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CAPTAIN’S REPORT

This is the captains report for the 2019 season of the Ancient Mariners Cricket Club. A see-saw season that accompanied a winning world cup and some Ashes heroics….

As usual it was firstly to Fernhurst… Losing the toss we batted first and made 129 with Gumps and Robin the only batsman into double figures – but score they did – John with his first 50 for the Mariners and Robin with 46 allowing us to get to 129 from our 35 overs – Hooky and the Pres holding on to see out the overs. In reply Fernhurst made fairly short work of things which on a double jumper day might not have been a bad thing. Westwood and Methley both picked up wickets with the ball, but the home side got to their target with 11 overs to spare.

On to the Horse Guards at Tillington under fairer skies – we were put in and made 170ish with Gumps and Robin again in the runs accompanied by Ali Cannon. In reply after a strong start Tillington were pegged back by wickets from Robin, Freddie and Julian. Needing 26 from the final over our hosts fell short giving the Mariners a 21-run victory. The fielding performance will however perhaps be remembered for the emergence of “safe-hands” Rex…

In the first visit to Ockham we batted first by negotiation; Charlie and Freddie making hay with 33 and 29 accompanied by Will 27 not out on our way to 134. Early wickets for Westwood and Hodgson with 4 consecutive ducks for Ockham saw them in trouble but a superb rear-guard action from their number 9 and 11 saw them over the line – a one wicket loss for the Mariners.

At Elstead Methers and Wootters put on 77 for the opening wicket – Mike going on to score 61. Robin and Will capitalised on the opening stand with Robin scoring 106 and Will 31 as the Mariners amassed 264 from 35 overs. Unsurprisingly Elstead struggled to keep up with the rate in their reply – despite a superb 113 not out from their number 5 batsman. Some tight bowling from Magnus and wickets for Julian restricted the home side to 209 – a 55 run win for AMCC. Bizarly a rule was imposed which meant the bowlers only changed ends every 10 overs – that’s not something we’ll be trying again…

In the first game at Ebernoe we took to the field with Freddie and CvO opening the bowling – wickets were hard to come by, even for Jake stranded on 999 wickets – thanks to butter fingers Freddie. The batting side made 203 before declaring at tea. Although Kai did pick up his first wicket for the club. The mariners reply got off to a good start with Gumps getting another half century making 69 accompanied by Jake who made 54. Requiring 30 odd from the last 8 overs it was not to be as the mariners slipped from 175 for 4 to 181 all out losing by 22 runs.

In the second Ockham match it was 40 overs a side and batting first AMCC got to 202 for 9 with Will top scoring on 59. The Ockham openers set about the target with gusto both getting half centuries before then falling to Jake for his 1000^th and 1001^st wickets. However, on a good day for batting Ockham got across the winning line with 2 overs and 6 wickets in hand – a double for the OCs.

Dunfold only manged to get 4 names down for our game with them so that fixture was cancelled but it was on to Shackleford where the home side batted first in a timed game. Despite only 2 batsmen getting into double figures they made 181 all out. 3 wickets a piece for Magnus and the by now mid-season form Jake. In reply a direct hit saw Jon G run out for 1 and Magnus seen off LBW early doors however Wootters and Tariq steadied the ship putting on 50 for the 3^rd wicket. With JC going well and the score on 124 for 7 the mariners were creeping towards the winning line, but another run out and a cluster of late wickets saw us all out 20 runs short of our target and another defeat.

Blistering heat at Toys Hill saw the 9 present mariners arrive looking for shade but instead we went straight out into the field. The home side made 198, 3 wickets a piece for Wootters and Tariq – the latter making it through 12 overs in the sweltering conditions. After tea the Mariners set about the target in sturdy fashion, Dan Holmes batting most of the innings on his way to 32 accompanied by Will who also got 32. With the 20 overs counting down and needing wickets for victory Toys brought the field up and Wootters was able to take advantage of the gaps getting to 52 with a four off the last ball of the game securing a draw for the mariners.

At Hambledon under grey skies the Mariners batted first and made 188 not quite lasting 35 overs, Charlie our top scorer on 48 contrasting to the last 4 batsman who all registered ducks. Hambledon did bat out their overs but despite a late thrash fell short of their target by 20 runs. Jake and CvO the pick of the bowlers with 3 wickets a piece – and in this game it was safe hands Finn who took 3 catches!

Follies fell by the wayside thanks to some other cricket taking place in London which turned out to be nearly as exciting as the Mariners season – a champagne super over witnessed by Jake, Dan and JC all at Lords. So it was to Lodsworth.  Again batting first, the mariners scored 147 – JC top scoring with 32 ably assisted by the Holmes boys – carrying some of that world cup winning form onto the field. It was Dan who also shone with the ball taking 4 wickets as the mariners bowled the home side out for 116 – another win for the tally.

Things took a bit of a turn for the worse at Vagabonds in Bentworth however… batting first we made 140 with Freddie on 36 and Cieran on 21 – it turned out not to be a competitive score with the Vagabonds knocking off the runs in 22 overs with some aggressive batting. Fielding was a dangerous game – Wootters wore one in the ribs that burst through his hands and Cieran ended up with a fractured ankle after failing to get out of the way of one hit back at him off his own bowling. A bruising encounter in more ways than one…

In a 30 overs game at Chiddingfold it was a better outing for AMCC as we made 197 batting first – Freddie scoring 58 and Will and Charlie both making boundary laden 30s. Our hosts batted well but struggled to keep up with the rate despite a gallant 76 from their number 3 – the last wicket falling to the last ball of the match with Chidd 45 runs short.

The return to Ebernoe was a damp muddy affair underfoot but it found the Mariners continue their winning ways – Petzold jr the leading wicket taker with 3-24 as the home side made just 113. The mariners knocked them off with 3 wickets in hand Robin getting 40 at the top of the order – our first victory at the Noe for a few years.

The Ashes heroics of Headingly 2019 (as witnessed first-hand by Julian) coincided with some Mariner heroics at steep. Here’s JC’s match report: Best toss of the summer (so to speak) meant mariner bliss sitting in shade in 30 degrees watching Steeps finest (and youngest) wilt in the outfield while we listened to and prayed with Sirs Stokes and Leach. Bring it home they did. In striking parallels mariners were 30-5 until 14-year-old master blaster Dan Thornton arrived on the scene to cart a swashbuckling 30. Sinews duly stiffened Dan Holmes plundered his first (but not last!) mariner half century with Will also magnificently manning the barricades (no deal) until the time came to launch the counter. Agincourt/el Alamein/ steep. The finest tea of the season inspired a flawless mariner catching display (yes I know) and scuttle what seemed like ever smaller batsmen coming to the middle.

Now, we’ve seen some low scores at Kirdford over the years and I said this was a see saw season…Batting first Robin again lead the way with 25 followed by Fred on 5, Jake on 3 and Dan on 2. No one else got past 1 as we were dismissed for 45. A pre-tea turnaround ensued, and the home side knocked off the runs but not without a wobble or 2 as we took 6 wickets in the 20 overs we fielded for. If it’s any consolation – and I think it might have been – we smashed them in the beer match.

Finally, it was a win at Lynchmere to end the season. They batted first and got 168, Dan and Joseph picking up 2 wickets each and there was another catch for Rex! The mariners knocked off the runs with 5 overs to spare – a superb 88 from Freddie before Jake and Will saw us home to victory!

The final numbers sum up the season quite well – from 18 fixtures we played 16 – Won 8, Lost 7 and drew 1. As I mentioned in my non-speech at the dinner the batsman’s run tally of 2341 out weighed the runs conseeded by the bowlers by just a single – so actually the see-saw was fairly well balanced…Freddie earned the bowling cup with 11 wickets at 13 and also snuck the batting cup thanks to that final innings at Lynchmere. Will, Wootters and Robin all within a couple of runs of Fred’s average of 27.7. John Hook took home the founders cup – the unsung hero of this season and many, many more.

That concludes the Captains report for the AMCC 2019 season.

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2019 AVERAGES

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