Old Blues vs Stowe Templars @ CH, Sunday 11th July 2009

The final scheduled game - could the Old Blues end the season in the way they began, with a win??

There were quite a few changes from the side that played a great fixture against Newick CC, with Carl returning now as a man of leisure on school hols, Mitty returning as a History graduate in need of a job, Davis Mukasa making his first start of the season, Questy returning from holiday, and a debut for big Joe Launchbury who had left the school but 8 days prior. A special thanks to Joe for stepping in at the very last minute for this game. Also playing were Francis Thomas, Luke Dealtry, Johnny Owens, Ed Dean and Vishanka Ratnasuriya keeping the end up for the Class of '98 and Dom Roberts who has become a very reliable member of the squad this Summer.

So, to the match. With no catering due to school holidays, and potentially temperamental weather it was a nervous 24 hours beforehand for Johnny. A dash to Sainsbury's pre-game and the outstanding help from Vish's better half Kathryn meant that there weren't to be any hungry cricketers. In actual fact the food was plentiful and gratefully received by all, so thanks again Kathryn.

Mitty was skipper for the day and the toss decided (I can't remember the outcome!) that Old Blues were to bat first on a wicket that had taken some rainfall on a length overnight. We started at midday which was thanks to strong sun on the pitch during the morning and despite the slow outfield and a couple of dodgy patches on the wicket Carl and Francis started brightly. Everyone knows the talent of these two, but Carl has been due some runs this Summer and for Francis this was only the second innings in 10 years or so. They did not disappoint. The opening pair put on a quickfire 77 for the first wicket off a mere 15 overs, with Carl surviving a painful blow to the anatomy - thankfully he has 2 sons already! Both played some outstanding shots and Francis was caught for 21 when everyone thought he had a big score in him. I hope that this has been the start of something and that he will come back next Summer to remind us of those 100's he used to score for the school. Carl sadly followed the next over for 46, a mere 4 short of a first 50 for the OBCC this season.

So, 2 new batsmen at the crease, the Captain for the day, and Johnny with 2 half centuries in his last 2 innings (I love writing about myself in the 3rd person!). Bring on another big partnership. Mitty and Johnny put on 105 for the 3rd wicket maintaining the run rate at more than 5 an over. Two batsmen of contrasts:- Mitty with his clean hitting and stroke play, and Johnny with a lot of scratching around and a bit of luck until he gets his eye in. Mitty reached 50, his second in 4 matches for the Old Blues this Summer and promptly got out - a shame as he was batting superbly and it was a good partnership. In came Luke Dealtry another batsman short of practise rather than technique. Once again he played some nice shots in an all too brief innings of 9. Winter nets and a few more games next Summer will see Luke in the runs I'm sure. Joe Launchbury played a cameo innings of 19 off a lot fewer balls, with a back foot pull over midwicket being the highlight and probably his preferred shot! All of this was valuable support to Johnny now with his eye in and hitting a few reasonable shots himself. After Joe's demise, came Questy who finished not out 9 in support of Johnny's push for a century. Rumour has it the declaration was due with Johnny on 72, but an over that went for 17 runs, including a 6 nearly into the pavilion meant that Mitty held on for slightly longer. At the start of the last over before declaration Johnny was on 91 and he eventually holed out for 97 chasing another blow to the pavilion, and the associated glory, when in effect he played all round a straight one. Still, a good knock, even if I do say so myself!

We declared on 273 for 6 after only 46 overs; a commendable effort and definitely enough runs to avoid defeat.

Well fed and watered we came back to the field ready for the task ahead. Unfortunately, much like England this Summer we have struggled to bowl sides out, and whilst this was no Ashes series, chasing down 273 in the second innings on the 1st XI pitch happens rarely, right Howard?

Early wickets were key, and Questy duly obliged with a wicket in the first over. A first baller for their number 2 - perfect! What was even more perfect was the catch by Carl. It was a one in a lifetime, Strauss-like effort that had everyone in awe! Davis at the other end looked tidy, although he has definitely lost a few yards of pace with age, and the now dry and much faster outfield meant for a quick start to the chase. Runs dryed up however, and a tactical bowling change to the slow pies of Vishy for the last over before tea worked a treat as he clean bowled the other opener with one that went up, came down with snow on it, turned, and bounced (the last 2 I am less sure about) and duly went through everything.

After tea, Davis took a deserved wicket promptly, and after a short spell the Captain turned to Vish once more and Dom Roberts. It was an afternoon of taking wickets in the first over of a spell as both saw to their respective batsmen leaving Stowe precariously placed on 55 for 5. Could this be a late start and early finish?? Unfortunately their number 4 batsmen had survived the perishing around him and had his eye in. He took to Vish which forced him to have a breather, Dom Roberts took a second wicket, and Francis joined the fold to bowl some of his swinging, turning, box of tricks which accounted for the opposition Skipper Rupert Rowling in his Francis' first over. Rupert batted well for 33 and provided some support for the number 4 who was eventually run out for 87. A silly, silly run out which all but ended the game. Dom, the wicket machine ended precedings to finish with 3-32 off 6.4, his best haul for the season and the OBCC finished with a victory margin of 61 runs. All bowlers performed in this match, with Davis ending on just the 1 wicket, Vish with 2-30, Francis 2-29 and the long suffering Michael Quest who got some real rhythm going to completely bowl out 1 end to finish with 18 overs, 1 for 77. His spell was the key to winning this match as the events at the other end would have been a lot less likely if he wasn't bowling so well.

This was a really enjoyable game for all, and the oppo were very gracious in defeat. I think we have shown this Summer that we can put out teams to give most (Eastbourne aside, for now!) a run for their money and the team spirit has been brilliant. Thank you to everyone who has played.

I will be in touch soon with a bit of a round up and some news of things going forward across the Winter and into next Summer. Firstly, a social event. So please keep an eye out for emails from Old Blues Cricket Club and duly respond as your input will make this Club a success once again.

Finally, for the record, I have photographic evidence below that Deano has learned how to score, so he has no excuses any more!!

Team to Play Stowe Templars CC, Sunday 12th July @ CH, 11am start

Team vs Stowe Templars Sun 12th July

10.30am meet @ CH

James Mitra (c)

Edward Dean (wkt)

Carl Igolen-Robinson

Dom Roberts

Johnny Owens

Glenn Murray

Davis Mukasa

Francis Thomas

Luke Dealtry

Vishanka Ratnasuriya

Michael Quest

The weather forecast is for overnight rain but for it to be dry tomorrow so we are hopeful of a game. This is the final scheduled match for this Summer so here's hoping we are not rain interrupted and that we put on a decent performance!

Old Blues vs Brook, Sunday 5th July 2009

With regret, this fixture has had to be cancelled. This is the 2nd year running that we haven't managed to play due to adverse weather conditions in 2008. Here's hoping to actually playing them in 2010!

Team details for the match vs Stowe on Sunday 12th July to follow...

Newick CC vs Old Blues CC @ Newick, Sunday 28th June 2009 (report by Edd Young)

On a hot and humid Sunday afternoon, the Old Blues played Newick Cricket Club in the heart of Sussex in memory of John Young. Although John Young did not attend Christ Hospital, he was an avid cricket enthusiast and regularly supported Christ Hospital and the Old Blues at every opportunity.

The Old Blues won the toss and decided to bowl first, a diplomatic choice seeing as there were only 3 actual bowlers. Richard Stringfellow and Neil Green opened the bowling and it became quickly apparent that it might be a batting track. The outfield was as dry as a bone and once the ball had beaten the fielder there was no point in chasing, as the ball would fizz to the boundary. Richard and Neil opened the bowling well, Neil was getting an interesting amount of bounce and turn and Richard was steaming down the hill with a snarl on his face. After Newick lost an early wicket to Richard and then nearly losing a second not long after, (even though Edd Young heroically dived to try and take the catch) Newick started to build up a steady total. There was some good bowling support from Vishanka whose wily spin was out-smarting the batsman, Dominic Roberts bowled with good line and length and Frank Thomas who hadn't bowled in a cricket match for over ten years took the valuable wicket of Rupert Thacker, Newick's prize batsman with his leg spin bowling ………….or was it seam? If the fielding had been a bit better than the standard of an Under 13 girl’s team, the Old Blues may have restricted Newick to a easy total, but Newick smashed on and ended their 40 over innings on 211 for 9, a total that the Old Blues would have been fairly happy to accept at the beginning of the day. One of the stand out performances came from Ed Dean, producing a stunning display of wicket keeping, taking 2 catches, standing up to the ferocious seam bowling and talking the batsmen into submission.

After Tea, the Old Blues opened the batting with Luke Dealtry and Frank Thomas, two batsman who haven't batted together since 1998. There were some good looking shots from both players, certainly not showing any sign of rustiness over the years. Everything was going well until an untimely call and Luke was run out in his prime. Neil was next in but fell not long after to what looked like a no ball beamer. The scoring continued adding up but wickets were also falling. When Johnny Owens came into bat many Old Blues were starting to fear we may be falling short, but an innings that will live in the memory of the spectators was provided by our John. He smashed his way to a fantastic 86 not out, helped along the way with contributions from Vishanka and Rudi Coulter, with only 3 needed of the last ball to win, a wild full toss (again looking like a no ball) was bowled and only one run could be taken. The Old Blues lost this game by one run but it was a fantastic day with a great result that both teams can be proud off. It was a game of spirit and pride that has produced a new team of friends in a village called Newick.

Team to Play Newick CC in memory of John Young, 28th June 2009

Edward Young (c)

Simon Young

Edward Dean (wk)

Johnny Owens

Richard Stringfellow

Francis Thomas

Vishanka Ratnasuriya

Neil Green

Dom Roberts

Luke Dealtry

Rudie Coulter

40 over match, 2.30pm start @ Newick.

Match report and photos to follow courtesy of Ed Young.

Eastbourne College Old Boys vs OBCC, Sunday 21st June @ Saffron Ground, Eastbourne

Sunday 21st June - could it be the day that one of the most one sided contests we play was to be reversed?

Team To Play Eastbourne

Carl Igolen-Robinson (c)

Ed Dean (wkt)

Neil Green

James Mitra

Johnny Owens

George Hobden

Andy Whittingham

Richard Stringfellow

Michael Quest

Jim Berressem

James Maxwell Jnr

At the last minute this fixture was changed to the Saffrons 2nd XI pitch in Eastbourne as the College was unavailable which was a shame because neither the pitch nor the lunch/tea were up to Eastbourne's usual high standards. In came Michael Quest for his first game of the season and the remainder of the 11 had already turned out before.

Carl won the toss and decided to bat first on a small pitch that was rumoured to not play too well. Eastbourne are a strong bowling unit and there were a few familiar faces in the opposition especially to a few of the younger members of the team. Carl and Mitty started positively, getting us to 27 off 6 overs and it looked as though we had the potential to head for a big total. However, as the bowling attack found their rhythm and the Umpires gave a couple of contentious decisions, we found ourselves 35 for 1, then 41 for 2, 51 for 3 and then 57 for 4. For the second time in 3 games a strong batting line up hadn't managed to get on top of the opening bowlers. Carl scored 13, Mitty scored 18 and the side were bowled out for 133 with Johnny reaching 52 with a certain amount of luck! After a slow start and a couple of chances given including having a ball go past the outside edge and come back to nick the stump on the way through with the bails luckily not coming off, he connected with a few loose balls and hit 3 x 6s and 6 x 4s to reach the milestone for the first time for the Old Blues.

So, out for 133 in a little over 30 overs - not the score we were looking for, and suddenly the usual ending against Eastbourne was looking all too likely. On a small pitch we would struggle to defend that total.

All our bowlers bowled well in parts, but their no.1 bat was a class act. A few early cover drives made it clear we would struggle. Questy bowled some absolute jaffas when he got going, with the ball that took his second wicket swinging in a mile and taking the top of the off stump - an absolute cracker. However their no.1 quickly got to 41 and with a few fielding errors we were clearly never going to be in a position to win the game. Special mention must go to George for his throw which rather than going to either keeper or bowler's end, went to somewhere directly to his left, along the ground, and for an overthrow! In the end, Eastbourne knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs. Questy took 3 wickets and Richard Stringfellow took his maiden OBCC wicket. I hope this will be the confidence boost he needs!

So, still no win against Eastbourne. It WILL happen, but just not this time round. 1 win, 1 draw and 1 loss.... At least we progressed further in the cup than we have for a while and I hope all the boys have got a taste for the competition in the hope we make it further down the line next year.

Old Blues vs CH 1st XI, Sunday 14th June 2009

Last year in the corresponding fixture, the game was over by tea with an emphatic victory by the school side over a poor performing OB side. We then spent the rest of the day playing a 20/20 match because of how early the match had finished. There was NOT going to be a repeat of this in 2009 unless the result had been reversed.

Having been mocked for the good length of my previous post (something I was never very good at with the ball!) I will try and keep it shorter this time round, but will make no apologies for my verbal diarrhoea.

So, team news. For the second match running we were well subscribed, with enough interest in this match to put out a second side (this has been logged for 2010!). From the victorious side vs Reigate, out went Igolen-Robinson (work?), Maxwell (tennis tournament) and Reeve (holiday) and in came Rob Potter (at last minute from Hurstpierpoint), Neil Green (fresh from a couple of weeks in Spain) and a debut for Dom Roberts. Welcome mate. Finally, our regular scorer George Allen had some car misfortune on the M25 so didn't make it round - this always finds us out as none of the rest of us are very accurate scorers!

True to tradition, the Old Blues batted first on what seemed like a pretty flat track. Mitty and Hugo instantly impressed as an opening partnership taking to some military medium 1st XI bowling. Mitty went after it and Hugo held up the other end, I suspect playing his eye in having played considerably less cricket in recent years than his opening partner. Both batted brilliantly to set us up for a decent score until Mitty was the first to lose his wicket on 74 with over 100 on the board (note the approximations in score due to lack of professional scorers!!). It was a cracking innings containing 12 fours and a 6, and evidence that he is still a class bat. In went Neil "no hundreds for the 1st XI"Green. Having played with Neil in the 1st XI when he was on his LE, it was clear he was going to be the best batsman of his generation. However, I believe in recent times he has become somewhat predictable, to the extent that some of his peers are betting on the outcome of his innings. "He'll bat beautifully and get out in the 30's" is apparently the extent of it.

So, one batsman set, 100 plus on the board and the perfect opportunity to get a big score, Neil started nicely, providing support to Hugo, now with his eye in. Hugo's fine innings came to an end in a jug evasive style, out for 47 when a maiden 50 for the Old Blues was well and truly on the cards. In came Johnny Owens, desperate to make amends for his duck on the previous outing. A lofted four over mid on second ball was enough to calm the nerves. Johnny batted quickly with the style of a man without any form, but flashed and edged his way to 27 before being bowled by the young Sussex U-17 leggie Marsh, who had also accounted for the first 2 wickets. George was next, looking more assured than the previous match and he demonstrated some of his shot repertoire with a couple of lovely on drives. Neil by this time was in his 30's and his forecast demise was due; he did not disappoint, being well caught at gully from a nice late cut - to be fair to Neil, it was a catch the catcher didn't know a lot about but was well taken all the same. Neil out for 36. I can feel a big score coming soon!

The run rate was ticking along nicely, with George batting well, and talk of a declaration was rife. Deano, the Skipper for the day wanted to support our bowlers with a decent score on the board so when George was out for 34, we decided to push the run rate and get to 250. In at the crease were Rob Potter, a self confessed "out and out number 11" and Andy Whittingham. Andy might well have the best average come the end of the season as he is too good a batsman for number 7 or 8 I feel but the side does bat deep. Rob and Andy kept the run rate up and pushed us to 254 for 5 declared off 50. Rob finished not out 9 and Andy not out 11.

This was the first time an Old Blues XI have scored 250 for a considerable amount of time (unless anyone can correct me?) and with all the batsmen getting at least a start unlike the Reigate match, it put us in a great position for not only this match but was a positive outlook for the remainder of the season.

After the interval, Old Blues, and specifically George Hobden started well. Clearly George has bowled at a fair number of the CH XI before, being a leaver the previous year and his opening burst accounted for numbers 1 and 3 for not a lot, and he should have had Satterfield, batting at 2 cheaply but for a put down low at slip by Owens, on his way to the "poo hands" award of the day. Satterfield and Marsh, the aforementioned spinner settled in and took to the slower bowlers. I feel it wouldn't be unfair to say that the Old Blues don't have a top class specialist spinner currently (can I hear calls of "come back Footy?" - surely not!) and in this match, that would have come in handy. Having said that, Neil Green proved once and for all to Howard Holdsworth that his off spinners, do spin... well, one definitely did! The boys in bat turned a losing position to a winning position putting on 100 for the 3rd wicket. Owens dropped Marsh at square leg when he was well set and both went on to register 50's before Satterfield ran himself out for 58.

This left the score with the 20 over bell (we played 20 from half 5) at approx 140, so between 5 and 6 an over to record the win with wickets in hand. Luckily, Richard Stringfellow, still looking for a wicket to open his OBCC account, bowled tidily and George, fresh from his break of overs with restrictions on him until next year came back and set about the middle order. Andy Whittingham bowled a better length and his medium pacers might well become useful as partnership breakers the more he plays for us - he finished with a wicket. Jim bowled as well as he always does and was unlucky to only finish with 1 wicket. In all, 7 bowlers were used with Rob Potter, Dom Roberts and Neil being the other 3. Dom is suffering with his shoulders and this was evident with some short balls, but I hope he will work on this, and Rob was taken on by the batsmen equally, specifically in his first 1 over spell! Neil took a wicket - he bowled the CH number 10 who received the biggest cheer of the day when he scored his first run, it being such a rareity! Star of the day with the ball was George, with 5 for 34 from 14. A great bowling performance.

This meant that the school finished on 200 for 9 having never really gone for the win. The 9th wicket fell with 3.5 overs remaining and despite the Old Boys crowding the bat, the number 11 and Williams, the wicket keeper on debut managed to hold out for a draw. A special mention for Williams, as he is an under-15 player and he kept wicket well and then batted for a long time to finish 23 not out. Deano, perhaps you need to watch out in 4 or 5 years?!

So, 2 games in - a win and a winning draw. Things are looking up. Next year we would love to put 2 sides out against the school so please try and make yourselves available if possible.

Next match up - Eastbourne away. It would be great to get one over on them!