2024 Leading Performances

Bowling:

Gorton 6-13 vs OU Authentics

Ogden 5-48 vs North Devon League XI

T Allen 5-59 vs Gloucester Gypsies

O'Gorman 5-64 vs Devon Dumplings

O Marshall 5-66 vs Hurlingham

O'Gorman 4-6 vs Somerset Stragglers

Sidhu 4-13 vs Devon Dumplings

Marshall T 4-23 vs Stowe Templars

O'Gorman 4-33 vs East Woodhay

McLeod 4-43 vs OU Authentics

Gorton 4-44 vs Devon Dumplings

Batting:

O Marshall 126 vs Philanderers

O Marshall 119 vs Hurlingham

Vaja 118* vs Devon Dumplings

Shaw 100* vs North Devon

Ogden 93 vs North Devon League XI

McLeod 79 vs Gloucester Gypsies

R. Lawrence 71 vs Gloucester Gypsies

Gorton 71 vs Gerrards Cross 

Williams 69 vs Somerset Stragglers

Grey 69 vs Devon Dumplings 

Ogden 62 vs Stowe Templars

Cross 59 vs Gloucester Gypsies

Gorton 51 vs OU Authentics

Frogs vs Philanderers

Exning and Burwell CC

Sunday 2nd June 

Reported by Alex Gorton

Frogs 226-6 - O Marshall 126.

Philanderers 199-9.

Match Drawn

Amidst a crisis of availability, a Frogs XI managed to take the field against the much vaunted Philanderers. A side with vast experience, and a few curve balls of selection – including Adam Sergeant playing his first Frogs game in a number of years, and Malc playing as part of his strenuous rehabilitation process. Two debutants for the Frogs were also amongst our number, Sameer and Swapnil Manchanda of Beaconsfield CC.

The day started well – with GT in a fine mood for some wickets having been on the winning side Saturday. On a track far down the square, the skipper won the toss and decided that the Frogs would have a bat. Unfortunately after the first over, this looked a poor decision, when Thierry’s bat went philandering and could only feather an edge to the keeper. Sameer and Adam steadied the ship before Sameer was castled, with Adam joined by the skipper. Unfortunately, Adam was fired out by the umpire for a somewhat dubious LBW having been well down the track, and Gorts was tempted by a flighted ball ending up hitting his stumps. This left Owen and Swapnil holding the fort with the score on 73/4. This was as much joy as the Philanderers would have for some time, as Owen led a mighty counter attack. Owen’s ball striking was something to behold, with the ball disappearing in a flash to the boundary with alarming regularity, whilst Swapnil was the perfect foil for him. Swapnil eventually fell for a well constructed 23, leaving Owen in the company of Chalky. With the declaration looming, Owen opened up and unleashed an onslaught, moving to his first Frogs century – a fine effort celebrated with a very enthusiastic Chalky handshake – whilst Chalky also joined in the carnage with a cut shot that went like a tracer bullet to the boundary. Owen eventually fell for a fantastic 126, causing the skipper to bring Chalky in with the score on 226/6 from 40.4 overs.

Walsh and Marriage opened the bowling for the Frogs, however the decision to bat first was soon looking to have been an error as the opening pair tucked into Will’s additional pace. Walshy kept everything in check with a typically miserly spell, however it wasn’t until the score was on 103 that GT made the all important first breakthrough, with Sameer taking a sharp catch behind the stumps. By this time, we were into the final 20 overs with Philanderers requiring 7/over and Frogs nine wickets to bring the game home. The Philanderers made clear from their intent that they were going to go for the win, however the Frogs were able to counter everything thrown their way. Adam Sergeant became the main destroyer with his left arm spin, ripping out three Philanderers in a three over spell. Advantage to the Frogs, as Philanderers fell from 160/3 to 187/6. Still, the Philanderers attacked, but regular wickets kept them in check and prevented them from being able to put together a match winning partnership. When the seventh wicket fell on 199, Will was recalled to the attack for the penultimate over – an inspired decision (thanks for the suggestion Malc) which resulted in a double wicket maiden and gave the Frogs seven balls at the last wicket partnership. In a gripping finish, the batters managed to repel the last over from Gorts to see the game to a draw. The Frogs took the moral victory from the game, and Philanderers could have had few complaints if we had prevailed in the end. Wickets were shared around with two each for Marriage, Gorton and Allen whilst Sargeant took three.

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Frogs vs Oxford University Authentics

The Parks

10/11th June 

Reported by Tom Marshall

OUCC 117 (Gorton 6-13) and 239 (McLeod 4-43).

Frogs 257 (Gorton 51) and 100-4 (Oliver 24).

Frogs win by 6 wickets.

The Frogs arrived at the Parks the night before the 2 dayer vs the ‘Tics to take in the conditions before the big match. A new wicket was being prepared which looked green in colour, but you could guarantee that it was rock hard. Unfortunately the fixture vs Oxford downs the day before was cancelled due to their progression in the National Village KO cup. Thankfully, Tour Manager (TM) sent AT to go and watch the game to put Chalky’s mind at ease, that there actually was some cricket happening in Standlake, and they hadn’t just called our game off for the sake of it. An evening spent in Weatherspoons kept the Frogs entertained, with the tour party gradually increasing in size as the evening progressed. There were a few new tourists in the ranks, with Alex Thomas and Jamie Dare joining the Frogs after finishing their apprenticeship with OUCC, and Jack Ellis getting the golden form from school allowing him 2 days off to play cricket. In hindsight it was very sensible of Dunc to sent Jack to the same school the Marshall brothers attended, as the TM still clearly has considerable influence with the cricket master there... Once a few nerve settlers were ingested, the Frogs made their way to Botley Road, where they recharged their batteries ahead of a big 2 days. 

Breakfast was served at the Olive Branch, opposite Oxford train station, with egg’s royales rolling out of the kitchen at great speed. Kieran, TMac and Mitch Oliver (Ealing CC overseas) convened with the tour party, and the Frogs set off to the Parks. The wicket was new and green, but hard, and skipper McLeod strode to the toss with confidence. He duly won it and elected to bowl. It was bitterly cold and windy, but the opportunity to release his seam attack on a fresh wicket was one that couldn’t be turned down. The 12 was as follows: McLeod ©, Marshall T, Marshall O, Oliver, Grey, Allen, Lawrence, Dare, Thomas (wk), Ellis J, Talalla, Gorton.

The Frogs had an excellent first session. Marshall T and Jamie Dare bowled well to start, but runs flowed relatively freely. Tom got the first wicket of the tour, nicking off opening batsman Wallis for 5. Taylor and King then put on 51 for the second wicket before O Marshall (replacing Dare at the pavilion end) hit the front bad of Taylor. Shortly after, Jellis knocked over King for 29 to reduce the ‘Tics to 63-3 from 16.2. At this point the TM (and author) decided to go and put his feet up in the pavilion for half an hour. Ten minutes of which were spent in the changing room removing his boots, and putting on some shorts. Once he’d reappeared, it would seem that Gorts had come into the game and respectfully torn the ‘Tics batting order to shreds. Within the 6 overs between the 4th wicket, caught McLeod - bowled O Marshall; Gorts had taken 4 wickets, reducing the ‘Tics 85-8 having been 63-3. No doubt this will go down as one of TMac’s all time bowling changes. There was then some resistance, as there often is after a collapse, but the ‘Tics were eventually bowled out for 117 in 40 overs exactly. Gorts’ figures read 10-4-13-6. A superb session and a half for the Frogs.

Mitch and Rich strapped their pads on and were instructed to bat long and show the students how batting should be done, and they obliged. The first wicket fell for 54, with Mitch being stumped for 25 (38). Rich just kept batting, managing to ‘play inside’ of plenty of superb deliveries from occasional Frog William Marriage. Luke Talalla (M&B’s overseas) got off to a good start also, before being bowled by a rip-snorter of a delivery which castled his middle stump, for 17 (29). McLeod then joined Rich and between them put on 43 for the 3rd wicket, before Rich departed for a well made 43 (88). KG came and went quickly (4 off 7), as did TM (1 off 2), and less quickly but more annoyingly so did the skipper McLeod (37 off 55). A couple of decent deliveries were bowled in this middle order mini-collapse, and one poor shot played. I’ll let the reader decide who got the good balls. Owen and Gorts joined each other at the crease with the score 134-6. The Frogs were in danger of letting history repeat itself…but thankfully it didn’t, and the both batted with an ounce of brain power. The duo put 78 on for the 7th wicket. Gorts bladed 51 from 41 balls, potentially putting the game out of the ‘Tics reach during mid-afternoon on Day 1. This capped off a superb day for Gorts, who’d take 6 wickets earlier in the morning. AT joined Owen, who between them managed to see out the end of the day, with the Frogs leading by 118.

The Frogs hurried over to the Cherwell Boathouse for dinner, with Rich providing an extra large bottle of red for the Frogs (and their esteemed guests). The Frogs, as usual on tour, dined with Elgar, who was awarded after starters. Elgar was awarded to the young man who had been given permission from school to have 2 days off to come on tour with the Frogs. He spent the first evening of which sat in a Weatherspoons having a couple of quiet beers in the corner to avoid arousing any suspicion of his age. However, he had to endure the embarrassment of going into the same pub on the morning of the game to collect his SCHOOL cricket hat from the same table that he left it on the night (or early morning) before. Elgar was happy to be able to see everyone and everything that was going on at the Boathouse from the extra height Jack now possesses.

After a quiet night on the town (TM and experienced Richard Lawrence were in college halls asleep by 1), the Frogs returned for Day 2 aiming to extend their lead further in the 8 overs that remained in their innings. Owen had other ideas, blocking the first ball of the day, and then hitting the second ball straight back to the bowler, calling AT through only for him to be run out at the non-strikers end whilst standing in the middle of the wicket. Big J came out and muscled a quick 10, with Jamie Dare replacing Owen after a well made 44, and being stumped for 3. This left the Frogs leading by 140 at the end of the first innings.

TM and Jack opened the bowling 10 minutes later, with a well-rested Marshall taking 2 wickets in his opening spell despite a good start from the Tics. 47-2. A lot of spin followed, with the ball rotating between O Marshall, GT, TMac, Gorts and Mitch. Owen (14.1-1-36-2) and TMac (17-2-43-4) bowled particularly well, with the Frogs tiring gradually throughout the afternoon session. The Tics were eventually bowled out for 239 after 67.1 overs in the dirt, leaving the Frogs exactly 100 to chase in the 18 overs left in the game.

The same order was adopted with Rich and Mitch striding out to face the new rock. Both batted well again, swinging the momentum back in the Frogs’ favour. Mitch was stumped (for the second time in the match) for 24 (29) before Rich headed a bumper and sensibly retired himself hurt. Luke came and went for 6 (17), but TMac held the innings together with an important 17 (19). He was well supported by Kieran (15 off 10) and Owen (a run a ball 7) as the Frogs chased 100 with 3 balls left in the game, much to the excitement of all the non-tourists on the WhatsApp group. A well-deserved victory for the Frogs, who battled hard in varying states of alcohol induced tiredness throughout the afternoon of Day 2.

If winning the game wasn’t enough, the Frogs were treated to some expert comedy whilst they were chasing in their 4th inning. A young Dutch couple approached the Parks pavilion after noticing the ravishing whites the Frogs were sporting (all XI players in Frogs knitted sweaters), mentioning that we all looked “very cute in our outfits”. They went on to explain that they were a small marketing department of a Kashmir scarf company based in the Netherlands, and asked whether any of us would be open to taking part in their marketing campaign. The ever-wise Tour Manager saw an opportunity with this, especially after GT had stormed from the middle in anger at the end of the Tics’ second innings after dropping a catch. Jeets was in fact, still sat in the changing room chuntering about being rubbish blah blah blah. Upon being summoned he asked “what the f*ck do you want? Better not be anything about cricket”, but once he heard about the campaign there was no way that he could turn down the opportunity. Within 10 minutes GT was being dressed in a Kashmir scarf, in full whites, padded up (photos attached), much to the amusement of the Frogs who were waiting to bat. Professional photos are not yet online at the time of writing but will be added to this report once they are.

The two days in Oxford were extremely enjoyable, but not possible without the help of scorers Mark Williams and Carol Quinn, umpire Queenie, and all the Frogs who attended. We are looking forward to next year’s fixture already.

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Frogs vs The John Lyon School

John Lyon

Monday 17th June 

Reported by Owen Marshall

Frogs win.

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Frogs vs Stowe Templars

Stowe School

Sunday 23rd June 

Reported by Thierry Pascal

Frogs 203-8 - Ogden 62.

Templars 204-8 - Marshall T 4-23.

Frogs lose by 2 wickets.

On a glorious June morning, with summer showing signs of finally arriving, the Frogs set out to continue their fine recent form against the Templars. The skipper had a strong team out, with the expected 6 spinners available. The Frogs were informed that the match would be a 100 overs affair, with a maximum of 50 overs for the side batting first. The Templars won the toss, and promptly put the Frogs in to bat! On a pitch that was described by visiting Frogs Vice President Dylan Jones as a “sponge cake”, Patrick Searing and 15-year old debutant George Sorrell (Tonbridge 1st XI) set out to put some runs on the board. It became very clear that runs were going to be hard to come by, as the ball matched the pitch in going soft after a few overs, with low bounce, coupled with very accurate bowling from the Templars’ opening pair (Selby-Lownes 8-6-3-2!). Sorrell, with excellent technique, was adjudged LBW, Searing holed out to cover, and when Ben Cowen was bowled shortly after, the Frogs found themselves 26-3 after 11 overs. Matt Ogden was joined by the skipper, Thierry Pascal, and they set about rebuilding the innings. Frustrating as it was to find any timing off the bat and/or any gaps in the field, the Frogs battled to 90-3 after the allocated pre-lunch session of 30 overs. Post-lunch the skipper lost patience and, after a partnership of 76, mistimed a pull to mid-wicket. Ogden was starting to find the gaps and some acceleration, especially once joined by Owen Marshall, charging down the wicket in his usual imperious way to meet the ball half-way. Both Ogden and Marshall holed out trying to force the issue as we entered the last 10 overs. Replacements Tom Marshall and Charlie Moore had a little more success with the change bowlers, finding the boundary more regularly. Moore was then undone by an ankle-biter and Alex Gorton shortly followed, before Tom Marshall, with a useful 43 off 43 balls, was joined by James Pyman to see the Frogs through to 203-8 off the allocated 50 overs. The Frogs skipper felt that the total was just about over par, based on the state of the pitch and ball, and led the Frogs fielders out confidently for a pre-tea 20 over session. 

Opening bowlers Tom Marshall and Pyman had the Templars in all sorts of difficulty and at 31-4, with all 4 wickets clean bowled, things were look bleak for the Templars. One big difference, however, was that the Frogs ball was remaining hard, and therefore once the first of the spin twins (Moore and Tom Allen) came on the batters were able to get a little more value for their shots, and they advanced to 83-3 off the 20 overs as we broke for tea. After a little more satisfying break, the Frogs turned to Gorton, followed by Owen Marshall, and finally Ogden to try and buy a wicket. However, in spite of many skied chances falling just short or wide of fielders, the Templars added 104 for the 4th wicket before Moore finally found a break-through, Cowen holding a sharp chance at extra cover. That was quickly followed by Gorton bowling the new batter. However, another 50-partnership followed, with more chances eluding the fielders. The skipper decided to turn to some last-chance seam bowling, and Tom Marshall duly added another clean bowled to his figures. Despite Ogden finally having one of the Templars half-centurions hole out to Owen Marshall at long-on, the Templars crawled home with two wickets to spare. 

It was a good competitive game of cricket, if not conducive to stylish batting. Thanks to Andrew Marshall for taking on umpiring duties and to the family support, which was plentiful.   

Frogs: Pascal, Marshall T, Marshall O, Allen, Pyman, Moore, Ogden, Gorton, Sorrell, Searing, Cowen. 

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Frogs vs South Oxfordshire Amateurs

Queens College, Oxford 

Thursday 27th June 

Reported by Owen Marshall

 

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Frogs vs Old Cranleighans

Cranleigh School

Sunday 14th July 

Reported by Tom Marshall

Frogs lose toss and bowl.

OC’s 103 – Allen 3-30, Marshall O 3-12.

Frogs 104-9 – Pascal 21.

Frogs win by 1 wicket.

The Frogs arrived at Cranleigh School for an 11am start on Euro’s final day, hoping to be finished nice and early enough to make it back to their various London lily pads to see England lift their first tournament trophy since 1966. As it turned out, England did not lift anything, however those who played at Cranleigh witnessed a few very special moments.

Much to the skipper’s annoyance, he lost the toss and the OCs elected to bat. The OCs looked to have a young side, with plenty of Cranleigh CC shirts being worn. They started well, with a few superb shots getting them off to a flier. Thankfully for the Frogs we had Walshy and Jono opening the bowling, so the runs didn’t flow for very long. Jono removed the left-handed opener, caught by Thierry at mid-off. Very shortly after Walshy got the ball to nip back through the gate, clipping the top of off, removing the other opener. This clearly got Walshy in the mood, who swiftly repeated this beautiful sight, sending the bails halfway down the hill. 32-3. GT was then introduced into the attack, following Jono up the hill, with Owen coming on down the hill. GT bowled superbly, removing numbers 6, 7, and 9 in his 3-30 from 7. Owen also ended up with 3, with the OCs stumbling to 70-8. After drinks Malc was brought on down the hill, clean bowling the number 10, with the OCs finishing 103 all out from only 26.1 overs.

A certain dismissal is one that will long live in the memory of those who played at Cranleigh. Owen was slog swept possibly higher than any ball has ever been hit in history. Marc Williams, who was stationed at cow corner, took his time to assess that the ball was coming his way, charged in 10 yards, before sliding and taking the catch an inch off the ground. An elated Frogs congratulated him, and rightly so. This really was a contender for catch of the century.

The Frogs then set off chasing 104 to win, with TMars and Pascal opening the innings. They started well, before Tom chipped back to the bowler for 11. Some good bowling kept runs scarce, but TP grafted to 21 before being caught. James Bowler, on debut, came and went for 19 (including a couple of big 4s and a 6), and Posh too for 9. This started a worrying middle order collapse, with Kanabar, AT, and Marc all falling for not many. The Frogs had somehow managed to go from 48-2 to 78-7. Owen was joined at the crease by Walshy, who after his shameful act at St Georges Collage a few years ago was ready to right his wrongs. The two batted sensibly and got the scores level before Owen was bowled by a full toss trying to slog the winning runs. Jono was then adjudged LBW, causing panic in the Frogs ranks with us needing just one run being 9 down. Malc strode to the crease with a bizarre confidence, seeing as he hadn’t played since April due to injury. Thankfully he was able to see out the end of the over, leaving Walshy on strike to complete the chase. Maybe the most important 11* Walshy has ever scored.

The Frogs swiftly showered up and headed into Cranleigh village for some liquid refreshment (as the game had only finished at 4:30). The President joined the Frogs, after arriving just in time to see the final overs of the run chase.

Thanks to all those who played, especially to Neal who travelled all the way from Stockholm to join us.

Frogs: Marshall T, Marshall O, Marshall A, Kanabar, Pascal, Walsh, Bowler, Allen, Wright, Williams, Thomas, Lawton C.

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Frogs vs The Hurlingham Club

The Hurlingham Club

Sunday 21st July 

Reported by Joe O'Gorman

Hurlingham won toss and bowled.

Frogs 227-9 dec, 40 overs.

Hurlingham 230-8, 40 overs.

Hurlingham win by 2 wickets.

Frogs CC: Andrew Carson, Thierry Pascal, Owen Marshall, Ed Denman (wk), Callum Carson, Richard Chalk, Jack Ellis, Joe O’Gorman (c), Steve Walsh, Tom Allen, Shaam Chakravarty. 

Umpire: Ned Wilsher; Frogs Scorer: Carol Quinn 

A superb game at Hurlingham went down the final delivery as one of the most impressive individual performances in recent Frogs’ memory from Owen Marshall narrowly failed to deny the hosts. 

On a beautiful sunny afternoon, Hurlingham inserted the Frogs and made an early breakthrough by dismissing a rather green looking Andrew Carson (bad cheese sandwich) for 10. This brought Owen Marshall to the crease and the innings really kicked into gear. With able support from Pascal (20) and Denman (32), Owen began to launch the ball to all parts, sending the ball skimming to and over the short boundaries at will, bringing up his fifty from 39 balls and a wonderful century from just 82. Hurlingham continued to chip away at the other end. Solomon was probably the pick of the attack with 3-54 but the wickets were shared around and no-one lost control of the run rate despite some excellent batting.  Owen was eventually dismissed for 119 and the Frogs declared shortly after with the score 227-9 from 40 overs. Hurlingham would have the same number of overs to score one more. 

The hosts began well. Faced with the skill and control of Walsh (0-15) and the skill, control and pace of Jack Ellis (1-42), they reached 72 before the loss of the first wicket came with the introduction of Owen’s off spin. Owen settled into his work at one end with the skipper rotating GT (0-33), Shaam (0-17) and Jack, who all bowled well, at the other. Hurlingham’s top three of Solomon (50), Rhys (20) and Logan (an enterprising 86) broke the back of the chase but Owen, continuing his fine day, dismissed five of the top seven on the way to figures of 5-66 to back up his first innings century. 

With one over remaining, Hurlingham required 14 runs and the Frogs required two wickets. Robyns and Woodford were at the crease and Owen Marshall (who else?) was to bowl it for the Frogs. The short boundary was on the off side – tough to hit against the offspinner – but Robyns squeezed the first ball away for four. Two twos and two singles followed, leaving 4 required from the final delivery. Marshall to Robyns. The skipper watched on from midwicket as Owen ran in – it occurred too late that he would perhaps have been better placed patrolling the short boundary. Owen’s final act of the match was a quickish ball, back of a length and turning into the batsman – just what the doctor ordered – but Robyns managed to back away and flatbat it powerfully over cover. The ball sailed through the air towards the shortest boundary and the Frogs’ shortest fielder. GT leapt in vain, the ball fizzing about three inches above his outstretched right hand and over the rope for six. Hurlingham had won a thriller. 

Congratulations and thanks to our hosts for a fantastic match and to our umpires and scorers for performances every bit as accomplished as Owen’s. Well done me for an excellent declaration. 

The last word of course goes to Owen Marshall for a brilliant century and fivefer, either of which alone would have deserved to win any game of cricket. Well batted and bowled. 

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Frogs vs Gerrards Cross CC

Gerrards Cross CC

Sunday 28th July 

Reported by Steve Walsh

Frogs - 281 - Gorton 71, Grey 46.

Gerrards Cross - 169 - Allen 3-30, O'Gorman 3-38

Frogs win by 112 runs.

Frogs’ pre-match nutrition strategies were carefully tailored to their requirements and personalities, ranging from GT and KG’s slap up breakfast in a local restaurant, through Thierry’s “Grape & Fig” cheese and charcuterie grazing box to JOG’s pack of Nisa mini “sausages”.  Happily, each seemed to know what his body needed to let him peak at the right time on the day.

The game, played in warm sunshine for once with the scents of local garden barbecues drifting across the ground, was win/lose, 40 overs a side.  The track looked excellent and so it proved (the only surprising bounce suffered by Paddy on his first ball).  The toss was won and the Frogs batted first. Thierry fitted the grill to his new helmet (ambidextral of course) and went out to open with Sameer.  Runs came at a decent pace that accelerated when Kieran replaced Thierry (21) and was turbo-charged when Gorts arrived after Sameer (43) and Paddy had fallen to consecutive balls.  Kieran nonchalantly raced to 46 and the GX bowlers wilted in the heat as Gorts (65) cleared the boundaries with typical abandon with support from Chalky (14), Swapnil (24) and JOG (22).  If anyone knows how to edit Play-Cricket, could they please reallocate the 6 shown against Chalky’s name to Alex?  After 40 overs, 281 felt like a challenging target and so it proved.

GX’s openers started brightly scoring at 7 an over from the off and Walshy quickly withdrew his own cannon-fodder from the attack to introduce the first of the leg-spin triumvirate.  Jono made the breakthrough in the 10th over removing Braun with a perfect cutter.  Seimon batted well for 64 but departed LBW when he took one liberty too many against JOG.  Gorts now came on and bowled the only economical spell of the day (4-1-7-2), his first wicket coming when Aarons ran at a ball and didn’t try to run back after missing it, allowing Paddy time for some juggling before he took the bails off.  GX had now fallen behind the required rate and wickets fell steadily.  GT, self-critical as ever, finished with 3-30, JOG with 3-38 and Swapnil 1-19.  The final wicket fell in the 30th over for 169.  Frogs fielding highlights were Thierry’s full length dive at short-extra cover to get very close to taking a spectacular catch that didn’t quite stick and Chalky’s balletic movement to position himself for a slightly easier one.

Thanks to all who played, to Miles for umpiring and to the various Frogs and friends/relations who came and supported.

https://gerrardscross.play-cricket.com/website/results/6629979

Frogs: Walsh, Pascal, Allen, O'Gorman, Grey, Chalk, Searing, Wright, Manchander, Gorton, Manchander.

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Frogs vs Devon Dumplings CC

Abingdon 

Thursday 8th July 

Reported by Chris Lawton

Frogs win by 150 runs.

Frogs 276-4 - Grey 69, Vaja 118*.

Dumplings 126 - Gorton 4-44, Sidhu 4-13. 

When winning the toss, 9 times out of 10 you choose to bat, the other time you think about bowling and then bat. For match manager Chris Lawton this was the 1 time in 10, with a team stacked with batting, overcast conditions and light rain in the air making bowling first seem appealing, but in the end when the coin came down as tails he chose to bat.

Cursing his decision, openers Thierry Pascal and Sameer Manchanda opened up and were subjected to a very tough opening spell with the ball zipping around and bouncing well in gloomy conditions, Thierry calling for his helmet in the 3rd over. Sameer eventually succumbed being bowled by an excellent delivery for 13, and Kieran Grey walked out to join Thierry. Kieran was unusually circumspect, taking 27 balls to get off the mark, whilst at the other end Thierry fell caught behind for 14, replaced by Krish Vaja. When the spinners came on to bowl, Kieran and Krish took the opportunity to accelerate, with some huge hits spreading the field. Kieran was caught on the mid wicket boundary for 69 from 73 balls, but Krish continued either side of lunch, bringing up his 50 in 33 balls and his 100 in 53 balls, eventually finishing on 118 not out. He was ably supported by debutant Matt Sidhu who scored 44, and was shepherded through to his ton by the steady presence of Richard Chalk (6 not out) at the other end. Richard Lawrence was unlucky as next man in not to get a bat, as an unfortunately timed work call meant he wasn’t able to take his usual batting slot at the top of the order. Despite losing 45 minutes to rain immediately after lunch, great credit is due to the umpires for keeping the players on the pitch despite some intermittent (and occasionally quite heavy) drizzle, and the Frogs were able to declare on a huge 276-4 from only 43 overs.

In reply, James Hamilton and Luke Talalla opened up for Frogs who both bowled an excellent spell, despite some lusty front foot hitting from the Dumplings opener Steele causing boundaries to flow. It seemed like it might not be the Frogs’ day, with a steepling edge dropping between fielders in the off-side, and Richard Chalk failing to get underneath a swirling catch at mid-on. Eventually however the safe hands of Thierry claimed the first wicket to fall, taking a tricky chance at mid-off. Chris turned to the first of his leg spinners, Alex Gorton, to try to stem the flow of boundaries from Steele, and he removed the number 3 batsman clean bowling him with a yorker, but it was Luke Talalla who claimed the vital wicket of Steele for 44 on the stroke of lunch, a clear nick through to Ed Denman behind the stumps. The Frogs felt on top at tea with Dumplings 61-3 and a further 216 runs required, but to their credit the batsman continued to attack and for a while after tea the runs flowed, eventually though one too many sweep shots was played and Alex got his man LBW. Matt Sidhu replaced Luke, and his leg spin found huge amounts of turn from the wicket, although it was a leg spinners’ most effective weapon of a low full toss that dismissed the next batsman, caught by James Hamilton at mid wicket. Over the next 15 overs Alex and Matt chipped away at the lower order, Ed with a further catch behind the stumps and an excellent slip catch held by Matt off the bowling of Alex. With the final 2 batsmen at the crease, a quicker ball from Matt was missed by bat and Ed’s gloves, but ricocheted back off the keeper’s pads onto the wicket where the batsman had dragged his back leg forward and the square leg umpire gave a very fortunate stumping to wrap up the inning. Frogs were the victors by exactly 150 runs, and the spin twins of Alex Gorton and Matt Sidhu finished with figures of 11-2-44-4 and 6.5-1-13-4, Luke taking the other 2 wickets with figures 8-1-53-2. James Hamilton bowled very well for his 4-0-15-0.

A fantastic win in tricky conditions, thanks of the match manager go to Mark Williams and Jon Briley for umpiring, Carole for scoring, and Keile for a fantastic spread of food for lunch and tea, and of course all of the Frogs who made themselves available.

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Frogs vs Gloucester Gypsies CC

Stowell Park

Sunday 11th July 

Reported by Jono Wright

Frogs win by 105 runs. 

Frogs 305-6 - R. Lawrence 71, McLeod 79, Cross 59. 

Gypsies 200 - T Allen 13-1-59-5, Child 8-3-22-3.

On a day later described by Tom Marshall as the hottest day he’s ever played cricket on in the UK, quickly debunked by numerous Frogs and this writer having a few other examples not presented, the Frogs assembled at Stowell park for their annual pilgrimage to the sight of Trev’s first five wicket haul.

After not scoring enough last year, match managers Wright and Grey assembled a batting line-up to strike fear into the hearts of any opposition even after some last minute drop outs and standard Friday and Saturday night last minute recruitment.

The instructions to Grey were win the toss and bat which he duly did and the 45 over a side game was under way in the glorious setting of the Gloucestershire countryside.

Thierry and Richard strode out to get the innings underway and got the frogs off to a solid start with Thierry striking some lusty blows to the boundary and Richard giving the Gipsies some fielding practice by hitting many lovely shots straight to the fielders. Thierry eventually fell by getting a leading edge chipping one straight to mid-wicket for 25 thus bringing to the crease FPL sponsored Tom McLeod, the man in form coming off the back of 82 for Harefield the previous day. The two set about their business nicely and carried on the scoring with some truly glorious stroke-play from TMac and Ridders resorting to sweeping everything, some with outstanding results. Both players brought up their half centuries before lunch and soon all eyes turned to the clock as we all knew the internal body clocks would be suggesting it’s high time to get out and have a nice long sit down. Despite his best efforts Richard remained not out at lunch (better luck next time) as did Tom despite Richard’s best efforts to run him out (there is now speculation that Richard had been studying the title of a quiz book in the pavilion before the game titled “Yes.. No… Wait… Sorry!”). With the score on 159-1 at lunch from 26 overs the Frogs knew from experience that would probably need to be doubled before the end of the innings to be competitive. With McLeod (79) and Lawrence (71) both falling not long after lunch this brought Greg to the crease, Kieran’s recent import from university who had arrived slightly late on account of going to Stowell Park in Bristol initially. Luckily proved his worth as a fine addition to the side and scored a thoroughly enjoyable to watch 59 which included an absolutely enormous six which cleared the fence straight behind the bowler quite comfortably and kept on going. Tom (Sponge bat)  Marshal  and Ben Howard (the second Frogs debutant of the day) chipped in with 17 and 5 respectively but 300 was still looking like an ask until skipper Grey (22*) and Gorton (13*) got stuck in, combining for 35 runs from only 9 deliveries between them including an all run 5 much to the delight of the rest of the Frogs watching from the shade, to see us to a total of 305-6 from our allocated 45 overs.

A fine effort all round. After a quick turnaround it was time to find out the answer to the question “is any total at Stowell park really enough?”.

Tom Marshall and Luke took the new ball in the latest instalment of thankless tasks for the Frogs seam attack. It was tough going in a tidy opening spell with the ball and pitch both offering little assistance to the seamers and the Gipsies opening pair of Uthrup and Collinson setting about the chase with increasing vigour as they found they could trust the ball to do little through the air and off the seam. A few close calls did nothing to dampen the attack and Ben Howard, brought on to replace Tom Marshall was incredibly unlucky to hit the leg stump off Collinson only for the bails to remain in place and then for a catch off the same batter to burst through the normally very reliable hands of Thierry.

Luckily an inspired bowling change at the other end brought John Child into the attack and a wicket (a well taken caught and bowled) was achieved off his first delivery, removing the dangerous Collinson for a well-made 42 immediately after drinks, John bowled very nicely all day to take 3 wickets. This was to be the start of what we all already know. Amateur cricketers can’t play the ball spinning away from them (all 9 wickets to fall went to this “style” of bowling) and we should all give up and learn how to bowl SLA. Maestro  GT was brought on to replace Ben Howard and the Gipsies slowly re-built, working their way to 100-2 at the tea interval. I am firmly of the belief that a good bit of cake and a cup of tea can solve most things and it turns out this is certainly true when it comes to searching for wickets as after the tea interval 3 wickets fell for only 5 runs and the cat, as they say was well amongst the pigeons with the Frogs building in confidence that they may be on track to the most unusual scenario of bowling a side out at Stowell Park. GT kept twirling his magic from the top end with the skipper rotating through even more spinners at the other end with McLeod taking a useful wicket (4 to SLA for the day) and Gorton also contributing nicely to tie the end down.

With the total comfortably out of sight an incredibly hot and sweaty Frogs side were delighted for GT to take the 9th wicket with the final ball of the match to complete an excellent 5 wicket haul, with figures of 13-1-59-5 and a Frogs victory by 105 runs.

A superb all round performance with everyone chipping in with both bat and ball, and a particular mention for the representatives of the cartel for toiling away in the heat with no obvious reward to lay the foundations for the spinners union to swoop in and steal claim take the all important wickets. Thank you to Frogs debutants Greg and Ben, for all who made the trip, to Carol for scoring and John for umpiring and as always to the Gipsies for their excellent hospitality. We look forward to next years fixture and being asked to chase 4000 in the heat…