Saturday 8th June 2019
AJ Fordham Surrey Championship – 2nd XI competition
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 181 for 9 (55 overs)
Ripley 2nd XI 160 all out (42.1 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI won by 21 runs
A sensational win for the 2nd XI who had the worst of the conditions and were behind in the game for long periods.
Kingstonian 2nd XI won by 2 wickets
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Camberley 2nd XI won by 6 wickets
Leatherhead 2nd XI won by 55 runs
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
Both sides were rewarded for giving it a go and got in a fun game that, although ended in defeat for Stoke, gave the younger players more valuable experience in adult cricket and the older ones time in the middle.
With a bit of weather around agreement was reached to play a over match in case time was lost. As it turned out we played through without interruption and could have easily got in 80-90 overs, possibly more.
With Byfleet’s concession of the scheduled Trust League fixture the Sunday XI received a nice feed from the Trust squad; Alex Clinton took charge and had a good day. After a few delays – mostly down to the home side who had a few latecomers who played rain cards and had to make a dash to the ground – play started 36 minutes later than scheduled with Stoke asked to bat.
On a pitch that did quite a bit Hamza Hafeez could do little other than glove one that leapt at him, but Moumer Khara took the pitch out of the equation and hit the ball cleanly for his 27 before he was out leg before.
First change Niazi started with a horrible wide but this was clearly a master plan as the remainder of his first four over spell was very destructive. He castled Jason Howard, (great to hive him back in the fold and he also kept well later), and Teague Clarke, the latter with an unplayable; and when League player Hussain took out Patrick O’Neill and Max Dunn in the space of four balls – the ball that got Dunn would have got out many batsmen – Stoke were in a spot of bother at 61 for 6.
Clinton and Will Thomson more than re-built the innings with an excellent stand of 73 in under nine overs. Clinton played nice shots all around the wicket and Thomson cashed in on anything errant. Just as the possibility of a score nearer 180-200 looked on the captain was lost to a run out having looked in no trouble during his knock of 28 from 35.
As opportunities were given the lesser bowlers Thomson reached his half century from 30 balls, then moved to a career best 79 from 48 before the returning Niazi, (5-3-15-4), yorked him off the penultimate ball of the innings, negotiated with aplomb by Geoff Vinall. There was time for debutant Rory Harris to start his Stoke career with a red inker.
A pre-game decision to turn straight round in case the weather came in meant a change to the planned opening bowling pairing. One given permission to go “quickly” to a local shop then took an age to saunter back and missed his slot.
Instead Vinall opened up and delivered three tidy overs. Clarke bowled well without luck at the other end; but League 1s player Hussain hit the rare bad balls – and some good ones too – to unusual areas; Dunn was unfortunate to bowl at him when he was in full flow, but there were some snorting deliveries in his opening over that drew praise from the home players.
Harris got his first bowl and after a nervous start got Stoke on the board with a successful lbw appeal. He gained confidence from this and bowled another good over before ending with a tired one. Promising start, though, and thanks to Tim Handel for putting him on to us. The raw materials are there.
O’Neill was into the attack at the other end and sent down five overs that challenged the batsmen. He got his reward when Hussain, (48), smashed one to mid-on and Clarke took a very good catch – to say the ball was travelling was an understatement. O’Neill’s figures of 5-1-15-1 were a true reflection of his control.
88 for 2 was soon 93 for 3 when Clinton attacked the ball hard to effect a run-out off Khara’s first ball; but in hindsight this didn’t help as Ks 1s League player and all-time leading run scorer Khalid was up next and helped himself to quickfire half-century.
He lost only one partner, Robinson who was bowled by Khara, and walked off unbeaten on 64 with seven fours and four sixes; home skipper Patra, (12 not out), was also there when the winning hit was made with the best part of five overs to spare.
Defeat, but we will gain in the long run as a result of playing these games, so well done to all for turning out and supporting this fixture. Thanks also to Kingstonian for offering us the game and sharing a common determination to make this happen. Note to Kevin Morgan – they are also keen on an Over 40s match next year as well.
Scorecard : https://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/web_pages/88646
A much-changed Academy side from the one defeated two weeks ago was unable to reverse that result, and came second in a boundary hitting competition on another hot afternoon. The match aggregate of 601 runs was the highest in any Trust League match Stoke have played in.
Once again Godalming had a mix of senior players and some very young ones who couldn’t be risked in any of the top batting positions; and as a consequence the ‘men’ had to go in first and piled on the runs – not a criticism as with the same age profile we would have needed to do the same, but only 18 runs were scored by the ‘boys’ in their line up.
Still, Stoke still had sufficient resources and League experience of their own to deal with this and a couple of notable exceptions aside struggled with their lines and areas all afternoon and paid the price.
Ben Townsend snicked off Cox in the first over but opener Dawson batted well and found good support from O.Baker and Woodgates who made 23 and 27 respectively; the former dealt almost exclusively in boundaries and looked like he was going to go big until Oscar Jensen picked him up courtesy of a catch at point by Freddy Zander. Woodgates was called through for an improbable second run and was beaten by a rocket of a throw from the deep by Ben Holder; great to see the big man back on the field.
Billy Zander had settled into a nice rhythm and collected the wicket of F.Baker who played back to and missed a straight one. 104 for 4, but Zander Snr had his figures spoiled by Clarke who parked him into the houses.
Dawson and Clark then put together a punishing partnership of 115; the latter struck the ball cleanly and made 85 of them before Will Thomson took off the gloves and picked him up, Alex Clinton taking a nice catch that fell out of the sky. One of the Godalming babies was bowled next; but Dawson continued to move a tiring fielding unit around and didn’t check out until he had made 94.
As in the last fixture Hern hit the ball well in the closing overs and the wheels had just about fallen off by this point – the luckless Townsend in particular received little support – a number of runs were stolen on the circle and to outfielders, balls bounced off others and went over the line or were missed completely. The extras count went over 40 and additional deliveries made for a near three hour stint in the field. Late wickets for Thomson, (4-0-35-4), and Jensen, (2 for 69), who kept running in. The innings closed with a four byes.
After a nice Thomson tea Stoke got the flier they needed courtesy of a number of wides and some erratic bowling punished by Zander Snr and Holder who rattled up 47 runs in just 4.3 overs before Zander hooked one to deep mid-wicket only to pick out a lone fielder.
In his 50th appearance for the Club Thomas Dennis played positively despite the introduction of 1st XI bowlers, and it was 113 for 1 in the 14th. Sadly Holder was bowled playing back to one that kept low one short of a half-century; but Dennis and debutant Umair Anis, who looks a useful acquisition, kept Stoke up with the rate.
An epic fail at the scorers’ table saw drinks taken after 18 overs; and the break did the visitors good. Clarke bowled Dennis for 26 in the first over after the re-start; Alastair Curran hit a straight six then smashed one to cover where the fielder stuck out a hand in nothing more of a token gesture only to find the ball going in.
Anis, (12), edged one to the keeper standing up, and Clinton, (10), hit one to mid-wicket; but Stoke still had overs and batting resources left despite the scoreboard showing 155 for 6.
Jensen, (18), and Thomson, (16), scored off bad balls and the extras kept on coming to keep things interesting. The total passed 200 and ten per over was very achievable as the opposition began to run out of bowling resources; but both fell in quick succession to get the fat lady warming up.
The finish seemed moments away when Townsend was ninth out chipping to square leg; but the ‘year of the last wicket stand’ had another entry in the log; O’Neill – who bowled well amidst the earlier carnage – showed his continued growth with the bat and found the necessary boundaries to keep Stoke up with the rate. Zander Jnr got bat on ball and hit it in unusual areas. The pair kept going, taking the equation down to 64 off the last three overs. Fourteen came off the 38th, and nineteen more at the start of the penultimate took the partnership to 53, (a Club record in the Trust League); but the improbable became impossible when Zander Jnr edged one, leaving O’Neill stranded on 50 not out.
So another defeat and it was clear to all where this one got away. Too many didn’t deliver the standards to which they normally produce in their league, representative and schools cricket…but ending on a positive 281 runs were scored and, (nearly), all the overs were batted which is something that has needed addressing for longer than just this season.
Next week we finish off with the visit of Byfleet. A decision will be made in the week as to whether we play just the one scheduled game, or we switch to two 20 over matches with tea between to re-kindle the original fixture that was postponed due to the World Cup Final. Stay tuned for details…
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3346473
Sanderstead 2nd XI won by 60 runs
A long overdue maiden century for the Club for Tom Frost was the highlight of a good win in the annual all-day game as part of Claygate’s cricket week.
Batting first having won the toss Billy Zander and Frost went off at a furious pace; adding 41 from the first three overs and keeping the rate over tens until Zander checked out for 51 from just 26 balls faced with the total on 109 in just the 11th over.
Frost was equally fluent, needing just 35 balls to reach his half-century and then another 52 to move to 103. He lunched on 116 not out with Roddy Kelso 37 not out having played himself in then going through the gears himself. 208 for 1 after 29.
Frost, (2×6, 18×4), fell to a good catch in the deep off the second ball he faced – his 100th in total – after the re-start with just a single added; this ended a 2nd wicket stand of 110.
No.4 Carel Ferreira continued his good form and made a nice 21 before being castled by Sapsed. 265 for 3 was soon 285 for 4 when Kelso, (Stoke career best of 79 from 76 deliveries), was lost to a run out.
Stoke lost a couple of wickets as the declaration loomed but there was time for Thomas Dennis to hit a nice run-a-ball 15 not out, and Will Thomson 10 not out take the total to 317 for 6 after 49 overs.
Suitably toasted, the opposition made a poor start to their chase courtesy of Ben Townsend who despatched the first three batsmen at a personal cost of just ten runs to make it 20 for 3. Walker cut to Kelso at gully, Townsend held a return catch to account for Ross then Murray followed next ball.
Some exploratory overs of spin from Zander before the tea break was enough research to start with Patrick O’Neill when play resumed. He bowled seven good overs without luck before an eighth spoiled his figures. The pressure he created allowed Rod Thomson to pick up two wickets at the other end; Price, (30), somehow managed to sky one to Will Thomson standing up; then former pro-footballer Talboys was sent on his way courtesy of a leg-before decision given by the home umpire.
Ferreira took out the next two in a three over burst that saw Roberts castled for 7 then Townsend juggled a high catch to remove home skipper Labacik for 4. 122 for 7.
Stoke were in the ascendancy but still had a very real problem to solve in Sapsed who played positively and hit the ball very well. Had one of the top order stayed with him the target set was very gettable on a good pitch, fast outfield and the in-field trees in play.
An entertaining, (or frustrating depending on who you were supporting), partnership of 66 for the 8th wicket kept the home side up with the rate. Schultz clubbed 30 of them before swinging at one too many and was cleaned up by Zander.
Townsend returned to the attack and was unlucky not to add to his count but still returned the match’s best figures of 3 for 45. The match was closed by Tarrant who castled Sapsed for a fine 111, (2×6, 22×4), then he snicked off last man Webb to finish with 2 for 19; Will Thomson making a nice one-handed grab to complete a 98 run win with 9.2 overs to go. Had the game gone the distance Stoke might have needed all of the runs they piled on.
Thanks as ever to Claygate for their hospitality and to the players who made this fixture happen. All being well we’ll be back for more next year.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3699002
