Cheltenham brushed aside as semi-final looms

OCs 183 for 1 (Howard 89*, M Crump 69*) beat Old Cheltonians 182 (Lawrence 98, Brooksbank 29, M Crump 3-25, Watkinson 2-28, Waters 2-37, Chetwode 1-39, Cope 1-50) by nine wickets

On a glorious day in the almost perfect setting of Cheltenham College, we progressed through to the semi-finals of the Cricketer Cup with an emphatic nine-wicket win over Old Cheltonians, a victory achieved with almost 24 overs to spare.

The day got off to a dream start when Alan Cope struck first ball, the Cheltonian opener padding up to a delivery which held its line. For the next 45 minutes things went rather awry, Cope in particular coming in for some stick. At 70 for 1 after 12 overs, the home side seemed poised to rack up a large score on a good pitch. But Michael Chetwode and Seren Waters (younger than two of his bowling partner’s daughters) re-established control and then Matt Crump ripped through the middle order with three quick wickets, the best courtesy of an excellent leg-side stumping from Will Howard.

Cheltenham’s other opener, David Lawrence, familiar to members of the OCHC where he spends his winters, batted superbly to help his team close in on a decent score, and he was robbed of what would have been a deserved hundred when run-out by a direct hit from Cope when on 98. Nevertheless, the last three wickets added 71 to enable Cheltonians to post 182.

Waters and Howard got us off to a decent start before Waters fell for 15. But from 35 for 1, the batsmen took complete control. Howard, who admitted to being in a hurry because of a liaison with five American ladies in Fulham at 7.30pm, played in his typicall idiosyncratic manner, always offering bowlers hope but plundering runs with speed. He made the most of a reprieve when caught behind off a no-ball. Matt Crump, the hero of the second round, provided the perfect foil, unleashing some exquisite strokes without looking troubled.

In three games we have lost five wickets and, to date, our middle order has really not been tested. Spare a thought for Eds Copleston who has not bowled or batted so far in the competition.

We now face Dulwich, who beat Felsted in their quarter-final, on Jubilee on July 27.