🧢 Captain's Log

Wed 02 Aug 1882 🧢 1st XIv ? · HomeformLLLWL

Wednesday last, 2 August 1882, and honours fell my way at the toss — I had no hesitation in asking us to bat first on our own patch. Alas, "None all out" is a phrase that should chill any captain's blood, and so it proved; the ducks were laid thick and fast, with both W H Fryer and A Startup marching back for nought without so much as troubling the umpire's finger. Not our finest hour with the willow, though I take full responsibility for the decision to bat.

Out in the field, though, the lads showed real character. We bowled them out for the same unlovely total, with F Atkins, H Foster and C Chambers all sent packing without scoring — only A Killick, with a battling 27, gave the innings any shape at all. The spell of the season belonged to H Freed, whose figures of 8-0 and a thoroughly deserved five-for were the highlight of our summer so far. His dozen runs with the bat, incidentally, nudged him past W T Court and into 7th on the club's all-time run-scoring list — a quiet personal landmark amid the wreckage.

For all that heroism with ball in hand, we somehow contrived to lose by 0 wickets — a result that will keep the committee in conversation for weeks. W H Fryer still leads our 1882 run charts with 78, and Freed sits 3rd among the season's wicket-takers with 9. A curious afternoon, honours shared in application but not in outcome. We'll be better for it next week.

Wed 05 Jul 1882 🧢 1st XIv ? · HomeformLLLLW

Wednesday the fifth of July found us put in to field first, always a mixed blessing on our sort of afternoon. The visitors settled in, with F Laurence carrying their innings along nicely for a top score of 20, before Jack Fryer decided enough was enough and ran quite riot with the ball, finishing with a staggering 7 for 0 — a career milestone too, his fiftieth wicket for the club, and not before time. Ernest Cruttenden chipped in with 2 for 0 and J Gurney with 1 for 0, while F Savage at least had the decency to go without troubling the scorers.

Our reply, I'm sorry to report, rather fell apart at the seams. W Wilson and G C Froud both walked the long walk back for nought, and your correspondent must confess to a duck of his own — the less said the better, though the lads were kind enough not to mention it more than a dozen times.

There were bright spots amid the wreckage: Ernest Cruttenden's 11 runs eased him past T Gandy into third on the club's all-time run-scorers list, and his three wickets on the day lifted him past W Crittenden into seventh among our wicket-takers. In the 1882 charts, R H B Simpson (61 runs) and Jack Fryer (16 wickets) remain out in front.

Beaten by 222 runs, then — not our finest hour, but heads up, and back to the nets we go.

Wed 28 Jun 1882 🧢 1st XIv Marden CC, Kent · HomeformLLLLL

Wednesday last, the 28th of June, saw Marden CC of Kent make the journey to us at Linton Park, and having called correctly at the toss I did what any captain of sound mind would do — elected to bat and left the rest to the lads.

The innings had its moments, not all of them proud. W H Fryer top-scored with a watchful 32, playing the situation rather better than most of us played the ball, while poor J Sedgwick suffered the walk of shame for a duck — my sympathies were entirely with him, having trodden that same path myself more often than I care to admit. Whatever the final tally, it proved plenty.

With the ball in hand we were a different side altogether. F Tipping and R Cleaver both departed without troubling the scorers, and the day belonged, without argument, to Ernest Cruttenden, whose figures of 7-0 made for a spell of real class and a thoroughly deserved five-for. W H Fryer chipped in with 1-0, and I added my 32 with the bat to the effort.

There was history in it too: Cruttenden's 14 runs carried him past F Danells to 5th on the club's all-time run-scorers' list, and his seven wickets moved him past G Sedgwick into 10th among the wicket-takers. He now leads our 1882 wicket charts with 11, while Fryer sits proudly atop the run charts with 53.

A win by 172 runs, then — handsome, cheerful, and thoroughly deserved. Onwards.

Wed 14 Jun 1882 🧢 1st XIv ? · AwayformLLLLL

Wednesday last took us away for what I can only describe as a game of two distinct halves, both of them bad for us. Put into the field first, we toiled honestly enough, and were rewarded when Jack Fryer bowled quite beautifully to finish with four wickets, ably backed up by X Ellis and H Freed chipping in either side of him. Poor C F Foster was sent packing without so much as a look at the scoreboard, though it must be said C W Battiscombe and A Killick both got in and made merry, with 47 and 37 respectively giving the opposition rather more than we'd have liked.

Then came our reply, and here the less said the better. C Gibbs, W Wilson and J Mallard each contributed a golden duck, a hat-trick of nothings that rather set the tone, and I obliged with a nought of my own for good measure — we shall draw a veil over that one, as agreed. It was, in short, a batting collapse of heroic proportions, and we were duly beaten by an innings and 91 runs.

Amid the wreckage, two bits of good news for the club historians: Freed's 5 runs sees him leapfrog J T Amies into 8th on the all-time run-scorers' list, while Fryer's four wickets take him past Freed and into 1st on the all-time wicket-takers' list — bowled into the record books, if nothing else. Ellis and Wilson continue to lead our season's charts. As for the rest of us, we'll be better for it next week. We could hardly be worse.

Wed 24 May 1882 🧢 1st XIv ? · AwayformLLLLL

Wednesday, 24 May 1882: we duly travelled, I won the toss, and elected to bat — the right call, I felt, whatever the scorebook now suggests.

Our innings has not survived the passage of time with much dignity; the book records us merely as all out, with F Foster and A Tapsfield both trudging back for golden ducks. Not our finest hour with the willow, though the lads bore it with the customary stiff upper lip.

The ball, thankfully, told a happier tale, even if their innings fared no better in the scorebook's memory. We can say with certainty that F Hodges departed without troubling the scorers. Ernest Cruttenden bowled beautifully for 4 for 0, well supported by W Wilson with matching figures of 4 for 0. I chipped in with four wickets myself — someone has to keep the captain humble, and for once it wasn't me.

Amid it all, the history books turned a page: F Danells's 16 runs carried him past Ernest Cruttenden into 6th on our all-time run-scorers list, and G Sedgwick's lone wicket eased him past R Morris into 10th among our wicket-takers. E Gurney still leads this season's run charts with 25, and W Wilson tops the wickets with 5.

We fell by seven wickets in the end. A chastening afternoon — but we'll be better for it next week.