The share of the overs suggests that the declaration was about right, maybe even generous. On a fast scoring ground it was a shame that Tilford, having elected to chase a total, made no attempt to do so. They shut up shop with the tea still being cleared away while the Cryptics sportingly had six fielders round the bat in the early overs and inviting them - even verbally - to play some shots. That Tilford's talented young opener, Rooney, batted thoughout the reply for 88* and never looked in trouble made their tedious reply all the more baffling.

Earlier Greenhough opened the Cryptic batting to illustrate the end of term feel to this fixture. He raced to 15 while Andrell scratched around at first against some appetising early Tilford bowling. Hogben got within 5 of his season's best of 16 and Wright, the club's best walker, was away before his edge hit the 'keeper's gloves for a brisk 23. Seeckts took time to get going but eventually played a pivotal captain's knock of 42 as Cupit perished cheaply and McLoughlin slogged an attractive 38 on his return to a team that had done remarkably well during his two month absence. Seeckts was caught at deep mid off yet again but his dismissal was well timed for hard hitting Grindrod and Scott to rattle up 67 in the final 38 balls of the innings. Both played some terrific shots, the biggest and best a huge moo from Scott which landed in the house next to the pub.

For a long time after tea it seemed that the fun was over. Pow and McLoughlin pinned Tilford down but couldn't make sufficient breaks through. Greenhough's canteen was spurned by the batsmen, Scott and Grindrod were kept at bay so with the game seemingly dead at 114-3 with 11 overs remaining, Seeckts turned to the joke bowlers for some entertainment. Wright took 2-16 (one of them hit wicket) and Cupit 3-29 and at 157-8 with three overs remaining we hade a real contest on for the first time in the day. Tilford held out in fading light in spite of the return of McLoughlin who unleashed an unfortunate high full toss in the last over.

Tilford is a charming place to play and they are a delightful bunch of people. They might have more fun if they tried a bit harder to win. Have a look at the 2003 report.

Cryptic families focus on the game

Headley 29.08.04
Headley 185-5 dec (41 overs)
SCCC 103-3 (16 overs)
Abandoned as a draw
No toss
 
Older Cryptics hold fond memories of warm sunny days at Headley, the ground littered with spectators, a hard track and fast outfield making for free flowing cricket, lengthening shadows and long evenings with sausages and beer aplenty. Not this year. Wind and occasional rain swept the ground, ultimately killing the game with 12 overs remaining and the Cryptics well poised to notch up an eighth successive win. Headley's groundsman had clearly suffered with Britain's arable farmers, failing to harvest the hay crop on the wicket. A rotary mower was sent for before the start but it had little effect and, ashamed of their pitch, Headley generously offered to bat first without the need to toss a coin.

Goss and Grindrod did their usual thing with the new ball, the former not quite finding the edge and the latter not only finding it but having the catches held by stand in wicketkeeper Hope-Dunbar and veteran slipper Richard Atkinson. The former captain was making an overdue return to the side after several years of knee injury and New York living but still deserves his spot as first choice slip.

Peter Andrew left the field to put on a knee brace before bowling but stumbled as he returned to the field, spraining his ankle in the process. He bowled five pretty good overs before retiring to the pavilion for the rest of the day. By then Headley's Hopper was tucking in for 75 but when he chopped a Scott long hop onto his stumps the scoring slowed again. The long exiled Paul Neate turned up much as he used to, later and heavier than last time, and bowled respectably as Headley looked to declare. After a late start and a rain break, only some generous bowling from the skipper and the return of Goss finally forced the declaration which left us with a maximum of 32 overs to score 186. Goss took a wicket with his last ball as a bachelor.

The reply had to be aggressive from the start. Scott was promoted to open with Wright as he wished to leave early for a party. Wright got a straight one on 10, Scott was caught on the third man boundary on 29. 43-2 after 5 overs. Atkinson batted like his Dad used to on uncovered pitches in the 1960's, nudging singles at the end of most overs, Goss swiped 12 and the second rain break came on 67-3 from 11 overs. Fielders and batsmen alike were ready for the 12th over when it became apparent that Headley's umpire had made for the pavilion. Fifteen minutes were lost during which it rained harder and then stopped. 21 players were happy to continue (Scott had left by now), one non-player took some convincing. It was then decreed that 17, and not 21, overs remained. The Cryptics agreed to chase 7 per over, giving Hope-Dunbar the licence he enjoys to strike the ball high and hard. For five more overs he and Atkinson exceeded the required run rate and with Cryptic confidence high and some respectable batting to come we were favourites when serious rain put an undisputed end to procedings.

Thought for the week:
Friendly Sunday cricket is played purely for the enjoyment of it, largely by players lacking either the talent or the temperament for League cricket. Games are almost always umpired by players from the batting side without dispute or acrimony. The captains agree match conditions and occasionally vary them in the interests of creating as good a game as possible for everybody concerned. Bad weather, late arrivals, prolonged tea intervals, illness and injury can all be accommodated. Perhaps at our level the best chaps to wear the white coats also wear white trousers.

Claygate 15.08.04
SCCC 254-7 dec (46.2 overs)
Claygate 130 all out (42.5 overs)
Won by 124 runs
Claygate won the toss

248, 251, 257, 242, 253, rained off, 203, 224. Those are the Cryptic scores at Claygate since 1996, all of which have contributed to some great games. This was the first time that the opposition have not come to the party, although at 66-1 in the tenth over they had made their intentions clear. In the end their unnecessarily wreckless approach to a chase in which they needed to score 5.54 runs per over proved their downfall.

The Cryptics opened with a club, and maybe a world record 13 foot 3 inches of batsmen in the form of Streeter and Hogben. Streeter was put down at slip off the third ball and proceeded to be dropped six more times on his way to an otherwise graceful and well constructed 112. Classic drives punctuated his excessively chancy knock and with the Claygate keeper missing an easy stumping when the tall fellow was on 99, it was his ninth life that finally saw him depart in the 41st over. His partners were less lucky with the fielders and all fell to the first or second chance they offered apart from Hogben whose rotten season was not helped when cruelly triggered by umpire and workmate Joss Dare. David Grindrod continued where he left off the previous week, blasting 32 to bring on the declaration early enough to allow Claygate a possible 46 overs to chase.

It is tough for Peter Andrew to be asked to open the bowling at a venue where the tea is so good and the plates 12 inches in diameter. He and Grindrod did a reasonable job in tandem again while Claygate's openers began with gusto. Rufus Legg, a veteran of this fixture, has now completely given up off side strokes, but he carried his bat for 38 as all around blazed their way back to the heavily fortified pavilion. Legg pulled to Dare but was dropped, the first of about eight chances to go begging but Grindrod was always in the game, taking three catches and making a run out. Debutants Matthew Siebert and Danny Rowlands (more from the Dare camp) tried to offer some buffet, Siebert quickly trying his 8-1 legside field for Legg who continued to play the sweep shot. So  the ninth fielder moved to leg and the only offside shot Legg tried was the reverse sweep, which he missed. Scott was too tidy as ever so Greenhough was left to do the shopping, bagging numbers 7,8,9 and 10 for 28 runs. His first ball to number 11 (and hat trick ball) was a straight full toss that hit the pad bang in front of the stumps but the home umpire found cause to turn down an appeal audible in Esher. At the time 15 overs remained and it was not until only 3 overs and 2 balls remained that the returning Siebert induced the top edge that Andrell clung onto to win the match. The Cryptic gloveman had not batted (listed as number 11) due to a claret experience but had recovered well by 7pm.

The skipper's run famine and butter fingered season continued but a string of inspired bowling changes and field placings saw that the unprecedented run of victories, now seven, continued to the delight of Cryptics around the world.

08.08.04 Ottershaw
Ottershaw 158-7 dec (49 overs)
SCCC 161-3 (26.4 overs)
Won by 6 wickets
SCCC won the toss

Winning team at Ottershaw - 08.08.04

Nine English Cryptics and a Scottish one romped home at Ottershaw with 16.2 overs to spare. This was the first time since 27 June 1999 that a Cryptic team included no overseas player. That day we beat Royal Mills at Esher by 30 runs, Richard Atkinson kept wicket, made a stumping and scored a laboured 48 including two boundaries and Jimmy Greenhough took 3-38. It was also young Charlie Greenhough's first appearance at a Cryptic match, aged five weeks. The second to last time we fielded 11 Englishmen was 7 September 1997 at Tadworth, Richard Atkinson scored 64, Pippa 44 and Jimmy took 3-65. We lost.

So without pre-match bickering among the southerners about Tri Nations rugby we got on with the cricket at a refreshingly old fashioned 20 overs per hour. David Grindrod and Peter Andrew made a tidy start with the ball as the Ottershaw openers treated their green pitch and the bowling with undue respect. Andrew extracted considerable bounce up the hill but we didn't take a wicket until the 21st over when the score was 62. By then Jimmy Greenhough was giving the ball considerable 'air' down the hill but it seemed nothing could tempt the batsmen to take risks. For over an hour we used 100 years of bowling expereince in tandem. Andrew, now 51, bowled 16 overs unchanged for 2-39 and claimed to feel fine when taken off for no better reason than to give someone else a go. Greenhough bowled 13 requiring less huff and puff and took 3-43 including two in two balls. James Scott was too good to feed Ottershaw runs so it was left to the selfless captain and Dare to lower the canteen prices sufficiently to encourage the declaration. Ottershaw's Sexton came in at 87-3 in the 25th over. He was 6* after the 49th.

Awaiting the winning runs...

It would have been another great opportunity to drop Wright down the order, were he not already on holiday. Debutant Keith Taylor and veteran Gordon Mousinho kicked off in a way that could easily have been Hope-Dunbar and Wright. Mousinho last opened for the Cryptics in 1995, scored 100* with Thompson as his runner (due to his bad back) and then kept wicket after tea. This time he managed 7 before spooning a very young leg spinner to square leg. Hope-Dunbar looked in a hurry as usual, clouting 20 in three overs before finding the only fielder likely to hold onto a difficult catch. Dare caressed eight in gentlemanly fashion before finding the same fielder and Grindrod quickly put an end to such nonsense striking eight fours in 41* that spanned just six overs. Taylor batted throughout for his 67* showing all the hallmarks of a good Cryptic. Extolling the virtues of patience and playing the ball along the ground between overs, he nevertheless played some beautifully impetuous lofted strokes and reached his fifty by having an absolute sitter dropped at cover. For a man who had not batted since the 20th century it was quite a show. Batsmen who holiday in August risk finding out how Mark Butcher feels these days.

Crondall 01.08.04
Crondall 111 all out
SCCC 115-4
Won by 6 wickets
SCCC won the toss
 
A scorching day, a new fixture on a suspect looking pitch in the enchanting village of Crondall, a record 22 Cryptic spectators aged 0 to about 65 in attendance and the skipper bravely elected to field first. He did not reveal who had won the toss until the end of the third over, by which time Crondall had slumped to 0-3. Yep, three wickets down and not even a bye on the board. Debutant wicketkeeper Nick Pawson, yet another find from the legal profession, had a great day. He snaffled Crondall's talented opener, Strachan, second ball off Goss, took another in the third over, one more off Pow a little later and once he learned to wait until the ball had passed the stumps before taking it he made a stumping off Greenhough. This is getting harder as Jimmy gives the ball more loop by the week. If batsmen miss they now have ample time to regain their ground before the ball passes the wicket.
 
Crondall's recovery came courtesy of their skipper, Goss (no relation) whose solid defence was punctuated with some savage blows that threatened to maim reluctant silly mid-off Ware. Our Goss eventually got their Goss, and another for good measure and was removed from the attack with yet more splendid figures of 12-5-19-4. Like a man who has just heard the bell for last orders (he marries on 4 September) he has bagged 11 wickets for 65 in his last three games. Pow, meantime, had turned orange in the heat and been replaced by the wily Greenhough who managed to keep the bunnies down his end while Peter Andrew got some stick from Crondall's last capable hitter, James. Knowing his partners would not last long he thrashed a blacksmith's 29 before skying one to the reliable Cupit. The scorebook, copied by PAJA, says Greenhough took 2-28 and PAJA 2-17. It must be true.

Village cricket at its finest - winning at Crondall 01.08.04

The modest target allowed some tinkering with the batting order. Ware and Brooke-Webb were set to go off at a gallop but B-W was cruelly cut short heaving at a straight one. Hogben took up the chase and scored the first single of the innings with the score on 30 in the ninth over. He and Ware also succumbed to those pesky straight balls on 16 and 13 respectively bringing Wright and Seeckts together at 36-3. An avalanche of singles followed as they ensured the Cryptics were spared embarrassment. Seeckts perished to a rare ball that bounced above knee height, but Cupit whacked a hasty 31* to secure victory with 12.4 overs to spare. Wright, quietly grumpy when demoted from opening, had anchored well for his 30* and can be grateful for what was only his 10th not out in over 140 innings since 1992.
 
Sadly the ease of the win denied Pawson the chance to show his skills with the bat, and the bowlers missed out too, which can only be their fault for getting the wickets so easily. Well, it's supposed to be a team game. 

Old Cranleighans 17.07.04
Old Cranleighans 179 all out
SCCC 182-6
Won by 4 wickets
SCCC won the toss

Wicket keeper, Andrell, celebrates Greenhough bowling Pollitt with a double-bouncer, OCCC 17.07.04

After 364 days plotting their revenge for the Cryptics surprise 2003 win, the OC’s came up short again in a contest riddled with dynamic batting, dropped catches, great catches and every sort of bowling imaginable. A morning downpour had left the pitch wet for the start, making the insertion an easy decision on winning the toss, in spite of OC (non playing) skipper Martin Williamson’s midweek proclamation that they would ‘bat and bat and bat’ before declaring with the game safe. Well, that depended on not being all out in 37.2 overs.
 
A fired up Goss bowled beautifully from the start, having Chetwode neatly pouched by Hope-Dunbar at slip for a duck and Miller bowled round his legs. Leng was removed from the attack early to give them a chance from 19-3, but Goss soldiered on for 12 overs, finishing with a splendid 4-18 including the wickets of hockey stars Westcott and Stephens, who had engineered a recovery by getting stuck in to the change bowling of debutant Graham Thompson and Greenhough at the other end. Veteran Greenhough sent down 8 dismal overs but still managed to bowl one with a double bouncer and have another caught off a full toss. From 110-7 the OC tail wagged as Sam Watkinson and Peter Rollings struck the ball high and hard to set a target. Meantime the Cryptic South African contingent dropped 7 catches, Kowalski 3, McLean 3 and Thompson 1. Enough were held and the Cryptics were left with ample time (43 overs) to score 180.
 
Wright and Hope-Dunbar approached the task in their own different ways. A well constructed 8 from one and a belligerent 55 from the other which included a six that cleared the conifer hedge in front of the car park by some distance - see right. The OC attack was never allowed to find its rhythm as on the field skipper Chetwode tried all bowling options bar himself. Watkinson bowled the only maiden of the innings but now lacks the fire of his youth, and his attempts to intimidate the Cryptic lower order induced more chuckles than fear. His incensed ‘harrumph’ and protracted ‘teapot’ stance on being taken off only served to give his teammates a good laugh too.
 
By then the victory was a formality. Cupit and Thompson had done their bit and Basher McLean was casually stroking threes and fours to all corners. So solid was the Cryptic batting that it mattered not that Leng and Andrell, at 6 and 7, did not contribute, the latter pulling a hamstring and retiring on 3. Kowalski and then Seeckts kept McLean (58*) company to the end, which came with 20 balls to spare.

"It's behind you Dwight"

It was a well-contested and widely enjoyed day. With a gaggle of supporters including former Cryptic captain Andrew Thompson (left) to air his views on proceedings, Cryptic cricket looked in good health after a fourth win from four games in July. Jingle bells!

FAS Ramblers 15.07.04
FAS 189 for 7 dec
Cryptics 191 - 1
Won by 8 wickets
SCCC won the toss

After last year's rain and mud slinging it was a welcome sight to see the dark clouds whistling by without dropping their load, although in fact by the end of the day the FAS must have felt that they had been dropped on, not by the rain but by the weighty bat of Cyptics ringer Matty Heelan. His unbeaten 102 was a brutal assault on a bowling attack that was tiring after 4 consecutive days of cricket, and such was the rate of his run scoring that he made the Cyptics' most prolific batsmen, Andrell, look pedestrian whilst compiling 68 not out. The only success for the FAS was the wicket of Peter Moore who displayed great energy with the bat in hand, the only drawback being that he failed to transfer any of that energy to the ball. Although his Zoro like innings failed to trouble the scorers, he did keep Greg company for long enough to establish a 29 run opening partnership.

The stand-in skipper, Big Jim, had earlier won the toss and inserted the FAS side on a green strip that kept new ball bowlers Pow and Edwards interested. Joss Dare, a regular Cryptic, made batting look easy to begin with and runs started to flow until the whole wealth of Cryptic spin was thrown into action. Jimmy lobbed them up to claim two victims, including one catch by Big Jim and his go-gadget arms that was plucked out of nowhere. Operating at the other end were the ‘Ging’ twins of Stevens and Scott, keeping things tight, the former ending with most respectable figures of 2 for 31. A late flurry of activity as Cupit bowled an over that was despatched so far that he sought solace behind the stumps as Andrell finished things off with the ball.