Playing 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.
See the 2010 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.
Played 24, Won 6, Lost 5, Drew 13, Cancelled 4
Batting Innings NO Runs HS Average
Ilya Krunic 4 1 176 78 58.33
Rob Humphreys 13 3 537 91 53.70
Ian Hartland 5 2 157 66* 52.33
Adrian Gale 20 2 754 124 41.88
Peter Hartland 8 3 130 75* 26.00
Tony Crockert 10 0 245 76 24.50
Neil Holmes 15 6 186 33 20.66
Andrew Moss 9 0 185 54 20.55
Ronald Paterson 13 0 215 73 16.53
David Chapman 7 0 98 40 14.00
Tom Carmichael 13 8 62 14 12.40
Charles Noakes 13 4 65 31* 7.22
Richard Buxton 4 0 15 11 3.75
Andy Graham 4 0 13 7 3.25
Also: 20 matches: J.Symons 3-2-20-20*;
14 matches: P.Fielding 3-1-15-14*;
6 Matches: A.Lawson 5-5-41-35*;
5 matches: W.Allen 2-1-14-14; R.Leachman DNB, M.Hartland 0;
4 matches: A.Newman 3-0-72-40;
3 matches: G.Mort 3-3-8-8;
2 matches: Adnam Mohammed 0,36; G.Warrington 33,8;
O.Pascoe 6,5; B.Wiseman 3,2; S.Goldsmith 31;
A.MacDonald Barker DNB;
1 match: S.Lewis 6; S.Greaves 7, A.Wingfield Digby 2*;
J.Hall 90: R.Owen 14: N.Reay 10: L.Hartland 16; A.Taylor 16; D.Doraisamy 29; S.Taylor 6; G.Rees 0; H.Krishnan 3: A.Short 9: C.Leonard 19; O.Taylor 1: P.Slocombe 60: A.Wilinson 2: M.Mahmood 9: J.Poole 0; A.Hibbitt DNB; R.Pulsford DNB; P.Allen DNB.
Bowling Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Average
Neil Holmes 167 42 538 32 13.71
Ian Hartland 18 2 95 6 15.83
Andy Lawson 50 11 166 10 16.60
Paul Fielding 113.5 19 513 27 19.00
David Chapman 63.3 12 228 12 19.00
Peter Hartland 113.3 25 355 18 19.72
John Symons 173.2 26 746 27 27.63
Also Bowled: A.Newman 10-1-31-4; I.Krunic 34.1-6-109-5;
Adnam Mohammed 19-0-91-3; R.Leachman 17-2-76-3:
A.Wilkinson 15.2-4-64-3; C.Leonard 17-4-75-1;
H.Krishnan 2-0-23-0; R.Pulsford 6-1-31-0;
A.Hibbitt 4.1-0-19-0; A.MacDonald Barker 13-0-70-0;
A.Gale 4-0-22-0; W.Allen 6-0-54-2; O.Pascoe 8-0-48-0;
J.Poole 3-0-17-0; B.Wiseman 8-0-60-1;
A.Crockert 5-0-35-2; M.Hartland 1.2- 0-10-0;
S.Taylor 11-5-19-2: A.Taylor 7-1-21-2;D.
Doraisamy 5-1-10-2; O.Taylor 3-0-22-0; P.Allen 7-1-45-2;
J.Hall 4-0-30-0; A.Wingfield Digby 8-0-55-0;
M.Mahmood 5-0-52-0.
Fielding
32 Carmichael (18 ct , 14 st)
6 Gale
4 Moss, Holmes, Fielding, Paterson,
3 Chapman, Noakes, I.Hartland, M. Hartland
2 Humphreys, Warrington, Wiseman, Buxton, A.Taylor, Short, Goldsmith, Crockert,
1 Doraisamy, Rees, Poole, W. Allen, Lawson, Hall, Mahmood.
Results
v Coleman’s Hatch. Cancelled Ground unfit
v Ockley Won by 4 wickets
Ockley 124 for 8 dec John Symons 3 for 61) Society 129 for 6 (Adrian Gale 65*)
The season got under way with a good win. With the skipper negotiating a car swap with his wife , we fielded 10 men for the first 45 minutes. The captain’s arrival coincided with a flurry of wickets as 4 fell for 8 runs. Some late resistance pushed Ockley up to the edges of respectively. The multi-talented John Symons bowled unchanged, well supported by Peter Hartland. Later that week Peter took 9 wickets for the Forty Club at Alleyns School; swine ‘flu was discovered at the school a few days later…draw your own conclusions.
Adrian Gale carried his bat in our reply. Our numbers 5, 6 and 7 contrived to make the finish closer than it might otherwise have been.
v Princes Risborough Drew
Society 177 for 8 dec (Rob Humphreys 91, David Chapman 40), Princes Risborough 95 for 9 (Paul Fielding 4 for 4)
After 3 early losses, Rob Humphreys and David Chapman batted very well to set up the declaration. Risborough have had powerful batting in recent years but we took wickets at regular intervals. Paul Fielding returned the remarkable figures of 4 for 4 off 9 overs with David Chapman’s catching proving very beneficial. The cool-headed Risborough skipper just denied us.
v South Weald Match cancelled
v Tilford Match cancelled Rain
v Ventnor. Won by 104 runs.
Society 187 for 6 dec (Adrian Gale 62, Tony Crockert 61), Ventnor 87 all out (David Chapman 5 for 8)
Ventnor are often too young and too talented for us, this year the boot was on the other foot as experience proved the decisive factor. On a pitch with little bounce, our openers paced the innings beautifully. Match manager, Charles Noakes, had stressed the need to persuade a young fast bowler to tour this year; cue David Chapman who demolished the Ventnor innings.
The early finish led to prolonged celebrations in the Spyglass and, in some cases, beyond.
v Ryde School .Lost by 5 wickets.
Society 183 for 6 dec 9 (Rob Humphreys 55, Alan Newman 41, Tony Crockert 37, Adrian Gale). Ryde School 186 for 5.
After the last two years’ games rain, we were delighted to see sun and an attractive, well-appointed new pavilion. Less welcome (to ageing cricketers) was a strong all-schoolboy side; apparently their best in years. Nevertheless a consistent batting performance gave us a most respectable total. Alan Newman impressed on debut.
Neil Holmes dismissed the school’s opener but then the boys ruthlessly exposed our fielding limitations. Bill Allen coaxed the school captain to lob the ball into the keeper’s gloves via several unlikely parts of his bat and body in the course of an eventful final over.
It is always a delight to play these two fixtures on the Isle of Wight and our thanks go out to our hosts.
v Coldharbour Draw
Society 211 for 2 dec (Peter Hartland 75*, Ronald Paterson 73), Coldharbour 169 for 9(John Symons 3 for 42).
This was a first visit to the delightfully tiny Coldharbour ground set high above Surrey on Leith Hill. The short boundaries attracted the attention of Geoff Warrington and, after over-ambition to repeat Sobers’ Swansea feat proved his downfall, Hartland and Paterson continued at a less frenetic pace to set up the declaration. Wickets fell steadily in the reply and brave captaincy enticed the late order hitters to have a go. The tactics very nearly succeeded with the last pair holding on at the end.
v Shamley Green Won
Society 174 for 9 dec (Adrian Gale 85), Shamley Green 173 all out. Neil Holmes 7 for 77).
A peculiarly shaped ground with roads and tarmac as part of the playing area and local rules caused by a legal dispute with a neighbour led to a slightly surreal feeling. Only Adrian Gale came to terms with an interesting track and he also mastered the art of chipping short of the dead ball zone! Neil Holmes , protesting injury, bowled 20 overs for a Society best 7 for 77 and David Chapman produced two straight ones to pull off a remarkable victory by one run.
v Priory Panthers Lost
Panthers 196 for 5, Society 189 for 5 (Adrian Gale 124)
A third new fixture in three weeks took us into South London. 40 overs cricket doesn’t always suit us. 5 bowlers can be difficult to find and it can be difficult to score at the required pace. However Adrian Gale deserved a better fate than being run out by his captain in the last over of a great run chase; a wonderful innings .
v Matfield Draw
Matfield 221 for 8 (Ian Hartland 4 for 35), Society 151 for 6 (Charles Noakes 31*)
Match manager Peter Hartland brought 2 of his cricketing sons and, whilst Martin’s time will come, Ian showed real talent as an allrounder. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get ourselves into a winning position, although Charles Noakes had some fun in the last few overs.
v Newdigate Lost
Society 104 all out. Newdigate 105 for 1.
Newdigate turned out a very young side, we sensed victory. How wrong can one be!
v Old Leightonians Won
Society 165 all out.(Ilya Krunic 51) Old Leightonians 115 all out (Andy Lawson 3 for 30)
Our total looked under par despite Ilya Krunic’s fine knock. However all our bowlers extracted life from the track and 8 caches were held as we pulled off a fine win against a good batting side.
v Britwell Salome Drew
Society 161 for 6 dec (Rob Humphreys 54, Andy Lawson 35*). Britwell 137 for 8 (Paul Fielding 4 for 39)
Our Oxfordshire contingent contributed most of the runs on a track still suffering from the previous day’s rain. Wickets again fell at regular intervals and some late hitting gave our hosts an outside chance. Paul Fielding bowled manfully for 19 overs.
v Kew Abandoned
Kew 103 for 1
Rain got the better of us.
v Great Warley Draw
Gt Warley 203 for 4 dec Society 149 for 5(Adrian Gale 68)
Neil Holmes bowled 15 overs for 28 runs but our effort fell apart in the last few overs. We were given 34 overs to chase this total with a very slow outfield. Adrian Gale was excellent, as ever, but the game fizzled out into a draw.
v Sparsholt Draw
Sparsholt 176 for 4 dec (Andy Lawson 3 for 29), Society 132 for 8 (Rob Humphreys 68)
Excellent bowling from Andy Lawson with support from John Symons and a diving one hander from our keeper threatened to restrict our hosts more than proved to be the case. The chase was always going to difficult against a good attack and only Rob Humphreys was able to come to terms with the conditions.
v Blackheath Draw
Society 190 for 6 dec ( Rob Humphreys 79, Ian Hartland 66*), Blackheath 183 for 9 (Alan Newman 4 for 31)
Rob Humphreys maintained his good form and was aided by a mature innings from 15 year old Ian Hartland. The declaration gave an even split of overs. Our attack was accurate but lacked penetration until Alan Newman’s first bowl for the Society resulted in 4 wickets (three courtesy of Tom Carmichael’s ‘keeping). Tony Crockert’s occasional off spin bought two wickets but the Blackheath number eleven survived the last 3 balls of a good game. Blackheath , as ever, entertained us royally.
v Hurlingham Club Lost by 3 wickets
Society 220 all out (Ilya Krunic 78, Phil Slocombe 60), Hurlingham 221 for 7 ( Ali Wilkinson 3 for 64).
George Brooksbank bowled 20 overs of hostile left arm quick bowling and left us looking decidedly wobbly at 23 for 4. There was more than a touch of class about ex-Somerset Phil Slocombe’s batting and Ilya Krunic was no less effective. Our total was a little below par for the ground but a flurry of wickets gave us a fighting chance. Brooksbank proved adept with the bat as well to deny us.
v Forty Club Won by 8 wickets
Forty Club 164 for 9 dec ( Ilya Krunic 3 for 28, Peter Hartland 3 for 12)Society 167 for 2 (Rob Humphreys 72*, Ilya Krunic 46*)
The new venue of Puttenham proved to a major success. We proved rather too strong for the Forty Club on the day. For once our average age was below that of our opponents. John Symons filled in behind the stumps and was just able to walk the next day!
v Odiham and Greywell. Draw
Odiham 191 for 9 dec (John Symons 6 for 49), Society 127 for 8 (Ronald Paterson 58).
John Symons’ body was back in full working order but only a return to form from the skipper saved us from defeat.
v Broadhalfpenny Brigands Draw
Brigands 184 for 5 dec , Society 106 for 7 (Rob Humphreys 62*).
The track at the cradle of cricket was not conducive to fast scoring but, nevertheless, our response to the Brigands total was disappointing. Rob Humphreys was a notable exception.
v Mayor of Runneymede’s XI Lost by 124 runs
Mayor’s XI 311 for 5 , Society 187 for 5 (Jamie Hall 90, Adnam Mohammed 36)
It was a privilege for the Society to be invited to Chertsey CC by one of our ex players, Paul Tuley( the mayor). The day raised funds for a number of charities including the Cricket Society Trust. Our opponents proved rather stronger than anticipated and some very good first eleven batsmen took their toil of our bowling despite the presence in our attack of Andrew Wingfield Digby. Our reply was respectable but we still came a distant second!
v Sanderstead Draw
Sanderstead 197 (Neil Holmes 5 for 68, Peter Hartland 4 for 70), Society 137 for 8( Adrian Gale 36)
Sanderstead set off at a rate of knots and but fortunately they lost regular wickets as our three man attack worked wonders. Two unlucky dismissals accounted for the first two wickets and we later lost 4 wickets for 8 runs. Our tail held out against some hostile final overs. Sanderstead were very sporting opponents.
v Rudgwick Draw
Society 185 for 5 dec( Tony Crockert 76, Adrian Gale 33) Rudgwick 163 for 7
Tony Crockert and Adrian Gale have played in some pain for the most of the season but class overcame physical difficulties in two cultured innings. We were on top for most of our opponent’s innings but couldn’t quite prise them out.
v Reigate Pilgrims Draw
Pilgrims 194 all out (Paul Fielding 4 for 59, Peter Hartland 3 for 40), Society 189 for 5 (Adrian Gale 92, Andrew Moss 54)
Illness struck the Bulletin editor and forced his late withdrawal from the side. Martin Hartland, the youngest of Peter’s cricketing sons, stepped into the breech, and took two fine catches; the second coming off his father’s bowling. Paul Fielding’s excellent bowling and catching were somewhat overshadowed in the drama of the moment.
Andrew Moss hit a fine 54;his first 50 of the season but he has long lost count of how many he has hit in his lengthy career. Adrian Gale then took over with help from Ian Hartland. Adrian’s super innings faded , together with the light, in the final over . His was a great effort in an excellent game of cricket.
v Lodsworth Won by 50 runs
Society 163 for 5 dec (Adrian Gale 65), Lodsworth 113 all out (John Symons 4 for 36, Peter Hartland 3 for 39).
It was a real bonus to play this game on the last Sunday in September in the attractive West Sussex village of Lodsworth.
Tony Crockert’s navigational skills failed him and Alan Newman was pressed into service as an opener. Together with the prolific Adrian Gale, he put on 84 for the first wicket. Lodsworth bowled well on a track that provided lift and we need some late hitting by Neil Holmes to set up the declaration.
We have seldom faced such a good tea and it fortified us for an excellent performance in the field. All the bowlers were impressive and keeper Tom Carmichael picked up 4 victims before we headed to Lodsworth’s fine pub for the last post-match drinks of a thoroughly enjoyable season.