Strollers won by four wickets
Pinkneys Green 232-6
(40 overs; Rogers 2-30, Brodbeck 1-27, Priest 1-32, Macaulay 1-38)
Strollers 233-6
(33.2 overs; Oliver 91, Rogers 31no, Wilson 28no, Millar 27, Boyes 16, Priest 15)
The long and winding road that is the Strollers 2026 season began, as is now customary, at Bottom Paddock in faraway Kiwiland.
There it was the gnarled and long-lost veteran Hamish McDougall who proved the unlikely matchwinner:
Hamish handed the gloves to Justin Fredrickson and staked a strong claim to a new role as death bowler, taking two wickets for one run from the 29th over.
The domestic agenda began at Great Missenden on April 19 where Glen Oliver took the first step on his season-long and successful chase to the magic 1,000-run target with a punishing 85 not out.
But such an auspicious start was cancelled out the following week at Bledlow Ridge where we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory – a habit which was to become the theme of the season. On the bright side, a new star emerged as Hetu Shah took 3-14 and scored 63 in a losing cause.
Defeat at Royal Ascot followed a similar pattern but a remodelled Brad Trebilcock [having spent hours at the bowling machine during the winter] did his forlorn best:
Early wickets meant consolidation was required, and Brad Trebilcock took it upon himself to provide it. His 11 from 41 balls was an exercise in patience and restraint, eventually ended when a momentary lapse saw him wandering from his crease and run out in absent-minded fashion.
Jake Helsby’s cavalier 72 not brought victory at Jordans Taverners, but it was not without its alarms:
Such is the predictability of the game of cricket that something was bound to change. And so it did, with a proper Strollers middle-order collapse. Trebilcock, Helsby, Salvesen, Broster-Turley and Oliver were all out with only 14 of the required 18 runs scored. Happily for the Strollers, De La Rue had arrived at the crease and made contact with a leg-side delivery to score the winning runs.
The Strollers sneaked past Winchmore Hill by a mere 16 runs with the help of Oliver’s first ton of the campaign. A draw at new opponents Hyde Heath was followed by narrow defeat at Maidenhead & Bray – thanks to intervention from the skies:
Any seasoned observer of Sunday cricket knows that a batter arriving at the crease in a floppy hat is rarely planning a quiet afternoon. Wall duly delivered. His first four scoring shots all reached the boundary and there was a growing sense that Maidenhead & Bray were rapidly running out of answers.
Twelve boundaries flowed from his bat during a magnificent unbeaten 72 and, as the target narrowed, the game appeared perfectly poised.
Then international travel intervened. With a flight to catch later that evening, Wall was reluctantly summoned from the crease and retired out. It is surely one of the few occasions in cricketing history where a batsman has been dismissed not by bowler, fielder or umpire, but by airline scheduling.
The Marshall trophy was wrestled back at West Chiltington. At The Lee the Strollers scored 312-8…and lost – an unlikely outcome which was to be repeated later in the season.
There were two tour triumphs in the Cotswolds with victory against our friends at Broughton Gifford followed by Shah’s stunning 5-7 which did the job at Adlestrop.
The Strollers came back to earth against London Theatres – new opponents who proved friendly but far too strong.
Peppard fell (courtesy of a Hector Millar century) despite Mike Pittams’ anatomy taking a battering. Our hero wrote:
I was finding the inconsistent bounce tricky to deal with and received blows to the bicep and arm. Despite those clearly being areas of my anatomy that are well protected by muscle, by some sort of freak chance both deliveries found their way to soft doughy spots and caused me to whimper a little bit.
At Botany Bay the history books were much in evidence:
In April 1770 HMS Endeavour became the first European ship to reach the east coast of what would lovingly become known as Australia.
At the helm of the research vessel was a silk-stocking-clad fop named Captain Cook – a renowned chef of the time who was forced to flee his former life as a culinary savant in Portsmouth, due to a misunderstanding involving a soufflé, a goat and a vicar’s daughter…but I digress.
Young Cook escaped to a life at sea and soon ascended the slippery pole of a seaman’s life to the heady heights of captain…stepping ashore in Botany Bay.
The parallels you cannot deny are remarkable – the Strollers’ maiden voyage to our very own Botany Bay gallantly led by our very own Captain ‘Jamie’ Oliver. Possibly with a little less soufflé this time, but the rest uncanny.
Defeat at Claygate saw another familiar theme: An accumulation of dropped catches left the Strollers forever wondering what might have been.
Tom Salvesen’s 4-7 against Bledlow decided that one while Simon Brodbeck’s dithering at the crease ensured an agonising two-run defeat against Roehampton.
Ripley fell but then came a rerun of our clashes against The Lee. The scores bear repeating: we posted 386-6…and lost. Extraordinary.
The bemused match reporter summed it up:
In what may only be called a one-day run-fest, The Lee came out winners by two wickets in the final over.
Probably one for the record books: most runs scored by Strollers; most runs scored by an opposition; most runs scored in a defeat; most runs scored in a day. Possibly the best catching performance by the Strollers in a while but catches only win matches if the opposition scores less than you!
Chessington (whose pavilion had sadly burnt down) were defeated and then came a splendid Three (or perhaps two) Counties Tour. The sun shone; the whole team chipped in.
Freddie Broster-Turley insisted on doing everything in Lichfield. To be fair, his 46 and 2-33 did help in the 39-run win against Wall.
Sean Bourke’s 64 at Stanton showed the way to victory there. But the real winners were the teas: Rae at Wall; Steph, Tricia, Jane and Kathy at Stanton. They were the architects of two monumental feasts which stole the show from the actual cricket.
On the midweek scene it was a salutary tale of struggling for players but managing to enjoy the games. Seven games but only two victories. But did it matter?
On to the final domestic tussle of the season at Pinkneys Green. With autumn in the air the home side’s young tyros James Elam and Adam Dunstan put on 78 for the first wicket.
They motored on despite the best efforts of Isa Pandor and Steve Wilson. But Alastair Macaulay took his 44th wicket of the campaign and Simon Brodbeck claimed his only wicket of the 2026 season – how are the not-so-mighty fallen…
Facing a target of 233, Hector Millar and schoolmate Will Priest – a Strollers debutant – laid the foundation. Priest departed with his prayers unanswered but Millar kept things ticking over.
Glen Oliver did not just keep them ticking over – more like bouncing along, with 12 fours and two sixes in a plundering 91. That brought him to 1126 runs for the season so far – just behind a certain G. Oliver 1169 (2024), 1191 Chris Meade (1989), and James Timperley 1430 (2009).
But the marauding Oliver fell to the talented Elam and a mini-crisis developed as the unholy trinity of Andy Boyes, Brad Trebilcock (unluckily caught off a decent shot) and Hugh Martindale departed. At 180-6 things looked tricky.
But no need to panic. The Steves Show (Rogers and Wilson) calmly put on an undefeated partnership of 53 to see the Strollers safely home at 233-6.
Highlight of the day was, of course, the tasting menu tea provided by Messrs Brodbeck and Trebilcock, caterers to the stars. Waitrose sandwiches, cocktail sausages, chocolate fingers, and sausage rolls were all part of the end-of-season feast. Even the absent James Dela Rue (guardian of the tea ratings) would have given it eight out of ten – but he was unavoidably detained by the arrival of Dela Rue Junior on August 28. Many congratulations to Jo, James, and William James.
Both sides lingered long in the fading light as the domestic season drew to a close. It was dark as the stragglers eventually made off to their cars.
With the Watford game cancelled (the groundsman decided he had to start work early on the square), all roads now lead to south-west France, where Bordeaux Giscours and Damazan lie in wait. Can our gallant lads conquer les Bordelais?
Sean Bourke’s 64 at Stanton showed the way to victory there. But the real winners were the teas: Rae at Wall; Steph, Tricia, Jane and Kathy at Stanton. They were the architects of two monumental feasts which stole the show from the actual cricket.
On the midweek scene it was a salutary tale of struggling for players but managing to enjoy the games. Seven games but only two victories. But did it matter?
On to the final domestic tussle of the season at Pinkneys Green. With autumn in the air the home side’s young tyros James Elam and Adam Dunstan put on 78 for the first wicket.
They motored on despite the best efforts of Isa Pandor and Steve Wilson. But Alastair Macaulay took his 44th wicket of the campaign and Simon Brodbeck claimed his only wicket of the 2026 season – how are the not-so-mighty fallen…
Facing a target of 233, Hector Millar and schoolmate Will Priest – a Strollers debutant – laid the foundation. Priest departed with his prayers unanswered but Millar kept things ticking over.
Glen Oliver did not just keep them ticking over – more like bouncing along, with 12 fours and two sixes in a plundering 91. That brought him to 1126 runs for the season so far – just behind a certain G. Oliver 1169 (2024), 1191 Chris Meade (1989), and James Timperley 1430 (2009).
But the marauding Oliver fell to the talented Elam and a mini-crisis developed as the unholy trinity of Andy Boyes, Brad Trebilcock (unluckily caught off a decent shot) and Hugh Martindale departed. At 180-6 things looked tricky.
But no need to panic. The Steves Show (Rogers and Wilson) calmly put on an undefeated partnership of 53 to see the Strollers safely home at 233-6.
Highlight of the day was, of course, the tasting menu tea provided by Messrs Brodbeck and Trebilcock, caterers to the stars. Waitrose sandwiches, cocktail sausages, chocolate fingers, and sausage rolls were all part of the end-of-season feast. Even the absent James Dela Rue (guardian of the tea ratings) would have given it eight out of ten – but he was unavoidably detained by the arrival of Dela Rue Junior on August 28. Many congratulations to Jo, James, and William James.
Both sides lingered long in the fading light as the domestic season drew to a close. It was dark as the stragglers eventually made off to their cars.
With the Watford game cancelled (the groundsman decided he had to start work early on the square), all roads now lead to south-west France, where Bordeaux Giscours and Damazan lie in wait. Can our gallant lads conquer les Bordelais?
Capt: Glen Oliver. Wkt: Hugh Martindale.
Match fees: Alastair Macaulay. Match report: Simon Brodbeck.
Those were the season’s playing highlights. But the high spot of 2026 was undoubtedly the marking of the club’s 50th birthday.
Jim Hodgson and Jo Perrin masterminded a celebratory dinner in the Long Room at The Oval. Many old faces from ancient Strollers battles came out of their time machine to carouse the night away and raise a glass (or three) to the club that grew out of that inaugural match versus Docks Athletic. Nobody seemed to have aged at all.
Chairman Kimball Bailey presided; Evan Samuel introduced England and Surrey cricketer Mark Butcher, who gave an insight into the life of a Test player; Mike Pittams led a round of Heads and Tails; Simon Brodbeck mused on the 848 people who have passed through the Strollers scorebook since 1976.
All generations were represented amongst the 85 Strollers, wives, partners and children. Many thanks to all those who came to take part in such a momentous occasion…
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