Buccaneers Cricket Club

Buccaneers (226-9 dec) beat Armadillos (201 all out) on 20th May 2018

A dirt brown strip , bright green square and corn yellow outfield fresh from the first cut of the year made it a difficult toss to call. Having decided to bat , the Buccs openers had little to thank their captain for as anything spanked off the square was brought to an abrupt halt in the lush corn.

Tom Fletcher secured one end as a series of swashbuckling Buccs came and went at the other. Tom saw us through to lunch at a slightly uncomfortable 93 for 6.

But a decent stand with Will Metcalfe either side of lunch started the recovery with Fletcher nurdling an extremely useful 30 and Metcalfe stroking a fluent 19. Ironically it was two (playing for the opposition) Buccs who did most of the damage with Harry and Ollie Mann returning 3-19 and 3-54 respectively. Stephen Moules found the middle of the bat almost immediately and hit a quickfire 20 in the company of Rob Rydon who , not for the first time , had the opposition asking “what’s this guy doing at number 9?”. Suffice to say that a typical barrage from the Rydon artillery saw him chalk up a rapid 67 not out with the skipper adding a few at the other end. All in all 226 for 9 declared felt like a reasonable total given the sluggish outfield.

The Armadillos started their reply strongly with Jim and Harry Mann coping with all that Rydon and Moules could throw at them. Things took a turn for the worse when Rydon ‘did a Glenn (not Anthony) McGrath’ attempting to stop a run off his own bowling at which point he adjourned to the boundary with a couple of cold Fosters (on his ankle) for the remainder of the game. Will Metcalfe stepped in and bowled a tight line but it was Moules who drew first blood, finding a stopping delivery that drew the younger Mann into a return catch to the bowler. With Moules giving way to Freddie Bjorn and new boy Felix Hickman running in hard at the other end, wickets began to fall steadily with two to Bjorn’s nagging line and one to Hickman’s pace. Charlie Leefe found some turn but not much luck before the skipper lured Jim Mann into an enormous heave which he will still be rueing as it caught a thick edge to Tim Brocklehurst at slip. Mann deserved 50 but fell a run short. With over 100 required from the last 20 overs and the drying outfield quickening nicely the Dills saw they still had a chance and began throwing the bat with some success. S Meeke hit some lusty blows and (aided by some butter-fingered Buccs!) got the Dills to within 30-odd of their target. At this point the Buccs still needed four wickets in only four overs so it was anybody’s game. Cometh the hour, cometh the man . Having bowled tidily in his first spell (0-25) Metcalfe ran riot in his second with 4-4 off just two overs which was enough to clean up the Dills innings and conclude a fine 25 run win for the Buccs.

So another cracking game at a glorious venue with the added benefit of a sumptuous lunch and cloudless skies.

Innings of Buccaneers

A Berry b H Mann 7
T Fletcher b H Mann 30
T Brocklehurst b H Mann 10
F Hickman LBW O Mann 0
F Bjorn b O Mann 0
C Leefe Ct AN Other b O Mann 12
W Metcalfe b T Ashby 19
D Close LBW T Ashby 0
R Rydon Not Out 67
S Moules C&B S Meeke 20
S Leefe Not Out 31

Extras 30
Total 226

Bowling

J Bebb 9-1-50-0
H Mann 11-5-19-3
O Shuttleworth 7-0-27-0
O Mann 7-0-54-3
T Ashby 8-2-19-2
T Williams 4-0-19-0
S Meeke 4-0-25-1

Innings of Armadillos

J Mann ct T Brocklehurst b S Leefe 49
H Mann C&B S Moules 21
H Griffin b F Bjorn 16
A Pickering LBW b F Bjorn 0
T Williams ct T Fletcher b F Hickman 13
O Shuttleworth st T Fletcher b S Leefe 12
S Meeke b W Metcalfe 46
J Bebb b W Metcalfe 20
T Ashby st T Fletcher b W Metcalfe 3
O Mann Not Out 1
T Burns b W Metcalfe 0

Extras 20
Total 201

Bowling

R Rydon 3-0-7-0
S Moules 7-0-27-1
W Metcalfe 10-2-29-4
F Hickmann 5-1-24-1
F Bjorn 7-0-30-2
C Leefe 7-1-44-0
S Leefe 7-0-27-2

To help our Match Managers, please make your availability known to them by completing our Availability Tracker.

Click HERE to access it.

To see our fixtures click HERE.

The 2018 Annual Dinner takes place at the East India Club on 7 February 2018.

We are lucky to have TMS’s Dan Norcross speaking after dinner this year.

To secure your ticket, please complete our form by clicking here.

The usual scrambling around for players resulted in two teams (one of 11 and one of ten) assembling at the annual worm cast arena that is Betchworth Cricket Club (conveniently situated behind the Red Lion pub) for the Buccaneers’ end of season ‘House Match’. Julian kindly got the heavy roller out and we commenced at 11.15am with Simon ‘China’ White and Will ‘Farmer’ Rydon leading out the Kolkata Knight Rydons. Opening with spin for the Sunrisers Hyderhobbs was Angus ‘no sleep’ Berry and with pace Liam Ward (enough of the nicknames).
Good cricket all round, despite the sticky wicket, and all was proceeding smoothly until Will fell to a straight one from Liam. Jeremy Milne took over and calmly bisected the field with what turned out to be the top score of the day, as well as the highest partnership. Will Metcalfe and young Alfie Harris-Jones joined the attack, but it was left to the skipper, Rich Hobbs, to spin one down the hill to account for China. Simon Leefe joined Jeremy to tackle the spin from Rich and Warwick Okines.

Jeremy normally gets fifty and out, but decided to upset the form book by getting out on 49 to a caught and bowled by Rich. Rob Rydon departed similarly but with a lot less runs to his name. Now enter the septuagenarian, Andy Morgan, who started quickly in attacking the bowling with some swiftly taken two’s off another youngster, Arthur Bourke. The KKR’s lunched at 132 for 4 and all and sundry set about attacking the generous offer from the Buccaneers’ finance director of a tab behind the bar. A mixed affair for lunch, with some generously helping themselves to the Coronation chicken, Parma ham and hot scampi, while others were left with some salad.
Sadly the rain started to fall, but this just meant for some a retirement to the bar and more ale on the tab.
However, as the skies became less grey it was decided to restart but amend the game to 35 overs per side.  Invigorated by lunch, Andy and Simon attempted to run a three, but sadly too much ale or too many years meant that Andy failed to make it back for the third. Enter young Charlie Leefe, fresh from auditioning for Trainspotters 3. He showed his dad how to up the tempo with an agricultural six over cow corner (befitting a soon to be student of Cirencester Royal Agricultural College). Not to be outdone, Simon launched a straighter version into the trees. Charlie fell to the wiles of Warwick, neatly stumped by Michael Harms and Tom Rydon enjoyed the short term nature of his innings, adding quick runs, before falling on the last ball to another Harms stumping. 182 for 6 off 35 overs seemed plenty to the KKR skipper.

Angus and Michael opened against the pace of Tom and Ed Howes. A strong start. Some fours and a six got the scoreboard ticking along, but a lofted drive to long off was safely pouched by Will off Ed’s bowling. Liam joined Angus and the Sunrisers looked in command and ahead of the run rate until an excellent and entertaining run out took place. A direct hit at the non-strikers end was given not out (dubious) and as the batsmen attempted a run off the ricochet, Angus was run out at the other end. Simon L came on for some SLAB and accounted for the dangerous Liam, via a back stretching catch from China. Rob Bourke looked technically correct at the crease, while Rich looked less so. The Leefe combo accounted for them both before El Presidente came on for some ‘spin’ down the slope. Philip Harris-Jones was taken in the covers by China and Simon L cruelly caught young Arthur for a golden duck.
In came the Hack, blowing like a steam train, and received the worst hat-trick ball in recorded history. Hack gratefully accepted the offer of a runner and enjoyed a partnership with Will M, his son-in-law. Will smote it to most parts of the ground and surrounding forestry while partnering Hack, then Alfie and finally Warwick. Declining singles, Will dealt in sixes before a fateful heave missed the ball and Andy deftly removed the bails off Will R’s bowling. 129 all out and Warwick left stranded, only a hundred short of his hundred.
The Sunrisers’ skipper gamely opened his bottle of port in the pavilion to try and dull the pain of defeat and offered the least generous of speeches to Rob as he handed over the Mynott Thimble (think European Cup Winners cup, but on a smaller scale) in the Red Lion. Thanks to Marshetti and Chunky for gamely umpiring the affair and for James Stringer for arranging a modest lunch. Foolishly James departed to Wembley to watch a nil-nil draw between Spurs and Swansea when he could have been watching the Galacticos behind a pub in Surrey.

Innings of Kolkata Knight Rydons

S White b Hobbs 28
W Rydon b Ward 16
J Milne ct & b Hobbs 49
S Leefe not out 27
R Rydon ct & b Hobbs 4
A Morgan run out 21
C Leefe st Harms b Okines 8
T Rydon st Harms b Okines 15
Extras 13

FOW 1-25(2), 2-99(1), 3-102(3), 4-114(5),5-145(6),6-154(7),7-179(5)

Total 182-7 for 7 (35 overs)

A Berry 4-0-18-0
L Ward 6-0-14-0
W Metcalfe 8-0-32-0
A Harris-Jones 4-0-34-0
R Hobbs 5-1-23-3
W Okines 6-0-34-2
A Bourke 2-0-19-0

Innings of Sunrisers Hyderhobbs

A Berry run out 17
M Harms ct W Rydon b Howes 19
L Ward ct S White b S Leefe 29
R Bourke b S Leefe 8
R Hobbs B C Leefe 18
R Harris-Jones ct S White b S Woolfries 2
W Metcalfe st Morgan b W Rydon 28
A Bourke b S Woolfries 0
R Gwynn b C Leefe 2
A Harris-Jones ct b C Leefe 3
W Okines not out 0

Extras 3

Total 129 all out (29.4 overs)

E Howes 3-0-16-1
T Rydon 4-0-23-0
R Rydon 5-0-17-0
S Leefe 5-0-21-2
C Leefe 7-0-18-3
S Woolfries 5-0-20-2
W Rydon 1.4-0-10-1

Kolkata Knight Rydons beat Sunrisers Hyderhobbs by 53 runs

The sight of 11 Buccaneers taking the field against Mote CC represented one of the most hastily arranged side in our illustrious history. Such haste was required as a mere six days before the fixture was due to take place assigned manager, Laughing Vic, contacted our Central Committee to say he was no longer running the game. Queue frantic emails, the majority from a beach in Portugal and thankfully the Buccaneers’ spirit was found in spades. 11 confirmed with your writer taking on the duties as Manager and Captain, despite much more able Buccs in the ranks!

So we arrived at the Mote, or at least some of us did. With the first ball due to be bowled just six of the side had managed to assemble at the ground. It must have been the horribly early 2pm start… As the skipper headed out for the ‘toss’ he was somewhat relieved to asked what he wanted to do. With the Milnes in transit and with the opposition skipper deeply concerned by our, or should I say Blackheath’s strength, we were invited to bat first.

Following their wonderful bowling display at the Hurlingham Club, skipper Berry asked the Leefe brothers to see how they went with bats in hand and so we were off. As the rest of the Buccs filtered in and the bar was (finally) opened, we settled in for what we hoped would be run-filled 40 overs.

Mote’s opening pair were contrast personified; one bowling with little pace or accuracy and the other producing some truly unplayable stuff. With some skill and a little luck the Brothers got us off to a solid start until the younger of the Leefes was nipped out by the aforementioned better opener.

By this time the Milne wagon had rolled in carrying three players and three Etonians following young Caspar’s birthday party the evening prior. I for one am a little nervous about the future of British politics, as the three reluctant supporters could be seen drinking lukewarm Guinness from a can in 28 degree heat… How one Mr Rees-Mogg would react had he seen such a scene is barely worth thinking about.

Back to the cricket and skipper Berry joined S.Leefe at the crease and they both continued to be troubled from the one end and picking up boundaries at the other. What followed was a real battle between bat and ball. Every time the Buccs seemed to be dominating the bowling a wicket would fall. Berry and Hobson both contributed score in the 30s, Milne Senior too played a good hand. The best knock of our innings however, went to Richard Hobbs. Following a hat trick on the Friday night, Hobbs displayed his all round talents with an excellent knock. He was, unfortunately, deceived into thinking that he had hit his first fifty since a 15 year old Hobbs struck 53* against Sandy CC in the North Bedfordshire Under 16 league. A scoring error led the team to applaud Hobbs as he reached 43. With just a few overs left and with the red faced Buccs unwilling to own up to our mistake we just hoped that Hobbs would manage to find the remaining seven runs. Alas, a clearly hungover Caspar Milne stumbled to the wicket and proceeded to play down the line of the second or third ball he was seeing, leaving Hobbs stranded on 47.

Hobbs’ hitting and an overall team effort ensured that the Buccs would put down a decent total; 206. The outfield was, however, very quick and the oppo had included their overseas player to ensure balance this year, cheers Vic! Tea was taken, washed down with more than a few beers and then we took to the field to defend our total.

The Buccs set about their task with what we hoped was a strong bowling attack. Casper Milne and Richard Elston opened up and did so with gusto. The pitch was, however, playing very true and the ball was racing to the fence once past the outfield. With Paul Hobson brought into the attack the Buccs soon made some breakthroughs and we were thinking about how we would be celebrating another fine victory.

As our bowling tired somewhat and their pro was joined by the blacksmith’s son we soon began to worry a little that our total may be a little shy of par. Berry turned to Georgie Leefe to try her hand at their illustrious pair. La Leefe bowled with a control not seen in any other bowler throughout the day and the skipper was once again looking towards the bar. With drinks taken and Mote behind the eight ball a rather loud phone call would change the complexion of the game.

The blacksmith’s son took great pride in announcing that he would need a taxi to arrive within the next 30 minutes for he had to be home by 7pm. A quick glance towards the ankle of said batsmen didn’t quite show whether or not an electronic tag was the reason behind his rigid departure time. Something was up and the batsmen turned to his mongoose for his final minutes. He was able to plundered a few sixes off the unfortunate Georgie, who bowled much better than her figures suggested.

Our jumpsuit batsman turned the tide with his hitting before he ‘retired curfew’ and the overseas, together with the late middle order, saw the Mote home with four overs to spare. Berry was able to rotate his bowlers with the majority getting an over or two. A few more runs might have the made the difference but the Buccs just didn’t have enough in the bowling department to take us to victory. A special mention must go to our President Simon Woolfries who bowled 4 overs of delightful off spin but without the rewards he deserved!

The skipper’s last action was leave in hurry to catch a train, failing to get a snap of the scorebook in the process, and ensuring that this match report has been filed very late. Thanks to all of the Buccs who turned out to play at such short notice, in particular the Leefe triplets who provide a great variety for any skipper. A loss, but not the thumping it could have when with a week to go we had a grand total of zero players! Hopefully next year we will be little more prepared for what is surely one the prettiest grounds in the South of England.     

Scorecard
Leefe 11
S.Leefe
Berry 35
Hobson 3
Milne 0
Milne 35
Hobbs 47*
Elston 13
Milne 0*
Leefe DNB
Woolfries DNB

Buccaneers total – 206 for 8

Bowling

C.Milne 5-1-28-1
Elston 5-0-31-0
P Hobson 7-1-31-1
Leefe 4-0-28-1
Leefe 3-0-29-0
Leefe 4-1-19-2
Woolfries 4-0-22-0
Berry 1-0-7-0
Hobbs 3-0-19-0

Mote CC total 210 for 6  

Warborough & Shillingford 152 all out. Buccs, 152 for 9. Draw

A team of committee members, core players and guests turned up at the picturesque ground of Warborough and Shillingford in anticipation of good cricket and bad rain. Both were on show. Will Metcalfe, stand in captain, lost the toss and we took the field with eight players. This was shortly boosted to the full eleven after a couple of overs.Rob Rydon and Will Noble settled into a long and steady opening spell utilising the variable bounce of the pitch. A couple of wickets fell as the W&S batsmen found it difficult to penetrate the field and even when they did, it got held up in the wet grass.
Warwick Okines came on to bowl his leggies (having last turned his arm over in the corresponding fixture last September) and soon settled into a steady rhythm and enticed a catch, cleanly pouched by young Ollie Robertson. Lunch was taken but not as cleanly. A slight delay with the chicken curry from the pub, meant that a very fine Merlot was heartily sampled. This was later topped off with cheese and port, all sitting under the oak tree.

The buffet was continued as Archie Walker bowled an over of pies, snaffling their top gun with a full toss down the leg side safely taken by Rob at backward square leg. Neil Robertson claimed some credit as he had been plying the batsman with red wine during lunch. Warwick continued his guile and was joined by Chris Leech with some fine part time left arm spin. The shock of the day was Neil taking a catch off his toes at long on. Normal service was resumed later as he shelled a regulation catch at mid on. Alan Tilley, the 74 year old stalwart of W&S, belied his years as he started to dispatch balls to the boundary and run some twos (a lot quicker than some twenty years younger than him). Alex Rydon came on to bowl some tweakers to good effect and ended up with more wickets than his dad, but it was left to the captain to make another good decision to bring back Will Noble and himself to polish off the tail. 152 all out and while we got gently damp, only one break for rain.

It was going to be tricky chasing that down with probably thirty overs to be bowled. Chris and Ollie set off but soon decided they would rather be in the pavilion where it was drier. Archie and Jim Harcourt employed the same tactics and Neil, after hitting a few lusty boundaries fell on the stroke of tea. 32 for five was not particularly enticing, but the tea was. Generous fillings in a selection of sandwiches, clotted cream on the scones, millionaire’s shortbread. Plus the fact that it was hosing it down outside all put us in an end of term mood. While some started to change out of their whites, the rain abated and so we went back out there. Alex chipped one to extra cover and Rob joined Will Noble, resplendent in his MCC sweater and dark blue scarf. A few lusty blows and things started to look a bit more encouraging for the Buccaneers. Good running and a bit of panic in the field all helped. Sadly Will fell for 26 and Rob was joined by Will Metcalfe, who carried on with the scampering. As Will died by the sword and David Close entered the fray, 29 were needed off the last three overs, with eight wickets down. The skipper, God bless him, told the old lags to go for it or die trying. Spirits were lifted as Rob flew a few sixes over fine leg and took 17 off the over. Some leg byes, edges and general mayhem ended up with Rob needing two off the last ball. A hit to extra cover was going to test his speed and he was found wanting as the throw to the keeper beat him back. A draw, but the most exciting kind and all was sweetness and light in the Six Bells as we toasted cricket being the winner*.

*Buccs also secured a draw with scores level against W&S in 2006. Both sides scored 235-8. Note J Harcourt (18) and D Close (61) played in both games.

Innings of Warborough & Shillingford

P Zagoritis ct Harcourt b Noble 7
J Schubach lbw Rydon 13
R Tilley ct O Robertson b Okines 28
J Bradshaw ct R Rydon b Leach 20
S Gilderson ct N Robertson b Leach 28
E Tilley ct W Metcalfe b Okines  0
P Tilley ct Robertson b Metcalfe 32
M Searle b A Rydon 1
S Treacher b A Rydon 0
D Tiebeman b Noble 0
J Tilley not out 0

Extras 23

Total 152 all out

R Rydon 9-4-21-1
W Metcalfe 1-0-6-0
W Noble 14-1-29-2
Okines 11-1-34-2
A Walker 1-0-5-1
C Leech 9-3-18-1
A Rydon 5-0-18-2
Innings of Buccaneers

C Leech ct R Tilley b E Tilley 9
O Robertson ct Bradshaw b Tiebeman 1
A Walker lbw Tiebeman 1
J Harcourt lbw Tilley 6
N Robertson ct Treacher b A Tilley 10
A Rydon ct A Tilley b R Tilley 5
W Noble b Schubach 26
R Rydon run out 73
W Metcalfe ct Bradshaw b R Tilley 10
D Close not out 1

Extras 8

Total 152-9

Tebeman 5-0-13-2
E Tilley 5-1-11-1
A Tilley 6-1-27-2
R Tilley 11-0-39-2
Schubach 6-0-44-1

Mann’s, Milne’s and Rydon’s (the MMRs) made up the Buccaneers team for the final day of the OHJ’s cricket week.

The Buccs were inserted on a true pitch under a sunny sky and the Milne father and son partnership set to work. Oh dear! Another run out after only seven runs (but it was the highest father and son partnership of the day).

Jim Mann came and went and it was left to Will Rydon and Jeremy to steady the ship, which they did well with an 82 run partnership. Jeremy got 50 and got out, before Henry had a one run partnership with his dad and departed.

After hitting a glorious cover drive, Will then spooned one to mid off. So Alex and Rob Rydon lunched at 117 for 5. A fantastic lunch topped off with strawberries and clotted cream was Rob’s downfall as he fell in the first over after lunch.

So to the youth policy… Harry Mann and Alex struck it well before Alex tried to loft the off spinner (Stuart Hall) over the top, only to be caught by finger tips at mid off. Ollie joined his brother and not for the last time during the day, the Mann brothers got the Buccs out of a hole. Good running and powerful hitting got us nearer to respectability. But Stuart Hall kept on plugging away and picked up both Mann’s and young Caspar Milne (with a strike rate of 114) to bag a ‘five-fer’. Tom Rydon remained unbeaten in his first outing since last September.

183 seemed woefully short for an OHJ team packed full of batsmen. But then, the Buccaneers had a team packed full of bowlers. First off the rank were Harry and Ollie. The Buccs hadn’t opened with such a pair of quality quicks for quite a few years. The quality of bowling was backed up by the quality of catching, first by Jeremy one handed in the gulley off the full face of the bat, then a lightening reaction by Henry above his head at second slip and finally Tom, one handed at short extra.

At 42 for 3 at tea, the game hung in the balance. It swung the OHJ’s way as Mark Semmence (who usually scores a hundred against the Buccaneers) was dropped in the slips, then back to the Buccs as Caspar removed the nuggetty opener. The clincher (or was it?) was a running catch on the boundary by Ollie off Henry’s cleverly flighted off spin to dismiss the dangerous Mike Harrison. Semmance followed quickly after and at 109 for 8 it seemed just a question of when would we be in the pub.

Did I mention they were full of batting? A genuine opener at No. 9 and a decent middle order bat at No.10 and only three an over off the last twenty. Runs were picked up and we seemed in a pickle until Ollie came back to remove the No. 10 with 149 on the board. Then it was a game of cat and mouse as singles were offered and declined until we could have a go at the genuine No.11.

We did have a go at him but he was up to the task. Simon Warrender collected a well deserved 50 and with one over left was on strike with the score on 178. Simon took a single off the second ball and the No.11 then played and missed. So 5 needed off 3 balls with one wicket left. The ageing captain summoned up his last reserves of strength (did I tell you we were in the 55th over?) and set off down the slope. Just short of a length, a play and a snick and Alex did the rest to pouch it behind the stumps for a thrilling last over victory.

Innings of Buccaneers

Jeremy Milne 50
Ludo Milne 5
Jim Mann 0
Will Rydon 32
Henry Rydon 1
Alex Rydon 20
Rob Rydon 1
Harry Mann 15
Ollie Mann 29
Caspar Milne 8
Tom Rydon 4*

183 all out

M Harrison 10-0-45-0
J McGahan 11-1-45-1
S.Hall 16.5-5-42-5
M Semmence 12-0-43.3

Innings of OHJ

J.Pilgrim Ct Ollie Bowled Caspar 25
Welch Ct Jeremy Bowled Ollie 4
Wilkes-Green Ct Henry Bowled Ollie 6
D Pilgrim Ct Tom Bowled Harry 1
Semmence Ct Alex Bowled Rob 24
M Harrison Ct Olllie Bowled Henry 15
Moulton LBW Henry 11
T Harrison Ct Ludo Bowled Tom 14
Warrender not out 51*
Hall LBW Ollie 15
McGahan Ct Alex Bowled Rob 3

179 all out

Harry Mann 12-4-36-1
Ollie Mann 14-1-47-3
Rob Rydon 8.4-4-11-2
Caspar Milne 3-0-21-1
Henry Rydon 14-3-45-2
Tom Rydon 3-0-11-1

This was our second game against Frensham, again under a sunny blue sky.  Having beaten them by six wickets last year and being assured by their captain that they had only three batsmen this year, we (or at least the captain) felt reasonably confident of victory.  As last year this was to be a declaration match.  In the circumstances we forwent a toss and agreed that the Buccaneers should bat first.

All went to plan as Angus Berry and Jamie Marsh put on 77 impressive runs for the first wicket, Jamie making 27 (including 5 fours) and Angus 58.  In came Rob Rydon at no. 3 (having nobly volunteered at the last minute to make a detour on his way home from Dorset) to join Angus and with restrained brutality (4 fours and 4 sixes) continued our putatively triumphant progress to make 57.  Archie Marsh added 15.  A friend of his, Jason Fisher, who was included in the side as a bowler, was joined by David Close and they maintained the momentum, Jason scoring 50 not out and David 17 not out until the captain full of over-weening confidence decided to declare after 44 overs in two and a quarter hours at 242 for 4.

As last year, a splendid tea was taken.  (If you can’t play cricket, at least eat at Frensham.)   The Buccs then took the field.  Rob (the pick of the bowlers) and Jason opened the bowling and, after many years’ absence from his rightful position, David Close kept wicket.  Many thanks go to him for doing so.  Without him the Buccs would have had no-one to keep and so no game to play.

Our initial good humour soured as we began to leak runs.   The ground has short straight boundaries and Frensham’s opener, Tindall, has clearly realised a batsman needs to play any ball with only one type of shot, namely, a slap to long on.  Out of his first 41 runs, ten were fours (although a forensic examination of the scorebook suggests that the scorer may have mistaken the figure 1 for the figure 4 at least once).  In short, if Frensham had only three batsmen, each of them did more than his duty.  They seemed to have no trouble keeping up with the required run-rate.  Steve Brandes cunningly had Tindall caught behind but the middle order proved difficult to remove and at 143 for 4 after the 22^nd over a shadow of doubt was cast over the fielding side.   Archie Marsh had bamboozled a batsman into a caught and bowled but Champneys the eventual top scorer with 84 was still there.  Angus then took a couple and the Hack, the evergreen lithe athlete that he is, also took two.  Nevertheless at 217 for seven with overs to spare, the shadow of doubt was darkening into gloom.   Philip Harris-Jones, a debutant, had a go but it took Rob to spare us.  He trapped Champneys and, despite some admirable resistance from two talented youngsters (one a girl – Founder’s shade stop spinning, please), we managed to squeeze a victory by eight runs.