The Week
at The Wick

Coming into this week the 1s had never turned Dorking over at Pixham but remained unbeaten at home against them in the league. On a mild day and a fairly cakey surface, Wylie lost his first toss in seemingly forever and the 1s were put into bat. Seb (4) fell cheaply before Harris (5) succumbed to his third barbecue in four weeks to leave us 24–2. Toby (32) and Inga (25) put on 40 together before a nick behind and two dodgy umpiring decisions left us 70–5 after 19.

Cometh the hour, cometh the men. Captain Wylie and Nick “Bruce” Browning came together to defy the Dorking attack for 23 overs — with Wylie deploying a cunning use of the pads in front of off stump. Bruce, on precisely 0 minutes of sleep and powered by two morning “left arm chinamans”, in particular showed great fortitude measuring his innings at 3 off 54 at one point. Having steadied the ship, Wylie then accelerated scoring 46 off 69 balls in the partnership of 83. Browning (58 off 107), gesticulating to all parts, then took on the task of acceleration powering the Wick to 209–8 at the half way stage. A competitive total — but one we knew we needed to bowl well to — as Wylie sent the Dorking skipper a snip of him kicking one of middle to start the psychological warfare.

An early blitz from Dorking rattled the cage somewhat, then Harris — bowling twirlers — rattled through the in-form overseas, and Davo (5-1-27) knocked over the skipper with pace, real pace. Harris (7-3-43) continued to spin the web, dismissing the dangerous 2 and 4 to leave the Dorking reply reeling at 47–4. Skipper Wylie (5-1-20) got one to shoot through at ankle height to put the Wick in control at 66–5.

However, Dorking’s own middle order showed some strong resistance, building solidly, and the tide seemed to be shifting away from the 1s with memories of past defeats rising up. Once more, Red Ball Browning was summoned — and once more he produced his transient magic, getting one to swing away, take the edge, and Seb pocketed the catch at slip. After some deliberation, the umpire realised that smashing one to first slip did indeed constitute a dismissal, and Dorking were 129–6. A strong tail still required concentration, and Wylie rang the changes in search of an elusive 7th wicket — which came by way of Harry Senior trapping his victim in front. With Sam Flinn (4-2-12) blasting through the number 9 and the number 7 (on 60), it fell to Senior and Davies to combine to finish the job, ending our two-year wait for a win away at Dorking.

1s remain less than a win away from top spot, with Sunbury away next.

Strong availability this week meant the 3s were bolstered by the return of Ki at the top of the order, with Rupert stepping into Dom’s middle-order slot. Having decided that if we won the toss we’d bowl first, we naturally lost it and were sent in — unsurprising against a side unbeaten when chasing this season.

Abid was first to go, edging to slip for 4, bringing skipper Rahul to the crease. In excellent form and eyeing Luke’s spot as the club’s top run-scorer, Rahul and Ki initially had to endure a tight opening spell before cutting loose against the first-change bowlers. Rahul was typically powerful all around the wicket, while Ki showed exactly why we’re unlikely to see him again this season with a composed 43. The pair motored past the team 100, Rahul breezing to his fourth fifty of the season. Ki fell lbw, bringing last week’s match-winner Hugo to join the fun. Hugo’s first 20 runs all flew through the slip cordon — each greeted with a hearty “HUUUGGGOOO” and a raised bat — and it was clear the opposition were feeling the pressure. Arguments between balls, dropped catches, and increasingly ragged fielding told the story.

Rahul, utterly unfazed by the nervous nineties, surged from 88 to 100 in a single over, bringing up a superb century from 99 balls. At the other end, Hugo (Ian Botham) Lockyer passed his second consecutive fifty, the pair adding 125 together (Rahul 117, Hugo 53) to put the Wick in a commanding position heading into the final overs. Dan, Alex and Rupert finished the innings with excellent running and the odd boundary, pushing the Wick to 262–5 from 45 overs. After more than three and a half hours in the field, South London looked thoroughly rattled.

Opening with the same combination as last week, the Wick struck early — Ben removing the first wicket, well held by Hugo at gully. Dan replaced Blake up the hill and struck immediately, a skier well taken by Ben at mid-on (despite Rahul’s helpful mid-air commentary). At 55–2 at drinks, the Wick were well on top. Spin entered the attack with Mitch and Sahib. Mitch probed both edges before claiming a deserved wicket. Sahib followed with two quick strikes: one pouched by Ben again at mid-on, the other snapped up by Abid at slip.

Their “ex-pro” landed a few hefty blows, but South London still needed 100 from the last 12 overs. Rupert returned to add pace and was spot-on from ball one, removing their set batter — a huge moment in the match — before striking again with Abid taking another catch at midwicket. The game was effectively over. In classic captaincy fashion, Rahul brought himself on to wrap up the tail, finishing with an excellent 3–16 and sealing a superb team performance. The fielding was outstanding throughout, with sharp catching ensuring South London never truly threatened.

A brilliant all-round display from the 3s: the batters set the tone, and the bowlers — as they’ve done all season — finished the job clinically.

MOTM: Rahul Naithani — 117 and 3–16, the complete all-rounder  ·  DoD: Hugo, for raising his bat after every run scored through the slips

Round 11 of the Surrey Cricket Championship saw the 5th XI take on Worcester Park 3s — a big clash given the congested nature of the bottom half of the table. Taking place at Richard Challenor Playing Fields, the 5s had a lovely composition: Patrick Littlemore, Sam Kemp, Richard Philips, Ben Stephens, Craig Daniel, Jack Le Feuvre, Tomos Davies, Jabin Joy Vazhapuli, Paige and Erin Goodwin. Due to a late drop-out, Magnus Findlay was poached from the 6th XI at 11.30.

Winning the toss and batting first, the 5s got off to a slow start against a much-improved Worcester Park. Due to Richard Philips parking closer to Reykjavik than Worcester Park, Patrick and Magnus opened the innings. Magnus played a number of stylish shots but was unlucky to find the fielders on many occasions, whilst Patrick played an uncharacteristic fend at a wide one to bring Chairman Kemp to the crease. After Magnus was bowled, Richard (now through border control) joined Kemp. The two senior bats combined for a significant partnership of 88 — Kemp playing several powerful strokes after surviving an early drop, whilst Philips was both watchful in defence and stylish in attack with shots all around the wicket. Kemp fell LBW for 46 — a very useful innings in his final knock before turning 60 — whilst Philips raised the bat for a well-deserved 50. However, the tail could not build on this excellent partnership. Craig Daniel was left stranded on 20* whilst the newly rebranded Bomb Squad faltered quicker than Zak Collier in the presence of a member of the opposite sex. 176–8 after 40 overs was certainly competitive, but there was a lingering suspicion the Wick had left runs out there.

After an excellent and enormous tea, the instructions from the captain were simple: discipline with the ball, relentless energy, and relish the opportunity in a high-pressured chase. The innings got off to a superb start, with Ben Stephens holding a good catch at the second attempt off Tomos. 1 soon became 3 as Paige Goodwin removed Worcester Park’s numbers 2 and 3 with gun-barrel-straight bowling. Paige’s spell was excellent — bowling 8 overs straight through as the senior bowler, she created numerous chances with her very disciplined line and length, claiming a 3rd (also bowled), whilst Tomos took a second via a sensational catch at short cover from Craig Daniel (which sent the skipper off celebrating like Alan Shearer).

At 49–5, Worcester Park dug in and added a valuable 50 partnership for the 6th wicket. The partnership was broken by Magnus Findlay, who claimed his first senior wicket via a well-taken catch at midwicket. Findlay’s first spell was very exciting — lots of turn and false strokes induced. The 5s went in for the kill, with wickets 7 and 8 falling to Davies and Vazhapuli respectively. At 104–8, the 5s were confident, but Worcester Park fought back hard. Despite a very tight spell from Vazhapuli and an excellent second spell from Erin Goodwin who ripped multiple balls past the outside edge, Worcester Park put the ball into gaps and ran hard. The 9th wicket saw 62 added, leaving the game poised on a knife edge: 7 needed for victory, 4 overs to bowl, 2 wickets needed.

As the noise from Worcester Park grew louder, the senior heads assembled on the square and came up with a plan. Enter stage left, Magnus Findlay. A gamble to go for the win according to the senior heads — gamble it was not. Magnus, despite having no warning he was coming on, quickly shuffled his field with the wisdom of a man many years senior and took a wicket off his first ball via a stunning caught and bowled, taken at full stretch millimetres from the turf. The Wick erupted. Balls 2 and 3 both produced false shots from the Worcester Park skipper at 11. On the advice of the captain, Findlay bowled a googly on the 4th ball — it ripped through the defences of the number 11 and castled the stumps, sending the Wick into raptures and home with 20 valuable points.

Credit should go to Worcester Park who were excellent hosts and much improved from the reverse fixture. The star of the show was undoubtedly Magnus Findlay — plucked from the 6th XI with next to no warning, he opened the batting stylishly, ran his socks off in the field, and then bowled with incredible maturity and clarity of thought in a real pressure situation. For his first three senior wickets, not a bad first three to get.

Magnus Findlay — remember the name.