Parent's Day at Bedales this appears to have been a very good match. I report this largely from the scorebook, but it seems Stoner batted first and after a slow start, particularly against the school's star player Aj Vyas who had figures of 5-2-18-2, Adrian Odell made 45 and Matt Evans 32* to post a respectable total of 129-5. Bedales had 25 overs to chase this, and Ed Odell opened with 27 to get them on their way. Justin Jones kept the game alive, taking 2-40 in 6 overs and as the match got closer at the end Ollie B (no full name in the book!) made 35 for the school while Matt Evans showed his new status as an all rounder by having figures of 4-1-12-3. In the end the school scraped home by 3 wickets in the last over, in what seems to have been an excellent game.

Stoner v Wooburn Narkovians

Monday July 19th, 2004

Wooburn won toss

Wooburn 243-5 dec.

Stoner 214-9

Draw

After 6 weeks of almost continually poor weather Stoner Week started with relatively warm sunshine and an optimistic weather forecast, no doubt a great relief to the increasing number of members planning to camp for the week. Unfortunately for Stoner they had to test the warmer weather by fielding in it, though whether Justin Jones chose to do so or was asked remains a closely guarded secret.

Ben Roberts and Ben Seddon opened the bowling with some tidy seam bowling, Roberts also getting a degree of swing in the humid conditions. The early pressure produced a wicket for each of the openers, with Seddon bowling Tennant for 10 and Roberts having Pidgeon smartly caught behind for 0. Roberts was taken off after a short opening spell and replaced by Ed Ellis, who also picked up a wicket, having Scouse bowled for 13. The next partnership, though, took the game right away from Stoner. Ellis (with 1-24 in 8) could not make the breakthrough, nor could Seddon. A short second spell from Ben Roberts only served to slightly spoil his initially very economic figures, leaving him with 1-15 in 7 overs, 4 of them maidens. Ed Odell, on his Stoner debut bowled well, getting some turn and drift with his legbreaks, but had little luck, ending with 0-33 in 9 overs. Skipper Justin Jones went for 32 in 4 overs and even the late arriving Matt Evans could do little to get things back under control until he eventually bowled Tennant for 77 to end a partnership of about 150. Ben Seddon returned to take another wicket, that of Barker for 5, but Jeff Morris then joined Alan Cuthbert in an onslaught that brought a fairly early declaration at 243-5, Cuthbert ending on 89*.

Stoner had about 1 ¼  hours plus 20 overs to chase the target, but the opening pace attack meant Wooburn did not get through their overs as quickly as Stoner had, and in the end that amounted to 42 overs, 4 less than Stoner had bowled themselves. Justin Jones was anxious to make a quick start and was soon unleashing his usual barrage of attacking shots including a huge straight six off Tennant which landed on the bottom of the bank by the tennis courts. Meanwhile Matthew Quantrill was playing himself in patiently against the slightly more hostile bowling of Bushnall, cracking a square cut for 4 from the first loose ball he received. Shortly afterwards, though, he got a top edge to a shorter ball and was caught by slip tumbling backwards. Jones carried on the attack, though he was hampered by an injury to his ankle caused by driving a ball straight into it! He reached 40 before being rather bizarrely run out by Bushnall, who followed through to a defensive push, picked it up and hurled it at the stumps, catching Jones not quite getting back to his ground in time.

Ben Seddon also played well for a while for 17 before he and Angus Finney were out in quick succession in Bushnall's last 2 overs – he ended up with 3-24 in 9. Ben Roberts and Matt Evans then put on the best partnership of the innings, 67, before Evans was eventually bowled by Pidgeon for 26. By this stage spin was on at both ends to keep Stoner interested in chasing the 7 an over they needed, and though the rate slipped slightly they continued to chase hard. Ben Roberts was eventually caught for 46 and Adrian Odell was bowled shortly afterwards, but Ed Ellis and Sam Roberts put on 38 for the 8th wicket, aided by 22 from one Pidgeon over when the rate seemed to be getting out of reach. Pidgeon had his revenge, having Ellis stumped for 32, and after a quick 8 from Ed Odell Derek and Sam Roberts played out the last few overs for the draw with some comfort.

A good game to start the week, Wooburn as usual producing a good side who played the game well, but enjoyed themselves and played in good spirit. They had the better of the game, but in the end the draw was perhaps a fair result as Stoner lost wickets at the end throwing everything at the run chase.

Stoner v Mike Adams' XI

Tuesday July 20th, 2004

Stoner 226-7 dec.

Mike Adams' XI 157 all out

Stoner won by 69runs.

Having struggled to raise a team Mike Adams arrived with ten, made up to an XI by Sam Roberts. It was not as strong a side as he has produced in the past, and Angus Finney was delighted to win the toss on another warm afternoon and be able to bat. He opened himself with Matthew Quantrill, and the first 5 runs came courtesy of a number of wides by the opening bowler, Runsley, including the first ball of the match which ended up going over center stump on the next wicket along. Once he found his line, though, the bowling was tidy, but not too threatening and both batsmen played themselves in comfortably. 50 were added for the first wicket before the openers were seen off and the off spin of Wade was introduced. In his first over he put a short one down the leg side and Quantrill got under a pull shot and was caught on the boundary. Finney went on to 38 before popping one back to the bowler, and soon after that Barney Green, who had made a quick 21 was run out following a slightly optimistic call by Ben Roberts. Colin Baty was also caught quickly, but Laurie Goldsmith looked in good nick as he and Ben Roberts put on 30. Roberts was caught and bowled by Wade for 26 and Goldsmith bowled by a good one from Jones, who had started off as wicketkeeper, for 24. At 147-6 Stoner were threatening to fall far short of the score they were aiming at, but Ed Ellis (25*) and Justin Jones (58) then added a rapid 79 for the 7th wicket in just over 9 overs, allowing Stoner to declare on 226-7 when Jones was caught behind.

Ben Roberts and Barney Green then opened up with another tidy spell of seam. Roberts only conceded 9 runs in his 6 overs, but it was Green who got the breakthroughs, getting one opener brilliantly caught one handed in the gully by Colin Baty while the other was more straightforwardly caught behind to a tiny edge, giving Green 2-17. After this it was spin all the way, with off spinners Colin Baty and Ed Ellis sharing the overs from one end while Ed Odell bowled his leg spin unchanged at the other. He was unlucky not to take a wicket early on when Molyneaux edged one which was juggled and held by Quantrill behind the stumps, only for the umpire to give it not out. It was a short reprieve for the batsman, who was run out in the next over, just possibly deliberately by his partner who had also thought the edge behind was out! Odell then got the wicket he deserved, bowling Ransley who tried to sweep a leg side ball and was beaten by the turn. Colin Baty joined the action when he had the dangerous looking Wells caught at mid-wicket driving uppishly, though Wells was replaced by the captain, Oli Jones, who also looked an accomplished bat. His partner, Les Wade, was standing out of his ground to both spinners, and playing forward, so a stumping always looked a possibility. This possibility seemed to become reality when he went down the wicket to a legside ball from Odell and was well beaten. He was some 3 yards down the wicket when the ball arrived at the keeper, Quantrill, who took it very wide, and threw it back onto the stumps, hitting them with Wade stranded. Stoner's celebrations were cut short, though, when the batsman didn't walk and the umpire didn't give it out, claiming that he thought Quantrill had knocked the bails off with his gloves and dropped the ball! One of the more bizarre umpiring decisions in cricketing history particularly as Quantrill wasn't within touching distance of the stumps when he took the ball, but justice was served a few balls later when Wade was again beaten, this time by a much straighter ball which Quantrill could take easily and remove the bails with Wade almost as far down the track as he had been to the first one. This time the umpire couldn't find any excuse not to give it and Odell had another well deserved wicket. There followed a useful partnership between Jones and Bowerly, adding 41 in 9 overs before Bowerly was eventually well caught by Colin Baty running round from mid-on to mid-off after the batsman mistimed a straight drive off Ed Ellis. Chris Wade went soon afterwards, caught and bowled by Odell. There then followed a glorious moment of classic cricketing mix up, as Sam Roberts asked Wade to run for him as he was suffering from a strained thigh. His second ball was hit to mid wicket, and a single was called. Sam forgot that he had a runner, and set off, as did his runner. The runner made the run, as did the batsman at the other end. Sam, though, stopped half way, and tried to return to his ground. The throw, though, beat him by several yards, and there were appeals. Then the confusion started. The law is quite straightforward – the batsman with a runner must stay in his ground, or he can be run out. It seems that the square leg umpire knew this, but he (the same umpire who had missed the earlier stumping!) thought Sam was in. Most of the fielders and batsman didn't know the law, so there was lots of debating going on. Fortunately Mike Adams, umpire at the bowlers end, did know the law and had seen that Sam was out of his ground, and he intervened to give Sam out. A classic moment, it was naturally awarded the Low Alcohol Lager Moment of the Week at the AGM.

One interesting side question to this debate, though, which wasn't really spotted, was this. Sam was run out at the batsman's end. The not out batsman was already in at that end, and the runner was in at the other end. Which end should the new batsman have gone to? As it happens he went to the non-striker's end, and no one queried it. As it was the end of the over this became the strikers end, and the batsman, Moore, who made no claims to being a competent cricketer, somehow survived a full over from Ed Ellis. Seeing that his partner was struggling Jones, who was still in at the other end, decided he may as well try all out attack, and hit the first 4 balls of Odell's next over for 6,6,4 & 6 before pulling the next one to Ben Roberts on the boundary, ending up with 69 and giving Odell figures of 4-82, which would have been 5 had the first catch been given to him.

Another enjoyable game despite the controversy surrounding some of the decisions, but with most of Mike Adams' regular now reaching retirement age the decision was made in the pub afterwards that next year would be the final year that he would raise a team. Following on from this further discussions in the week decided to try and make something of an event of that game – so to any Stoner members out there who have sort of hung up their boots, but feel there might be one final game left in them make a date for your diary for next year – provisionally it will be Tuesday the 26^th of July 2005 and Mike Russell has promised to cater for an event afterwards.

Stoner v Steep

Wednesday July 21st, 2004

Stoner 221 all out

Steep 130-8

Draw

The annual grudge match (for Matt Evans and one or two of the younger Steep players who make the mistake of taking him half seriously) was eagerly anticipated. A morning of looming grey clouds threatened disappointment, but no rain fell until the teams were taking the field when there was a short heavy shower, which forced them off the pitch. Fortunately it lasted only for a minute or two, and this short burst seemed to satisfy the rain gods, as the weather then cleared up and from then on the game was for the most part played in warm sunshine.

Stoner captain Evans was late arriving, being busy selling weapons of mass destruction to various dodgy countries around the world. (Did you ever wonder how we knew Iraq had such weapons? Of course the fact that none have been found says much for the quality of the Evans product….) In Evans absence Paul Hutt stood in for the toss with Damian Morley, the result of which once again (as is becoming traditional!) remains a secret between the two captains, but led to Stoner batting first. Evans arrived just too late to influence the top half of the batting order, much to his dismay having scored 72 against Steep last year and full of batting confidence after making his maiden century this year. In his place Justin Jones and Ben Seddon opened, with Justin quickly into the action against both opening bowlers, Smith and Antrobus. Ben was unlucky, having hit a good 4, to be out LBW playing well forward to Smith in the third over.

The number 3 position was taken by Adrian Odell, slightly reluctantly, in the light of various excuses of other candidates – Laurie Goldsmith (late) and Barney Green (left his kit in his Mum's car and had to ask her to drive down from Guildford specially (on her birthday!)) not able to take the position. Adrian, though, was a revelation, playing solidly and quickly on to anything loose. He and Justin took the score to 62 by the end of the 9th over. By this time Justin had had two let offs, being caught off a full toss that was (eventually) called a no ball for height by the square leg umpire, and dropped from a simple chance at mid-wicket. The first ball of the tenth over, though, was hit deep to long on where Damian Morley made no mistake with the catch, Justin departing for 43. This seemed to inspire Adrian, who hit a flurry of boundaries before he swung and missed at one from Rudi Antrobus and was bowled. Paul Hutt joined Laurie Goldsmith at the crease (reducing the average age of the batsmen to just under 50!) and they continued the good work, with Laurie looking in particularly good touch. Together they saw off the bowling of Morley and had little trouble against Baty, their partnership of 48 (the best of the innings) being ended when Laurie was caught for 41. Hutt was run out shortly afterwards and Ed Odell hit a good 4 and was also out, and at 134-6 Stoner were looking in some danger of falling well short of a good total. At this stage, though, Barney Green and Ben Roberts were a very useful pair to have in and they took the score to 160 before Barney got a leading edge to Bone and was fairly comfortably caught. Caius Pawson, on his Stoner debut, helped Ben add a further 22 with two successive 4's clouted over mid-wicket before he was out for 10.

At this point, at about 4.25, Ben was joined by Matt 'Grind Them Into The Dust' Evans. The time may have seemed right for a few attacking shots and an early declaration, but Evans was taking no chances. Another 8 overs were used as 39 more runs were added before Evans was LBW for 27 and Ben shortly afterwards caught and bowled by Shaw for 32, the 9th wicket stand of 39 being accompanied by increasingly less subtle hints form all corners of the ground that it might be time for a declaration. These ranged from Stoner members calling out 'Well batted' and clapping at the end of each over to moans about hunger pains from the fielders. Impervious to it all Evans ploughed on until forced to concede that Steep should be allowed a bat by the fact that Stoner were all out!

Tea was provided by Rollo Wicksteed and Tess Evans, and was marked by a presentation to Rollo of a scorebook from one of his earliest Stoner matches some 50 years ago. (photographs of this occasion have been added to the gallery.) He was presented with this by the newest Stoner Vice-President, Wendy Sanger, who perhaps little knew what a web she was entangling herself in when she added a little credit to herself to the Stoner fixture list that she prepares for us. For those who don't know who she is this may be a good time to explain that she is the Bursar's assistant at Bedales, who has prepared and printed our fixture card for a number of years as well as giving other assistance in liaison with the school. This game marked her first visit to the cricket pitch during Stoner Week, and though she has (so far) resisted efforts to get her to the Harrow, she did foolishly let slip that she sometimes goes camping. Given the proliferation of campers this year she now finds herself under pressure to join the Stoner campsite for the week – which would, after all, leave her only a short walk from work every day. (We expect to see you there next year Wendy, now you've had this write up!)

This may also be an opportune moment to mention the teas, which have been generally regarded as excellent this year. As well as being high quality there has been an interesting development in the arrival of illustrated labels to tell people what is in the sandwiches. The reason for this has been explained a number of times by Derek Roberts, but as it is disrespectful to the President it will not be repeated here! However it has resulted in some interesting illustrations for the various fillings, including the very popular peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and under Mr. Wicksteed's supervision Smoked (or smoking) Salmon, 'Surprise Selection' and 'Forgot what is in these sandwiches' – which were actually all very nice!

Back to the match….

Colin Baty opened for Steep, and inevitably Matt Evans opened the bowling himself. A full toss first ball was driven hard by Baty…straight back into a gleeful Evans' hands. The second opener, Hagen, didn't last much longer, bowled by an Evans off cutter, and by the time the opening attack of Evans and Barney Green were rested after 6 overs each Steep were 22-2. The first change seam attack of Ben Seddon and Ben Roberts were also accurate, and with Steep only needing a draw to retain the Wicksteed trophy Damian Morley and Adrian Hill were taking no foolish risks. When Stoner finally turned to the spin of Ed Odell Steep were chasing something over 8 an over and never looking like making it. Odell in fact bowled a superb spell, getting lots of turn from a good line and length, and soon had Hill removed skying one into the covers. After that, though, although he beat the bat a number of times Odell did not take another wicket, ending up with 1-22 from 8 overs. At the other end the serious temptation of Justin Jones was enough to eventually get both Mike Turnbull and Morley (for 43) but not enough to tempt Steep into a serious attempt to make the runs. Eventually Evans returned to his opening seam attack for the last 7 overs, and Barney Green restored some life to a dying game by getting both Gordon Dale and John Smith in his second over back. After that, though, Bone and Ed Ellis managed to survive until the very last ball, when Bone, knowing the game was safe, advanced down the track and was well stumped by Laurie Goldsmith on his Stoner wicketkeeping debut, giving an excellent example of a keeper walking in with the bowler!

Too little too late, though. Damian Morley collected the Wicksteed Trophy, and Colin Baty was presented with an application for membership of the Primary Club. The tea ladies were all presented with roses, and finally there was a bottle of Cava presented to the Steep  Man of the Match – the man who contributed most to Steep retaining the trophy…inevitably it went to Matt Evans!

Stoner v Carpe Diem

Thursday July 22nd, 2004

Carpe Diem 226-9 dec.

Stoner 219 all out

Carpe Diem won by 7 runs

The best morning of the week so far gave way to overcast conditions and occasional drizzle as the match began, but fortunately the rain never became too heavy and later gave way to brighter conditions for the end of the match. Carpe Diem were missing a number of their regulars, their skipper Rob Newmarch having had to contact 40 players to raise an XI, but nonetheless they produced a strong team, while Stoner had a strong looking batting line up but were short of bowling with their four most productive bowlers of the week so far all missing. As a result the day's captain Matthew Quantrill took the decision to insert Carpe Diem and back his long batting line up to chase a total.

With Connor Wilkinson testing the batsmen in a long probing spell Stoner got away to a reasonable start, and Oli Perigo, despite a rather large wide first ball also produced a reasonable spell, picking up the wicket of Flinders with one that moved away and took a fine edge. Perigo soon tired, though, and was replaced by Caius Pawson for one of the more interesting spells of the week. Bowling off the wrong foot with a high action he produced a sort of loopy medium pace, with rather varying degrees of effect. There was some swing, but a full toss some six feet over the batsman's head and some very wide wides meant that after two rather expensive overs he was in danger of coming off. Given one more over he managed to tuck up the dangerous Marc Klus, who lobbed up a catch to square leg. Two balls later Gary Browning was tempted by the loop, had a huge swing and was bowled, triggering massive celebrations, and gaining Caius another over. The second ball of that over produced a repeat of his second wicket, with Spencer Pocock winding up for a huge swing, missing and being bowled centre stump. Caius then bowled two fairly good overs without taking another wicket, but was then expensive in his last over, ending up with 3-54 in 7! At this point with Ben Seddon taking over from Connor and Ed Ellis on for Pawson Stoner were on top, with 4 wickets down and another threatening batsman Vic Mayers retiring hurt with a pulled shoulder muscle. However sensible batting from most of their lower order, particularly skipper Rob Newmarch kept Carpe Diem in the game and the run rate remained steady. Stoner were a touch unlucky with a number of shots in the air passing just out of fielders' reach, but they also dropped a number of chances that did come their way, though few of them were easy. In the end the declaration came at about 10 to 5, marked by a huge straight six from number 11 Ian Lindsell, leaving Stoner a tough 227 to win.

Stoner opened with the contrasting pairing of Angus Finney and Justin Jones, against a contrasting pair of opening bowlers, the pacey Andy Stuart and slow, very tidy inswing of Ian Lindsell.  Jones managed a 4 off Stuart and a big pulled 6 off Lindsell before Stuart pulled up with a thigh strain at the start of the 2nd over and had to go off. He was replaced by the almost equally quick Vic Mayers, and he struck in his first over when Jones skyed one and was well caught by Andy Mayers, son of the bowler. This caused a distinct slowing of the run rate, with three successive maidens before Jack Fray was bowled by Lindsell trying to break free from the shackles. At 17-2 after 8 overs Stoner were looking almost dead and buried, but Finney and Laurie Goldsmith rebuilt the innings patiently, running well between the wickets and increasingly picking up boundaries as well. They saw off Lindsell and Mayers and took full toll of the replacement bowlers, Scanlan and Flinders, Goldsmith in particular looking in excellent touch. Scanlan and Flinders were hit out of the attack, going for 29 and 25 respectively off four overs, and the 7 an over Stoner had needed at the start of the 20 was down to 6 as Andy Mayers and Spencer Pocock were also expensive initially. Running between the wickets had been a strength of the partnership, but when they had added 113 they took one risk too many and Finney was run out for 38. Goldsmith was past his fifty and now batting superbly, getting Andy Mayers removed from the attack with 0-25 in 3 overs, but just when he seemed likely to do the same to Pocock he squeezed one out to point and was caught for 82, with his maiden century for Stoner firmly in his sights. It would have been a well deserved century as he had made his 82 out of 146 and set Stoner up for the run chase perfectly, the innings subsequently being judged to be of such quality that it was awarded the Champagne Moment of the Week.

Following Goldsmith's departure there was a bit of a slow down, with only 22 runs coming from the next 6 overs. Oli Perigo, despite one big six, was showing his lack of regular cricket and Andy Smee was also struggling to get the ball away as Pocock was now bowling more tidily and Linsdell had returned at the other end. With wickets not falling Carpe Diem reverted to their strike bowlers and Vic Mayers replaced Linsdell and immediately had Smee caught behind. At that point, with 8 overs remaining, 59 runs were still required. Matthew Quantrill and Oli Perigo began to pick things up, taking a 4 each from one Mayers over and then 16 from Pocock's next (and last) over with Quantrill hitting 4,6,4 from successive balls to put Stoner right back in the game. From the first ball of the next over Perigo was bowled by Mayers, but Ben Seddon combined perfectly with Quantrill, running hard between the wickets to add another 20 for the 7th wicket. With two overs remaining Stoner needed just 9 runs with 4 wickets in hand, but the turniung point came from the first ball of the penultimate over, when Quantrill drove the ball straight and Flinders stopped it by the stumps and was able to run Seddon out backing up. Quantrill got a single off the next ball, but Ed Ellis was then bowled first ball and Caius Pawson could not score off the next three. With 8 now needed from the last over, to be bowled by Vic Mayers, and Quantrill now being the last experienced batsman he needed at least one boundary. He mishit the first one, but to the second ball came down the track and drove hard through the line. Unfortunately he got under it a touch and it went high enough in the air for the batsmen to have turned for their second run when Andy Mayers, again off his father's bowling, got under it and caught it 10 yards in from the mid wicket boundary. The last pair were left needing 8 from 4 balls, with instructions to play straight and try and use the pace of the bowling to edge or glance a couple of boundaries, but Caius Pawson thought the next ball was off line and swung at it, missed and saw his middle stump knocked back, leaving Stoner the losers by 7 runs with just 3 balls left. Mayers ended up with 5-31 and although Stoner were disappointed to lose their last 4 wickets for just one run it was still an excellent match enjoyed by all, even the famously hard to please Stoner spectators.

Stoner v Ropley

Friday July 23rd, 2004

Ropley 237-7 dec. (45 overs)

Stoner 238-7 (39.4 overs)

Stoner won by 3 wickets

At last a full day of sunshine, and with a little breeze to take the edge off the heat this was a perfect way to finish the week. The AGM in the morning was followed by an excellent match and a superb tea, and finally a good long evening at the Harrow, all in all a splendid way to finish off the week.

The game started with Connor Wilkinson taking his traditionally defensive decision at the toss and opting to bowl first, particularly as he was still smarting at the loss of Barney Green, who had dropped out of the Stoner side to allow Oli Perigo to play, and had then found himself a place in the Ropley team. However it was the senior Green, Ollie, who came out to open the batting with the shaggy haired, pierced lipped South African Andre Roux. Ollie claimed he could hardly see to the far end, a claim which perhaps explained his collision with a BMW in Petersfield golf course car park the previous day, an incident in the grand tradition of Green family driving in Stoner Week. Ollie seemed to see the ball without difficulty as he and Roux started off very steadily, exploiting the loose balls from Ben Seddon and comfortably dealing with the very tidy bowling of Geoff Hobbs at the other end. Although Ollie seemed to have something of a let off when on about 10 when the square leg umpire was possibly the only person with a view who didn't think he was stumped off Seddon the opening pair progressed otherwise serenely to a partnership of 85 before Roux was eventually out for 45. Green progressed to his 50, getting there two or three times as the scoreboard, under the care of Derek Roberts, moved his score up and down a number of times, but once he was sure of his 50 he had something of a heave and was caught. Colin Baty had replaced Hobbs, while after a short spell from Connor Wilkinson Ed Ellis was on at the far end, and they worked their way through the Ropley middle order, though at the cost of a steady scoring rate. When Ropley were about 180-4 at about 4.20 a huge total was looking on, but in the mind of Stoner skipper Wilkinson it was obviously not enough to challenge the Stoner line up as he was wondering anxiously whether keeping his prime bowlers on might keep the runs down too much and delay Ropley's declaration. Persuaded otherwise he kept Ellis on and only replaced Baty with Hobbs near the end. Although wickets did fall, Ellis taking 2-36 in 8 overs, Baty 3-64 in 12 and Hobbs ending with the very tidy figures of 13-3-37-1, they could not remove Wilkinson's bete-noir Barney Green. As declaration time approached there was some confusion in the signals from the side line. Signals of 'two' were interpreted as meaning 2 more overs, but when Green had taken a single and his partner smacked some more runs 'one' was being signalled. The batsmen, however, clearly thought the total was high enough, and after consultation with Olly Green, who was umpiring, took it upon themselves to declare. When they got back to the pavilion they discovered that the signal was based on how many runs Barney needed for his 50 – he had declared on himself on 49*!

However it ended up happening this left Stoner the very challenging target of making 238 to win in what turned out to be 40 overs. First, though, the week's presentations had to be made, with the Champagne moment given to Laurie Goldsmith for his sparkling innings of 82 against Carpe Diem, the Low Alcohol Lager moment going to Sam Roberts for being run out while batting with a runner for Mike Adams' XI and the BandAid award to Matt Evans for his minutes of writhing in agony on the pitch when struck in the 'nether regions' from a ricochet off the stumps from Ben Roberts throw against Wooburn. It has to be said that he had some competition in this department with both Finney and Goldsmith suffering similar strikes, but neither of them were quite so dramatically pole axed as Evans!

Back with the match the target seemed even more challenging when some tidy opening seam bowling put pressure on the batsmen, and Angus Finney called a quick single as Ed Ellis hit one past Olly Green. Green was able to get a hand on it and deflect it straight to Andre Roux who produced a flat fast throw and direct hit at the bowler's end, leaving Ed several yards short and able to set off in plenty of time to get to his party in London, which was the reason he was opening the batting. This brought in yesterday's hero Laurie Goldsmith, but his champagne winning batting touch had deserted him today and he was soon on his way back. A potentially crucial partnership in pursuit of a big target followed, with Justin Jones joining Finney at the wicket, and Jones made 29 as they put on 62. However the introduction of spin at both ends, left arm spin from Barry Newton and off spin from Peters stepped up the pressure and Jones holed out, bringing in Matthew Quantrill. Before he and Finney could get going Finney was back in the pavilion, and a short while later so was Jack Fray. Still needing nearly 140 from the last 20 and with 5 wickets down Quantrill and Oli Perigo had to take things steadily initially and the required run rate crept up to over 8. However they were beginning to pick up runs and by not losing wickets were able to set up an attack on the target as they got their eyes in. Perigo was suffering from lack of match practice, and though he produced some thumping shots he wasn't able to get going with his usual fluency, but in contrast Quantrill was picking off anything loose and improvising runs. When the spinners were rested they took full advantage of the change bowling, hitting the South African Roux for 24 in 3 overs, taking 24 from 2 overs from the very slow spin of Macartan and hitting Ropley skipper Tom Surname Not Known for 24 in 2 as well. With good running between the wickets as well they were scoring at well above the required rate now, and although the most successful bowlers, Newton and Peters, were brought back on the batsmen no longer needed to take big risks against them. Quantrill did greet Peters' return with a six over mid wicket, but for the most part now there were less risks taken as less than a run a ball was required. Eventually Newton got Perigo for 44 to end a sixth wicket stand of 113, and Ben Seddon didn't last long, but with 17 needed off the last 3 Quantrill picked up 10 from the next Peters over, and although Newton kept it tight, conceding just 3 to finish with 11-1-34-3 the remaining 4 runs were picked up from Peters with 2 balls to spare. Quantrill finished with 87* and Colin Baty with 6* joined him in finishing things off, to the disappointment of the crowd who had hoped to see Connor Wilkinson at the crease for the moment of glory!

A successful end to a good week, marred only by the inability for insurance reasons to use the swimming pool. For the first time for several years there was no need for desperate ringing round to try and raise teams and indeed there were reserves available for most days. Everyone who took part seems to have enjoyed themselves and we can only hope that the spirit of the week will still be in people's minds next year when people make themselves available and the good times will carry on! Thanks to all those who took part, to the variety of supporters and tea ladies without whom the week would not be half as pleasurable and who give their services without the reward of playing, and I hope to see you all next year!