Newsletter #1
- chriswebster
- May 15
- 15 min read
We are back! Cricket is back in full swing with some great senior results to kick of the year, and a lot of junior cricket already underway too!
The clubhouse has been re-opened and features improved fire safety elements, such as fire doors, and alarms that alert everyone of danger, (including when the showers are too hot and steamy...)
Other ground developments have seen the refurbishment of our scorebox thanks to the generosity of two members in particular. Liam Hayward and Tom Howe contributed significant funds towards the development, and the club would like to thank them for their kindness. In addition, thank you to Bob Bridges who ran the project, making sure everything was specially designed for our needs, and it all went to plan!
I'd also like to say thanks to Mark our groundsman who has turned the ground from the bog it was to a fantastic scene for cricket once again, working hard not only to get us the best quality pitches, but also helping our practice facilities improve with the availability of the grass net and space in the middle for bowling practice.
Some great results this week that you can read about below. Special congratulations to the 1st XI on their romping 206 run victory at the home of cricket vs Linden Park, and individual recognition must go to Kieran Hammond and Billy Rouse for their 5fers.
Let's build on the momentum from last week and get some more points in Week 2!
Picture of the Week
1st XI v Linden Park
The Wonderful Wizards of O(d)Z
Toilet humour, cricketing prowess and a few flying monkeys – it’s your classic West End tale, just with more LBWs and knob jokes.
It was a glorious day – sun shining, birds chirping, a 22-yard-long green-brick road shimmering with promise – as the Wizard of OdZ (Chris Webster) pondered the great cricketing question: to bowl or to bat? Tempted by the potential for early seam movement, he instead waved clicked his heels and chose to bat, hoping the bricks might come loose later in the day.
Kitted up and spirits high, the main characters of our tale, the beloved ‘friends of Dorothy’, stepped up to the crease. The journey to the mythical City of 18 Pints would be long and boozy, but hope and enthusiasm was clear. The Lion, the Tinman and the Scarecrow were all in search of something vital: courage, a heart and a functioning brain. Winter had been spent auditioning for the Wizard’s favour, with mixed results. As you will see, two out of three isn’t bad….
First up we have the Scarecrow. But his search for a brain started long before Saturday. Hours of nets, throwdowns and one can only assume (hopefully) prescription medicines put the scarecrow in a perfect position to show the Wizard how worthy he is of a top spot in the order.
Taking on the green-brick road first were Worsley (3) and the Scarecrow (52). The former trapped LBW with one that hit him closer the gentleman’s region than his pads. The scarecrow was joined by another African and the runs began to flow. A superbly managed partnership taking OdZ past 100 for the loss of only 1 wicket. One of sensible shot selection, well timed attack and punishment of bad balls. The scarecrow found his brain.
The Wizard himself (70) and his brother, Lord Farquaad (45) – yes, a brief genre-hopping moment, do keep up - batted with equal aplomb and the total climbed. At 265-5 with a handful of overs remaining the Wizard gave his permission for the remaining batters to go on the all-out attack. But this is where our story turns a little sadder.
Enter the Tinman (3), batting at eight. Alas, his missing heart seemed not only a romantic flaw but a cricketing one. His recent university experience had, shall we say, not warmed the cockles of any maidens, and he was in dire need of a decent knock to salvage both pride and Tinder prospects. Sadly, he succeeded only in adding ‘reverse sweep disaster’ to his CV and spent the evening alone with Handerella. His own words: “It was on.” The scoreboard begged to differ. Unfortunately, the only ladies he managed to get close to that day appear a little later in our story….
With all that said, OdZ batted superbly well and finished their innings on 275. A strong total on a home wicket that the stat-man Wizard had been comparing to games gone by, satisfying himself that the score was well above the average. But only half the job had been done.
Over to the bowlers to take their first steps on the road to the City of 18 Pints.
The new ball was shared between Worsley (2-0-25-1) and The Lion (6-2-17-5). The latter has been prevented from playing much 1s cricket up until now thanks to the evil deeds of the Wicked Witch of West Wickham, Elphagaz. The Lion had lost his courage having to spend his Saturdays with Elphagaz but was determined to get it back.
It appears someone had doused the old crone with water – and with courage restored and mane flowing (well, ginger hair gusting) – the Lion roared.
The opening 4 overs, or should I say 6, set the tone. Aggressive stroke play from the opposition batters along with some early season ‘rust’ resulted in a flurry of runs. Although Worsley asked the Wizard if he could come off after 1 legal delivery, he persevered and made the crucial breakthrough of Sadiq before his wish was granted.
Baylis (5-2-21-3) replaced Worsley and then all hell broke loose.
The Lion roared into action. The batters stood no chance. Probing and nipping the ball from back of a length the Lion regained his lost courage to utterly blow away the opposition.
The other opener eventually nicked off to Webster for an innings top score of 18. Number 3 attempted to ‘defy gravity’, pulling a shorter delivery but it fell straight into the hands of Worsley. Batters 5 and 7? Cleaned up. Sims and Worsley (VPCom) in the (red) slippers then got in the action to snaffle a couple of edges which completed the Lions 5fer.
Baylis joined the party in the alternate overs picking up 3 for himself as both the seamers looked to ruin the spinners day by wrapping up the innings without a ball of turgid loopy crap being delivered. Alas Ainger (1-0-1-0) and W East (0.2-0-0-1) both had a go at number 11. Some serious Sunday style Chris Colby stat padding by East.
Every ball was an event. Either a wicket, chance, boundary or no ball/wide. The fielders closed in like flying monkeys.
The final wicket taken in the 15th over and the game was wrapped up before 5pm.
Courage? Tick. Heart? Partial credit. Brains? Found. OdZ strolled into the City of 18 Pints with a full set of league points and jugs flowing. The Wizard welcomed his heroes Lion, Scarecrow, Tinman back into the changing room along with the remaining ‘friends of Dorothy’. The Tinman even had his chance at redemption when unexpectedly 2 ladies arrived accompanied by the Bard: Sir James of Blunt.
A fairy tale day of cricket, and they all lived happily ever after…… Well, until Rousey turned up the next morning and saw the state they’d left the clubhouse in.
Match report by Dorothy Baylis
2nd XI v Catford & Cyphers
Catford are newly promoted to our league and we suspected they might have one or two decent bowlers, but perhaps a bit light on batting.
Batting first, in a sign of the evolution of Gazball, Louis was promoted to open. Unlucky to face up to Sam Gold, who might prove one of the leading wicket-takers in the division, Louis succumbed to the last ball of the first over. His mood wouldn’t have improved if he’d watched the succession of long-hops and full/tosses that peppered the 2nd over. Luckily he was still in the changing room taking off his pads.
Laurence and Richard then set about blunting the opening attack, with some success although Richard did fall to Gold who bowled through for figures of 9-4-13-2, his figures ruined by his final ball going for 4. Gary had joined Gaz at around the 14th over with the innings precariously poised at 31-2. He gave some much needed impetus, looking in good form before smashing a short ball from the first change straight back at him. It was a wonderful catch and his Cyphers team-mates seemed quite surprised. A bit unlucky for Gary who departed for 20.
Laurence was joined by Olly (24) and then Rohan (36). Hopefully these 2 will form the engine room for the 2s batting at 5 and 6. Too often in the past the 2s have failed to capitalise on solid starts. On this occasion they kept up the pace set by Gary, both batting with assurance, running with purpose and putting away the bad ball. Laurence was also starting to move up the gears (a bit!) with some scoops to the slow bowlers and pulls off the seamers. He passed 50 and continued to motor on after the loss of both Olly and Rohan. In partnership with Ash (15*, SR 100.0) they ran the clearly tiring Cyphers team ragged. Laurence finished on 86* off 119 balls which was pretty much the perfect anchor innings. The team finished on 217-5 which we felt was a good effort on a pitch that had a fair bit of variable bounce.
A big bonus of having Cyphers in our league was they provide a tea. And a pretty good one too that included some slightly weird spicy cheese and onion sandwiches, which were actually pretty tasty. With bellies full we started the 2nd innings with Hall and Bennett. Hally (2-32) started with 3 wides but then settled into a nice rhythm picking up an early wicket and another later on. Kai (1-26) bowled a magnificent 9 over spell including an early wicket and passed the bat countless times. Quite honestly he deserved more wickets. Cricket is a cruel game.
Cyphers rebuilt with a 4th wicket 50 partnership. They were up with the rate and things were looking interesting at drinks. However East managed to smuggle a ball through an attempted sweep shot for an LBW - an optimistic shot on a pitch with seam and variable bounce. When Liam took the other member of the partnership the game was pretty much over. East (2-25) and Pooley (2-27) took another wicket each, with Richard taking a blinder off Liam at slip. As usual Ash (3-18) swept up the tail despite a few lusty blows from the number 9. A comprehensive victory, with ODs being much better in all departments. Big thanks to Howard for umpiring.
Match Report by Robin East
3rd XI v Old Elthamians
The 3s kicked off their league season against the newly relegated Old Elthamians at the picturesque College Meadow on a glorious sunny day.
Abhishek didn’t calm the skipper’s nerves by explaining that he remembered when our 2s used to play their 2s, let alone their 1s, and that his family friend had smashed 80 odd off 80 for them in a thumping win the week before.
With Tom Lake not due at the ground until after the start due to his Saturday job, it was imperative that we won the toss and batted. Sure enough, we lost the toss and went out a man short.
Debutant James Gilen donned the gloves in the interim with a set of inner gloves passed on via the Chair, into the Chair’s son’s bag and with the bag delivered by the skipper with the Chair’s son travelling in by train after a night out with his uni mates.
Not the ideal start to the season.
No matter, we had the returning Harrison Modeste and the wicket machine Howard Thomas opening up the bowling ready to apply the classic OD 3s squeeze!
As it was, Abhishek’s friend struck a couple of meaty blows and then departed for a mere 9 with ball-magnet Simon Henley taking the first of three catches in the off side.
Unfortunately, this early pace was a sign of things to come as their skipper kept walking down the pitch and messing up Howard’s lengths and figures with a rapid 30 from 30.
Harrison saw him off as well as OD’s looked to get back on top with the two openers gone.
Old Elthamians had plenty of depth and scored quickly and it took a top performance from Billy Rouse to keep us in the game as he shook off the previous day’s festivities with some classic in-swingers in his five-fer.
Even the normally miserly Rakesh Posam took some tap, but got a great wicket as their big number six leathered the ball to Howard at mid-off who looked as surprised as anyone to take the catch!
Despite a wicket for Henley and another for Harrison, ODs never got on top of their scoring, with the highlight the last over of the innings where Billy mopped up the tail with his final two wickets to bowl them out for 211 with 3 balls left.
So, a challenging total to chase, but with the returning Sherry Gul at the top of the order anything is possible.
Old Elthamian’s showed their experience of the wicket and went pace off with an accurate slow seamer and spinner opening up and a very heavy off-side field that would have brought a happy tear to Lawrence Saunders’ eye if only the boundaries weren’t so short!
Sadly, the spinner accounted for Sherry (4) trapped LBW after a trademark whip over square leg. In came the skipper for a breezy 17 until an ill-advised drive through that off-side field saw him depart to a good one-handed catch.
Poor Abhishek (0) was run out without even facing a ball, debutante James Gillin (0) chipped back to the slow seamer who then bowled the returning Imran Gill (0) and all of a sudden ODs were in all sorts of trouble at 36-5.
It took an innings of real maturity beyond his years from Tom Lake to bring some hope back to the game as he battled through the collapse and then swished his way to a magnificent 68. He was more than aided by an excellent innings and a first league 50 for Rakesh Posam (54) who tempered his natural attacking game, for a while at least, as the two put on a superb hundred partnership.
Rakesh holed out when trying to accelerate for the win and was followed shortly afterwards by Tom Lake as the game slipped away from ODs with the run rate pushing double figures.
Late cameos from Billy Rouse (18*) and Harrison (11*) weren’t quite enough and ODs fell short at 181-7 having battled back to pick up some potentially valuable batting points against a team who will surely be pushing for promotion.
Match report by Chris Colby
4th XI v Chislehurst & West Kent
What a day to be alive. The sun was shining, a gentle breeze drifted across the ground, and we kicked off our league season with an away fixture against Chislehurst & West Kent at the Willet Recreation Ground. To top it off – teas were provided. Could it get any better?
Our skipper had hoped to continue his fine form at the toss, but alas, luck deserted him, and we were asked to bowl first. The pitch looked solid, and while the outfield was small in places, it was long enough to keep the fitter members of the squad busy.
Opening from the far end was the ever-reliable Steve Sawko, starting with his usual accuracy – even if the ball doesn’t always pitch! He delivered a tidy first over, followed by the improving Ollie Arratoon, whose bowling now features an intriguing mix of in- and out-swing. The pair kept things tight early on, and it wasn’t long before the breakthrough came. Sawko once again proved that old adage true: "Bowl straight – if they miss, you hit." Great stuff, Steve.
As fatigue crept in, the skipper turned to the master of flight and guile – Steelo. He bowled 9 overs for just 21 runs and picked up two key wickets. Their batters had no answer to his precision, one even slicing a catch to rising star Felix Jones at short gully, which was well held.
At drinks, the hosts were 71 for 4 – the result of disciplined bowling and sharp fielding, especially from Ed Hornby. We felt we had a slight upper hand.
After the break, Chislehurst looked to accelerate. The shots became more aggressive, and despite our bowlers sticking to their plans, sometimes cricket just doesn’t go your way. Their big-hitting Antipodean cleared the ropes a few times, taking advantage of birthday boy T. Fox’s generosity.
Rosanna Smith, making her league debut for the club, bowled with composure and accuracy. She kept a tight line and escaped largely unscathed – even prompting one batter to step across and block what could have been called a wide. A true gentleman!
Ed Hornby came on for a tidy spell of leg spin, before Sawko and Jones returned to close the innings. They bowled well but were unfortunate as several edges raced to the boundary. Chislehurst ended on 209 – a tough but chaseable target.
After enjoying a proper cricket tea (a rare luxury these days), we went out to bat with positive intent and a reshuffled order. The skipper dropped himself to No. 4, while Kevan and the Chair opened.
And what a start it was. The pair batted superbly, not giving the opposition a sniff until four balls before drinks, when Rousey was run out attempting a quick single – rightly sent back by Kevan. Still, it was a partnership to savour. Rousey, as ever, walked at the bowlers and dispatched them to all corners, while Kevan’s aggressive late cuts were a joy to watch. The running between the wickets was excellent too. We reached 98-1 at drinks – needing just 111 from the final 20 overs with 9 wickets in hand.
In came Anmol – claiming not to have picked up a bat since last season – but it didn’t show. He timed the ball beautifully from the off. Kevan eventually fell for a well-made 48, bringing the skipper to the crease, where quick singles and twos were perhaps no longer on the cards!
Anmol kept going strong, racing to a brilliant 55 before being caught at midwicket. Ed Hornby joined the skipper and immediately made him run three 2s in a single over – something many thought impossible. With loose bowling and smart running, the required rate dropped to just 4.4 per over with 10 to go. Could we do it?
The skipper, having run more than he’d have liked, eventually perished to a mistimed drive over extra cover, caught at mid-off.
No panic though – as per our pre-match planning, we still had Steelo, the best caller of a run in the club. He strolled to the middle, and with six wickets in hand, confidence remained high – his booming calls of "Yes!" and "No!" ringing around the ground.
With calm heads, steady running, and clean hitting, the pair guided us home. The result was never in doubt.
So, back to that original question – could life get any better? The answer: absolutely. A brilliant chase, 20 points in the bag, and a performance to be proud of.
Well played, the 4s. A magnificent team effort – the skipper was truly proud of every one of you.
Match report by Mark Coles
Sunday XI v Sherwood CC
Junior Results
Under 17s v Old Wilsonians
Lose toss bowl.
Ollie Arratoon and Max Morgan started very well. Ollie bowled the no 2 and then Luke Colby ran out the no 1 with an excellent direct hit. 9-2 off 3 overs was promising. However, OW’s had good batters at 3 and 4 and, though they were eventually bowled by Ben Pounder and Max, the damage had been done. Luke took a very good catch in the deep, but don’t ask him about the skier to mid-wicket. Young Reuben Carr impressed with 1-20 from 3 and Felix Jones and Ed Hornby bowled tidily but were wicketless. Ollie (2-10) and Max (3-17) finished the innings off very tightly but the total of 20 extras was disappointing and OW’s finished on 139-8.
The reply started briskly with Lake and Colby but Tom was caught behind for 12. Luke held the innings together with 38 off 58, in partnership with Marshall and Max, who both scored 18. However, OW’s key man, Jack Delay, who had scored 63 runs at a rate of 146, bowled 4 tight overs and finished with 1-17. It’s fair to say he was the difference between the teams. Reeyan, Ed and Ollie tried to chase the runs in the last few overs but we finished 23 runs short with 5 wickets down.
On the plus side, we earned 4 points for batting and 4 points for bowling. Let’s hope for a win away at Bromley Common.
Match report by Bob Bridges
Fantasy Cricket
Welcome to the 2025 edition of OD CUACO CC Fantasy Cricket!
Here you are able to make the decisions and choices that you want to make. Who are your big hitters going to be? Who are you going to trust to be your team's captain? Will you make the correct choice when selecting your all important all rounder? The answers will soon be clear in the coming weeks.
Every single adult match played on a Saturday will count towards the points tally so use your talent spotting to select their best possible 11 from a budget of £55 million.
Cost of entry per team is just £6, payment must be made via this website when you set your team up. You can enter as many sides as you like. There will be prize money available (details TBC).
Good luck and thanks for playing!
Communications - OD CUACO WhatsApp Announcements Group
Join our ODs WhatsApp Announcements group! By scanning the below from a mobile phone / tablet etc. you will be asking to join our newly formed members information group. The administrators of the group will provide amongst club updates, news of social/ cricket events, and any quick one line information bulletins considered useful to members. This will be an information only group and will not be a chat. Newsletters with more in-depth information will continue to be sent.
200 Club
The 200 club is a monthly raffle that occurs throughout the season giving members the opportunity to win up to £200. Entry is just £20 per ticket for the year.
Its not long until the first draw for the season, so if you would like to join, details can be found here along with the payment link.
Ball and Match Sponsorship
We are still looking for ball and match sponsorships for our games this year. These come at just at £25. This is a very important way for us to raise funds for various projects at the club, not covered in our normal budget. The link for this is below.
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