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| 1966 |
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Played 15: Won 1, Lost 3, Drawn 8, Abandoned 3.
Sunday May 15 v Bradfield Waifs at Minley Manor - Lost by 26 runs
After an encouraging start in each innings we threw away our advantage. The Waifs were put in on a damp wicket and lost wickets at regular intervals. Just after lunch the scoreboard read 112-7, but it was a hot and sultry afternoon, and Brewer found no difficulty in presenting a straight bat and in the end some attacking strokes. Bill Hughes (28) and Constant (25) gave us a fine start of 52 but some poor batting quickly changed this into 58-4. Alan Smith (19) and Watney (25) put on 34 with little trouble but then the slide started again. Short was possibly flattered by his figures but his nagging accuracy paid dividends so early in the season. Sunday June 5 v Esher at Esher - Drawn The Esher innings was one of slow but steady progress. Our bowling was accurate and well supported in the field but presented few difficulties on an easy wicket. Hughes and Constant gave us another good start with 74 in 43 minutes, but defensive bowling by Esher did not help our cause. With 25 minutes to go Kennedy joined Alan Smith with the score 136-8 and a draw the very best we could hope for. What followed was a perfect example of how intelligent aggression and good running can unsettle the bowlers. The last over started with Alan Smith batting and 16 required for victory. The first three balls produced eight runs and then a magnificent six into the far corner of the tennis courts put the odds well in our favour. The fifth ball was stopped by a close fielder and then on the last ball of the match Alan Smith was run out going for the second and decisive run. Saturday June 18 v The School at Sherborne - Won by 7 wickets The School innings never got going and it needed a last wicket stand of 49 by Haworth and Rogers to provide a respectable total. Alan Brown must be congratulated on taking four catches in the gully off Hughes' bowling. His first catch was all a mistake as he was supposed to be at short third and not in the gully! Our innings was dominated by a stand of 109 for the second wicket between Constant and Brown. It was pleasing to erase the memory of our disaster last year and also to record our first win at Commem since 1957. Sunday June 26 v Radley Rangers at Lincoln College, Oxford - Lost by 4 wickets Hughes and Andrew Brown (18) gave us a good start with an opening partnership of 47, but when the latter was out to a straight full toss our fortunes declined rapidly. Hughes was next to go at 65 and at 73 we lost three wickets. Alan Smith then joined Legg and with a sensible stand put on 84 runs in an hour. Our tail-enders could not carry on this revival and Radley were left with 195 minutes' batting. Hole was nearly out to the first ball of the innings but after this he scored freely. Alan Smith confused numbers two and three with slow bananas but our bowling resources proved to be limited and it was impossible to contain a strong batting side. Saturday July 23 v Hampstead at Hampstead - Lost by 10 wickets Alas, we lost our unbeaten record at Hampstead, but it was not so much the fact that they were beaten that was disappointing, but that we were beaten by ten wickets, the match being over by 3.45pm. It was unfortunate that six Pilgrims cried off during the previous fortnight, five of them during the last six days and it was the bowlers who withdrew, with the result that our attack posed few problems to the Hampstead batsmen. We won the toss, and as events turned out, took the wrong decision to bat. The wicket was damp underneath and a hot sun soon caused the ball to come through at varying heights and after a good start all the batsmen were soon in trouble. Alan Brown and Bill Hughes put on 38 for the first wicket in even time but wickets fell quickly as the sun got to work and although Porter and Legg batted well we were 90-7 at lunch and were all out for 92 soon afterwards. The last five wickets fell for 12 runs, Johnson bowling leg-breaks and Cunningham off-breaks causing particular trouble. Cunningham finished with an analysis of 5-13 and obtained a great deal of lift and spin from the wicket. When Hampstead batted the wicket rolled out perfectly and played easier and easier. Goodfellow and Brodie attacked the depleted attack from the start and obtained the necessary 93 runs in an hour off 16 overs. In the event it is doubtful, even with a stronger attack, whether we would have won since we had so few runs against which to bowl. It would have been interesting to see how Hampstead would have fared if they had batted first, but cricket is a game of "ifs" and we were comprehensively defeated. In view of the early finish Hampstead batted on for an hour and made another 130 runs and, as a measure of how easy the wicket had become, we scored 188 in an hour's batting. Alan Brown entertained the spectators with a display of controlled hitting scoring 100 in 55 minutes, including two enormous straight sixes off the back foot which will long be remembered. Friday July 29 v Old Sedberghians at Sherborne - Drawn We had a weak side and if Sedbergh had realised their great superiority they must have beaten us. Rogers batted 155 minutes for his 66 runs and held an innings together when it was not wanted. We tried not to get him out, but when he was eventually dismissed 75 runs were added in half an hour. All our batsmen made a few runs but no one really got down to demolishing the bowling, and the required run rate was always just out of our reach. Saturday July 30 v Canford Cygnets at Sherborne - Drawn Conditions were similar to the day before, with an excellent wicket, a heavy shower in the afternoon and a strong wind to dry the ground. Our innings gathered momentum as it progressed, helped by a stand of 85 from the Eglingtons and the news from Wembley, and the declaration gave Canford equal time. Their early batting could hardly be described as sparkling and it was not until the last 20 minutes that any real effort was made to force the pace. A double change of bowling and the arrival of Dalgleish produced a glut of runs. Two sixes landed in the Abbey Schools and 45 runs were added in 15 minutes. Geddes was recalled for the last over and stopped the rot with an immaculate wicket maiden. Sunday July 31 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne (Terrace) - Drawn 3.27pm was the start of a wet and depressing week. Monday August 1 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Drawn As we left the field for lunch it started to rain. There were some bright intervals in the afternoon but the wicket was so wet that we had to abandon the match at tea. The Stragglers did not play well in the morning and if a win had not appeared so close we must have called proceedings off much earlier. Tuesday August 2 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Drawn This was a good toss to win. It was obviously going to rain and we did not fancy a wetting. It started at 12.45 but the Rangers were adamant about going on. After half an hour it was impossible to hold the ball and the Yeovil cinema had the pleasure of our company after lunch. Wednesday August 3 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Drawn After the heavy rain of the previous three days the Close was very wet and we only played because it was the last match of the season. Conditions at the start were reasonable but a fine drizzle started just before lunch and we ended the day in steady rain. The Clifton innings consisted of one stand between Dixon and Mills. They came together at 34-3 but when Mills was out at 105, Dixon followed in the next over and the tail presented few problems. We were left 195 minutes to get 132, a task that did not appear to be too difficult. This quiet confidence was shaken when the score slumped to 19-4 after 50 minutes. Rowe and Gent (27) then put on 40 hard-earned runs for the fifth wicket against accurate bowling. The last 75 minutes were wet and interesting. 73 were wanted and they came slowly in one's and two's until with a final burst we got 27 in the last three overs; sadly, this was one short of victory. We should have attacked a bit earlier but Bascombe and Ham kept a steady length in spite of the greasy ball. They bowled unchanged with 29 overs apiece. Thursday August 4 v Wiltshire Queries at Fovant - Abandoned Friday August 5 v Hampshire Hogs at Winchester - Drawn The all-round play of Gould was the feature of this match but he did not receive the required support from the rest of the side for us to force a result. He came in at 4-1, stayed for 130 minutes and was fifth out at 187. In the remaining 20 minutes only 24 were added. Although the Hogs batting was patchy, with Gould claiming the first six wickets, Allom stopped any sort of rout. In 40 entertaining minutes he dispatched the ball to most corners of the ground and four sixes were among his scoring strokes. He was out with an hour to go but we could not dislodge the tailenders. Saturday August 6 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Abandoned Sunday August 7 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Abandoned |