ANOTHER FINE DAY, although some people arrived rather less than gruntled owing to duff directions. Sorry. Nevertheless, on the plus side was a good view of the new grandstand (not perhaps an architectural masterpiece), a nice secluded ground (though the pitch itself was erratic) and a very decent tea to look forward to. The opposition and their hirsute skipper Nick were very hospitable, and next season we hope to entertain them at Stonor. Ascot preferred a timed game – 20 overs from 5.00 p.m., but in the event they went in first and batted longer than expected so generously extended the time to 20 overs from 5.30, which meant the light was fading fast at the end. We started rather badly, or – to put it another way – very badly. Dennis’ bowling was tight and fast and he only went for 14 in 8 overs. But Adam, unfortunately, was […]

WE STRUGGLED to get a team together, as 4 or 5 regulars were away playing for some other tossers. But I did not want to disappoint the Jacobites, as this was their last game of the season and a farewell match for their Kiwi captain, David Macmillan, who was returning to New Zealand for good. Perseverance paid off and we ended up with a conventional 11 men, although Olly Bett’s dad Hugh had to be cajoled on the day, and handed my old cricket shoes that had been condemned in 1967. They did not help his fielding, but a missed catch at deep square leg would have been dropped by most of us; in the event it was a bit harsh of his son to shout abuse at him. Hugh is an antiquarian book dealer, not a professional cricketer. The Bett family provided three players – having also brought along […]

A 35-over game was played, which has the virtues of guaranteeing a result, allowing those with smart dinner-dates to arrive before their wives combust, and those of us with a drink problem to get to the pub before the shakes. We won the toss, batted and started indifferently, Rob Noble being bowled for 1. But the two Ollies, Holroyd-Pearce and Bett, put on a quick 80 odd before Bett was out for 18, after two delightful boundaries. H-P went on to make a stylish 91. All would have been very different if Thebetons had caught 6 chances before lunch, some that Noddy or Fotherington-Thomas would have snapped up. After lunch– during which the Red Kites performed an entertaining air show – they suddenly started to hold catches and our total, which seemed to be heading for 200 plus, receded alarmingly, eventually stuttering to 187. De Caires, Nixey, Bloxham, Morris and […]

A GLORIOUS JUNE DAY. And some glorious V&A batting. Sarah was away so catering was shared by Debs, Lucinda and your correspondent. All fine and dandy except that the opposition’s leading batsman was nobbled by Lucinda’s excellent tea-time trifle. The rich melange did for the poor man’s irritable bowel, his sorry condition was audible from the boundary. Roger was captain and was, as always, a decisive commander, but tactful and selfless too, dropping himself to number 11. One player (R. Smith) described his captaincy as ‘brilliant’. We played a 20-overs from 6.00 p.m. game. They won the toss but put us in to bat, being perhaps somewhat weaker in this department. Adam and Rob opened, soundly, Rob hitting a fine 4 before being caught – frustrating, as he rightly saw nothing fearsome in either bowling or pitch. N. Bird joined a free scoring Adam and the pair put on 50 […]

The talk in the dressing room was about Stonor suddenly bumping up the charge for the pitch to £130, and our proposal therefore to charge £15 per V&A player for a lunch day. Roger thought this would deter yoof. We will see. But, after discussion, we decided to ask the opposition for a total of £130 for their day out (with lunch included), which amounts to a bit over £12 per person. Next year, when we can give oppositions due warning, we would also charge them £15 per man. £10 per player for a tea-only afternoon is proposed. The day was again glorious. David Maddocks – the C.A.C. captain – he of the striped blazer and commanding ways, refused the limited overs option. We agreed eventually on 20 overs after 6 o’clock. David quite understandably prefers not to lose, and the possibility of a draw was an attraction. Through an […]

A FINE DAY, after a miserable early morning. We were within a minute of cancelling. A call was made at 9 to ascertain local pitch and sky conditions, and the prognosis was grim, rain looked set to persist. But we took the gamble to play and it paid off, by 11.30 blue sky appeared over Stonor and the sun came out for the rest of the day. Marvellous. Olly Bamber captained and he and Terry Blake, the Hermits’ skipper, decided on a 35 over game. You might have expected the day to end at 6 or so, given that we started at 12.15 but no, what with the ball getting lost and the opposition captain frigging about with field changes we didn’t finish until 7. The last 5 overs of their innings –they batted first – were both wearisome for older players, and expensive. They scored at 10 an over. […]