Gaieties v Oval CC - Edward Alleyn & Honor Oak CC

22 June 2025



Once assembled at the correct venue – overrun with children playing orange-ball cricket, to the sweary chagrin of the ground’s booker – we settled in to bat under the sun. Jake fell early but Jamie joined a scratchy skipper at the crease and promptly unfurled a sequence of glorious strokes, driving and backcutting with elegant aplomb. After drinks, skipper slogged a few before he fell, inevitably, to Charlie Moore and was followed not long after by Jamie, trapped in front for a superb 82. Things slowed down, unhelped by successive runouts to masterblasters Finlay (not out) and Tarek (very out). Shomit guided us towards a total, hitting an enormous straight six before getting out to allow Laurence – a Guinness down – to end the innings with two successive sixes. We declared, at 253-6 in 44, and watched as the opposition were subjected to an extremely intense team talk by their captain. 

In reply, their Dubliner opener was annoyingly good, but Robbie soon nicked off the other bat, superbly caught at second slip by, yes, Laurence. Finlay, manfully striding into the wind, was unfortunate not to make his own breakthrough and a partnership formed that neither Chair nor Choueiri could break: nearing the final hour, they were well set at 100-1. Then Laurence happened. In a sensational, barely plausible spell, Laurence first did for their opening bat and then convinced their swaggering four to leave his first ball. It spun almost 90 degrees to hit the top of off stump. Everyone sensed what would come, and it did. Laurence went through his repertoire – including a drag down that Charlie hammered out to Ollie, who took an effortlessly brilliant catch – to scythe through the opposition in thrilling fashion. The figures, 8-1-14-8, tell only the bald story of the spell’s brilliance. Tarek’s excellent catch off Daniel, leaving the opposition 152 all out, sealed the victory.