Reports & Newsletter 1997

’Tics                            184-7 dec                   

Frogs                           187-3               (Tarrant 67, Edwards 49*)

On a bitterly cold April day, ‘Tics won the toss and batted, mostly without timing or confidence apart from their captain Laughton. Turner and particularly Chetwode bowled tightly and aided by three sharp run outs, becalmed the ‘Tics into a declaration after 54.2 overs. Tarrant and Rosnegk set up the chase in an imposing manner and later Edwards policed its completion against a rather anxious array of Authentics.

Frogs : T Pascal, A Tarrant (guest), M Rosnegk (cand), P Edwards (guest), B Lawrence (cand), J Ricketts, O Williams (cand), T O’Leary (c), L Turner, M Chetwode (cand), C Westbrook

Chesham                     197-7 dec        (Thomas 3-59)

Frogs                           198-7               (Rosnegk 85)

No report received.

Frogs : P O’Neil, M Rosnegk,T Pascal, N Watkins, D Thomas, C Peerless, N Hughes, L Turner (c), C Whitmore, M Chetwode, K Roger.

Frogs               302-2 dec        (Pascal, 164*, Rosnegk 46, Fischel 43)

Hurlingham     147                  (Thomas 4-31, Whitmore 3-53)

Having elected to bat on a green but slow early season Hurlingham wicket, our intrepid openers took an immediate liking to what was being offered. Pascal from the first over embarked on an innings of driving, pulling and cutting in true Caribbean style. He was supported by the straighter bat of Rosnegk who fell before the interval for a textbook 46. This was to be Pacsal’s day. He could do no wrong- the ball often in the air but never to hand – a hundred before lunch.

At 171-1 at lunch the skipper was pleased. Fischel supported the centurion making 43 and putting on a second wicket stand of 134, three more then for the first wicket. Thomas finished off the innings hitting the boundary fence for a taste of what might have been had not the 300 arrived.

Whitmore and Marshall began the bowling to a dejected Hurlingham who fell to an assortment of medium pace and flighted spin in the (dis)guise of Thomas’s wrist. The defeat in ’96 had been avenged.

Hurlingham offered little resistance and were well below par by their standards. The bar was occupied ahead of schedule where we waited for Pascal to fill our glasses …….

Frogs : Rosnegk, Pascal, Fischel, Thomas, Marshall, Whitmore, Peerless.

Frogs                           263                  (Redmayne 124, Pascal 67)

Harrow Wanderers      172                 

The predictable late cry-off produced a surprise – not on account of the individual himself who shall remain nameless (Will Atkinson), but for the fact that he not only produced a replacement but one who could actually play. A lovely summer day, a beautiful place, the toss won, a friendly groundsman, an even friendlier attack – we settled back to enjoy.

The loss of an early wicket was not too upsetting. Charlie Redmayne (Eton), on spying the attractive gaggle of girls produced by the Harrovians, said merely: “Target practice”, strode to the wicket, and with the in-form Pascal, immediately smote the ball to all parts. 170 for 1 shortly after lunch and the captain worrying that there was not going to be enough cricket for his batsmen.

Fortunately the Frogs came to his rescue. Once Pascal and Redmayne (five 6’s in his 124) has been removed, there were some nice strokes from Higo Norman until he clipped to deep square with unerring accuracy, but everyone else found the weather sleep-inducing against the persevering Norton, and 227 for 3 quickly became 263 all out.

The Frogs attack, steady rather than threatening on a slow wicket, took early wickets, but Haggas and Hills batted promisingly and well. 101 for 2 and the game was on. The middle order could not sustain the assault however, and the Wanderers rather crumbled away as all six bowlers called on got amongst the wickets. The Frogs’ early season momentum continues.

Frogs : T Pascal, S Garvie, C Redmayne, N McIver, H Norman, S Bayly, G Prain, S Allport, C O’Mahoney, S Chew, O Croom-Johnson.

Grasshoppers               108                  (Chetwode 8 for 59)

Frogs                           112-1               (Thomas 57*)

On a warm , sunny bank holiday the Grasshoppers chose to bat on a good, true pitch and set off as if a score in excess of 250 would be comfortable on the cards. They lost a wicket at 30 but only when Charles peerless took a fine low catch at square leg to dismiss the other threatening opening batsman did the picture change.

Less than an hour later the Grasshopper innings lay in ruins and they took lunch with a score of 70-7. One man was responsible for the carnage – Mike Chetwode. Working up a good pace he struck a testing line on a just outside off stump and moving the ball into the batsman but away off the pitch with plenty of bounce. He clean bowled four batsmen and found the edge of several others, leading to some excellent catches in the slip cordon. He bowled remarkably well on a pitch where batsmen were meant to prosper. It was an exhilarating morning’s cricket, in which Keith Roger also played a steady part with a long spell at the other end.

After lunch Mike took two more wickets to end with 8-59 – a brilliant piece of bowling – before no. 9 struck a few lively blows to ensure a total of 100.

The Frogs lost the prolific Pascal early on and had to weather a good spell of bowling from Richard Thomas before Duncan Thomas decided to dominate the attack.

Duncan butchered the bowling to all parts and saw the Frogs to an overwhelming win in a mere 16 overs. He reached a swashbuckling fifty and by the Neil McIver was also striking the ball well.

Many thank to Oliver Croom-Johnson for agreeing to turn out at the last minute following a late drop out. In the event he arrived by agreement after lunch in time to see the last wicket fall within one minute of his taking the field.

Frogs : T Pascal, D Thomas, N McIver, C C Griffith-Jones, J Stafford, C Peerless, G Prain, M Chetwode, D Foster, K Rodger, O Croom-Johnson.

Amersham       190                  (Westbrook 4 for 41, Ashman 3 for 24)        

Frogs               192-4               (Pascal 111)

On a hot blustery day the Frogs put Amersham into bat. The opening bowling partnership of Mike Chetwode and our Australian guest, Adrian Ashman, kept a very tight line and runs were hard to come by for the Amersham top order. At lunch Amersham were 105-3 off 38 overs. The highlight of the morning was an outstanding catch by Mark Saunders behind the stumps. Ashman, bowling unchanged, had figures of 3-24 off 18 overs.

After lunch Amersham began to accelerate, and assisted by four dropped catches and some pretty shabby fielding, the Amersham captain Stanley, made 71.Howere, once he had been removed by Steve Bayly, it was left to Chris Westbrook to clean up the tail with four wickets.

The Frogs opened with Mark Rosnegk and Thierry Pascal and they quickly attached the Amersham bowlers, with Pascal rushing to his half-century off 40 balls. At tea the score had been pushed on to 80 without loss.

After tea the run onslaught continued, and the openers had moved on o 120 before Rosnegk was caught. Pascal went on to reach his hundred, able supported by Mark Saunders. Despite the loss of a couple of late wickets, Saunders soon hit the winning runs for a convincing victory. The Frogs go marching on with a record of played 6, won 6.

Frogs : T Pascal, M Rosnegk, N McIver, M Saunders, T O’Leary, S Bayly, A Ashman, S Chew, M Chetwode, C Westbrook.

Frogs                           204                  (Peerless 50)

No report received.

Frogs : M Rosnegk, T O’Leary, T Pascal, M Saunders, N McIver, C Peerless, D Thomas, G Prain, N Rayner, C Whitmore, M Chetwode.

Frogs               199                  (Walsh 86)

HAC               200-7               (Naveed 5-62)

Teetering at 92-7 shortly after lunch, an embarrassingly early finish seemed the likely outcome. Steve Walsh and Ben Clube had different ideas. From their playing days at Oatlands Park they found themselves in an all too familiar a position and what followed had a mightily relieved captain contemplating a declaration. With Ben (9 no) frustrating at one end with an ever defiant straight bat, and Steve (86) caressing the ball to all parts at the other, the tenth wicket added 107 runs.

In reply, the HAC made a solid start to leave themselves needing 80 off the last 20 overs with 8 wickets in hand. By now, Naveed, RHB, RFM, OB and purveyor of fine cricket balls, had started bowling his off-breaks. His 5 for 63 left the HAC needing 20 off the last five overs with 3 wickets left. The winning runs were struck in the last over of the day to conclude a most enjoyable game of cricket of fluctuating fortunes. Batsmen, next year please get o the front foot!.

Frogs : T Pascal, M Rosnegk, N Martin, Naveed, H Norman, G Prain, Brown, Norman, S Walsh, D Pateint, B Clube.

Frogs               195-5 dec        (Naveed 107)

Ashstead         142-9               (Leaver 6 for 49)

The Frogs won the toss and elected to bat on a very green wicket. The runs came quickly despite the low bounce, but spectacular catches and a dubious lbw decision left Naveed batting at number 5 to shoulder the burden of obtaining a sensible score. This he did marvelously with an unbeaten 107. Unfortunately, over an hour was lost o rain during this afternoon fixture, but the Frogs ( and the guests drafted in when the original squad was decimated at the last minute by injury and withdrawals) managed a very impressive 195 from just 33 overs.

Ashstead set about chasing this target and despite losing wickets at regular intervals, were still realistically in with a chance until the skipper turned to one of his unused strike bowlers, T Pascal, who returned excellent figure of 1-0-1-2, taking two wickets with consecutive balls. The Frogs fielded excellently bowling 40 overs in just two hours, and held on to all but one of their catches. These included some very sharp chances by Naveed and Torben Rankin and a hat-trick of catches by the skipper (his only useful contribution of the afternoon. The star performance was, however, reserved for Ricky Leaver who returned figures of 6 for 49 off 15 overs..

Frogs : T Pascal, M Rosnegk, T Rankin, J Swinney, Naveed, P Dolman, T Leman, O Williams, R Leaver, M Chetwode, D Patient (c) .

Wimbledon                 213      (Whitmore 5 for 48, R Leaver 4 for 78)

Frogs                           215-5   (Rosnegk 100)            

Sustained hostility from Whitmore, a sparkling hundred from Rosnegk and full bungers from Ricky Leaver combined to gave the Frogs an excellent five wicket victory over Wimbledon.

On the hottest day of the ear, skipper Martin delighted his team by losing the toss and offering his sunblock around the dressing room before the Frogs took the field. Injuries to Leaver P (side strain), Patient (shoulder) and (thankfully short-lived) Whitmore (ankle) compounded by powerful bating left the Frogs quite reasonably expecting a target of over 300.

However, crafty, waist high full tosses from Ricky Leaver saw the dismissal of two top order batsmen in four balls; a later Leaver full bunger was to account for another! Fortunately Whitmore then decided he was no longer injured and produced hostile short spells, regularly taking wickets and deservingly ending up with five.

Frogs had over 3½ hours to reach the target and Rosnegk and Torben Rankin swiftly put on 60 for the first wicket. Rankin perished to a ludicrous run out in which, rather sweetly, both he and Rosnegk claimed full responsibility (what fine candidates!). Rosnegk then progressed with a series of excellent shots all round the wicket and supported by Swinney, also quickly into his stride, saw the Frogs 30 from victory.

Swinney the fell, followed swiftly by Pascal. Rosnegk completed his hundred but was bowled next ball – slogging the President, next man in, muttered something about the young Frogs being talented players from the neck downwards. Prain was the out! Panic hit the Frogs as it was noted that Patient had pout his pads on but, fortunately, Williams and Martin safely negotiated the final runs to bring victory by 5 wickets and averting embarrassment for patient who was being closely watched by his devoted, cricket-loving fiancée.

A good result, which should give us a good chance of seeing Wimbledon’s new cricket pavilion next year.

Frogs :.M Rosnegk, T Rankin, A Swinney, T Pascal, O Williams, G Prain, I Martin, D Patient, C Whitmore, R Leaver, P Leaver.

Adastrians       165                  (Naveed 6 for 35)

Frogs               166-0               (Hagan 83*, Pascal 70*)

Groans in the dressing room were the predictable response from a selection of batsmen anticipating the usual shirt front wicket, glass outfield and baking day. The skipper however, having selected a minimalist bowling attack had decided that the slaverers should wait their turn. It must be said that a long chase was anticipated.

However, a truly remarkable course of events was to turn all predictions on their head. A highly effective bowling partnership of Naveed (fast medium uphill) and Ashwani (wrist spin down it) exploited a little bit of uneven bounce from one end and lavish bounce from the other.

As the Frogs utilised their resources and arrival times to the full, Pascal commenced duties behind the stumps to take a regulation catch early on, only to be deposed by Richardson who followed suit. Hagan at slip also picked up two very sharp chances and a prize collection of bruises. Back in the wicket-keeping stakes, Richardson was finding Ashwani’s bounce a bit hot to handle but managed a smart stumping to dismiss no.10. Moments later however the steep bounce removed one of his teeth. Amazingly, the no.11 turned out to be a dentist who smartly replaced it, during which operation Pascal, undeterred, saw his chance, grabbed the gauntlets and promptly stumped no.11!

All that can be said about the Frogs innings is that, in pursuit of 165, we romped home in 28 overs. Pascal benefiting from an early life, and Hagan cruising to victory with the final run coming from a wide.

In truth the Adastrians did not bat well but Naveed’s bowing in particular was top class. Strangely enough in the bar Pascal said he had played this match the night before in a dream!

Frogs : D Hagan, T Pascal, C Peerless, G Prain, Naveed, P Shah, J Richardson, A Mathur, A Marshall, R Chalk.

Frogs:  T Pascal, M Rosnegk, D Lawrence, R Hopkins, G Prain, J Richardson, A Ashman, M Freyer, D Cruickshank, B Webb, M Chetwode.

Frogs:  J Lawrence, D Cruickshank, R Hopkins, M Freyer , A Ashman, G Prain, M Rosnegk, T Pascal, D Lawrence, J Lewis, M Chetwode.

Frogs:  T Pascal, M Rosnegk, D Cruickshank, M Freyer, G Williams, A Ashman, A Slattery, R Hopkins, M Gitsham, S Clay, A Vinnicombe.  

Frogs                           247-7 dec        (Rosnegk 85, Ashman 45)

Wiltshire Queries        159                  (Ashman 5 for 15, Thomas 3 for 47))

Frogs                           217-7 dec        (Prain 64*, Belton 42)

Privateers                    218-4               (Walsh 3 for 81)

Fine weather greeted our arrival and stayed for the day. Sadly, last minute cry-offs meant that the Frogs were always going to struggle in the field.

Having won the toss, Frogs had little choice but to bat. Taking into account our lack of numbers, Whitmore’s warning that he would have to leave at any point to join his expectant wife gave the captain more to worry about. This would be the day that the honoured Frogs members present would witness Whitmore opening the innings. We would tell our children, and our children’s children that we were there so see a Whitmore quality innings. It was one of the finest and most fluent eighth in modern memory – we could just watch and learn.

Belton and Williams healed the ulcer bit it was Prain who came to the rescue. Lofted drives for six, classic square cuts for four. Prain was a happy man and his undefeated 64 made a mockery of our slow and lacklustre morning session.

Defending 217 would have been achievable with eleven fielders. An extra recognised bowler could even have given the Frogs victory. One of the Privateers openers scored 99 but always looked vulnerable to the short delivery. Whitmore, still not a father, would have exploited this weakness but for the fact that he knew him. Walsh was steady and consistent and came away with three well deserved wickets. Where had he been all summer?

Ending the season in defeat was a disappointment but those who took part battled against the odds and came away confident of victory next year.

Frogs : D Cruikshank, C Whitmore, Belton, Stopford, Williams, G Prain, C Peerless, S Walsh, B O’Gorman