ODC a game – match cancelled
2nd October v Ash Village
ODCuaco 238/8 (46 overs)
Ash Village 71/8 (40 overs)
Timed Game – Match drawn
What a beauty of a place to play cricket. Before beginning each player had to read the tree rules – this owing to the copse of 9 trees (various types) sitting within the boundary ropes (incredibly enough not hit by anyone!).
Word of this fine tour had now spread through the club with star players Ainger and Worsley now keen to get in on the action. Robin East and Mark Whittle were the other newcomers with the unfortunate Mick Boydens’ request for a game coming in five minutes too late (sorry Mick).
So to the game and an agreed format of two and a half hours of batting for the away side which would then leave the home side with the unlikely task of matching the score with one hours batting + twenty overs. Robin East and deans opened the batting with Deans out early though having enough time to stroke a glorious straight boundary. Joe East then supported East Snr well before chipping back a return catch. Will East stayed in long enough to see his Dad make his first ODC 50 while Whittle didn’t trouble the scorer much but the big guns hiding down the order were now into the action with Ainger now coming in. East Snr was now happy to play a supporting role with Ainger brutally hitting 28 from 14 balls before holing out aiming for the trees. McLaughlin was equally brutal with 44 from 33 balls while Sanders was in a hurry to get Sawko in so chipped back to the bowler who took a smart catch belying his years. East Snr (72) was finally out exhausted within a run of giving him bragging rights over middle East (highest score also 72). Worsley and Sawko then added 42 runs together with Sawko scoring a seasons’ best for the second innings in a row leaving the skipper all padded up with no-one to play with.
Tea was very enjoyable with the chicken tikka sandwiches a highlight – more filling than bread, a must for any serious sandwich.
So ODC were now into bowl and determined to give the oppo as many overs as possible to score the runs they needed. This however began to unravel when Hall took out the number one first ball of the innings – gloved to Sanders keeping wicket. Worth pointing out at this junction that Sanders pads were totally awful and have no place on a cricket field.
The fielding from ODC was terrific keeping the run rate to a minimum. Whittle bowled a really good opening spell and was rewarded with a wicket with Ainger taking a good catch at leg slip.Will East bowled a tidy but spell in tandem with Deans and an airborne McLaughlin took a corker at gully to give deans a wicket before the moment of the match. Sawko bowled the only bad ball of his spell which was slapped through the covers for a certain four until Worsley took one of the best instinct catches one handed that you’ll see high above his head. Ainger then relegated McLaughlins’ effort to the 3rd best catch of the day with a beauty at slip off of Sawko before the Sawko/Worsley combo struck again. Worsley and Ainger took further wickets but despite a late assault by Hall and Ainger Ash stood firm and escaped with a creditable and deserved draw.
A couple of pints were had at the White Swan with the opposition leaving ODC keen for a return next season. ODC had played cricket outside in October and the tour was complete.
Summary
3 matches (2 x losses, 1 x draw)
234.5 overs of play
19 players
13 bowlers (9 wicket takers)
569 ODC runs
Best Batting - Robin East 72 (v Ash), Ed Nott 64 (v Cudham)
Best Bowling – Steve Sawko 5-3-5-3 (v Ash)