Buccaneers Cricket Club

The Buccaneers starting line-up for the match against the Mote included three fathers and sons (Rydon and sons, Leefe and son and Ross Snr and son). Two late withdrawals meant that the Buccaneers would have to take on The Mote with only 9 players.

After a short downpour, sunny skies appeared and the Buccaneers were put into bat. Russell and Ross opened the batting and had put on 14 for the first wicket, when Russell was brilliantly caught one handed at first slip. Leefe was next in and was seeing the ball early from the get go. Some hard running between Leefe and Ross kept the score ticking over and put the Buccaneers in a commanding position at 93 for 1 before Leefe was caught at point of a high full toss. Unfortunately TMO was not available at the Mote and Leefe had to go for a well played 25. Rydon hit the ball cleanly from the start and was looking set for a big score but was undone by a long hop from the off spin of Hood for 14. Okines joined Ross and when lunch was called the Buccaneers were in a good position at 132 for 3.

Shortly after lunch Ross departed LBW for 78 and at 144 the 4, young Alex Rydon strode out to join Okines. After outscoring his father Rydon was run out for 18 and was joined in the pavilion next ball by Okines also run out for 19. Tom Rydon was LBW for 4 and suddenly the Buccaneers found themselves in trouble at 184 for 6 with one wicket left. Ross senior, playing his first match in 10 years, strode out to the wicket to join young Charlie Leefe but unfortunately Leefe was soon undone by a ball which turned sharply and the Buccaneers were all out for 185.

Rob Rydon and Russell toiled hard with the new ball but did not have luck early on. Russell struck twice in quick succession with the score on 69, and deserved his rewards for bowling a tight spell. Day, the overseas pro from Australia strode out to bat and edged the first ball from Rydon, but Leefe at first slip could not hold on to a difficult chance. Day was in no mood to hang around and went after the spin of Okines and Leefe, clearing the ropes on numerous occasions with some big hits. There were to be no further chances for the Buccaneers as White and Day put on a 100 partnership in 11 overs and by the time Alex Rydon came on to bowl it was virtually game over with The Mote requiring 8 to win. Dale obliged with two thunderous fours. The Buccaneers made their way to the sanctuary of the clubhouse and settled around the bar to watch the more gentle hitting in the Murray/Robson mixed doubles Olympic final.

 [Scoresheet to follow]

After 12 matches at Betchworth, 2012’s running of the clash of titans contest will be held at Brook CC (near Godalming).

‘Gents’ captain Rob Rydon and ‘Players’ captain James Stringer are currently seeking players to take part. Please contact them if you are able to play.

Nomads beat Buccaneers by 47 runs at St.Paul’s School on Sunday 1 July

Bob Palmer launched the inaugural encounter with our fellow wanderers with a sensational 1st ball which swung in abruptly to trim the off bail of bemused opener Andrew Smith. In happy harness with a gusty westerly and a bony pitch, Bob’s left arm immediately blew two more bats away and, with David Russell also rattling the stumps, Nomads were soon in tatters at 9 for 4.

Buccaneers loyalists might wish to stop reading at this point. Richard Horne had survived Bob’s blitz and finally found support from Saj Ayub who helped mount a spirited recovery until lbw to David Bugge at 84.  Beguiling leg spin from thirteen year-old Archie Marsh and aggressive hitting from Nomads completed an interesting morning of cut and thrust.

Although Palmer returned to remove Horne for 58 immediately after lunch, Nomads batted deep with Nos 6-9 all making twenties before they were eventually bowled out for 187 after 57 overs with spinners Marsh and Simon Woolfries taking two wickets apiece.

Buccaneers’ hopes of reaching a target already steeper than face value on a large outfield of longish grass was soon dealt a savage blow when the prolific Kim Ross was bamboozled by an outswinger from Vithiani which pitched leg and hit off.

An impressive opening spell of pacy swing from Sajjad Shawl shivered the timbers of Sathish Subbiah and Subir Chakravarti and, with John Marsh discombobulated after a cross-seam lifter from Smith, the Buccaneers limped into tea at 36-4.

Only Bugge had survived the mayhem but the need to make a transatlantic business call forced him to retire at tea. However, when the 7th wicket fell at 64, Bugge returned to join Russell in the only significant stand of the innings. Bugge finally fell for a fine 65 and when Russell was caught for 44 at 129-9, the Buccaneers were left with 9 overs to salvage a draw.

Despite a cross-generational age gap of 53 years, Richard Gwynn and Archie Marsh held out with comfortable aplomb until, with just 2 overs remaining, Archie was adjudged out of his crease at the non-strikers end when a smart throw hit the stumps.

Congratulations to the Nomads for recovering impressively from a disastrous start to win a match of constantly fluctuating fortunes which gripped the attention throughout. We look forward to wreaking revenge next season.

Nomads innings

A Smith                  b Palmer 0

C Peerless              b Russell 0

T Brockton             b Palmer 6

R Horne                  b Palmer 58

S Shawl                   b Palmer 0

S Ayub       lbw       b Bugge  28

H Kamal                  b Marsh  24

R Patel                    b Woolfries 28

S Vithiani    lbw     b Marsh 6

S Marians        c & b Woolfries 22

M Blumberg    not out                7

extras                                           8

Total                                        187 (all out – 57 overs)

FoW: 1-0, 2-3, 3-9, 4-9, 5-84, 6-123, 7-123, 8-144, 9-168, 10-187.

R Palmer   13-3-23-4

D Russell    13-3-47-1

D Bugge        8-1-39-1

R Gwynn      7-0-31-0

A March        9-1-30-2

S Woolfries    6-1-9-2

Buccaneers innings

D Bugge                         b Shawl 65

K Ross                           b Vithiani 4

S Subbiah                      b Shawl 3

Subir Chakravarti        b Shawl 0

J Marsh     c Brockton b Smith 0

Sujay Chakravarti        b Shawl 0

D Russell                c &  b Smith 44

R Palmer              lbw   b Brockton 2

S Woolfries  c Peerless b Smith 8

R Gwynn     not out                    3

A Marsh      run out                   6

extras                                          5

Total                                       140 (all out – 41.4 overs)

FoW: 1-4, 2-35, 3-35, 4-36, 5-39, 6-42, 7-64, 8-129, 9-131, 10-140.

S Shawl       16-1-38-4

S Vithiani      5-1-22-1

A Smith       11-0-37-3

T Brockton   8-4-14-1

H Kamal       1-0-19-0

 A new fixture in the Buccs’ calendar and judging from Sunday’s outing a very good one. Knockers CC is a wandering club that has been playing in and around Kent since the 1950s and uses the very pretty St Lawrence CC ground at Bitchet Green, just outside Sevenoaks: hard to find but worth the hunt when you get there.

On a damp pitch with further rain threatening we agreed to field first – the Knockers being a few men short at 1.30 pm. Their useful opener made 52 before being trapped in front by Buccs’ debutant Miles Collin and further scores of 53 and 26 left Knockers declaring at 179 for 6 off 36 overs. Wickets were shared around with one each for Rydon, Palmer, Collin, Woolfries and another debutant, Ben Kee, as well as a clever run out by the President, managing to get a finger tip to a return shot to run out the non-striker. Bowling conditions were poor – especially after a 20 minute rain stoppage – with slippery footholds and a wet ball, but the bowlers stuck at it: the pick being Miles Collin’s 1 for 7 off 6. The fielders defended a short boundary well and managed to hold onto a couple of chances, with Ads Wyartt clutching a very tricky steepler in the deep.

That left the Buccs with an hour and a bit and 20 and needing more 5 an over from the off. James Stringer looked in good nick, hitting the ball well and scoring the bulk of the early runs. However, variable bounce and tight bowling (and some possible chucking) from the home side had the Buccs pegged back to 71 off 21 when Rydon joined Stringer at the fall of the third wicket, needing 109 in 14. Rob’s six 6s and two 4s in a wonderful display of powerful hitting, including several lost balls, brought the game alive and saw the Buccs wanting 7 off the last over. It was not to be. With good support from Stringer (59), Rydon (72) managed to blast the Buccs back into a game that looked to be stuttering to a dull finish with 10 overs to go. The Buccs’ total of 177 for 5 off 36, the same number of overs used by the home team, was 3 short of a win. A draw it was, but an exciting one and in a fixture that will hopefully become established in the Buccs’ list.

Innings of Knockers

Seldon lbw Collins 52

Turner c Henderson b Rydon 1

Watts c Wyartt b Kee 53

Cobb b Palmer 2

Roberts run out 26

Cook b Woolfries 12

Darry not out 6

M Watts not out 11

Extras 8

Total 179 for 6 dec

Bowling

R Rydon 7-2-18-1

A Wyartt 2-0-13-0

O Kayes 4-1-27-0

B Palmer 6-1-22-1

M Collin 6-3-7-1

S Woolfries 6-0-45-1

B Kee 3-0-28-1

S Henderson 2-0-11-0

Innings of Buccaneers

J Stringer ct x b Cobb 59

Chakravarti ct x b Roberts 4

S Woolfries lbw Roberts 1

M Ghatak ct x b Darry 8

R Rydon ct x b Roberts 72

S Henderson run out 5

A Wyartt not out 3

Extras 19

Total 177 for 5

Bowling

Watts 6-1-26-0

Roberts 10-1-26-3

Turner 4-3-7-0

Young 6-1-55-0

Darry 6-0-36-1

Cobb 4-0-31-1

Buccaneers v Hurlingham Sunday 27 May 2012

Blessed with beautiful sunshine and a fantastic batting strip amid the Elysian gardens of Hurlingham, hopes were high for a free-scoring and victorious day for the Buccaneers. Alas, having lost the toss, the prospect of an early breakthrough was instantly shattered as each of the first 4 balls was creamed for four and the 2nd over carted for a further 5 boundaries. Opener Olly Logan reached his 50 in 21 balls as Hurlingham raced to 57-0 in just 4 overs.

The early introduction of Jono Gordon (16-4-45-0) on debut and the evergreen Hack (10-2-34-2) restored some control but the openers reached 129 before Si Razvi (39) was well caught behind by Jim Harcourt standing up. With Hack soon adding a 2nd wicket, Hurlingham had been pegged back to a respectable 131-2 off 30 overs by lunch.

Andy Owen (14-0-77-2) recovered from his rusty start with a fine spell after lunch. With Luke Radford (9-2-30-1) keeping the other end tight with some nice variation, Logan had to graft for his 107 before Dave Russell (3-0-13-3) snapped up some late wickets to precipitate a generous declaration at 225-8 after 54 overs.

But what should have been a relatively easy target in the batsman-friendly conditions soon became a tall order. Left handed openers Sathish Subbiah and Kim Ross became the 4th and 5th LBW victims of the day. Crucially, with no DRS or hotspot available, Kim’s inside edge went undetected. With Radford bowled 2nd ball having a swish and Gordon popping up a lifter, the Buccaneers were looking down the barrel at 22-4.

Will Noble (50) and Harcourt (26) mounted a spirited counter-attack. But when Harcourt was caught at mid-on after smiting 2 successive sixes and Noble caught at slip at 109, the writing was on the wall again. With Russell (22), Owen (15) and skipper Ed Cunynghame going down with all guns blazing,  the Buccaneers had surrendered 93 runs short in only the 28th over.

Hurlingham

Logan            c Cunynghame   b Owen 107

Razvi             c Harcourt          b Gwynn 39

Atkinson       lbw                      b Gwynn  1

J Redmayne c Harcourt         b Radford 6

T Redmayne lbw                     b Owen     0

Chapman                                  b Russell  26

Kennedy         lbw                    b Russell  25

Hatteea           lbw                    b Russell   5

Salt                  not out                                 8

C Redmayne   not out                                2

extras                                                           6

Total                                                    225-8 dec (54 overs)

Owen      14-0-77-2

Kayes       2-0-30-0

Gordon   16-4-45-0

Gwynn    10-2-34-2

Radford    9-2-30-1

Russell      3-0-13-3

Buccaneers

Ross                          lbw                 b Redmayne 5

Subbiah                    lbw                 b Salt             1

Noble                        c Redmayne b Kennedy    50

Radford                                           b Redmayne  0

Gordon                     c Chapman    b Redmayne 0

Harcourt                  c Salt              b Kennedy     26

Russell                     lbw                  b Atkinson     22

Kayes                                               b Kennedy      7

Owen                       c Kennedy      b Atkinson      15

Cunynghame         st Logan          b Kennedy      10

Gwynn                    not out                                       0

extras                                                                         6

Total                                                                    142 (27.5 overs)

C Redmayne 9-1-47-3

Salt                 6-0-32-1

Kennedy       7.5-3-38-4

Chapman       2-0-10-0

Atkinson        3-2-14-2

On a somewhat grey day with a brisk breeze keeping the temperatures down , it was a case of men against boys at Midhurst with a fresh faced Midhurst side facing a typically grizzled set of Buccaneers .

Fielding a short but powerful batting line up and a multi-talented bowling attack, the Buccs chose to bat on a slow wicket. Ross carried on where he left off the previous week and Mann started confidently but was bowled by one keeping low. Rydon came in evidently looking to improve his fitness and was soon blowing hard after a series of smartly run singles, two’s and three’s. Ross got to his fifty without looking troubled then holed out to midwicket, perhaps caught out by the slow pace of the wicket. With Leefe providing a supporting role, Rydon decided he’d had enough exercise for one day and started to locate the boundary with a combination of well-timed straight drives and bludgeons past square leg. He was unlucky to be out on 97 trying to push the scoring rate when for the second week running a Buccs century beckoned. He was followed by the next generation with Charlie Leefe making his debut and a creditable 12 not out. Overall, a solid score of 207 in the allotted 35 hours on a wicket that was not easy to score freely on.

Midhurst started confidently enough with left-handed opener, Kemp, looking particularly strong on the offside. However, at the other end wickets fell regularly, Gwynn opening with a straight one that came down the slope and bowled the other opener. He set the tone with a tight spell of 1 for 18 off 7 overs and West provided useful support at the other end. Bryant and Brandes then came on and got excellent reward for good line and length. Bryant tossed it up and encouraged the batsmen to ‘have a go’. Figures of 3 for 20 were nothing less than he deserved for a very tight spell. Brandes finished on an equally impressive 3 for 28, one highlight being a pre-planned ‘legside strangle’ of Kemp which was well executed by bowler and wicket keeper (Mann). Another highlight was a fine catch by Okines who made a lot of ground to get to it. Finally, Okines came on to bowl and immediately found loop and turn as well as an excellent length despite two years away from the game. He finished off the tail and would no doubt have got more wickets had he been given the chance.

So in the end a comfortable win with the opposition only reaching 112 and contributions from everyone in the team.

 Innings of Buccaneers

K Ross Caught Camp 52

J Mann Bowled Pearce 7

R Rydon Caught & Bowled Drayson 97

S Leefe Bowled Atkins 19

C Leefe Not Out 12

S Woolfries Not Out 1

 Total 207 for 4

 Pearce 7-0-25-1

Drayson 6-0-39-1

Cox 7-0-35-0

Atkins 7-0-36-1

Hamiton-Fox 4-0-29-0

Camp 4-0-28-1

Innings of Midhurst (10 players only)

 O Pearce Bowled Gwynne 7

N Kemp Stumped (Mann) Brandes 41

N Cox Run Out 1

T Lush Caught (Okines) Brandes 23

S Leagood LBW Bryant 0

T Atkins LBW Bryant 19

S Drayson Caught & Bowled Brandes 2

S Lush Bowled Bryant 1

A Cox LBW Okines 4

J Hamilton-Fox Not Out 4

 Total 112 for 9 (all out)

 Gwynn 7-1-18-1

West 5-0-27-0

Brandes 6-0-28-3

Bryant 5-1-20-3

Okines 2-1-3-1

C Leefe 1-0-9-0

The Buccaneers’ 2012 campaign began on Sunday with an emphatic 136 run win over Ripley CC. Two unfamiliar sights would have greeted the casual observer as they took their Sunday constitutional on historic Ripley Green – the sun was shining and the Buccaneers were netting more furiously than England under Graham Gooch.

On winning the toss, and wearing black armbands in memory of Ed How, Ross and Stringer opened up against the nine men of Ripley. Despite the tight bowling of Cliff, the openers moved calmly to 95, before the first wicket fell – Stringer edging to Rawding for 33. With Ross’s perception evident that the tail began with Steele at three, he changed gear, accumulating 30 runs in eight scoring shots. Steele (13) and Chakravarti (7) lent support to Ross as his three figures beckoned, before the promising partnership of the two R’s – Ross and Reid ended with Ross being run out for 98. Leefe, McCann and Woolfries continued to score quickly as the Buccs finished their 35 overs with 220 for the loss of six wickets.

A special mention must be made of the excellent tea and the cosy pavilion (with many original features, as an Estate Agent would say). Worth a journey according to Michelin.

Ripley’s innings began with a minute silence for Ed How, observed by both teams with the club flag fluttering at half mast. The Ripley innings could not have begun more positively for the Buccs, with Sheikh and O’Brian repeating the running fiasco seen earlier by Ross and Reid. Miller and McCann proved a useful opening combination – Miller hitting the deck hard with his muscular action (more Freddie than Funky), and McCann’s easy style and height leading to more than one chant of “Ooh Ah, Glenn McCann” from the slips.

Wickets continued to fall, with Ripley at one stage being 17 for 4. G Christiansen and M Cliff then decided that attack was the best form of defence, and for a while they attempted to hit Ripley back into the game. With Hack claiming Christiansen and Miller castling Cliff, the game was nearly up. With the über-experienced combination of Woolfries and Gwynn wheeling away, the Ripley tail quickly subsided. Ripley finished at 84 all out.

The only blemish on a perfect day was the Buccs catching which was even worse than usual. The bowlers soon realised this and resorted to the alternative methods of dismissal – bowled, leg before and run out. It seemed the safest option, particularly with a helpful umpire.

With the game over, the chat in the bar turned to the weekend’s other great victories – Manchester City clinching the league, a Columbian getaway driver finally getting the credit he deserved and Pudsey the dog’s form-busting dancing on Britain’s Got Talent. The action now moves on to Midhust where under a new match manager a victory is long overdue. A reminder that Ed How’s Memorial Service is at 11.00am at Charterhouse on Sunday 20th, all welcome.

Innings of Buccaneers

K Ross run out 98

J Stringer ct Rawding bowled Giles 33

J Steele ct G Christiansen bowled Gibbons 13

S Chakravarti bowled O’Brien 7

R Reid ct A Sheikh bowled O’Brien 7

S Leefe not out 10

P McCann bowled G Christiansen 7

S Woolfries not out 8

Extras 37

Total 220 – 6 (35 overs)

FOW 95 (2), 152 (3), 166 (4), 197 (1), 208 (5), 212 (7)

Bowling

M Cliff 7-1-15-0

A O’Brien 7-0-44-1

J Giles 7-0-45-1

C McWilliams 4-0-18-0

C Gibbons 2-0-33-1

G Christiansen 5-0-24-2

T Rawding 3-0-15-1

Innings of Ripley

A Sheikh run out 0

A O’Brien LBW Miller 0

G Christianson LBW Gwynn 38

T Christiansen LBW McCann 0

T Rawding bowled McCann 0

M Cliff bowled Miller 22

R Baddock LBW Woolfries 2

C McWilliams bowled Gwynn 2

J Giles bowled Woolfries 1

C Gibbons not out 0

 Extras 19

Total 84 (19.1 overs)

FOW 1(1), 6 (3), 6 (2), 17 (5), 66 (6), 81 (7), 81 (4), 84 (8), 84 (9)

Bowling

A Miller 6-0-48-2

P McCann 5-1-15-2

S Woolfries 4.1-1-10-2

R Gwynn 4-2-7-2

Attached are details of umpire contacts for the season. These details will also be sent to match managers and can also be found in the Fixtures details for each match.

Click here for the PDF.