Page 185 - Bugle Autumn 2014

Rifles Cricket Club 2014
Twenty two riflemen, past and present, on the field at St Cross
the Club that pitted the Past v Present. Capt Harry Thompson, Present Captain, bowled first and saw Cpl Kev McDelling taking two early wickets, including the Past Captain Toby Harris for a duck, but the Past were full of class and James Fulton (92) and firstly Harry Steel took the score to 181 for 4 before Guy Bomford launched himself, in a Fathers’ Day
The strong finish to the 2013 Season gave optimism to a wholly successful 2014 Season. It was therefore hugely disappointing that 7 matches were cancelled: 4 games were lost when the opposition failed to raise XI players and the other 3 lost to weather along with a fourth game abandoned to rain. This left gaps in the fixture list, reduced time in the middle for players leaving each team undercooked and struggling though the first and last (played) match were notable successes, the bit inbetween could have “been better”. The success of the 2014 Season was the number of Riflemen who played regularly, were selected on merit, for the Regiment which is seen as a direct result from the highly enjoyable Inter Battalion Kenya Trophy played at the St Cross ground.
On The Road
The traditional opening match, against the Royal Household CC in Windsor Castle saw a memorable win in a low scoring game reduced to a T20 by weather. The RIFLES batted first and stuttered – to become a regular feature this year – 121 failing to overcome a bright start. Though the RHCC response started breezily,
the Match Manager, Guy Bomford, was determined to fight to the death and with the launch of Lt Col Tim Lerwill firstly the scoring rate slowed then wickets began to fall until the batting fell apart to leave the Rifles Victors by .....
The Club was away again one month later in the annual fixture against Winchester College and it proved a lot closer than in recent years with the club pushing the schoolboys all the way. Chasing 306 from 45 overs a memorable
century from Lt Matt O’Connor, supported ably by Cpl Kev McDelling in a partnership of 113, was not quite enough as the fine bowling from the college eventually took its toll with the club falling 83 runs short.
The remaining games “on the road”, a T20 at the Honourable Artillery Company in London, RMA Sandhurst and the Guards CC at Burton Court were victims of poor weather.
innings in front of his family, to a destructive 72 form 56 balls allowing the Past to declare on 281 for 7. The Present side didn’t get a sniff of victory
The Inter-Battalion Kenya Trophy T20 challenge (see separate report) launched the Cricket Festival week followed by
the annual match against the St Cross Symondians CC Chairman’s XI. Set a competitive 281 to chase with lots of overs left in the day RCC started well with Cpl Kev McDelling again to the fore but with no partnerships forthcoming St Cross remained on top. Even the arrival of Brigadier Rupert Jones, representing the Colonel Commandant, failed to galvanise the team and with Capt Mark McFarlane run out, the innings concluded with RCC coming up short. The day drew to a
close with an excellent BBQ courtesy of St Cross and with the strong relationship between the two clubs enhanced.
At Home
Only the strawberries and cream could console a dejected Match Manager
The first game at St
Cross ground was
the match against
the Stragglers of Asia
where the Club was
well beaten. With three
Riflemen in the Stragglers’ XI it is possible that the Club was weakened but the bowling was unpractised and the batting timorous – the result of lack of game
as accurate bowling from Henry Hughes, Knight and George
time. The RAC match followed where a promising start by OCdt Ed Walker and Lt Col Tim Lerwill was undone by a middle order collapse from 42 – 2 to 52 – 8 with the damage being done by a SCOTSDG Sgt, a West Indian of prodigious talent yet unknown by the RDG Chairman of Army Cricket, and though Match Manager Maj Jono Mills rallied the team with staunch innings but it was not enough – the Club were All Out for 86. Two quick wickets from Rupert Follett gave the team a
much needed lift but the SCOTSDG Sgt continued to dominate now with the
bat and some mighty 6’s saw the RAC gallop home victors by 16h00. Only the strawberries and cream could console a dejected Match Manager.
A new addition to the fixture list came next – an eagerly awaited match across
Guy Bomford, Tom
Curtis reduced the serving riflemen to
31 – 6 and, despite some resistance from the tail, finished 96 all out. It was a hugely successful day enjoyed by all and has cemented the fixture for future seasons.
THE RIFLES
RIFLES SPORTS 183