President’s Weekend – Marlborough

A new venue this year, as the excellent Sandroyd School pitch was being relaid. As usual, our President pulled a rabbit out of the hat – the Marlborough College 1st X1 pitch, as marvellous a place to play cricket as you can imagine. Fixtures Secretary Joe Cannon’s occasional wandering side the Arcadian Casuals provided the opposition (and the lunch).
Under leaden skies on Saturday morning, the Pres chose to bat. He should have known better. Marc ‘Horse’ Callcutt – who once took 8-24 for the Refreshers at Greenwich, was in the mood. An exemplary spell of lively fast bowling from the Beagle Kennel End brought him the scalps of the flower of the Refreshers’ top order, including two catches in the slips by P. Rincess, the second of which (Silva) was as good a catch as anyone playing had ever seen, low, behind him and to his right. The Pembrokeshire Express Dylan Moses chugged in from the other end and picked up a couple more and the Refreshers were reeling before the lunch break.

An excellent lunch seemed to fortify the batting side and they recovered to 150 all out, led by a solid 46 from Covell and with Spurr hitting a doughty 32, belying his position in the order. 150 seemed too few but some canny bowling followed (Warlow ended with 4-40 off his eleven) and the Casuals, too, made heavy weather of the total, before the middle and lower order steadied things. T Voodoo scored a tidy 55, before Callcutt and D Voodoo (another sometime-Refresher) steered the Casuals home for the loss of 8 wickets. Young Refreshers googly-merchant Charlie Covell took 4-33 and bowled tidily but the Casuals could not be contained.

Sunday brought reinforcements for the barristers, Club Captain Anu Mohindru arriving (late) to bolster the ranks, along with Edwards and Covell Senior. The Casuals batted first this time, and Wilf Lloyd batted with a clear head for a brutal 61, punishing anything short with powerful clips for six into the crèche. Cannon (38), alongside Godschalk (20) and latterly Callcutt (13) took the Casuals to 157 all out, Cayford rolling back the years to take 4-32 (although kept his bouncer – once famed to have cleared the sightscreen on the second bounce – under wraps).
The Casuals lost key man Callcutt to an arm injury early, which left them short of bowling options, and they toiled against the refreshed Refreshers, Edwards (56) and Covell Junior (62) showing the benefits of not indulging in the Cayfords’ hospitality. The target was reached with the loss of just 4 wickets – one of them (Covell) stumped by The Badger off Tom Gold – a lovely moment.

As ever the Pres laid on a magnificent weekend and we all trekked home to London well fed, well watered and having had our fill of excellent, competitive but good-natured cricket. The Club rarely feels as healthy as on these wonderful weekends.

JC