Well, we did it! One of the dreams came true! Elstead won the Stevens Cup!

Not that the lads made it easy. Oh, no, that would be too much to ask. Up against twelve times winners, Grayshott, Elstead batted first and slumped to 79 in 16 eight ball overs, a score considerably bulked up by 33 from David Tye. An early finish looked on the cards but Haris Shah with 5 wickets for 19 runs and Fazal Syed with 3 for 17 had other ideas as Grayshott crumbled to 25 for 7. That stalwart of Elstead cricket, Pat Murphy, took the final wicket in the last over, Grayshott finishing on 68 all out. What a win! What a night of celebration followed!

In the I'Anson League the Ones are still hanging in there. A score in excess of 250 at Chiddingfold and 6 wickets for Mubarak Ahmed suggested a possible win but dogged defence by the home side's last pair left the match drawn. Another score over 200 against Grayswood, with 57 for Ben Egan, proved enough to take all ten points. Mubarak and Haris took five wickets apiece as the visitors were skittled out for 82. A washed out game against championship rivals, Cranleigh St Andrews, followed (the sombre mood not helped by the other contenders, Grayshott, pinching a win in a low scoring affair against Puttenham).

Back came the lads for the next game (vs Puttenham) and what a win they conjured up. A paltry 112 was all the Elstead batsmen could manage, despite 47 from Mubarak, and at 103 for 5 the visitors looked to have the game in the bag. A flurry of wickets, however, took the score to 103 for 9 and tension was in the air. Puttenham edged towards the target but a swift stumping by Morgan Pearse ended matters with a two run win for Elstead, Mubarak's 6 for 56 and Fazal's 4 for 13 doing the damage. Still in a close second spot and six games to go.

The 2nd X1 is still doing well, too. Fifties for Richard Jones and David Tye, in a purple patch of form, were enough to beat The Bourne by eight wickets. A fine all round performance - four wickets for David Tye and three apiece for Pat Murphy and Chris Grant - then saw off Milford. A potential winning position against Frensham was unfortunately cut short by rain and so the Twos remain in fourth position in Division Four, not far off the promotion places but with just four games left.

In the meantime the junior season has finished and it's been a pretty good one. The Under 15s played some powerful 'town' sides and finished up winning five of their nine games. There was some fine batting and bowling throughout the team and many of these youngsters are already featuring regularly in the senior sides. The Under 13s fared less well winning only three of their ten matches, although some encouraging individual performances bode well for the future.

Stars of the show this year were the Under 11s. They won seven of their nine games and finished runners-up in their section of the league. Again there were some great performances with bat and ball and, importantly and encouragingly, in the field too.  A terrific season!

So one dream has come true - the Stevens Cup win. We'll dream the other - to become I'Anson League champions - a little longer.


Gordon Wycherley

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