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| 1964 |
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Played 14: Won 4, Lost 2, Drawn 7, Abandoned 1. In 1963 Pilgrims cricket plumbed the depths; in 1964 there was a welcome revival. The results were much better, more purposeful and entertaining cricket was played and the tour was both successful and enjoyable.
We are still short of penetrating bowlers and our catching let us down at times, but there was no shortage of batsmen prepared to attack and we usually bowled our overs at a faster rate than our opponents so that there were some splendid finishes. Congratulations therefore, to all who took part and especially to the Hon Secretary who once again put in an enormous amount of work before, during and after the season to raise good sides and to cope with all the administration. Against Tonbridge he produced a team whose average age was only twenty-two - surely one of the youngest ever Pilgrims sides to take the field. Sunday June 7 v Esher at Esher - Lost by 5 wickets We were put in on a slow wet wicket and, after a cautious start, too many batsmen got out to hard wicket shots. Gould batted well for two hours but received little support. The wicket was easier in the afternoon and Esher won just before heavy rain. Sunday June 14 v Bradfield Waifs at Minley Manor - Abandoned Sunday June 21 v Radley Rangers at Lincoln College, Oxford - Drawn The Rangers were put in and an accurate opening spell from Geddes had them struggling at 30-3. Duff and Langdale, after some initial luck, batted well and added 94. Unfortunately we missed several catches after lunch and could not finish off the tail. Our batting never got going and only Morgan struck the ball with any authority. Saturday June 27 v The School at Sherborne - Drawn Led by Constant the School gave a good batting display and set us a fair target. An early collapse to 41-4 was followed by a stand of 103 from Norris and Summerscale; when the latter was out wickets fell quickly and the last pair had to hold out for two overs. Saturday July 11 v Hampstead at Hampstead - Won by 3 wickets We repeated our success of last year and, in an exciting game, won with three minutes to spare by three wickets. Rain followed by a light drizzle prevented a punctual start, but, having won the toss, Hampstead went in to bat at 12.20 and, thereafter, the sun shone. Keith Geddes again bowled magnificently repeating his success of last year (6-50) with an analysis of 6-58, and we were left just over two and a half hours to score 185. We started badly, losing the first two wickets for 19 runs the second of which, James Tucker, being bowled off his stomach first ball. An excellent stand developed between Hamish Porter and Hugh Walker when they put on 41 for the fourth wicket in 35 minutes, and this was followed by another stand of 51 for the sixth wicket between Jamie Alan Smith and Alan Legg in 39 minutes. We were finally left to get 19 runs in twelve minutes and this was accomplished by the Morgans, father and son, with three minutes to spare. Altogether this was a most successful and enjoyable day finishing, as before, with the singing of the Carmen. Hampstead are now getting to know this "song of success", and we are thinking of having it printed on the score card next year! Saturday August 1 v Canford Cygnets at Sherborne - Drawn This turned out to be a dull draw on an excellent batting wicket. We scored freely in 53 overs but the Cygnets, with two overs more, treated all ten Pilgrims bowlers with too much respect. An opening stand of 116 was sound but took too long in the circumstances. Sunday August 2 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne (Terrace) - Won by 12 runs We made our 200 in 140 minutes helped by a brisk opening stand of 48 in 25 minutes from Evans and Alan Smith, sound batting from Gould, and a quick 53 in 25 minutes for the ninth wicket from Gent (27*) and Eglington. The Town were left with 125 minutes: Smith and Legg had 81 up for the first wicket but were both run out; we dropped two catches and the Town continued to go for the runs, coaxed along by keeping the spinners on. Gould took two wickets in the penultimate over, and Gent the final wicket with the third ball of the last over to round off a most enjoyable game. Monday August 3 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Won by 5 wickets On a very hot day the Stragglers batted defensively against steady bowling but poor ground fielding. Gould bowled 25 overs unchanged and was as relieved as the rest of the side when the declaration came after 66 overs. We made a shaky start (59-4) but Gent batted well, and Chignell played a fine innings, although he found running between the wickets hard work! Beeney started with a snicked two, a six on to Young's, a mishit four to the tennis courts, a quick single to pinch the bowling, and won the match with a series of well placed golf shots. Tuesday August 4 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Won by 111 runs We batted well but with no great urgency. Luckily this did not matter and the Rangers fell to accurate spin bowling and we had time to spare. Wednesday August 5 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Drawn The Cliftonians won the toss and batted first on a slow wicket on the Close. They should have been in trouble but our bowlers were not accurate and the lunch score was 102-3. Gould and Kennedy bowled steadily and we were well on top at 140-7 but two missed chances proved expensive, Linnell and Martin King scoring 67 together before the declaration. Our batting faltered at the start but Harris and Rod Chignell (27) put on 72 for the third wicket. Wickets then fell at frequent intervals but Dick Chignell kept the run rate going and it was only lack of support that prevented him from carrying the day. Thursday August 6 v Wiltshire Queries at Fovant - Lost by 7 wickets We were put in to bat on a heavily watered wicket, and compared to the excellent wickets at Sherborne this one appeared very difficult. Careful application was not forthcoming and it was a poor batting performance. The Queries were 9-2 but ideas that we might redeem our reputations were in vain. Friday August 7 v Hampshire Hogs at Winchester - Drawn This was a good batting wicket and the Hogs made 140-2 in the 105 minutes before lunch. Le Cras was missed three times early on but settled down to play well. When he was out to Kennedy (in a good spell of 11 overs for 17 runs) the Hogs collapsed from 188-2 to 209-8. We were left with two and a half hours and started well, but too many singles were missed and the middle order showed no urgency, possibly because of the lack of a clock on the ground. We suffered a minor collapse from 105-4 to 138-8 but had little difficulty in playing out the last 25 minutes. Saturday August 8 v Old Wykehamists at Winchester - Drawn Against steady bowling and on a quick outfield we made a sound start and were 109 1 in the 105 minutes before lunch. After the interval runs had to come quicker, even at the expense of wickets. We overdid the latter and should really have made thirty more in ten minutes less. Nevertheless, the Wykehamists were set a target of 213 in 140 minutes. Geddes bowled well before tea but the Wykehamists recovered from 13-2 with a stand of 97 for the third wicket. Collingwood bowled his "mixed bag" and runs came and wickets fell. With 25 minutes left they wanted 50 and with four wickets remaining looked like winning. Ten minutes later they wanted 37 but the last pair were together. They had several narrow escapes, including a hard chance, but sadly we could not get that elusive last wicket. Sunday August 9 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Drawn We won the toss and asked the Tonbridgians to bat on a slightly damp wicket. Geddes bowled steadily, but they had a very strong batting side and scored freely, declaring after 170 minutes and leaving us the same time. Watney and Eglington put on 79 for the first wicket in 48 minutes, whilst Walker hit well before being out to a fine catch on the boundary. Parker batted steadily and in a brief innings Porter hit a huge six which was estimated to have carried 100 yards. With 35 minutes left the match was evenly poised with the Pilgrims wanting 60 with four wickets in hand. Unfortunately rain denied us the chance of an interesting finish. |