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| 1979 |
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Played 11: Won 1, Lost 3, Drawn 5, Abandoned 2, Cancelled 1.
Saturday May 12 v Oxford University Authentics at Oxford - Abandoned Sunday June 3 - Cricketer Cup first round v Old Malvernians at Malvern - Lost by 120 runs
Regrettably, this was another disappointing performance in the Cricketer Cup. Our bowling and fielding performance was not too bad, but our batting let us down yet again. After Fish had taken two early wickets, Tolchard, in stands of 91 and 69 with Bailey and Price respectively, took control, enabling the Malvernians to reach a very good, if not impossible, total. Lough was disastrously run out for five and when Tim Edwards was out for only three shortly afterwards, the innings shuddered. Including Edwards, eight wickets fell for only 52 runs which effectively brought to an end any hopes of victory. Only a last wicket stand of 39 enabled us to reach a measure of respectability. Sunday June 24 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Abandoned Saturday July 14 v The School at Sherborne - Drawn This was a rather disappointing game after the excitements of 1978 and was characterised by indifferent cricket from both sides. Lough opened the batting with Kenny, who was soon out after a flourish of stroke play. Lough took up the attack with Powe who seemed to have difficulty in adjusting to the unusual experience of remaining at the crease. After a stand of 49 Lough was out, and Powe was involved in a stand of 34 with Donald. We reached 160-4, with a useful 31 from Madley, and then lost six wickets for seven runs, which was a collapse of dramatic proportions even by our standards. In the face of tight bowling the School were never really able to get going and Dudley had their batsmen in considerable trouble with his constant variation of pace and direction. The game faded to a draw. Saturday July 21 v Honourable Artillery Company at Sherborne - Won by 4 wickets Thanks to the skills of Lough we managed one of the great escapes. The day began badly when some of the team failed to arrive. They seemed to be under the impression that it would be possible to drive from London to Sherborne on a summer Saturday morning in less than twenty minutes. They were reprimanded. Spectators who arrived at the start of the game were, however, rewarded by the unusual sight of Hume opening the bowling. Predictably, this spectacle was short lived since he failed to trouble the batsmen with anything on target. Nobody else had any luck either and the HAC openers reached their hundred partnership without difficulty. Thereafter, it was only lack of concentration by the HAC which enabled us to take any wickets at all. The advantage gained by the HAC was scarcely diminished by the appearance, after the break, of Major Dudley as their umpire. Aided and abetted by his son, he soon made his mark on the Pilgrims' innings and we slumped to 24-2. But Lough stirred himself and began stroking the ball with that masterly caress that we know so well. Accelerating, he struck boundaries at will and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Ably supported in turn by Saunders and Leach, he brought an unlikely victory in sight before surrendering to Dudley. There was only one worthwhile candidate for the Horlicks award. Dudley had played for the opposition, taken more wickets than any other opposition bowler and enlisted his father to play for the opposition. It was no contest. Sunday July 22 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Lost by 80 runs The new found variety in our attack fared little better than the day before and, as usual, we were given a batting lesson by Lewis. Batting conditions were ideal for the Town and, if the truth be told, were ideal for us as well. However, only Saunders played with any confidence and, in a disappointing collapse, we lost our last five wickets for 21. Monday July 23 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Drawn The arrival of Fursdon heralded an immediate change in our fortunes and, as he thundered in from the pavilion end, the dried blood of old battles on his flannels, our hopes revived after the trouncing from the Town. The Stragglers openers quickly put on fifty without any obvious difficulty. Then Dudley came on, footsore and bowling loose, after 367 consecutive overs during the HAC tour. Gay decided to teach him that disloyalty has its price and put him on to bowl through 19 overs until nearly the end of the innings. Dudley responded with the grit, guile and stamina to take three wickets. In spite of Barker and Bulford putting on 40 for the third wicket we slumped to 69-4 and then to 87-6. Howard and Gay girded themselves for a battle with an hour and a half still to play and in magnificent style blunted the attack and we drew. Tuesday July 24 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Drawn It is perhaps fair to suggest that this was the only game in the week that we came close to dominating and it was only a pity that we could not force a victory. Gent and Bulford put on 74 for the first wicket and then Fursdon joined Gent to delight us with an array of shots that speared the field. Gent decided that he did not want to bat in the afternoon and just before lunch we slumped from 126-1 to 129-4. After lunch, Fursdon completed his century without difficulty, but, partnering him, Stebbings hit a very quick 40 and we found that we had scored rather too many runs. Nevertheless, the Rangers gave it a go and despite excellent bowling from Fish they were well up with the clock. Hussey, particularly, batted with great zest but, when he was bowled by Fish, the challenge foundered but we were unable to overcome the tail end resistance. Wednesday July 25 v Old Cliftonians at Sherborne - Lost by 8 wickets "Le pétit général" marshalled his forces and, after the early dismissal of Hume, we reached 56 without too much difficulty. Then, succumbing to some straightforward bowling - a constant threat to Pilgrims batsmen - we lost eight wickets for 53, and only a last wicket stand of 25 between Dudley and Fish avoided total disaster. In reply, Clifton were, perhaps, unduly cautious, taking 45 overs to overhaul us. Nevertheless, our bowlers enabled us to salvage a little pride bowling tightly throughout. Fish bowled twelve overs for 24 runs and Andrew Wilson, playing his first game for the Pilgrims, bowled seven overs for 12 runs. Sunday July 29 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Cancelled The OTs were playing in the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup: they beat Oundle Rovers by 97 runs and beat Uppingham Rovers by five runs in the final. Saturday August 4 v Hampshire Hogs at Warnford - Drawn After a late start, Dudley sent in two brewers, Gibbs and Watney, to open the batting. Watney was out first and then Gibbs and Rowe took complete command and bludgeoned the demoralised Hogs attack all over the ground. We quickly switched our attack to the artful and graceful skills of spinners Gent and Gay who teased and tricked their way through the Hogs' middle order, but time ran out before we could clinch victory. Saturday August 11 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Drawn Finding that the start was delayed by rain, the Pilgrims retired to the pub whence they were extracted by Dudley who was taking his responsibilities seriously. The Bluemantle's reached 100 for the loss of only one wicket and then floundered in the face of consistently deceptive bowling from Dudley who managed to bowl 23 consecutive overs. In the end it was a very creditable fielding performance from the Pilgrims. Our batting was less resourceful, however, and only the dogged obstinacy of Gibbs prevented total disaster, with eight of the remaining ten batsmen totalling eight runs between them. Surprisingly, we held out for an inglorious draw. |