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| 1963 |
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Played 13: Won 2, Lost 5, Drawn 5, Abandoned 1.
It was a splendid achievement to beat the might of Hampstead in the first of what is hoped will become a permanent fixture, and it was even more remarkable that at closing time the team was able to render an impressive version of The Carmen for the benefit of the members of the Hampstead Club. Many congratulations to Bill Morgan on organising both these feats! When one has said that, however, one has said most of what was good about Pilgrims cricket in 1963.
Results were poor and, too often, the batting was feeble, the bowling inaccurate and, worst of all, the fielding embarrassingly awful. One player was heard to remark that any time he was out of form he would travel many miles to play against the Pilgrims. This simply will not do. We have a strong and an attractive fixture list to justify and a considerable reputation to maintain. Several players in this year's teams should ask themselves if they are satisfied that they always gave six hours of concentrated effort on the field before stepping out to enjoy themselves in the traditional manner. There are nevertheless some extenuating circumstances. For one reason or another, several of the better players were not available and, at the moment, the club is definitely short of top class bowlers. This puts a premium on the batting and the fielding and, while the batting was at times equal to the strain, the blinding catches which struggling bowlers need so badly were seldom forthcoming, and many too many easy ones were put down. In spite of this a lot of fun, as always, was had and there were several good finishes. For all this our thanks go once again to a large number of people. Sunday May 19 v Bradfield Waifs at Minley Manor - Won by 25 runs A slow start was put right after lunch with Beeney and Pickering adding 87 in 40 minutes. The Waifs were left 170 minutes to get the runs and at 135-2 they looked like succeeding: the last seven wickets, however, fell in less than an hour and we won with 17 minutes to spare. Sunday June 9 v Esher at Esher - Lost by 7 wickets We were put in but, after an opening stand of 31, the batting was weak. Esher lost two early wickets and then untidy bowling and poor fielding enabled them to win by the tea interval. Saturday June 29 v The School at Sherborne - Abandoned Saturday July 13 v Hampstead at Hampstead - Won by 6 wickets In the 75 minutes before lunch Hampstead scored 48 without loss, but after the interval things started to happen. Richard Gould bowled Rankine and Tony Evans took a blinding slip catch to help Geddes to one of his well deserved six wickets. We were left with 150 minutes and attacked from the start: Brown batted superbly and with good support the last 61 runs came in 35 minutes. This was undoubtedly the best performance of the season. Saturday August 3 v Canford Cygnets at Canford - Drawn A match we should have won! Bad fielding allowed the Cygnets to declare at 182-8 on a slow wicket. At 110-2 we were poised for victory but five wickets went down in ten minutes and the chance had gone. Sunday August 4 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne (Terrace) - Drawn Apart from Beeney and Alan Smith our batting was undistinguished on a slow, wet wicket. The Town were initially behind the clock but, with help from us seemed set for a win at 129-5 with 15 minutes left. The run out of Beard and two wickets for Geddes changed the picture and at the end it was the Town who were desperately hanging on. Monday August 5 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Lost by 14 runs Another match we should have won! The Stragglers were allowed to "take" too many runs: too many Pilgrim wickets were thrown away. Summerscale was the exception - he batted with great skill and determination and was unlucky to miss a well deserved century. Tuesday August 6 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Drawn Apart from a slow period after lunch we batted well and were able to make a generous declaration. The Rangers made a good start but then got bogged down, and were only able to get so close as a result of us attempting to buy wickets. Wednesday August 7 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Drawn We were put in on a slow wicket but batted well with everyone playing their part. Although Alpass was missed early on our bowling and fielding was keen. A heavy drizzle set in after the tea interval and we finally had to call it off with just under an hour left. Thursday August 8 v Wiltshire Queries at Fovant - Lost by 77 runs This was a revived fixture played on a private ground in a fine setting under the Regimental badges on the Wiltshire downs. From our point of view, however, it was a day to be forgotten. Never can such abysmal ground fielding and catching have been seen from the Pilgrims and, with a few notable exceptions, the bowling and batting were also deplorable. Friday August 9 v Hampshire Hogs at Winchester - Lost by 5 wickets The feebleness of our batting before lunch (67-7), on a good wicket against unimpressive bowling, was exasperating. After lunch the tail wagged and Eglington showed how easy it really was, but it was clear we had not made enough. The Hogs struggled for two hours against rather better bowling and fielding than the previous day: but then came Maclure to play a gem of an attacking innings, finishing the match with a majestic six over long-off. Saturday August 10 v Old Wykehamists at Winchester - Drawn At least eight dropped catches and, Gould excepted, some moderate bowling allowed the Wykehamists to run up a reasonable score. Heavy showers in the afternoon upset play and, although we were at one stage well placed to get the runs, it was the rain that finally won. Sunday August 11 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Lost by 6 wickets This was another poor batting performance on a fast wicket and failed to give the Tonbridgians a reasonable target. Their catching was an object lesson to all Pilgrims. They were 56-4, with Collingwood and Maley sharing the wickets, but our bowlers were tiring and the remaining runs were hit off with indecent haste. |