Captain: James Grant Vice Captain: TBA

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

16/04/11 - St Paul's School 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI - Lost

An enjoyable if short 12 a side match ended with St Pauls prevailing by 5 wickets thanks to an excellent partnership from the skipper and number 7 after OPCC had looked like bowling them out.
 
Skipper Grant opted to bat and the initial signs were good as he hit the first ball of the season for four off Jack Harrison. Tim Cato (25) played some excellent shots but when he fell to a shooter from Speller just after Grant (23) had holed out we were in trouble. Ali Sharp scored a good 30 but wickets fell at regular intervals and we scraped up to 148 largely thanks to an excellent 36 from Cam Smith batting with the tail.
 
Arjun and Tim Denton took the new ball and Tim (2 wickets) struck straight away with his famous slower ball. Jasper bowled very well after a shaky start to pick up a wicket and there were also wickets for Cam (2) and Arjun.
 
Numbers 4 and 6 saw the school out of trouble with a very sensible partnership.

07/04/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Godalming CC - Lost

2nd XI lost to Godalming by 8 wickets
 
A poor start to the 2011 league campaign. Availabilities at all levels were weak despite there only being two fixtures, and it was disappointing to still be chasing players on Friday morning. Last year we played this fixture with one of the strongest 2nd XIs I can remember, and that was a long way from being the case this time around.
 
Grant won the toss and decided to bat despite the wicket having a green tinge to it. Unfortunately a decent start was scuppered by one of the most ludicrous lbw decisions in the history of cricket at any level – I’ll leave you to guess who was the unfortunate recipient. Suffice to say if there were 12 stumps all a foot higher than normal size ones, it might have clipped a bail. Bala batted very nicely for his 25 but there was a lot of early season rustiness and we were bowled out for a disappointing 110. Highlights were two sixes, one from Ollie Eyre and one from Laurie Bartlett.
 
After a good tea and a stirring huddle we started brightly in the field, at least as far as noise and attitude went. Unfortunately our lack of pre-season net practice counted against us as Godalming were able to wait for the bad balls, of which there were quite a few. Pete Sen and Nav picked up the only wickets, Nav with his first ball of the season (a much less controversial lbw this one) but we never really threatened. Our fielding was however pleasing in terms of commitment.
 
Hopefully next week should see us better for the runout and it would be great if as many as possible turn up to nets on Wednesday – make no mistake, Dorking will be well practiced.

14/05/11 -  OPCC 2nd XI vs Dorking CC 2nd XI  - Lost

A slightly stronger team put in a slightly stronger performance but still came unstuck in a similar game to last week, this time against a very impressive Dorking. There's something slightly foreboding about turning up an hour before the game to see the opposition not just all present, but halfway through a well drilled fielding practice. We would do well to note that and emulate it. Sure enough, they turned out to be a strong side. They had been decimated the week before by a wedding and bowled out for 64 but that was no form guide as only a couple of this week's team were playing.
 
Grant was rather relieved to be asked to bat having lost the toss, as we numbered 8 at the time. The Dorking openers were brisk and managed to regularly get the ball head high, which is remarkable at home. Pete Sen was given a chance to open and battled well before gloving a brutal lifter, and Grant also did the hard work before falling senselessly to the first change bowler. It was left to debutant (and 15 year old) Paddy Edrich to hold the innings together, and he did so fantastically. Watertight technique and excellent patience were shown as he fought his way to 28 hard earned runs – there were very, very few scoring opportunities offered by a good attack and it was seriously impressive to see a youngster so determined not to give his wicket away. His partnership with Abbas, who also found it tough to get the ball away, was a very good one. In contrast, Rameez struck some lusty unorthodox blows to get us over 100 and we eventually ended up on 119-9 from our 50 overs.
 
Good not to be bowled out, but we must find ways of keeping the score ticking along when not offered gifts, and some would do well to note Paddy's concentration levels.
 
119 could have been enough with a fast start – and we got one. Unfortunately so did Dorking. Two early wickets from the excellent Christian Daddy Edrich gave us a sniff, but there were too many loose balls from the other end. On the whole it was a creditable effort in the field, with concentration levels good. Nav picked up one thanks to an excellent catch by Abbas and eventually looked to be building up some rhythm but Dorking scoring rate was healthy all the way through and they got home by seven wickets. All a bit Groundhog Day – and if we bat first again against Hampton Wick, we know what we have to do.

21/05/11 - Hampton Wich Royal CC vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Lost by 7 wickets
 
Having used Groundhog Day to describe last week’s game, I’m now at a loss for analogies. Again a slight improvement in the quality of the side we put out and an improvement in performance, but in all honesty HW were a very organised side and were too strong for us. Later in the season may well be a different matter as the students and schoolboys return. OPCC batted first again and started slowly, with incredibly few bad balls on offer for openers Grant and Mike O’Reilly. O’Reilly was the more fluent as both battled hard but the scoring rate was slow. We didn’t lose our first wicket until the 21st over but that triggered a few more.
 
O’Reilly was rewarded for his patience and got the scoring going in a nice partnership with Chris Gardner, eventually perishing for the Australian unlucky number, 87. This was an excellent contribution and was well over half of our total of 156, which we achieved in 46 overs with a remarkable three golden ducks. The only other contribution of note was a gutsy 22 from Tim Denton who batted with the tail.
 
Tim Denton took the new ball and was instantly dangerous, ducking the ball back in to create some very strong appeals. He eventually got his man as the skipper was given out LBW and was very unlucky to only pick up one wicket in his first spell of 8 overs. Nav bowled some beauties and looked to have picked one up caught behind which wasn’t given, but was hit for a few when he erred short. O’Reilly came on with strict instructions to bowl full, and did so well. Our spin trio of Hamilton, Sutherland and Holland all bowled well but for the third week in a row we hadn’t given ourselves enough runs to play with, and after Tim came back on to pick up two more deserved wickets HWCC passed our total for three wickets down and overs to spare.

28/05/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Carshalton CC 2nd XI  - Lost

2nd XI Lost to Carshalton
 
With record low availabilities we were forced to concede the 3s match so that we could field a full team for the 2s match. But 2 players pulled out last minute and when the skipper walked out for the toss there were only 8 names on the team sheet! Carlshalton won the toss and luckily, wanted us to bat first.
 
Yet again Pradeep was off to a good start and just when the boundaries started to flow threw it away by lofting a drive straight down the throat of mid-off. Sunny, in an unfamiliar No 3 role, frustrated the opposition with his unorthodox yet compact batting style. Bala and Sunny put together a near 50 run partnership with Bala stroking the ball freely and scoring the bulk of his runs in boundaries. Sunny was caught napping when Bala called for a quick single, he may have still made it but for a direct hit from the fielder. From 69-2 the score quickly became 78-7. A good last wicket partnership between Cliff and Ollie got us close to a three figure first innings score.
 
With only 9 not all athletic fielders, the only way we could have defended the score (in my dreams) was by bowling a tight line and taking a few early wickets. With the exception of Suresh, none of our bowlers found their line or length. Carlshalton openers came out all guns blazing and took the game away from us in no time.

04/06/11 - Woodmansterne CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Lost

2nd XI Lost to Woodmansterne by 5 wickets
 
A bizarre start to the game saw OPCC win the toss and take the field, only for the toss to be overturned as we had four players still stuck in Epson traffic at five to one. This proved to be a bad thing as the ball stopped in the pitch, something the top order couldn’t get to grips with. It was left up to Nav Kokri (39) and debutant Richie Patel (17) to shore things up and get us towards a competitive total. Unfortunately as has been the case so many times this season, no-one could push on and make a big score, and their left armer caused havoc in picking up six wickets.
 
126 was unlikely to be enough but we did give it a real go in the field and had we taken all of our chances the result may well have been different. Nav was very unlucky not to pick up a wicket and he and Ian Bester bowled with excellent control. There was a wicket each for Ian, Jasper, John and two for Manav who surprised all with the pace he was able to get off the pitch.
 
Woodmansterne eventually overhauled our total 5 down but knew they’d been in a game – if we’d batted with the application we showed in the field we would have been celebrating a win.

11/06/11 - Maori Oxshott 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Losing Draw

A stronger team produced an improved performance against a powerful and exclusively Pakistani Maori Oxshott side. Grant won the toss and was delighted to have enough fielders to take the field this time. Cam Moore and Ian Bester took the new ball and both bowled well after an uncharacteristically loose first over from Cam. There were plenty of loose shots too, and unfortunately we didn’t take advantage, dropping a few early which hurt us. Their opener rode his luck and stayed in for a long time for his 83, and we really tied them down in the middle overs, the fielders backing up the bowling very well. Nav and Chetan got through their overs quickly and dried up the run rate well, and a score of around 200 looked likely, which would have been extremely chasable given the short boundaries and quick outfield. Unfortunately their number 6 was a man mountain, whose huge bat looked like a matchstick in his enormous hands and he used brute power to force decent deliveries for huge sixes. His 76 must have been at well over two runs a ball and they finished up at 297, declaring halfway at 50 overs with Gus picking up a couple of late wickets.
 
Given we scored 323 in this fixture last season with a weaker batting side, we were actually pretty confident at tea, as 6 an over looked gettable if we formed a few partnerships. Unfortunately their decision to start with the old ball put us behind the curve and their offy and leggy were pretty accurate, doing for Mike O’Reilly before the new ball was taken. The scoring rate instantly increased but unfortunately we lost a few wickets. Grant scored 35 and when he was out it was left to Chetan and Cam to form a partnership to save the game, though I’m sure both had ideas of winning it. The rain came at 6.45 with us 150-6 which gave us a losing draw on run rate. Good to have put up a better fight though and we will certainly play weaker sides this year.

18/06/11 - Southern Railway and Kenley CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Loss

2nd XI lost to Southern Railway and Kenley by 16 runs
 
A bright performance in the field was undone by some naïve batting as the 2s contrived to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against a young SRK side. Grant won the toss and didn’t hesitate to bowl first. Edrich was straight on the money as always and debutant Chris Hussey generated some good pace and bounce. They both took three wickets, as did John Sutherland in a canny spell after we went off for a rain break notable for the home sides refusal to help put the covers on. Pete took a wicket too and it seems that a couple of weeks keeping wicket can do wonders for your bowling. Pady Edrich was excellent behind the stumps, picking up 5 good catches and a sharp stumping. The ground fielding was very good and we did well to restrict SRK to 152 all out from 52 overs, giving us 48 to chase it down.
 
There were unfortunately some loose shots from the start, though one might be kind and speculate that the batsmen were worrying about the rain arriving again. Form 100-4 and 124-5 you really should be closing out the game. Unfortunately Paddy’s freakish dismissal prompted a collapse and our last five wickets fell for just 12 runs. Paddy scored 35 but without enough support, and once again it was batting application and shot selection that cost us a win. Still, some positives to be taken out of the game and we look forward to a crucial game against fellow strugglers Cranleigh this week.

25/06/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Cranleigh CC 2nd XI  - Lost

Some encouraging signs of improvement in a game that we’d have coasted if we held our catches. OPCC were inserted and the going was tough at the start, with bad balls a rarity. Their skipper bowled a Herculean 27 over spell and two youngsters rotated at the other end, something they wouldn’t be able to do in limited overs games (ie when we play them again later this season). Manav Maini and Tom Abbott fell early but Grant (51) stuck around to build a partnership with the ever-patient Paddy Edrich (25). Some attacking impetus was added by Chetan (33) who was well supported by Chris Gardner and Pete Sen. We declared at 54 overs with 168 on the board, which looked a challenging declaration.
 
Cranleigh’s big opener was dropped early (as was the other one) and went on to score a quickfire 58 which got them up to 85-0 before Christian castled him. A couple of wickets from interesting deliveries by Pete and a first ball strike from Manav gave us hope but they closed it out sensibly. A really disappointing loss this one as our batting, bowling and ground fielding was easily good enough to have won. The need to pick up points becomes more pressing as we host fellow strugglers Godalming this week.

02/07/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Godalming CC 2nd XI  - Winning Draw

It was a real shame we couldn't quite grab the win, but it was a hugely improved performance against Godalming and there was little more we could have done right. Winning games at home when asked to bat first is never easy and we came within a whisker of doing so. Grant (34) and Parker got us off to a great start with an 89 run opening partnership, which set a good foundation for Parker to go on and score an excellent 82. The other notable contribution was a very attractive 37 from Ali Sharp. We could even afford a collapse along the way as we declared at 51 overs on 205, which looked a decent total but one we'd have to bowl well to defend.
 
And bowl well we certainly did. Godalming couldn't get the ball away at all as Henry Dodd and Tim Quayle bowled superbly with the new ball. Henry picked up their opener with a very good slower one and then Christian and Nav took up where the openers left off, with no bad balls on offer.
 
The fielding was excellent with only one misfield and no dropped catches, which after last week was particularly pleasing. Probably not a coincidence that this display came after some catching practice...The wickets were shared around with Christian snagging 3-15, Nav 2-17, Grant buying one and Tim came on again at the end in a last ditch attempt to get the last two. The first ball of the last over saw the 9th wicket go caught behind, and we were convinced that a leg side tickle had won us the game with three balls to spare. Sadly it wasn't given but this winning draw and improved performance gives us a lot of hope and encouragement.

09/07/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Old Hamptonians CC 2nd XI  - Won

2nd XI beat Old Hamptonians by 3 wickets
 
Bottom of the league OPCC turned the tables on top side Old Hamptonians with an excellent all round performance, eventually winning by three wickets.
 
Grant won the toss and was delighted to field first with a good attack of four seamers and a spinner. Dodd and debutant Theo Parker bowled well with the new ball, Henry very unlucky not to find the edge during a very good spell. Theo castled their opener with his very first ball for the club and came back later on to pick up another in an excellent debut. Christian Edrich picked up 2 in a typically tidy spell and Gus bowled well for his one wicket, but the star of the show was Nav Kokri with an excellent spell, resulting in figures of 16-4-30-5. Strangely four of these wickets were caught at cover, Holland snaring 3 and Gus Hamilton the other. No dropped catches and very few misfields in an excellent all round performance which saw OHCC bowled out for 161 in 49 overs.
 
In reply, OPCC got off to the worst possible start and found themselves 5-3. A nuggety partnership of 70 between Holland (33) and Grant (37) steadied the ship however, and Gus hit some crucial blows in his 20, sourred into action by an injured finger. But again, Kokri was the star with a superb 42, ably supported at the end by Theo. It was a very impressive chase, well paced throughout.
 
A pleasing, and vital first win but also a sad day as Gus Hamilton played his last game for the club. A great guy to play with who will be sadly missed and joins the growing ranks of Aussies who've gone back home. Cheers Gus from all at OPCC, it's been great fun over the last few years mate.

16/07/11 - Dorking CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI - Abandoned

23/07/11 - Carshalton CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Lost

A surreal day at Carshalton. They're one of the seemingly endless clubs with poor pitches in the East Croydon area, and having never played there we never really got to grips with it. It's an advantage to us in some ways that the facilities at Colets are so good, but it's uncanny how many clubs get promoted with quirky green concave pitches. That wasn't the surreal thing though. We were slightly unsettled by seeing on arrival more Union Jacks than at a Royal Wedding. The occasion? The Surrey branch of Rangers FC supporters club's annual 'drink lager until you can't speak or stand' day. We were 'treated' to Unionist marching music all day, which made tea slightly sinister with the Catholics among us eating outside, and this was occasionally broken up with a 'God Save the Queen' and 'Rule Britannia' being belted out by tattooed skinheads. Quintessential Surrey village cricket it was not. More of that later.
 
Grant risked bowling first even with three still making their way to the ground, Chris and Ollie sprinting on after the world's quickest change, just as Christian was marking out his run up. Christian showed his usual excellent control in a superb spell of 16 overs, but Nav struggled with the large hill in his delivery stride which put him off his length. Chetan bowled well and dismissed their star player but we never quite recovered from a poor start, though there were times we threatened to. Charlie Malston, making his league comeback after 5 years out, bowled quick and full and yorked a couple and Tom Speller bowled extremely well to curtail some fierce hitting.
 
221 looked about par after a sporting halfway declaration, but the pitch was certainly one you need to have batted on before. We couldn't time the ball really, and only Charlie managed to get the ball away more than a few times as even with a long batting lineup we were sadly dismissed for 82. The batting was very much overshadowed - and delayed - by one of Glasgow's finest staging a one man pitch invasion, wearing Grant's helmet and wielding Speller's bat. When Nav was dismissed by a jaffer he asked the bloke on the way back to ditch the helmet and was met with a volley of abuse and a grip round his neck. It should be mentioned that the Carshalton chairman was extremely apologetic but all we can say is that we'll be glad if Carshalton are promoted!

30/07/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Hampton Wick Royal 2nd XI  - Drew

It was ultimately disappointing to only hang on for a draw when we had enough batting depth to chase Hampton Wick's total down.
 
Having won the toss OPCC bowled first. Our new ball partnership this week was a contrasting one, Jack Harrison providing pace and Christian Edrich guile and control. Jack bowled excellently apart from quite a few no balls, picking up a good wicket caught behind and only three balls went for runs in his seven over spell. Christian also picked up a caught behind and bowled his usual excellent spell.
 
Nav was unlucky not to pick up a wicket and there were one each for Ben Parker and Tom Speller either side of two run outs. The Hampton Wick skipper was perhaps a bit cautious by not declaring at half way and their lower order slogged their way to 215 off 52, leaving us 48.
 
We got off to a good start with a 50 partnership from Manav (36) and Baldy (32) but sadly neither they nor Ben (27) could go on to make a score. The middle order were under pressure to keep up with the rate against some tidy seam bowling and some donkey drops. As ever, the wickets fell to the latter.
 
A brief flurry from Grant gave us hope but once he and Speller were out LBW and Mike and Nav fell it was left to Jack and Christian to block out for a draw which they did excellently, OPCC finishing on 147 for 9 at the close.
 

06/08/11 - Cranleigh CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Lost

 A committed, gutsy performance nearly resulted in a great win against a very strong Cranleigh side, but alas we fell just short in the end. Cranleigh in August are a fearsome opposition as their best school players and recent leavers go straight into the 2s. One of these is Curtis Beeston who, at 6ft7ish with bags of pace is to my mind the best bowler in the league. He only plays 5 or 6 games a season but more often than not his presence means a win. He tore into us, dismissing Parker, Grant and P. Edrich with only 4 on the board. An excellent partnership of 75 between Manav and Mike Kiernan saw us recover partially.
 
Sadly not enough players hung around with Manav, who had played his way back into form last week and was batting very sensibly and fluently. Chris Gardner batted watchfully but fell not long after Manav was caught behind for a superb 95. Given our start, and the fact that the ball was swinging miles, we were pretty happy at tea with 163.
 
Our own tall seamer Tim Quayle doesn't terrify in quite the same way as Beeston, but what he lacked in pace he made up in accuracy and in swing. Two of the top order were bowled and another caught in an excellent spell. With every ball looking like it might get through, Charlie Malston was desperately unlucky not to strike at the other end, and we had them reeling. Cranleigh would probably have expected some respite once the openers were rested but C. Edrich and Parker didn't let them settle. Their big slogger (having run out their skipper) was connecting with some lusty blows and inching them towards the total, while wickets were still falling at the other end. Two panicky runouts helped our cause and when Quayle returned to have the big lad caught at cover by Christian with his first ball, we were on top. By this stage, after being targeted for a couple of overs by the hitter, Mahir was bowling a very controlled spell and they couldn't buy a run.
 
8 wickets down and 20 or so needed...some very iffy moments ensued but they scratched their way closer, finally releasing the pressure with a couple of boundaries off the returning Charlie. This was an excellent performance in the field from OPCC and despite the nil point return we can be very proud of the way we fought. We now need four wins in a row to escape relegation, which is achievable given they are all limited overs games, if we play with the passion and commitment we showed on Saturday.

13/08/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Southern Railways & Kenley CC 2nd XI  - Won

The 2nd XI live to fight another day after a very pleasing win against fellow strugglers SRK. OPCC had a better side out than they had in the away fixture, and our strength in depth showed, with useful runs down the order and six good bowlers. It wasn't quite a perfect win however as this was one of our sloppiest fielding performances of the season (perhaps feeling the pressure of being watched by the 1st XI after their early win!) and that cost us a bonus point.
 
Grant won the toss and batted first, which looked the right decision as as all of the top order contributed. Manav was bowled for 22 and Grant lbw for 27, but at least this week there was top order support for the major run scorer, which was Ben Parker this time with an excellent 80. Mike Kiernan batted solidly and sensibly, hitting a huge 6 into the pavilion on the way to a crucial 40* and he was ably assisted at the end by Mahir who clubbed a very good 18* to get us up to 226, which looked a decent total although at one point we were aiming for 250.
 
The first wicket fell early in the SRK innings, Henry getting the skipper lbw with a full one with the score on 22, but we had to wait for the introduction of Chetan to bowl the other steadfast opener for 13 with an excellent slider. SRK's number 3 Dunlop looked a good player (new to the club apparently) and he and the very experienced Moncrieffe put together an excellent partnership to threaten to take the game away from us. Safe to say they were helped by one or two chances being put down...eventually one fell to Mikey who made no mistake at backward point of Mahir's bowling. This opened the floodgates a bit with Mahir picking up another and Ben getting in on the act with two caught behind. The key moment was another wicket for Ben, as Moncrieffe was finally caught for 60 by Tim Quayle (crocodile style) with the score on 152.
After that, with the game limited overs format, SRK were never going to win and the only remaining questions were whether we could get all 10 and whether we could get the bonus point by winning by more than 40. The answers were yes and no. Quayle came on to bowl his last 4 having been wicketless and bowled beautifully to pick up 3 at the end, to match Ben's 3. The final wicket fell in the last over with the score on 190 which meant a comfortable 36 run win in the end. Results didn't go our way in other games but we still have an outside chance of staying up if we win our remaining games

20/08/11 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Woodmansterne CC 2nd XI - Won

The Great Escape is still on after a second win on the bounce, this time against Woodmansterne and a loss for our rivals Cranleigh. We still need to win our last two and hope Cranleigh lose both but we are still fighting.
 
This was a strange win in that we bowled for 50 overs either side of a two hour break but only had 21 to bat with a revised target after some fearsomely complicated calculations. Quite why Woodmansterne's overs weren't reduced only the league committee will know.
 
Before the tea (and beer in a few cases) break we conceded quick runs but got 3 good wickets so honours were even when the rain got heavier after 13 overs. Cam Moore was delayed in transit so Grant made his decision on who would keep between Ben and Manav by asking Freddie to keep, this when Manav had already padded up. Our opening batters were our opening bowlers too and Ben and Manav both bowled an opener each. The other wicket fell to Mikey who caught the ball whilst appealing for a seemingly stone dead lbw and was so angry it wasn't given that he threw the stumps down, with the batsman having strangely wandered halfway up the pitch.
 
Groundsman Godders performed miracles with his super sopper and half an hour after the rain gave way to sunshine the pitch was ready, incredible given the square had been underwater. Cam's spell was superb and he was very unlucky to not strike. Nav however did to rip out their middle order. Like three or four others he had assumed there would be no more play and enjoyed a few beers watching the football. We may have stumbled across a revolutionary pre match routine for Nav. His four wickets including their gun player were crucial and his fielding looked to have improved markedly too after his refreshments. Slightly harsh of the skipper to take him off after 9 overs 4 for 19...
 
Dave Fearnside bowled beautifully to pick up two and Mahir finished things off with Woodmansterne 162 all out from 42, which represented an excellent session. Special mention to Freddie who surprised us all with an accomplished stint behind the stumps.
 
A good start was crucial and we got one as Ben and Manav smashed it to all parts for 22 and 21 before both were bowled with the score on 49. We wobbled further with Freddie Mike and Fearny all holing out but skipper Grant held firm to see us home with 26*, with young debutant Archie Foster also not out as we reached the target for the loss of five wickets.

27/08/11 - Old Hamptonians CC 2nd XI vs OPCC 2nd XI  - Won

On an astonishing Friends Provident t20 finals day, it was perhaps apt that we ended up playing a 20/20, though we were a long way from needing a super over to win. It was also a relief that OHCC had Sky Sports so we could watch cricket, rugby and football while waiting three and a half hours to start. For some reason the covers hadn't been on, despite torrential rain the day before and overnight and they were eventually put on just before the start time but in the middle of a very heavy and prolonged shower. Unfortunately the gutters were full and leaked onto the pitch, which probably delayed things by another hour. OHCC still had an outside chance of promotion so were keen to try and get a game in. The rain held off and the sun came out, which gave us a chance of getting back on but was also great growing weather for the already long grass in the outfield.
 
The toss was crucial and Grant called correctly, having no hesitation in bowling first. In Dodd, Edrich, Kokri and Parker we had the ultimate wet pitch attack, all skiddy and, as it turned out, lethal. OHCC did not score one boundary off the bat in their entire innings. All bowled excellently and John Sutherland performed the 5th bowler role superbly, going for just 13 off his 4 overs. Each bowler took at least one wicket but Ben Parker was the biggest beneficiary, picking up 5 wickets at the death as the lower order finally started to swing. So often over the years we've negated helpful pitches by offering up full tosses but I honestly can't remember one in 20 overs. Their total of 72 looked under par but we had to bear in mind that the pitch was very tricky and the outfield very slow. Special mention for our fielding display which was excellent all round, with some very muddy whites in evidence.
 
Importantly, we got off to a solid start. Paddy Edrich was watchful and left the strokeplay to Ben who (unlike the opposition) realised quickly that long grass doesn't slow the ball down in the air. Ben fell for 32, run out to a direct hit throw from the boundary off a wide. Paddy had got out just before trying to force the pace with our score in the 40s and so Tom Speller and the returning Alastair Grant were tasked with seeing us home. This they did, in some style in the end with Alastair rolling back the years with some powerful blows in an impressive 20* which saw us get home with a couple of overs to spare.
 
So a third win in a row! Sadly however Cranleigh won their game so we remain 11 points behind with only 10 points to play for, and will be playing in the Fullers with the 1sts and 3rds for the first time. Here's hoping the Fullers League survey about playing limited overs cricket produces the result we all want. A great winning run, of which we can be proud but unfortunately poor availabilities and a couple of missed opportunities meant we left it too late in the end. Our last game is against the mercurial Maori Oxshott, who are top of the league but very beatable, not least as they don't really believe in defensive shots. It would be great to go out on a high.

03/09/2011 - OPCC 2nd XI vs Maori Oxshott CC 2nd XI  - Lost

MOCC are runaway champions of the second division, and with OPCC having had their relegation confirmed last week we weren't in a position like last year where we could play all of the fringe 1s/2s players in the final fixture. So a weakened team took on the fearsome MO batting lineup, and the results were rather predictable. Disappointingly we became a bit ragged in the field and ended up conceding a mammoth 293, which would have taken a miracle to chase. Wickets were taken by Christian (1), Chetan (1), Theo Parker (1), Tom Speller (1), and Holland (2) while Gardner and Patel were unlucky not to pick any up.
 
The miracle didn't happen, the early wicket of Paddy Edrich got us off to a bad start and after a good partnership between Grant (15) and Patel (34) the wheels fell off and we lost regular wickets, eventually all out for just 110, with Dan Calvert (14) and Tom Speller (21) the only other batsmen to post double figures. This result didn't really matter and we look forward to finding more regular players in our bid to succeed in our first season alongside the 1sts and 3rds in the Fullers League next year.