Buccaneers Cricket Club

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.

Many Buccaneers will already know the shocking and very sad news of the death of Buccaneer Ed How last week. Ed was a Chemistry master at Charterhouse School and had played many times for the club over the past 15 years.

The Committee will pass on details of the funeral arrangements once they are known.

Kim Ross was named the winner of the Geoffrey Moore award for 2011 for his superb batting performances during the season at the Buccaneers’ Annual Dinner on 23 February 2012 in London.

Kim averaged over 150 with the bat and pipped others including Simon Woolfries who took 20 wickets at 11 and Bob Palmer’s match-winning 6 for 28 against Brook. Kim received his prize from former New Zealand Test captain Jeremy Coney.

Forty Buccaneers past and present as well as their guests enjoyed a traditional dinner at the East India Club in St James’s.

Afterwards they heard a review of the season by the President Simon Woolfries as well as entertaining reminiscences on his tours with his country to Pakistan by Jeremy Coney.

The Buccaneers’ averages for 2011 have now been published and a can be accessed through the link to the attached PDF (click here). 2011 was a successful season for Kim Ross, Bob Palmer and Simon Woolfries in particular as the Buccs had mixed results – winning four and losing four games.

Simon Woolfries will give his review of the season at the Annual Dinner on 23rd February.

This year’s Annual Dinner is to be held on 23rd February at 18.30 at the East India Club, Pall Mall.

This year’s speaker is the former New Zealand Test captain and TV pundit Jeremy Coney. For tickets please download this order form (click here).