Waters and spin sink Haileybury

Old Cranleighans 187 for 1 (Waters 103*, M Crump 35, T Crump 31*) beat Haileybury Hermits 186 (walker 93, Watkinson 4-58, Webb 2-30) by nine wickets with 23.5 overs to spare
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A excellent 107 not out from Seren Waters helped us to an easy nine-wicket win over Haileybury Hermits in the first round of the Cricketer Cup, setting up a challenging second-round tie at Tonbridge in a fortnight.

The setting could not have been better, with the sun shining and hundreds of Old Cranleighans and their families lining the Jubilee boundary. The Red Arrows flew over shortly before the start of the game, and when Eds Copleston won the toss it seemed it was going to be our day all the way.

We started shakily,however, Henry Watkinson and Ed Henderson conceding 17 off the first two overs, but the pair stuck to their guns and reined the openers, and by the tenth over each had taken a wicket and Haileybury were struggling on 43 for 2.

Then came a stand that appeared to be setting them on their way to a formidable total as Nick Walker and Stewart put on 108 for the third wicket. We knew that Walker, whose first-class career with Derbyshire and Leicestershire ended in 2008, would be the danger man, and he set out his stall by smacking Watkinson for two sixes in his first ten balls.

Copleston then set the three-prong spin attack of Phil Roper, Graham Webb and Waters into operation. Initially it seemed as if Walker would continue to dominate, hitting Roper for four fours in eight deliveries, but the next 15 overs produced only two more boundaries. Walker was adept at milking the singles, but Stewart struggled to keep the strike rate up. He managed only one run in the first 38 balls he faced, and 22 of his 24 runs, made from 98 deliveries, were singles.

Roper was unlucky as twice Webb spilt catches off well-hit reverse sweeps, but in the end the pressure told. Copleston switched Webb to the bottom end and with his second ball he had Stewart stumped. Three overs later Waters bowled another Stewart, and then within two balls the innings completely came unstuck.

Gaur was well run-out trying to give the strike to Walker, and next ball Walker himself, limited to singles by tight bowling and good field-placing, was cleaned up by Webb. At 151 for 2 with 18 overs remaining and the pitch playing well, most spectators were talking of a target of 270 plus; nine overs later Haileybury were 171 for 6 and all at sea.

That set the scene for Watkinson, whose pace is a distant memory but who has become a canny death bowler, taking on the mantle which Mike Chetwode used to fulfil so skilfully. By relying on line and length, with the occasional slow full toss into the mix, he polished off the innings with three wickets in five deliveries.

Haileybury had lost their last eight wickets for 35 runs, and defending 186 needed a to hit the ground running. Perhaps the hour-long lunch break, during which former housemaster Roger Knight formally opened the pavilion, did for the visitors.

The opening attack was wayward – there were ten wides in as many overs – and Waters, in good form after a mediocre start to the summer, was savage on anything wide of the off stump, cutting and driving with elegance and power. Matt Crump was by no means going to play second fiddle, and he was as always strong off his legs.

As the hundred approached, both batsmen started taking more chances. Waters was inexplicably dropped at mid-on when in his forties, Crump not as fortunate soon after.

The arrival of Tom Crump only accelerated the finish, cracking four fours in nine balls. Waters, whose fifty came in 61 minutes off 64 deliveries, laid into the weary attack, racing to his second hundred, his second fifty taking only another 32 balls and 34 minutes. His was innings which oozed class, and it was a fitting end to a weekend which had started with his father being awarded the MBE for services to Kenyan cricket.