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| 1994 |
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Played 11: Won 5, Lost 3, Drawn 3, Cancelled 4.
Sunday May 15 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Lost by 5 wickets
On a damp and overcast day, we were happy to see the covers on when we arrived but were very surprised to find the wicket we were actually to play on was not the wicket being covered! After losing the toss and not surprisingly being asked to bat, it was soon obvious that batting was going to be extremely difficult and after only five overs we were 12-3. With the ball regularly flying off a length all the Rangers bowlers were enjoying the conditions far more than our batsmen, only three of whom managed to reach double figures. The only real innings of substance was played by Julian Pratt, who showed good technique and great patience in making 35. To have a chance of winning the game we needed to take early wickets and we did manage to reduce the Rangers to 7-2. However, sensible batting from Gurney and Anderson (29), despite some tight bowling from Pratt (2-18 off 9 overs), saw them home by five wickets. Whilst it would be wrong to say that the game was decided on the toss of the coin, batting was much easier after lunch. Sunday May 29 - Cricketer Cup first round v Rugby Meteors at Sherborne - Lost by 4 wickets If ever there was a game in which one player deserved the accolade of man of the match, this was it. Rob Rydon, claiming a five wicket haul and a fine 64 into the bargain, demonstrated the ancient art of leading from the front. Even the bit-part performance was played out by a Rydon, Will chipping in with a solid 22, mainly in support of his younger brother, and a brilliant throw to run out the Meteors' captain. But despite Rob's heroics, the match was lost. Arguably it had been lost when the first four batsmen to the crease had departed, with just one run to their collective credit. The scoreboard made dismal reading: 2-4. Batchelar - who got a very good delivery - Turner, Gillett and Pratt had all departed. Blackburn and Rob Rydon had a bit to do if the match was going to reach lunch, let alone tea. The ship was steadied, but Blackburn (12) got out when it looked as if the stand would realise a good deal more. Spink looked in good touch, but fell for 14, leaving the innings precariously balanced at 71-6. As it has been in the past, the fate of the Pilgrims hung on the batting abilities of the brothers Rydon. The left-right combination was still unsettling the Meteors' bowling attack, and slowly the total edged towards 100, and further. Rob's dismissal proved to be essentially the end of the Pilgrims' challenge, as the last few wickets fell for only a handful of runs more, de la Hey and Garrett both failing to score. Perhaps the one consolation was that Bagnall's proud record of never having been out in Cricketer Cup matches stands intact, if not completely safe. There's always next year, though! 136 never looked likely to be enough: the pundits were speculating that 170-80 would probably have been enough, perhaps more since the element of movement which had assisted the Meteors at the start of play was gone (this does beg the question as to why the Pilgrims chose to bat first). It was a good recovery, nonetheless, from the upper order collapse. A note of caution: the London car, deviating through Salisbury, admittedly, failed to score more than one run. Next year, Rupert really must lay on an early-morning train. The Pilgrims' total looked like being passed without undue concern as the Meteors' opening pair set off very comfortably, although Bagnall could justifiably have felt aggrieved at his lack of fortune. But then, with the score 65-0 the man of the moment chose to take a hand. In his first over, Rob Rydon struck, Bagnall pouching a skier; and in his second he struck again. Suddenly the Meteors, minus their opening pair who had looked relatively safe, were vulnerable. A third wicket and then a fourth fell to Rob (assisted by an excellent catch from de la Hey) before brother Will added his ten cents and threw down the non-striker's stumps from an acute angle to dismiss the fluent Meteors' skipper. When Rob claimed his fifth wicket to leave the Meteors at 96-6, the impossible looked possible: the Pilgrims (or, rather, the Rydons, as they had now been renamed) might win. But Rob's bleeding toe was causing pain, and allied to the fact that he had bowled nine overs on the trot, the Meteors' hard-hitting Grinonneau smashed his side home to a four wicket victory, the Pilgrims' bowlers being unable to pierce his defence. The Meteors were relieved; as for the Pilgrims, they must fight another day. Saturday July 2 v the School at Sherborne - Won by 86 runs The Pilgrims were fortunate to be able to field a particularly strong side for the game against the School this year. The batting line-up was particularly formidable, with Ricketts and Pratt in the middle order and strong batting almost to number 11. In true Pilgrims fashion, the innings started slowly and then collapsed to 25-3 after the first hour. The arrival of Rankine, playing some fine strokes on the offside, calmed the innings and his partnership with Spink took the score to 118-3 at lunch, the responsibility of the captaincy resulting in an uncharacteristically circumspect performance from the latter. With the loss of Rankine soon after lunch, the innings once again lost its momentum and it was left to Pratt (29*) and Ricketts (20*), who both struck the ball with great power, to add quick runs at the end. In response, the School got off to a slow start, faced with the hostile pace of Knechtli and Pexton. With the exception of some solid strokes from their captain, Hargrove, there was little evidence that the School were prepared to attempt to reach their target of 217. Frustrated by such obstinate batting on a good pitch, the Pilgrims resorted to a long spell of spin bowling from Ricketts and Pratt. When this failed to encourage a more positive approach, it was left to an extremely fiery and uncompromising spell from Costeloe to finally overwhelm the resistance of the School middle order. Pexton returned to remove the tailenders to complete a comprehensive victory in a disappointingly one sided match. Sunday July 10 v Rabelaisians at Sherborne - Won by 2 wickets Upon winning the toss captain Charles Rix took the unusual step of inviting the opposition to bat on a slightly damp wicket. With the Rabelaisians 58-1 after 14 overs he was probably beginning to doubt his decision, but the introduction of Garrett helped cheer the captain up when he removed the top scorer, Williams, and also the dangerous Dan Thorne who was guesting for the opposition. The Rabelaisians took lunch at 104-4 and it did not take Bagnell and Garrett long after the interval to finish the innings off. A target of 159 was always going to be quite hard work but Geoff Garrett (21) and William Hargrove, both making their debuts for the Pilgrims, batted sensibly in helping us get to 123-4 and to appear to be cruising to victory. Hargrove then, most mystifyingly, hit the ball straight back to the bowler and called for a single and was run out by about 18 yards. Two more quick wickets meant that we were in a bit of trouble but the experienced Robin Leach, making his one appearance of the season, showed all his experience in guiding us home. Monday July 11 v Old Blundellians at Sherborne - Drawn The Pilgrims batted first on a sweltering July day, with Rankine continuing his run of form for the Club to score 41. Hodges failed to get going and Spink appeared incapable of playing a defensive stroke. It was left to Rankine and Ricketts, the latter showing some of his true class, to take the score to a respectable total. Rankine was finally out with the score on 146-4, Ricketts going on to make a fine 84. Pratt did not trouble the scorers, but Wingfield Digby (28*) and Costeloe (15*) produced quick runs at the end, enabling the declaration to be made at 241-8. The Blundellians' early batsmen made little attempt to reach the total, despite showing plenty of ability and never being far off the required run rate. On such a flat pitch the Pilgrims toiled hard for wickets, Costeloe once again showing real pace on occasions and Pratt bowling tidily to take 2-25. Ironically it was only once the game was beyond them that the Blundellians middle order started to score freely, but by then it was too late to prevent the game dragging on to reach a tame draw. Tuesday July 12 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Won by 59 runs After winning the toss we were given a sound start of 79 by Geoff Garrett and Charles Allen (29). Allen looked to be on the verge of beating his highest score for the Pilgrims but he missed the straight one. However Garrett continued to bat very solidly and we reached lunch at 127-2. After lunch, Garrett was joined by Hodges and they added 109 for the third wicket at which point captain Saunders was able to declare. Garrett's unbeaten hundred, in only his third game for the Pilgrims, was the result of great concentration and wise choice of shot, whilst Hodges' 50 was the result of a few more adventurous shots, one of which led to his downfall. The Town's reply was centred on a fine knock by the School's coach, Alan Willows, although we were able to attack the other end and only two other batsmen managed to reach double figures. The wickets were evenly shared by the bowlers, apart from Bagnall who was beginning to show signs of not enough sleep. Special mention must be made of the bowling of a new Pilgrim, Jeremy Costeloe (2-24), who generated great pace and hit the Town's captain, Baker, on the head first ball with a vicious bouncer. Baker was unable to carry on batting, but fortunately was seen drinking beer after the game. A vote of thanks to Will Hargrove for keeping wicket for the third day in succession, despite having not kept since prep school. Wednesday July 13 v South Wales Hunt at Sherborne - Won by 6 wickets The South Wales Hunt, captained by Pilgrim Richard Madley, were happy to win the toss and bat but were soon reduced to 59-4 by fierce and straight bowling from Slade and Costeloe. The score should have been far worse but for some abysmal slip fielding, with nobody appearing capable of holding a catch. Indeed, the catch taken by Hodges at first slip actually came off Allen's chest at second slip! A slight revival for the Hunts was ended by Slade and we lunched very confidently with the score at 112-5. After lunch Meggett was joined by Steele and the game took a decisive turn. Meggett, having edged most of his runs before lunch, began to bat more assuredly and Steele batted sensibly and showed glimpses of how he had once played representative cricket. Having expected a gentle afternoon session, we played as if we all had suddenly been affected by sunstroke. Bagnall was again unable to get a wicket, but once Costeloe had stopped Meggett reaching the hundred he deserved, and making the Hunts 198-6, surely now we would wrap up the tail? However, after Costeloe had run out Steele, Springfield contrived to bowl leg side full tosses, one of which was despatched very nearly onto Merv's car, and helped the Hunts to declare at 244-9. In a state of shock, we realised that we would have to score at more than five an over if we were to win a game which at lunch some had felt a formality. However, a sound start of 43 by Hodges (23) and Saunders (25) helped us reach 60-2 off 14 overs at tea, leaving us half-an-hour plus 20 overs at about six an over to win the game. The youth of Geoff Garrett and Torben Rankine added 90 in quick time for the third wicket, and despite Rob Smithson failing, we won an exciting game with an over to spare thanks to a marvellous unbeaten hundred by Rankine. This was apparently Torben's first ever hundred, made in front of his father and having kept wicket for 59 overs for the whole of the Hunts' innings! Thursday July 14 v Butterflies at Sherborne - Won by 51 runs After a particularly heavy night, when most of the Pilgrims had stayed up very late to watch the World Cup semi-final, captain Garrett decided that it was in the team's best interest to bat. However, a slightly damp wicket resulted in batting being difficult and we stuttered to 72-4 at lunch with the captain more than a bit concerned; 72-4 soon became 74-5 and the captain being even more concerned. We were then rescued by a fine stand of 89 from Phil Hodges and Jeremy Costeloe, who both made use of the wicket drying out to play very straight. When Hodges fell to the hard working Taylor, Costeloe carried on the positive batting and reached a well deserved half century, his first for the Pilgrims. The Butterflies' innings was never allowed to get going thanks to a lethal opening spell from both Hargrove and Slade. Hargrove, enjoying being able to bowl rather than keep wicket, deserved his two wickets and Slade carried on his fine form from the day before, bowling fast and straight. At 67-7, whilst resting Slade, Atwell came on and tried to buy a wicket or two but only succeeded in being hit for a number of huge sixes. It was entirely fitting that Slade returned to finish the tail in impressive fashion with Rankine taking his fourth catch behind the wicket. A fine end to a great week with four wins and a draw over the five days. Sunday July 17 v Old Tonbridgians - Lost by 63 runs Tonbridge had no hesitation in batting upon winning the toss as the wicket looked its traditional bowlers' nightmare. The supposedly fiery opening attack of Knechtli and Costeloe found the Tonbridge batsmen able to treat any ball bowled with consummate ease and, indeed, this ended up being true of all our bowlers. As in 1992, we lunched with Tonbridge over 120 without loss and a very long afternoon in prospect. However, a very early declaration, after only 43 overs of batting gave us plenty of time to get the runs. Despite losing Rankine early to an atrocious attempted sweep, tea was taken at 61-1 and we still had about 35 overs left to get the runs. Paddy Knechtli running himself out shortly after tea did not bode well and nor did the early dismissal of Hodges. A stand of 42 between Costeloe (26) and Pratt gave us hope but the quick dismissal of these two saw the end of resistance, despite some hearty blows from Garrett (22*) at the end. Pratt was our only batsman who took advantage of the good batting conditions, but he was one of three Pilgrims actually caught by Pilgrims who were substituting for Tonbridge. Pratt was brilliantly caught by Rob Corlett as one of these subs who was making his debut for the Pilgrims. An interesting debut too - eight wides in his first over, then a wicket, talking himself up to bat at four, making a huge single and then helping us lose the game by catching our top scorer! Overall a fairly resounding and disappointing defeat, all the harder to take when one remembers that this could have been the Old Tonbridgian 2nd XI as their 1st XI was playing in the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup on the same day! Saturday August 6 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Drawn A fine day at Tunbridge Wells saw us win the toss and elect to bat. Despite the early loss of Nic Coward and Matt Bennett, we scored quickly against the Bluemantles attack. Richard Fawcett on his debut for the Pilgrims scored his first hundred and with useful contributions from Will Hargrove (24), Will Rydon (16*) and skipper Richard Matthews (27*), we generously declared at 250-6 scored off only 47 overs. The Bluemantles innings started well from our perspective, Rix and Coward picking up sharp catches in the slips to have the home side 37-2, but their middle order proved to be strong with Baraimian and Gale both passing 50. The Bluemantles required 120 from the final 20 overs with seven wickets in hand. However, just when the match appeared to be going their way a wicket would fall and the game remained finely balanced. The bowling, especially from Will Rydon (2-79), remained very tight and the fielding was outstanding. Gradually the required run rate increased and, with wickets continuing to fall, we could easily have turned out victorious. However, a draw was a fair result - Bluemantles ended up 20 runs short with six wickets down, both sides having played to win throughout this enjoyable fixture. Sunday August 28 v Cobham at Cobham - Won by 106 runs On a somewhat autumnal Bank Holiday weekend there were two quite notable statistics about this Pilgrim side. First, despite only being 24, Bagnall, the skipper for the day, was the oldest Pilgrim playing; the other remarkable fact was that he was only the eighth Shirburnian to arrive despite being at the ground 50 minutes before the start of the game. The signs looked good and this trend continued as we won the toss and elected to bat first. Singh, the Cobham opening bowler, looked pretty sharp as the first ball of the day whizzed straight past Atwell's outside edge. The second ball was even straighter; centre stump cartwheeled, 0-1. After this early setback, Geoff Garrett (18) and Marcus Ford managed to get us through to the twelfth over before Garrett surrendered his wicket with the score on 45. There then followed an excellent partnership of 150 between Ford and Ricketts which completely turned the game around; the batting was quite devastating. From being 79-2 at 12.55, the somewhat jaded Cobham team came off the field at 1.25 with the Pilgrims score reading 165-2 at lunch with Ford on 78 and Ricketts on 63. Cobham might well have wished that they hadn't spiked Ricketts' drinks at lunch because he proceeded to smash four of Singh's first five balls right out of the ground. He was then caught off the last delivery of the over, having scored a savage 92 runs which included eight sixes and six fours. Despite only minor contributions from our middle order we were still able to declare at 3.00. Marcus Ford ended up with an unbeaten, chanceless 118. It was remarkable that this was his first ever hundred; he played as if he bats like that every week and it was a brilliant innings. Our bowling was not as strong as the batting. However, it was still too powerful for Cobham who were unable to put up with the pace of Scott Stevens and the varied off-spin of Julian Pratt. Stevens' figures of 1-28 from 12 overs did not accurately reflect the true effectiveness of his two hostile spells. It was left to the other bowlers to reap the rewards. Bagnall took 3-11, Pratt 3-40 and Gillett 2-0 from only seven balls. Despite a third wicket partnership of nearly 100, Cobham's demise was very rapid and they were soon all out for a meagre 148 from 47 overs with only the home team's Australian import scoring more than 50. The Cobham skipper remarked afterwards that our fielding had been excellent with some very keen diving about. Batchelar, fielding in the covers, was particularly sharp and de la Hey did well not to concede any byes. Although the home side were certainly weaker than normal, this was a very strong Pilgrims performance from what was undoubtedly the youngest ever team with an average age of just over 22. Would it be dangerous to say that this bodes well for the future of Pilgrims cricket? |