Merry enjoys his day in the sun

Old Cranleighans 239 for 5 dec (R Merry 100*, Clarence-Smith 90) beat East Horsley 181 (Christo 62, Williamson 3-23) by 58 runs
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Ed Henderson maintained the unbeaten start to his OC captaincy career with a comfortable 59-run win at East Horsley, Rob Merry marking the occasion with a well-made maiden hundred for the club.

The setting at East Horsley was as always glorious on the hottest day of the year so far, and Henderson increased his popularity by winning the toss and batting. The reality was this decision owed as much to his 11th man, Henry Watkinson, still enjoying a family barbeque in Shere, as any desire to keep his players from the worst of the heat.

Merry started with a flourish, cutting the first ball of the match for four and cover-driving the second for another boundary. Thereafter he look so comfortable that John McDermott to mumble: “What’s going on … does he think this is his bloody testimonial match or something.” He gave two chances, one in his seventies when a steepler to cover was dropped, the other on 96 when a much harder low drive was put down by the bowler. A warmly-welcomed hundred, maybe, but nothing, as his brother rightly noted, could "excuse that ridiculous mask when keeping".

But Merry otherwise looked untroubled, even when a clatter of wickets left us wobbling slightly. Callum Preece was bowled shouldering arms – offered the get out by spectators who asked if the ball seamed or swung, his honesty that it was “dead straight” was very unCranleighan; Tristan Rosenfeldt, with the appearance of a sunburnt Buster Bloodvessel, got off the mark with a sumptuous late cut but immediately ran out of puff and was leg-before soon after for 9, Tom Merry played back to one that begged for a front-foot shot and was bowled for 0, and then Mark Shapland was found wanting by another straight one for 5.

Merry was then joined by Charlie Clarence-Smith and the pair positively frolicked in a fifth-wicket stand of 170 off 21 overs in 81 minutes. Despite giving Merry a 30-run start, Clarence-Smith, who cut loose after reaching fifty, had almost caught his colleague up when he skied a catch to mid-off for 90 made off 88 balls. Merry duly brought his hundred with his 14th four - 139 minutes, 83 balls - prompting the declaration.

Set a stiff target – Henderson was told by several of his team he had declared too early – East Horsley lacked the firepower to mount a serious challenge. That they came close was due to Hendo’s one miscalculation of the day when he offered Chris Christo, our potential South African ringer (dumped when Watkinson finally appeared shortly before tea and after Rosenfeldt’s offer to bat but not field were brusquely dismissed), to the home side.

There were a few chuckles when Christo clipped the first two deliveries he faced – fittingly off Henderson – for the sweetest of boundaries and for a time it appeared he might be able to single-handedly ruin our afternoon. He struggled to find anyone to stay with him, and then was undone when Martin Williamson’s first ball of the afternoon found his weak spot – a full toss smacked straight to Preece on the square-leg boundary. The last pair hit out spiritedly but to no avail. The wickets were shared around, although Michael Chetwode was left indignant as his usual divine right to mop up the tail was denied to him by the new regime.

All in all, a really enjoyable day which underlined there is room for a handful of village matches against pleasant opponents in our fixture list.

OC Ladies beaten in inaugural match

The inaugural girls’ cricket match between the Old Cranleighans and the school took place on the St Andrew’s and, despite the overcast sky and the constant threat of rain overhead, a few moments of sunshine were seen, and the match only had to be suspended once, for a short time, during the afternoon.

A six-a-side format was used, with the OCs borrowing a wicket-keeper from the school during their fielding innings. Four of the team were relatively recent leavers: Zoe Crouch, last year’s captain, opened the batting for the OCs, and went on to make a creditable 21 before being caught by Chloe Nicholls off the bowling of Lottie Grafton. She was followed at the crease by three girls from the year before, Georgie Hodge, Amy Stott and Eleanor Jolly. The first two were dismissed in competent style by Jennifer Vincent, and with score standing at 29 runs for three wickets, there were some worries that the OCs would not provide a decent score for the school to chase. However, Olivia Townley, who captained the OCs for the day, came in at No. 5, and despite having not played cricket in the six years since she left the school, impressed everyone with her competent batting display, and feisty running between the wickets. In the end the OCs managed to score a total of 116 in their 20 overs, with Oliva and Eleanor both ending up unbeaten on 38.

After a brief interlude, whilst most players partook of the usual feast of goodies provided by the Keith family, the OCs took to the field, ready to deal with the challenge provided by the school team. Unfortunately they were faced with some excellent batting and the School won with five overs to spare, and with only the loss of two of wickets. The three Lower Sixth girls in the team - Lucy Keith (captain), Lottie Grafton and Mara Waters - all batted very well, with the latter two being retired in order to give all the girls in the school team a chance to bat. Jennifer Vincent was the top scorer of the day, with 50 not out, in an innings that included ten boundaries.

The match was followed by a barbecue in front of the Jubilee Pavilion, joining the many players and spectators involved in the Cricketer Cup game against the Eton Ramblers. The school players enjoyed chatting with the OCs, and some interesting reminiscing took place, helped by the records of past girls’ matches provided by the old scorebooks brought along.

It is hoped that the match will be the first of many more to come, and the aim for next year is to play an 11-a-side match. Carolyn Nichols

Another first-round defeat in Cricketer Cup

Old Cranleighans 193 for 8 (Waters 71) lost to Eton Ramblers 213 for 9 (Horne 62, Cope 4-59) by 20 runs
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For the second year on the trot our Cricketer Cup ended at the first hurdle, and for the first time in six matches in the competition we lost at home. At 68 for 5, Eton Ramblers were on the ropes, but they recovered well to post 213 for 9 in 50 overs, and although we reached 90 for 1, our innings lost momentum and as the run-rate climbed we fell away badly, eventually losing by 20 runs. There could be no complaints that the better side on the day won.


The start was not auspicious - possibly because a majority of the side had attended the Foundation Ball the night before and were in various states of disrepair – as Henry Watkinson’s first four deliveries of the day went for 14 runs. In fairness, he finished with figures of 1 for 28 off eight overs, which with 14 off the first and eight off the last overs accurately showed he only got better. Matt Crump shared the new ball but was all over the place, shipping ten wides in his five overs; Alan Cope, who bowled very well in fits and start, bowled eight, and in the end extras – 21 wides and five no-balls, all uncharacteristically from spinner Graham Webb – proved the difference between the teams.

After our woolly start we recovered well. Watkinson removed the dangerous-looking Vanderspa for 20, and then Cope took a brace of wickets in his second and fifth overs, a reward for a good line and length aided by some very indifferent batting. But we appeared to relax slightly, and Hobson and Bruce calmly rebuilt the innings with a sixth-wicket stand of 73. Hobson, who made 62 off 135 balls, provided the rock for the recovery, and while our spinners (Webb and Seren Waters) proved hard to get away, they did not look like breaking the stand until Bruce was well held by Cope off Waters for 32. The over before Bruce had deposited Waters through the back window of a car parked next to the pavilion to general amusement.

Max Barson’s bustling medium pace struck one run later when Thompson chased a ball so wide he did well to get the toe of his bat on it, Will Howard taking a good low catch, and at 144 for 7 off 39 overs we again seemed to be in the box seat. But Farley, batting at No. 8, then took to the bowling with a mixture of orthodoxy and improvisation, and our bowlers were unable to keep him in check. Hobson’s excellent innings ended when he was run out taking on Matt Crump’s arm from the deep, but Farley pushed on. Harry Chetwood hit a couple of fours, was hit on the head by Cope, and then run out by Crump in his follow through when he slipped mid-pitch. A target of 214 was more than seemed likely at one point and represented what Stuart Welsh reckoned was a par score. To our credit, our fielding was outstanding, even Michael Chetwode being forced to admit it might have been slightly better than in “his day”.

We started solidly, with Seren Waters and Rob Jones, batting right back on his stumps to counter the pace of Bruce, driving and pulling with confidence. The introduction of spin did for Jones, but Matt Crump and Waters pushed the innings on so that at the halfway point we were 90 for 1. When Waters departed for 71 to the first ball of Bruce’s second spell, we were still in the driving seat needing 73 from 13 overs, but then it started to go wrong as a succession of batsmen got bogged down, and then as wickets started falling our middle order lost its way. A lack of experience and some tight bowling, especially by Chetwood, caused us to start playing a succession of desperate shots. Boundaries dried up, and in the end we were left flailing.

It was good to see a large number of former and current players supporting the side, despite the frustration of a wasted trip to Eton last week and another day of indifferent weather.

We have now lost four of our last five matches in the Cricketer Cup – tough draws have not helped – but we can take satisfaction from the youth of our side. Whether we are necessarily serious enough about the competition is another matter, and there has to be some soul searching before next season’s first round.