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Newsletter #4

Updated: May 31

This week's newsletter is an absolute delight after so many great games of cricket, some great wins and some unreal individual performances. I'd like to say congratulations to Andy Hall on his incredible spell of bowling of 6 wickets for 10 runs in the 3s, and to Nick Worsley who took 5-18 in the 1st XI in their narrow victory against local rivals Bromley Common.


Elsewhere, sterling performances in the colts section, and by emerging talent in the 4th XI showed that the club has a bright future ahead while our bumper bank holiday of cricket saw ODs emerge victorious against Langley in the T20 match, and against Carlton Sports with a Pienaar ton. Sadly Monday's game v Cudham Wyse was abandoned at the halfway stage, with Andy Hall sniffing at the chance to take his 200th ever ODs wicket.


With exams, university and holidays coming into full swing, please make sure to make yourselves available for as much cricket as possible and "DO TEAMER" as Chairman Rouse would politely ask...


Best of luck to our teams representing the club this weekend!


All the best,


Chris Webster

Club Captain

 

Picture of the Week

Plenty of wickets in this photo!

Nick Worsley and Andy Hall after their spells of 5-18 and 6-10 respectively
 

Match Reports:

1st XI v Bromley Common

After last weeks disappointment away at Harvel, the OD Cuaco 1st XI were back in action at home taking on an established Kent league side in Bromley Common.


The warm up was underway and despite a poor performance from our overseas, the top 5 in the batting order took a 2-1 lead in the season long football series and all eyes quickly turned to captain Wandy for the toss. The pitch looked good and the boys were delighted when Wandy FINALLY won a toss and we were having first dig.


Kooooot and OJ strode out to the middle and any hopes that we were batting first on a road vanished in the 3rd over when OJ copped a pea roller and kicked it off middle. Plumb. Kooooot gave their midwicket some gentle catching practice in the 4th meaning for the second week in a row OD’S were 15-2. Brothers Chris and Dan steadied the ship, particularly Chris who punished anything too short or full and quickly raced to a half century. Dan was very unlucky and smashed his pad off the spinner but the umpire deemed him out and he was on his way. VR was in his next and apparently hurt his knee on a dive which caused him to forget to lunge towards the ball and missed a straight one.


90-4. Sims joined Chris in the middle with ODs in a bit of bother. Sims literally had mould growing on his pads but showed no signs of rustiness as he hit a couple of delicious fours before falling for 13, absolutely plumb to the spinner. He told everyone in the bar it was going over, but watching it back on Frogbox showed it to be smashing middle. 123-5. Chris then fell for a superb 70 leaving us in trouble, not helped by a Weast golden and a hoik from the skipper leaving us 128-8. The best no9 in Kent played a glorious on drive and an important 15 run partnership with Baylis meant we scraped up to 143. A competitive score on that pitch.


The boys were confident and with the new ball in Wandy and Worsley's hands we knew we could make some early inroads. Wandy made the earliest of inroads dismissing the Kent league's highest ever run scorer with the first ball of the game, scenes. Worsley joined the party and knocked over no2 and 3 and when Wandy dismissed their overseas we had them 28-4. Their no5 gloved behind an absolute ripper from Big Vern. 42-5. Common enjoyed a nice partnership from the experienced 6 and 7 and hope for ODs was beginning to fade.


As is so often, Chris broke the partnership and OJ also chipped in with one leaving them 117-7 and ODs firmly back in it. 27 needed 3 wickets needed.


Then came the key moment in the match as the Common no6, on 51* at the time tried taking Ainger downtown only to spoon it up towards deep cover where Sims took a very good catch. 126-8. From there it was a matter of when not if and Worsley quickly took the last two wickets, securing a remarkable win for ODs, surely one of the best in recent memory. Shout out Ainger who bowled 10 overs 3-26 but Nick stole the show with the ball with outstanding figures of 10 overs 5-17. A brilliant day out for the boys followed by some big celebrations post-match.


MOM – Chris

DOD – Nick

VPCOM - Sims


Match report by Ollie Jasper

 

2nd XI v Bexley

ODs arrived at Loring Hall excited about the prospect of back-to-back victories and a tea! Somehow Robin and Kai had got lost searching for another Loring Hall but this was swiftly rectified.

 

Unusually, the skipper elected to field, unsure of how the pitch would play. Davo and Kai (9-5-15-1, including going for a 6) settled in nicely and applied early pressure, with Kai finally making a breakthrough courtesy of a neat catch to his left by Louis. The pitch looked slow and variable, and the outfield almost impenetrable, so ODs knew restricting Bexley to less than 150 would be critical.

 

There was a moment of great alarm when Robin locked his knee in the spongy turf making a save. Having assumed we’d play with 10 for the rest of the innings, it was to our great relief that he returned after a few overs and settled in with metronomic accuracy. He soon picked up a wicket and ODs then removed the key batsman, courtesy of quick thinking by the skipper. The striker had spooned a catch off a waist-high no ball, but the non-striker had gone for a wander, presenting an opportunity for a scurrilous run-out. Bexley were squeezed from 27-0 to 104 all out in their 45 overs. Ash had spun the ball alarmingly, Oscar had burgled 3-8 at the death and Kieran and Robin were well rewarded with 2 wickets each.

 

ODs were under no illusions that 104 was at least a par score. Pete and Gary were soon on their way to leave us 1-2, but Richard (28) and Oscar (11) batted extremely well to take the score to 49-2 after 18 overs. When Oscar fell, Laurence joined Richard and scrapped away against the Bexley spinners, who were proving more than a handful. Laurence was comprehensively cleaned up with the score then at 66-4 (27 overs) and then the collapse began in style. ODs lost 6-3 in total, including 5-0 as the scoreboard deteriorated sharply from 69-4 to 69-9. Kieran, Davo, Louis and Ash joined Pete in the duckpond.


The Duck Pond, missing a few more 2s batsmen

Match report by Laurence Sanders

 

3rd XI v Bickley Park

Three games played and three games lost, but there was a steel to Colby's 3rd XI that was clear upon arrival. A good mix of old, young and a couple in between along with some genuinely good blokes meant that confidence was high. With the sun shining and the Jubilee Ground looking in decent nick the first job was win toss bat. Mission completed by Colby.

Bridges (Bob) and Patel opened up but Bob chipped one back to the bowler and OD's were one down for not many. Now was the time for the skipper to deliver and deliver he did. The partnership with Abhi got us to 55 before Patel nicked one back onto his stumps. Jack Mc got given out LBW shortly after but Hugo added a quick 17 with Colby's scoring rate increasing all the time. Rakesh was now promoted with instructions to attack and Colby made his 50 before departing - a great innings under pressure. Westmacott senior continued to rotate the strike and Rakesh got a run a ball 31 before Lake and Walker added a few with Craig at the end. 164 was the final score. Decent.


Could OD's strike early and get on top. Of course they could. Two wickets in two first over balls from Hally saw to that, with good catches from Hugo and Rohan albeit to a shocker of a shot from the oppo's 3. A wide from the first over the highlight for the oppo. Howard Thomas opened from the bottom end, bowling cracking lines for a maiden. The number 4 then played/missed/survived for 5 balls from Hally before being undone and Bickley were 3 down for 1 run. It was four more overs before they scored another run. 


Rakesh and Big Alex Walker then came on to further terrorise a Bickley Park team now needing a run a ball. The fourth pair managed to get a fifty partnership together, but Rakesh then broke it, cleaned up. Westmacott was now on and the skinflint bowling continued with Craig grabbing a caught and bowled for the fifth wicket. Walker bowled superbly but somehow finished wicketless and Hally and Thomas were sent back on for the last six overs to try and pick up five more wickets and maximum bowling points. The run rate by now had climbed to a ridiculous level, but still there was no counter from the oppo.


Hall did for the oppo's main man - caught McCarthy for 32 (off a monster 102 balls). With 8 balls left it looked like Bickley would survive but the skipper then pulled off a stunner at first slip and Hally had his 5-fer. Five became six one ball later clean bowled. Could Howard finally get his wicket? Bang - of course he could - cleaned up and OD's had a team hat trick. With two balls to go a deserved second wicket and Bickley Park were routed. 20 points in the bag.


What a fielding performance, with barely a misfield or dropped catch Bickley had been overwhelmed by the OD's wave. Big thanks to scorers Walker and Bridges Senior along with our fans. More of the same next week.


Match report by Andy Hall

 

4th XI v Hayes

Following a poltergeist visit to the Skipper’s accommodation which resulted in flying furniture, a late call up was required for said correspondent who had to postpone his gravy making and whippet care for a day to come to the aid of the team.

Skipper Coles could not Be-Louvre his luck as a painting struck him late on Friday

In baking hot weather, which was more reminiscent of Dubai than Hartley, stand in skipper Mr Rouse strode out and promptly won the toss against the unbeaten Orpington side. Much discussion had been had on the merits on what decision to take and the skipper went with his gut to bat first, make a score and put the pressure on.  A second surprising decision was to pair Sharp with regular opener Kev.  After Sharp had applied 20 layers of factor 150 sun screen (to cope with the extreme heat) both strode out to what looked like a decent batting track.


Orpington’s two opening bowlers set about the pair with tight lines and runs were hard to come by, especially given Sharp missed two quick singles for Kev by failing to call whilst at the non-strikers, prob due to shock at being out first up for the first time in almost 30 years. Finally a full pitch ball came right in the slot for Kev only for him to middle it to mid-on for the first wicket of the day.  This brought young Charlie Neil to the crease for his adult debut for the club.  His calm reassurance and elegant driving immediately settled the nerves of his batting partner who made the wise decision to give the debutant as much of the strike as possible.  Unfortunately, this tactic nearly resulted in a cardiac arrest for Sharp as it meant running several threes due to the lush outfield which clawed at Charlie’s flowing shots that often deserved a four.  After a slow start the pair picked up the pace and built a partnership of over 40 runs.  Separated only but a direct hit which removed Sharp for 15. Anmol strode out to continue the run scoring and look set for a big score following some beautiful square of both sides of the wicket with the team looking set to easily exceed Mr Rouse’s initial target of 150.


Disaster struck in the form of four quick wickets either side of drinks as Anmol, DB, Charlie and Mr Rouse departed to a mixture of aggressive shots and balls that unexpectedly did more off the tacky pitch which was proving harder to time shots on than we had expected. Six down and nowhere near the skippers target, the side were in a hole.  Cometh the hour, cometh the men. This correspondent was blown away by the calmness and maturity of the next pairing (allrounders Max Morgan and Ollie Arratoon) who set about repairing the damage and building a total that we could defend.  In partnership of over 80, the two players mixed intelligent running with risk free cricket and cracking off drives to score at a rate that was in stark contrast to anything that any other batter on the day managed.  The partnership was only ended when Ollie was out for 22 having selflessly looked to accelerate the scoring in the second to last over.  Max led the side a final total of 166 for 7 top scoring with 45 not out.  An assured knock that went as far to prompt our umpire Howard to comment ‘he batted well’ – high praise indeed.


After a slightly elongated tea (mixture of fags needed and rehydration salts) the Orpington openers marched out with a determined look on their face for what was expected to be a tight battle. They were however completely smothered by an excellent opening spell from Ollie and Asa Smith.  Asa bowled with a mixture of pace and movement to remove one opener and first drop supported by committed and adept fielding. Ollie was particularly miserly and remarkably went wicketless in a probing spell which included five maidens.  Our opening two bowlers were equally backed up by Max and Steve Sawko and Orpington remarkably went to drinks at 27/2 off 20 overs.


Morgan and Sawko continued to press after the break with wickets flowing regularly for the two with the pick perhaps being the one that Sawko delivered to the opposition skipper to remove his bails and ended a nine over spell with two wickets.  Westmacott was added to the attack and played a real team role changing ends twice in a tight five over spell as the opposition looked to accelerate. One Orpington opener was still there after a remarkable innings played at a rate that older players and spectators adjudged made Chris Tavaré look like a T20 slogger!  Having taken more drinks breaks than an OD CUACO player on tour and insisting that the batting conditions were are silent as a monastery, he finally departed for 29 off Asa’s bowling to a lovely running catch for Charlie (his third of the innings).  Max returned and claimed two more wickets to keep the run scoring to a minimum and the innings petered out to a meagre 106/7.


A victory of 60 runs due to a combination of excellent batting (particularly Charlie, Ollie and Max), incredibly tight bowling and a fielding performance devoid of mistakes.


Match report by Chris Sharp

 

Sunday XI v Carlton Sports

Sunday Funday reared its head on and off the pitch as an ODs team of legends put in a serious shift both on and off the pitch.


A quick ton from Koot, and plenty of other contributions took ODs to 310 off their 36 overs before a somewhat shaky bowling performance "restricted" Carlton Sports to 232-7 off their 36 overs.


A somewhat skewed highlights package can be seen here, courtesy of Carlton Sports



Many thanks to Jo Colby for yet another wonderful tea!

 

Midweek XI v Cudham Wyse

Sadly this match was abandoned after a flurry of rainfall towards the end of the 1st innings. ODs were well set with Chris Webster (59*) and Laurence Sanders (45*) at the crease beginning to accelerate.


A lovely double rainbow did emerge though.


 

T20 XI v LPBS

Another year, another edition of ODs v LPBS in an evening T20 fixture. Both teams won the toss and ODs batted first on a stodgy deck against a swinging pink nut.


Early swing bowling saw Joe and Chris depart and return to the pond before Davison, Weast and Koot dug in to rebuild. Koot batted with caution to make a run a ball 50 before McCarthy and Ollie Jasper came in and hit late runs to take ODs up to 118-5 off their 20 overs. A seemingly under par score, but it would certainly be a challenge for Langley to chase.


This challenge was confirmed when Alex Davison knocked back Rohan Bridges leg pole first ball of the reply, which somewhat set the tone of the 2nd innings. Alex and fellow opening bowler Andy Hall both bowled the number 2 and 3 batsmen, including Langley skipper Oscar Jasper, before a little partnership began to form between Hugo Jones and MC Grimes.


Then, yet again something that hit Chris's leg resulted in a wicket, as he booted the ball from the square to collect a direct hit and run out Grimes who was starting to open his shoulders. This started the collapse as skipper Will East came on and cleaned up 3, before Webster came on to polish up the last 2.


ODs the eventual winners by 38 runs as Langley ended 80 all out in 18.5 overs.


Many thanks to all that came along to support the evening, from Umpires, Scorers, 'Bouncers', Bar staff, BBQ chefs and those that just came along to drink and shout "constructive" abuse

Match report by Chris Webster

 

Under 17s v Dartford

Don’t you just love the British summer! We cunningly agreed to re-schedule our home match with Dartford that was rained off on 3rd May to midweek in half term. We then spent the days and hours before the rescheduled game glued to the forecast, hoping against hope that we would be able to play. Luckily, the Monday friendly had been abandoned for rain so the covers were on a part-used pitch, the rain stopped around lunch-time and the wind blew away the moisture from the outfield. Much to everyone’s amazement, the game was on!

Big Al lost the toss and Dartford decided to bat. Their team manager was not sure about this but his captain (also his son, opening bat and opening bowler – you get the picture) was adamant this was the right thing as it was already gloomy and the second innings would be in near darkness!


However, OD’s had a plan – start with spin as it’s a slow and low pitch. This worked a treat. Hugo Jones opened and, though he was hit for 6 second ball, as soon as Dartford’s confident captain was on strike he swung and missed and Dartford were 7-1. The bowling was tight and the scoring slow. The pressure mounted and batter 3 was given LBW, then batter 1 went for a suicide run, hitting the ball straight to Alex, who had the presence of mind to run close enough to the stumps that he couldn’t miss. 38-3 in the 7th over. With more great bowling and fielding, Dartford only scored another 30 runs, losing 5 more wickets. Hugo finished with 4-0-13-3, Ed Hornby, another spinner, 2-0-14-2 and Ollie Arratoon 4-1-6-2 with Alex bowling 4 overs for 9 runs, Max Morgan 4 overs for 12, Joe Turner 1 over for 4 and Rahul Mehan 1 over for 10.


As the Dartford innings was ending, we had a light shower. There were murmurings from some of the Dartford parents that the game should be abandoned as it was dangerously slippery out there! No chance, we smelt victory. It was a bright start to the innings with a cracking cover drive from Hugo who was then bowled by the Dartford captain. Rohan hit a great pick-up round the corner for 4 and was bowled next ball by bowler 2. Max fell for a duck and we were suddenly 16-3. The 69 required was starting to look tricky and it was getting darker (as predicted!). Rahul was run out after slipping over in the damp (told you so from the Dartford parents!) and it was 29-4. Then Tom Lake and Alex Walker calmed things down. A conscious decision was taken to just block out the Dartford captain, their quickest and most dangerous bowler. His last over was a maiden but no wickets lost. Tom and Alex batted well together, adding 24 runs, before Alex was caught out on 14. Ollie Arratoon joined Tom in the middle and played a great supporting role, facing 8 balls and finishing not out 0, while Tom hit the first 3 balls of the 16th over for 2, 2 and 4 to win with 21 balls to spare. He was 29 not out.


The first victory of the season on a day when it had seemed very unlikely we would even play. Don’t you just love the British summer! Thanks to Alison for scoring and Remi for umpiring.

 

Under 15s v Hayes

 

Fantasy Cricket


Welcome to the 2024 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.

 

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 12s - U13s

Sunday

11:15 am - 12:30 pm

 













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