Buccaneers Cricket Club

(Editors note: this report dates from 17 June, hence reference to rain!)

The overnight rain neither dampened our spirits nor the famously rapid croquet lawn outfield at the prestigious Hurlingham Club. Miraculously the Buccaneers arrived on time with 10 healthy players; the unhealthy one was late due to a family emergency. With our opening batsman delayed, the Bucc’s won the toss and elected to field. This also meant that we couldn’t be skittled before lunch like last year…

Metcalfe (1-53 from 12 overs) and P. Hobson (0-42 from 9 overs) were the two lucky opening bowlers to be thrown the swinging Duke’s ball. Will and Paul both had some early deliveries swinging and using length well to stifle the batsmen with their very very medium paced technique. Upon tiring of the ball whistling past the outside edge, the captain decided to call on the first change attack made up of S. Moules and for a gruelling two over spell, S. Leefe. Moules, despite claiming injury from a previous match, bowled with genuine zip and saw some lovely bounce around the lugholes of the aristocratic batsmen.

We retired for lunch with Hurlingham 150 odd for 2. As we all settled down for a mixed bag of lunches; from beef curry to roast gammon or even an enviable ploughman’s, we quickly noticed that it was only the Buccaneers’ table that was littered with beer bottles. The oppo appeared to be taking on isotonic fluids of the non-alcoholic variety. Perhaps this was a sign of what was to follow.

However, when the bowling attack opened up after lunch with young Charlie Leefe (3-56 from 8 overs) from the Croquet End and Richard Hobbs (3-38 from 7 overs) from the Exhibition Court End, there was great success. Hobbs struck the two batsmen into the 50s (runs not age) whilst Charlie cleaned up the middle order and before you knew it Hurlingham were 8 down. Thanks to a dour interjection from Ollie Metcalfe we had to bare witness to a huge 9^th wicket stand of over 120 runs leaving Hurlingham declaring on 294-8 after 51 overs.

Hurlingam opened up the batting with Jeremy Milne and Chris Leech, who put on an admirable opening stand of 55 runs after Leechy was bowled by the Burly Hurly captain Ben Thompson (5-49)m and Jezza fell moments later to the same fate. A few lusty blows from Stephen Moules (31) and debutant Ryan Martin (20) spelled the end of the top order batting. The all too familiar Buccaneers collapse started from there; going from 105-3 to 140 all out. Hurlingham used four bowlers, but only needed two in the end with Thompson and Robins both claiming five wicket hauls.

Jugs were taken in the clubhouse and then both teams retired for an early-ish night given this year the fixture was on a Sunday, so alas no partying up the Kings Road this year.

Innings of Hurlingham

F Eltingham ct J Milne b R Hobbs 74
J Kennedy ct and b W Metcalfe 5
S Rhys ct T Fletcher b S Moules 34
A Andiel ct O Metcalfe b R Hobbs 60
J White ct C Leefe b R Hobbs 3
R Hall ct T Fletcher b C Leefe 0
S Kennedy b C Leefe 12
J Dickins b C Leefe 9
B Thompson not out 50
H Robins not out 25
Extras 22
Total 294-8 dec

Bowling
W Metcalfe 12-3-53-1
P Hobson 9-0-42-0
S Leefe 6-0-37-0
S Moules 10-2-52-1
C Leefe 8-0-56-3
R Hobbs 7-1-38-3

Innings of Buccaneers

J Milne b B Thompson 25
C Leech b B Thompson 34
R Martin b B Thompson 20
S Moules ct A Andiel b H Robins 31
O Metcalfe lbw H Robins 1
S Leefe b H Robins 1
T Fletcher ct J Dickins b B Thompson 12
P Hobson ct B Thompson b H Robins 1
C Leefe b H Robins 0
W Metcalfe not out 10
R Hobbs lbw B Thompson 0
Extras 12
Total 135 all out

Bowling

H Robins 16-5-65-5
B Thompson 13.3-3-49-5
J Kennedy 3-0-11-0
S Kennedy 4-0-15-0

Mark Lawrence Memorial Trophy – Lindfield 121 all out, Buccs 122-7 Won by 3 wickets

In sunbaked conditions at Lindfield in rural West Sussex, a vibrant Buccs team outplayed a youthful Lindfield side to win by three wickets.

The hosts chose to bat first on a hard, dry pitch and the Buccs opening attack of Caspar Milne and Hamish Robertson had the home team four down inside the first 10 overs. Caspar was too quick through the air, knocking back off stump and middle stump in successive overs. Hamish relied on lateral movement and his brother and keeper Ollie took the catch of the day in front of first slip. Hamish then hit the top of off with a “Jimmy” away swinger starting on leg.

‘Leafy’ West Sussex took over with Georgie and Simon combining to tie the opposition down in overs 10-20. G, unlike her love island namesake, bowled an immaculate line and length and was unlucky not to get among the wickets. Simon flirted (again like Love Island) with the Lindfield batters with his “almost but not quite” half volleys on off stump and used gravity to extract turn down the slope. Hamish took a smart catch at extra to remove Geoffrey Lawrence on the drive, and there was a foolhardy attempt to sweep a straight one which attracted the attention of the umpire’s finger.

At 80 odd for 6, with half the overs used, the Aussie pro arrived at the wicket. It really could have gone either way, but Ludo Milne started to get a head of steam down the hill and bowled the quickest spell of the day. The pro drove on the up to Hamish at extra who took another sharp chance. Ollie gobbled two more behind the stumps and number 10 was trapped in front. The Milne boys had snaffled six wickets between them (L Milne 5.1 overs 4 for 13) and the Robertson boys had caught five catches. The youth of the team were leading the way as Lindfield reached 121 of 28 overs.

122 to win off 35 overs with a lightening fast outfield was never going to be problem for a Buccs team packed with stroke makers. Ollie opened-up with his dad and proceeded to bat by numbers with watchful defense on balls 1 to 3 and then a crunching drives balls 4 to 5 with judicious single on ball six. Neil clothed one his drives to mid-on and Ollie smashed a long hop into a cloudless sky. Buccs were favored by Lindfield with the gift of an 11th player in the name of Pete.

Pete with local knowledge played the anchor role around which Rob Rydon played minimalist batting. Pulls and drives only and no singles please. After the drinks break with Buccs sitting at 60 odd for 2, Rob pulled out the sand wedge from Carnoustie and chipped in from 35 yards. Alex Rydon met his father coming out and plundered a few quick runs before getting an adverse lbw decision. The local, Pete, caught the kamikaze bug chipping back at the bowler for a well-made 45 and Ludo tried to finish the match in a few lusty blows before slashing to backward point. Six down and a few to get.

Two new batters at the crease with less than 10 to win. Could the youth finish it? No – Caspar cleaned up first ball by Geoffrey Lawrence and a mad scramble in the pavilion for pads and bats. Luckily Simon avoided being timed out and steadied the ship. With the impetuosity of youth on his side, Hamish launched a massive drive over extra to win the match for Buccaneers.

Thank you all who played, and cricket was the winner. The Trophy stays with the Buccs for another year at least.

Innings of Lindfield

J Cooper b C Milne 8
E Castle ct A Rydon b H Robertson 4
T Colvin b C Milne 4
Geoff Lawrence ct H Robertson b S Leefe 47
A Pedley b H Robertson 8
L Sowton lbw S Leefe 0
R Pedley ct A Rydon b L Milne 12
C Parker ct R Rydon b L Milne 4
H Jones ct A Rydon b L Milne 12
R Jones not out 0
Total 121 all out

Bowling
C Milne 5-1-24-2
H Robertson 5-2-13-2
G Leefe 5-0-29-0
S Leefe 7-0-18-2
L Milne 4-0-13-4
A Rydon 3-1-5-1

Innings of Buccaneers

O Robertson ct Jones b G Lawrence 19
N Robertson ct Cooper c R Pedley 4
P Vinall ct and b Sowton 43
R Rydon ct Parker b H Jones 17
A Rydon lbw R Pedley 20
L Milne ct x b G Lawrence 12
H Robertson not out 4
C Milne b Geoffrey Lawrence 0
S Leefe not out 4
Total 122-7

Bowling

R Pedley 6-1-21-2
A Pedley 5-2-17-0
R Jones 4-0-21-0
George Lawrence 1.2-0-14-1
H Jones 4.2-0-17-1
L Sowton 6-0-24-1
Geoffrey Lawrence 1-0-0-2

As Britain’s heatwave entered a fourth week, 11 Buccaneers braved the Surrey sun to take on Brook CC; a fixture that has fallen foul of the weather for the last three seasons. No such danger this season as the Buccs were greeted by a parched outfield that screamed runs.

Following a delightful lunch of potted crab, washed down with local pale ales at the Dog and Pheasant adjacent to the ground, the pressure was on stand-in skipper Berry to win the toss – not least because the Buccs only numbered seven with 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play.

Having duly won the toss, Berry made no hesitation in batting and the Buccs went out looking to post a decent score. Following a flowing opening partnership between Ollie Robertson and Jeremy Milne, a run out looked the only thing that would stop us. Cue a “yes, no, maybe”, angry stare, bat smacking pad, and a sigh of “oh dear” from the boundary and Jeremy was gone to be replaced by the skipper.   

Berry and Martin, and then Berry and Fletcher began the rebuilding process and started to stroke the ball with ease across the lightning quick outfield. Following a short interval for much needed refreshment, the skipper took the first over after drinks for four boundaries. Things were looking rosy for the Buccs at this time, until a dubious LBW decision from our ran-out opener sent Fletcher packing. The young lawyer was convinced that the ball hadn’t even touched his foot and is currently looking at which legal avenues are open to him.

The next period of play went to Brook, who were excellently marshalled by their young skipper who also bowled the spell of the day.

His off breaks, a mixture of ripping turners and difficult to hit darts slowed the Buccs’ progress. Berry, frustrated by the well set fields, looked to go over the top and was caught for 75. This brought together Leefe Senior and, following a few more wickets, Alex Rydon. The two plundered the bowling around the park to set up a declaration at the 38 over mark – giving Brook the same number of overs to score a tricky 250.

After a delightful lunch with some stunning homemade brownies, the Buccs took the field with confidence. How misplaced that confidence was…

What proceeded was a team with clearly too much suncream applied to the hands as numerous catches were dropped, misfields witnessed, and there were also overthrows galore. The skipper trying not to catch the eye of our President watching from the boundary.

Credit must indeed go to Brook’s 19 year old opener who played a great array of shots and timed their chase perfectly. A classy hundred, coupled with some back breaking heaves from their number 6 ensured that Brook brought it home with an over to spare. What could have been if the Buccs has held on to a catch or two, or three, or 11.

The day was rounded off with a few more pints in the Dog and Pheasant where tales of Buccaneers passed were told and one final catch was put down; Charlie Leefe managing to put down an entire pint over Jeremey. Perhaps our unlucky lawyer was behind it…

Our thanks go to our gracious hosts who put on a cracking game, played very much in the right spirit and one that we will look forward to next year. Time to practice a few catches before our next game in two weeks time.

It’s coming home.

Scorecard for Buccaneers v Nomads on Sunday 10 June 2018

Match report courtesy of Nomads CC can be found here.

BUCCANEERS CC Innings
R Elston bowled Desai 0
C Leech c Shawl b Desai 97
C Leefe bowled Page 42
S Leefe c Brockton b Desai 50
O Robertson c Farrell b Desai 15
A Marsh bowled Desai 3
R Hobbs c Brockton b Shawl 1
H Robertson bowled Shawl 0
Z Robertson bowled Shawl 9
W Metcalfe not out 10
W Okines not out 0
Extras (b3,lb7,w2,nb1) 13
TOTAL (9 wkts dec,51 overs) 251

Fow:1-1(1),2-65(3),3-197(2),3-209(4),4-211,5-214,6-215,7-227,8-228,9-238(9).

Bowling
Shawl 16 5 67 3
Desai 16 1 74 5
Page 8 1 35 1
Misshra 5 0 26 0
Johnson 6 0 33 0

NOMADS CC Innings
K Farrell lbw b Okines 32
T Brockton* bowled S Leefe 78
V Kandampully c Metcalfe b Hobbs 7
S Shawl bowled Okines 13
A Stokes lbw b S Leefe 9
W Johnson c Hobbs b Okines 3
K Desai bowled S Leefe 43
J Lascelles bowled S Leefe 6
S Wahi+ not out 19
D Misshra not out 5

Extras (b9,lb1,w2,nb0) 12
TOTAL (8 wickets,45 overs) 226
Dnb:C Page.

Fow:1-57(1),2-88(3),3-111(4),4-135(5),5-146(6),6-178(2),7-199(7),8-210(8).

Bowling
H Robertson 12 0 46 0
Metcalfe 7 2 18 0
Hobbs 6 0 43 1
Okines 10 0 72 3
C Leefe 1 0 10 0

Buccaneers (226-9 dec) beat Armadillos (201 all out) on 20th May 2018

A dirt brown strip , bright green square and corn yellow outfield fresh from the first cut of the year made it a difficult toss to call. Having decided to bat , the Buccs openers had little to thank their captain for as anything spanked off the square was brought to an abrupt halt in the lush corn.

Tom Fletcher secured one end as a series of swashbuckling Buccs came and went at the other. Tom saw us through to lunch at a slightly uncomfortable 93 for 6.

But a decent stand with Will Metcalfe either side of lunch started the recovery with Fletcher nurdling an extremely useful 30 and Metcalfe stroking a fluent 19. Ironically it was two (playing for the opposition) Buccs who did most of the damage with Harry and Ollie Mann returning 3-19 and 3-54 respectively. Stephen Moules found the middle of the bat almost immediately and hit a quickfire 20 in the company of Rob Rydon who , not for the first time , had the opposition asking “what’s this guy doing at number 9?”. Suffice to say that a typical barrage from the Rydon artillery saw him chalk up a rapid 67 not out with the skipper adding a few at the other end. All in all 226 for 9 declared felt like a reasonable total given the sluggish outfield.

The Armadillos started their reply strongly with Jim and Harry Mann coping with all that Rydon and Moules could throw at them. Things took a turn for the worse when Rydon ‘did a Glenn (not Anthony) McGrath’ attempting to stop a run off his own bowling at which point he adjourned to the boundary with a couple of cold Fosters (on his ankle) for the remainder of the game. Will Metcalfe stepped in and bowled a tight line but it was Moules who drew first blood, finding a stopping delivery that drew the younger Mann into a return catch to the bowler. With Moules giving way to Freddie Bjorn and new boy Felix Hickman running in hard at the other end, wickets began to fall steadily with two to Bjorn’s nagging line and one to Hickman’s pace. Charlie Leefe found some turn but not much luck before the skipper lured Jim Mann into an enormous heave which he will still be rueing as it caught a thick edge to Tim Brocklehurst at slip. Mann deserved 50 but fell a run short. With over 100 required from the last 20 overs and the drying outfield quickening nicely the Dills saw they still had a chance and began throwing the bat with some success. S Meeke hit some lusty blows and (aided by some butter-fingered Buccs!) got the Dills to within 30-odd of their target. At this point the Buccs still needed four wickets in only four overs so it was anybody’s game. Cometh the hour, cometh the man . Having bowled tidily in his first spell (0-25) Metcalfe ran riot in his second with 4-4 off just two overs which was enough to clean up the Dills innings and conclude a fine 25 run win for the Buccs.

So another cracking game at a glorious venue with the added benefit of a sumptuous lunch and cloudless skies.

Innings of Buccaneers

A Berry b H Mann 7
T Fletcher b H Mann 30
T Brocklehurst b H Mann 10
F Hickman LBW O Mann 0
F Bjorn b O Mann 0
C Leefe Ct AN Other b O Mann 12
W Metcalfe b T Ashby 19
D Close LBW T Ashby 0
R Rydon Not Out 67
S Moules C&B S Meeke 20
S Leefe Not Out 31

Extras 30
Total 226

Bowling

J Bebb 9-1-50-0
H Mann 11-5-19-3
O Shuttleworth 7-0-27-0
O Mann 7-0-54-3
T Ashby 8-2-19-2
T Williams 4-0-19-0
S Meeke 4-0-25-1

Innings of Armadillos

J Mann ct T Brocklehurst b S Leefe 49
H Mann C&B S Moules 21
H Griffin b F Bjorn 16
A Pickering LBW b F Bjorn 0
T Williams ct T Fletcher b F Hickman 13
O Shuttleworth st T Fletcher b S Leefe 12
S Meeke b W Metcalfe 46
J Bebb b W Metcalfe 20
T Ashby st T Fletcher b W Metcalfe 3
O Mann Not Out 1
T Burns b W Metcalfe 0

Extras 20
Total 201

Bowling

R Rydon 3-0-7-0
S Moules 7-0-27-1
W Metcalfe 10-2-29-4
F Hickmann 5-1-24-1
F Bjorn 7-0-30-2
C Leefe 7-1-44-0
S Leefe 7-0-27-2

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The usual scrambling around for players resulted in two teams (one of 11 and one of ten) assembling at the annual worm cast arena that is Betchworth Cricket Club (conveniently situated behind the Red Lion pub) for the Buccaneers’ end of season ‘House Match’. Julian kindly got the heavy roller out and we commenced at 11.15am with Simon ‘China’ White and Will ‘Farmer’ Rydon leading out the Kolkata Knight Rydons. Opening with spin for the Sunrisers Hyderhobbs was Angus ‘no sleep’ Berry and with pace Liam Ward (enough of the nicknames).
Good cricket all round, despite the sticky wicket, and all was proceeding smoothly until Will fell to a straight one from Liam. Jeremy Milne took over and calmly bisected the field with what turned out to be the top score of the day, as well as the highest partnership. Will Metcalfe and young Alfie Harris-Jones joined the attack, but it was left to the skipper, Rich Hobbs, to spin one down the hill to account for China. Simon Leefe joined Jeremy to tackle the spin from Rich and Warwick Okines.

Jeremy normally gets fifty and out, but decided to upset the form book by getting out on 49 to a caught and bowled by Rich. Rob Rydon departed similarly but with a lot less runs to his name. Now enter the septuagenarian, Andy Morgan, who started quickly in attacking the bowling with some swiftly taken two’s off another youngster, Arthur Bourke. The KKR’s lunched at 132 for 4 and all and sundry set about attacking the generous offer from the Buccaneers’ finance director of a tab behind the bar. A mixed affair for lunch, with some generously helping themselves to the Coronation chicken, Parma ham and hot scampi, while others were left with some salad.
Sadly the rain started to fall, but this just meant for some a retirement to the bar and more ale on the tab.
However, as the skies became less grey it was decided to restart but amend the game to 35 overs per side.  Invigorated by lunch, Andy and Simon attempted to run a three, but sadly too much ale or too many years meant that Andy failed to make it back for the third. Enter young Charlie Leefe, fresh from auditioning for Trainspotters 3. He showed his dad how to up the tempo with an agricultural six over cow corner (befitting a soon to be student of Cirencester Royal Agricultural College). Not to be outdone, Simon launched a straighter version into the trees. Charlie fell to the wiles of Warwick, neatly stumped by Michael Harms and Tom Rydon enjoyed the short term nature of his innings, adding quick runs, before falling on the last ball to another Harms stumping. 182 for 6 off 35 overs seemed plenty to the KKR skipper.

Angus and Michael opened against the pace of Tom and Ed Howes. A strong start. Some fours and a six got the scoreboard ticking along, but a lofted drive to long off was safely pouched by Will off Ed’s bowling. Liam joined Angus and the Sunrisers looked in command and ahead of the run rate until an excellent and entertaining run out took place. A direct hit at the non-strikers end was given not out (dubious) and as the batsmen attempted a run off the ricochet, Angus was run out at the other end. Simon L came on for some SLAB and accounted for the dangerous Liam, via a back stretching catch from China. Rob Bourke looked technically correct at the crease, while Rich looked less so. The Leefe combo accounted for them both before El Presidente came on for some ‘spin’ down the slope. Philip Harris-Jones was taken in the covers by China and Simon L cruelly caught young Arthur for a golden duck.
In came the Hack, blowing like a steam train, and received the worst hat-trick ball in recorded history. Hack gratefully accepted the offer of a runner and enjoyed a partnership with Will M, his son-in-law. Will smote it to most parts of the ground and surrounding forestry while partnering Hack, then Alfie and finally Warwick. Declining singles, Will dealt in sixes before a fateful heave missed the ball and Andy deftly removed the bails off Will R’s bowling. 129 all out and Warwick left stranded, only a hundred short of his hundred.
The Sunrisers’ skipper gamely opened his bottle of port in the pavilion to try and dull the pain of defeat and offered the least generous of speeches to Rob as he handed over the Mynott Thimble (think European Cup Winners cup, but on a smaller scale) in the Red Lion. Thanks to Marshetti and Chunky for gamely umpiring the affair and for James Stringer for arranging a modest lunch. Foolishly James departed to Wembley to watch a nil-nil draw between Spurs and Swansea when he could have been watching the Galacticos behind a pub in Surrey.

Innings of Kolkata Knight Rydons

S White b Hobbs 28
W Rydon b Ward 16
J Milne ct & b Hobbs 49
S Leefe not out 27
R Rydon ct & b Hobbs 4
A Morgan run out 21
C Leefe st Harms b Okines 8
T Rydon st Harms b Okines 15
Extras 13

FOW 1-25(2), 2-99(1), 3-102(3), 4-114(5),5-145(6),6-154(7),7-179(5)

Total 182-7 for 7 (35 overs)

A Berry 4-0-18-0
L Ward 6-0-14-0
W Metcalfe 8-0-32-0
A Harris-Jones 4-0-34-0
R Hobbs 5-1-23-3
W Okines 6-0-34-2
A Bourke 2-0-19-0

Innings of Sunrisers Hyderhobbs

A Berry run out 17
M Harms ct W Rydon b Howes 19
L Ward ct S White b S Leefe 29
R Bourke b S Leefe 8
R Hobbs B C Leefe 18
R Harris-Jones ct S White b S Woolfries 2
W Metcalfe st Morgan b W Rydon 28
A Bourke b S Woolfries 0
R Gwynn b C Leefe 2
A Harris-Jones ct b C Leefe 3
W Okines not out 0

Extras 3

Total 129 all out (29.4 overs)

E Howes 3-0-16-1
T Rydon 4-0-23-0
R Rydon 5-0-17-0
S Leefe 5-0-21-2
C Leefe 7-0-18-3
S Woolfries 5-0-20-2
W Rydon 1.4-0-10-1

Kolkata Knight Rydons beat Sunrisers Hyderhobbs by 53 runs