Buccaneers Cricket Club

The Buccaneers arrived at Chertsey’s wonderful Grove Road ground in keen spirits, fresh off of the back of an historic win at Hurlingham the prior Sunday and, in the more recent past, some invigorating refreshment at the Crown hotel and pub on the high street. A 40-over format and a 2pm start allowed ample time for some pre-match ‘carb loading’, with Metcalfe Snr taking the opportunity to sample half a pint of Chertsey’s famous shell-on prawns. He had also brought with him a kitless Our Kid “Ollie” Metcalfe. Despite clear documentary evidence to the contrary, O.K.M. claimed not to know that he was down to play in the match until the big day itself. Mercifully, he had woken up on his brother’s sofa just a few hours before the good news registered and was therefore well placed to make the short journey down the M3 to take his spot in a Buccs side bristling with confidence, if slightly apprehensive at the prospect of a new fixture against a club boasting four Saturday league sides.

Our (sole) umpire for the day was being formally assessed as part of his ECB accreditation process. Prior to the start of the match, he had many questions for your correspondent and the opposition captain. Having provided assurances that it would not be possible in the time available to alter the land boundaries of the cricket ground and nearby properties so as to put the sightscreen out of the field of play, we were permitted to proceed to the toss. Buccs called correctly and elected to bat on a dry track with a thick covering of grass.

Having managed to borrow some ill-fitting kit, O.K.M. opened up with Buccs stalwart Simon Leefe, but the partnership proved not to be particularly fruitful when Simon played next to a straight one and was bowled for six. Enter Buccs debutant Jon Harvey, who made a stylish and fluent 35 before mis-timing a flick to leg. Ollie followed soon after for 23 when he dragged a filthy half tracker to mid-wicket. Messrs Hobbs and Moules came and went – the former to a disastrous and inevitable attempt to hit Chertsey’s youngest bowler into nearby Thorpe Park – and, after a promising start, the Buccs found themselves in a spot of bother at 107-5.

In typical swashbuckling fashion, Charlie Leefe decided that the situation called for an all-out assault on the straight and cow-corner boundaries. He was ably supported in that endeavour by Metcalfe Snr, who used his pre-match protein to good effect in making a very handy 31. The pair had added 59 when Charlie was caught for an excellent 60 (7x4s; 3x6s), attempting to hit a fourth boundary in as many balls, much to the entertainment of the small crowd that had gathered around the amply-stocked pavilion bar. Chertsey then fell victim to the well-rehearsed Buccaneers trick of sending Rob Rydon (27) in at eight and, after a quick flourish from the remaining tail-enders, we were bowled out in the 39th over for 225 – a decent total, but one that we thought might be 20-30 runs light on a pitch that had played well with relatively short boundaries all around the ground.

We need not have feared. Rob took the new ball with his son Tom and together they reduced Chertsey to 6-3 and then 53-5, Rob’s third wicket – a self-declared “Jaffa Cake” which nipped back sharply to bowl the free-scoring number three – a particular highlight. Steve Moules bowled with good pace and bounce and was unfortunate not to be rewarded with a wicket. Warwick Okines beguiled the batsman with some delightful leg spin – his first scalp of the season duly followed when some rapid glovework from the highly impressive Jon Harvey put paid to Chertsey’s number six, who had overbalanced to a flighted leg break. Buccs took their time in taking the seventh wicket but, when Bailey, J. was bowled by Leefe, S. for 38, the remaining home batsmen fell in a heap rather quickly (Simon and Richard Hobbs both finishing with two wickets apiece): Chertsey all out for 154 in the 38th over and the Buccs victorious by 71 runs.

The Buccaneers savoured their second straight win with some further refreshment at the ground and were later delighted to hear the news that our umpire’s inquisitiveness and sound judgment had been rewarded with ECB stage U2A and U3A accreditation. We thoroughly look forward to returning to Chertsey next year and have already been put on notice that some additional Saturday quick bowlers may await us next time around..

Chertsey CC vs Buccaneers, Sunday 23 June 2019

Buccaneers won the toss and elected to bat

Innings of Buccaneers

O. Metcalfe                        ct Patel b Bailey                23
S. Leefe                                b J. Lloyd                              6
J. Harvey+                           ct Patel b Bailey                35
C. Leefe                                ct Allison b Sloan              60
S. Moules                            ct Clarke b Patel                6
R. Hobbs                              ct Aish-Lyons b Barnes   2
W. Metcalfe                       b J.Lloyd                               31
R. Rydon                              b Aish-Lyons                      27
T. Rydon                              ct Clarke b J.Lloyd            6
T. Fletcher*                        c&b J. Lloyd                        13
W. Okines                           Not out                                 1

                                                                                Extras    15
                                                                (all out)                225

J. Lloyd 7.1-2-27-4
H. Aish Lyons 8-0-53-1
J. Bailey 4-0-21-2
J. Clarke 5-0-21-0
R. Patel 5-0-26-1
J. Barnes 4-0-31-1
D. Sloan 2-0-23-1
Allison 2-0-10-0
F. Lloyd 1-0-6-0

Innings of Chertsey

D. Sloan                                ct Fletcher b R. Rydon    0
L. Fisher+                             ct S. Leefe b T. Rydon     4
L. Robertson                      b R. Rydon                          24
K. Allison                              b R. Rydon                          0
F. Lloyd                                 ct Okines b T. Rydon       21
H. Aish-Lyons                     st Harvey b Okines           8
J. Bailey                                b S. Leefe                            39
R. Patel                                 ct R. Rydon b Hobbs        31
J. Barnes                              b Hobbs                               1
J. Clarke                               c&b S. Leefe                       13
J. Lloyd*                               Not out                                 1

                                                                                Extras    12
                                                                (all out)                154

R. Rydon 6-2-14-3
T. Rydon 6-0-42-2
S. Moules 7-1-14-0
W. Okines 7-0-35-1
R. Hobbs 6-0-24-2
S. Leefe 5.5-2-25-2

Buccaneers win by 71 runs

Toss:   Buccaneers CC won the toss
Result: Match Abandoned as a Draw
Umpires:Michael Blumberg & Graham
Scorers:Various
Debuts : B Ahmed.

BUCCANEERS CC Innings                  R
J Milne       st Rouse      b Firth   36
C Leech       c Lascelles   b Ahmed   13
L Ward        bowled          Ahmed    1 
N Moules      bowled          Arora    5
J Crichton    bowled          Firth   10
L Cant        c Kandampully b Firth    7
S Moules      c Kandampully b Ireland 17
L Milne       c Kandampully b Firth    4
A Berry       bowled          Ireland 46
S Leefe       lbw           b Page    11
O Metclafe+*  not out                  0
Extras       (b13,lb1,w1,nb5)         20
TOTAL        (All out,41.2 overs)    172

Fow:1-27,2-29,3-40,4-61,5-75,6-84,7-107,8-158,9-172,10-172.

Bowling-Ahmed 6 0 26 2,Firth 13 2 36 4,Arora 6 0 26 1,Ireland 9 2 30 2,Page 7.2 1 40 1.

NOMADS CC Innings 
V Kandampully c Crichton b Leefe    38
T Brockton*   c Metcalfe b S Moules  6
B Ahmed       c S Moules b Leefe    24
J Lascelles   c Moules   b Leefe     2
R Ormiston    c Milne    b Cant     24
J Ireland     lbw        b Cant     11
A Arora       not out               24
M Firth       not out               22
Extras       (b3,lb0,w4,nb5)        12
TOTAL        (6 wickets,45.3 overs)162
Dnb:A Rouse+,C Page,H Morris,

Fow:1-14(2),2-67(3),3-72(4),4-81(1),5-108(6),6-113(5).

Bowling-S Moules 8 1 22 1(w1),Berry 5 0 39(w1,nb5),Leefe 10 2 29 3,Cant 15 4 30 2,Ward 5 0 24 0,Milne 2.3 0 12(w2)

The day was cut short by a strike in the Armadillos canteen meaning that lunch was taken off the menu and play began as a 40-a-side bash at 1pm.

The Buccs skipper , having learnt nothing from previous years , won the toss and chose to bat despite an outfield of thick wet grass . The Armadillos opening attack bowled tidily and gave away nothing. Angus Berry and Michael Harms batted warily and built a solid base. With the grass proving almost impenetrable both decided to go the aerial route and hit some lusty blows. Richard Hobbs and Ollie Metcalfe then picked up the pace with Hobbs smashing a couple of big sixes. Metcalfe did the same and was quick to step down the wicket when he had the chance. One straight on drive for six was a particular highlight. Both deserved fifties, but fell as they pushed the run rate up. Charlie Leefe strode to the crease; well, stumbled to it as he walked straight into a bench spilling a Milne pint, before reaching the field of play. This clearly discombobulated him as he smeared a wide onto his stumps for a first baller. Rob Rydon, returning to the scene of his Glenn McGrath moment last year, rattled off a quickfire 28 before falling to Ollie Mann who was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 30. A total of 163 was very respectable given the quality of the Armadillos attack and the sluggishness of the outfield but it still felt about 40 runs short of par.

Ludo Milne and Rob Rydon opened the bowling attack and kept the scoring below the required run rate of four an over for some time, before Smallwood started to hit some strong drives.

The other opener, Cope, failed to find the same fluency and kept the bowlers interested. Rydon bowled his full eight-over spell and found the edge of Smallwood’s bat, a very sharp chance going down. A change of bowlers saw Richard Hobbs and Angus Berry working in tandem and the early signs were encouraging. Both found turn and on occasion very sharp turn. Berry completely befuddled Smallwood with one that lifted and turned past the bat off a very good length. Hobbs eventually got some reward with a sharp catch at midwicket taken by Charlie Leefe.

Unfortunately, that brought H Lloyd to the crease, a left hander with a natty top knot and a strong line in reverse hitting. He should impress Kaushal Silva, the Sri Lankan test player, who has just signed for his home club Mayfield. With the outfield now dry, every well struck shot seemed to get over the boundary rather than settling in the grass a yard from the rope as it had earlier. Smallwood and Lloyd found scoring increasingly easy and they reached the Buccs score in some comfort.

So a good match in the Sheffield Park tradition but the Buccs eventually outclassed by a very strong young Armadillos side by 9 wickets.

Innings of Buccaneers
A Berry ct H Lloyd b H Cope 19
Harms ct J Smallwood b T Davy 19
J Milne b O Mann 3
T Fletcher ct H Mann b O Mann 7
R Hobbs b A Pickering 27
O Metcalfe ct O Mann b J Smallwood 44
C Leefe b A Pickering 0
R Rydon ct AN Other b O Mann 28
D Close b H Mann 6
S Leefe b O Mann 1
L Milne Not Out 1
Extras 8
Total 163

Bowling
H Mann 7-3-13-1
T Davy 8-0-25-1
H Cope 8-1-127-1
O Mann 7-1-30-4
A Pickering 4-39-2
J Smallwood 4-0-32-1

Innings of Armadillos
J Smallwood Not Out 79
H Cope ct C Leefe b R Hobbs 13
H Lloyd Not Out 71
Extras 3
Total 166

Bowling
L Milne 5-0-18-0
R Rydon 8-0-40-0
R Hobbs 6-0-49-0
A Berry 4-0-34-0
C Leefe 1-0-17-0
S Leefe 1-0-7-0

Following some frantic emailing and a wonderfully receptive host, we scrambled together a team of ten, with four Philanderers providing their able support to our cause.

At a sunny Fitzwilliam College a negotiated toss ensured that the Buccs would take the field first, worrying somewhat that the Philanderers has just last week made short work of Cambridge University Second XI. With an attack spearheaded by a pair that the opposition captain claimed were his two finest seamers, we were able to keep the scoring in check and started to exert some pressure in the field.

It was the introduction of Richard Hobbs’ crafty off spin that started to make inroads into the Philanderers batting line up. A brilliant hattrick that included a couple of batsmen that our guest players ensured us were key scalps in keeping the final total to something respectable had the Buccs dreaming of a backs against the walls victory. On field skipper Angus Berry claimed two scalps with his left arm spin (described as ‘dobs’ in the score book!) setting us up nicely for the final push with 10 to go. Alas it appears that our hosts generosity extended to their batting line up, pushing some of their more talented players down the order. Their skipper marshalled the lower order expertly, combing lusty blows with excellent running, propelling the Cantabrigians to a more than handy 224.

Following a spot of tea the Buccs padded up knowing that a solid display might just get us close. It appears that the Philanderers captain wasn’t lying when he said he gave us their town best bowlers as the replacement opening pair struggled early for consistency early on. A number of wides, some powerful hitting, and a decent opening stand between Berry and Philanderer #3 gave the boys on the boundary more and more hope.

After 10 overs the Buccs were sitting quite well at 60 odd for 1. What followed was an alarming collapse as Bucc after Bucc and Philanderer after Philanderer succumbed to a series of poor shots, good catching, a couple of fiesty spells. We lost our 9th and final wicket for 112, losing by the same score.

Our thanks goes to our very gracious hosts, not only in providing a cracking setting on a lovely Sunday afternoon but for being so sporting given our selection issues. Thanks also goes to Richard Hobbs for scrambled together the six we did bring and to our guest players who all played their part if a game played very much in the right spirit.

Some beers under the setting sun were enjoyed by boths teams, the Philanderers looking forward to their season following their second victory in as many games and the Buccs looking to bounce back against the Armadillos at Sheffield Park next week.

Scorecard: Philanderers win by 112 runs

Innings of the Philanderers

224 – 6 (40 overs)

Buccaneers Bowling

Bowler Overs Maidens Runs Wickets

J.Rutt (Philanderer) 7 1 21 0
R. Davidson (Phil.) 8 1 52 1
T. Clarke 5 0 41 0
R. Hobbs 8 1 32 3
A. Berry 8 0 31 2
R. Philips 4 0 41 0

Innings of the Buccaneers

112 all out (30 overs)

P. Leary (Phil.) Bowled 16
A. Berry Caught 21
O. Metcalfe Caught 17
B. Dean (Phil.) Caught 10
T. Clarke Caught 2
R. Davidson Caught 4
J. Rutt Bowled 8
R. Philips Caught 0
R. Hobbs Not Out 6
W. Kentish Bowled 4

To sign up for 2019 fixtures and help Match Managers organise their teams, please click HERE

The 2018 averages have been published and can be found HERE.

Although the club was victorious against itself on the prior weekend, the Buccaneers entered the final encounter of the season in need of a win.

They arrived at the delightful setting of Warborough & Shillingford, all the more attractive for the dry and balmy conditions, with a team bristling with talent. The senior pros bristled at the news that the captain had won the toss and elected to field; an act seldom performed in the long and illustrious history of the Buccaneers. Messrs Tom Grundy and Archie Walker opened with venom and hostility on a pitch with variable bounce, causing problems for batsmen and wicketkeeper alike.

Extras made a steady start while runs off the bat were harder to come by. Archie Walker struck early and the home side stumbled to 37-3. The captain turned to spin and Simon Leefe and Archie March twirled away at each end, taking two wickets a-piece. A full toss drilled to Neil Robertson was pouched bravely, but at some cost: this was not the first time he has needed the first aid kit at this ground.

To add insult to the injury he took a second smart catch with his nine healthy digits but it was rightly called no-ball. After a delicious lunch taken under the trees, the sort of lunch that deserves its own report, and after the port had been drained, the match resumed for the afternoon session. A quick-fire 77 from Johnnie Bradshaw, skillfully marshalling the tail, and a useful contribution from extras (a few runs short of its own half century) took the home side to 203 before the captain wrapped up the innings. Five bowlers had taken two wickets each in the 53.4 over innings.

The batsmen were not to be so sharing. With a required run-rate of around a run a ball, from an available 37 overs, the opening pair of Vic Kandampully and Tom Fletcher started rapidly, finding all corners of the ground with sumptuous shot-selection. Kandampully was well caught on 29 from 27 balls before Ollie Robertson shored up one end against the sharply turning ball. When he fell Simon Leefe joined Tom Fletcher, who had brought up his first fifty for the club.

A missed stumping when on 70 proved to be the final hope for the home side: the run rate was gradually bought down and the game was brought home with 3.5 overs to spare. Tom Fletcher was not out on Nelson, from 103 balls, ably supported by the impossible-to-dislodge Simon Leefe who scored a fluent 35 from 42 balls. For him it was the second successful run-chase in successive weeks, and brought the Buccs’ season to close with a victory. The teams retired to the Six Bells and Tom Fletcher, with jug in hand and maiden century in the locker, was the toast of the day.

Scoresheet can be found here

Who could ask for more? Blazing sunshine, a picturesque ground and two evenly matched Buccaneer sides. James Stringer called correctly and the Superkings had a bat against Rob Rydon’s Royals.

Ollie Metcalfe and Nick Moules opened proceedings against the pace of the Milne brothers (Ludo and Casper). Pace won out as Ludo castled Nick in the fifth over. Ten overs in saw a change of bowling and Liam Ward and Tom Rydon carried on the pace attack. Liam bowled Paul Hobson cheaply and Mel Ragnauth entered the arena after too long an absence from the Buccaneers. Poor Ollie was bowled by Tom, which may have been the result of a large cheer from the pavilion as an Indian wicket fell in the Test match just as Tom was bowling. Steve Moules joined Mel at 62 for 3 off 16 overs and this was the partnership of top guns who could make or break the match. Pace was taken off the ball in the shape of Simon Leefe and John Bryant and a gentle squeeze was applied. An effective squeeze too, as lightning reactions from the young keeper, Andy Morgan, stumped Mel and later caught Steve off Simon. John weighed in with a wicket too, as flight and guile put paid to Tom Mackrell.

Rob came on for one over before lunch to test out his ankle and pinned Will Metcalfe in front to reduce the Superkings to 111 for 7 off 30 at lunch. What a lunch it was. James had spent most of his first week at his new job negotiating with the Dog and Pheasant and it had paid off. Rare beef, thick cuts of cured ham, the finest smoked salmon and Coronation Chicken all washed down with ale and wine that President Simon Woolfries had brought. Fruit salad and flans were available for those who could find room. A reluctance to return to the cricket was apparent, but umpires Simon Woolfries and John Marsh chivvied the players back out. Max Sutton bowled with variety and Archie Marsh and Rhino Brandes moved proceedings along. Caspar came back down the hill to account for Rhino and Archie employed the long handle to good effect before falling to another sharp stumping with the added twist of John putting up the slow finger of death to his son Archie. Rob dropped a catch off his son, Alex’s bowling, but made amends the next over to account for James at long on to leave Warwick Okines stranded with the Superkings 146 all out.

Alex and Jeremy Milne opened the batting for the Royals against the pace of Steve and Will.  Steve was certainly pushing the speed gun and bowled the ball of the season against Alex with a perfectly pitched seaming delivery to smash the off bail, and I do mean smash. Once a new bail was found, Matt Bennsion lined up in his jazz hat cap. It wasn’t for long though and Will produced a fast straight low one to get one of the rare LBW’s of the day. Jeremy slashed at a wide one and was caught at point. 23 for 3 off 6 overs and both sides were in it. Rob joined Liam and they slowly began to exert some authority. Watchful defence and dispatching of the bad ball saw the total creeping up and with no scoreboard pressure, the Royals gained the ascendancy. Hobbo bowled slow and even slower deliveries and was unlucky not to get a wicket. Leg spin from the hill end, first from Warwick and then Archie saw good cut and thrust, but it was the rank full toss that accounted for Liam. Simon Leefe joined his skipper at 100 for 4 in the 24^th over and after seeing himself in, dispatched the bowling to all parts, including a flat six into the pavilion wall.

The Rydon Royals were victorious and James graciously presented the Mynott Thimble to Rob. A general mine sweep of the remaining beer was followed by a gentle walk over to the Dog and Pheasant and a few more pints to put the game to rest.

Innings of Superkings

O Metcalfe b T Rydon 30
N Moules b L Milne 10
P Hobson b Ward 4
R Ragnauth st Morgan b Leefe 9
S Moules ct Morgan b Leefe 18
T Mackrell b Bryant 8
A Marsh st Morgan Leefe 25
W Metcalfe lbw R Rydon 7
S Brandes ct T Rydon b C Milne 5
J Stringer ct R Rydon b A Rydon 6
W Okines not out 1
Total 146 all out (39.1 overs)

Bowling

L Milne 5-3-12-1
C Milne 8-1-24-1
T Rydon 5-1-19-1
L Ward 5-1-14-1
S Leefe 6-0-28-3
J Bryant 4-0-15-1
R Rydon 1-0-1-1
M Sutton 4-0-13-0
A Rydon 1.1-0-5-1

Innings of Royals

J Milne ct Okines b S Moules 8
A Rydon b S Moules 3
M Bennison lbw W Metcalfe 1
L Ward ct Stringer b Marsh 30
R Rydon not out 53
S Leefe not out 36
Total 149-4 (32.4 overs)

Bowling

S Moules 6-1-21-2
W Metcalfe 7-1-23-1
W Okines 4-0-22-0
P Hobson 7-1-25-0
A Marsh 6-0-25-1
S Brandes 2.4-0-18-0

Royals won by 6 wickets

Buccaneers vs Old Hurstjohnians at Hurstpierpoint Saturday 11^th August 2018

The captain touched down at Gatwick at 11.30pm the night before the match, after two weeks of hot weather training in Portugal, to be confronted by drizzle. The two days of rain (which had flooded Lord’s) was too much for a prompt start at Hurst, but proceedings got underway satisfactorily at 12.30pm. The Buccaneers were inserted and Jeremy Milne and Alex Rydon were up to the task with a fluent opening partnership of 86 in the first hour. Alex belayed his youth, with an experienced miss two balls before lunch to be triggered LBW.

After a sumptuous lunch, play resumed with Tom Fletcher partnering Jeremy. He soon joined a growing list of Buccaneers to be run out while batting with him. Archie Marsh came and went after a busy little innings and then proceedings took a strange turn. While Jeremy had reached his half century with no hint of a chance, his progression to 81 included seven dropped catches. It was left to a stumping to see him off. No worries for the Buccaneers as Steve Moules was limbering up by now and smashing it to all parts. A fifth wicket partnership of 74, with Henry Rydon contributing 13, gave us some credibility on the scoreboard. Sadly the OHJs remembered how to catch and Henry was taken smartly on the boundary, with his father Will following next ball at slip. Steve departed and it was left to Ludo Milne and Rob Rydon to take the score past 250 and declare.

Ludo came charging down the hill with the new ball while Tom Rydon had to labour up it. Ludo blasted out both openers, but then the quality of batting improved. Steve bowled a good spell up the hill, bagging one wicket, while Warwick Okines opened his account for the season with some twirling leg spin. Mark Semmence, who has probably scored more runs against the Buccaneers than anyone else, cruised ominously through the gears and the OHJs were easily keeping up with the run rate. Archie also twirled some leg spin to good effect, but the ninety run partnership  (including  five runs when the ball hit a helmet) was broken by a smart catch on the boundary by Ludo off Henry and then we were able to apply some pressure to the new bat. Thankfully, Semmence didn’t score another hundred against us and was smartly stumped by Tom Fletcher down the leg side off Henry.

Ludo and Henry bagged another couple of wickets but we couldn’t winkle out the remaining batsmen and OHJs fell thirty runs short with seven wickets down.

We drank some ale and listened to the Last Post being played as the OHJs lowered their flag for the last day of their cricket week. Next year is the fiftieth anniversary of this fixture and we expect to hear some stories of historic events through the ages (Hatrick off the first three balls of the match, anyone!).

Innings of Buccaneers

J Milne st May b Lowndes 81
A Rydon lbw Semmence 30
T Fletcher run out 4
A Marsh ct Warrender b Hall 11
S Moules ct Hall b Warrender 68
H Rydon ct Hall b Warrender 13
W Rydon ct Semmence b Hall 0
L Milne not out 8
R Rydon ct Warrender b Hall 16

Extras 23
Total 254-8 dec

Bowling
P McGahan 10.1-0-53-0
M Harrison 7-0-36-0
M Semmence 8-1-20-1
S Hall 15-1-67-3
S Lowndes 3.5-1-23-1
S Warrender 6-0-45-2

Innings of OHJ

E Welch ct J Milne b L Milne 15

T Harrison b L Milne 4
S May ct L Milne H Rydon 53
M Harrison ct H Rydon b S Moules 15
M Semmence st Fletcher b H Rydon 75
B Moulton ct Okines b L Milne 7
S Warrender not out 11
M Lowdnes ct T Rydon b H Rydon 6
S Hall not out 0

Extras 34
Total 220-7

Bowling

L Milne 10-0-46-3
T Rydon 4-0-27-0
S Moules 6-1-22-1
W Okines 7-1-43-0
H Rydon 11-3-39-3
A Marsh 4-0-25-0

As the clock approached 8pm on yet another sun drenched Sunday afternoon the Buccaneers were left mad in Maidstone as they were robbed of victory at the last.

The 10 men of the Buccs had battled throughout the day to set an imposing target and then squeeze the opposition on a lightening outfield and shirt front of a pitch. Victory was snatched away however, by the bizarre shout of “Not out!” from the Mote umpire after appeals for a clear run out. So blatantly short of his ground was the Mote skipper, that gloves were off for hand shakes and thoughts turned to the bar. A shame to end the game in this fashion after what started first as an exercise of cajoling players to turn up and was followed by some fine cricket.

After an agreed toss, the Buccs were invited to bat first on another sweltering Sunday. Liam ‘premier league’ Ward and S Leefe opened up and got the the side off to a solid start. What followed was an excellent display of batting from everyone in the top order. Nearly all the batsman got starts with Ward showing his class by passing 50 in only his third Buccs appearance.

Other notable contributions came from S Moules, M Harms, P Hobson and A Rydon, all of whom stroked the ball around nicely, finding gaps and ensuring that the Mote’s pretty woeful chat was kept to a minimum. As we reached 40 overs the Buccs fell away just short of 250. With only 10 men in Buccs’ colours, defending was always going to be tricky but as we were reminded throughout we had two players that had just two weeks prior lined up in the same side as Joffra Archer.

After a decent tea, the highlight being ice lollies, washed down with several pints of the local pale ale, the Buccs took the field. The new ball was taken by Buccs debutante Dr James Knight, and T Rydon as the perils of 10 men started to show. The Mote getting off to a quick start. Skipper Berry then introduce the threat of left arm spin from both end with S Leefe and the skipper himself wheeling away for 16 overs. This slowed the rate considerably and Leefe in particular found ways of taking wickets at regular intervals.

With the Buccs edging ahead in the game as the final overs came into sight the game’s flash point reared its head. Liam ‘I really am friends with Joffa’ Ward bowling, the opposition skipper batting, Dr Knight prowling the boundary, the Buccs victorious? Alas, as the Dr threw down the stumps from long on, the opposition skipper beginning to unpad, skipper Berry charging to the bar, the home umpire decided that he wanted a little more time in the sun. “Not out” he bellowed. Cue disbelief, on all sides.

The Mote got over the line in the following over with the oppo skipper deciding to apologise for not walking. A bizarre time to decide to do so but there we go. We finished the day in the bar discussing the poor umpiring decisions from the history of the game. With just enough time for our premier league players to tell us which county players they will be fielding fine leg to next week.

Thanks to all of those that traveled to the game with some long journeys among the ten men. Well done to debutante Dr James Knight, hopefully not the last time we see you in a Buccs shirt. A good performance given the circumstances and a real shame that we had victory stolen from us.

Should make revenge all the more sweeter next year.    

Innings of the Buccaneers

L Ward – 52
S Leefe – 11
S Moules – 45
P Hobson – 36
M Harms – 34
A Rydon – 28
C Leefe – 9
T Rydon – 3
A Berry – 5 Not Out
J Knight – 1 Not Out
Extras 12

Total 242-8 from 40 overs

Buccaneers Bowling

J Knight 6.2-0-38-1
T Rydon 4-0-19-1
S Leefe 8-1-27-3
A Berry 8-0-34-0
P Hobson 5-0-33-1
C Leefe 5-0-35-1
L Ward 3-0-33-0

The Mote 242-9 from 39.2 overs

The Mote CC win by 1 wicket