A sad end for an unmatchable club cricket venue

Aldworth CC were OMTCC's final opponents ever at Durrants (where Michelle and I got married) on Saturday and it was an occasion that was pretty sad, despite everyone's best attempts to put a brave face on it. How can there be any circumstances under which beautiful grounds like Durrants can be built over for housing? It's going to leave me with a dislike for Barratts for the rest of my life.

On the day OMTs batted first and scored 156-7 declared (Richard Winkle 46*) and my contribution was a quick 12 or so as we ended the innings. Aldworth were stunned by a Sohan Modi hatrick early in their innings but fought back well, with David Pollock (former OMTCC 1st XI skipper guesting for Aldworth) scoring 41, and ending up on 148-7. Honours even and we're looking forward to the rematch at Aldworth's ground next to The Bell next year on Thames Tour.

The final wicket at Durrants off the penultimate ball of the match was Aldworth's skipper, Julian Sankey, caught by me, bowled by Cricket Burbler Mark Davis. A nice personal symmetry given that Julian Sankey used to play at Durrants and gave me my first bowl in adult cricket at Durrants for the 3rd XI....not quite sure exactly when but he thinks it was 1986 which would have made me 8 years old. It could well have been the year after!

Although tinged with sadness, it was a great day and the players could almost not bear to leave with David Pollock taking the honour of the last round purchased at the player's bar, served - as ever - by Frank Coles.

Fond (and some occasionally drunken and not so fond!) memories...