Crump comes to the Cricketer Cup party

OCCC 183 for 1 (Crump T 69* Pope 78*) beat Old Wykhamists 182 for 9 (Escott 59, Waters 4-23) by nine wickets

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Tom Crump on his way to an unbeaten 69*

The OCCC eased into the semi-finals of the Cricketer Cup with a comfortable nine-wicket win at Winchester, an unbeaten second-wicket stand of 147 between Tom Crump (69*) and debutante Ollie Pope (78*)  putting the result beyond doubt long before the winning runs were hit with 14 overs to spare. We will host Old Wellingtonians on Jubilee on July 24.

Morning rain delayed the start until midday, and while the leaden clouds gradually gave way to sunshine, a strong wind blew down the ground throughout.  Debate between captain and senior players as to what to do if we won the toss was rendered immaterial when the home skipper called correctly and batted.  Crump insisted he wanted to bat first, continuing to maintain his stance long after the game was won.

It was apparent from the first over that the pitch offered little for the pace bowlers, but it was slow with a low bounce and took turn; more than three-quarters of the overs during the day came from spinners.   After a couple of loose overs we established a grip from which the batsmen never broke free, tight fielding preventing them from rotating the strike; the run-rate in the middle two thirds of the innings hovered around three an over.

Jack Scriven (10-0-29-2) bowled tightly and the top and tail of the innings while Max Subba Row – another making his debut – was unflappable, bowling his ten overs on the spin (10-0-34-1). The surprise package was Rob Jones (10-1-35-1) whose wobbling gentle medium pace proved hard to hit, his one wicket courtesy of a blink-and-you-miss-it stumping by Pope.

Ollie Pope pulls off a stumping

It was Seren Waters (10-1-23-4) who tore the heart out the middle order. He frustrated Cheetham for two overs before he holed out to mid-off, and then took the key wicket of opener Escott for a patient 88-ball 59 with an athletic return catch.  Hopes of a recovery disappeared when he then grabbed wickets with successive deliveries to leave Wykhamists 128 for 7.  McArthur (30*) and Hemmingway (11) boosted the score to 182 with improvisation and good running, the innings ending with the latter’s run-out by a direct hit from the boundary by Ollie Davies.

Waters (25) got our chase off to a strong start before he skewed a ball to square leg.  That brought Pope to the middle, fresh from a season at school during which he had scored 911 runs and a week which started with a call-up to the England U-19 squad.  At the other end the pressure was on Tom Crump who had not scored a fifty since 2012, a run of 12 matches but he responded magnificently, keeping the scoreboard ticking over with singles punctuated with some powerful drives and pulls.  There was genuine pleasure when he reached his half-century.

Pope started cautiously but grew in confidence, and after bringing up his own fifty he unleashed a series of reverse sweeps and drives which had the field chasing shadows. Fittingly, though, Crump hit the winning runs to see us through to the last four for the third time in four years.

Seren Waters takes a diving return catch to dismiss Escott

Paddy Harman sees off the Ramblers

OCCC 188 for 8 (Copleston 44, Harman 43*) beat Eton Ramblers 187 (Harman 6-43) by two wickets

Last year's opening game of cricket week against Eton Ramblers proved a thriller as the Ramblers grabbed a tie from the jaws of defeat.  This year’s match was no less dramatic as we turned likely defeat into victory.

Eds Copleston won the toss and inserted Eton on a heavily overcast morning on Jubilee. Dan Chitty and Horsey took the new ball and proved erratic early as the Eton openers looked to be positive from the start in light rain. An extraordinary break in play occurred as the umpires pulled us off when the rain had stopped, citing dangerous conditions. The break helped us though as Ollie Trower took a good catch above his head at cover point (waist height for most humans) and from 80 for 1 Eton lost a flurry of wickets with Jamie Harrison and Paddy Harman applying the squeeze into lunch.

A delayed lunch of curry clearly did not sit well with Eton as Harman struck first ball after the break and wickets continued to tumble. Club stalwart and leading wicket taker, Mike Chetwode, replaced Harrison but was dispatched for a series of boundaries as he proved less metronomic than normal. To be fair, Chetters utterly detests curry and was probably absolutely starving.

It was Harman that produced the performance of the day. He was miserly in his economy rate and took wickets regularly to end an excellent spell with 6 for 42 as Eton were bowled out for 187.

Will Jordan and Trower looked shaky early on in our response before Jordan fell LBW. Callum Kent joined Trower and saw off the new ball without too many issues and at 40 for 1 we looked in charge as Eton turned to spin. Calamity struck as Trower and Kent both ended up confused in the middle and Kent was run out, Charlie Gilbert followed next ball and four balls later Trower was leg-before to leave us 40 for 4. It was clear we just needed to bat till tea without further loss. Or was it? Clearly Damien Hill disagreed as he tried a slog sweep that went straight up in the air to leave us 50 for 5 at the break.

The sun came out and Copleston and Dan Chitty rebuilt. Eds, the club’s highest run scorer of all time, as he willingly lets anyone who will listen know, counterattacked and looked untroubled as we reached 100 for 5. Chitty was then bowled and Copleston adjudged lbw for 44 to leave Harman and Harrison at the crease. The pair batted with maturity and Harrison struck a couple of maximums into Claire's Oak before chipping a long hop up in the air.

Harman was scintillating with his stroke play and continued to dominate the Eton spinners and his 43 not out, supported well by Horsey at the end, proved the difference between the sides. Fittingly Harman smashed the winning runs and after a significant wobble before tea, we had got over the line. Eton fought all the way and were as always a joy to entertain.

After the game Man of the Match Harman humbly sighed: "I’m just really enjoying my cricket at the moment" Another thrilling game against Eton Ramblers on the first Sunday of cricket week and we look forward to next season already....

Week starts with win at Tonbridge

On a warm day at Tonbridge School, our mighty skip Will Howard won the toss and incredibly negatively put them in, a strange decision especially given our two opening bowlers still hadn't arrived by 11:30am, but the promise of an 11th man and a strong bowling line up offered great possibilities.

Once we were underway, wickets began to tumble in dreadful circumstances. A Horsey half-tracker was caught at third man, followed by a marvelous run out by Kennedy, and then a Horsey half volley was chipped to cover. Chitty then saved cricket somewhat with a good length ball caught above the head at third slip, and Kent chipped in with a great leg-side stumping off the occasional bowling of Kennedy. Foster's promptly ruined all of the OCCC hard work with two dropped catches and a wicket from a half tracker caught at mid-on. Meanwhile Hawkeye, making his yearly appearance as he lived 5 minutes away, was using his shins to good effect at 1st slip.

By the time part timer Kennedy dismissed their Cricketer Cup captain for 1, with a rank full toss caught at mid-on, Tonbridge were abysmally 63 for 7 on an absolute road. A decent looking partnership from there took them to 180 for 8 before Gillet dismissed the final two leaving us an easy 185 to chase, only 37 overs into the day. Overall an average bowling display yielded an undeservedly low chase, but at least lunch (and later on tea) were fantastic as ever.

Kent and Baker (non OC) opened for OCCC in good form, Baker making a slow 6 but Kent cover driving his way to 48 and a first wicket stand of 50 (Baker on 2 at the fall of wicket). Percival, the other ringer, at No.3 smashed his way to a match-winning 60, ably accompanied along the way by Langmead bludgeoning 30 odd before falling just after tea, with Kennedy and Gillet making easy work finishing it off with 11* and 6* respectively with OCCC only five wickets down, and a good 25 overs left successfully chasing the 185 in 30 overs. A great victory and a great start cricket week. ---- Rory Kennedy

Davies and Thomas see us home

Old Cranleighans 215 for 6 (Davies 72, Thomas 40*) beat Old Cliftonians 212 for 8 (Walker 81, Scriven 4-40) by six wickets

George Thomas on the attack

The OCCC secured a Cricketer Cup 3^rd round tie at Winchester next week (July 10) with a six-wicket win over Old Cliftonians but it was a game which we threatened to throw away after losing a flurry of wickets after making a solid start in pursuit of 213.  It took a calming sixth-wicket stand of 120 between Ollie Davies (72) and George Thomas (40*) to see us over the line.

Last week we were in charge of the game at Clifton when rain intervened, causing us to try again on Jubilee. A brief shower shortly before the start caused a half-hour delay, but the pitch was dry and, uncharacteristically this summer, the sun broke though and for much of the day there were blue skies and blazing sunshine.

Matt Crump won the toss but we looked slightly weary in the field.  It was our third game in four weeks but for Clifton it was their fourth in as many weekends after two washouts.  Kartick Suresh, in his final appearance before returning to Singapore, again bowled well, making the initial breakthrough and then returning to remove the dangerous Walker (81).  That aside, the slow bowlers again too centre stage, Jack Scriven the pick with 4 for 40.  A hand injury sustained earlier in the week meant he was playing as a bowler who would bat only if vital.

A total of 210 always seemed below par, even given a lush and slowish outfield, and although Seren Waters slapped the first ball of our reply straight to a fielder, it appeared no more than a minor setback,  Tom Crump and Bruno Borughton  slowly guided us to 43 before the wheels loosened.   Three quick wickets left us 55 for 4, and when Matt Crump holed out to a forgettable shot we were in the mire at 85 for 5.

But Davies and Thomas stayed calm, saw off the best of Clifton’s bowlers and wore down a tiring attack, taking few chances and punishing the bad balls when they came.  By the time Davies scooped a sweep to the keeper we were all but home and, fittingly, Thomas cracked the winning runs in the next over.