Leaving it Late

Events in Leeds this week got SDCC thinking of occasions where a seemingly defiant tail/final was eventually knocked over when it seemed like an unlikely draw would be the final result.

The first one that springs to mind first comes from 1996 when the 2nd XI were pushing for promotion in the Fuller’s League.

For those who don’t know him, then skipper Logie Logendran played his cricket ultra-positively, and was often known to declare early, sometimes ridiculously early(*),  to try and force a result. (Back then all games were declaration – no ‘split format’ that we enjoy today.) Against Southbank, a typically boundary-filled century from Rupert Style and quick runs from James Haddow saw an early declaration after 36 overs. Stoke needed nearly all of the 63 overs back to finish the job as the last pair blocked out the best part of 30 overs.

Current Stoke 2s stars Keith Watson and Gary Harkett played in the fixture, as did Stephen Finch, the Gazelle finishing yet another match off…

Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/view_results_details?id=10427268

Results like this one, and the one against Worplesdon a couple of weeks later, would see promotion achieved later that season:

1996 Tables : http://www.surreycountyleague.co.uk/documents/final%20league%20table%201996.pdf

(*) In 2000 Logie gave Shepperton over 60 overs to chase 221, a plan that backfired as the opposition chased them down for the loss of just four wickets.

Do you have any other stories of past matches that might fit into this category? E-mail stokecc@hotmail.com and we’ll publish them here…