Buccaneers Cricket Club

End of term ‘House match’ report.

Rydon Royals A*

Stringer Super Kings C

After sterling work by James Stringer in gathering enough Buccaneers and ringers for the annual end of season clash (and ancillary work by Simon Woolfries in coordinating lunch and tea with the Dog and Pheasant) all was set for a prompt 11.00am start in glorious sunshine. However, Bob Palmer was late and as his car contained four players we had to wait for the strike bowler to pitch up.

First delivery at 11.30am and all was tickety-boo with the world. Bob and Paul McCann bowled a tidy opening spell and accounted for ‘China’ White and Simon Leefe. However, in the new political climate where Conservatives can bed down with Liberal Democrats, Jim Harcourt can play for the Royals. And play he did. In a masterful display of man management, Rob coaxed the best out of Jim who played a powerful yet controlled innings. Apart from a sharp chance off Adam Wyartt, who was having his ludus horribilis, Jim ground effortlessly through the gears. Phil Hobcraft, with a welcome return to the fold, took up where he had left off and complimented Jim with a range of classy shots all round the wicket. When he had had enough, Rob Rydon joined proceedings and showed his limited range of aerial leg side assaults (hitting a parked car – luckily on the first bounce), before falling to a sharp catch in the gulley by Paul Hobson off Bob. Apart from Jim showing his lack of fitness and running skills, the sparks continued to fly as he dispatched all and sundry for a well deserved century. Will Digby and Sandy Henderson (accounted for by Ben Kee) and finally Miles Collin kept Jim company at various stages, with Warwick Okines being kept in reserve. So a declaration came at 227 for 8 with half the day done.

Was it enough? Probably. Did the Super Kings (Players) have the skill to fend off and dispatch a mainly public school attack? At tea the answer was definitely no, with Stringer and the Chakravarti brothers back in the hutch at 21 for 3. Half an hour after tea the answer was still no as the Super Kings slumped to 35 for 7. The Sherborne pace attack had been replaced by the crafty spin twins from Radley and Haileybury (Leefe and Okines) and all looked lost for the Players. However, grammar school boy Richard Gwynn was not going to be beaten by Dave Cameron’s palls and dug in doggedly with the classy Paul Hobson (another Buccaneer back from exile). With ten overs to go, it looked like they had done enough to hold out for the draw. However, Rob had other ideas and was keen for a beer. So, returning down the hill, he had Hack caught behind with his first ball and castled Bob Palmer with his third. Adam countered the triple wicket maiden with a lusty blow through the vacant third slip area, but fell soon after to Paul Hobcraft’s crafty spin.

All out for not many, and a great evening of non-gloating (far too well brought up) for the Royals in the pub.

Innings of Rydon Royals

S White b McCann 5

S Leefe b Palmer 5

J Harcourt not out 120

P Hobcraft b Carter 31

D Close lbw Carter 7

R Rydon ct Hobson bPalmer 30

W Digby ct Morgan b Kee 2

S Henderson lbw Kee 0

M Collin not out 6

Extras 19

Total 226 for 7 dec

Bowling

R Palmer 11-1-49-2

P McCann 10-1-34-1

A Wyartt 3-0-24-0

J Carter 7-0-31-2

P Hobson 8-1-43-0

B Kee 4-0-18-2

R Gwynn 2-0-13-0

Innings of Stringer Super Kings

J Stringer lbw Rydon 1

Subir Chakravarti b Rydon 9

Sujay Chakravarti lbw Digby 10

P Hobson not out 37

A Morgan ct Hobcraft b Leefe 4

B Kee ct Digby b Okines 0

J Carter b Leefe 0

P McCann b Leefe 0

R Gwynn bct Harcourt b Rydon 4

R Palmer b Rydon 0

A Wyartt ct b Hobcraft 0

Extras 5

Total 76 all out

Bowling

R Rydon 6-2-14-4

W Digby 5-0-8-1

W Okines 8-2-11-1

S Leefe 10-5-11-3

M Collin 5-2-11-0

P Hobcraft 4-0-13-1

Grey, overcast and damp were the conditions to great the match manager as he popped back from Portugal for the weekend to play in this fixture. Things didn’t get any better as he lost the toss and was invited to field in this forty over match. Apart from debutant, Crispin Vollers and Warwick Okines, the Buccaneers singularly failed to field, as crucial catches went down throughout the afternoon. Neil Robertson shelled a sitter at mid on when their No 3 was on 18. Unfortunately he went on to make 114 not out. Neil made amends by fathering Hamish (aged 12) who bowled the tidiest spell of a messy afternoon.

Catches were also dropped by Rob Rydon, Subir Chakravarti, Jim Harcourt and Richard Gwynn. Any way, enough of the naming and shaming; Crispin flung himself around in the outfield, James Stinger, Subir and Jim held on to catches; Rob, Hack and OllyKayes took a wicket each but Henley romped to 285 off their allotted 40 overs.

So eight an over was the asking rate. James and Subir started circumspectly as was appropriate. However, the rate accelerated as Crispin entered the fray. A debut innings of fifty and out was played in true swashbuckling Buccaneers’ style. The fact that Crispin scored his fifty with 11 fours and one six was even more impressive. Neil Robertson started to make amends for his drop with some sound batting and after he was joined by Rob the run rate accelerated. After 15 overs, the Buccs were ahead of Henley at a comparable stage. Sadly,

Neil’s flexibility deteriorated and a pulled groin resulted in a runner and askier (at least no run out). Rob went in a similar aerial destruction as Henley showed how to hold on to catches. Simon Woolfries and Hack poked around in the damp and gloomy conditions but even so were somewhat surprised when the umpire lifted the balls and declared it was too dark to play. A few beers later, in the smartly refurbished pavilion, Hack was heard to state that ‘not in my fifty years of cricket have I ever gone off for bad light’.

Innings of Henley

B Mitchell ct Chakravarti b Gwynn 110

P Neville ct Harcourt b Rydon 1

N Johnson not out 114

S Davison ct Stringer b Kayes 25

A Johnson not out 19

Extras 16

Total 285 for 3 (40 overs)

Bowling

O Kayes 8-0-60-1

R Rydon 9-0-65-1

W Okines 7-0-41-0

S Woolfries 8-0-48-0

H Robertson 5-0-32-0

R Gwynn 3-0-27-1

Innings of Buccaneers

J Stringer ct Johnson b Chapell 27

S Chakravarti ct b Laing 2

C Voller ct b Chapell 50

J Harcourt b Chapell 1

N Robertson ct b M Hussain 23

R Rydon ct b E Hussain 39

S Woolfries not out 3

O Kayes lbw M Hussain 2

R Gwynn not out 13

Total 165 for 7 (33 overs)

Bowling

DWilliams 5-0-28-0

H Laing 5-0-22-1

J Neville 5-2-21-0

H Chapell 6-1-31-3

M Hussain 5-0-42-2

E Hussain 5-1-13-1

P Neville 2-0-9-0

For the second consecutive year, a warm sunny day greeted our 11 Buccaneers for the match at Brook. The toss was again won by skipper Simon Woolfries and we chose to bat on a reasonable deck.

Openers Doug Murphy (over from Oz for the Olympics) and Sujay Chakravarti bludgeoned Brook’s bowlers from the get-go, but Murphy was bowled for 14 by Wrenn.

Striding to the wicket came Pete Wilson, Stratford upon Avon CC’s Australian overseas, and in a breath-taking innings smashed the ball to all parts of the ground. He reached his century in a staggering 68 minutes.

With some well-crafted stroke play and some expansive shot making Sujay (56) and Wilson had taken us to 201 for 1 at lunch, a commanding position.

After lunch (and with his subs paid up to date) we welcomed back Paul Hobson (33 n.o) to the Buccaneers fold after a three year absence and with the assistance of Subir Chakravarti (14) and a solid knock from Will Metcalfe (43 n.o), we declared on an impressive 313 for 4 from only 40 overs.

Our opening bowling attack this year included the pace of Justin de Jager, another Stratford CC overseas, from Cape Town who also made his debut for the Buccs in the searing heat.

Things began shakily as he was hit for 10 from his first over but with able support from Metcalfe who trapped Ward LBW for 14, Brook succumbed to the pressure and were 47 for 1. De Jager found his rhythm and kept the Brook batsmen at bay, bowling 15 overs but only receiving 1 for 50 for his tireless efforts.

The introduction of John Bryant proved decisive, and by taking the pace of the ball, bamboozled Mann, the Kiwi opener who relinquished his wicket for 77. He also bowled Smithers cheekily, and had Straker fabulously caught by De Jager diving forward two handed at point. His spell finished with figures of 12 overs, 3 for 51.

Archie Marsh was then brought into the attack to add some guile to the proceedings and ended with an excellent bowling spell of 10 overs, 2 for 57, removing Allen for 42 and catching Davenport LBW for 0.

With Woolfries stealing an LBW, 1 for 21 from his 5 overs, and Wilson being introduced into the attack to remove the tail-enders (6 overs, 2 for 7), our quartet of spinners proved too much for Brook’s batsmen.  Coupled with top notch catches from the 3M’s (Metcalfe, Murphy and Marsh) and with some excellent ground fielding we dismissed them for 212 in 54 overs to seal a truly emphatic victory!

Sunshine, full team (well almost as farmer Will was sorting out some hay),and winning the toss. What more can you ask for? It was an easy decision for the skipper to have a bat with the dream team opening combo of Kim Ross and Doug Murphy.  Runs, they came a plenty, but Doug was certainly suffering from his arthritic ankle (gout?) and could only hobble to a quick 30 before being LBW. Jim Mann entered and provided support for Kim who effortlessly placed the ball around the ground. A bit of a dampener with Jim being bowled in the last over before lunch, but 152 for 2 was not a bad place to be. Will Rydon lunched well and had to be hurried away from seconds of cheese and biscuits to go and bat. He played as gracefully as Kim (which is very gracefully) and kept the score board rattling along. At last a Buccaneer recorded a century, in this dampest of seasons, as Kim deservedly hit the mark. But then things fell apart a bit – Will caught, Richard ‘The Hack’ Gwynne retiring hurt with a torn hamstring (too much Olympics) and then Kim out as well. Olly Kayes came and went and it was left to Rob Rydon and Warwick Okines to steady the ship. A fifth wicket partnership of 62 restored order, with Rob clearing the ropes a few times. However, Warwick was heard to grumble that he was only 96 short of his hundred and we may have declared a bit too early on 266 for 5.

 So to bowling and fielding, with Rob down the hill and Adam Wyatt up it. Adam employed the random deliveries tactics and surprised Doug at first slip with a catch which went down. No worries, Adam’s next over induced another edge and Doug stooped low to hold on to it. That was the last of the good news for a while. Adam tested our highly qualified scorer, John Marsh ACA, with a nine ball over followed by a ten ball over and OHJ’s took tea at 81 for 1.  Olly showed good pace up the hill, while Harry Mann steamed down it. Rob dropped the opener at mid-on off Olly and as he went on to score another hundred against us, probably changed the course of the game. Anyway, we were soon able to bring on our two leg spinners (that’s proper wrist spinners, not SLABs) and Warwick and Archie Marsh toiled away causing the occasional false shot. However, the batsmen were well set and familiar with the easy paced pitch and the next bit of excitement was in the 29^th over when Wozzer bowled a maiden. Near the end, Adam took a high catch out of the sun off Warwick, but it was far too little too late and OHJ’s romped home with two wickets down.

Murphy 22, Ross 115, J.Mann 21, W.Rydon 20, Gwynn 1(retrd hurt),Kayes4, R.Rydon 58*, Okines 4*, H.Mann, Wyartt,A.Marsh dnb

Wild ct Murphy, bwld Wyartt 2, Semmance 125*, Viggor ct Wyartt, bwld Okines 107, Harrison 22*

 R.Rydon 5ov 0 for 29

Wyarrt 3 ov 1 for 34

Kayes 8.2 ov 0 for 61

Okines 9 ov 1 for 44 ( 1 maiden)

H.Mann 6 ov 0 for 42

A.Marsh 8 ov 0 for 53

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