The promise of the previous two seasons was realised in 1995 as the crop of talented young players who had joined the Club began to produce match winning performances.

The season opened on Speech Day with the first victory over the School since 1988. Henry Watkinson (63) and Alan Riva (40) gave the OCs a solid start before the School , led by the bowling of Hillier (5-56), fought back to restrict the OC total to 201. Stuart Hilton (3-51) struck three early blows from which the School never recovered and Michael Chetwode (4-29) mopped up the tail. The 2nd XI match was, for the first time in several years, extremely close with the OCs winning by one wicket care of a six off the penultimate ball after Chris Morgan (89) had led the reply.

The decision by the Committee to withdraw from the Cricket World Trophy, where raising strong enough sides before the Universities came down had proved almost impossible, meant that there were only two fixtures prior to the "week". In the first match, which had a two hour lunch break to enable the World Cup semi-final to be watched, we overcame Headley’s total of 246-9 with two overs to spare. Nigel Radbourne, who suffers more than most from dropped catches, took 5-79 and then half centuries by Will Stephens (55) and Rick Johnson (50) guided us to a five wicket win. In the second game we batted well enough to reach 214 but never had the bowling to threaten a strong Lancing batting side and lost by five wickets.

And so to the "week" which was played with temperatures in the high 80s until the final Sunday . Uppingham Rovers, who are no longer the force they were in the 1970’s, were convincingly beaten thanks to a half century from Will Stephens (72). At Merrow Ed Hellings, a centurion in the same fixture a year before, hammered 76 and Simon Copleston made a brisk 92 as, for a time, a total of 300 plus looked on the cards. The final score of 278-8 was enough to beat a weak home side. Mike Chetwode unveiled his own brand of off-spin for the first time, took 4-62 and, to everyone’s horror, announced that his career could have been prolonged by quite a few years by this addition to his repertoire.

The inaugural match against the Butterflies took place in the continuing heatwave and, wisely, Chetwode won the toss and batted. Mike "Wild Goose" Chase blasted 68 and gave all his batting partners the benefit of his views on running between wickets whilst Ed Copleston made a cultured 45 on his debut out of 241-6. The visitors never quite came to terms with a lively Watkinson and their spirited innings left them ten runs short of the target with two wickets in hand.

The most exiting game of the year occurred at St George’s College where the home side’s score of 238-8 looked to be enough, especially when we collapsed to 124-8. Mike Chetwode, who benefited from four dropped catches during his 60*, and Steve Isaac with 72* then added an unbeaten 115 for the ninth wicket to secure a memorable victory. The previous 9th wicket record was set in 1966 and featured Nigel Dunnett, a player in this game some 29 years later.

The Fettesian-Lorretonians were set on revenge after their defeat in 1994 (the only loss on their southern tour) and paid us the compliment of fielding their strongest side. Graying vegetarian veteran Iain Wilkie (79) and limbo specialist Stephen "Kitbag" Bailey (51) put on 147 for the 1st wicket as we amassed a solid 232-3 on a dead pitch. The visitors reply was built around a superb 136* by Scotland batsman Orr and despite two aggressive spells from Watkinson we lost convincingly.

The Frogs were defeated by the narrowest of margins as Chetwode and Isaac (again) scrambled the nine runs needed by the last pair and the Surrey Cryptics were totally outclassed to lose by over 100 runs for the third successive year after Chetwode, with a career best 77, and Johnson (60) made the most of friendly bowling. The "week" petered out with the rain against a Rick Johnson XI (or should that be VIII) at Cobham.

Eton Ramblers made the match safe before setting a stiff target which we never looked like mounting a serious challenge to and the game snoozed to a draw.

The Wellington pitch behaved in much the same way as the Oval pitch later in the summer and wickets were likely to be rare. Mike Chase made the most of the conditions (and several acts of extreme generosity on the part of the fielding side) to hit a career best 159, the third highest score of all time by an O.C., and hit the ball to all parts of the ground; again the bowling let us down as the O.W.s cruised to a seven wicket win.

It was ironic that the season ended after 80 minutes in the drizzle at Esher where the only highlights were an unbeaten 49 by Watkinson and the appearance in the side after a four year gap of 56 year old John MacDermott (proof of what hard living can do to a man).

The performances of the younger players was particularly pleasing. Henry Watkinson, whose class has never been in doubt, bowled at a variety of speeds and on his day remains one of the fastest bowlers to have represented the Club. His batting continues to be frustratingly inconsistent. Richard Johnson combines the most appalling time-keeping known to man and an ability to eat as if he was expecting quins with spectacular batting and sound wicket-keeping; he has passed 50 six times he has yet to exceed 60, although he will undoubtedly put this right soon. Simon Copleston, now captain of the Village, passed 1000 runs for the Club, played several anchor roles and his fine knock at Merrow showed what he could do when in the right frame of mind; the balding Will Stephens came good with both bat and ball after two lean seasons and Stephen Bailey, Nick Read, Charles Oliver and Will Porter all showed promise. With the Wright brothers, Graham Brown and the younger Copleston all playing, the future of the Club is bright.

Of the slightly older contingent, Mike Chase continued to amass runs at an alarming rate in aggressive fashion (his bowling decline is in direct proportion to his batting improvement); Steve Isaac returned from the farm and showed what a fine player he still is and Mike Chetwode adopted an increasing air of senior pro (i.e. he batted up the order when the opposition bowling was weak and bowled fourth change when the opposition batting was strong) whilst still dominating with the ball. His claims to be an all-rounder are, unfortunately for anyone within earshot of the self effacing star, proving increasingly valid. Without a doubt the success of the Club both on and off the field is largely down to the hard work and attitude of the Captain; his approach to cricket is so refreshing in a game dominated more and more by negative, unfriendly league thinking.

Behind the scenes, apart from the Captain of whom we have heard enough, Richard Seeckts, in his last season as Fixtures Secretary, and the inimitable John MacDermott ensured the Club ran smoothly. Martin Williamson guaranteed selection for one or two games next season by continuing as Secretary/Treasurer. Thanks are due to Tim McDonnell-Ward in the School Enterprise office and the Headmaster for making us so welcome during our stay at the School. Finally, Peter Woodhead and Norman Crowder deserve special mention for producing good standard pitches despite the abnormal weather and increasing demands on the square.

As in the previous two seasons the emphasis during the long, hot summer was on enjoyment both on and off the pitch and this was undoubtedly achieved. The Club is open to every Old Cranleighan regardless of ability and we have games to suit all players. For more information contact one of the names listed above.

The Annual General Meeting of the O.C.C.C. will be held at the O.C. Club, Thames Ditton on Tuesday 30th January 1996 starting at 7.00. If you are intending to attend, please confirm this date with either Martin Williamson or Ian Beveridge (O.C. Club Steward) on 0181 392 8092 in the week preceding the meeting.

P.S. Congratulations are due to Henry Watkinson on reaching the final of the Abbot Ale Cup at Lord’s with Clifton. A sizable O.C. contingent was in the crowd to support Henry, who was unlucky to run up against an in form batsman and a short Tavern Boundary, and his side lost by 15 runs. Henry was unfortunate not be considered for the man of the match award and he has been assured that this report will not mention that he took 0-80 off nine overs (70 off the last five overs) and followed up with a second ball duck.