Strollers return to winning ways south of the river 
posted: August 18, 2025

After last week’s defeat, the Strollers embarked on a crusade south of the river, looking to return to winning ways at the elegant and very well-priced Dulwich Sports Ground against Ploughmans CC.

Harry was back at the helm after missing last week’s game and, with the weather set sunny and the opposition's desire to play a 40-over match, batting first was the preference. Naturally, Ploughman’s won the toss and duly decided to bat first.

Despite the popularity of the fixture (we had 11 confirmed players by Monday afternoon!), it was, of course, our south London residents (Ron and Gaurav) who arrived late for the game, meaning we took to the field with nine for the first couple of overs. 

Harry and Vinay took the new ball, and despite bowling well, it soon became apparent that with the speed of the outfield and the flatness and lack of pace of the pitch, getting the slower stuff on sooner than later seemed the way forward.

After the first ten, Harry rang the changes, opting for spin from both ends with Ron and Spencer bowling tidily up to drinks. Ploughmans were exactly 100-0 at the halfway stage, and despite our lack of wickets, we were quietly confident that we had done a good job of containing the oppo on a pitch that looked great for batting. Honours even, we returned to the field looking to continue where we had left off and restrict the opposition to something below 250.

After drinks, Harry turned to first Gaurav and then Rohit. Both bowled well, but were slightly expensive, with G going at nearly 8s, reinforcing the earlier theory that the slower the bowling, the harder it is to score.

Naturally, then, Harry turned to George. The big man instantly began to shore up the runs and was rewarded with our first wicket in the thirty-third over of the Ploughman’s innings, Ron taking a superb catch out in the deep to remove Osborne for a well-struck 92. Fellow opener Angus, then, did pass his century and we thought the Ploughmans assault would surely be coming as they looked to crack on at the end of their innings. But the counterattack never came, unable to get George, Aaron, or Spencer away. 

Opener Angus (already well past his three figures at this stage) continued to play forward defensive strokes into the 38thover.  Spencer was rewarded for his toil, picking up a couple of well-deserved scalps at the back end of the innings to continue his streak of taking a wicket in every game this season and leaving the Ploughman’s on 239- 4 off their 40. A sizeable chase, but one we felt we could pull off.

After enjoying a well-deserved tea at the excellent Dulwich pavilion, Abhik and Kash strode out to the middle looking to get our innings off to a good start. After some initial wobbles and tight bowling, both found their groove and began hastily dispatching the ball to all parts of the ground to leave us 65-0 off the first ten. Both openers continued to punish the bowlers, taking us to 114-0 at the end of the 14th. Ploughman's captain Tom Lennon then brought himself into the attack, removing first Kash and then Abhik, to leave us 119-2. Was this going to be the start of the collapse?

KK, fresh from 40 overs behind the stumps and Gaurav continued to keep the pressure on the oppo and batted well to see us through to drinks at 155-2. Soon after the resumption, lightning struck twice, with both G and KK departing in quick succession to leave us 173-4. 

Harry then joined Ron at the crease, requiring a further 67 for victory off 15 overs. After a few watchful overs, Harry let loose, punishing Ploughman’s seamer Campbell Daley for an array of boundaries whilst Ron diligently/ reluctantly resisted the urge to swing at the slower stuff. Harry went for one swing too many and was eventually caught with 16 runs required, seven overs to go and five wickets remaining.

Vinay joined Ron at the crease, and any fears of a collapse for the ages were swiftly extinguished with Vinay striking four lovely boundaries to bring us to victory with five overs to spare.

A thoroughly enjoyable trip south of the river and a whole team effort to beat one of the stronger oppositions in our fixture list.

Thanks to Ploughmans, who were excellent hosts, and we look forward to returning the favour in a couple of weeks from now at North London CC.

Harry Brown
18.08.2025