Sunday 1 June 2025
SCCC 142 all out (25.3 overs)
Vagabonds 125 all out (34.3 overs)
SCCC won by 17 runs
Declaration match
Vagabonds won the toss
Scorecard
Deep into Hampshire for a first game with Vagabonds CC, another timed game. Plan A scuppered by skipper Goss losing the toss. Seeckts Jnr and Dom set a solid platform from some wayward bowling, Toby (34) falling to a slip catch that took all concerned by surprise. 60-1 off 10 overs. Seeckts Snr then observed Dom’s innings from the non-strikers’ end, contributing six in a 52 run partnership as Dom took a shine to M Hill, the young paceman who personified Einstein’s definition of insanity by bowling bouncer after bouncer which were consistently deposited to the ropes. However, when Dom was stumped for 60 trying to smear a wily old spinner over the road, DOMination suddenly became DOMinoes. From a promising 112 for 2 after 17 overs, young Hill switched from bowling swatable long-hops to aping his senior at the other end with devilish off spin, the type that turns and bounces on the right surface, not the pies lobbed up in hope by countless ageing Crypos who passed for bowlers in a bygone era.
Bridges started the collapse, raising an itchy digit out of habit when Seeckts was struck on the pad. 112 for 3. Plenty of experience left in the hutch, ‘no worries’ bleated the brace of Aussies eager to get a bat.
Hugs, somewhat miffed to have his scoring stint interrupted, let his first one hit the pegs and went back to the book. Top club man,112-4. Andy R and Dwight, cool and experienced heads…. DC scooped back to the bowler before Pup’s eyes-closed-yahoo went up and came down into safe hands. Both ducks, 116-6.
Bridges, mercifully relieved of the white coat, ‘missed’ a straight one and was shamefully given out LBW by umpire Dom after whacking the ball into his back pad. (Schadenfreude-ED).
On the sidelines, Toby remarked on a vital and versatile life lesson instilled from birth: “Count to six and say ‘Not Out’.” Everyone understands until it matters. 126 for 7.
Will Ware was there for a good time, not a long time and fell for 0, looking to hoik one into the horse stables. 126 for 8.
Andy chipped back to the bowler for the third top score of 12. 126-9. Which left Ed, always eager to make a point when given a chance with the bat, and Gossy to rescue the situation after a collapse of eight wickets for 14 runs. After surviving the softest dropped catch in memory, they mustered 16 futile runs for, in the final reckoning, we would have won the match by one run if they hadn’t.
M Hill finished with figures of 0-38 off 4 overs as a seamer and 6-2 off 3 overs as an off-spinner. Hmmm.
Tea was an awkward affair after both a record breaking collapse and a record equalling two LBWs given in one innings. Amused despair shrouded the Cryptics as pork pies were hastily consumed to bring the sorry match to an end as swiftly as possible.
Skipper Goss lead from the front with an economical opening spell starting with back-to-back maidens. He was ably supported by opening bowler Ed who picked up a wicket in his second over. No thoughts were given to the result and only to Ed’s burgeoning wicket stats for the Cryptics. Of greater interest were the four byes that brought up Pup’s career 700 byes conceded, though the scorebook was later altered to make them wides. Those present know.
Ed picked up a second wicket in his third over which brought the Vagabonds to a dismal start of 13 for 2. Handshakes all-round for Ed but surely we couldn’t defend such a low score on a rapid outfield? Goss was rewarded for his tight bowling and joined the action by clipping the off stump of the Vagabond #4 and eyes turned towards the scoreboard: 16-3. Could we? Gossy took another two wickets to take him to 250 for the Cryptics and the Vagabonds to a precarious 19 for 5. GAME. ON.
Goss opted to rotate bowlers from his end, throwing the pill to Bridges, followed by Dom, Andy and then Dwight for two overs each to keep the batters batsmen guessing with some mystery ‘spin’. All the while, Ed ploughed on, another wicket in his 7th over to take the score to 25 for 6 as the Vagabonds competed for the ‘worst collapse’ accolade. Then, the Cryptics were ambushed by an 81 run partnership by the #5 and #8 (M Hill again) batsmen and only the faintest glimmer of hope remained.
Just before Ed’s shoulder fell off, he made the vital breakthrough in his 15th consecutive over and the game was reignited: 106 for 7. Goss smelt bunny blood and re-entered the attack to claim another important scalp by removing Hill for 56. The game had swung once again in favour of the Cryptics and Ed was the man to wrap-up the tail, ending with figures of 6 for 25 from 16.3 consecutive overs with 5 maidens.
Vagabonds were 125 all out and fell 17 runs short. Spare a thought for M Hill who scored over 150 runs and took 6 wickets over the weekend and lost both matches. This was quite the comeback for the Cryptics filled with tumbling records and another stellar victory.
Jingle Bells.
Statistical notes:
The Cryptic collapse was a smash hit in club records of 455 matches since 1990 including:
Four Cryptic ducks in the innings is equal 5th worst.
Losing 9-30 is the 4th worst 9 wicket collapse.
Losing 8-16 is an all time record and nothing comes close in recent times.
Losing 7-14 twice in the same innings take 1st and 2nd on that list.
Losing 6-14 three times in the same innings occupies 8th, 9th and 10th on that level of collapse.
Losing 5-4 is the equal 4th worst such disintegration.
However, we won the match with all 10 opposition wickets taken by only two bowlers for the first time in recorded history. The closest previous occasion was at Beddington in 1990 when, PAJA explains, “we rolled them for 75. Four for Jimmy, five for me and I put their opener in hospital. OK, it was a half-tracker that he tried to pull and top-edged into his face, but still….” https://www2.cricketstatz.com/ss/w?club=20715&mode=100&match=166921
Ed made a six course meal of bowling 16.3 overs unchanged but that was standard fare up to the John Major years, the longest recorded spell being Mark McLoughlin’s 24 overs taking 3-103 at Putney 0n 2 June 1991, a day short of 34 years before Ed’s modest spell. His figures of 6-35 are the 9th best in history, an opportunity to publish this.
Gossy became the fourth Cryptic to take 250 wickets, finishing the game with 251, three behind the great Jimmy Greenhough in 200 more overs while conceding 700 fewer runs.
A game for the ages, not to mention many of both sides sporting club blazers to scare the locals off at the pub.