We fielded first against Waxlow in a 40 over game, with Rich Hillman skippering in Alex’s absence. James and Suleiman opened the bowling, and put the batsman under pressure immediately with some accurate bowling on a sporting wicket. Suleiman struck first, courtesy of a good overhead catch by Junky at point followed by a rather ungainly tumble. Suleiman found some good away swing to keep the batsman on their toes, while James gave nothing away at the other end, and the score trickled to 20-1 off 8 overs. James then dismissed the number 3 batsman as your reporter held a skier at mid on to make it 22-2. Rich Hillman then told Suleiman it was his last over, and this tactical ploy worked as Suleiman claimed his 2nd wicket, bowling a batsman to make it 22-3. Unlike Alex, rich hillman doesn’t take bowlers off after wicket taking overs J, and so Suleiman claimed his 3rd wicket in the next over as Suhail safely pouched a catch at mid off. Suhail has now decided to use 2 hands for his catches just to be on the safe side (boring!), despite taking some fine one handed catches after breaking a finger in his left hand earlier this season. Suleiman claimed his 4th wicket in his 6th over, as Richard Hillman reacted well to catch a leading edge. Suleiman almost claimed a 5th wicket but a return catch narrowly eluded him (or perhaps he’s learnt jug avoidance from the master- “4 wickets and I’m done” Shannon), finishing with 4-21 off a fine 7 over spell. At the other end, James finished a miserly spell of 1-8 off 7 overs, despite suffering the after effects of a 15 mile bike ride, other members of our superfit team such as Harris, Ringer and Shannon would have taken such exertions in their stride! With Waxlow reeling at 31-5 after 14 overs, Junky and Suhail came on as first change and run scoring now slowed to a complete trickle. Suhail obtained his usual prodigious turn, and bowled 1 batsman and had another LBW to make it 33-7 off 17 overs. He then claimed a 3rd wicket as Junky held on to another catch at point, again taking a tumble for dramatic effect, or perhaps just complete lack of coordination! Junky then polished off the innings by bowling the last batsman, and 10 man Waxlow were dismissed for 40 in the 25th over. Suhail finished with 3-4 off 5 overs, and Junky took 1-6 off 5.4 overs, and the bowlers all deserved their excellent bowling figures, making good use of a helpful wicket. Although Waxlow were probably missing their best player, they do have some good batsmen, and the bowlers were well supported by some good catches, and fine fielding.

Bruce and I opened the batting, and my poor run of form continued as I edged a good delivery onto my stumps to depart for 1. Richard Saldanha played a couple of good looking shots before he was bowled for 8 to leave us 17-2. Nadir Gohar played a couple of elegant spencer- esque late cuts (in spencer’s case they were edges!) for 3 runs apiece before top edging a pull to square leg. However, Richard Hillman (8*) and Bruce (10*) saw us home without further alarm, and richard even managed to coax an all run four out of Bruce after a neat sweep shot for what I believe was the first boundary of the day! We knocked off the runs in 13.3 overs, and it was a deserved first win for richard hillman as captain in only his 3rd opportunity in 2 seasons (Alex’s turnout is pretty good), and I’m sure the first of many, as he used his bowlers well and set the field shrewdly. Suleiman is my man of the match for dismissing the best of waxlow’s batting with a fine spell.

After a nice tea, we agreed to play a 10-10 game in which we agreed to bat in pairs for 2 overs, and bowl an over each, with a penalty of 5 runs per wicket. Suhail and rich hillman scored 20 off their 2 overs with a fine straight 6 from Suhail. James Gleadow strike hogging display and pathetic reverse sweep attempt were rather less memorable, while John Harris finally put his back to some use with a couple of good shots before undoing the good work by being bowled, before the Saldanha brothers showed their excellent understanding with 2 classic run outs (both 100% richard’s fault, okay maybe not J). We scrambled to 51 off 10 overs, but this proved far too much for Waxlow, who had too many 5 run penalties. Nadir kept wicket and effected a couple of stumpings, while Richard Saldanha claimed 2 wickets in 2 balls with some good straight bowling, and a good catch at mid wicket. Tony won his bet with Junky that he would not concede any runs off his over, effecting a run out to cancel the runs scored, while richard hillman’s left arm pea-rollers were against the spirit of cricket, had they been intentional!

A good win, and some good fun afterwards.

Waxlow – 40 all out, 24.4 overs (Faruqi 4-21 (7 overs), Shaikh 3-4 (5 overs), Gleadow 1-8 (7 overs), Shannon 1-6 (5.4 overs))

OCCC- 41-3, 13.3 overs (Todd 10*, Hillman 8*, Gohar 8)

Result: OCCC won by 7 wickets

Man of the Match: Suleiman Faruqi

Allan Saldanha