Saturday 1st August 2020
Surrey Championship Challenge Cup – 2nd XI Competition
Normandy 2nd XI 155 all out (36.4 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 106 all out (32 overs)
Normandy 2nd XI won by 49 runs
Stoke were well placed at half-time in this one but were unable to get the job done.
Home Friendly
Cheam 137 all out (33 overs)
Sunday 21st July 2019
Friendly
Stoke D’Abernon 206 for 6 (40 overs)
Wonersh 117 all out (29.2 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 89 runs
Stoke’s Sunday XI were back to winning ways after last week’s narrow defeat. Wonersh were the successful applicants in response to our advert and they brought a friendly bunch of guys plus an umpire and scorer.
Home Friendly
Stoke D’Abernon 233 for 4 declared (36 overs)
Chelsea Nomads 65 all out (37.2 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 168 runs
Saturday 6th July 2019
AJ Fordham Surrey Championship – 2nd XI competition
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 267 for 8 (55 overs)
Old Emanuel 2nd XI 223 for 8 (50 overs)
Match Drawn – ‘Winning Draw’ to Old Emanuel 2nd XI
Stoke’s 2nd XI were left to settle for a losing draw after posting a good total on a benign pitch at Blagdons. To have the opposition eight down after their fast start to the chase was a credit to their stickability.
Has a run of scores of 20 or more of this length ever been achieved by a Stoker? After a trawl of the stats, the short answer is no, but there have been some impressive sequences; the longest being eleven, achieved by Chris Goode and Steve Eggleston. A couple of players will go into the 2019 season with a chance to beat that run. (See later on.)
For the avoidance of doubt, in these scoring runs below, if a player made a score of less than 20 but was not out, or did not bat in a match, we have continued the run but not counted the score of less than 20 or the DNB in the sequence.
Have you made the list? Look for yourself here…
As mentioned above, messers Goode and Eggleston have the longest run…
11 Chris Goode
45 in the last game of 1956 then 50 34 31 65 63 71 63 103* 30 and 77 in his first ten innings in 1957
11 Steve Eggleston
45 36 25 60 22 26* 27 24 and 132 in 1993 – these were all the games he played that season!
He then started 1994 with 44 and 42.
…closely followed by these four sturdy Stoke oaks who have runs of ten innings…
10 Steve Garner
21 34 32 75 32* 46 30 105* 31 89 in 1986
10 Will Gudgeon
22 54* 45 61 34* 19* 30 26 28 26 in 2013 then 50* in his first game of 2014
10 Gavin Johns
40 78 77 58*and 71 at the end of 1996 then 30 155* 43 28 and 67 at the start of 1997
10 Nick Lo
63* 23 22 27 31 38 39 30 61 29 in 2013
A few of Stoke’s all-time leading run-scorers/highest average-holders are in the next group with a run of nine innings, or eight, (Alistair McMillan and Ian Wellman have one of each, Sid Lahiri can boast two runs of eight in successive seasons in the noughties)…
9 Phil Easton
36 31* 59 100* 39 40 69 49* 69* in 1971
9 Alistair McMillan
30 18* 25 38 20 29* 30 11* 32 44* 22 in 1980
9 Ian Wellman
58 89* 39 69 51 44 64 79 61 in 1980
9 Sophie Pout
Q : Mehidy Hasan opened the batting and bowling for Bangladesh in the Asia Cup final. How many times has this happened?
A : This particular double is not terribly unusual in ODIs – it’s happened no fewer than 171 times by 45 different players; but Mehidy Hasan was the first to do it for Bangladesh, in the Asia Cup final in Dubai.
The man who did it most frequently was the combative Indian all-rounder Manoj Prabhakar with 45 – almost twice as often as the next on the list, Neil Johnson of Zimbabwe, who managed it 25 times. Mohammad Hafeez has so far done it 13 times for Pakistan, while Tillakaratne Dilshan of Sri Lanka did it 13 times, and Darron Reekers of the Netherlands 12. We should perhaps give a special mention to Frasat Ali, who opened the batting and bowling in every one of East Africa’s official ODIs – all three of them, during the inaugural World Cup in 1975.
So who has done this for Stoke?
In 1st XI League cricket there have been eleven different players to have opened the batting and the bowling in the same match, just seven in 2s league cricket, and four in the Surrey Trust League. In the Under 19 T20 Blast we haven’t played that many games, so only Giacomo Gray and Nico Spreeth have had the honour of being first up in both disciplines.
The full list, including women & girls cricket, and how each player got on is here : Opened Batting and Bowling in Same League Match
As with Steven Lynch’s analysis of ODIs, an Indian tops the Stoke list with Sid Lahiri having opened the batting and the bowling in the same game on 23 occasions. Next comes Tim Handel with ten fewer. You could make a pretty handy Stoke XI with the players on the 1s list, although finding/asking someone to keep wicket might be tricky, and pity the poor captain tasked with sorting out a batting and bowling order to keep everyone happy!
When looking at individual performances; Sid is the only player to complete a match double of 50+ runs and 5+ wickets and is one of only two 1st XI centurions. With the ball only Mike Cooper, Sid, (twice), and Ranga Yasalal have taken a 5-for.
For those who never had the pleasure of meeting Ranga or playing with – or against him on President’s Day – he was our Overseas Player in 1998, (http://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/player/50264.html & http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/player_stats_widget/batting_stats/812632?from=stats&rule_type_id=179), and is an unusual name to appear on the 2nd XI list. Back in the day clubs played each other once in larger divisions, and in seasons where there was an odd number of clubs or a club dropped out/scratched a fixture, on occasion there would be a bye-week and there was no restriction on playing your Overseas in the 2nd XI. Logie took Ranga along to Sinjuns and he helped himself to a big hundred.
In 2nd XI cricket instances are far more rare; in part due to the opening spots having traditionally been filled by people who kept wicket or by players who wouldn’t expect to open the bowling, unless it is to buy wickets or start with the old ball.
Apologies here to Keith Watson who isn’t on the list at all but could fall into some of the above categories having taken an 8-for within his 70 career Club wickets –
http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2314698
The last time he was asked the question we had a look at our own centuries, (links to the original articles at the bottom of this page), and have added the hundreds scored so far this season to the list.
Link : SDCC Centuries and Percentage of Total
Only five Stokers have beaten Viv.
Will Thomson’s effort at Ashford last weekend features quite high up the list; other efforts by Subba Row, Dyson, Jones and Trower appear further down the table…Tom Frost’s 117 out of our total of 317 constituting just under 37% of the total.
As always, if you have any stories to tell about any of these matches, e-mail stokecc@hotmail.com and we’ll publish them here.
Links to previous articles : http://www.stokecc.co.uk/2016/12/23/centuries-making-up-a-large-percentage-of-the-total/ and http://www.stokecc.co.uk/2017/01/05/centuries-making-up-a-large-percentage-of-the-total-2/
With the clubs in different divisions in League cricket and the pre-season friendly wiped out by rain it took until mid-September to play a game against our friends and neighbours this year. It was worth the wait, though, as the sides played out an enjoyable match. Stoke took this one deep but the home side timed their run chase well with former Stoker George Depree pulling a six to win to and end his reign as Maori Oxshott’s Sunday skipper.
Peter Phipps took charge of on-field operations and did an excellent job other than denying himself an opportunity, and after the ball nibbled early Malcolm Dickson, (19), and Alistair McMillan, (34), added 44 off the first twelve overs before the former was caught at mid-off trying to go over the top.
Moumer Khara hit the bad ball very hard. He lost McMillan just after the drinks break, but this brought Will Thomson to the crease and he continued his great form. Khara checked out on 37 – leg-before again – but the run rate was now good, Ralph Coleman upping it further by dominating a fourth wicket stand in an all too brief cameo.
This allowed Thomson son and father the chance to bat together; dad seeing son through to 50 before being bowled by Depree for 10. Jeremy Connell, (15 off 9), and Will T then smashed 45 off the last 22 balls to lift the total to 220 for 5; Will’s remarkable weekend ending with an unbeaten 79 from 58 with 14 fours.
After the customary excellent tea, Ben Townsend got Stoke on the board early when Harvey-Samuel guided the second ball of the innings, and his first, to Phipps at slip. Townsend was back to his normal self and deserved more than the solitary wicket in his opening spell.
Shaw and No.3 Thorpe got themselves in and kept Maori Oxshott ahead of the required rate. Phipps tried several bowlers and all did well, but the good pitch and unforgiving short boundaries made for a tough time.
The Thomsons exchanged the keeping gear at drinks and Will got through Thorpe’s defences just shy of what would have been a chanceless half-century to end a stand of 129; but Shaw kept going and found good support from Patel.
Khara slowed things a little and snicked off Shaw for 78, then Harper clubbed a four and a six before somehow finding the keeper who made the catch at leg-slip; and when the returning Townsend, (2 for 37), took a return catch to account for Stephen, Stoke had a sniff at 186 for 5.
The game went as deep as it did as very late call-up Monty Vinall had a first taste of senior cricket. On what would have been a very long afternoon for him he got through four overs at no more than the required innings run-rate; and should be very pleased with his contribution.
With runs running out Will Thomson and Geoff Vinall had one last burst. Vinall snicked off Patel for a well-constructed 39, but there were still 15 balls to get the last nine runs and wickets in hand, one of them Saker who was the ideal man for the job.
The field was up, but Depree took this out of the equation by pulling a Thomson bumper over mid-wicket to end a terrific match played in front of a decent crowd including much appreciated vocal away support from the Morgans.
As is always the case between the two sides, we all had fun and we’ll do it all again next year.
Next week we have two Sunday fixtures in the card so we’ll need everyone! Availabilities in ASAP please so we can manage the oppositions’ expectations and map out two balanced teams.
Scorecard : https://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3709832
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
