Newsletter #5 & #6
- chriswebster
- Jun 19
- 14 min read
TOUR 2025 - Fixtures and Costs Confirmed!
Welcome back to Tour for 2025. We will be returning to Norwich from Sunday 27th to Wednesday 30th July.
Fixtures:
Sunday 27th: Heathersett & Tas CC
Monday 28th: Horsford CC (At Norfolk County Cricket Ground)
Tuesday 29th: Brooke & District CC
Prices for Tour:
Full Tour: £200
2 Nights: £150
1 Night: £75
We are moving forward with bookings, so if you are interested and haven't said so yet, please follow this link to join the Tour WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DyzygKOxXz35QerhS7UpOc
Picture of the Week
1st XI v Nonington (Week 5)
A tough day for the 1s saw them do them do almost everything right, before the umpires and rain came and took away some well earnt points.
ODs bowled Nonington out for 133 with Kai Bennett and Andrew Ainger the pick of the bowlers. the boys then aimed to knock off the low total before the rains came, but a combination of poor forecasting, a decent Nonington over rate, and two dodgy LBW calls meant that ODs ended short of the D/L target just as the rain came after Nonington had passed the 20 over threshold.
MoM - Kai Bennett
DoD - Will East - For swapping a single shoe during his bowling spell due to a missing spike.
VPCOM - Joe East
Match report by Chris Webster
1st XI v Bexley 2s (Week 6)
After last weeks disappointment at home to Nonington, the boys were back on the road at Bexley looking to get back on track and in the top 4. Despite the hot conditions and good deck, there was some moisture around and coupled with the absence of our opening bat in the warm up, skipper Chris decided we would be bowling first.
The hosts got off to a decent start before Chris had the opener strangled down the leg side, 26-1. Fellow seamers Hammond, Worsley and Bennett all bowled well but were wicketless at the 17 over drinks break, 86-1. OD’s spinners were looking restless and were finally unleashed after drinks with the decision paying off immediately. Ainger and Jasper removed No 2,3 and 4 in 2 overs leaving Bexley 86-4 and we were on top.
In came ex Old Wilsonian Jon Prodda and with their skipper, steadied the ship building a decent partnership. Weast was also tidy and even East senior came on for a trundle removing their skipper. Ainger had Prodda caught in the deep and Bexley were 147-6 off 40. Their no7 came in with ten overs to go and made a classy 63 off 40, meaning they finished up on 233 perhaps 30 more than what they should’ve been.
Worsley and Jasper strode out to the middle in pursuit of the total and one ball later, Worsley was on his way back. Attempting to pull a half tracker over the clubhouse, he could only find mid on bringing our other Saffa to the crease. Koot raced to 11 but he too was caught at mid on leaving ODs in huge trouble at 11-2. Jasper fell and at 26-3 we were in need of a miracle. Chris and Ainger built a nice partnership before the latter was caught on the stroke of drinks, 72-4. Joe and Mike came and went and Chris departed for a blistering 43 leaving us 86-7. Kieran was instructed to guide us to 125 but 2 balls later tried pumping the leggie over mid on and the day was as good as done. Parkey and Will were the last two to fall, all out for exactly 100.
A very poor day for the chaps but with 2 home games coming up we have a great opportunity to get the season back on track.
MOM – Ollie Jasper - Game turning (slightly) spell after drinks
VPCOM – Sam Parke - Two great catches, one up to the stumps and one strangle down the leg side
DOD – Mike Parr - Driving to Bexleyheath CC rather than Bexley CC...
Match Report by Ollie Jasper
2nd XI v Old Colfeians (Week 5)
After a narrow 2 wicket defeat last week to league leaders Holmesdale, the 2s arrived at Old Colfe’s and the biggest square in England. Once the oppo had finally untangled the rope and Lawrence had stopped complaining about people ‘resting’ this week, it was time for the toss. The plan being clear, Bat first, tuck into tea, wait for the rain and go home.
We lost the toss and were rather surprisingly asked to bat first in a shortened 35 over game. Our innings then seemingly reduced to 31 overs as we found ourselves 1-1 from the first 4 after Richard picked out mid-wicket. In came Gary, and he and Rakesh both struck boundaries to get us going before Rakesh was caught by slip. Lawrence (14) ran plenty of quick singles, complementing Gary’s offside shots on his way to 31. Both back from Uni, Isaac and Oscar both helped to get us closer to a competitive score and ran extremely well. Isaac was the next one out attempting to hit another bomb, and the rest of our lower order came and went cheaply as we were bowled out for 144 with 3 overs left to bat, Oscar last out and top scoring with 40.
Following a decent spread for tea, Hally and Baldy opened the bowling for us. After middling one to Gaz off Andy, their opener stood his ground even after being given out. From the other end, Baldy toiled away without much luck (which he made clear), as Andy bowled their 3 Bat through the gate. In brought their ‘danger man’ at 4, who after a flurry of boundaries, kicked one off middle and refused to move again. After what felt like 5 minutes and an unsuccessful review, he trudged off and remained padded up on the side for the remainder of the innings. Unaided by a damp ball, our bowlers took regular wickets throughout; Baldy 1, Rakesh 2, Robin 1 and Ash 1, but sadly it proved futile as Old Colfeians chased our total with 5 overs left and 3 wickets in hand.
The 2s maybe 20 short in the end as we look ahead to next week's ‘6 pointer’ at home to Blackheath 3s.
Match Report by Olly Colby
2nd XI v Blackheath (Week 6)
3rd XI v Hayes (Week 5)
After a week of terrible weather and a similarly grim forecast of rain all afternoon, hope did not abound at the Jubilee as the relegation zone 3s faced off against league leaders Hayes who were keen to consolidate their position at the top.
The skipper arrived early to find the covers half off a moist pitch looking greener than an Augusta fairway and what looked like a seamer’s paradise. It was a key toss to win. It was lost and ODs were put into bat having agreed to play a reduced 30 overs.
Chris Colby opened up with the in-form Aswin Nair as the pair saw off a swinging, seaming opening spell delivered by a decent bowling attack. Indeed, the pair did better than see it off as we got off to a flyer going at well over 6 an over.
Unfortunately Aswin (11) pushed at a rising ball and it went into the grateful hands of gully. The run machine Tom Lake strode out confidently at three and then less confidently back a few balls later bowled by an in-dipper for an uncharacteristic duck.
No matter, Sherry Gul was next in and after leaving his first three balls he absolutely smoked a straight six giving hope of a return to form for the talisman.
Sadly, this was the start of an all too familiar collapse. Chris drove one to deep extra cover and Sherry was so confident that it was going to go for four that he decided to stroll down to the other end for the second to enjoy the view. Unfortunately the view was the ball flying in from said boundary for a frustrating run out.
With the ball seaming it was tricky for the new batsmen and Abhishek Patel went the way of Tom bowled for the same score.
Anmol Pasamolla (6) was watchful as the two looked to consolidate and then looked to accelerate with the run rate slowing. Chris drove one back to the bowler for 40 and Anmol soon departed as well for another unfortunate runout.
Craig Westmacott then went for a carbon copy of the in-seaming dismissal and score of Lake and Patel and ODs were in real trouble.
Thankfully we bat deep and were able to call upon the talents of Louis Boydon (15) and Billy Rouse (26*) who had a much needed partnership to accelerate the score and spread the field with some aggressive strokes.
Boydon top edged one with one shot too many bringing to the crease the much lesser spotted Zahid Chowdhry who said he hadn’t picked up a bat in two years. You wouldn’t have known it as he hit the equal best shot of the day to the boundary with a glorious cover drive in the last over.
ODs finished on 125-8 in their 30 overs, a total that seemed under par against a strong Hayes batting line up, but we wouldn’t know for sure until the opposition had batted.
With black clouds looming ominously a pumped up ODs went out to bowl with Asa Smith charging down the hill bowling some vicious balls at good pace that showed the true nature of the pitch, one of which leapt off a length to strike the stunned batsman in the grill. Boydon of course appealed for the catch. Not out, but shots fired.
Zahid (3-0-23-0) bowled from the other end and after a few sighters settled in as ODs looked to apply the squeeze and make it as difficult as possible for the batsmen.
Asa (5-3-9-1) took the first wicket of their skipper with a beautiful seamer nicked to the keeper as he bowled maiden after maiden and was borderline unplayable.
Billy Rouse (5-2-21-2) took over from Zahid and made the most of the seaming ball, cleaning up two of their batsmen with the wicket ball of the day the in-seamer, with the highlight the glorious sight of middle stump being knocked out the ground amid huge celebrations.
With a comedy run out from Hayes as Asa Smith’s bullet arm saw the oppo batsmen barely half way back, ODs were on top and it felt like we were a wicket or two away from running through the tail towards a crucial victory.
Replacing Asa, Tom Lake (3-0-8-0) looked to apply the pressure at the other end and keep the run rate in check. Game on.
Sadly the heavens opened and with the ball slipping out of Billy Rouse’s hands we were forced to come off. The rain didn’t stop and the two skipper’s shook to abandon what had been a well fought game played in a good spirit by both sides.
Match report by Chris Colby
3rd XI v Bickley Park (Week 6)
4th XI v Dartfordians (Week 5)
Steve Sawko opened up down the hill as the 4th XI began their race against the rain. The first ball was excellently stopped at backwards point by Luke Colby, prompting the skipper to audibly congratulate himself on his captaincy. Perhaps this display of inspired captaincy played upon the opening batsman's mind, as he played across the line to a straight one from Sawko and was given out LBW on the fifth ball of the over. Ben Westmacott was entrusted with the second over, and having bowled on a good line and length to no avail, decided to bowl one short into the pitch to test the theory that bad balls get wickets. Enoch Pasamolla snaffled the catch at mid-on and Dartfordians were now 2-2 after two overs. Sawko claimed his second victim as a ball jagged sharply off the seam en route to the stumps, leaving the opposition in disarray at 3-3 after three overs. That's where the emerging numerical pattern stopped as the oppo began to rebuild, with the number three playing some nice shots and the number five settling in. Sawko finished his tidy seven over spell with figures of 2-21.
As Dartfordians began to accelerate, Ed Hornby completely deceived the number five with one that turned and took the top of leg stump. Rosanna Smith was now bowling down the hill and having decided there was more to this aforementioned theory, proceeded to bowl the sixth batsman with one that didn't bounce. Buoyed by Sawko's proclaimation that this delivery was 'a legitimate tool in a bowler's armoury', she tried some more conventional methods without success, twice inducing nicks through the cordon and down the hill for four. ODs were unable to capitalise on a few chances, allowing the number three to make his way into the thirties. His stay at the crease was ended by Enoch Pasamolla, safely caught at mid-on for 39. This brought the number eight to the crease, who began to demonstrate why he opened the batting a couple of years ago, looking to attack the bowling, run aggressively, and retain the strike. Dan Brown was the standout in the field, energetically patrolling the leg-side boundary, as ODs looked to discourage the keen running and protect the boundaries. Rosanna returned after a change of ends to account for the other batsman as he edged a quicker one towards gully where Kev took a fantastic one-handed catch behind his head. Ben returned to bowl the last over and was unlucky not to get another wicket, including what would have been a superb one-handed catch off his own bowling. Dartfordians finished on 140-7 off their 30 overs, the late spurt primarily down to the number eight, who finished 37 not out.
The returning Kev Harding and Andy Rouse strode out to the middle, determined to lay the foundations for another successful chase. This opening partnership has been characterised by positive running, looking to place the pressure on the fielding side. As Kev settled into his late cuts, and Rousey riled the opposition by backing up proactively, the fielding became more frantic in an effort to dry up the flow of quick singles and well-run twos. The opening pair took advantage of some wayward bowling and fielding to bring up a fifty opening partnership in good time. Rousey made the most of his three lives as he regularly found the boundary en route to his 62, and Kev showed his recent holiday had done nothing to dampen his enthusiastic running. With the score on 74, Kev found the fielder and departed for 28. A couple of quick wickets fell to leave the 4th XI three down for not many more. Dan Brown provided solid support as Rousey reached his fifty and the batting effort began to recover from its sudden shock. Having passed 100-3, Rousey fell for a fine 62 but Dan and David Fox kept the score moving. With less than twenty runs required, the drizzle worsened and two more quick wickets fell. It was at this point the skies opened and heavy rain tumbled forth, leaving the 4th XI stranded on 127-6, only fourteen runs away from victory with seven overs in hand.
Despite the weather putting an end to the hopes of securing a valuable twenty points, the 4th XI displayed an admirable effort with plenty of positives to take from the draw. Catford & Cyphers CC await at Lower Sydenham next week, where the 4th XI will look to solidify their first place position on the league table.
Match report by Rosanna Smith
4th XI v Catford & Cyphers (Week 6)
The day started with Mark Coles expert toss winning ability and decided to bat first. In his own words “what a skipper.” Chairman Rousey (36) and Colsey started well as their opening bowlers were no match for the pair, laying the foundations of the innings. After Colesy (20) followed Dan Baylis (34) who was surprisingly the least mobile of the three who had already batted. During a water and vape break Colsey mentioned that he wanted 200 by the end of our innings, surely he didn’t realise he had Westmacott Jr, Fox Jr and Sawko still to bat. The 4s ended on 164, a decent score on an interesting wicket.
After the well deserved tea, Zahid opened the bowling. He made the senior citizen regret not wearing a helmet as first ball of the innings he decided to try and take his head off. After some tidy bowling from David Steele and others we looked like we had the game in our hands at 77-6. However some questioning fielding then followed (I’m not mentioning who from but there is a reason I’m writing the match report) and it was 143-7. Everyone’s head was down, we were deflated as a game so easily winnable was suddenly out of our reach. Then Tom Fox stepped up deciding he had enough of this and decided to get 4-16 off 4 overs with TWO caught and bowled. I believe he saw the Crystal Palace training ground over the road and as a Charlton fan was filled with rage. Our saviour. We had won in the most unique circumstances possible and after a stern word from skipper it was time to pile on some beers.
Match Report by Ben Westmacott
Sunday Friendly Result
T20 Results
Junior Results
U17s v Old Elthamians
Much anticipation for the first U17 home match of the season. What a great groundsman we have at OD’s! Mark worked away with the roller to get the wicket into playable condition following the rain we had, including a heavy shower on the Friday morning. Such a shame his efforts weren’t matched by our batting…
Lost toss, fielding. Ollie and Max started well but OE’s number 2 was scoring well until Ollie bowled him for 21 at the end of the 5th over. Number 3 was very slow to score but OE’s had held back their top batter who came in at 4 and scored 39 off 19 balls. Standout bowler was Ben Pounder with 1-9 off his 4 overs plus a run-out. Two wickets for Ollie and Luke, and one for Enoch with OE’s finishing on 138. At least we’d only given away 9 extras this week.
The OD’s scorecard doesn’t make good reading. OE’s bowled out their opening bowlers, who took 6 wickets between them, leaving us 17-6 after 8 overs. A shame only Max managed to stay in any length of time as the other bowlers were much less accurate. When Max fell for 18, the score was 32-7. The main interest then was whether we could scrape to 50 to get a second batting point. A mini stand of 19 for the last wicket between Chrissy Walker and Paul White sneaked us to 52 before Chrissy was caught at deep midwicket. A pretty sad innings for the team, leaving 6 batters needing to score just one next time to better their last score!
U17s v Bexleyheath
What a great team performance!
After a batting collapse last week, we were hoping for better things. However, having lost the toss, it was looking ominous as Bexleyheath were on 33-0 after 4 overs but Enoch took 2 wickets in the fifth and when Max got the number 2 bat to a great catch from Tom behind the stumps, we had dismissed their main threats. There was a long period of tidy bowling, good fielding and slow scoring. Ollie got a wicket courtesy of a very good catch from Chrissy and Ed got 2. Bexleyheath hit out a bit towards the end but only made 88-6.
Tom and Max went into bat with hopes of victory. Sadly, the openers didn't last long and we were suddenly 10-2 and fears of a repeat of last week's batting collapse were looming. However, Marshall (38*) and Ed (28) put on an excellent 71 run partnership. They showed great maturity, not rushing, just scoring off the bad balls and defending the good ones. When Ed fell, caught mid-wicket, we only needed 8 more runs. Ollie came in and supported Marshall to the win. It was a good all-round performance. Fielding was much better than last week and Marshall and Ed batted really well. Olly Colby, acting as match-day coach, on his birthday, must have really inspired the team!
Next match is Friday 27th June at home to Catford.
Match Report by Bob Bridges
Junior Section Results
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.
Comments