Sunday saw the Buccs return to Frensham, on what was set to be a sweltering Surrey afternoon. It was the Buccs who took to the field first, much to the dismay of a few Buccs players whose eyes initially lit up at the prospect of getting first use of what was a pretty flat Frensham deck, with a rapid outfield and small boundaries. After a generous application of sun cream, the Buccs took to the field and it was R Rydon and H Robertson who were tasked with taking ownership of the new ball. Both bowled well but had little luck succumbing to the fast outfields and small boundaries as well as a sharp chance going down in the Buccaneers slip corden off the bowling of Rydon.
As the Frensham openers raced past 60, and after a couple of lost balls, Rydon and H Robertson were replaced by S Leefe and O Robertson after a much-needed drinks break, to seek a Buccs breakthrough. The breakthrough finally came courtesy of a famous S Leefe quicker ball, which eased Buccs tensions due to what was a well put together Frensham opening stand. O Robertson bowled very tightly from the other end claiming a wicket thanks to a great catch on the long-on boundary from brother Hamish, before striking again with another wicket LBW, after a couple of strong LBW appeals were not given in the overs previous.
It was then time for spin from both ends with A Marsh putting himself on to bowl, with J Marsh attacking from the other end. J Marsh took a superb flying catch to his left off his own bowling to commence what was a flurry of wickets in the next few overs. J Marsh took his second the following over, before A Marsh produced a run out after a fielding mishap, mixed with some dubious Frensham running between the wickets. It was J Marsh who then removed the dangerous Frensham number 3 before single handedly cleaning up the tail and finishing with 6 wickets. This left Frensham 178 all out after 43 overs.
After a quick twenty-minute tea and refreshment break, it was now the Buccs’ time to enjoy the Surrey sunshine from the sidelines as G Clarke & C Leefe took to the crease with the Buccs chasing 178. After a solid start from both, C Leefe was the first to depart, chipping one into the off side after a ‘Baz-Ball’ esque start. After G Clarke was out caught behind next, S Leefe and J Milne set about utilising the rapid outfield, with some glorious boundaries racing off the bat of J Milne as he raced to thirty before being trapped LBW for 30 on what was now a dying pitch, leaving the Buccs 60-3 in the 11th over. This was the first of three relatively quick Buccs wickets which saw both H Machin and R Rydon come and go.
As the overs started to count down and the Buccs at 91-5, the Buccs ship was steadied by S Leefe and J Marsh in the middle order, as they started to take on the Frensham bowling attack. After a sharp chance was put down off the bat of J Marsh, both batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking over with a flurry of boundaries and sensible running between the wickets, easing a couple of Buccaneers’ nerves.
As the total of 178 drew closer, S Leefe departed falling one short of his half century after a brilliant knock, bringing T Fletcher to the crease with the required score now under 30 runs away. More sensible batting followed, mixed with some big hitting, and after the scores were tied, the ball raced off the bat of J Marsh to the mid-off boundary, bringing him to a well put together half century and more importantly, getting the Buccs over the line with 8 overs left.
Buccaneers innings
G Clarke ct ? bowled Shine 7
C Leefe ct ? bowled Kitley 10
J Milne lbw bowled Kitley 30
S Leefe ct ? bowled Warren 49
H Machin lbw bowled Kitley 0
R Rydon ct? bowled Doran 6
J Marsh 52*
T Fletcher 10*
O Robertson
H Robertson
A Marsh
Total 178 all out (43 overs)
Kitley 7 – 0 – 40 – 3
Shine 5 – 2 – 21 – 1
Irvine 5 – 0 – 26 – 0
Doran 6 – 0 – 26 – 1
Smith 3 – 0 – 32 – 0
Warren 3 – 0 – 13 – 1
Evans 3 – 0 – 18 – 0
Frensham innings and Bucaneers bowling not available