Brigands v Wellington Wanderers, 31 May 2026

Part 1 of 2; A Very Long Way for a Dot Ball

In the summer of 1777, the Hambledon Club played a match on this very hill for a stake of a thousand guineas, roughly £150,000 in today's money.

The ground's history is saturated in stories of wager; bookmakers operated at the boundary rope, gentlemen lost fortunes on the result of a single delivery, and the players were not always above suspicion.

At Broadhalfpenny Down on Sunday, Wellington Wanderers arrived in their green, blue and yellow blazers, resplendent, well-travelled, and fresh from an unbeaten tour of Ireland, to hear a lecture on the history of cricket delivered by Mike Beardall on the base of The Monument.

Then everyone got on with playing cricket.

The Brigands batted first. Rafi Abdeen opened, and the side began watchfully. 43 from the first ten overs. Then the afternoon caught fire. Gerry Northwood found the leg side repeatedly, helped by the westerly breeze and the short boundary by the pub, scoring at well above a run a ball. Dave Henderson hit seven boundaries from seven consecutive balls. Steve Blackburn launched one into the trees.

Guy Ladenburg hit two sixes, including a scoop that landed on the road, bounced between the cars in the car park, and came to rest in the farmer's field, a stroke that would have been difficult to plan, let alone fix. The Brigands made 210.

Tea was provided by Lee Gray, and the Burns family, who had made a special journey to Cornwall to source the best cream for the special scones.

Brigands had to field with 10 as Lee Gray was called away unexpectedly so every player was asked to step up.

Dave Turner, wearing but not using the wicket-keeping gloves, welcomed the Wellington opener to the crease with the observation that it was "a long way to come for a dot ball"; accurate, given the man had flown from New Zealand. The first delivery was turned to square leg, where Steve Blackburn ran four yards to his right, gathered, and threw directly onto the stumps as he fell backwards. The non-striker gone for a diamond duck.

Mike Beardall was back to his best and found variable bounce from a patch outside off stump and took 2 for 35. Neil Wood conceded 22 from seven, and might have had more, but for an LBW declined by umpire John Challis on the grounds of the ball pitching outside leg stump. Captain Henderson, stationed at back-stop to stem a flow of byes, agreed from behind the keeper.

Wellington recovered from 39 for 3 to 122 for 4, and were doing nicely until one of their number coming out to bat told his partner the tourists were in complete control. He went back and across to a straight one, and was LBW first ball to the impressive Abdeen.

The match was destined for a last-over finish, as it often does against touring sides.

With 75 needed from the last ten overs and 3 wickets in hand, Goldingham hit three sixes and three fours for Wellington, then Abdeen started turning the ball, and Henderson held two skiers, catching antipodean-style against the antipodeans.

16 off 7 balls with the last pair, Coffey and Steele batting.

Gerry Northwood, calmly gathered a drive on the Long On boundary, took a step back, and planted his heel on the rope. Brigands wondered if there was a wager involved; the Kiwis cheered, and 4 runs were awarded.

With 12 runs to win, Jake Peach bowled the last over and was hit to the short leg side boundary. One fielded by Abdeen, another misfielded by Northwood.

Two runs needed from a last ball that was aimed outside the off-stump; a play and miss, and Dave Turner redeemed himself with a stumping. The ten men held off the international visitors.

The Wellington Wanderers, unbeaten through Ireland and bound next for Chiddingfold, took their defeat with the grace that well-travelled tourists bring to these things. Somewhere on Broadhalfpenny Down, the ghosts of the old bookmakers pocketed their losses and moved on.

Bottles of wine were gifted, ties were exchanged, and a shirt was swapped. The six blokes called "Dave" who played in the match assembled for a photo. Harry and Nina Bates had come to watch, Nina in an eye patch from the family dressing-up box, still carrying the make-up from Harry's amateur dramatics a few years back. Guy Ladenburg sat in the Bat & Ball and lamented the absence of a post-match swim; his pool lining, he reported, is another casualty of the trouble in the Strait of Hormuz.

Cricket has always contained multitudes. At Broadhalfpenny Down, it still does.

Brigands 210-7 beat Wellington Wanderers 209 all out by 1 run

Part 2, a photographic story, from Simon Arnold, will be published later this week ...