Sunday 2 August 2026
SCCC 237 all out (38.4 overs)
Claygate 229-7 (40 overs)
SCCC won by 8 runs
40 over match
Claygate won the toss (according to the scorebook)
Scorecard
Archie Goss writes:
On a particularly hot Sunday afternoon, we headed to Claygate for the second of three big games of the season. It was definitely a toss to win, and captain Toby understood the situation perfectly, duly winning it and putting us into bat.
Ingo and Toby opened up, and despite Ingo doing his usual best to get himself out, he was, for once, undone by a genuinely good ball, leaving us 9-1.
Keith came in and helped steady the ship, building a solid 68-run partnership. This was followed by a very good, but very brisk, 32 from Harvey. Once Harvey departed, however, the partnerships became shorter and shorter, leaving Ricky to be passed on twice in three overs.
Most notably, Alex departed first ball of his Cryptics career, leaving Nick — more accustomed to turning out for the opposition — to arrive at the crease with the rather awkward prospect of facing a hattrick ball. It was hardly the warmest welcome, but he survived the moment and got on with the job.
Despite the rapid fall of wickets, Archie, playing his first game back from the land down under, produced an excellent innings and scored his maiden half-century for the club before falling in the final over. This left us with a roughly par score of 237 and set us up for what promised to be a good second-innings battle.
The opposition started strongly, but just before the opening stand reached fifty, Grindrod struck, helped by a sharp rebound catch from Ingo behind the stumps. This was closely followed by a catch from Toby, glasses on as usual, from the clinical bowling of Nick.
With the ball, the spinners were excellent. They bowled very well throughout their spells, keeping the batsmen under pressure and creating plenty of opportunities. The only disappointment was that the wickets didn’t quite come in the numbers the bowling deserved.
Paul also managed to redeem his duck with the bat by producing a beauty with a little help from the pitch, picking up his first wicket for the Cryptics.
There were also contributions of a more entertaining nature. Oscar displayed a touch of Warnie, despite what the figures may suggest, bowling excellently throughout. Sam appeared to follow the lead of the captain and his glasses, and the decision seemed to pay off in its own way as he picked up a wicket with some more first-class bowling at the other end.
The pair also created a little bit of Cryptics history, becoming the youngest bowling partnership in the club’s history, with a combined age less than that of most of the other people on the field.
Then came Keith’s run-out.
Having been sent scrambling in the outfield, Keith attempted an underarm return that resulted in him looking, for a short but memorable period, rather like a dying horse attempting to make it back to the stable. The run-out was completed, although quite how athletic the whole affair actually was remains a matter for debate.
With 32 needed from the final over, things came much closer than was comfortable. Fortunately, we managed to hold on by eight runs and secure our second first-class victory of the season.
Despite the heat, the occasional eccentricity and a few moments where things threatened to get unnecessarily interesting, it was ultimately a very good win, with plenty of moments of brilliance and comedy to round off an enjoyable Sunday.