Rollings rips up the record books

OCCC 387 for 4 (Rollings 203*, E Copleston 59*, Jordan 53) drew with Buccaneers 312 for 8 (Ryden 102*, Cross 3 for 31, J Scriven 3 for 107)

At the end of a week where batting records tumbled daily, the highest was saved for last. Will Rollings, who usually bats low down the order, seized the chance of opening the innings and made 203* against the Bucaneers, surpassing the 53-year-old record held by Nigel Paul who made 201* in the cricket week back in 1962. For the fifth successive match we passed 300, going on to a record score of 387 for 4, beating the previous highest of 370 set 48 hours earlier. Unsurprisingly, on a pitch where no side had been bowled out in five days, the Buccaneers ended on 310 for 8 and the match was drawn.

Sam Langmead won the toss and chose to bat, a popular decision with his side but one which almost ensured we could not win, barring some dreadful batting by the visitors. Rollings, who started with three fours in the first over, was matched by Ollie Cross (32) who hit seven fours in his 19-ball stay. He was replaced by Will Jordan (53) who reached his fifty off 18 deliveries, smashing five fours and four sixes in his 28-minutes innings.

Rollings made a steady start, bringing up his fifty in 54 minutes, ten minutes more than Michael Burgess took to reach his ton on Wednesday. The he sped up, reaching his hundred in 92 minutes off 65 balls. With Damian Hill (21) proving it was possible to score slowly on Jubilee, Rollings accelerated, and when joined by Eds Copleston (59*), never a man to miss out on some boot filling, the bowling was hit to all parts. They put on 164 for the fifth wicket in 70 minutes off 17 overs. Rollings, on reaching 150, was told by his partner to hit out or reverse sweep, so he did. The runs kept flowing.

There was some unease among the opposition as Copleston tried to placate them as the score mounted, but the declaration eventually came when Rollings brought up his double hundred. It was not his first century. He made one for the Colts. In all he batted 180 minutes, faced 130 deliveries and hit 29 fours and six sixes.

That was a second Paul record gone (he had lost his fastest hundred crown to Burgess earlier in the week) and near the end of the innings a third went as Copleston passed his record aggregate of runs for the club. It was a notable achievement for Copleston who may well become the first OC to pass 5000 runs; with the younger players all a long way behind, he may hold the record for some years.

Unfortunately, older brother Simon, in his only game during a break from Abu Dhabi, managed only 1, although he would not have minded too much as his six-year-old son Zan did bowl an over at the end of the Buccaneers innings.

Even though the Buccaneers received 58 overs in return, they were never realistically going to chase down such a massive target, although some generous bowling and attacking fields kept them interested. Cross picked up 3 for 31, astounding figures given the rest of the week, while Jack Scriven, reluctantly playing despite an injured finger, took a commendable 3 for 107. Ryden, batting at No.7, scored 102* off 86 balls, but spare a thought for Ballentyne who was bowled first ball by Scriven and whose three overs went for 38.