The forecast was for 21 in London and warnings were out that there was to be severe threats of pollution in the sky due to the mixing of the warm air and pollution from France and the rest of Europe. We had to travel to about an hour South East of London to a small village of Goldaming to play at a pretty impressive school - Charterhouse.
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| View of the school from the Development XI's ground |
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| View from the boundary of the 1st XI fixture |
The Development XI chose to bat first in their match against Charterhouse. Will Macfarlane and George Blake got the team off to a great start with quick singles and lose ball despatched. The pair put on 73 for the first wicket in less than 13 overs. College bought up 100 in the 20th over for the loss of 3 wickets, which then saw Blake and Zac Jones put on 93 in a run a ball partnership before Jones was out for 46. The Charterhouse leg spinner then had the College changing shed scrambling when they went from 217 for 4 to 227 for 8 with Blake still their watching from the other end. Riley Tempero joined Blake and the pair scored 50 runs in the last 6 overs to post a team score of 277 for 8. During this partnership George Blake completed his century and finished 111 not out. George faced the first ball and last ball of the innings and becomes the first Development player to score a century on any of the UK cricket tours.
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| Blake's drive to bring up his century |
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| ... and the celebration! |
The bowling and fielding matched the batting with a consistent, enthusiastic and committed effort. Tempero and Simpson had the opposition 2 for 7 off 7 before some resistance was shown by the local batsmen. A good 3rd wicket partnership was stopped by Ben Aitken before wickets were regularly achieved with the team being dismissed for 110. The spinners of Ben Aitken and Zac Jones claimed three wickets each.
In the end a convincing 176 run win to start the UK leg of the tour. George Blake was named College's Player of the Day.
Short scorecard:
Batting
W Macfarlane 23
G Blake 111no
J Bird 16
K Weeks 2
Z Jones 46
K Thatcher 17
J Raymond 2
S Abbot 0
A Simpson 4
R Tempero 24no
B Aitken dnb
Bowling
A Simpson 6-0-18-1
R Tempero 5.4-3-13-2
S Abbot 3-0-20-0
B Aitken 10-2-22-3
J Bird 2-0-9-0
K Thatcher 3-1-5-0
Z Jones 3-0-15-3
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| 1st XI celebrate a wicket |
The 1st XI fixture
saw Nic Murray make his debut. College decided to field first after winning the
toss, although it did look like the wicket would be a good one. Charterhouse
began very well and put College under intense pressure. After 8 overs
Charterhouse was 48/0, with one batsman very dominant. Murray picked up a
wicket the next over, Whyte another on the following over. Murray, Thomson,
McKellar and Freeman-Greene then picket up wickets, and Freeman-Greene secured
a direct hit run out. The end result was that Charterhouse had stumbled to
113/7 at lunch. College was now in the box seat. After lunch there was the
expected fightback, although Murray did take another wicket. A missed opportunity saw runs suddenly come freely. Williamson was used as the 6th bowler
and he secured his maiden 1st XI wicket while Thomson gained the
final one. Charterhouse had progressed through to 173; a total that meant a
good quality batting effort would be needed for College to secure victory.
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| Murray bowling |
A steady start was provided by Williamson (20) and
Isaac Bird (5), but Bird was dismissed with the score at 17, and crucial batsman
Thatcher was dismissed next ball. Dickie played some solid drives but his
dismissal meant College was certainly struggling at 35/3. Just after tea it was
53/4 as Williamson departed. It was critical a strong partnership was
developed. The run rate was satisfactory, but the loss of wickets was certainly
making it hard for College. Beckett (45), despite feeling very unwell batted
very well to again provide the impetus
for the innings. The degree of his performance was only really seen when he
left the ground on being dismissed to vomit. The 50+ partnership with
Freeman-Greene meant that College was back in the game (109/5), but there was
still much work to do. Freeman-Greene certainly stood up and was well supported
by Murray. Murray capped off a fine debut in scoring 21; his dismissal was
mightily unfortunate as he hit the ball to the outfield to only then slip and
crash into his own wickets. Victory was in sight but a further 30 runs were
required. Thomson offered good support to Freeman-Greene who was able to calmly
rotate the strike and score 19 singles from the final 28 balls he faced. He cemented victory for the team, but was dismissed trying to finish the game and
avoid taking it to the last over. The first ball of the final over saw College
gain a very good three wicket victory. Freeman-Greene was named College’s Player of
the Day, although Murray and Beckett were also instrumental in the victory.
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| 1st XI team following their victory |
1st XI Scoreboards:
Thomson 8-1-41-1
Whyte 10-1-43-2
Murray 10-1-46-3
McKellar 6-3-6-1
Freeman-Greene 10-1-28-1
Williamson 2-1-2-1
Catches: Williamson, Leggat (2), Thatcher (2), Bird
Williamson 20
Bird 5
Thatcher 0
Dickie 10
Beckett 45
Freeman-Greene 40
Murray 21
Thomson 12no
Leggat 0no
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