Brigands v Harry Baldwin Occasionals, 11 May 2025

On the boundary, a teenage girl sat on a blanket with her Mum, studying Hamlet for her English A-Level revision in the shade of the trees by The Bat & Ball pub. At the crease, actor Jonathan Cake and director Sir Sam Mendes, both well-versed in Shakespeare. The delights of English village cricket.

Other spectators included Sir Roy Newman, who reminded the batters to “play straight for the first twenty minutes,” Brigands' first Life Member*, Graham Peach, and a family who enjoyed a picnic whilst kids played "1-2-3-In" with the Monument to the Glory of cricket as "home base".

Adam Jay (29) and Gerry Northwood (38) opened for the Brigands, compiling a polished 50 against some tight bowling from the Occasionals. Northwood came down the track and edged to the keeper who caught the ball and whipped off the bails; the batter didn't think he was out but the Umpires thought he doth protest too much and he was adjudged caught and stumped off the same delivery!

Northwood was caught and stumped in the same delivery

Dave Henderson took advantage of the slope and fast outfield with a series of late cuts on his way to 31 before hitting to long-off and caught one-handed by Nandrish.

Most cricketers convert Paul Whittle’s runs like dog years, so his majestic 17 off 31 balls—with a couple of back-foot pull-shots—was celebrated like a century. To thine own self be true.

Guy Ladenburg drove and hooked his way to a well-deserved fifty but he lost partners at the other end. In the 37th over, Sam Mendes stepped off for a one-over comfort break—only to return and find the score had improbably leapt from 195-4 to 206-7 as Dave Turner, Jim Morris, and Steve Blackburn all succumbed to Nandrish’s guile.

Turner, Morris, and Blackburn all fell in the same over

A declaration at 213 left the Occasionals an intriguing target on a good pitch with a swift outfield.

After a delightful tea—served for the first time this season in the marquee—both openers fell within ten minutes: one LBW to Sam Sargant and the other caught by Northwood above his head in the gulley off Neil Wood.

Milo Fletcher, a Brigand through and through, had been loaned to the Occasionals for the day. A young man with wanderlust and on his way to live in Colombia “because he can”, had nobly decided to pen the scorebook for the innings.

Mendes began brightly, driving one boundary past Whittle, doing yoga stretches in the covers, before missing a nagging low delivery that nipped back down the hill. He walked back to the pavilion as ruefully as if Quentin Letts had handed him a one-star review.

The Meisner Technique teaches actors to respond to the moment, to be present with their scene partner, to abandon pre-conceived notions, and rely on their instincts to create a noteworthy performance.

The moment to respond to, the Meisner moment, arrived in the 17th over. With the score on 56-4, the big-hitting Cake was well set alongside his captain, Chris Strange. Quick runs were vital, and the Brigands set an attacking field with no one on the boundary.

Steve Blackburn came on. He is an accomplished undersea engineer and marine-salvage expert. But he is not a strike bowler. He bowls slow, looping, very hittable spinners.

But Blackburn wasn't taken on, dot ball followed dot ball, and he returned figures of 5 overs for 10 runs whilst Beardall chipped in with 7 overs for just 23 runs, strangling the scoring rate and leaving the Occasionals with too many runs still needed from the last ten overs.

Wood finished with four wickets and Sargant took two. There were the odd dropped catches, of course, but none altered the outcome.

In the end, there was no nail-biting finale, no standing ovation—just the gentle conclusion of a village cricket draw on a gorgeous day with lovely people. After all, there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.

Brigands 213-7 off 39 overs drew with Harry Baldwin Occasionals 151-7 off 37 overs

*Life Membership is one of the rewards available in the crowdfunding campaign. Please support us in any way you can. More details at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/cradleofcricket