Match Reports:
1st XI v Whitstable
Week 3 of the season came around with OD’s heading to the seaside to play fellow promoted side from last year Whitstable. We did the double over them, so hope was high as the new skipper won his second toss in a row and OD’s were batting on a traditionally high scoring ground.
The home team would have been the happier of sides after the early exchanges with the OD’s top 3 all dismissed cheaply as we found ourselves 36-3 and facing an uphill battle to put on a competitive total. Never fear, C Dubz is here! Chris, elevated to number 4 this season stepped up playing some glorious shots around the ground and begun the fightback. Fellow comrade Parr at the other end was ticking over nicely playing spin beautifully. The two put on superb 50 run partnership before a lapse of concentration from Parr had him popping one up to mid-on. This halted the OD’s charge and once again we needed to re build. Ron joined Chris at the crease and steadied the ship before being cleaned up by a top tier delivery to be fair to the lad.
This brought the returning JB to the crease in a new role at numb
er 7. He along with Chris who was continuing his merry way batted beautifully together. Chris passed 50 and was dismissed just as he was looking to push the accelerator for a well made 82 (84) to a very good catch. JB and the skipper continued the fightback with Andy making a fluent 31 which JB passed 50. Some lower order hitting from debutant Davo 10*(2) got OD’s up to a decent total of 261. Slightly below par at Whitstable but its more than we defended last season so we had a chance.
Well… turns out Whitstable fancied revenge from last season
and knocked off the total in just 35 overs. Some superb batting along some below par bowling and fielding meant the chaps had time to head to the seaside for some fish and chips before the drive home. OJ managed a beautiful stumping in what was the only highlight for us from the bowling innings.
2 heavy defeats for the boys so far in the Championship, but with a home game coming up the boys will be looking to put in a complete performance asap and get back to winning ways.
Big thank you to Sheila for scoring.
MoM – C Dubz for his superb innings
DoD – I can’t remember but Parr has lost the blazer so he wins by default until he finds it.
VPCOM – Chris…there was only one catch
Match report by Nick Worsley
2nd XI v Bexleyheath
On a glorious day in Beckenham, the 2s won the toss at home and, normal service resumed, elected to bat. Bexleyheath started well with the ball, picking up both Sanders and Loader cheaply, before White and Howarth (41) began the rebuilding process. Oscar (32) joined Gary at 57-3 after 18 overs and put together a very effective partnership, sweeping, and cutting the spinners to take us to 107, before Gary was well taken on the deep square leg boundary. ODs continued to assemble small partnerships to build the score, but kept losing wickets at regular intervals to keep Bexleyheath in the game. Pooley (17*) and Bennett (12*) applied themselves well in the last 5 overs to add a crucial 24 runs and ensure we finished on 190-7 in 45 overs, which represented an above-par score given the sluggish pitch and vast boundaries.
Adam Rowland, on debut, and Kai set the tone with the new ball, tying down the Bexleyheath openers. Kai, was superbly accurate once more, and picked up 2-15 in 9 overs, and was unlucky not to have a third. Bexleyheath’s West Indian overseas had got himself in and was looking good (especially batting in shades), while the number 4 had come out swinging and was looking dangerous. Once more, Robin East provided the two key breakthroughs, with Patel dragging on and then Batson well held by Loader at midwicket. Defensive cricket at its best! Now 76-4, needing 115 from the last 22 overs, Bexleyheath were squeezed by Pooley and Arora, while Westmacott had a golden arm with two further wickets in the middle. The icing on the cake came when the feisty young Bexleyheath keeper mowed Pooley 80 yards into the deep only to be extremely well held by Oscar Jasper sprinting in from the cow corner boundary. ODs came out victors by 31 runs with a textbook 2s ‘runs on the board’ performance that will be the blueprint for the rest of the season
A big thank you to Bobby Jasper for umpiring, Jane for scoring and Andy Hall for helping set up Frogbox (thankfully after I was already out)...
Match report by Laurence Sanders
3rd XI v Bickley Park
Saturday 20 May 2023
Bickley Park 3s – 232/6 (40 overs)
OD Cuaco 3s – 233/3 (35.3 overs)
Man of the match: Shehryar Gul (98*)
At the fall of the second wicket, with the score on 80 in 19 overs and the ball going soft, OD Cuaco found themselves in a precarious position in a challenging run chase of 232. Bickley Park’s veteran sledger ‘Barry’ was raucous, galvanising his team with the hubristic line “come on lads, let’s hurry up and get this over with so we can get to the bar”. Historic precedent would not indicate this to be an unreasonable statement at the time, but what transpired was a batting extravaganza for the ages, and much swallowed pride amongst the opposition camp…
Before the game, Sherry Gul declared on the team’s Whatsapp group “If Gul [Saeed] bowls 10 straight balls, we win”. Fortunately for the partisan crowd who expected a full day of cricket, the pitch was not a pudding, and Sherry’s statement did not age well. Skipper Andy Rouse won the toss and elected to bowl on a true surface, with a lightning outfield. Gul Saeed (8-0-39-1) bowled a fiery opening spell, beating the bat on several occasions but with the odd short ball which was duly dispatched. Zahid Chowdhry (6-0-30-2) struggled to get the ball to swing early, but bowled some tight lines nonetheless. However, with one of the opposition openers striking the ball cleanly against the ever-ebullient Billy Rouse (9-0-45-0) and wily David Steele (5-0-36-0), it was up to the partnership breaker Bilal Ansar (7-0-60-1) to “show him the answer” by shattering the stumps in his first over. Bilal’s day went downhill from there so we won’t dwell on that too much, but the wicket did allow Billy Rouse to settle into a rhythm and contain the runs at the other end. Nevertheless, at 130/1 at drinks, Bickley Park were in a formidable position to post a commanding total.
Enter Howard Thomas (5-1-14-2), who masterfully stemmed the flow of runs after drinks, and picked up a couple of important wickets. Gul and Zahid came back on later to bowl far more economically and take a further three wickets between them. And the fielding markedly improved, with a fantastic catch by Dan Brown at mid-off being the highlight. Continued pressure enabled ODs to restrict Bickley Park to 232; still an above-par total, but far less than the WASP predicted at drinks.
Openers Abhishek Patel (92) and Gul Saeed (20) walked out to bat with clear instructions from the skipper to ‘bat positively’ and ‘don’t get stuck’; they responded well, amassing 26 runs in the first three overs, with Abhishek cracking four boundaries through point, mid-on, square leg and fine leg, and Gul with a four followed by a massive six over cow corner to the left armer. It only took six balls for Gul to declare “Abhishek, I think this chase will be easy”. The Dream11 SuperFan Chris Colby settled into his chair for an entertaining chase.
However, run scoring became more challenging as the ball softened, and with Gul getting caught at fine leg and Kevan Harding (8) falling shortly after, ODs were faced with the stark reality of the difficulty of maintaining a run chase at 6 runs per over. And so we return to the start of our story, with Barry cock-a-hoop, Abhishek finding fielders instead of gaps, and the best batsman in the team taking guard with only 20 overs to make an impact…
Sherry Gul (98*) once told me words to this effect: “if you just hit the ball hard, it will probably go for four, and if it’s to a fielder, they probably won’t catch it”… whilst he may have underestimated the role of intrinsic strength in boundary hitting (Laurence Sanders would probably testify), one cannot contest that Sherry lives by his own philosophy.
Blasting balls through point, cover, square leg, mid-wicket, down the ground at a rate only Sherry can sustain – two boundaries an over, plus strike rotation – the chase was back on. And what made it such a masterclass was the quality of strokeplay – never agricultural, always with a flourish of the bat, to the soundtrack of “Relax your legs” from Billy Rouse on the side-lines. Highlights included a cracking six over square leg to which Barry retorted “filthy” at first slip, only for the bowler to interpret this as an unsavoury sledge to the quality of his delivery (rather than the quality of the stroke), and shout back “Barry, will you [I’ll leave this bit out on second thoughts]”.
At one point, skipper-now-umpire Andy Rouse told Abhishek “just get singles, as Sherry will probably hit the same ball for four”. That was enough to rile Abhishek up, who duly went on to crack two boundaries in a row through point in retaliation. And so Sherry’s initial acceleration became a boundary-fest from both ends, with each batsman matching each other stroke for stroke, and the score more than doubling to 168 by the 30th over.
All the while, Bickley Park became increasingly frustrated, led by poor old Barry, who at one point shouted “all three results possible”, which prompted an irate response from the skipper “Barry, how many times have I told you, we either win or we lose”. Barry’s fielding didn’t help the cause, dropping Sherry shortly after his 50, whilst Abhishek was also dropped at backward point and slip during his innings.
And so with the score nearing 200, Bickley Park tried one last roll of the dice, introducing a leg spinner in the 33rd over. And for the first time, Sherry looked fazed – two dot balls, and then a single. Abhishek released the pressure with two contrasting boundaries: an orthodox cut through point using the depth of the crease, followed by a most unorthodox reverse sweep (calculated risk, no slip in place), much to the delight of the crowd. He then ran himself out for 92 the next over, but Sherry stepped on the accelerator once more to reach 94* with the scores level… sadly to only hit a boundary to win the game, ending on 98*.
Jug avoidance aside, this was a fantastic game – from the perseverance in the field to restrict Bickley Park’s total, to the clinical execution of a demanding run chase. Against the advice of Sherry, “#Chairman had a strong continental lager” to celebrate the victory. Barry never made it to the bar.
Match report by Abhishek Patel
4th XI v Bexleyheath
Bexleyheath CC 4th XI: 239-4 (40)
OD CUACO CC 4th XI: 61 all out (28.2)
It would be easy to simply characterise Saturday’s heavy defeat for the ODs 4s as a thoroughly disappointing afternoon.
In truth, it was 7 points gained – the 5 we could easily have incurred for a forfeit, plus 2 hard earned bonus points.
With availability so scant, it was a minor miracle that we put 11 bodies on the field at all.
Those who did turn out may have been getting on a bit, or injured, or recently retired from playing – but they played nonetheless.
The youth policy, comprising Ben Westmacott and Tom Fox, brought the average age below 60.
Highlights:
Paul Hunter made a welcome return from long-term injury and picked up a wicket. (before he got injured)
Tom Fox took 3 wickets, which should have been 4 had their top scorer (who played last season in their 2s!) been given out plumb LBW first ball
Steve Sawko bowled 9 good overs in one spell
Ben Westmacott bowled and fielded well
Phil Parke bowled well and would have beaten all 11 of them at rugby
Colesy skippered impeccably
Dave Vigus top scored
Andy Parker treated the hat-trick ball with disdain.
Howard kept wicket beautifully and snaffled 2 stumpings
Steve Smith didn’t upset Parkerman more than once
Having lost to the teams standing 1st and 3rd in the table, this week we play the team in 2nd.
When we get a few lads back, the rest of this league are in trouble.
Match report by David Fox
U17 v Greenwich Academy
The second match of the season, away to Greenwich. A very pleasant evening in Kidbrooke, with evening sunshine falling on a very well-tended ground.
As in our first game, captain OJ lost the toss, so we were bowling first. Alex and Max opened the bowling. Greenwich were not scoring quickly then lost their first wicket, trying to take a quick single, with OJ throwing down the stumps. Max bowled 3 overs for 1 run and after 6 overs Greenwich were 13 for 1. Oscar and Ollie Arratoon took over bowling duties. OJ cleaned bowled 2 batters, while Ollie bowled one and had another caught by Hugo, leaving Greenwich 29-5 after 10 overs. Charlie Neil bowled the 11th and took 2 more, a double wicket maiden. Being short of a couple of players, the last bat was now in, facing Carter King’s spin. He was LBW to the second ball of the twelfth without scoring, so the score to get was just 30.
OJ changed up the batting order with Ben Westmacott and Luke Colby opening as they hadn’t had the chance to bowl. The pitch didn’t have much bounce, so they were warned not to play off the back foot, having seen 2 LBW’s and several bowled out to balls that kept low in the Greenwich innings.
They started steadily and were helped by some extras to 9 after the first. First ball of the second over, Ben hit the shot of the match, a lovely six flicked over the mid-on boundary. Unfortunately, when trying to repeat it next ball, he was bowled middle stump! Rohan was in at 3, with the score on 15-1, with Hugo in 2 balls later, after Luke C was bowled for a duck. It was clear Hugo was in a hurry, coming down the wicket a couple of times before slicing one straight to a fielder, out for 3. By this stage, a few runs from Rohan, plus a lot of extras meant it was nearly all over. Carter was playing his first U17 game. He had only bowled 2 balls so Rohan was keen to get him on strike, but he never got to face a ball, the winning runs coming from a no-ball that beat the fielders and went to the boundary.
A comprehensive victory but it would have been preferable to have had a more competitive match. Next up Dartford at home on 9th June.
Match Report by Bob Bridges
U15B v Hayes
OD CUACO CC 150/All out (24 overs)
Hayes CC 87/All out (19.1 overs)
OD CUACO won by 63 runs
Always at the cutting edge of sporting innovation, the Home of Cricket witnessed a new development in umpiring on Sunday. Hayes’ umpire employed the interesting approach of carrying out his duties at the bowler’s end from a full 22 yards behind the stumps.
Dismissing the idea that he was scared of getting hit by the ball, we shall conclude that he felt this to be the best vantage point. It was certainly one that yielded several interesting decisions in the course of the game: an lbw against us and a run out where our fielder possibly did not have the ball in hand to name but two. However, the calls were consistently inconsistent for and against both teams, and therefore had little impact on the result.
Luke Colby took the conventional and consistent OD’s position of Win toss Bat. Leo clearly relished the opportunity of opening the batting and put on an excellent display with 22 runs from 21 balls, including 4 fours. Carter was unlucky to be caught on 4 and Ollie was extremely unlucky to have been called out lbw. Luke Curtis was given out, from a distance, before the intervention of Richard as square leg umpire confirmed he hadn’t actually hit the ball at all. Sadly, he was required to walk for good shortly after, having been bowled on 3. Jay added 1 before Tom joined Leo to steady the ship. Tom put on a definitive display of middle order batting, getting retired on 50 just after the drinks break with 6 fours in that score. After Leo’s departure, Tom was ably assisted by Ben, who scored 20, with 2 fours, in just his second match for the club. Hayes then bought their best bowler back into the attack. Mark departed to a less disputed lbw decision on 9, Ethan was bowled on 0 and Luke Colby for 1. Tom returned for the last over to finish on 54, with Joe not out on 1.
Luke Colby got the task of defending the 150 on the board off to a flying start with a wicket in his first over and finishing with figures of 1-6. Hayes added 51 before Leo took the second wicket, helped by the catch from Ben. Ben took the next wicket, clean bowling the opposition’s danger man who was on 49 and therefore could no longer be retired and brought back at the end of the innings. Ben ended with 1-12 off his two overs. After amassing 75-3, Hayes’ wickets then started falling faster than their scorer and I could keep up with. Leo took a catch from Jay’s bowling, final figures for Jay of 1-11. Luke Curtis followed up the maiden in his first over with a wicket maiden in his second, posting 1-0. His second over also contained the run out, as referenced above! Ollie followed up an opening over maiden with 2 wickets in consecutive balls in his second over, final figures 2-3. Carter took a wicket with the help of a catch from Luke Curtis, giving him numbers of 1-9. Leo took the final wicket, teaming up with Jay again but with Jay providing the safe hands this time, leaving Leo on 2-5 off 1.1. The bowling attack was completed by two overs from Joe (0-13), Mark (0-17) and Tom (0-6 inc. one maiden). A special mention to Ethan, who, as an U14 keeper, had not been behind the stumps for many of the U15 bowlers before and did a very tidy job indeed.
A big thank you to Richard for scoring, umpiring and organising us all.
Match Report by Lindsay Curtis
Picture of the Week
An OD's contingent headed to Lords on Thursday to watch Surrey v Middlesex in the T20 Blast
Message from Mark Webster - Ride London
This Sunday I'm again participating in the Ride London Bike Ride, cycling c100 miles. Why? Because I have seen close-up the devastating impact of this disease which affects so many older people. My dad died 3 years ago having suffered from vascular dementia for the final 6 years of his life and sadly, my mum is now in full time care, suffering a similar decline in mental capacity.
This year I am riding in the colours of The Alzheimer’s Society which funds research into this awful disease.
Last year through your generous donations I raised over £2,600. This year my target is a more modest £500.
I recognise that many people have previously sponsored me and have other financial commitments but every donation, no matter how small, would be gratefully received.
My JustGiving page is below. Wish me luck!
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.
Tour 2023 - 23rd to 26th July
This year we will be touring to Norwich! Leaving early on the 23rd July, we have a full fixture list for the 3 days, starting on the Sunday against Heatherset & Tas Valley Cricket Club during the final day of their Beer Festival. On the Monday, we travel to Cromer CC to play in the first fixture of their cricket week, before a short trip on the train on Tuesday to play against Acle CC.
Total cost of the full Tour will be £265 per person. Please let Mike Parr or Dan Baylis know if you are keen to come, and pay your £75 deposit to the club by 26/05/23 to confirm your spot.
Bank details as follows:
OD CUACO CC
20-49-8
40432628
Training times
The following times are designated for club training sessions. Nets will be available to use for club members outside of these times, and if there is no game on the main square.
Group | Day | Time |
Senior Nets | Wednesday | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm |
Additional 1st XI nets | Tuesday | 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm |
U15-U17 | Tuesday | 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm |
Under 11 and below | Sunday | 10:00 am - 11:15 am |
Under U11s to Under 13s | Sunday | 11:15 am - 12:30 pm |
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