No . 138 The Trusty Servant from nine overs as we bowled the Free Foresters out for 131 . A classic batting collapse nearly ruined a measured start to the chase , and it was left to the final pair of Will Matthews ( D , 21-23 ) and Henry Bertlin ( I , 13-18 ) to score the three runs needed to take us to victory .
Cricket Week started with a bad day for cricket-loving OWs as we were easily beaten by Gemini . Victory followed ( albeit under the DLS method ) against the Hampshire Hogs before new opponents , The Nomads , clung on for a draw on Saturday . A further draw rounded off the week as the rain arrived late on Sunday to save the Butterflies ( who had endured the bowling of Mike Hargrove ( H , 09-14 ) who took 5 wickets to go with his 96 runs ).
There was an imperious victory against The Guards at Burton Court thanks to a 74-ball century from Rob Harker ( I , 13-18 ), before Jeremy Wilkins ( K , 00-05 ), on figures of 4-2-6-3 , swiftly ended their chase . The Guards were all out for 89 , four of them caught by Tom Perry ( B , 15-20 ) in the slips ! We started positively against The Rifles , with two early wickets from Will Matthews but optimism faded as ex-St Lucian international cricketer , Shervin George , powered his way to 127 in The Rifles ’ s 284 for 7 . Tom Perry ( 87 ) and Will Matthews ( 72 ) replied strongly , only for a catastrophic collapse to take us from 181 for 3 to 204 all out .
The final home game was against Downside Wanderers . They were 73 for 5 at lunch but we let them off the hook , finally bowling them out for 168 . Henry Nicholls ( A , 19-24 ) serenely anchored the OW chase and despite the accustomed efforts of our middle order ( including three ducks ) to disrupt things , he took us to victory and himself to a well-deserved century with the final stroke of the day .
Our season ’ s final fixture was at The Hurlingham Club , where our openers
Richard Cubitt ( G , 08-13 ) and Ed O ’ Doherty ( I , 18-23 ) made light of its ‘ bowler ’ s graveyard ’ reputation by ripping through their top order to leave them 23 for 5 . They staged a partial recovery to end on 135 , but that was always going to be too few on the manicured lawns of Fulham . Despite a slight wobble the OWs chased down the score with 5 wickets to spare .
The first round of the Cricketer Cup took us to Tonbridge . We won the toss and elected to bat . Wilf La Fontaine Jackson ( B , 18-23 ) with 67 and Dan Escott ( Coll , 10-15 ), 37 , gave us an exceptional start and Tonbridge heads were starting to droop with us rattling along at 141 for 2 . The next 10 overs followed a predictable pattern which left us 165 all out , clearly not enough . Despite excellent bowling from Paddy Fisher ( B , 17-22 ), their opening bat cashed in on a short cow corner boundary to make light work of a subpar total .
It was another busy season for the Legends – the more experienced division of the Club – including a closelyfought but ultimately unsuccessful first round match in the inaugural Over- 50s Cricketer Cup . This was followed by wins against the Broadhalfpenny Brigands and Radley Rangers , and losses to IZ , St Tropez and the Sons of Bacchus . Some notable performances across the board including Sabben- Clare , Sorrell ( père et fils ) and Daniels , but player of the season goes to Gordon Baker ( H , 84-89 ) for several wickets , a few runs but most remarkably 8 catches , more than the Legends typically pouch between them !
Talking of legends , the Club mourns the loss in recent months of Mark Loveday and Barry Reed , two titans of the Win Coll cricketing community . The outpouring of love from Wykehamists of all generations has been heartwarming , and their obituaries can be read below .
OW Sailing News
Alastair Morley ( B , 93-98 ), Commodore of Wykehamist Sailing Club writes :
Reggie Bennett Trophy On 14 th & 15 th September , Seaview Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight hosted the Reggie Bennett tournament , sailing in Seaview Mermaids . This mixed pupil & alumni team racing event was founded in 1998 by Noel Dobbs ( D , 50-55 ) and Sir Reginald Bennett ( Coll , 24-30 ), then Commodore of WSC . It gives current pupils and alumni of Winchester and Radley the opportunity to race in keelboats , enjoy one of the UK ’ s oldest yacht clubs and forge strong bonds across generations .
Teams from Win Coll , WSC , Old Radley Sailing Association ( ORSA ) and Seaview YC battled it out in some of the best team racing we ’ ve seen in recent years . The Win Coll team impressed with their competitive sailing and impeccable manners , while the OW team were dominant in the round robin . WSC finished top again in the second round robin .
We progressed to single race finals ( WSC vs ORSA ) and petit finals ( Win Coll vs Seaview ).
The final was very competitive , with the lead changing on every leg of the course . At the end ORSA were just able to gain the one place they needed to win the competition for the first time in several years .
The Sir Reginald Bennett Trophy
29