Tense draw to end the season

Old Cranleighans 186 for 8 drew with West End Esher 185 for 7

The 2009 season concluded with a draw at West End Esher in a game which went down to the final delivery. Eds Copleston won the toss, and after losing three early wickets Hill (45), Copleston (40) and Rob Merry (49) helped steer us to 186 for 8.

Ed Henderson (4 for 48) made early inroads into the West End innings before a middle-order revival meant a tight run-chase which went to the wire. West End needed five to win off the last three balls, but a wicket from Clarence-Smith followed by a dot ball ensured the home side fell two runs short.

Crump hundred eases us to victory

Ed Copleston won the toss and chose to bat after rain had delayed the start. The decision was more than justified by Matt Crump and Tom Garland who took us to lunch on 105 for 0, and both opened up after the break, Crump reaching his hundred and Garland his fifty before both fell hitting out. Sam Langmead and Copleston then continued the good work, enabling us to declare in 262 for 3. Spare a thought for James Harrison who, on his debut, waited three hours to bat and was out second ball for a duck.

Clarence-Smith and Will Langmead opened the bowling as Buccaneers reached 60 for 1 at tea, Johnny Gates continuing his wretched catching by spilling a routine gulley catch just before the break. Gates and Phil Roper then bowled tightly as we squeezed the Buccaneers and wickets fell regularly. Mike Roper and James Harrison were slightly expensive before Will Langmead and Clarence Smith mopped up the tail to give us our first win since the first day of the cricket week.

Roper ensures we finish on a high

Old Cranleighans 252 for 9 dec (Crump T 51, Cowdrey 36, Cope 30, Hannah 24*, Roper M 23) beat Old Tonbridgians 180 (Hedley 40, Crump T 2-11, Crump M 2-16, Langmead 2-19) by 72 runs

A winless cricket week was avoided thanks to a last-day victory over Old Tonbridgians, a result which gave us an atom of revenge for the Cricketer Cup defeat at the end of June. After several captains had huffed and puffed without success, it was the calm head of Mike Roper who resisted the chairman’s moans, declared at the perfect time, and then rotated his bowlers in an almost Brearleyesque way.

Our innings was very much like England’s at Cardiff two day’s before. Most batsmen got started, none went on to play a big innings. Tom Crump scored his second fifty in as many days, Rob Cowdrey, Alan Cope and Roper all looked assured until getting out, but only a tenth-wicket stand of 36 between Matt Crump (demoted to No. 11 after his misdemeanour of 24 hours earlier) and Elliott Hannah enabled us to post a decent score.

Tonbridge had a similar problem – lots of cameos, no substantial knock. They also engineered a comedy run-out and contrive red to play some woeful shots, none worse than the top edge of the rankest of long hops from Chris Porter which accounted for Makepeace just as he appeared set to take our part-time spinners to the cleaners.

Matt Crump, opening the attack, was heard to say as he marked out his run that at least he wouldn’t be treated with as much disrespect as he had been during the Cricketer Cup tie. There was loud tittering as his first delivery disappeared high into Clare’s Oak; the second ball of his next over almost cleared it.

A couple of chances went begging but generally we fielded well. Mike Chetwode bowled well but came in for some tap, Cope bowled some suspect offspin and didn’t. Sam Langmead, sporting sideburns not seen at Cranleigh since Queen Victoria was on the throne, picked up two good wickets with his bustling medium-pacers, and the game ended with the Crumps brothers whirling away with what can loosely be described as spin.

The day finished with the now-traditional Rick Johnson BBQ. While usually a gourmet delight, on this occasion he managed to buy some of sickest burgers and sausages ever produced but once he had charcoaled them, few noticed the difference. Until an unwelcome gurgling stomach woke them at 3am …

Charterhouse ease home as Crump goes AWOL

Chaterhouse Friars 119 for 5 beat Old Cranleighans 118 (Crump T 62, Vickers 29) by five wickets

After two days of lousy weather, the rain finally relented for our visit to Charterhouse. However, the pitch was still very wet and that meant the toss was crucial. We lost it, were stuck in, and from the moment Alan Cope was struck twice by lifting deliveries before being dismissed for 0 in the opening over, we were up against it.

As per the teamsheet, it was a Crump who captained the OCs. However, it wasn’t Matt, the match manager, but younger brother Tom. Matt had withdrawn the night before claiming he had tickets for the second day at Cardiff. Eds Copleston’s splenetic reaction was repeated 18 hours later when he found out that Matt had not only missed the match but also failed to secure the promised ticket for the Test. “It’s very disappointing for the club,” Copleston muttered. “It could take many years for Crumpy to rebuild the trust of his team-mates after this debacle.”

Back to the match. With the ball popping from every length, batting was a hit or miss affair. Jock Vickers’ natural game – swing and smash – worked for a while as he bludgeoned 29, aided by four dropped catches, while Tom Crump salvaged some family pride with a superb 62. Sadly, the rest of the side offered little and we were bowled out for 118.

With conditions improving and our opening bowler in hiding from Eds, we were short of seamers to exploit the pitch. The Harman brothers both bowled well, Phil Roper was as tight as ever, and even Vickers managed a wicket. But we were 50 runs shy of making Charterhouse sweat and they eased to a five-wicket win before the scheduled team interval.

Rain blights midweek matches

Old Cranleighans 129 for 7 (Copleston E 32, Rosenfeldt 26, Crump M 20) drew with Old Georgians

Warm and sunny turned to cold and wet, and in end after on an-off day, the match was abandoned at 4pm with the square left sodden by 45 minutes of heavy rain. In the play there was, our batting found conditions hard, with only Eds Copleston (32 off 28 balls) managing to find any touch. Two wickets on the stroke of an early lunch saw us go into the interval on 40 for 4, and our only period on top came after the re-start as Copleston and Tristan Rosenfeldt put on 52 in 28 minutes. But once Copleston went and light rain started, we lost momentum.

Old Cranleighans v Grasshoppers - match abandoned

The rain which caused Tuesday’s abandonment lasted through the night and left the square underwater, and a second shower in the morning ruled out any play before the afternoon. An inspection at 2pm resulted in a 3pm start, but as the teams changed and prepared for the toss, the heavens opened again and that was that.

OCs cling on for a draw

Old Wellingtonians 244 (Jones 60, Allen 3-30, Henderson 2-33, Harman 2-55) drew with Old Cranleighans 130 for 9 (Bailey 32, Barker 4-23)
Click here for match photos

The weather broke shortly after the start of the second game of the week, the temperature dropping and several heavy showers blighting the day, one brutal squall mid-morning causing several ageing OCs to show a turn of speed not seen in years.

Old Wellingtonians never settled before lunch on a pitch which, spruced up by rain, offered far more than it had 24 hours earlier. Paddy Harman and Ed Henderson proved a useful new-ball partnership, and after they had prised out the top order, Duncan Allen came on to make light work of the middle order. At 88 for 6 an early finish was on the cards, but Jones capitalised as the conditions eased, and he steered Wellington to 244.

We started equally unconvincingly, but despite a minor recovery from Simon Copleston and Steve Bailey, we were never in the chase. More rain meant that we were left batting out the final overs, but that provided late drama as we managed to lose wickets every time we appeared safe. Mike Roper was ninth man out in the penultimate over after more than one scare, and it was left to Henry Watkinson to bat out the final over. Even then he gave his captain one last scare, scooping the fourth ball back over the bowler and coming within a diving inch of being caught.

Records tumble in cricket-week opener

Old Cranleighans 358 for 5 (Preece 121, Watkinson 83, Copleston 64*) drew with Eton Ramblers 333 for 8 (J Redmayne 121, Jupp 3-30, Hannah 2-28, Henderson 2-85)Click here for match photos

The cricket week got off to a cracking start with a match against Eton Ramblers that saw more than one century-old record broken. Sadly, it also marked the end of the Wimbledon-long heatwave.

The game itself was drawn, but on a pitch which offered nothing for bowlers, almost 700 runs were scored and the match was in the balance for the last two hours, thanks largely to Eton’s decision to chase a seemingly impossible target from the off. We made a record 358 for 5, 11 more than our record score set in 1907, and Eton finished on 333 for 8. The aggregate of 691 runs smashed the previous record of 601, also set in 1907.

The outfield was baked brown and the pitch a road. Eds Copleston won the toss and we got off to an uncertain start, losing three early wickets, the unluckiest being Simon Copleston, leg-before for 1 despite a thick inside edge, and after flying all the way from Abu Dhabi to play. But the left-handed pair of Chris Preece and Henry Watkinson then set about the second-string bowlers, capitalising on a lightning fast outfield in a fourth-wicket stand of 166 at almost seven an over. Preece drove and pulled with assurance, Watkinson, allowed a rare foray up the order, looked the batsman of old, especially off the front foot.

Preece completed a chanceless hundred, his first for the club, and it was only when he had passed three figures that he was dropped - twice in successive balls - as he hit out. Watkinson seemed set for his own century, much to the chagrin of Rick Johnson who was busy counting the cost of getting two names engraved on the new honours boards, when he was well caught in the covers for 83. But so quick had the runs come that Copleston had little choice but to bat on, taking the total to 358 for 5 in only 49 overs.

Eton made a good start before Jumbo Jupp, on as first change, took three wickets to reduce them to 103 for 3 in the 21st over. With an asking rate at that point of almost ten an over, the game seemed destined for a draw. But the Redmayne brothers laid into some generous bowling, Johnny Gates offering the richest pickings, to such good effect that Copleston was forced to recall his frontline attack sooner than intended.

The last 20 started with Eton requiring 184 – while that seems steep, with the Redmaynes in full flow, they were in the box seat, and when a sharp piece of fielding from Preece accounted for T Redmayne, Innes kept the score ticking over. The asking rate was matched for the first ten overs, Henderson and Watkinson struggling gamely to keep a check on the runs. Jamie Redmayne was caught by Preece on the boundary but he was unable to stop himself stepping over the rope.

Sixty-three were needed over six when Jamie Redmayne thumped Watkinson for 21, putting Eton in the driving seat, but in the next nine balls the game turned on its head. Henderson had Redmayne caught for 121 with the last ball of his 13th over, and then Elliott Hannah, called back to replace the tired Watkinson, struck with successive deliveries. With the first ball of his next over, Henderson bowled Duff-Gordon, and Eton had slumped from 321 for 4 to 325 for 8. The pitch was as perfect as ever, however, and the final 17 balls were easily negotiated.

The evening was spent in the curry house where the young recruits indulged in a much-favoured past-time of abusing the chairman. It is reported, but not confirmed as yet, that at one stage Johnson was rendered speechless. If so, it was a truly remarkable day in every respect.

Double defeat by the School

Cranleigh School 242 (Allan 76, Cowdrey 40, Austin 46*, Langmead 42, Harman 3-64) beat Old Cranleighans 178 (Cope 51, Davies 4-44) by 64 runs

For the second year running, we fielded a side of recent leavers in this annual game, although the intended captain, Seren Waters, was absent on international duty with Kenya.
This was the final match of the School’s year and, again in a break with tradition which we hope will continue, the start of the OC week.

Duncan Allan, who had been the mainstay of the School’s innings in the T20 game five days earlier, again provided the anchor with 76, although this time he received good support. Paddy Harman was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 64.

Cope, in only his third innings of the summer, got us off to a flier and while he was in full flow the School were on the back foot. But he miscued when on 51 and it with time running out it was generally expected we would shut up shop, as per absentee captain Eds Copleston’s instructions. But something got lost in translation, the batsmen kept hitting out, and we were well beaten with almost ten overs remaining.

Cranleigh School 138 for 9 (Allan 42) beat Old Cranleighans 129 for 6 by nine runs

History was made on Speech Day when we played our first Twenty20 encounter against the School, an experiment that was well received by all concerned and one that is likely to be repeated in the years to come.

Neither side had much experience in the format, most batsmen seeming to believe slogging was the required tactic. Allan provided the backbone of the School’s innings but at a slow run-rate. In the end, however, it was the difference between the sides.

Cricket week is upon us

The highlight of the OC season is on us, and with the weather set fine, the 2009 cricket week promises to be a cracker. We kick off with a game against the School on Friday (July 3) and then after a day off resume against Eton Rambers (July 5), Old Wellingtonians (July 6), Old Georgians (July 7), Grasshoppers (July 8), Charterhouse Friars (July 9 away), Old Tonbridgians (July 10). We have no games on the second weekend as the School prepares for the Bunbury charity matches on Sunday July 12.

Off the field, things are also looking good, with Gatesy offering the following:-

Sunday Drinks at the pavilion/ Cranley Hotel after the game then on to The Curry Inn in Cranleigh. Table booked for 20 for 8pm.

Monday BBQ at the Merry’s after the game Helen to confirm exact timings. There will be taxis from the pavilion then on to Harpers for around 10-10.30. 15 have confirmed but expecting 20-25. Some people are getting the train to Guildford and then heading back on the last return train.

Tuesday Dinner at the Sir Roger Tichbourne in Loxwood, Rick is booking the table and time etc. Currently 12 have confirmed but I expect it to be nearer 15-20.

Wednesday BBQ and drinks with the Grasshoppers at the pavilion.

More will undoubtedly follow …

Never one to miss an opportunity to give a quote, captain Eds Copleston said: "Our spirit and camaraderie is the envy of each and every Old Boys cricket side in the world. The OCCC is stronger than it ever has been and will only get stronger- this cricket week is set to demonstrate that."

Sleepy enjoyment resumes at Headley

Old Cranleighans 242 for 6 dec (Chetwode 72, Russell 46, Wilkie 41*) drew with Headley 240 for 6
Click here for match photos


A lovely sleepy summer’s afternoon and a perfect antidote to the abomination resulting from poor captaincy 12 months earlier, the game going down to the last ball. Village cricket as it should be played.

The OC hierarchy banished the captain of 2008 to Singapore and picked a side who would offer some va-va-voom. Michael Chetwode, drafted in after his Frogs game was cancelled hours before, volunteered to open with returning legend Peter Russell, and the pair added 110 in 11 overs. Russell, slightly tubbier but still a magnificently tanned sight for the ladies, oozed class after a rusty start. Chetwode also oozed something, but enough of that. He sliced, heaved and smote to great effect, aided by four dropped catches, and produced the shot of the day, a delightful eight iron which left a large dent in Rick Johnson’s car door.

Sadly, no sooner had Chetwode’s thoughts started to flick back to his only career hundred, made on this same ground, than he played on for 72. Russell then started to open up with some beautiful drives and pulls before he suffered the same fate.

Johnson, in some tight-fitting trousers (but aren’t they all) made 12 exclusively between point and third man, something Headley stifled with five men behind square on the off, while Steve Bailey made a typically idiosyncratic 34.

Iain Wilkie, his remaining traces of hair now silver, started stiffly and got stiffer, but as the declaration loomed played some attacking shots which he would never have considered in his youth (or middle age) to finish on 41 not out.

Headley set off at a pace, aided by Johnny Gates, who proclaimed at tea he could hold hard catches but not easy ones, proving the point by missing a succession of sitters. Just to underline the point he also fluffed a stumping or two. In fairness to him, the chairman, a specialist keeper in his slimmer youth, refused to keep as it interfered with his consumption of the excellent tea.

It was tight all the way, Henry Watkinson using eight bowlers to spice up the chase. In the end Headley needed 13 off two overs with wickets in hand. Chetwode, ever reliant, was summoned and restricted the batsmen to three runs off the penultimate over. Watkinson then tossed the ball to Damion Hill, a spectator all day, for his first involvement, bowling the final over.

With four needed off the last ball, a shot was launched into the deep where Johnson dropped it, but his bulk ensured there was no way the ball would or could pass him to the boundary.

A draw and a thoroughly enjoyable game against a good hosts. Hopefully this ensures we will be invited back in 2010. As long as Tristan Rosenfeldt isn’t allowed to resume his captaincy.

Squad named for Tonbridge tie

"We have had some motivational good lucks from many many OCs for this game," writes Eds Copleston, "not least our ex-president John McDermott, who says: “Our D Day has arrived. To play OTs on the Head in the Cricketer Cup has always been the dream. No more comfort zone matches, this truly is the big one.”

Tonbridge are the most successful side in Cricketer Cup competition and this should prove an excellent test for us all. The game is due to start at 11.30am this Sunday (June 28). Traffic should be ok getting down there but please aim to meet by 10.15am at their ground. Directions are at: http://www.tonbridge-school.co.uk/contact/maps/

Below is the squad for the match

Mike Chetwode, Alan Cope, Eds Copleston (capt), Matt Crump, Tom Crump, Paddy Harman,
Will Howard (wk), Abeed Janmohammed, Stuart Meaker, Chris Preece, Phil Roper, Seren Waters, Henry Watkinson.

The squad for the inaugural Twenty20 match against the School, also on Sunday, has also been named. The game starts at midday.

Ross J-D(c), Ross's brother!, Mike Roper(wk), Max Barson, J Harman, Elliot Hannah,
Jumbo Jupp, James Harrison, Damien Hill, Josh Smith, Rich Ashton or Paddy Harman.

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
Click here for match photos

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.

Squad named for Cricketer Cup first round

Following the OCCC Cricketer Cup selection panel conference call (and Rick Johnson was still 25minutes late for that), the following 14-man squad has been named for the first-round tie against Haileybury Hermits on Jubilee on June 14.

Michael Chetwode, Eds Copleston (captain), Matt Crump, Tom Crump, Paddy Harman, Ed Henderson, Will Howard (wkt), Abeed Janmohammed, Rob Jones, Chris Preece, Phil Roper, Seren Waters, Henry Watkinson, Graham Webb.

The only two absentees from last year’s Cricketer Cup final are Stuart Meaker, who is on Surrey duty, and James Halton, who is injured. Alan Cope, who played in all rounds of the 2008 campaign other than the final, is out for the season with a back injury.

Paddy Harman, currently at Durham University, and Chris Preece, who made his OCCC debut against Winchester last week, come in to the squad for the first time.

Copleston battles to secure the draw

Old Wykamists 260 for 7 dec drew with Old Cranleighans 178 for 8 (Copleston 88, Henderson 30)
Click here for match photos

Following two away wins, the inaugural home game in front of the new pavilion on Jubilee saw us take on Winchester on a gorgeous day at Cranleigh in what was a Cricketer Cup trial for both teams.

The pavilion looked utterly superb with the new OCCC flag flying happily in the breeze. Eds Copleston lost the toss and Winchester decided to bat, a wise move given the unseasonally hot weather. Henry Watkinson and Ed Henderson tied down the openers with the new ball before the pressure told and Henderson claimed two quick wickets. Mike Chetwode, coming back from his retirement announced in South Africa, maintained the pressure, and a wicket for him and a nonsensical run-out reduced Winchester to 70 for 4.

Ed Prince proved wayward in his first spell, but his replacement Chris Preece tied things down again before lunch. The expansive new catering facilities allowed us to serve the opposition bacon sandwiches before the game and follow that up with a fine lunch – many thanks to our Head Catering Manager & Assistant Catering Manager – better known as Helen & Hayley. Lunch proved too good for us and we looked sluggish afterwards, allowing Winchester to fight back to close on 260 for7.

Against an opposition clearly not in the mood for generosity, we made a decent start before Preece, who latched onto anything pitched up, and Johnny Gates gave their wickets away within four balls shortly before tea.

Andy Ainsley fell straight after the restart and was soon followed by Jock Vickers, bowled attempting a lofted drive, and our batsmen were struggling against the nagging offspin of Tom Hemmingway. Tom Merry was bowled round his legs, and when Watkinson managed his trademark chip to cover we were 65 for 6 and in all sorts of trouble.

Copleston, struggling in the last couple of years, needed a good score and he rolled back the clock with a defiant 88, mixing his typically impish running with some powerful hitting, including three sixes. He clearly benefited from one-on-one coaching from Stuart Welch. He found a partner in Henderson, whose pretensions as a batsman have been advanced by the foot injury which meant he was unable to bowl last summer.

We were always off the pace, but appeared to be well on course for the draw only for Copleston to fall leg-before in sight of his hundred since 2000. A setback became all the more serious when soon after Henderson was brilliantly caught at leg slip off an authentic glance, but Rob Merry, nursing a dislocated finger, and Prince played out the last four overs among some enthusiastic appealing from Winchester.

Copleston off to successful beginning

OCs 234 for 7 dec (Vickers 53, R Merry 49, Ross 44, Hill 32) beat East Horsley 161 (Henderson 3-14, Gates 3-33) by 73 runs

Report to follow.

Gates to the rescue

Following an early morning shower, the sun came out as we arrived for our first game of the season - at the picturesque Follies Farm near Chiddingfold. In his first official game as captain, Eds Copleston won the toss and elected to field having agreed a 40 over-a-side game.

We bowled tightly early on, Luke Moorby unfortunate not to make a breakthrough. Old Spots struggled to 35 for 3 after 15 overs. Alex Craven and Henry Watkinson maintained the stranglehold, Watkinson unlucky not to take a wicket as Jock Vickers failed to hold on to a number of chances behind the stumps. Johnny Gates replaced Craven and immediately took a wicket as his flighted offbreaks confused the Old Spots middle order. Damian Hill replaced Watkinson and runs started to flow more freely. Gates maintained the stranglehold from the other end though and looked impressive, taking 3 for 34 as Old Spots struggled to 154 for 8 off their 40 overs. It should be noted that Vickers was banished as keeper after one drop too many, and Copleston got his reign off to a flying start when he cracked a finger diving over the ball.

In reply, we faltered early on with Will Howard punching the second ball of the innings directly at cover point and calling Tom Merry through for a single Usain Bolt wouldn’t have made. Briefly Copleston and Howard steadied the ship, but when Copleston fell we were shortly 52 for 3. Howard and Hill kept us ahead of the rate and at 82 for 3 off 15overs the game looked to be there for the taking. Howard, however, threw his wicket away with a trademark leading edge before Hill and Moorby fell shortly after. At 96 for 6 the game was very much in the balance. Watkinson and Gates then batted with determination before opening up towards the end to ensure a winning start to the new era.

New season, new direction

The new season is nearly upon us and it promises to be an exciting one for the OCCC. The spectacular new pavilion on Jubilee will be ready in April with the official opening on 14th June, the same date as our opening Cricketer Cup game against the Haileybury Hermits makes this an historic season.

A tweaked fixture list has given us more fixtures against old boys sides, a more competitive cricket week and an additional vets game. Added to all of this we usher in optimism (and a little caution!) a new era under the captaincy of Eds Copleston and the presidency of David Bugge. We are very grateful to their predecessors Henry Watkinson and John McDermott and hope they enjoy many more seasons without the burdens of office!

The salient points that emerged in a recent committee meeting were as follows:

We will run a limited match manager system. Eds and the committee will take full responsibility for arranging matches and everything associated with them. However for some games, whether by the invitation of the committee or the application to the committee by an individual, a match manager will be appointed. They will jointly raise a team with Eds and be responsible for confirming the game arrangements. A checklist will be provided in advance so that the manager knows exactly what to do.

Helen Merry has kindly agreed to take on the role of Catering Manager and will be responsible for organising and co-ordinating a group of willing 'tea ladies' to provide and serve lunch and tea at all home games (boys certainly not excluded!)

Last year's introduction of voluntary subs was not well enforced. We have decided that this year the subs will not be voluntary although the amount will be (£30 per year is suggested as a minimum). Rob Merry will be sending bank details and chasing emails. If there are instances where a regular player consistently fails to play then they are likely to be excluded from teams until they do so. Discretion will be exercised where players are playing one or two games a year. For those who have paid lifetime subs, no further payment will be required.

There is a plan to run a 100 Club to raise money for club kit but to also give participants the opportunity to win cash. Draws will be done probably four times a year.

Cricket week will be full steam ahead this year - please see the fixture list on this site. We would encourage those people who work to take a couple of days off to make sure they play. The greater variety and quantity of people we have in and around the teams this year, the more fun for everyone. Monday night is traditionally a night out in Guildford but there will be other evening activities arranged. (No doubt Rick Johnson will be pulling the strings here)

The tour was regarded as a great success. Inevitably attention has already turned to the time and location of the next one. The front running destinations are the Carribean, Western Australia and, an outside bet, Argentina!

Eds will be contacting all playing members about early season availability. The first match is just a month away. We look forward to seeing you all then. Ed Henderson

Season starts with London-wide bus campaign

As a prelude to the forthcoming season, the incoming captain Eds Copleston has launched an advertising campaign across London.

The advert (above) is at the moment displayed on the side of a No. 77 bus running from Green Park through Parliament Square, the Embankment and down to Clapham.

"We don't need players, we need support and we need national recognition for being the best old boys cricket club in the country," gushed Copleston. "The club will grow stronger and a more captive audience can only be a good thing. If we can push the advertising global for the website, the public will really start to take interest.

"There is no reason we can't get a thousand people to support a big cup game for instance. I see this as a natural step for the club, the dream is alive."

Copleston is currently receiving therapy and should be available for the start of the summer.

Fixtures for 2009 announced

The fixtures for 2009 have now been announced and there's some consolidation around the cricket week and we have also opted out of the Cricket World Trophy.

We have our first Twenty20 contest against the School on what is Speech Day, while the more traditional game switches to later in that week, with our cricket week beginning on the Friday. The first Saturday of the week features a Golden Oldies match while second Sunday of the week gives way to the charity Bunbury game.

The Cricketer Cup opens with a home match against Haileybury, and our thanks go to them for agreeing to cede home advantage to us to allow us to celebrate OC Day and the official opening of the newly-renovated Jubilee pavilion.

Click here for the full fixtures

Cricketer Cup tie to mark Jubilee opening

We are delighted to announce that Hailybury Hermits have very kindly agreed to cede home advantage for our first-round match in the 2009 Cricketer Cup on Sunday, June 14, allowing us to stage the game on Jubilee on OC Day, when the renovated pavilion will be officially opened.