Season review - Records tumble in one-sided summer

The cricket week summed up ... Will Rollings poses
in front of the scorecard after his record-breaking innings

2015 was always going to be a tough year for club. Ed Henderson’s surrendering of the captaincy not only left a huge organisational (and motivational at times) hole, but also a number of solid overs at the top of the innings.

Looking at the Cricketer Cup campaign first, it was clear to see, from the draw alone, that we were up against it. A tough fixture at Tonbridge in the first round was hampered with both Scrivens and Will Rollings unavailable. Having bowled and fielded admirably, were still set a daunting target of over 300 against probably the best side in the competition. Michael Burgess was in a dominant mood (weeks before he’d made 116 in a game against a full strength Kent), and struck the ball beautifully in his breezy 77. He was ably supported by Alan Cope who has developed as a senior member of the side. Cope set himself and paced his masterful innings to perfection, one of the finest in recent memory. He finished on an unbeaten 133. In Euan Johnson, we had a young inexperienced batsman who was making his Cup debut. When he came in we needed 50 with only three wickets in hand. A calm head was needed and Johnson provided this to help walk us over the line. A healthy crowd was treated to a near perfect game of cricket.

Burgess was soon lost to Leicestershire, who signed him as a professional contract for the summer. Tom Crump and Cope both suffered injuries, which left us seven potential selections unavailable. Eton was always going to be a tough ask. Despite a valiant effort with bat, ball and in the field, we were edged out narrowly in a game we seemed to have all but won when we had them eight down still needing 54. Seren Waters’ 7 for 32 in a losing cause was our best return in the Cricketer Cup.

Paddy Harman strikes on his way to 4 for 44 at Tonbridge

A week later, the Eton Ramblers visited Jubilee and played a big part in the game of the season at school. Another solid spell from Mike Chetwode helped reduce the Rambers to 229 before declaration. In reply a superb 68 by Callum Kent, ably backed up by Johnston, with 49, left us on the brink of victory. The game was all but won. A flurry of wickets ensued and with the scores tied, we lost our final wicket - tied game.

In the two annual fixtures against the school ended in the boys favour. In the all-day game, we were lucky to get a full fixture in and the School set the club a tough 264 off 40 overs, with two Upper Vth batters doing most of the damage (Ed Tristem 104 and Lewis Bedford 92). Despite a quick start, wickets tumbled and we were bowled out for 201.

Cricket Week proved to be one of the highest scoring of all time and records tumbled daily on a track which offered almost nothing to bowlers. Teams batting first would routinely score over 300 and declare thinking they had a good total only to find they were losing comfortably. On the last four days of the Week every side exceeded 300. On the Wednesday, Burgess (131) and Brad Scriven (105) made a mockery of chasing down a record target of 337 against Grasshoppers. They added 199 in 70 minutes off 17 overs, Burgess bludgeoning a hundred off 44 balls in 54 minutes. It was, unsurprisingly, the fastest OC hundred ever.

Michael Burgess provided fireworks at Tonbridge
and then scored the fastest OCCC of all time in the week

The next day we set Free Foresters 311 to win and lost by four wickets. On the Friday, the Old Tonbridgians, aware of what had been going on, set us 370 in 54 overs. We won by four wickets with five overs in hand but it was slightly unsatisfying, so one-sided was the contest between bat and ball. For the records, it was out highest score, the highest score against us, the highest score we have chased down, and the 739 runs in the day was the highest by almost 50.

The carnage continued into the final day of the Week as Will Rollings, by his own admission not remotely a front-line batsman, smashed an unbeaten 203 against the Buccaneers, beating Nigel Paul’s 53-year-old record of 201. We went on the score 387, beating the record set two days previously, but our opponents had little trouble securing the draw. In a damp summer, the rest of the season petered out rather uneventfully.

As always, many people ensure the club ticks along, none more so than our scorer Heather Dean, who worked overtime to keep up with the run fests, Louise and Daisy Chetwode and their magnificent catering efforts, and Michael Chetwode for keeping Cricket Week on the rails.

While the club is enjoying the influx of some very talented recent leavers, it is important to stress that we really do welcome everyone. Seeing 68-year-old Dick Kennedy-Hawkes take to field a good 50 years after his debut was a real pleasure, as was welcoming the leavers to OCCC ranks.