Crump steers us into Cup quarter-finals

Old Cranleighans 238 for 2 (M Crump 107*, Cope 41, Howard 38, Janmohamed 36*) beat Old Cliftonians 235 for 9 (Houcke 100, Chetwode 3-38, Cope 3-47) by eight wickets
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A super hundred from Matt Crump guided us to an eight-wicket win over Old Cliftonians on the Lowers and book us a Cricketer Cup quarter-final trip to Cheltenham College. In two Cup matches this year we have only lost four wickets and the bulk of our runs have been scored by players under 22. The future really is bright.

On a sunny but windy day, Clifton won the toss. The pitch had little bounce and the ball didn’t come onto the bat, but it was a true surface. The first and crucial wicket, that of former England A and Gloucestershire batsman Matt Windows, owed nothing to the pitch, a Henry Watkinson full toss scooped back to the bowler. He struck again two overs later to leave Clifton 22 for 2.

Houcke and Meadows took the score to 74, struggling to get after Graham Webb who bowled through his ten overs for 28. Michael Chetwode’s first spell produced the breakthrough and a second catch for Abeed Janmohamed, and apart from one wayward over, he was typically parsimonious.

There then followed Clifton’s main stand, Houcke and Swetman adding 90 in 18 overs. Our fielding wobbled and we split four hard chances, and for a time there was a danger the game was going to get away from us. Chetwode finally lured Swetman into a weak drive, and from then on we regained control. The last 14 overs yielded 71 runs for six wickets.

Houcke continued to plough a lonely furrow, falling to a sharp stumping the ball after reaching his hundred. Morrison ruined Alex Craven’s figures with some good late hitting, but Alan Cope kept the damage within limits with an excellent late burst.

Our innings started shakily, Will Howard surviving the first of two drops in the opening over. His luck ran out when he had made 38 but by then he and Crump had got us off to a good start. Cope came in and looked in good touch, relishing a brief clash with Windows until trying for one hit too many.

At 121 for 2 we were still in the driving seats but quick wickets and we might have struggled. Abeed Jamohamed was not in the best of form but he dug in, rotated the strike and thumped the bad balls. Crump, happy to play second fiddle to Cope, upped a gear on his dismissal and drove in the V ruthlessly, especially on the leg side. Clifton wilted under the onslaught, their fielding became ragged and they split more catches. Crump reached his hundred with a pull through midwicket and an over later completed an emphatic win with a similar stroke.

Without exaggerating, this was probably the best day in the club’s history. Aside from this result, we also fielded an Under-21 side on Jubilee which would have beaten most opposition. With several players returning from the School match for the next round, for the first time the selectors face a real quandary over the team to take to Cheltenham.