External Links
| Designed by: |
| 1972 |
|
Played 14: Won 6, Lost 2, Drawn 5, Abandoned 1, Cancelled 1.
Saturday April 29 v Emmanuel College at Cambridge - Abandoned Sunday April 30 v Magdalene College at Cambridge - Drawn
Magdalene won the toss and put us in. The wicket was surprisingly quick after the heavy rain of the previous day and we made a disastrous start losing our first five wickets for 28. Carey joined Gould and they put on 124 for the sixth wicket in 135 minutes. Kennedy added a swift 21 at the end and our declaration left Magdalene 140 minutes. After a steady start, wickets fell at frequent intervals. We used six bowlers who all took at least one wicket but early season butterfingers in the last half hour prevented us winning. Sunday May 28 - Cricketer Cup first round v Lancing Rovers at Lancing - Lost on run rate This was a match that we had in the bag but eventually lost because we failed to press home our advantage. We won the toss and, on a cold and windy day with rain forecast, made the correct decision and batted. Michael Wingfield Digby was out early but Rowe and Gould played extremely well and, when rain made for an early lunch, had taken our score to 58-1 off 21 overs. The Lancing bowlers had to contend with a wet ball after lunch and we went on steadily with the 100 coming in the 30th over and the century partnership two overs later. In the 35th over Rowe was out to a rather tired shot and we then made a nonsense. Instead of quietly aiming for 220 and shutting Lancing out of the game, our middle batsmen failed to play themselves in and we were struggling at 135-5. Harris played a sensible innings, but he ran out of partners and when he was the last to go we had not got the total that our bowlers needed in the conditions. We also wasted 14 balls of our 55 overs. It was now a question of slide-rules and run rates as the weather was not going to allow us to bowl our full overs. Our run rate was 3.345 so it was easy for the mathematical spectators in the warmth and comfort of the Pavilion to know the form - not so easy for the 13 players who were getting very damp. After 20 overs, when the match can be decided on run rate, Lancing were 68-3 and winning. After 23 overs they were 75-4 and we were winning. What a way to decide a cricket match! The ball was getting terribly slippery and one or two expensive overs saw Lancing get their noses in front again. We dropped a difficult, but vital, catch in the 28th over when the run rates were almost level, and when Proctor came on to bowl the 35th over we were behind. His first delivery was a three bouncer which the surprised batsman hit straight at cover and was caught. The drizzle had turned to rain by now, and the next two deliveries, which were wides, made the umpires realise that we were mad and we had to come off. The rain tried to stop but when puddles appeared on the square, we knew we had missed our last chance of bowling Lancing out. Sunday June 11 v Esher at Esher - Won by 73 runs We won the toss and helped by good partnerships from Hughes and Scott, followed by Nicholas and Parker (20), made sound if unspectacular progress. Esher started well making 40 for the first wicket but then lost seven wickets for the addition of only nine runs. Scott was mainly responsible for this dramatic collapse taking four wickets in three overs for only one run. 48 were added for the eighth wicket, but when Payne was out the resistance ended, and we won with half an hour to spare. Sunday July 2 v Radley Rangers at Radley - Drawn Radley won the toss and were pinned down by some accurate bowling from Gould, Kennedy and Hardie. Half the side were out, soon after lunch, for only 119, but an unbroken partnership of 67 set us a stiff target. Proctor set off as if he wanted the runs in an hour. This was good policy as after only 85 minutes batting the rain came. This robbed us of 50 minutes and must have cost us a good chance of winning. Saturday July 15 v The School at Sherborne - Won by 73 runs As we could not have the use of the Upper until Speeches were over it was agreed that a 40 over match would be a better contest. We won the toss and once again Proctor gave us a good start before he ran himself out. Harris gave good support, while Brearley helped himself to some untidy bowling. The School were always going to be struggling to keep scoring at five an over. Hume played well, but inexperience of limited over cricket proved too much of a problem for the other batsmen. We must have a big advantage in a 40 over match, but with the shortened playing hours it made for more interesting cricket for both players and spectators. Friday July 21 v Old Sedberghians at Sherborne - Lost by 3 wickets We won the toss and, on a good wicket and against some moderate bowling, were sitting pretty at 100-2 after 84 minutes. Our total of 227 tells the story of some poor middle order batting. Sedbergh were left three hours and, after losing a wicket in the first over, were guided by an excellent innings from Smyth. Always severe on anything short of a length, he timed his onslaught to perfection, and gave Sedbergh a well deserved victory with a few minutes to spare. Saturday July 22 v The Rest at Sherborne - Won by 6 wickets A hastily arranged fixture (in lieu of the Canford Cygnets), saw 19 Pilgrims and three visitors on the field. The Rest won the toss and thanks to Greetham and Watney (24) lunched at 139-4 in only 30 overs. Wingfield Digby and Gould knew too much for the lower order and we were given plenty of time to get the runs. The Rest's bowling could only be described as "thin" and with Proctor, Leakey and Walker playing down the line a comfortable win was never in much doubt. Sunday July 23 v Sherborne Town at Sherborne - Drawn This was a bad toss to lose, on a hot afternoon, and Ken House despatched our bowling to all parts of the Upper. An unbroken partnership of 95 in 45 minutes brought us to the declaration with weary limbs. Our batting never got going, and hard as the Town tried to buy our wickets, we could not summon the energy to hit the bad ball. We were outplayed but never in serious danger of defeat. Monday July 24 v Somerset Stragglers at Sherborne - Won by 4 wickets Everyone agreed that the previous day's performance was not good enough so we started with 40 minutes' fielding practice which reached an amazingly high standard. Losing the toss was not popular and when the Stragglers lunched at 141-3 we had dropped nine catches! Our out cricket tightened up after lunch and we restricted the scoring to 84 runs in even time before the declaration. Once again our batting was firing on too few cylinders and with 70 minutes left we had a miserable 86-5 showing on the scoreboard. Enter Wingfield Digby - 44 minutes of controlled hitting - exit Wingfield Digby with 78 runs to his name. This really settled the issue and when Walker hit 20 in an over we won with time to spare. The sudden swing of fortune is best seen in the analysis of one of the bowlers: 10-3-16-2 which became 19.2-4-107-2. Tuesday July 25 v Dorset Rangers at Sherborne - Drawn We lost the toss again but our bowling and fielding showed a big improvement. Fursdon and Andrew Wingfield Digby produced an excellent opening spell but the main brunt of the bowling fell on Gould who produced the figures of 24-10-30-5. When the Rangers declared after 68 overs we had two and a half hours batting. A good start was essential but Proctor and Rowe were soon out, and although everyone else made a few runs we never reached the required run rate off the 46 overs bowled. Wednesday July 26 v Old Cliftonians at Clifton - Won by 88 runs This was a very satisfactory day for us as everything went according to plan. We won the toss and the Rowe-Michael Wingfield Digby (29) opening partnership put on 102 in an hour. Three wickets fell cheaply and then Gould and Proctor hammered the Clifton attack to the tune of 108 in an hour after lunch. We declared after three hours batting leaving Clifton 15 minutes longer. Our opening attack was discarded after a few overs, and the spinners quietly demolished the Clifton batting and we won with 35 minutes remaining. Sunday July 30 v Old Tonbridgians at Tonbridge - Cancelled When the fixture was arranged it was realised that the date clashed with the semi-final of the Cricketer Cup. The OT's beat the Charterhouse Friars by 40 runs at home in the semi-final and went on to beat Old Malvernians by 114 runs in the final. Saturday August 12 v Bluemantles at Tunbridge Wells - Drawn We won the toss and got off to a reasonable start thanks to Proctor (rather lucky) and Lough (good batting). When they were parted after 66 runs in 50 minutes the rot set in and our total appeared meagre. Scott and Peck, helped by a class slip catch by Nicholas, gave us hope but the usual Tunbridge Wells rain intervened. Sunday August 13 v Hampshire Hogs at Warnford - Won by 33 runs We won the toss but made an unhappy start losing half the side for 58. Only Walker played the early bowling with confidence and when he was out after a stand of 53 with Parker it was left to the latter to hold the fort. He was last out having batted for just under two hours. The Hogs innings was one of those extraordinary performances which occur from time to time at all levels. 41 easy runs by the openers off 11 overs. Shields comes on and takes two quick wickets and the Hogs are 52-3 at tea. A light shower appears to freshen the wicket and Wingfield Digby makes the batsmen think it is difficult. 52-3 turned into 54-6 and then 74-7. Allom showed how it should be done, but he did not get much support, and we had won a game that at one stage we appeared to be losing comfortably. |