Tag Archives: Duncan Elder

2s start 2019 with the narrowest of defeats

Saturday 27th April 2019
Friendly
Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians 2nd XI 182 all out (39.5 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 181 all out (40 overs)
Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians 2nd XI won by 1 run

On a cold and generally grey dry day with the remnants of Storm Hannah still present, Stoke and Chipstead played out a tight and competitive, but good spirited friendly that gave good match time to the players. Read more

Will Thomson Century but Stoke fall just short at Ashford

Saturday 15th September 2018
Friendly
Ashford 214 all out (38.3 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 205 for 8 (40 overs)
Ashford won by 9 runs

A great all-round individual performance from Will Thomson that included a maiden century wasn’t quite enough to score a win at Ashford who kindly offered us the fixture in the week after their original opposition never confirmed the fixture.

Ashford advised that they were a mix of 1s/2s/3s and we had more of a 2s/Sunday feel, not that it was a side without ability, but the sensible decision for Stoke to field first was reached at the toss despite more than a few punctuality issues on the Stoke side that saw one player go to the Ashford CC in Kent despite being given the correct post code. Thanks to Ashford CC (Surrey) for lending us a couple of fielders for the first few overs to get the game going.

Duncan Elder made an early breakthrough when the jovial home umpire gave Evans out leg-before; but this was rare joy as League players I.Rao, Mahmood and Malik played their shots and made full use of the extra gaps caused by the shortage of a fielder.

Tom Dennis slowed things down a bit with some good overs; and Rory Harris showed continued growth in his early Stoke career when he got a ball to lift that Rao Snr, (34), who could only glove to keeper Raja Singh who did a great job. Unlike two Sundays ago where the same thing happened, this time he got the decision.

Mahmood looked set for a big score but checked out on 55 courtesy of a stinging catch at mid-wicket by Aydin Huseyin off debutant Mo Kashif. Despite the lack of appropriate footwear Kashif was an effective bowler either side of drinks, and a great effort for him to travel from Acton to play. Our reputation of providing a good experience continues to spread wider!

The wicket prompted early drinks with Ashford in a good position at 131 for 3; but Stoke kept going and got their reward when Thomson picked up four quick wickets that sandwiched a run-out by Harris who showed good awareness to get the ball in to the right end. 154 for 7 and Stoke, now at a full complement in the field after Khalid Harris jumped in the car and charged down from Battersea knowing the earlier mentioned player was more likely to go home rather than visit as many places called Ashford, were in the game.

Back to the cricket, Rory Harris earned a second spell that saw him castle Malik for 65, (he finished with commendable figures of 6-0-28-2); Ben Townsend and Elder bowled well at the death; Elder, (7.3-2-24-2), bent back the home skipper’s off stump to close the innings on 214 in the penultimate over.

After an excellent tea Stoke knocked off 17 of the required runs in the second over as a younger Rao struggled with his length, but he would return later and bowl well. Spelled after an over; League bowlers Wilson and Tilt slowed things down, and the latter picked up the wickets of Dennis, then Singh to a very sharp stumping, in a miserly opening spell of 5-3-2-2.

Thomson and Khalid Harris kept the board moving despite more good bowlers coming on; and just as things started to look good for Stoke Harris, (16), fell to a good slip catch, then Huseyin was castled in the first over after drinks for 10 having played a couple of nice shots.

With a couple of unknown quantities down the order, Kevin Morgan stayed with Thomson to take the game as deep as possible. Thomson scored most of a fifth wicket stand of 43; but the pair set the game up nicely with 75 needed off the last ten at the point of Morgan’s dismissal, held at short third man. Kashif was stumped going for it from the off.

At this point Ashford’s excellent facilities worked to Stoke’s disadvantage. With the individual scores on display on the board, Thomson, having passed a career best, seemed to be caught between personal and team glory. Had his score not been visible he might have carried on playing the way he had to reach 92, (off 79), but then another 31 balls were faced to reach the hundred, brought up with arguably his best shot, an imperious cover drive with the field up.

Elder, (16 from 13), kept Stoke in the hunt; and century bagged, Thomson then found his earlier gears and clubbed 30 off the next fourteen balls he faced to get the equation back to 22 off the last over. He and Ben Townsend ran unselfishly and often crazily in the closing overs to try and secure the win, that only became impossible with a couple of balls to go, the last of which saw Thomson caught on the line at cow for 133 off 124, (24×4, 2×6), with Stoke ten short of victory or nine for a tie.

A great game played in a tremendous spirit. Hopefully we can make this a permanent fixture going forward as there was a shared view on how the game should be played and lots of interesting stories to tell each other from our respective league and T20 Cup campaigns.

We’ll see where we are with numbers for next Saturday, but with two Sunday fixtures in the card for next weekend, please advise ASAP if you can help with an appearance to make both those games happen.

Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3709821

Will Thomson 133 v Ashford





Two Sunday XI Matches – Two Wins! – President 85*

Sunday 9th September 2018
Incredible availability meant that we needed to source an additional Sunday fixture to the one already in the card against Kingstonian. Our friends from Whiteley Village had an ad on the board, and a call to them resulted in a second game being agreed meaning everyone who was available at the time got a chance to play.

Jase Earl skippered the Whiteley Village match, our second trip there this year; Ralphie managed the re-match with Ks and here’s how we got on…

Friendly (1)
Kingstonian 142 all out (34.5 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 143 for 2 (32 overs)

Stoke D’Abernon won by 8 wickets Read more





Awards Night Review

Saturday saw the end of League, (still September friendlies to play), celebrations at HQ.

Jo served up a fantastic curry for everyone and with stomachs lined for what was to be consumed later, the Captains and Drew gave their reviews of the season before President Finch handed out the awards.

First up the Bob Willis Cup for the most improved player at any level in the Club went to Patrick O’Neill, a clear winner having shown tremendous growth with the ball the and in the field…and with the bat too he as good as quadrupled his average from last year, and in the Trust League helped set a record last wicket stand in the first game, then beat it later in the season. Nominations from the players also came in for James Corbishley, Alastair Curran, Roddy Kelso and Will Thomson.

Patrick O’Neill

Corbs missed out there, but he will have his name engraved with Ian Hopton’s for the best performance in a match; their all-time Club record 5th wicket stand of 157, (unbroken), to take us to victory at Addiscombe emerged as a late winner despite votes coming in during the week for Andrew Klimcke’s incredible last over heroics to win the Over 40s T20 match against Weybridge, (http://www.stokecc.co.uk/2018/06/15/over-40s-beat-weybridge-on-last-ball-with-27-off-the-final-over/) This was the award that received the highest number of different nominations, and it was nice to see suggestions for 2nd XI performances despite a difficult year.

James Corbishley and Ian Hopton

The Spirit of Cricket Cup captures the person – or for a second year running persons as the award is shared again – who go about things the right way. Two of the most committed people shared it; Will Frost played every 1st XI match, never missed a practice session or the chance to have fun on and off the field; play-anywhere-man Will Thomson was equally committed to the 1st XI, 2nd XI, Sunday XI and Trust League causes and contributed in so many other ways off the field.

Will Frost
Will Thomson v Oxshott 2017

The Vice Presidents’ shield looks at overall contribution to the Club, either over a number of years, or for a standout contribution that makes a huge impact on the Club in any season. When looking at the longer-term contributors, having played for the majority of the last ten seasons that has seen our rise through the divisions, the latter half of them with responsibilities for coaching and pitch preparation & maintenance, Ian Hopton joins a list of names who over the years we simply couldn’t have done without.

Jo Drew Hoppy Jordan and Moeen

The Australia Cup for the best overall contribution to the 2nd XI saw ten different people receive votes. Patrick O’Neill was in the running again, as were Roddy Kelso and Duncan Elder; but by sheer weight of 3-vote allocations; Jase Earl gets to hold the cup for another year; although second place had only one fewer person vote for them.

League Dinner 2017 Jase Pub

It was a similar story for the England Cup for the best overall contribution to the 1st XI. Shawn Dyson polled over 40% but was one of nine players who received votes. There was a lot of love for Will Frost and Ian Hopton…and the variety of nominations saw James O’Gorman and Tim Handel receive votes too.

Shawn Dyson

So that left, (for awards to be handed out on Saturday), the Player of the Year. Currently with most runs and wickets, although we have friendlies left to play, Shawn won this one by a landslide – Robbie Blackburn was the only other player to receive a nomination in his first year back with us. We can’t do justice to Shawn’s contribution in this piece to capture his time with us so far. Hopefully he’ll be back next year and we can all congratulate him and thank him in person.

On Sunday the Surrey Trust League Player of the Year award was handed out. In a difficult year that saw us drop down to a Development League yet we seemed to come up against a lot of 1st XIs, and our own availability not being as good as anticipated pre-season, it would be easy to write this season off; but out of the wreckage one individual showed a heart if a lion, kept running in on unresponsive pitches…and was also victim of a lot of unresponsive fielding too. In years to come Ben Townsend may not look at his 2018 stats with too much affection, but we know we have a player who in less bat-dominated seasons such as this one and better fielders to take catches for him he will be leading our attacks for many years to come.

ben-t-and-jack-t-v-worcester-park-august-2016

Nominations were also received for the Derek Wellman Cup for the best player in the Colts’ section. This will be handed out at the Colts’ Awards night this coming Friday where we hope to see as many seniors as possible come along to support that event.

So for the record here are the results for your enjoyment. If you have a low percentage here, remember there were a lot of people who didn’t receive any votes at all…and everyone starts on zero again next year.

England Cup for the best overall contribution to the 1st XI
Shawn Dyson 41%
Will Frost 21%
Ian Hopton 15%
James Trower 9%
Will Gudgeon 5%
James O’Gorman 4%
Robbie Blackburn 3%
Will Thomson 1%
Tim Handel 1%

For Player of the Year Robbie Blackburn received one nomination, Shawn the rest.

Australia Cup for the best overall contribution to the 2nd XI
Jase Earl 30%
Roddy Kelso 21%
Duncan Elder 14%
Patrick O’Neill 12%
Andy Page 7%
Will Thomson 5%
Andy Berry 5%
Alex Clinton 2%
Max Subba Row 2%
Ben Townsend 2%

Bob Willis Cup for the Most Improved Player
Patrick O’Neill 40%
Alastair Curran 13%
James Corbishley 13%
Roddy Kelso 13%
Max Subba Row 13%
Will Thomson 8%

Hugh Dharmasena Spirit of Cricket Cup
Will Thomson 35%
Will Frost 35%
Jase Earl 6%
Duncan Elder 6%
Mike Enslin 6%
Chris Finch 6%
Ian Hopton 6%

Performance of the Season
25% – James Corbishley & Ian Hopton (Partnership) v Addiscombe – http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3302782
15% – Robbie Blackburn (Match Double) v Cheam – http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3302762
15% – Andrew Klimcke’s last over v Weybridge O40s –

http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3686819 Read more





Saturday Round Up

Saturday 18th August 2018
Travelbag Surrey Championship – Division 3
Cheam 106 all out (39.1 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 109 for 4 (18.5 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 6 wickets

An all too familiar pattern of Saturday results as the 1st XI continued their winning winning run whilst the 2nd XI sadly maintained a consistency of results of a different kind.

With three wins needed to secure the title, the 1st XI chalked off the first of them in relatively quick time; winning the toss and shooting out Cheam for 106 in just over two hours.

Shawn Dyson started things with the opening wicket; but this week it was Will Frost’s turn to shine with the ball, bowling his ten over allocation in one spell and taking 4 for 21.

Light of seam bowling options this week Jase Earl moved up from the 2nd XI and returned a fine spell of 1 for 24 from seven overs; his deserved wicket making it 67 for 6.

Hopes of a very quick finished were dashed a little as McKerracher, (17 not out), and McManus, (24), added 35 – albeit slowly against accurate bowling from Billy Zander – but once this partnership was broken the innings was ended in 27 balls; the returning Dyson, (10-1-32-3), and Zander, (9.1-3-18-2), closing the inning after 39.1 overs.

The runs were knocked off very quickly as Max Subba Row, (46 off 39), and James Trower, (39 off 33), added 90 for the first wicket before falling in the 13th and 14th overs of the chase.

A couple more wickets fell before the winning hit but this wasn’t enough to prevent another maximum point haul.

Next week Stoke host Old Wimbledonians.

Scorecard : 

http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3302808 Read more