Final Word

 Well, sitting in the departure lounge at Cape Town International, it seems like an eternity since our first posting on this blog at Heathrow.  This really has been a wonderful tour to be on – I hope that the boys have enjoyed themselves as much as Mr Welch and I have.  They certainly seem to have done so, and it is to be hoped that they have also learned a great deal about themselves and their cricket over the course of the past ten days or so.

The cricket was challenging in the main, and made even more so by playing on some unpredictable end of season wickets.  The boys came up against some very good opponents and overall acquitted themselves well, finishing with three wins and three defeats, suggesting a perfect balance between success and learning.

Away from the cricket the group gelled very well and looked out for each other; there was rarely any split between the older and the younger boys and new friendships will certainly have been made.  The excursions up Table Mountain, to Robben Island, around Newlands, and into the township at Langa gave the boys opportunities to see much of South Africa’s physical and cultural diversity.  It was interesting to note that many of the boys picked out their experience of coaching some boys from the township as their highlight of the tour.

I’d like to thank Graham Cooper for his support throughout the tour as umpire and wise counsel, Stuart Welch for his dedication to pushing  the boys to be the best they can be, and to Henry Harrod for his all-round technical know-how, photography and general good humour!  Now to start planning for 2013…….

Monday - Match 6 - Coronations CC

 The final game of our tour was against a Coronations side of whom we knew very little, though we had been warned throughout the tour that they had some top quality players, including some Western province players. This turned out to be the case on the bowling front.

Cranleigh lost the toss under new captain Bruno Broughton and were put in to bowl first on a unique pitch; the bounce of the ball on it was about as predictable as the national weather forecast. However, Shane Thomson picked up an early wicket with his first ball of the game to leave them 2-1, and a seemingly effective recovery partnership was broken by Ollie Cross, and with two wickets in two balls leaving them 28-3 after 8.2 overs. Patrick Wilson picked up a wicket quickly afterwards and after 12.4 overs they were in an even worse position, 41-3. Once again they began making a recovery, but Ed Spencer managed to remove the off bail and emphasise our grasp on this game. Once again shortly after the same bowler managed to get the vital wicket of their number 3, a batsman who had stuck around for too long and was building an innings. With the help of some great keeping from Ted Croker, Patrick managed to get his second wicket of the match. With Bruno removing their number 9 with some extreme luck, it was just left to Ben Wilson to skittle the final two batsmen to leave them 95 all out.

Overconfident after a great fielding display, we set about batting. It appeared that we had underestimated the opening bowlers, and we found ourselves in serious trouble, 29-4 after 13.4 overs, with their score of 95 not looking so bad after all. However, two well played recovery innings by Bruno and Ted managed to take us to 90-4, needing 6 to win with 6 wickets in hand. Somehow unfortunately we tied the scores with only 1 wicket to spare! Ollie Cross saw us over the line and I’m sure I am not the only one who thought this win was too close for comfort. 

Thanks to Mr Ross and Mr Welch for organising such a fantastic tour. The final leading wicket takers were Alex Foster with 14, Bruno Broughton with 9 and Patrick Wilson with 4. The top run scorers were Bruno Broughton with a total of 112 runs scored on the tour, Ted Croker with 106 and Sanjay Appan with 98. 

Paddy Wilson

Photos In Correct Order

 Just to let everyone know that the photos are now all in order of date and are being refreshed with some more recent pictures as we speak. Enjoy!

Saturday - Match 5 - Ottomans CC

 Having won the toss, captain Peter Westcott elected to bat against a fired up Ottomans side. We got off to a slow start, going at a run rate below three, and matters worsened with the top order batsmen giving their wickets away cheaply. Croker and Appan scored 23 and 32 respectively, but neither were able to push on and make a big score- a problem which has been present throughout the tour, in relation to the batting unit as a whole. Consequently, there were often two new men at the crease and we were unable to press on to reach a total that would be considered respectable on a relatively solid wicket. Lower down the order, the batting was equally weak, with five wickets falling for thirteen runs. Our opposition, however, did bowl and field exceptionally well, and they rightly dominated us in the first innings- they bowled straight throughout and their energy levels were commendable, and Cranleigh finished 133 all out.

Ottomans started positively, with one of their openers pushing it around, comfortably reaching the necessary run rate. We missed several chances early on, and if we’d taken one or two of these, it may well have been a completely different game, because only one of their players scored above 20. Despite this, two wickets fell around the eighth and ninth over, and some pressure was put on the batsmen, but increasingly there was a sense that this game might slip out of our grasp. After a word from the management team at drinks, however, things changed and the wickets started to fall, thanks to some good bowling from Alex Foster and Shane Thomson. Ottomans lost six wickets for 16 runs, but unfortunately the last wicket was out of our reach. Our team spirit and willingness to fight for the result is worthy of note, because at one stage of the match, our energy in the field amply demonstrated our lack of determination and grit. If we had acted like this throughout the game, the victory might have been accessible. Finally, credit must go to Alex Foster for his cracking figures, 9.5-0-29-6, which included a hat-trick.`

It’s certainly worth mentioning the Ottomans’ hospitality, because throughout the day we were treated extremely well, and their presentation after the game expressed their delight to host us. The match was played in great spirit, and it was an enjoyable day, despite the result.

Ted Croker