Readers might be interested in an explanation of some of the terminology used in the match reports.

Sensible decision which prevented injury to players = Play abandoned because of rain (when Woods were facing defeat)

Outrageous decision taken by spineless opposition scared of losing = Play abandoned because of rain (When Woods were in winning position)

Unlucky not to get any wickets = Bowler bowled a load of dross

Played a number of attacking strokes = Scored less than 15

Promising = Probably didn't do anything much

Enthusiastic out-cricket = Sledging

Patient = Boring

A good all-round batting performance from the first X1 = Chris Vagg got less than 75% of the runs

A good all-round batting performance from the second X1 = Ray Turner (or Tony Phillips!!) and Mickey Joyce got less than 90% of the runs

Tony Phillips continued to play his natural game = Tony Phillips was caught at gulley

A very good evening = Everybody got hammered after the match

A good evening = Dave Pryor and Bill Bessant got hammered after the match

It was business as usual for Woods as they once again lost a game they ought to have won, going down by 2 wickets against Merrow

While Club skipper Neil Park continues his battle for fitness, we can only hope his 3 point plan will put him on the road to a speedy recovery. In his absence Tom Wortley lost the toss and Woods were asked to bat. After losing an early wicket Andy Conway and Dave Clisby added 24 before Conway was caught behind for 20. This gave him the opportunity to drive home, mow his lawn, do the weekly shopping and still make it back for tea.

The middle order now fell away as Taylor (3 for 32) and Hall (4 for 26 ) took control. At 68 for 7 Woods were in serious trouble but then Dave Pryor (22 not out) in partnership firstly with Dave Brazier and then Jim Selby (23) fought back. Selby struck a couple of mighty sixes and his partnership of 39 with Pryor turned out to be the highest of the match. Given the conditions the Woods score of 139 looked to be a reasonable target to defend.

Woods needed an early breakthrough and they didn't have to wait long as Peter Aldous (2 for 31), bowling with pace and control, bowled opener Hose for 0. Ex-Woods man Richard Lock (29) then played with steely determination and put on 36 with Jameson. Lock's innings was ended by a brilliant reflex catch by Robert Hicks at short leg off Aldous.

Bessant (2 for 35) and Selby (3 for 31) took up the attack and their consistent line and length put the batsmen under pressure. Selby held a skyer to dismiss Jameson and keeper Pryor took a couple of catches off Selby to leave Merrow up against it at 101 for 6. In an inspired bowling change skipper Wortley put himself on and with no further additions to the score immediately took a caught and bowled . Merrow skipper Scarth now had to dig in and with A Winduff took the score to 117 before Winduff was victim of another brilliant catch by Hicks, this time diving forward at cover. Bessant was brought back into the attack but was unable to find his previous good line, and Scarth was able to guide Merrow to the victory target.

The Second X1 performed creditably in a draw against league leaders Carshalton and Croydon Gas, scoring 151 for 6 (Ryan Polley 76 not out) in reply to the visitors' 194 for 6. The Third X1 notched up the first victory for the Club this year, scoring 174 and bowling out Carshalton and Croydon Gas for 139.

Match report on the 3rd X1 fixture of 07/06/03

Match report on theSunday 2nd X1 fixture of 08/06/03

Woodmansterne lost a closely fought match with Horley who reached their winning target in the final over of the game.

After a circuitous drive to the ground, throught the leafy lanes of Surrey (not to mention Kent, Sussex and parts of northern France) the team assembled in optimistic mood at Horley's ground. Woods skipper Tom Wortley won the toss and in view of the searing temperature decided to bat first. After Dave Pryor went early on, Bill Bessant (16) and Dave Clisby (46) added 45 for the second wicket. Clisby found the short cover boundary to his liking on a number of occasions and after another partnership of 45 with Chris Vagg (19) Woods looked set for a good score

Youngsters Ian Miller (34) and Robert Hicks (40 not out) built on the foundations and showed a lot of promise in an attractive 5th wicket partnership of 63. Miller was caught at cover and after some rather frantic running between the wickets which cost 2 run-outs, Wortley was able to declare at 192 after 55 overs.

Wortley and Peter Aldous opened the bowling for Woods and Wortley made the early inroads to reduce Horley to 37 for 3. The experienced Stevens (22) and Allen (70 in only 61 balls) now added 60 before Vagg held a good slip catch off Bessant to dismiss Stevens. Allen continued to play his shots, producing some fine straight drives for 6, before finally being bowled by Jim Selby. His dismissal at 158 left the game nicely poised

Skipper Wortley continued to press for victory, and although the lively Peter Aldous picked up a couple of wickets, the Horley youngsters Norman and Laker kept their heads and saw their side home with some well judged running between the wickets. In tight situations like this we'd all do well to remember that the captain and bowlers should be supported at all times.

In the corresponding seconds game Woods rattled up 226 for 4 in 45 overs (Tom Stoker 97), with Horley way off the pace at 110 for 5. The thirds lost their game against Addiscombe by just one run (Ken Wright making 47 not out out of Woods total of 159).

Woodmansterne 3rd XI journeyed to Warlingham to play Addiscombe, the Greenacres Leisure Centre, on a very bright and warm afternoon.

With the strongest bowling attack of the season, through the addition of Glen Thompson and Ben Anderson Woodmansterne had the opportunity to really attack the opposition for the first time and looked forward to the game. Woods won the toss and on a poor pitch decided to field first.

Woodmansterne opened their attack with Glen Thompson and Ken Wright. After a disappointing first over from Glen, which conceded 8 runs both Ken and Glen found their line and length and applied pressure on the Addiscombe batsmen. By the end of the 12 over Addiscombe had been restricted to 41 for 4. At this point Glen was replaced by Ben Anderson, having bowled his maximum of 6 overs per spell. In his 3rd over Ben took his first wicket and Addiscombe were 48 for 5 off 17 overs. At this point the Addiscombe innings was in trouble. However, with some unconvincing and streaky edges the Addiscombe sixth wicket pair put on 55 runs before the partnership was ended by Ted Giles, with the score at 103. Despite some tidy bowling all round Addiscombe managed to reach a final score of 160 off 44.4 overs. This left Woods with a gettable score of 161 off 56 overs. The Pick of the Woodmansterne bowlers were Ben Anderson 3-19 , Glen Thompson 2-28, Phil Wells 2-28 and Ken Wright 2-31.

At the end of the Addiscombe innings Woodmansterne were advised that tea would not be ready for at least 15 minutes and it was suggested by the Addiscombe Captain that Woodmansterne bat for 20 minutes and then stop for Tea. This offer was declined by the Woods Captain and play did not resume until after tea had been taken.

The Woodmansterne innings got off to the worst possible start when Steve Edwards (0) was caught off the first ball of the innings and Paul Benson (0) was similarly dismissed off the third. This poor start continued with the dismissal of Andrew Knight (1), Glen Thompson (0) and Phil Wells (7) and by the end of the fifth over Woods were 15 -5.

It was at this point that Greg Crawley joined George Miller at the crease and with care and application they steered Woods passed their lowest score ever of 31 and with a stand of 60 pushed the score to 75 off 24 overs. Unfortunately George then mis-timed a shot and was caught for 17. This prompted another collapse by Woodmansterne with the dismissal of James Bone (0) and Ben Anderson (1), leaving Woods reeling at 78 -8, off 30 overs.

With only two wickets in hand Woods still needed 82 runs off the remaining 26 overs. It was then that Ken Wright joined Greg and they proceeded to take advantage of the Addiscombe bowling attack whenever the opportunity arose and to defend when it did not, for the next 12 overs. In the 43rd over, after a partnership of 44 and with the score on 122 Greg (30) was finally caught, after some 113 minutes at the crease, leaving Woods needing 38 runs off 13 overs but with only one wicket remaining, to avoid defeat.

Ted Giles joined Ken and bit by bit over the next 9 overs chipped away at the Addiscombe lead and by the end of the 52nd over had pushed the Woodmansterne score to 156-9. With four overs still remaining Woods now only needed 4 runs to avoid defeat and 5 for an improbable win. In the 53rd over Ken Wright defended the first ball, pushed the second for 2, defended the third and took a single on the fourth. Ted (15) was now on strike. The fifth ball of the over was dropped short and Ted attempting to pull the ball over midwicket top edged it and was caught, leaving Woods 2 runs short of what would have been an amazing victory. Credit must go to George Miller, Greg Crawley, Ted Giles and Ken Wright (47 not out) for giving Woods any chance of victory after the very poor start.

Man of the Match - Ken Wright

P. Benson

This was a very solid performance from Woods who very nearly forced a victory despite having to bat first on a damp track. With 8 overs to go the visitors were 8 wickets down but they managed to cling on for a draw.

Woods' openers Ray Turner and Bill Bessant found runs rather elusive against disciplined bowling from Cooper and McLeod backed by a tightly set field. Bessant was first to go for a patient 13 followed shortly after by Turner for an even more patient 3. Chris Vagg once again held the key to Woods posting a decent total and he, in partnership with Robert Hicks, began to pick up the scoring rate, which wasn't much more then one an over for the first 20. Hicks went for 7, but then Vagg got good support from Ian Miller who stroked a very pleasant 27 before skying to cover.

By now Vagg was into his stride, his thunderous driving through the covers frequently leaving the fielders stranded. Wortley supported Vagg in a stand of 64, but things went slightly astray as Wortley and Jason Hiscox went in quick succession to be followed by the unfortunate run-out of Vagg (for 65) following a misunderstanding with Dave Brazier. Brazier was able to redeem himself by taking 10 runs off the last 2 balls of the innings to finish on 15 with Dave Pryor delighted to be undefeated on 9.

Woods needed an early breakthrough and they got it thanks to Peter Aldous, who not for the first time bowled a batsman behind his legs. He followed this up with a second wicket when he had Dickson caught by James Selby at mid-wicket. Wortley at the other end was a little unlucky when a couple of sharp chances went down off his bowling but his luck changed when he took a wicket with a full toss. Bessant replaced Wortley and with the batsmen pressing for runs against the swinging ball he picked up 5 wickets in seven overs. His first victim was Ryan Williams who was looking dangerous before falling lbw for 32. Two more wickets fell to sharp catches by Vagg at slip and Brazier in the gulley. With 8 wickets down Stoke faced defeat but thanks to sensible batting from Eric Short (10 not out) and Phil Mcleod (9 not out) they held on for a winning draw.

The second X1 had a losing draw against Cobham, posting 118 for 8 (Tony Phillips 39) in reply to Cobham's 167 all out (Tony Phillips 6 for 37).

Under leaden skies Woodmansterne took first knock on an already damp track . Andy Conway and Ray Turner found runs hard to come by, but applied themselves well in the face of some enthusiastic out-cricket from the home side. Conway was first to go, quickly followed by Bill Bessant, so once again the side looked to Chris Vagg to get them out of trouble.

Turner and Vagg put on 44 for the fourth wicket, before Vagg fell lbw for 25. Tony Phillips (14) played some trademark cuts before he also went lbw with the score at 71. Turner was finally dismissed a couple of runs later for a patient 24. Dave Clisby played some nice shots and Jim Selby struck some violent blows in his 15 but at 101 for 8 things did not look promising for Woods.

Rain showers now threatened and interrupted play a couple of times. Skipper Tom Wortley was subjected to some childish chit-chat from the home side, umpire Dave Harris rightly intervened but he did not receive the support he deserved. Teams cannot expect umpires to give up their time and come along to these games if their word is not taken seriously and they are not respected.

A long shower during an extended tea interval saturated the wicket and although the players tried to get the game going again, it was finally called off before Dave Pryor did himself a serious injury. Tom Wortley, a ' disgrace to his country' apparently, was no doubt pleased to leave the gloomy damp streets of Tooting.

The second X1 had much the same result, in the corresponding 2's game. They were 129 for 6 with promising youngsters Ian Miller (46) and Ryan Polley (27) amongst the runs. The third X1 managed to get a full game in, losing heavily to Streatham and Marlborough.

Woodmansterne 3rd XI journeyed down to Esher to play their first away game of the league season against Mitcham. The inclement weather conditions at the time of leaving Woodmansterne were such that the Captain after discussion with the 'Senior Professional' decided to take a supply of sawdust with them. From past experience sawdust is not usually available at most Council owned recreational grounds.

With the same basic team as last week, but with the added strength of Ken Wright and Kevin Miller the team set off in an optimistic mood, apart from the obvious concerns over the weather. However, on journey down the weather conditions improved and on arrival at the ground the pitch was found to be damp but with a dry surface. Mitcham won the toss and elected to bat first.

Woodmansterne opened their attack with Ken Wright and Paul Benson. The opening overs were bowled in a much more controlled manner than the previous week and Mitcham were restricted to 22-1 off the first 12 overs.

After 23 overs and with Mitcham on 60-2, Paul Benson was replaced by Guy Burbedge and three overs later Ken Wright was replaced by Kevin Miller, with Mitcham on 63-2 off 25 overs. From this point Mitcham started to take control and although wickets continued to fall Mitcham reached 161-6 off 42 overs when light drizzle began to fall. The Mitcham innings continued for a further 5.4 overs in the drizzle, with a short stop to place some sawdust on the bowler's delivery marks, before they declared on 210-6.

The highlight of the Mitcham innings was a superb catch by Greg Crawley, who had to take the ball high above and behind his head and managing to hang on to the ball when falling backwards on to the ground. The Pick of the Woodmansterne bowlers were Paul Benson 2-36 , Guy Burbedge 2-41 and especially Ken Wright 0-20 off 13overs.

During the tea interval the rain began to fall quite heavily and the start of the Woodmansterne innings was delayed. The rain eventually ceased and after several pitch inspections by the two Captains and the Mitcham Umpire and a liberal spreading of sawdust, supplied by Woodmansterne, on both the bowler's run ups and general crease area, it was agreed by the Woodmansterne Captain that play could commence some 35 minutes late at 5.00pm.

The decision by the Woodmansterne Captain to continue to play rather than abandon the game was not popular amongst the several senior members of the Woodmansterne team, who felt that the conditions were not playable and gave an unfair advantage to Mitcham. However, the Captain stands by his decision in that the pitch, although not fair to both sides, was not dangerous to play on. The spirit of the game is to play if at all possible and in previous years opposition captains have made similar decisions, for the benefit of Woodmansterne. Finally it was the last game of the season for Malcolm Wood, a staunch supporter of the club.

The Woodmansterne innings never got started with the first 2 wickets falling in just over 2 overs and this trend continued throughout with Woodmansterne being bowled out for 31 in 26.5 overs. This was a very disappointing display by the Woodmansterne batsmen some of whom were guilty of taking their opposition to the Captains decision, to continue the game, with them to the crease and was apparent in their batting. While the bowling was overall superior to that of Woodmansterne and was difficult to score off, it should have been coped with more effectively by the experienced batsmen. While Woodmansterne were never in a position to win the match it should have been possible to have saved it. The not out batsman was Greg Crawley.

Although another disappointing result it can only get better provided that all players apply themselves better, whatever the conditions. Next weeks home game against Streatham & Marlborough gives the Woodmansterne players a good opportunity to put this weeks performance behind them and to show what they are really capable of.

Man of the Match - Greg Crawley

P. Benson

After last week's heavy defeat by Westfield Saints, Woodmansterne put in a vastly improved performance against Long Ditton. Woodmanstene were asked to bat first and began brightly until Andy Conway was unluckily run out while backing up. Bill Bessant (21), Dave Clisby and Robert Hicks went fairly quickly after that, but then Chris Vagg (107 not out) found solid support from skipper Tom Wortley. Vagg was soon into his stride striking the ball powerfully on both sides of the wicket.

When Wortley departed for 12, Jamie Owen joined Vagg in a partnership of 71 which took the score to 180. Owen's valuable innings of 23 allied to his excellent fielding later in the match added up to a very promising first X1 debut. Jason Hiscox now supported Vagg who continued to dominate the bowling, reaching a deserved century just before the declaration arrived at 230 for 6.

Bill Bessant and Jim Selby opened the bowling for Woods and came up against some aggressive early order Long Ditton batsmen. The first wicket fell to a well judged running catch by Hicks off Bessant, and this was followed by two wickets for Selby.

With the score at 63 for 3 Knight joined Oldham (43) in a lively partnership of 79, Oldham finally falling to a Hiscox catch off Vagg. Vagg certainly had a day to remember, picking up 3 for 32 off 10 overs to add to his unbeaten century.

With leg spinner Wortley at the other end Woods began to control the game and when the seventh wicket went down to a fine Conway slip catch off Vagg, Woods looked to be in with a chance of victory. Knight (57 not out) however remained there to guide Long Ditton to a winning draw.

The events of the day were obviously all too much for injured club skipper Neil Park who later fell asleep in the curry house. Unfortunately former Woods man Ralph Patel was on the losing side in his match (again !) and it can only be a matter of time before he is back in the fold at Woods.

The Second X1 took on a strong Southern Rail and Kenley side, and went down by 10 wickets after managing only 116. The third X1 lost to Alleyn Old Boys after making 170 (George Miller 40) in reply to Alleyn's 237 for 7.

Woodmansterne 3rd XI played their first league game of the 2003 season with a home fixture against Alleyn Old Boys, who last season managed to score 366 - 3 off only 41 overs.

It was not the most auspicious beginning when the 3rd XI lost a player to the 1st XI just before the start of the game and another player failed to turn up. This situation was lessened thanks to a chance remark by Robert Hicks, that James Bone was looking to play cricket again, this season. James was immediately contacted by Robert and arrived in time to join the game part way through the Alleyn Old Boys innings.

However, even with initially 9 and then 10 players, on paper, Woodmansterne appeared to have a stronger and more balanced team than in last year's fixture and entered the game on an optimistic note. The game started on a positive note with Woodmansterne winning the toss and electing to field first. Unfortunately this positive start was soon reversed when Alleyn Old Boys made a comfortable start against a lack lustre opening bowling attack of Paul Benson 0-34 and Ted Giles 0 - 46 and reached 80 - 0 off the first 17 overs.

At this point Guy Burbedge was brought into the attack, to replace Ted Giles and proceeded to take two wickets in his first over. With a further wicket in Guy's next over Woodmansterne started to fight their way back into the game, restricting Alleyn Old Boys to 90 - 3. Steve Edwards replaced Paul Benson and although he and Guy continued to take wickets on a regular basis Alleyn Old Boys fought back and reached a total of 237 - 8 off 45 overs, when they declared. The pick of the Woodmansterne bowlers were Guy Burbedge 4 - 47 and Steve Edwards 3 - 57.

After tea, Woodmansterne, with a possible 55 overs to score the required runs opened the batting with Paul Benson and Malcolm Wood, with the intention of trying to provide a platform upon which the following batsmen could build. Unfortunately in the fourth over Paul Benson played an appalling shot to a ball that pitched outside his leg stump and was promptly bowled for 1. Not the example or start required from the Captain.

Malcolm was then joined by Steve Edwards and between them brought Woodmansterne back on track by pushing the score along to 52 off 11 overs. However, in the next over Malcolm was caught for 23, which brought George Miller to the crease. George and Steve moved the score along to 72 before Steve was bowled for 35. Bob Conquest replaced Steve and together with George batted in an aggressive but controlled manner to keep Woodmansterne in the hunt. After 28 overs this partnership (53) had put Woodmansterne in a good position at 121 - 3, leaving 117 needed off 27 overs.

Unfortunately, in the 29th over Bob Conquest was caught for 31 and from that point there were no further significant partnerships and with wickets falling at regular intervals Woodmansterne fell behind the required run rate. Woodmansterne were finally bowled out for 166 off 44.1 overs. The main differences between the two teams being that a couple of Alleyn Old Boys batsmen made large scores whereas although several Woodmansterne batsmen made good starts they did not go on to make any big scores.

Although a disappointing result and start to the league season there are some positive points in that not only did Woodmansterne concede 130 runs less than in last season's game but the batting is also an improvement on last season's start when the 3rd XI struggled to score 100 runs in an innings, let alone 166.

Next weeks away game at Mitcham gives Woodmansterne a good opportunity, subject to the weather, to reverse this weeks result and to post their first points of the season. However, the team requires a much better overall performance and example from the Captain, who made a mockery of his Fantasy League price tag, in this match.

Man of the Match - Guy Burbedge

P. Benson

With the club having availability problems for the first league fixtures of the season, the first and second X1 both lost in disappointing fashion.

The first were at home to Westfield Saints, and things started well for Woods after stand-in skipper Chris Vagg inserted the opposition on a damp pitch. The openers were removed quickly thanks to a fine reflex catch by Malcolm Wood off Bill Bessant, and an lbw decision in favour of the other opening bowler, Peter Aldous. These two picked up another wicket each and Westfield looked perilously positioned at 30 for 4. The attack was taken up by James Selby and Glen Thompson, the latter having trouble maintaining his rhythm on the damp track.

Several run-out chances went begging when keeper Dave Pryor and paceman Jim Selby failed to take up postions to gather the ball. Gradually Doyle (47) and Pellet (57 not out) retrieved the situation for Westfield in a productive partnership of 76. This was finally broken when Andy Conway held a skier off Robert Hicks. The unlucky James Selby persevered and returned figures of 1 for 31 off 17 overs, but after 53 overs Westfield had enough runs to declare.

The Woods reply started comfortably enough, but Brazier was out trying to force the pace and Conway , Vagg and Robert Hicks fell to the deceptive flight of off spinner ......... . Dave Clisby (23 including two sixes) and Bill Bessant added 34 for the 4th wicket, but when paceman .............. (5 for 5!!) took up the attack runs were not so easy to come by and he soon cleaned up the remaining batsmen.

The seconds posted 128 (Gordon 29, Phillips 29) against Shepperton who knocked off the runs for the loss of 4 wickets.

The 2003 season got underway with this friendly against Englefield Green. The opposition batted first and Woods' season suffered a setback almost from the start when new skipper Neil Park had to leave the field when he aggravated a recent skiing injury. Vice captain Tom Wortley took over for the rest of the game.

Woods openers Peter Aldous (3 for 41) and Glen Thompson (3 for 27) bowled well and were ably supported by Ken Wright (1 for 44) and Rob Hicks (1 for 28). Wortley only allowed himself a few overs but picked up a wicket, as well as holding 3 catches.

Woods were making a solid reply when rain brought a premature end to the game, with Andy Conway having made 17 and Wortley stranded on 50 not out.

This was warm-up match for the 17 players who turned up. It would have been 9 a side but Dave Pryor was struck down by a mystery virus and was unable to make such an early start time as 2pm.

Skipper Paul Benson opened the innings for the Saturday side with Keith Roger and they laid a solid foundation for the innings in an opening stand of 80. Roger (31) was run out thanks to a rather optimistic call from Benson, who shortly after became a victim for Kevin Miller, for a well made 59.

Chris Vagg (13) was threatening a good score but was well held at mid-off by Tom Meadowcroft off Neil Griffin. Greg Crawley soon followed, sportingly giving himself out stumped while Umpire Mike Pratt's attention was temporarily distracted by a discussion of a domestic nature . Bill Bessant (51 off 43 balls) and Jason Hiscox (25 not out) then put on 82 for the 5th wicket to take the score up to 200. Neil Griffin was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 31.

After losing opening partner Neil Griffin for 4 in the Sunday X1 reply, Trevor Meadowcroft looked in good form with a confident 22. Kevin Miller, (17 off 13 balls) played some fine front and back foot drives off Peter Aldous, before Aldous gained revenge by removing his middle stump. This brought Ryan Polley to the wicket, who got off the mark with a huge 6 off Bessant, and continued his violent assault which brought him 62 off only 33 balls, including another savage blow into Chris Vagg's front garden.

Mark Lander was brilliantly caught and bowled by Vagg, who also caught Tom Meadowcroft off Ian Park for 8. This brought Joe Janusewski and Ron Titchenor together and these two played with a lot of common sense to add 56 for the seventh wicket. Hiscox finally broke the stand by bowling Janusewski for 33 and the game was all over when Vagg bowled an injury hampered George Miller.

This was a good warm-up for all concerned, with the youngsters from the Sunday side showing some good potential for the coming season.