Buccaneers Cricket Club

James Stringer writes:

Tuesday 12th November witnessed the poignant and sad celebration of the life of Richard Gwynn. Known to gathered Buccaneers almost universally as ‘The Hack’, his friends from all parts of his life were there. Well represented were numerous friends from the cricket fields of southern England – be they from school, Bromley CC or our club.

Simon Woolfries spoke on behalf of the Club and highlighted Richard’s great friendship to many (especially younger and new members), his outstanding skills as a cricketer and his devoted service to the club. If, as would be expected of a peerless match manager, he was looking down at the assembled Buccs squad in Richmond’s Royal Mid-Surrey Golf Club to pick his first XI for later that day, he was spoiled for choice. No need to raid the pubs of Richmond to secure numbers 10 and 11.

Chunky Goulstone, remembered their lives together as young tearaways both on and off the pitch. Hack would be missed as the tyro brother Chunky never had. And fellow hack, golfer and debater Paul Trow kicked off the eulogies with a round up of their lives as hacks, raconteurs and frequenters of the pubs and bars of Fleet Street. Everyone enjoyed Paul’s observation that although many of Hack’s best stories, including “have I told you about the time I got into Lord’s via the garden?”, “…Wimbledon with a toilet seat?” or “…being bowled by Gary Sobers?” were endlessly retold, they were also endlessly enjoyed because Hack always managed to reveal a new aspect to the story that had previously been secret.

Paul’s speech is repeated here for those who were unable to attend.

Simon presented a framed picture of Hack’s final journalistic piece to Susan, Emmy and Bea. The article about how Hack was responsible for ending Bob Massie’s Test career has been filed for eternity in September’s Cricketer magazine. It can be found here and here. The Club would like to thank Editor Hugh Turbervil and the magazine for permission to reprint the article.

Hack would have loved to have been in middle of the gathering, with all his favourite people. He will be sorely missed.

However, we were all confident that he would no doubt be enjoying his full expenses allowance in the pearly Long Room upstairs, asking St Paul whether he had heard about the time he threw a snake up a tree at Blackthorn Golf Club. He no doubt, has bat in hand and pads at the ready.

The Committee has learned of the very sad news that Richard Gwynn died yesterday morning. Having been in intensive care for the last week, he passed away peacefully with his family present.

There was no more loyal Buccaneer than ‘The Hack’, who played for the club for almost 40 years and managed many enjoyable fixtures over that time. He had been a Vice President since 2004.

Richard did more than anyone to welcome new members, foster a positive club spirit and he never missed a club dinner (or House match). For many years he organised our Christmas party at The Grande Marque. He was also a keen golfer and managed several Buccaneers Golfing Society tours with typical enthusiasm.

The thoughts and prayers of all Buccaneers are with Susan and his family and funeral arrangements will be circulated in due course. For correspondence, Susan can be reached at 47 Church Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1UA.

Simon Woolfries
President

As I belatedly pen this match report, Australia have just retained The Ashes. In search of happier cricketing times, I need cast my mind back a few weeks, to when another set of plucky tourists – from as far afield as London, Dorchester and Bath no less – set about overcoming home advantage as the Buccs touched down in sunny Henley.

Captain Moules had arranged for the team to meet at a neighbouring pub for a pre-game breakfast but had not thought to check that food would be served. While our proud athletes sought nourishment in a pub’s worth of crisps and a pint or two, Henley’s youngsters opted for more conventional preparation in the nets – the odds were stacked against us from the start. Continuing his iffy start to the day, the skipper lost the toss on a freshly-rolled road and the Buccs found themselves in the grass for the first half of this 40/40 contest.

With fire in their bellies and the new cherry in hand, a pair of Buccs debutants, Michael Starkey and Eric Wedge-Bull, tore in and tested the techniques of the Henley openers, with Starkey picking up their opener early on. From the other end, Wedge-Bull was miserly and went for a highly creditable 21 from his eight overs. It wasn’t long before we turned to spin, which saw Archie Marsh rattle number three’s timbers and Richard Hobbs grab himself a couple. However, with his two scalps came two no-ball sixes into the aforementioned pub car park, so I’ll let the reader decide how well he bowled… Further destructive hitting followed, mostly from the Henley captain who made a very accomplished unbeaten century, and the hosts concluded their 40 overs on 233-5. The morning’s crisps had long since ceased to sustain us, so a top-notch tea was eagerly devoured.

With a long batting line-up (how many times have we said that and collapsed?), spirits were high despite Henley’s very competitive total. In a team blessed with wicket keepers, the two without the gloves, Tom Fletcher and Jon Harvey, were asked to strap on the pads and get us off to a good start. Henley’s youthful attack started well and we were shortly one down as Fletcher was strangled down the leg side. Buccs’s overseas, James Crichton, marched out at number three and he and Harvey quickly settled into their work and began chipping away at the target. It wasn’t long before Crichton began to cut loose, striking some mighty sixes into neighbouring gardens. Having crossed the river border from Oxfordshire into Berkshire earlier in the day en route to the ground, Crichton attempted once more to return the ball to the county from whence it came, only to lose his middle stump in the process for 60. Nick Moules shortly followed without troubling the scorers before Harvey departed for a well-constructed 58. A smattering of single-figure efforts followed and, from a position of relative comfort, a vintage Buccs batting card saw us seven down with around 60 still required and overs running out.

Angus Berry had been at the other end watching most of those wickets fall and decided enough was enough. He set about smiting the tiring bowling attack to all parts, ably assisted by Starkey. With a handful of overs left, it looked as if Berry was going to guide us home, but a mistimed heave brought about his downfall for 61. Andy Morgan walked out at 10 but was soon sent packing, leaving Hobbs and Starkey as last men standing. In need of more than a run a ball from the final two overs, Starkey hit the shot of the day over extra cover for a one-bounce four and the pair steadily accumulated ones and twos, taking us to a last-ball scenario. Buccs needed two to win and, with a super over beckoning, Hobbs plinked it over the in-field, scampered back for two and the game was ours!

For symmetry’s sake, more beers were enjoyed in the fading light to crown a famous win. My memory may be deserting me, but I’m fairly certain it was agreed that, in a summer of dramatic finishes and memorable last-wicket stands, this effort was surely unrivalled.

Innings of Henley

Saqib ct M Starkey 4
C Thomas b Hobbs 28
Praveen b A Marsh 22
B Purchase ret 101
Buckle ct b Hobbs 10
Daisy ct b Starkey 11
F Loveland not out 3
Chris not out 0

Extras 42
Total 233-5

Bowling
M Starkey 8-0-39-2
E Wedge-Ball 8-2-21-0
A Marsh 8-1-53-1
S Moules 7-0-39-0
R Hobbs 7-0-39-0
A Berry 4-0-28-2

Innings of Buccaneers

J Harvey ct and b L Loveland 58
T Fletcher ct [ ] b F Loveland 1
J Crichton b Watson-Smith 60
N Moules Lbw Watson-Smith 0
A Berry ct Saquib b Daisy 61
S Moules ct [ ] b L Loveland 4
E Wedge-Ball b L Loveland 2
A Marsh b Saquib 4
M Starkey not out 22
R Hobbs not out 8

Extras 10
Total 234-8

Bowling
Saqib 8-1-28-1
F Loveland 8-0-37-1
F Watson-Smith 8-0-52-2
Buckle 4-0-38-0
L Loveland 8-1-47-3
Daisy 3-0-24-2
Another 1-0-4-0

Buccs win by 2 wickets

Buccaneers came up 20 runs short against a well organised West Chiltington & Thakeham side on Sunday 28 July. A fantastic day was had by all, despite the result – this was our first fixture at this beautiful village ground and we very much look forward to returning next year.

WC&TCC were off to a flyer, reaching 114 without loss as both openers struck rapid half centuries. Buccs had a much improved second quarter, however, taking regular wickets to restrict our opposition to 201 all out in the penultimate over of the agreed 40 – Angus Berry the pick of the bowlers with four wickets (in a welcome return to pitching the ball with his flighted left arm orthodox).

Buccs required five an over and were never quite up with the rate thanks to some very tight seam bowling from the hosts. Eswar Kalidasan struck a fluent 45 on debut but WC&T were deserved winners when your correspondent was bowled off the final ball of the match.

A special mention must go to John Bryant who was awarded the Buccaneers Cross for bravery for batting valiantly on one leg after suffering a nasty calf muscle tear in the field.

Innings of WC&TCC
M. Louw ct. O. Metcalfe b. A. Berry 60
E White ct. [Unknown] b. A Berry 71
R. Taylor ct. J. Bradley b. A Berry 1
C. Wyatt b. W. Metcalfe 0
H. Warmisham LBW b. A. Berry 9
A. Trees ct. [Unknown] b. J. Bryant 9
O. Holden b. G. Smith 12
I. Haggart ct. [Unknown] b. A. Rydon 3
R. Kucchadia Not out 9
A. Newman b. A. Rydon 1
B. Lucking c&b G. Smith 0
Extras 26
All out 201 (38.3 overs)

Buccaneers bowling
J. Bradley 4 1 33 –
R. Rydon 6 1 25 –
W. Metcalfe 8 – 41 1
A. Berry 8 – 55 4
G. Smith 7.3 1 25 2
J. Bryant 2 1 2 1
A. Rydon 3 1 7 2

Innings of Buccaneers
G. Smith ct. (wkt) H. Warmisham 2
J. Bradley ct. b. O. Holden 21
E. Kalidasan ct. b. O. Holden 45
O. Metcalfe Stumped b. O. Holden 6
A. Rydon ct. Warmisham b. B. Lucking 8
R. Goodyear c&b b. B. Lucking 4
R. Rydon LBW b. B. Lucking 11
A Berry ct. Haggart b. O. Holden 19
W. Metcalfe Stumped b. B. Lucking 20
T. Fletcher b. H. Warmisham 27
J. Bryant Not out 1
Extras 16
all out 181 (40 overs)

WC&TCC bowling
Bowler O M R W
R. Taylow 8 2 32 –
H. Warmisham 8 2 21 2
M. Louw 8 – 30 –
O. Holden 8 – 43 4
B. Lucking 8 1 53 4
WC&TCC won by 20 runs

Happy 21^st birthday to the House Match. We struggled through to this important milestone but forsook champagne and Black Tie for Hogsback beer and crisp whites.

Two teams (of sorts) had been collected and Rich Hobbs’ Hyderbad Sunrisers rose to the challenge against Rob Rydon’s Rajasthan Royals. Rob won the toss on a bright sunny morning. There was a hint of green on the pitch but the prospect of a leisurely morning supping ale meant he decided to bat. He sent in his young fit son, Alex along with the not so young and not so fit Chris Leech. Things proceeded along smoothly, with not many quick singles, until Alex  launched an uppish drive into the hands of Will Metcalfe at mid wicket off the impressive Steve Moules.  Eswar Kalidasan entered the fray and along with Chris started to smack the ball to all parts. Russell Kyne kept the septuagenarian keeper, Andy Morgan, on his toes (and on his knees) as wides and leg byes also kept the score board rattling along. Chris got fifty and got out and so Simon Leefe joined Eswar to really start the fireworks. Will bowled a tidy spell and the skipper, Rich put the brakes on initially but it was a batsman’s paradise. Jeremy Milne took on the biffing when Eswar left and Simon took a particular liking to Gus Berry’s bowling, hitting him into the neighbouring garden on a number of occasions (four overs for 56 tell the story). I can’t remember what the score at lunch was but it was a lot. It didn’t seem to matter to many others either as we sat down in the top room of the Dog and Pheasant and tucked into a hearty lunch.

Play resumed, without any pudding, and Leefe(senior) and Milne(senior) carried on where they left off. It wouldn’t be a proper Jeremy innings unless he ran some one out and this time it was himself. He was replaced by Ludo Milne who put in some lusty blows. Sadly Simon got caught with a few overs to go and so was unable to bat with his daughter, Georgie, who helped complete  the Royals’ innings with a total of 290 for 5 off their forty overs.

Those with calculators worked out the Sunrisers needed 7.25 an over. Gus Berry and Alastair Cross came out swinging. Gus tried to put one of Rob’s deliveries into the woods up the hill (over 200 meters away) and lost his off stump in the process. Alastair followed soon after. James Crichton and Dan South joined the fray and kept the run rate up to speed. James deposited Rob into a distant hedge for a quality six and made another contribution to the large number of lost balls during the day. As the bowlers were rotated with a range of youth through experience (Georgie Leefe and John Bryant respectively) a chink of a breakthrough appeared as John bowled James. But, yet more quality marched to the crease in the form of Steven. Dan was continuing to smite fours and sixes and then a larger crack appeared in the foundations of the Sunriser’s innings as Steven was bowled (expecting some turn) by Simon. Tea, after twenty overs was a statisticians delight, as the score stood at 145 for 5.

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• 

In trying to make up for lack of pudding at lunch, the Dog and Pheasant  provided a copious assortment of cakes and biscuits for tea. Russel Kyne joined Dan out in the middle. You know the story – more fours and sixes until Russel was bowled behind his legs by the whirling dervish of a leg spinner, Warwick Okines. Surely the Royals were in charge now. But no, it was Will and Dan who tucked in, this time returning the compliment of gorging into Simon’s bowling. More sixes (six off Simon’s six overs), more lost balls. But then some inspirational captaincy. A quick burst of pace. Two overs from Ludo and the crucial wicket of Dan, caught behind by Alex. Another quick burst of (medium) pace and Rob clipped the top of off stump of the dangerous looking Sunriser’s skipper. Yet more inspirational captaincy, as the pace was taken off and John Bryant played the timeless three card trick of four, six, wicket and bowled Will.

All out. Not quite. Do to the inequality in numbers a strange rule of ‘last man standing’ was employed. This meant that it was left to Andy Morgan to single handedly bring the Sunrisers home. And boy did he nearly do it. Reminiscent of Ben Stokes at Headingly, he waited patiently for the short ball and deposited three sixes into the car park. With twelve runs to win and three overs left, momentum was with the Sunrisers. But it was not to be, because Warwick bowled him and 278 for 9 was frozen on the electronic scoreboard.

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More ale was supped. The under five year old spectators enjoyed the water park as the sprinklers were turned on and everyone agreed that the occasion had been one of the best House Matches in living memory.

Innings of Rob Rydon’s XI

A.RYDON   CT METCALFE BWLD MOULES  14

C.LEECH   BWLD METCALFE                           50

E.KALIDASAN   CT     BWLD METCALFE        38

S.LEEFE      CT        BWLD MOULES               75

J.MILNE      RUN OUT                                     42

L.MILNE      NOT OUT                                     24

G.LEEFE       NOT OUT                                      0

R.RYDON     DNB

W.OKINES     DNB

J.BRYANT      DNB                                                     290 FOR 5

S.MOULES  8-0-2-33

R.KYNE        6-0-0-57

W.METCALFE  8-0-2-41

R.HOBBS       8-1-0-56

A.BERRY     4-0-0-54

J.CRICHTON    6-0-0-34

Innings of R Hobbs’ XI

A.BERRY       BWLD R.RYDON    7

A.CROSS       BWLD  R.RYDON  13

J.CRICHTON  BWLD BRYANT  44

D.SOUTH     CT A.RYDON BWLD L.MILNE 91

S.MOULES   BWLD S.LEEFE     12

R.KYNE       BWLD OKINES 18

W.METCALFE   BWLD BRYANT 37

R. HOBBS    BWLD R.RYDON  0

A.MORGAN   BWLD OKINES  30          278 FOR 9

L.MILNE   6-0-1-45

R.RYDON 6-1-3-25

G.LEEFE  5-0-0-48

J.BRYANT 6-0-2-59

W.OKINES 8-1-2-40

S.LEEFE   6-0-1-47

Buccaneers 213 for 6 dec. OHJ 152 for 9. Match drawn

Conditions were windy. So windy that the covers had been blown apart overnight and left a nasty damp patch at one end. After a bit of tutting from the umpires, it was decided to take an early lunch.

Play started at 1.30pm with the captain opening the batting with his middle son. All proceeded smoothly with a fifty run partnership (including a lot of wides). Then things didn’t proceed so smoothly as both Rydons got out and Tom Fletcher departed for a duck. Then things got even worse as the wind and rain forced the players off. On return, Eswar Kalidasan steadied the ship with Jim Mann and when Jim got out to a good catch at mid off, we were entertained with the (just under 50 run ) partnership of Stephen Moules and Eswar.

They took a particular liking to Stuart Hall, the off spinner, with Eswar slog sweeping him into the pavilion fence for six, in particular sticking in the memory. Once he was out for 51, a succession of young Marsh’s aided Stephen in launching the total over 200.

Tea was taken in high spirits and a team photo, including heroes from yesteryear, was taken. Then on to the cricket, with Harry Mann steaming in from the top end and Jack Bebb swinging it up hill into the wind. OHJ’s were not going to die wondering and Mr Pilgrim came out of the blocks quickly. A sharp dropped catch in the slips was soon forgotten as Harry elicited a top edge, safely pouched by Tom F. After this excitement and another wicket from Harry we turned to the youth policy. First with some spin from James Marsh and then some inswing with Tom Rydon. These spells changed the game with Tom starving the oppo of runs and getting a wicket too and James bowling a masterly stint of off spin and getting a wicket in each of his first four overs. He went on to get a ‘five for’.

Archie bowled some leg spin from the bottom end and we felt confident of wrapping up proceedings as we had them 8 wickets down. However, Mssrs Burstow and Noble had other ideas for the OHJs and they put on a fifty run partnership. Harry came back on up the hill and in the final over nipped one back to hit the off stump. Two balls left. The number eleven swung and missed at his first attempt but sadly the ball missed the stumps too. He masterfully left the final ball to earn a hard won draw.

A huge crowd gathered to hear the closing speeches and listen to the Last Post as the flag was lowered on the fiftieth OHJ’s vs Buccanneers match.

Innings of Buccaneers

A Rydon ct Burstow b Burstow 16
R Rydon ct Pilgrim b Burstow 30
E Kalidasan ct Harrison b Kenney 51
T Fletcher ct Pilgrim b Burstow 0
J Mann ct Wilsden b Kenney 12
S Moules not out 65
A March ct Harrison b Hall 4
J Marsh not out 4

Extras 31

Total: 213-6 dec
FOW 1-57, 2-67, 3-67, 4-106, 5-155, 6-168

Bowling

D Burstow 10-3-29-3
R Noble 4-0-17-0
P McGahan 9-0-38-0
F Kenney 11-1-56-2
S Hall 8-0-60-1

Innings of OHJ

E Welsh ct A Marsh b J Marsh 13
J Pilgrim ct T Fletcher b H Mann 28
S Hall lbw b H Mann 17
M Harrison ct H Mann b J Marsh 27
R Willsdon lbw T Rydon 0
O Meredith ct J Mann b J Marsh 3
S Warrender b J Marsh 6
R Noble not out 21
F Kenney ct A Marsh b J Marsh 2
D Burstow b H Mann 32
P McGahan not out 0

Extras 3

Total 152-9

FOW 1-31, 2-55, 3-68, 4-68, 5-71, 6-91, 7-96, 8-100, 9-152

Bowling

H Mann 11-1-48-2
J Bebb 5-0-24-0
T Rydon 4-1-8-1
J Marsh 11-1-54-5
A Marsh 5-1-16-0
R Rydon 2-2-0-0

Under balmy skies Buccaneers suffered a first defeat of the season at Lindfield CC.

Skip won the toss and elected to have bat. Scoring 275 in 40 overs should have seen Buccs home comfortably but the much heralded Buccs bowling attack struggled to contain belligerent Lindfield batting. There was a significant selection error in the ‘keeper department and byes were not our friend. Coupled with a dose of collective Buccs butter fingers and Lindfield reached their target with 4 wickets down with 9 balls to spare.

Let’s dwell on some fine batting from Rob Rydon (66) and Angus Berry (89) and Stephen Moules (72) who all put bat to ball and dismissed the village attack. Stephen timed several strikes particularly well including shot of the day a rasping cover drive a la Jason Roy. At the half-way stage Skip was very pleased and the tea was particularly good too!

Some basic maths suggested that Lindfield needed just shy of 7 an over and Buccs were blessed with 7 good seamers and a couple of spinners to stop the flow of runs. The Twineham twins Matt and Jim opened up but the first 10 overs went for 70 odd, with a wicket to Matt. Dot balls were rare and runs continued to flow from a Buccs newcomer Nick (Monty) Macpherson. We could see some class buried deep, but the action was a bit rusty after 25 years in the cupboard. A semblance of control was provided by the best Buccs bowler of the day Tom Rydon who bowled 2 Lindfield batters and had their 13-year-old centurion dropped on consecutive balls. Neil Robertson held his hand up in apology, but they are always difficult in the slips off a full-blooded drive.

After 20 overs Lindfield were 140 odd for 3 and looking good. The 20 overs that followed were not brilliant from the Buccs with a continual stream of boundaries and a couple of byes. The consensus is that wicket keeping looks easy, but it is not. Angus Berry took over the gloves and declared at one stage “this is the least amount of fun one can have on a cricket pitch”

The theme seemed to be that the faster we bowled at the them the faster the ball sped to the boundary. Buccs debutant Angus McGougan bowled at lively pace but saw his best balls caressed on the up through to offside. Again, the talent was there but a little rust on the action allowed Lindfield to continue to score. There was just time for the prep school moment of the match when Skip and Angus Mc “G” managed to collide mid pitch as they both tried to catch the same sitter. It was spilled and that just about summed up the Buccs fortunes in the field for 21 July 2019.

Congratulations to the young lad Alex (aged 13) who was 114* at the end and Geoffrey Lawrence for seeing his side home to win the Mark Lawrence memorial trophy.

Lindfield won by 6 wickets.

Innings of The Buccaneers
R Rydon ct Chowdrey b Storey 66
McPherson ct b Hewett 11
A Berry stumped b Chowdrey 89
A McGougan ct G Lawrence b Morrison 12
S Moules Not out 72
H Robertson ct b Hewett 11
N Robertson not out 2
Extras 12

Total: 275-5 (40 overs)
FOW: 1-32, 2-149, 3-188, 4-191, 5-262

Bowling
Hewett 8-0-47-2
Pedley 8-0-68-0
Chowdrey 8-0-65-1
Lawrence 1-0-16-0
Weir 8-2-26-0
Storer 4-0-38-1
Morrison 3-0-14-1

Innings of Lindfield
C Weir b Edwards 10
T Chowdrey b Simon 19
A Pedley Not out 114
M Hewitt b Edwards 34
A Osborne b Rydon 29
G Lawrence Not out 35
Extras: 45

Total 276-4 (22 overs)

Bowling
M Edwards 5-0-33-1
Simon 5-1-38-1
N McPherson 4-0-33-0
R Rydon 7-0-44-2
J Milne 6-0-26-0
McGougan 5-0-45-0
S Moules 3-0-23-0
H Robertson 1-0-11-0

Buccaneers 281-8 dec
Hurlingham Club 115 all out
Buccs won by 166 runs

On Sunday 16th June, we awoke to a slightly damp morning, but luckily the sometimes trigger happy Hurlingham CC groundsmen were happy for us to continue with a declaration game. On arrival at the ground, it was impossible not to notice the 25 metre square boundary on one side, complete with a tree, which is to be treated as a blade of grass in the field. The dampness caused a 30 minute delay to the 11am scheduled start while we waited for the final shower of the morning to pass with the usual road beneath the covers safe and sound.

Buccaneers lost the toss and were put into bat by the Hurlingham Club. Hurlingham said they were depleted at first but ended up with 14, rolling on and off subs to support a couple of Hurlingham U70s in action. Buccs opened the batting with Ludo Milne and Chris Leech, who both started to look comfortable until Ludo scooped one to square leg in the 5th over.

Buccs overseas, James Crichton (44) then joined Leech at the crease and they put on an impressive stand of 70-odd before Crichton and then Leech (43) fell to a couple of loose shots caught in the ring. Both will feel like they left their half centuries and possibly more out there. After a blistering 4 from 32 balls by Wicket Keeper Harcourt and a even faster duck from Milne senior, Berry and Moules were at the crease and worked on a crucial middle order partnership to steady the ship. Angus played a steady innings all the way up to his half century, brought up with a lovely four, only to then fall the next delivery for 52. Stephen Moules hit some glorious flowing strokes and hit an impressive 74 from 67 including 9 fours and 2 sixes. Will Noble also came to the party with a handy 27 and Simon Leefe came to the crease with orders to open up for one more over at which point Moules fell and the Buccs declared on 281-8 leaving W. Metcalfe seething that he couldn’t unleash his Yorkshire ‘Blacksmith’s Son’ cow corner swipes.

Hurlingham came out to bat with a fairly tall order to chase and Buccs we keenly warming up in the field as their two openers came to bat. Most of the field were a few Wimbledon Pale Ales down which I’m sure only served to loosen the muscles even further and produce a fine fielding display.

Will Noble and Stephen Moules opened up our pace attack and Moules struck early with the fourth ball of the innings bowling out their Wicket Keeper opener.

The second wicket took a little longer after a 40 run partnership when Will Noble took the number three out of the game. First change of attack was provided by Will Metcalfe whose cunning standard slower balls really troubled the Hurlingham batting line up from top to bottom order. The fourth wicket fell with 75 runs on the board and just 30 runs later the 9th was falling. Will bowled tremendously ending up with 5 wickets, getting on the honours board at Hurlingham (especially for bowling) is no mean feat. He was supported by some brilliant bowling from Simon Leefe whose economy was even more remarkable given the 25 metre boundary mentioned at the top of this report. Our vicious attack bowled out Hurlingham Club for just 115 runs which gave the Buccs a convincing victory and a welcome result after a few difficult years against Hurlingham. The match was well supported by friends and family and committee members and as always The Hurlingham Club was welcoming and a fantastic central London venue to play cricket, eat well and take on a few beers after the match.

Full scorecard can be found here:

Following three consecutive convincing wins the Buccs travelled to Brook CC in high spirits but aware that they came unstuck on this very ground just a year prior.

Following some overnight and early morning rain and as the humidity ramped up skipper Berry had no hesitation in putting Brook in. His team on the other hand were a little annoyed at the prospect of having to field first on a damp outfield and with an inviting pub garden just a stone’s throw from the ground.

With a well stocked arsenal of fast and spin bowlers alike the Buccs set to work under the watchful gaze our newly accredited umpire (see Chertsey match report).

The Brook opening pair was a remarkable contrast; their left hander scored more runs in the first five overs than Frensham had managed the week before, whilst the right hander dropped anchor. Following a worryingly fruitful 10 overs for Brook up stepped Tom Rydon to knock back the free scoring left handers off peg and the Buccs were on their way. It was the introduction of spin, in particular the brothers Marsh, that saw the tide begin to turn. Despite opening his spell with 5 (FIVE) consecutive wides young James Marsh bowled superbly well, with flight and guile to snagged four wickets cheaply.

If James’ wickets were cheap then his brother Archie’s were positive bargains. His leg spin claiming four of his own scalps for the cost of just two runs.

Both Marsh’s deserved their wickets and the Buccs catching was, for once at Brook, up to scratch. The only exception being your author here who conceived to drop a sitter that not only was captured on camera by our president but was claimed so loudly with a shout of ‘GUS’’ that everyone in the adjacent pub will have known who dropped it.

After tea the Buccs set out chasing a relatively modest 156, although with the pitch taking spin would require some hard graft. Enter the skipper who tried to hit the first ball of the reply so hard that he nearly swung himself off his feet and made no contact whatsoever. Luckily our other opener Jon Harvey batted with much better application. Berry, predictably, was out trying to hit a six and with Moules soon following him back to the pavilion we started to feel a little pressure.

Up stepped a man who knows no pressure and plays with his own style of universe boss-esq flamboyance. Charlie, ‘I don’t bowl anymore’ Leefe took the Brook attack to the cleaners, smoking sixes with ease. After Harvey departed Rob Rydon took to his now default role of shepherding younger batsmen to their hundreds. Leefe reached his first Buccs ton with less than 10 needed and despite being dropped the very next ball saw us home to a comfortable win. The performance was first rate from all of the Buccs bar one (or two if you count the skippers less than stellar performance). Ollie Metcalfe committed the cardinal sin of not turning up to the pre-arranged train in London and was then nowhere to be seen as we moved from the toss, through to our time in the field, and then indeed when we were batting. Something about a lost phone and a missed alarm…. A great team effort, particularly given that it was done with 10 and the Buccs winning streak was extended to four. Some pints were enjoyed in the Dog and Pheasant, Charlie’s jug being paid for by his dad Simon, adding to an expensive weekend given that he managed a hole in one the day before! Scorecard

Buccs Bowling
E Howes 5 0 35 0
T Rydon 6 1 29 1
R Rydon 5 2 8 0
S Moules 4 0 12 0
S Leefe 8 0 30 1
J Marsh 12 2 36 4
A Marsh 4.3 2 2 4

Brook – 156 all out
Buccs Batting

A Berry Bowled 7 (9 balls)
J Harvey LBW 29 (47)
C Leefe Not Out 101 (73)
S Moules Stumped 2 (4)
R Rydon Not Out 10 (23)
Buccs 158 – 4
Buccs win by 6 wickets

This was our third meeting with Frensham. They had warned us that they were not strong but that’s what they said the year before last (no game in 2018) and then we had won by only eight runs. So, despite our putting out a strong side, perhaps a little caution was called for.
Another declaration match. As in 2017 we forwent the toss and agreed that the Buccaneers should bat first.

Angus Berry and Steve Moules opened our innings and immediately got into cruise mode. On this ground it is either 4s or 1s. Angus decided on 4s, until he was out for 20 with the score on 36 after 5 overs. Steve was joined by newcomer Jon Harvey and they both continued to score briskly, Steve just failing to reach 50. He was out for 44. So we were 92 for 2. Will Metcalfe was unfortunately run out soon afterwards and we were then 95 for 3. Rob Rydon joined Jon and they had a run-fest. They put on 148 runs, Jon scoring his maiden century for the Buccs in only his second game. Very well done. He made 107 before being caught, leaving Rob on 37. The score was 243 for 4 off only 36 overs. The captain decided that was enough and declared. Looking at the records, he had done something similar in 2017 (242 for 4). Given the closeness of that match, was he tempting fate?

The bowlers soon supplied the answer. After Frensham’s customary excellent tea Steve Moules and Will Metcalfe got to work. Will took his first wicket in his third over. 15 for 1 soon became 26 for 2 when Steve bowled their opener, Nicholls for 19. After that it became a firing squad, admittedly the pitch helping a little when the ball occasionally kept low and shot through. No other batsman reached double figures. Steve took 4 for 5 in 5 overs, unfortunately failing to take a hat-trick but taking 3 wickets in one over. Paul McCann was very accurate, taking 1 for 6 off 3. Simon Leefe sniped with two wicket maidens. Max Deakin had a go and Archie Marsh, bowling only 5 balls took a wicket.

Wickets fell so fast that we allowed Frensham to put in a twelfth batsman. Without him they mustered a score of 48 off 15 overs, the official result. He contributed 6 runs and they finished on 54 for 11.

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Innings of Buccaneers
A. Berry ct. Ramsahoy 20
S. Moules b. Mills 44
J. Harvey + ct. Ramsahoy 107
W. Metcalfe run out 2
R. Rydon not out 37
P. McCann, S. Leefe, M. Deakin, A. Marsh, R. Hobbs, J. Bryant did not bat
Extras 33
Total 243 for 4 declared.

Ramsahoy 6.1-0-2-41
Pow 5.1-0-0-29
Escombe 6-0-0-37
Mills 7-0-1-33
Ralling 6-0-0-36
C. Jones 3-0-0-19
Tren 3-0-0-26

Innings of Frensham
T. Nicholls b. Moules 19
M. Findlay ct. Metcalfe 5
C. Pow lbw Metcalfe 5
C. Jones b. Moules 0
T. Escombe b. McCann 7
W. Trenholm b. Moules 0
S. Richards b. Moules 0
M. Breddy b. Leefe 1
Fenton b. Leefe 0
Luke ct. Leefe 0
T. Ralling b. Marsh 2
(H. Hebrington not out 6)
Extras 9
Total 48

W. Metcalfe 5-2-2-26
S. Moules 5-3-4-5
P. McCann 3-2-1-6
S. Leefe 3-2-2-2
M. Deakin 1-0-0-10
A. Marsh 0.5-0-1-2