BANK OF ENGLAND CRICKET CLUB (Founded 1908)
2020 Annual Cricket Report
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Contents
Chairman’s Message 3 Affiliates, Memberships & Competitions 2020 Award Winners 5 We are affiliated to the England Cricket Board (ECB) and the 2020 Achievements 6 Surrey Cricket Foundation. Senior Cricket 8 1st XI Report & Averages 8 We are members of the Bank of England Sports Club and the 2nd XI Report & Averages 10 Cricket Club Conference. 3rd XI Report & Averages 12 We participate in the Surrey Championship, Surrey Junior 4th XI Report & Averages 14 Championship and Surrey Slam competitions. Sunday XI Report & Averages 16 Blitz T20 XI Report & Averages 18 Sponsors Midweek XI Report & Averages 20 Junior Cricket 23 In 2020 the structure of our club changed, and we became a fully open club for the first time. As part of this we have been Presidents Day Report 24 developing our commercial strategy, working with local Bucks Tour Report 25 businesses keen to support development of young Kent Tour Report 26 cricketers, as well as BOECC as a club. Club Golf Day Report 27 We are delighted to announce that our first new sponsor is on board – a huge welcome to The FAB Awards. We look President forward to working together in 2021 and building a long- Peter Oliver term partnership for the future. Website www.boecc.co.uk A big thank you should go towards Simon Eddolls and Richard Location(s) Kendall for their work in creating our new sponsorship • Bank of England Sports Centre, Bank Lane, packages. Roehampton, SW15 5JQ • Oberon Playing Fields, Lindisfarne Road, West For any interested new sponsors, please direct any enquires Wimbledon, SW20 0NW towards our Commercial Officer Simon Eddolls • Barn Elms Sports Centre, Elizabeth Walk, Barnes, ([email protected]). We are also welcoming of any SW13 0DG new ideas from members, so please do contact Simon.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report Chairman’s Message one match between them. The 3rd XI playing “league” cricket for the first time since 1996, did well to win two pool games, and Richard Down was the leading wicket taker in that “pool”. The Fuller Cup was won by the 4th XI, despite also providing most of the 3rd XI players for one of the league wins. They had an epic win against Ashtead, chasing down 270 in 35 overs. Club morale was excellent: there was more mobility between the 11s than for many years; and players were able to prove their skills against stronger opposition. The 3rd XI enjoyed the challenge enough to join Surrey Championship Division 6 East in 2021, where the level of play should be within our capabilities. The 4th XI will continue to play friendlies, so we can continue to offer a choice of game for those joining us.
Sunday results were more successful and ended with a run fest at Oberon: The Bank just failed to chase down 230 as Peter Andrews the sun set and the opposition’s West Indian supporters Club Chairman enjoyed the hilarity of a last over runout. Anindya Ghosh Chowdhury’s sporting umpiring in the first game at Concorde, in which he called a back foot no ball on the 6th ball of the final over, only to see the final wicket fall to the Cricket seasons may be judged by playing success, 7th delivery, made The Cricketer magazine as an example participation, player enjoyment and development, and of all that is best in the recreational game. sustainability – how are we placed for next year? At last year’s AGM I recall mild interest in whether anyone had The midweek friendly programme was triumphant, and recently visited the Far East. We reviewed alternative “Bank Blitz” took part in the Surrey Slam for the first time. plans for playing venues, depending on whether the new This was a midweek T20 competition in which we won 3 owners of Roehampton would accommodate us. Within and lost 3, with a one wicket win and a one run loss among weeks, covid had cancelled the junior season, put the adult the highlights. Players from all 4 Saturday 11s took part season in doubt, had paused the sale of Roehampton and and made telling contributions, not least a cracking 67 closed the Sports Centre, had slowed the work to revive from Extras at Putney. All the games were local, and we the square at Oberon, and had stopped preparation at enjoyed meeting three new clubs. Barn Elms Sports Centre and Imber Court. Prospects for somewhere to play, games to play, and income were all The Kent tour postponed to September and reduced to a uncertain. We had to change at home, bring our own tea, single game at Marden, in which a Bank side mainly and play “adapted cricket”. Against that background, 2020 comprising 3rd XI players held Marden and all comers to may be judged a triumph. an honourable draw, signalled with a roar of defiance from last man Eddie Hilton. The Bucks tour was happily The season started in late July but extended beyond the unscathed, fancy dress and all. The new opposition at Ley usual finish into mid-September. Players were keen to Hill, whom we beat, hinted that their 80mph 17-year-old make the most of it, and in the end, BOECC played over 50 might appear next year. games of cricket, with only one draw! Results were mixed. Saturdays were tough, while Sundays and midweeks were Overall, the season was a triumph for Bank resilience, and more successful. The early season wickets at Oberon were the help we had from our opponents and the Surrey “result wickets” but improved over time. John Jackson had Championship indicated the goodwill of outsiders towards the honour of scoring the first century there. We expect our Club. We were lucky that the cricket season was the that the relaying of the square over the winter will short period in which some outdoor socialising was produce a better surface in 2021. permitted, the weather permitted most games to be completed after the first weekend, and our friendly The Surrey Championship pooled the Premiership and opponents understood the constraints under which we Divisions 1 and 2 into local pools of 8 to minimise travel, were operating and accommodated for more away games so our 1st and 2nd XIs faced elite opposition and won only than usual.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 3
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Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 4 2020 Award Winners The Chelson Trophy Awarded to the "club person of the year" and can normally only be once in a lifetime – full history here.
John Jackson has been the Midweek XI captain since 2013, having also held the role in 2009-2010. As well as captaining on the pitch this includes organising all of the fixtures and is often the first step for bring new Bank staff into the Club. In addition to this John served the club as Secretary from 2002- 2007, and Treasurer in 2010.
On the field John spent most of the 2000s as part of the 2nd XI, before family commitments began to take over. The majority of John's cricket these days is played midweek, with a few Sunday games thrown in. 2020 was a highly successful season with 292 runs scored, including the first century by any player on a tricky pitch at our new home Oberon Playing Fields. John also finished the season with the most fielding dismissals in the club with 21, which featured several stunning catches both behind the stumps and in the field. The Smeeton Trophy Awarded to the player scoring the most amount of runs in senior adult cricket during the season – full history here.
Anindya Ghosh Chowdhury scored 585 runs at an average of 29.25, spread across the 2nd XI, 3rd XI, Sunday XI, Midweek XI & Bank Blitz. This included four fifties, with a top score of 86 for the Sunday XI against Christ Church.
The Ashley Trophy Awarded to the player taking the most amount of wickets in senior adult cricket during the season – full history here.
Mo Dilshad claimed the award for the 8th year in a row, taking 37 wickets at an average of 20.51 spread across the 2nd XI, 3rd XI, 4th XI, Sunday XI & Midweek XI. This included a best of 6-30 for the Midweek XI against HMT.
The Brown Trophy Awarded to the young player (u18) who has made the biggest impact in senior adult cricket during the season - full history here.
Max Palmer was awarded the trophy scoring 220 runs at an average of 31.43, spread across the 2nd XI, Sunday XI, Midweek XI & Bank Blitz. This included two fifties with a best of 73 for the Sunday XI against Claygate.
Other Awards Winner 1st XI Player of the Season Paul Metcalfe 2nd XI Player of the Season Yogesh Patel 3rd XI Player of the Season Richard Down 4th XI Player of the Season Tom Campbell Sunday XI Player of the Season Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury Bank Blitz T20 XI Player of the Season Akhilesh Sivaraman Midweek XI Player of the Season Mo Dilshad
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 5 2020 Achievements
Leading Run Scorers Leading Wicket Takers Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury 585 @ 29.25 Mo Dilshad 37 @ 20.51 Yogesh Patel 487 @ 34.79 Richard Down 32 @ 19.38 Tom Campbell 360 @ 32.73 Richard Kendall 29 @ 20.17 Mark Streather 305 @ 21.79 Andrew Merriman 23 @ 24.65 John Jackson 292 @ 24.33 Kit Winder 16 @ 12.88
Best Batting Performances Best Bowling Figures Fergus Ainsworth vs Ashtead 5th XI 100* Mo Dilshad vs HMT 6/30 John Jackson vs Worcester Park 100 Richard Kendall vs Old Hamptonians 5th XI 6/37 Finlay Macleod vs Ashtead 5th XI 98 Kit Winder vs Old Wimbledonians 1st XI 5/25 Tom Campbell vs Englefield Green 2nd XI 92* Kit Winder vs Putney 4/7 Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury vs Christchurch 86 Syed Wasi Ali vs Old Wimbledonians 3rd XI 4/12
Most Fielding Dismissals Most Wicketkeeping Dismissals Andrew Merriman 15 John Jackson 12 Mark Streather 12 Oliver Jay 10 Richard Kendall 12 George Wayman 7 Yahya Soofi 11 Eddie Hilton 6 John Jackson 9 Praveen Lekhraj 4
Biggest Batting Partnerships Highest Team Scores Max Palmer / Yogesh Patel vs Wisley 149 4th XI vs Ashtead 5th XI 275/4 Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury / Yogesh Patel vs Christchurch 133 Sunday XI vs Worcester Park 236/3 Fergus Ainsworth / Finlay MacLeod vs Ashtead 5th XI 101 Sunday XI vs Christchurch 225/10 Fergus Ainsworth / Andrew Merriman vs Ashtead 5th XI 97* Sunday XI vs Park Hill 199/5 Max Palmer / Mark Streather vs Putney Super Vikings 82 3rd XI vs Mandarins 195/7
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 6
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 7 Senior Cricket – 1st XI Report some artisanal pasta, with spinach, green beans, pesto and pine nuts. He kept asking to breach Covid regulations and let him fridge it. Paul seemed to thrive on the Jamie Vardy diet of three red bulls a day. And Woody just wandered about grazing on the beautiful Oberon grass, like the true vegan he has become.
One wonders if we will get tea back properly next year? Only for the vaccinated, maybe. Segregated tea. Full Old Ruts buffet for some, chicken salad on brown, monster munch and a Lucozade for the unwashed un-vaccinated. Only £3 to be fair.
Kit Winder 1st XI Captain
The cricket season of 2020 was bizarre. Looking back on it from the perspective of February and a return to lockdown, I can hardly remember a thing. Apart from Henry Goodwin getting a surprising number of nibbles from batsman in the middle, it is hard to say what part of the season I enjoyed most.
Things began well at Worcester park, 130-1-before-the- rain-came. Sadly, although that was 25 good overs of Anyway, this is supposed to be a season review. Although, work, it took about three more games to collect that many Covid was a big factor. As was Oberon. We had to do a runs in aggregate. Yikes. bunch of stuff for ourselves, which was different.
Maybe let’s just do the next five game as a montage, and Vincent van Dicko became a regular feature in the halftime then properly enjoy game seven. A few moments entertainment schedule, trying to put lipstick on a pig characterised the season rather nicely.... attempting to re-paint the white lines of the crease.
At our first home game, as we finally peeled the swiss We installed our first payment system for buying and cheese of a cover sheet up from the pitch, with the help of selling food! And had a big, lovely barbecue at Club Day. the regretful opposition, there was a beautiful moment of The hairs on the skipper’s fingers have genuinely only just silence as everyone saw the sodden marshland on which grown back from that. Scorching. we were about to play. A silence that was dutifully broken by our very own Rory Sale, who cried, “it’s a road!”. We We played away sometimes too. We managed to make thought things were looking pretty nice with the oppo 90- Old Ruts look like Oberon with a clever swish of our wands. 8 or something, but sadly it wasn’t to be, with the entire Actually they were bats we were using, but we did about lower order scrambling for pads in the sixth over! as much damage as Ron Weasley in the Chamber of Secrets (his wand broke in that one if you’re wondering). A warm-spirited ringer probably takes the prize for must unfortunate day out this year, in our next fixture. Few We had a good time at Spencer too, but then the season probably remember kindly Dan Sherlock, plucked from a highlight whats-their-name, Old Wimbledonians, we did a friendly Sunday fixture. But it is doubtful he will forget the trouncing. We trounced them. Stuck 150 on the board BoE in a hurry. He clipped an impressive two runs through (well done all, fifty for Patrick Tice), and then their square leg, before being ‘skulled’ in a Jofra-esque manner seemingly capable wand-bearer missed a beautiful jinx by a man who measured his run up with a measuring tape from Paulie, Winder ran through a few and we had a big 75 mins before the game, from both ends. Shortly after game of catch to celebrate. It was actually a lovely end to forgetting the obligatory concussion check, he was a strange season to finish on a happy note. removed by a ball that pitched in the same place as the helmet job, but which poked the off bail instead. 1st XI Player of the Season – Paul Metcalfe
Perhaps our performances were affected by the lack of teas in 2020? Henry’s “bring your own” often consisted of
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 8 Senior Cricket – 1st XI Averages
1st XI Batting Averages (min. 4 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Ed Jones 6 6 1 98 53* 19.60 Tom Dickson 7 6 0 110 40 18.33 Patrick Tice 8 8 1 127 51 18.14 James Woodroof 4 3 0 42 22 14.00 George Wayman 6 6 0 80 36 13.33 Henry Goodwin 8 7 0 74 30 10.57 Kit Winder 8 7 1 54 18 9.00 Paul Metcalfe 8 7 3 25 9* 6.25 Rory Sale 6 6 1 29 17* 5.80 Owen Thornbury 5 5 2 9 4 3.00
1st XI Bowling Averages (min. 5 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average James Woodroof 15.2 1 59 9 4/21 6.56 Kit Winder 46 11 166 11 5/25 15.09 Paul Metcalfe 43.5 3 168 9 2/24 18.67 Henry Goodwin 23.2 2 111 5 2/11 22.20
1st XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % League 7 1 N/A 5 1 14.2% Friendly 1 0 N/A 1 0 0%
1st XI League Table – AJ Fordhams & Fullers Brewery Challenge Cup (Group 8)
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 9 Senior Cricket – 2nd XI Report
The 2s batting efforts for the year can probably be best Aaron Crane summed up with these two pictures of Saugata Sen, taken 2nd XI Captain one ball apart…
The 2nd XI suffered possibly more than any other team from pre-season disruption. Like everyone else, we had to cope with shortened winter training, the late start to the season, and the change of home ground. In common with the 1st XI, we were drawn in a pool with teams from one and two divisions above in the Surrey Championship.
The biggest handicap however was yet to come; Matt Cannon, who had been due to assume the captaincy from Sanjay Thapan, broke his toe, needing an operation, which ruled him out for the season. Aaron Crane, who had expected to be the new vice-captain, nobly stepped up the The team fared better with the ball, with the skipper captaincy with little previous experience, having lost two himself leading the wickets column. Saugata Sen and of the main seam bowlers from previous seasons without Akhilesh Sivaraman both showed they could perform at firing a shot, and himself handicapped by the covid this level, whilst Mo Dilshad stepped in to provide support. regulation against shining the ball. Unfortunately, a series of lost tosses meant we were batting first more often that not, with too few runs on the Availability from the usual squad of league players was board to defend. mixed, so the team regularly needed several players whose previous experience was mainly in the 3rd XI. It was We hope for better results against teams at our own level a real achievement to maintain a good spirit and play some in 2021, as it was a big step up against some incredibly good cricket, even though no games were won. Perhaps strong teams, particularly those from the Premier League. the absence of promotion and relegation meant that the side could play with no fear, and several players will have The 2s will also be stronger for having been able to blood gained new confidence that they can compete at this level so many of the old 3rd XI more smoothly than in the past. when the normal divisional structure resumes. This stands us in good stead for 2021, which alongside the return of other players will massively help. The 3rd XI Batting was the main difficulty; the team did not pass 130 joining the league full time will help to bridge the gap all season. This was not helped by the erratic bounce at between the teams, which should be hugely beneficial in Oberon in the early weeks. Yogi Patel, the player of the the long term. year, got to grips with it and played some patient innings, but was often called up by the 1s, which meant the middle order was often exposed. The skipper himself tried the 2nd XI Player of the Season – Yogesh Patel aggressive approach, with occasional success.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 10 Senior Cricket – 2nd XI Report
2nd XI Batting Averages (min. 4 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Yogesh Patel 5 4 0 80 43 20.00 Praveen Lekhraj 4 3 0 58 44 19.33 Aaron Crane 6 5 0 61 30 12.20 Ak Sivaraman 4 4 1 27 20* 9.00 Saugata Sen 7 6 2 9 6 2.25 Mo Dilshad 6 5 2 5 3* 1.67
2nd XI Bowling Averages (min. 5 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Aaron Crane 37 4 183 7 3/37 26.14 Saugata Sen 42 4 190 5 1/13 38.00
2nd XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % League 7 0 N/A 6 1 0%
2nd XI League Table – AJ Fordhams & Fullers Brewery Challenge Cup (Group 21)
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 11 Senior Cricket – 3rd XI Report opportunity to rejuvenate the team’s fortunes and get the 3s season back on track. Unfortunately, the losing streak continued and maybe the captaincy was not the issue in the last 2 games. A 10-wicket loss, but a blistering 40 from debutant Danish Usmani and a strong debut from Khalid Saeed were some of the positives to take away as the skipper rued his lack of spinning options on a turning pitch.
Next were the mighty Spencer where much of the pre- match chat was about what margin could we lose by to consider this game to be a moral victory? The answer… none as we registered a resounding 32 run victory. The 3s
were put in to bat on a wet Oberon pitch that suited the Yahya Soofi spinners and put on 155/9 after 40 overs thanks to an 3rd XI Captain outstanding 64 from Danish Usmani and 35 from Khalid
Saeed. The Spencer openers got off to a flying start, but
the introduction of spin turned the game as Richard Down In a season that was disrupted by COVID-19, the 3rd XI and Neeraj Nayer bowled extremely tight lines after which were entered into the one off Challenge Cup due to the pressure told and the batting crumbled. There were 4 uncertainty around the season and the playing facilities wickets for Neeraj and 3 for Rambo in a terrific win for the available. This was a big change, having previously played 3s. The game also marked a strong debut for Adam friendlies only for over 20 years. Tanveer who bowled a tight and fiery opening spell and
wrapped up the game with a stunning direct hit. Amidst this new predicament, the side would also play most of its fixtures at Oberon Playing Fields rather than the more familiar Roehampton pitch. Of the 8 teams in our group, the 3s finished 6th registering 2 wins of the 7 played. A good finish in what proved to be a tough group with the club’s veteran off-spinner Richard “Rambo” Down finishing as the group’s top wicket-taker. There were also some promising debut seasons for Khalid Saeed, Danish Usmani and Adam Tanveer who all played a significant role in the win against Spencer CC.
The season began with just 3 Saturday teams which meant usual 4th XI skipper Mark Streather would lead the 3s that consisted mainly of 4s. A ploy that worked wonders as the The last league game of the season was one to forget. A 3s registered their first win to top the league after the first dominant performance that slipped away right at the end round of fixtures – I will not focus on the fact that every as we lost by an agonising 4 runs. A terrific bowling other game in the group was rained off. Oliver Jay top performance from another debutant Syed Wasi Ali scored as the 3s set Worcester Park 134 to win off 30 restricted the opposition to 123 all out with 4 wickets as overs. Richard Down and Steve Kidnee took 4 wickets each the skipper and Richard Down chipped in with 2 each. In as the opposition finished on 123/9 after 30 overs. response, the 3s looked on course but eventually fell short.
Back on home turf (well Barn Elms as one of our adopted The last game of the season was a chance to end on a high home grounds for the season) we played a good with a friendly fixture against the Mandarins. Strong Beddington side that batted first and posted 218/8 off 40 batting performances from Yogesh Patel (66), Anindya overs. The 3s made 158 all out in response to register our Ghosh-Chowdhury (35), Tom Viegas (35) and Tom Calnan first loss. Things did not get easier as we lost to the (29*) meant we posted 195. Last season’s opening eventual group winners (and 2019’s Premier League bowlers were reunited as Saugata Sen took 2 wickets and champions) Dulwich and then Malden Wanderers despite the skipper 3 to put us in control, backed up by 2 wickets some strong batting performances by Owen Lee (66 from James Thatcher thereby ending the season with against Dulwich) and another 3s debutant Omar Ahmed some strong momentum to take through to 2021. (34 against Malden Wanderers).
3rd XI Player of the Season – Richard Down As the normal skipper and many of the “usual” 3s players returned to side to play Old Rutlishians, there was an
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 12 Senior Cricket – 3rd XI Averages
3rd XI Batting Averages (min. 4 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Richard Kendall 4 4 1 43 20 14.33 Mark Streather 4 4 0 38 12 9.50 Yahya Soofi 4 4 1 26 13 8.67 Andrew Merriman 4 4 2 15 15* 7.50 Richard Down 6 3 1 2 2* 1.00
3rd XI Bowling Averages (min. 5 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Richard Down 29.1 2 138 13 4/24 10.62 Yahya Soofi 16 2 78 5 3/24 15.60
3rd XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % League 7 2 N/A 5 0 28.57% Friendly 1 1 N/A 0 0 100%
3rd XI League Table – AJ Fordhams & Fullers Brewery Challenge Cup (Group 34)
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 13 Senior Cricket – 4th XI Report The match resulting in Kendall getting a new alarm clock, Steve Kidnee a new email system and Daz Gallimore a lifetime ban from umpiring. Rumours are that somewhere on a playing field near Barnes, George Barton is still trying to complete his second over.
The season finished with a couple of bonus post-tour fixtures in the depths of Surrey. 2 defeats but 2 very enjoyable games against new oppositions. The highlight being another bizarrely technical innings by Tom Campbell and his super-trainers, carrying his bat while refusing to farm the strike during a jug-avoiding 92*.
Mark Streather 4th XI Captain
After the highs of the end of the 2019 season (video footage of the last ball of which is still circulating around various WhatsApp groups), 2020 for the 4s was always going to be a strange one. With a number of cricketers shielding, the Club took a decision to focus on getting a minimum of 3 teams out every Saturday, so the very existence of a 4s team varied week-by-week depending on the Teamer optimism of the skippers. Some things never change though, the 4s still successfully managed to exert Before those, the Bank enjoyed the traditional bank our dominance against the 3s at Oberon though with our holiday trip to Amersham, organised superbly in plague glorious volleyball success. times by assorted Kendalls and Eddolls’s. Some minor modifications set it apart from a normal year - Daz was 4s fixtures were sparse over the first half of the reduced forced to go without a Charlie’s AND a Dennis’s kebab - but season, the only 4s game proper happening at Leigh where the tourists successfully avoided nearly all medical the Bank successfully chased down 140 after a superhero emergencies, the consequence of Alex Beighton’s slow fielding effort including a ludicrous 3 Oliver Jay stumpings. drinking excepted. On the field, the 4s had a very good tour, winning 2 of the 3 games including the holding of the The 4s then scattered to help out various sides of the Club, Brian Hartley Trophy against Hyde Heath for the first time before reuniting for the traditional President’s Day fixtures in a good few years after Beighton and Merriman had against the Veterans XI, this year facing such elderly reduced the hosts to 0-3. Fancy dress was exceptionally geriatrics as James Eddolls and Rich Kendall. The 4s observed by almost everyone, with one sorry exception restricted the Vets to 120 thanks to some…variable who will be heavily fined again at the next in person event. bowling before Skelly and the skipper saw the 4s home with a ball to spare. A fantastic season in the circumstances for the 4s, with particular thanks to the work of the committee, Mike Andrew Merriman took charge of the next fixture against Broughton’s fixtures magic and support on the field from Ashtead, becoming the Club’s only 100% Saturday skipper a very helpful previous skipper and a worse than useless after his side successfully chased down 272 thanks to 98 vice. With the bat, Campbell lead the way with 228 runs, from Finley MacLeod, an unbeaten 100 from Fergus the skipper folding like Root with only 184 under the Ainsworth and a heroic bowling performance from pressures of captaincy, and Skelly scoring 111 before being debutant Ed Fresson-who finished with figures of 1-0-8-3. repeatedly shafted by repeatedly atrocious umpiring decisions. With the ball Kendall led the way with 16 The 4s grudge matches against sides skippered by the wickets, with the ‘3s’ stars of Mo, Rambo and Merriman Secretary and 4s Vice-Captain ended with a superb win also chipping in with a few each. With his new found role against a strong Sussex Cougars and the loss of our as a specialist batsman under a captain that knows how to unbeaten record against the Jedward XI at the third time use him, the 4s player of the year has to be the new most of asking. The run out of the Jedward star man by a very boring batsman on the team, Tom Campbell. sleepy loan player showed the overall quality on display.
4th XI Player of the Season – Tom Campbell The (9-man) 4s got back to winning ways against Old Hamptonians thanks to another big Tom Campbell score.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 14 Senior Cricket – 4th XI Averages
4th XI Batting Averages (min. 4 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Tom Campbell 8 7 3 228 92* 57.00 Mark Streather 10 9 4 184 39* 36.80 Richard Kendall 7 4 0 95 38 23.75 Rohit Nag 5 4 1 60 33 20.00 Simon Eddolls 4 3 0 56 24 18.67 Debarshi Roy 5 5 0 92 24 18.40 Brad Skelly 7 7 0 111 41 15.86 Oliver Jay 7 6 0 93 23 15.50 Andrew Merriman 6 6 2 49 24* 12.25 Ed Fresson 4 4 1 15 9* 5.00 Konrad Thistlewhite-Miller 4 4 0 5 5 1.25 Richard Down 4 1 1 0 0 - Mohammad Dilshad 4 0 0 0 -
4th XI Bowling Averages (min. 5 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Richard Kendall 52 7 184 16 6/37 11.50 Mo Dilshad 34.4 5 125 9 4/27 13.89 Andrew Merriman 38 7 150 6 2/18 25.00 Richard Down 25.2 1 169 7 4/44 24.14
4th XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % Friendly 10 7 0 3 0 70%
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Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 15 Senior Cricket – Sunday XI Report
Brian Milligan Sunday XI Organiser Victory followed against Park Hill thanks to an excellent fielding performance, with John Jackson taking two screamers. Mo Dilshad took the final wicket with the The Sunday XI is comprised of players from across the club, second last delivery; caught via a diving one-handed catch with a rotating cast of captains throughout the season. from Richard Kendall at short leg. Covid regulations sadly prevented the celebrations it deserved! The first century at Oberon by John Jackson, a spectacular catch by Peter Andrews, a 5 run defeat in a game where Wisley and Worcester Park were defeated next, where some 455 runs were scored and an umpiring decision by John Jackson became the first Bank centurion at Oberon one of our players which demonstrated the true spirit and ably assisted that day by Yogi Patel. The match was also fairness of cricket – these were just some of the memorable for an extraordinary catch by a very surprised memorable moments in a shortened Sunday XI season in but pleased Peter Andrews having held onto the ball which 2020. had ricocheted off his boot and where the ball had not touched the ground. It was even more significant as the Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury was top run scorer with a batsman has scored centuries in previous years against us. captain’s innings of 85 against a strong Whiteley Village side and hit a determined 86 against a fierce bowling Another victory was achieved against our old adversaries attack from Christchurch. Claygate with young Max Palmer demonstrating his batting skills with a fine 73 keeping our innings intact The season’s opener was against Concorde at their whilst wickets fell. As throughout the season, our bowling picturesque ground at Sendholme and captained by relied upon the skill and guile of Mo Dilshad and Richard Richard Kendall. A strong Concorde team declared at 197 Down who demonstrated their skills, in particular against for 7 with the unfortunate Lance Sapsford being at the Claygate where each secured 3 wickets. receiving end from a hard-hitting batsman, although at least Lance made the local news. In reply, the Sunday XI The season culminated at Oberon against Christchurch stuttered to 64 for 5 but sound resistance came from Tom and, being a new fixture, this added some extra Campbell (in his black trainers) who rescued the situation anticipation to the proceedings. Christchurch declared on with a fine 54 before being caught with the score at 126 230 for 5 helped along the way by their hard-hitting for 9. batsman who scored 104 not out.
All hinged on the survival of our two final batsmen but with In reply, Yogi Patel’s 62 and Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury’s the final ball of the final over, a no ball was called. 86, helped us towards our target. With the score at 221 for Unfortunately, the seventh ball took our final wicket. 9, our final pair required just 10 runs to win which became 5 to win in the final over. Their brave attempt ended with Although a disappointment, the real winner was the spirit a run-out (attempting a quick single through to the in which the game was played as it was our own umpire wicketkeeper) and victory was snatched from us. and player (Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury) who called the no ball. His correct decision that day was a great example of It was a game where 455 runs had been scored, played in the true spirit of cricket and demonstrated the very best in the true spirit of cricket and a great way to end this Sunday cricket. shortened but enjoyable season.
Player of the Season - Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 16 Senior Cricket – Sunday XI Averages
Sunday XI Batting Averages (min. 4 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Yogesh Patel 5 5 0 289 82 57.80 Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury 7 7 0 296 86 42.29 Richard Kendall 4 3 2 41 34* 41.00 John Jackson 6 6 1 181 100 36.20 Andrew Merriman 4 2 1 20 11* 20.00 Mohammad Dilshad 8 5 2 32 21 10.67 Peter Andrews 5 5 2 31 21 10.33 Richard Down 5 2 0 5 3 2.50 Edward Hilton 5 2 2 5 5* -
Sunday XI Bowling Averages (min. 5 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Andrew Merriman 25 8 52 5 2/25 10.40 Leo Gardner 21 4 96 6 3/41 16.00 Mohammad Dilshad 72 11 289 16 4/42 18.06 Richard Down 25.2 1 151 8 3/38 18.88
Sunday XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % Friendly 8 4 0 4 0 50%
Club kit available HERE via Gray Nicolls – the more our members spend the more the club earns!
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 17 Senior Cricket – Bank Blitz T20 XI Report he did eventually come on, 25 runs were smashed off one over much to the amusement of the watching Goodwin Senior.
In response Ed Jones and Henry took us to 133-5, before a late collapse saw Henry expertly marshalling the tail. There was drama in the last over as Henry reached 50 and had to retire as per competition rules, before last man Oliver Jay was bowled first ball, claiming to want to bring Henry back in. Fresh after a big one ball rest, Gooders skipped down the track to smash a huge 6 for a tight 1 wicket win.
Richard Kendall Bank Blitz T20 XI Captain
Given the short nature of the 2020 season, it was agreed to play the most cricket possible by entering a team into the midweek Surrey Slam T20 competition for the first time. Teams play under a jazzy nickname, and after a club Game 3 away at Putney Cricket Club saw a great team vote “The Bank Blitz” were born. effort to rack up 190/7 for a 20 run victory, despite the best efforts of the opposition batsmen to maim umpire Brief history lesson - the competition was formerly known Peter Andrews. The match was also notable for featuring as both the Village Cricket League Knockout Cup / all four Saturday captains in the same side. Southwest Surrey Cup, before the geographical confines were removed in 2018 with a rebranding to the Surrey At the halfway stage we were in the mix with two wins Slam. The competition has grown exponentially since from from three, and we heroically got the next game on against 16 teams then to over 100 in 2020. Roehampton Bats despite the weather. Ak Sivaraman’s 3/16 limited the opposition to 144/5, although he did also The competition format is a localised group stage, before head one over the boundary for 6! The Bank reply kept the knockout stages begin across Surrey. Restrictions exist pace with the run rate throughout, until Yogi Patel was left st to prevent the top clubs in Surrey dominating, with 1 XI in the dark needing to hit the last ball for 4. Alas the players from the top two divisions of the Surrey darkness won, leaving us losers by just 1 run. Championship barred from playing. Restrictions also exist st for 1 XI players from other divisions too, and for us Game 5 was a must win against Roehampton CC, which st (Surrey Championship 1 XI Division 2) this meant players was turned into an 18 over game after they arrived late. th batting at 6 or below, or not bowling before the 13 over. Sadly that was still too early for the Bank who had to field An exemption process is in place however, which seemed with 10 men, with the Roehampton batsman making light th to be there entirely to stroke the ego of 4 XI skipper Mark work of the Oberon pitch to rack up 170/3. The Bank reply st Streather after his appearance for the 1 XI in 2019. never really got going, limping to 100/8 and ending our chances of progressing to the knockout stages. This was our first year in the competition, so we had no idea what to expect. The first game was away versus The final game was a free hit against Putney CC, and on a Roehampton Bats at Barn Elms Sports Trust, a team of tricky pitch we reached 138/5 with Anindya Ghosh- “mates” who all took to the field in shorts. Easy pickings, Chowdhury scoring 50 (retired). It looked as though the or so we thought… wheels had fallen off the Bank wagon with a shambolic start to the fielding performance, but the final 10 overs The Bank batted first on an astro pitch, and we struggled were amongst the best we produced all season. John to get the ball away to the boundary. Mark Streather top Jackson was electric behind the stumps with 3 catches, a scored with 26 before retiring hot and sweaty – stumping and some spectacular byes prevention, Matt presumably he was dropped from the 1s for not being fit Cannon produced 2 direct hit run outs, Yahya Soofi caught enough? Our 138/5 proved inadequate, with the Bats a screamer on the boundary, before Kit Winder topped it chasing it down comfortably. off by demolishing the tail with a rapid 4/7.
Game 2 was away at Roehampton CC with a large crowd, A fine end to the season and an excellent first effort in the where thanks to Yusuf Jackson’s 4 catches we did well to competition with 3 wins from 6. restrict them to 167/8 on a tiny pitch. The highlight of the innings however was Henry Goodwin, who was refused an Bank Blitz Player of the Season – Akhilesh Sivaraman exemption as deemed to be a proper 1st XI bowler. When
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 18 Senior Cricket – Bank Blitz T20 XI Averages
Bank Blitz T20 XI Batting Averages (min. 3 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Ed Jones 3 3 1 74 28 37.00 Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury 4 4 1 92 50* 30.67 Mark Streather 4 3 1 50 26* 25.00 Max Palmer 3 3 0 50 30 16.67 Aaron Crane 5 5 1 65 27 16.25 Tom Campbell 4 3 0 39 15 13.00 Joe McCarthy 3 2 0 19 10 9.50 Yahya Soofi 4 3 1 13 5 6.50 Richard Kendall 6 3 0 18 7 6.00 Ak Sivaraman 3 2 0 5 4 2.50 Andrew Merriman 5 2 1 0 0 0
Bank Blitz T20 XI Bowling Averages (min. 3 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Kit Winder 7 1 33 4 4/7 8.25 Ak Sivaraman 12 0 79 5 3/16 15.80 Richard Kendall 10 0 68 3 2/18 22.67 Andrew Merriman 16 0 135 5 2/20 27.00 Aaron Crane 13 0 84 3 2/16 28.00
Bank Blitz T20 XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % Cup 6 3 N/A 3 0 50%
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 19 Senior Cricket – Midweek XI Report In a rare away game at the HMRC Dragons, after the game started late due to a comical mix up about pitches, the Bank posted 132-6 off their 18 overs, Max Palmer, Tom Viegas and Aaron Crane all making important contributions. A very tight bowling and fielding performance saw the Dragons fall 14 short of their target despite the Bank’s bowlers only taking 2 wickets (from Merriman and Dilshad). A canny spell of 4 overs for 15 from the old warhorse Hodges ratcheted up the pressure and 2 late run outs sealed it for the Bank.
John Jackson A home game in early September against the Superstars Midweek XI Captain saw a comfortable victory with the Bank making 156-8 in their 35 overs, contributions from Jackson 44, Anindya 35 and Streather 26, plus an unbeaten 16 from Dilshad at the In common with the other Bank sides, the Midweek XI saw end. This proved to be too much for the opposition, whose their season curtailed, and the usual highlight of the top order was blown away by a devastating opening spell season, the 4-team tournament, had to be cancelled. from Soofi which saw him take 4 wickets in as many overs! Nevertheless 5 fixtures were played against long standing Streather, Down and Anindya all took wickets to reduce opponents, and the competitive nature of the Oberon the Superstars to 107 all out. pitch created some exciting fixtures.
The season started with a 20 over game at home against Australia House, the Bank batted first and after a slow start made a competitive 118-6, with both Kieran O’Donoghue and Ed Jones retiring on 25 and Neeraj adding some valuable late order runs. The Aussies started well, reaching 56 before their first wicket went down, but some excellent late innings bowling from Rich Kendall (2-20) and Neeraj (1-2 in 2 overs) made the game a close one until a couple of late boundaries won it for the visitors.
The final game of the season was away at Marden and ended in a battling draw, as described in detail later in this annual report.
There were many great contributors to the short but very enjoyable season, but player of the season goes to Mo That turned out to be the midweek XI’s only defeat of the Dilshad who, as always, was our leading wicket taker and season. The next 3 games were all impressive wins against singlehandedly won the game against HM Treasury, as Civil Service opponents. Against the Treasury on a very well as making valuable contributions across the schedule. tricky wicket the Bank was skittled for 110, with only Anindya’s battling 36 giving the score some respectability. Midweek XI Player of the Season – Mo Dilshad But Mo Dilshad bowled the Bank to victory by 9 runs, with a majestic 6-30, Kendall, Merriman, Soofi and Down shared the remainder of the wickets.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 20 Senior Cricket – Midweek XI Averages
Midweek XI Batting Averages (min. 3 games played)
Player Games Innings Not Outs Runs High Score Average Anindya Ghosh-Chowdhury 3 3 0 79 36 26.33 Tom Viegas 3 3 1 45 26* 22.50 John Jackson 4 4 0 60 44 15.00 Andrew Merriman 5 4 2 30 13 15.00 Yahya Soofi 3 3 1 26 17* 13.00 Richard Kendall 4 4 0 50 29 12.50 Mohammad Dilshad 4 4 2 20 16* 10.00 Jeff Brown 3 3 0 14 13 4.67 Omar Ahmed 3 3 0 11 10 3.67 Peter Andrews 4 4 0 11 8 2.75 Richard Down 4 2 1 2 2 2.00
Midweek XI Bowling Averages (min. 3 wickets)
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Best Bowling Average Yahya Soofi 12 1 50 5 4/13 10.00 Mohammad Dilshad 29.4 5 133 8 6/30 16.63 Andrew Merriman -Jnr- 22.4 1 94 4 2/29 23.50 Richard Kendall 22 0 109 3 2/20 36.33 Richard Down 17 0 123 3 1/13 41.00
Midweek XI Team Statistics
Match Type Played Won Drew Lost No Result Win % Friendly 5 3 1 1 0 60%
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 21
Oliver Jay, Simon Walls, Richard Kendall & Mark Streather celebrate the first 3rd XI league win in 24 years.
Ed Jones & Jon Ashmore open for the 1st XI on the latest start to a season ever – 18 July / Our 2020 home Oberon in the sunshine.
Saugata Sen, Akhilesh Sivaraman & Mo Dilshad race to pad up after another 2nd XI batting collapse / Simon Eddolls discovers a loose description of a 4th XI cricket match.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 22 Junior Cricket 2019 Season Recap
As we have no 2020 junior cricket to report on, here is a recap of how our teams performed in the 2019 season.
U15 Competition Finish Mid Surrey Colts League Division 1 5 / 5 Mid Surrey Colts League Cup Semi Final ECB Surrey Cup Round 2
2020 Season U14 The 2020 season was set to be a cracker, with the Surrey Competition Finish Junior Championship replacing the various leagues that Mid Surrey Colts League Division 1 3 / 6 had existed for decades. This would bring all junior cricket Mid Surrey Colts League Cup Quarter Final within Surrey under one banner, helping to formalise playing conditions across the county. BOECC were set to enter a team at u9, u10 and u15 level, and thanks to record U13 breaking numbers there were two teams planned for the Competition Finish u11s, u12s and u13s! ECB Surrey Cup Round 2
Alas, the pandemic put a stop to all of that as the regular junior league season was completely cancelled. By the U12 time cricket matches were permitted again in mid-July, Competition Finish some other clubs were able to re-start with training and Mid Surrey Colts League Division 2 3 / 9 friendly matches. Unfortunately, we were unable to follow Mid Surrey Colts League Cup Quarter Final suit as in addition to the pandemic, we were also hit by the
Bank Sports Centre remaining closed. At late notice our planned back up locations also chose not to prepare grass U11 “A” pitches, as so little of the season remained. Regrettably, we were therefore unable to offer any junior cricket in Competition Finish 2020, instead having to try and plan for a resumption in NE & Central Surrey League Division 1 WINNERS 2021. NE & Central Surrey League Cup Round 2
We made a conscious effort to try and promote some of our young cricketers into the adult teams in 2020. Some U11 “B” of those who appeared: Competition Finish NE & Central Surrey League Division 2 7 / 11 • Owen Thornbury (u17) regularly featured in the 1st XI for a second successive season. • Leo Gardner (u17) made his 1st XI debut. U10 • Max Palmer (u17) featured in the 2nd XI and scored Competition Finish over 200 runs for the Sunday XI. NE & Central Surrey League Division 3 Runners Up • Finlay MacLeod (u17) scored 98 for the 4th XI. NE & Central Surrey League Cup Round 1 • James Eddolls (u16) made several appearances for the 4th XI. • Theo Joy-Page (u15) made his 3rd XI debut. U9 • Harry (u13) & Alf (u11) Pierse both took wickets for Competition Finish the 4th XI. NE & Central Surrey League Division B Runners Up
U8 and below Training only, but lots of fun and plenty of progress made by all those who participated!
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 23 President’s Day Report
Bank of England Cricket Club Presidents Club President Peter Oliver (see here for more info) 2020 - Current Peter Oliver 2016 - 2019 N/A 2009 - 2015 Barry Hoffmann
Sunday 2nd August 2020
Presidents Day was held at Oberon Playing Fields under a different format to normal, given we only had one pitch available rather than the usual two at the Bank Sports Centre. Both games were instead to be 20 over affairs, but in better news 1st XI captain Kit Winder and assorted friends were running a BBQ all afternoon.
Presidents Cup – President’s XI vs Club XI
The late notice of the event happening (thanks again Covid pandemic) meant that the match would be contested as a 9 a side affair, with one batsman from both sides batting twice. Skipper Tom Dickson led the President’s XI with 42 (over two innings), but it was returning superstar Karl Thorns who stole the headlines with a rapid 58, including several enormous 6s. The total ended on an imposing 158/8 from 20 overs.
The Club XI response began well, but the wheels soon fell off thanks to an unlikely source – the bowling of Simon Eddolls. Playing in his second game of the day and having Hoffmann Cup - 4th XI vs Veterans XI been deemed too hungover to bowl against the 4s, he had sobered up post BBQ. A quick 3/10 ripped through the The 4th XI under new skipper Mark Streather were feeling middle order, with Club XI skipper Yusuf Jackson unable to confident with the T20 format, thinking that fresh legs stop the collapse. were sure to win the day. Some late tinkering with the sides produced a couple of young debuting Vets however, Some lusty late blows from Henry Goodwin (35, also over with 16-year-old James Eddolls deemed a veteran via his two innings) gave some respectability for the scorecard, legacy as an Eddolls. The same applied to Richard Kendall, but it was never going to be enough. The chase ended at who disturbingly was turfed out of the 4s as the eldest at 121/8, with the President’s XI claiming the Presidents Cup. a mere 31 years old.
Will Parry’s rapid 39 was the top score for the Vets in a total of 120/7, with Bruce Oldridge however feeling less fresh after being run out whilst pulling a calf muscle.
In response the 4s were struggling at 52/5, with 3 wickets going to John Hodges and some wily field placings from captain John Kendall. Moment of the day was the dismissal of the dangerous Tom Viegas, with Oldridge taking a diving one-handed catch at slip, proving that you do not need two working legs to field!
Brad Skelly (41) and Streather (39 not out) steadied the ship and put the 4s on course for victory, before some late drama as Streather cynically moved his girlfriend down the batting order. Despite protests from both sides, Streather refused to be fun, leading to a 4 wicket win with just 1 ball to spare. The 4s therefore reclaimed the Hoffman Cup for a year of bragging rights.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 24 Bucks Tour Report Trophy. All were delighted apart from Daz Gallimore, on The annual Bucks tour over the August Bank Holiday has the kitty after a duck and heavily fined for a poor fancy been running since 1986. dress effort. Speaking of fancy dress – how many England cricketers can you spot (see picture)? Saturday 29th August 2020 (Golf) Monday 31st August 2020 vs Little Missenden Tour began with brekkie at our accommodation in Amersham, The Saracen’s Head Inn, with Simon Eddolls Captain for the day Campbell’s tactics were ruined when dishing out the tour veg (sweetcorn). As we had all saved Konrad injured his back and had to be subbed off. Club so much money on kitty this year, Simon also announced President Peter Oliver sub fielded for the first time in that fines were to be doubled for not having your veg to several years, whilst R. Kendall drew the short straw hand at all times. Wonderful. amongst those players being “rested”, having to leave the nearby pub after 5 pints to play in shorts. The opposition We moved on to Wycombe Heights Golf Club, where a 9 60-2 from 20 overs then somehow turned into 207-3 after strong field were treated to the sight of Andy Stokes 40 overs, after 8 dropped catches. Brad Skelly soon playing in a football shirt. Sigh. The course was in excellent claimed the kitty by being run out on his first ball, ruining condition, with Oliver “OJ” Jay and his delicate fingers his self-proclaimed “great touch”. Kendall was allowed to winning the Nearest to Pin competition and Tom bat by the opposition and top scored with 38 as the Bank “Jedward” Campbell defying his puny arms to claim the came up short with 184-7 in reply. Longest Drive, leaving resident big hitter George “Joey" Barton complaining that the fairway is for boring people. Post-game excitement was provided by an attempt to throw Merriman in a pond, plus an excellent curry, before The 18-hole stableford competition winner was Richard more serious sporting business could begin – Beer Kendall, at the 15th attempt with 38 points, despite a minor Olympics IV. 3-time reigning champion Campbell was this tantrum after losing a ball on the 16th hole. Andrew year challenged by renowned rubbish drinker OJ, so it was Merriman was less happy, discovering he was on the kitty somewhat of a surprise when Team OJ took a 3-0 lead after finishing last despite a best ever tour performance. after the Sprint, Ironman and Paralympic Shotput events. However, an inspired team talk saw Team Campbell come The evening fun took us to Tummy Filler’s Fish ‘n’ Chips storming back for a 4-3 win, sweeping the Relay, TMIAC, and some of Amersham’s finest local establishments until Marathon and Daniel Ricciardo rounds. 2am to discuss cricket tactics for the rest of the trip. Further entertainment was provided by Skelly’s victory in Sunday 30th August 2020 vs Hyde Heath the super heavyweight wrestling competition, earning qualification for an exhibition bout against the barmaid.
Tuesday 1st September 2020 vs Ley Hill
There were some sore heads after the 4am finish of the night before, so the lunchtime pub visit contained more lemonades than normal. It was also our first fixture against Ley Hill, with our normal opposition Little Kingshill being unable to field a side. Eddolls and Kendall Snr were delayed by a flat tyre, but most took this to be their excuse to find a different pub to everyone else.
Competition for places was still fierce, with Campbell
securing his spot in a one ball leg spin contest after Merriman failed to make it into the net. Mo Dilshad A lunchtime trip to the Ley Hill beer festival saw us as the claimed 3 wickets as we restricted Ley Hill to 150/9, only customers in the rain…again. The Hyde Heath pitch despite Gallimore’s best efforts with a 14 ball over. was a pudding after the wet weather, so the Bank were happy to reach 141 all out, with skipper Mark Streather Peter Andrews was determined to make a good top scoring with 30. He was less popular when dropping impression on our new hosts, running out both Skelly the Hyde Heath star batsman first ball, but luckily tour debutant Alex Beighton got him second ball instead. (kitty) and OJ just for fun. Patrick Manaton continued his batting development by actually hitting the ball for a Another wicket followed, and when Merriman also struck second day in a row, before Andy Stokes’ classy 54 not out the score was 0/3 after 8 balls! Beighton eventually saw the Bank home for a comfortable 5 wicket victory. The finished with 4-25 as Hyde Heath crumbled to 89 all out, giving the Bank a rare away victory for the Brian Hartley tour ended on a high note, with Gallimore leaving his kit bag in the car park. Roll on next year!
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 25 Kent Tour Report
The annual Kent tour has been ongoing since 1923 Captain Peter Andrews won the toss and elected to field, (excluding the war years) and includes the club’s oldest reasoning that the opposition would have learnt their fixture – Marden, played since 1935. lesson from hitting 300 against us last year. Their South African overseas opening bat was stuck in Durban, so what could go wrong?
As it turns out, a lot. The blood pressure was raised by Tom Calnan and Richard “Rambo” Down cutting it fine to make the kick-off, before we had to advise Rambo that parking next to the sightscreen was not a good idea. Definitely not when it’s a brand new car, and definitely not when we spent most of the previous year chasing balls into the car park!
Andrew Merriman bowled a fine opening spell to claim an early wicket, but it was all downhill after that. The Marden skipper gave just one chance on his way to a magnificent hundred, and the score motored along to 289/5 declared. The rest of the Bank bowling attack immediately branded the pitch impossible to take wickets on, before settling
down to watch the Bank batsman rack up the runs. 2020 Kent Tour (rescheduled from June to September) For a brief while, it looked like a miraculous performance The pandemic meant that the Kent Tour had to be might be on, as Shiraz Husain (48) and Richard Kendall (29) postponed from its usual June slot in the calendar, as took the score along to 68/0. Alas from there the required cricket (amongst many other things) was still not allowed. run rate carried on climbing and a succession of Bank We look forward to seeing our friends at Leeds & batsman tried (and failed) to keep up. It did not help that st Broomfield and Sevenoaks & District Wednesday in 2021 they brought on a 1 XI quick bowler, but that just gave 6 instead. wickets to the spinner at the other end as we tried to hit him into Rambo’s car park. When the season did eventually begin in mid-July, we were fortunate to be able to rearrange the fixture against The score was 154-9 with 8 overs left and club stalwarts Marden for September instead, to keep the club’s longest Eddie Hilton and Rambo at the crease. Heroically they kept continuous fixture going. out the best Marden could offer, despite 9 men around the bat (see picture). Hilton was even kind enough to talk the Marden moved to a magnificent new ground in 2018 and bowlers through their inability to get him out, taking great both the pitch and facilities are picture perfect, delight in shouting that he could see the quicker ball reminiscent of the Bank Sports Centre at its finest. coming a mile off. Unfortunately, their main two bits of advice for us on finding a new ground were:
• Move to the countryside, everything is cheaper. • Find a wealthy benefactor.
Sadly, neither of these two options are available to us, although most would say we have fortunate to benefit from the second of these points through our long association with the Bank.
Wednesday 9th September 2020 vs Marden
The late season date finally arrived and was thankfully pretty sunny, with the outfield looking pristine and the Post-game we celebrated an undefeated “tour” with a wicket itself an absolute road. It certainly made a change curry, resolving to do better next year. Any by “do better” from the rest of 2020, as we have yet to get used to playing st on more “normal” pitches! we mean “talk a couple of the Bank 1 XI into coming”!
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 26 Club Golf Day Report Team Stableford Competition An annual golf day was held for several years through the 1990s, and the committee decided that 2020 was the year The team competition saw groups of 3 competing, with to bring it back. As with everything else this was impacted the best two stableford scores from each group counting by the pandemic, with the original May bank holiday date on each hole. being shifted back to the end of September. Position Names Points Richmond Park Golf Club was selected as the venue given Winners Konrad Thistlewhite-Miller 76 its proximity to our historic home at the Bank Sports Richard Kendall Centre. Tom Campbell Runner Up Aaron Crane 76 Gareth Peat Jeff Smeeton 3rd Andy Ryan 72 John Hodges John Kendall 4th Andrew Merriman 71 George Barton Oliver Jay
Long Drive Contest
The par 5 12th hole was chosen, and at 515 yards long certainly gave plenty of room to hit into! Konrad Thistlewhite-Miller set the pace with a 275-yard smash straight down the middle, which proved too hot for the rest of the field. Aaron Crane narrowly missed out, coming up just 6 inches behind the mark. Clearly needs to spend
more time working on that big 6 hitting ahead of next Sunday 27th September 2020 – Richmond Park year…
12 golfers took the Princes course, which is the shorter and Nearest the Pin Contest in theory “easier” of the two Richmond Park courses. Then again given the level of our golf (and cricket…), nothing is The par 3 16th hole was only 156 yards long, but with the easy! wind blowing and a tiny green to aim at was very tricky.
Gareth Peat ended up closest, with John Kendall the only Individual Stableford Competition other player to successfully hit the target.
Stableford is a scoring system in golf which awards points based upon the score at each hole after adjusting for the player's handicap e.g. a par (adjusted for handicap) is worth 2 points. An individual playing to their handicap would therefore score 36 points.
Position Name Points Winner Richard Kendall 38 (HCP 26) Runner Up Jeff Smeeton 37 (HCP 18) 3rd Andy Ryan 35 (HCP 12) 4th Gareth Peat 32 (HCP 24) 5th Andrew Merriman 30 (HCP 36) 6th George Barton 28 (HCP 9) 7th Oliver Jay 28 (HCP 28) 8th John Kendall 26 (HCP 20) 9th Konrad Thistlewhite-Miller 25 (HCP 36) Overall a good day was had by all, with every participant 10th Tom Campbell 24 (HCP 28) winning a prize of some kind, ranging from a fourball 11th John Hodges 24 (HCP 19) voucher at Wimbledon Common Golf Club, golf balls, wine 12th Aaron Crane 24 (HCP 24) and best of all, jelly babies.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 27
George Barton leaps to score another point in the 3s v 4s volleyball match / Yahya Soofi prepares Richard Down for battle at Oberon.
Club President Peter Oliver steps up to sub-field on the Bucks Tour.
Mark Streather regrets lending his bat / Henry Goodwin and James Woodroof search for “nature’s Haribo” to supplement BYO teas.
Bank of England Cricket Club 2020 Annual Cricket Report 28