Cricket
The Society's wandering eleven has been running for 60 years and is open to all members. There are around 30 fixtures a season in the South East, mainly on Sundays on attractive village grounds. An annual tour to the Isle of Wight takes place during the late May Bank Holiday. Our aim is to play good, traditional cricket in a convivial spirit. New players and supporters are always welcome.

Our aim is to play good, traditional cricket in a convivial spirit. New players and supporters are always welcome.

See the 2012 fixtures from the members page.


The Cricket Society XI
Pictured at Hambledon during their fixture with Broadhalfpenny Brigands and keenly awaiting the
chance to celebrate the Ashes victory in The Bat and Ball. To see more pictures click on the team image above.

Cricket Society Averages 2011
Played 25, Won 5, Lost 6, Drawn 11, Abandoned as a draw 3. Cancelled 3

Batting

Also Bowled
P. Hartland 39-9-114-4; D. Chapman 36-3-181-3; Angus Graham 25-2-124-4;
R. Berendt 12-7-24-3; I. Krunic 13-4-46-2; C. Kroeger 12-2-63-1;
I. Hartland 11-3-30-4; A. Short 10-2-44-1;W. Leachman 7-0-54-1;
M. Hartland 6-0-40-1; A. MacDonald Barker 6-0-48-1; M. Eyles 6-1-36-1;
M. Hobson 5-0-31-1; P. Juckes 5-30-0; D. Barnard 4-0-22-4;A.
Berendt 4-0-55-0; J. Hall 3.3-0-14-0; A. Newman 3-1-35-0; A. Crocket 3-0-42-0;
S. Greaves 3-2-3-0; S. Veal 1-0-8-0;R. Leachman 1-0-16-0.

Fielding
24 Carmichael (9 ct, 15 st)
6 Holmes
5 Newman
4 Chapman, Humphreys , Andy Graham,
3 Symons, Fielding, Poplett, P. Hartland, Pascoe.
2 Angus Graham, Short, Krunic, Paterson, Gale
1 M. Hartland, Smith, R. Graham, Moss, Knight, Crockert, A. Berendt; Hobson, Sheldon, I. Hartland.

Captains report

THE CRICKET SOCIETY XI 2011 SEASON:
Ronald Paterson, Society XI Captain, writes
TThe Cricket Society XI had another enjoyable season in 2011 although the overall playing record of 5 wins (at Ockley, Mickleham, Newdigate, Rudgwick and Buscot Park), 6 losses, 11 draws and 6 matches either cancelled or abandoned did not equal the achievements of 2010. Despite that, The XI held winning positions in six of the drawn games and in only two matches, were batting to save the match.

The bowling attack was spearheaded by the redoubtable trio of Neil Holmes, John Symons and Paul Fielding who between them bowled over 500 hundred overs and took over 100 wickets. Paul Fielding topped the bowling averages with 36 wickets at 14.66 and Neil Holmes was the leading wicket taker with 42. In support of these three, Peter Hartland, Andy Lawson and David Chapman got through a substantial amount of bowling and the season also saw the welcome return of Mark 'Sooty' Wheeler's off spin and some useful swing bowling from Andy Sheldon, the former curator of the Nursery Ground at Lord's.

Rob Humphreys topped the batting averages, Tony Crockert had the highest aggregate, Peter Hartland scored his maiden hundred for the Society and Ronald Paterson took his career aggregate past 10,000 runs but the outstanding batting performance of the season was Ollie Pascoe's 112 of 46 balls at Oxford Downs, closely followed by Jamie Hall's 131 not out at Princes Risborough. Stalwarts of the side, Adrian Gale, Andy Graham and Alan Newman had quietly effective seasons while the ageless Andrew Moss continued his record of always contributing at least one half-century in a distinguished career.

Amber Chapman became the youngest female player for the Society at the age of 12 and former Durham University Ladies cricket club captain Rosy Graham played for us at Tilford and Lodsworth, scoring useful runs and taking an excellent catch at cover.

Tom Carmichael kept wicket in all 25 matches taking his career tally of victims to 329. After the end of the season Ronald Paterson announced his retirement from the captaincy after 6 seasons and the player's committee resolved to put forward Tom Carmichael for election as captain at the AGM.

Milestones
Ronald Paterson became the first Society player to reach 10,000 runs for the XI.
Tony Crockert passed 9,000 runs and is the third highest run-scorer in Society XI history.
Neil Holmes achieved 250 wickets in possibly record time (statisticians are burning the midnight oil, as we speak, to verify this.) Ronald Paterson and Tom Carmichael now stand 3rd and 4th in terms of appearances for the Society XI.

Results

V Ockley 24 April Won by 74 runs
Society 203 for 7 dec (Angus Graham 61, Adrian Gale 55, Andy Graham 44): Ockley 129 all out (John Symons 4 for 36, Derek Barnard 3 for 22) A stand of 105 for the first wicket was followed by a belligerent knock from Angus Graham with 5 mighty sixes clearing the boundary. The total always looked too much for our hosts after John Symons disposed swiftly of the top order. Stubborn late resistance called for the wiles of the Society Chairman and the end came quickly.

V Princes Risborough 1st May Draw
Society 232 for 5 dec (Jamie Hall 131*, Tony Crockert 33): Princes Risborough 170 for 7 (Paul Fielding 5 for 38) Jamie Hall produced an innings of the highest class to set up our declaration. Wesley Strecker, the young Risborough opener, looked capable of winning the game before Andrew Short’s well-judged boundary catch gave Paul Fielding his third victim. Two more quick wickets left the door open for us, but sensible tail end batting saved the day for our hosts. An excellent day’s cricket ended with Andy Sheldon, the Risborough skipper, agreeing to play a couple of games for us later in the season.

V Harrow St Mary 8th May Lost by 124 runs
Harrow St Mary 274 for 4 dec: Society 150 all out (Tony Crockert 41) Last year’s Society win was a distant memory as we were outplayed by our sporting hosts. Several catches went down as one of our opponents smashed 150 before being caught by the one-eyed John Symons. Young Amber Chapman played for us and was undefeated with the bat.

V Tilford 15th May Lost by 3 wickets
Society 152 all out (Andy Graham 33): Tilford 153 for 7 (Paul Fielding 3 for 17, Neil Holmes 3 for 84) Seven of our side made double figures but unfortunately none went on. The undoubted highlight of our innings was 13 from Rosy Graham, joining proud father Andy in the team, who outscored your correspondent in an eight wicket partnership. Neil Holmes bowled a marathon 18 spell but Tilford got home with 3 wickets to spare.

V Mickleham 22nd May Won by 7 wickets
Mickleham 145 all out (Neil Holmes 4 for 29, Paul Fielding 3 for 17): Society 149 for 3 (Ronald Paterson 46*, Ian Hartland 33*) This was a new fixture played in good spirit in the attractive grounds of Box Hill School. Messrs Holmes and Fielding shared 7 wickets including Paul’s caught and bowled via the substantial frame of Andy Graham. The skipper and Ian Hartland knocked off the runs in style.

V The Trumpers 29th May Lost
Society 190 for 8 dec (Tony Crockert 55, Andrew Moss 43) Trumpers 192 for 5 Last minute re-scheduling by Ventnor led to us playing the Trumpers at Ryde School rather than the school themselves. Our opponents are the staff of Merchant Taylor’s School and included some decent cricketers in their ranks. Although we batted well, accurate bowling kept our total in check and the Trumpers won with time to spare.

V Ventnor 30th May Drew
Ventnor 232 for 8 dec (Paul Fielding 4 for 67), Society 186 for 8 (Rob Humphreys 47, Adrian Gale 34, Andy Graham 33*) No overseas pro in the Ventnor ranks this year, but they did have Steve Snell ex of Gloucestershire batting at number 8. We thought we were on top at 6 down! Nevertheless our chase was looking good until Snell brilliantly ran out Rob Humphreys. A flurry of wickets swung the game in our hosts favour but we held out with Andy Graham crashing some late off-side boundaries. Ventnor played the game in an excellent spirit and we then watched a junior match that demonstrated the excellence of the setup at Steephill.

V The Refreshers Match 5th June abandoned as a draw.
Society 220 for 5 dec (Steve Veal 64*, Alan Newman 48, James Poplett 43, Andy Graham 34) Refreshers 103 for 1. Our first home game at St John’s School in Leatherhead was eventually washed out despite the best efforts of both teams. We batted consistently with Steve Veal in particularly good form. In the end conditions became too bad. Many thanks to Adrian Gale for organising the ground and to Marion for the fantastic teas. It was a fixture and an occasion well worth repeating.

V Maresfield 12th June Cancelled - rain.
The weather prevented us from doing battle with two of our star bats from the previous week!

V Newdigate 19th June Won by 50 runs.
Society 240 for 3 dec (Peter Hartland 101*, Ronald Paterson 69), Newdigate 190 all out (Paul Fielding 4 for 56). Peter Hartland thoroughly deserved his first Society ton assisted by the skipper in belligerent mood. The Newdigate second wicket pair put their side in with a chance, but Martin Hartland made the vital breakthrough and Paul Fielding spun his way through the middle and late order.

V Matfield 26th June Draw
Society 146 all out (Adrian Gale 38, James Poplett 33), Matfield 103 for 8 (Paul Fielding 6 for 25) After a promising beginning, we contrived to lose 6 wickets for 10 runs. The experienced tail wagged slightly, but our total looked below par. Ronald’s teatime words convinced the bowlers that all was not lost and we just failed to bowl our opponents out. Paul Fielding proved too good for all bar the ninth pair and Mark Wheeler, returning after a few years’ absence, kept the other end tight.

V West Meon 3rd July Draw
West Meon 156 for 5, Society 149 for 9 (Adrian Berendt 38, Ronald Paterson 37) A first excursion into this part of rural Hampshire proved a success. We inserted our hosts on a very slow track and after 21 overs there were just 33 runs on the board with Neil Holmes and Robbie Berendt being particularly frugal. Our late bowling and fielding proved more generous and we faced a larger total than should perhaps have been the case. Adrian Berendt and Ronald Paterson took us to within 25 of the target but we were running out of overs. Needing 9 off the last over, we got one of them and lost 4 wickets. The ninth wicket fell to the final ball of the game so the third Berendt, Will, was not required to bat.

V Old Leightonians 6th July Draw
Society 199 for 7 dec (Ilija Krunic 42*, Tony Crockert 38, Angus Graham 37), Old Leightonians 168 for 7 (Andy Sheldon 3 for 44) We enjoyed another excellent day at Leighton Park School in Reading. A slow track led the measured progress against tight bowling before lunch. A middle order flourish including a huge six by Angus Graham enabled us to set a challenging declaration. Andy Sheldon and Ilija Krunic took four quick wickets before tea. The OL’s number six blasted 80 before being stumped off the otherwise-unlucky Andy Lawson and the game ended drawn.

V Britwell Salome 10th July Lost
Society 190 for 6 dec (Rob Humphreys 50, Andrew Moss 39*, Andy Newman 33), Britwell Salome 191 for 3. After losing a wicket to the second ball of the game, we batted consistently to leave what we thought would be a difficult target. It proved not to be our day in the field.

V Kew Match 21st July abandoned as a draw
Society 129 for 4 (James Poplett 40, Alan Newman 38). A surprising amount happened in the relatively short time we played. Firstly a James Poplett six led to a squashed ball being retrieved from the South Circular. James was then run out in spectacular fashion by a lurking West Indian quickie and we were then treated to some amusing running from the speedy Adrian Berendt and the game Alan Newman. Unfortunately it always seems to rain at Kew on the third Thursday in July!

V Chipstead, Coulsdon and Old Walcountians 24th July Lost
Chipstead 216 for 5 dec, Society 82 (Peter Hartland 30) A lovely day, attractive ground, good tea, pleasant and very capable young opponents. We came a distant second.

V Sparsholt 30th July Draw
Sparsholt 225 for 4 dec (Neil Holmes 3 for 54) Society 147 for 5 (Andrew Moss 51*) Sparsholt scored freely against our attack that featured William Leachman making his debut. A positive result proved to be beyond both sides, but we were treated to a vintage Andrew Moss innings.

V Blackheath 1st August Draw
Society 217 for 2 dec (Tony Crockert 76, Rob Humphreys 72*, James Poplett 44) Blackheath 130 for 8 (Paul Fielding 3 for 24) Our batsmen enjoyed themselves on a plumb Blackheath track. Spin twins Paul Fielding and Mark Wheeler looked likely to bowl us home but the ninth wicket pair defied us for the final 8 overs. We took 12 players, with the plan that we would only field 11 at any one time. Tony Crockert took full advantage of this innovation.

Rain prevented any play in the Charles Noakes Memorial game at Datchet.

V Hurlingham Club 7th August Match abandoned
Hurlingham 139-4 Rain prevented any play after lunch.

V Odiham and Greywell 14th August Lost
Society 186 for 5 dec (Rob Humphreys 85, Tony Crockert 33) Odiham 192 for 5 As usual we were royally entertained by Alan Laycock, the local President and a former Society player. We were also indebted to our hosts for providing us with two able young men to make up our side. Odiham were a useful side and, although Rob Humphreys was in excellent form, our total seemed a little light. Two early wickets apiece for Neil Holmes and Andy Sheldon offered us brief hope, but our hosts then batted freely to win.

V Broadhalfpenny Brigands 21st August Draw
Brigands 187 for 2 dec Society 132 for 4 (Ronald Paterson 35*) The historic ground at Hambledon is always difficult to score quickly on. The Brigands total proved beyond us, although we will remember the game for the skipper’s 10,000 Society run.

Oxfordshire tour
V Buscot Park 28th August Won
Society 166 for 7 dec (Oli Pascoe 50, Adrian Gale 41) Buscot Park 54 (Neil Holmes 4 for 13) Whilst the Wags enjoyed the house and gardens, Oli Pascoe enjoyed the Buscot bowling slamming fifty in 26 balls. After an early declaration, our inexperienced hosts had no answer to Neil Holmes’ bowling. Oli held three excellent catches.

V Oxford Downs 29th Sept Drawn
Society 262 for 2 dec (Oli Pascoe 112*, Jamie Hall 68, Rob Humphreys 48*) Oxford Downs 196 for 8 (Neil Holmes 5 for 70, John Symons 3 for 44). An opening partnership of 98 between Jamie Hall and Tony Crockert was the appetiser for an astonishing innings by Oli Pascoe. After reaching 54 in a relatively sedate 31 balls, he then took 15 more for the rest of his innings. With Rob Humphreys he put on 151 in 13.5 overs. Tom Carmichael’s 4.10 declaration took the tea lady unaware but she still produced a magnificent feast. Neil Holmes and John Symons reduced the Downs to 26 for 4. Two experienced players briefly got them back in the game as some tempting bowling was despatched. Neil, operating now as a spinner, and the returning John nearly managed to pull off the win.

V Sanderstead 4th September Cancelled More rain!

V Rudgwick 11th Sept Won by 7 wickets
Rudgwick 78 all out (Neil Holmes 4 for 19, John Symons 3 for 29) Society 79 for 3 (Andy Graham 24) Rudgwick fielded a strong side, but it proved no match for the Society’s experienced men. Neil Holmes and John Symons exploited a helpful track to bowl Rugdwick out for 78. At one stage our guests were 19 for 6 and we were contemplating a beer match. Batting remained difficult but an opening stand of 47 between Andy Graham and Alan Newman set us on our way to a good win.

V Reigate Pilgrims 18th Sept Draw
Reigate Pilgrims 125 all out (Mark Wheeler 4 for 31, John Symons 3 for 37) Society 85 for 8 (Andrew Moss 32) Having reduced the Pilgrims from 106 for 2 to 125, the bowlers had done their job. Neil Holmes beat the bat repeatedly with no luck, whilst Messrs Wheeler and Symons took the wickets. Tom Carmichael claimed 4 victims. Unfortunately we lost our way with the bat, subsiding to 36 for 6. Andrew Moss and Tom Carmichael put on 49, but when Andrew was dismissed, a draw was the best we could manage.

V Lodsworth 25th Sept Draw
Society 109 for 7 (Adrian Gale 52, Peter Hartland 24) Lodsworth 86 for 9 (Peter Hartland 3 for 5, John Symons 3 for 20). A very slow track militated against forcing batting but Adrian Gale battled through to set up a score that was healthier than the book suggests. Lodsworth found batting no easier despite their number 6 hitting 35 at a run a ball. We reduced our opponents to the last pair but the season faded to an end before the final wicket could be claimed. Our opponents were full of praise for the sporting behaviour of our players.

Archived Averages
2010
2009
2008

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