A warm and dry Cottenham Park hosted our annual fixture against Antelopians CC, a club with a batting line up packed with hard hitting South Africans fuelled by tobacco and meat. This week also saw the return of skipper Craigie, fresh faced from his romantic Canadian trip.
Road lost the toss and would field first.
Star bowler Bibby opened the bowling coming down the slope with wicked in-swing the oppo could do little about. Blockley took the second over up the hill finding his line and length and keeping the pressure on. Following a thus-far maiden over, Bibby provided the breakthrough with a trademark in-swinging ball to the right hander, smashing into the middle stump. Antelopians were 16/1 after three overs with Bibby completing a wicket maiden.
Blockley, putting a shift up the hill, provided the Road with more honey, removing batsman no.3 with Dougie taking a diving catch at point (Ed.: How has Dougie played down this catch like it was routine? He ran under it, dived onto the square, cut his elbows up and still kept it in his grasp!). Blockers followed this up with a smart caught and bowled and Bibby trapped an LBW victim in the following over to put the Road in a strong position with the oppo 29/4 at 7 overs.
Beastly behaviour
In walked ‘The Beast’ (and no Moans, I am not referencing a Lady Gaga song here). This unit is a reliable run machine known to clear most boundaries in SW London. Credit goes to Blockers who restricted the following over for two runs.
The dangerous duo of C Brown & M Small got loose and replaced the opening spell of the accurate BB Gun (Bibby & Blockley). B. Wiltshire, a safe pair of hands, was then told to drop halfway to the boundary in a deep mid-wicket position by Craigie & Brownie… it was inspired positioning as moments later Ben took a successful catch in the deep from CB’s bowling.
Smally was turning the ball both ways and proving difficult to hit off the square in usual Smally behavior. Nimit was flighting his off-spin neatly but was unlucky to face “Beast” who had his eye in, he cleared the boundary on a few occasions. There was nothing Nimit or the Road field could do… the local windows were at risk.
Following a Willy B and Fair wicket each the oppo were restricted to 119/7 from 19 overs. Tidy fielding and bowling limited the Antelopians to 172 all out from 28.1 overs. The handy Beast finishing 80*.
Pick of the bowlers being:
- Bibby – 4/27 off 7.1 overs (2 maidens)
- Blockley – 2/24 off 6
- Brownie 2/16 off 4 overs (1 maiden)
Chasing 173
Road openers Sherman and Small set off to the crease and got off to the start we needed. Smally cutting three 4s in quick succession and Sherms driving through the covers for a glorious boundary. The Road were 28 without loss before Sherman fell LBW in the 9th over. Both of Road’s openers had set the tone and grinded down the strong opening bowling pair. A couple more boundaries from Small and Fair pushed the tally to 49/1 before Smally snicked off, well caught by the keeper.
Ben could do little with an in-swinging ball that trapped him LBW first ball. Dougie being a similar victim albeit for the hat trick ball for 10 runs.
The momentum was shifting and the Antelopians began to bark louder.
Enter Newlove
The Road’s equivalent to the ‘Beast’ is our handsome thoroughbred named “Newlove”. Chestnut in stature & Cricketnut through summer.
A job was on hand to steady the ship. In usual fashion, Oscar creamed a few boundaries and with Craigie at the crease our nerves began to settle. Craigie & Nimit quickly departed before Oscar fought valiantly for a jug avoiding 49 (admittedly partly my fault standing at square leg with a very close no ball shout not given). The partnership of Oscar and Bibby accounted for a game changing 56 runs. When Bibby departed for 30, Road were edging closer to victory.
Two Browns and Blockley
In walked the feared Chris Brown who departed for 15 runs (150 strike rate – bosh).
Road were now in touching distance at 163/9 with 3.4 overs left (out of 40). 10 runs were needed with Willy B and C Blockley occupying the crease. An important 4 leg byes (Ed. I didn’t mean to kick it!) helped the heart rate, with Blockers then nailing 4 runs through the covers. 2 runs were then required from 2 overs, shiirley it was the Road’s to lose.
38.5 overs, Willy B hit the winning two runs, an edge or flick through the gully region it didn’t matter. The road were victorious at the death.
Well done to all involved, a well-rounded performance with the ball, bat and in the field.
Bibby won Mandy due to all-round contribution.
This match can be watched on YouTube if interested Rossi/Road: AntelopeCC vs KingsRoadCC.
Words by Dougie Fair, elbows of steel, for Sunday 13 July 2025