Strollers won by nine wickets
Bledlow 112
(32.3 overs; Salvesen 4-7, Macaulay 1-4, Pandor 1-9, Pittams 1-12, Bennett 1-17, Wall 1-18, Rogers 1-23)
Strollers 113-1
(22.4 overs; Oliver 60no, Martindale 23no, Pandor 10)
Eleven Strollers converged on Pinkneys Green for the annual Bledlow fixture, something which looked like somewhat of a pipe dream just a few days earlier, with Blair Travis having an arduous run of match management during the summer holiday season. However, with no small amount of encouragement and coercion, Blair managed to pull together a full squad, a commendable effort.
To reward himself for this match management miracle, Blair indulged himself with the captaincy reins. Travis’s excitement did not last long however, the Bledlow skipper calling the coin toss correctly and electing to bat first on the very dry Pinkneys wicket.
With only a minimal amount of moaning and groaning, the Strollers took to the field to begin fielding. With a fair bit to redeem after a mediocre performance the previous week at Claygate, the Strollers were out warming up early, trying to shake off the drops before the first ball was bowled.
That first ball was bowled by James Dela Rue shortly thereafter, trying to repeat the dose of a first-ball wicket two weeks in a row. That almost came to fruition, with the first ball taking the batsman’s glove, with wicket keeper Hugh Martindale just unable to reel it in.
Will Bennett had the new ball from the other end, firing down his usual thunderbolts. With the bowlers hitting their lines and lengths, Bledlow were struggling to get the runs flowing.
With pressure building, Bennett was rewarded with an lbw decision against opener Schofield. Fellow Bledlow opener Marshall and No 3 Zobel defended valiantly, seeing off the rest of Dela Rue and Bennett’s spells. Both openers kept it tight and did not allow Bledlow to get away; Dela Rue and Bennett finishing with figures of 6-1-16-0 and 5-1-17-1.
Tom Salvesen and Rob Wall were the first change bowlers, keeping the pressure on the Bledlow batsmen with tight lines and lengths. Wall, seemingly with a new lease of life in 2026, was charging in and bowling with surprising dynamism while extracting plenty of movement from the pitch. A rare half-tracker from Wall interrupted this run of tight bowling, confusing the batsman so much he missed the ball and was bowled. While Wall claims he put additional “rip” on this one; it was a frustrating sight for a wicketless opening bowler.
There were no such half-trackers from Salvesen however, who had it on a string. Consistently putting the ball on a perfect line and length until the pressure eventually told, displacing the key man, Zobel, out lbw for 25.
Salvesen then continued to tear through the middle order, having two batsmen caught by Travis at first slip and another clean bowled. Tom finishing with the outstanding figures of 8-3-7-4, which were nothing less than what he deserved. He did, however, make the point that his figures could have been improved with more energetic fielding from the Match Reporter at gully, with over half his runs conceded coming in one boundary behind the wicket which, in all truth, was nowhere the Match Reporter. The same cannot be said for a later incident on the boundary.
Steve Rogers and Isa Pandor then took the bowling reins, each taking one wicket before Blair obviously thought the game situation was now safe enough to allow Michael Pittams a bowl.
With excessive grunting and snorting he charged into the crease bowling a couple of ripsnorters that beat the batsman all ends up. After attracting the edge which raced towards the boundary behind the wicket, some very sloppy boundary fielding from Dela Rue saw Pittams concede four runs, which was followed with two more boundaries.
However, he snared a wicket with a sharp catch by Wall at cover, finishing with 1-12 from his solitary over. It was suggested by some that Pittams was the quickest bowler on show for the Strollers, something the openers were not too pleased to hear.
Alastair Macaulay wrapped up the Bledlow innings for 112 in the 33rd over with a rare hit-wicket dismissal, batsman Sayed standing on his stumps after whacking one behind square for what would have been a nice boundary. This handed Dela Rue the inglorious feat of being the only wicketless Strollers bowler for the day.
Tea-time commenced and this was truly Travis’s time to shine. After taking on tea preparation duties due to Simon Brodbeck’s unusual mid-season holiday, he outdid himself with a glorious spread courtesy of a well administered Waitrose order.
With a fabulous selection of sandwiches, savouries, cakes and fruit, he has no doubt found his calling as a caterer and earned himself the job for chief tea-preparer for life. With this newfound vocation, we may now be able to relieve him of match reporting duties, for which he clearly does not have the same enthusiasm.
Still glowing from his catering duties, Travis decided he did not need to open the batting and instead sent Glen Oliver and Pandor out to face the music. Both made solid starts, running hard between the wickets and ticking off boundaries. Pandor was dismissed for ten runs, bowled by Bledlow captain Vineeth, which brought Hugh Martindale to the crease.
Martindale was rock solid, combing well with Glen and playing a lovely cameo. Bledlow were switching their bowlers around, using eight bowlers in 22.4 overs, bamboozling scorer (and electronic scoreboard operator) Dela Rue.
But none of this chop-changing worried Martindale; it seemed it would take a bulldozer to remove from him the crease. Rob Wall, as umpire, gave his best effort, triggering Hugh lbw, before Bledlow, showing great sportsmanship, rightfully called him back due to Hugh having thick-edged it onto his pad.
After a circumspect last few overs, the Strollers eventually surpassed Bledlow’s 112 runs on the fourth ball of the 23rd over. Oliver and Martindale finished unbeaten with 60 and 23 respectively.
After a relatively early finish, thanks in part to efficient over-rates, the Strollers enjoyed some beers in the Pinkneys Green sun before embarking back towards the bright lights of London.
Capt: Blair Travis. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: James Dela Rue.