By Charles Randall
15 September 2015
Of all the ECB premier champions, Hampstead could claim the best timing when they won the Middlesex County League. This was a superb way to round off their 150th anniversary season.
One could arrange any number of dinners, parties and charity events, but on-field success must be the best marker as Hampstead powered to their second title in three years under the captaincy of Steve Clark – having never won the league before that.
The first person to agree with that would be Jim Carter. His charisma as Hampstead's chairman has taken the club forward, and his sense of pride at cricket would no doubt more than equal his satisfaction as an actor in Downton Abbey. The show, with Carson the butler, enters a final triumphant ITV series on 20 September.
At the other end of the scale Finchley were relegated for the first time in their history, and a measure of consolation was dashed when they lost in the final of the Middlesex knockout cup, losing by 75 runs to Stanmore at Uxbridge.
Hampstead were assisted by Ealing's administration error that led to a deduction of 10 points - one win - for fielding an unregistered player, which eased the pressure at the top, and likely champions Richmond suffered a dip in form when it mattered. A mouth-watering final fixture – Hampstead versus Richmond at Lymington Road – became irrelevant when the title was settled in the penultimate weekend.
Ealing's success in the ECB NatWest Club T20 at Cardiff certainly compensated for their relatively modest fourth place in the league. The familiar names of Chris Peploe and Ollie Wilkin featured strongly in both matches at the SWALEC stadium – a 10-wicket semi-final win over Chester Boughton Hall followed by an eight-wicket win over Exmouth under lights in the final. This was Ealing's second national T20 title in five years.
Exmouth set a good 175-run target, but Ealing raced home with almost four overs to spare, thanks to Peploe's 70 off 52 balls and Wilkin's 44 from 20 balls at the start. Robbie White's 41 off 23 balls clinched a handsome victory.
David Lye, a powerhouse in Exmouth’s semi-final win against Pudsey Congs, had given his side another good start with 48 off 34 balls, but momentum slowed after left-arm spinner Peploe took two wickets in his first over. An Exmouth player to catch they eye was Dan Pyle, 17, from Blundell’s School, with 41 from 25 balls until he was run out.
Wilkin and Peploe shared an unbroken stand of 86 as Ealing crushed Chester Boughton Hall by 10 wickets. The 2014 champions made a mess of their innings as Chris Glasper's 3-12 reduced them to 22 for five. In the other semi-final Jonny Bairstow's brother Andrew hit a quick 44 to take Pudsey Congs to 152-7, but Exmouth squeezed home with one ball to spare after Lye's 65 off 55 balls, winning by five wickets.
Ealing topped the Middlesex League in the first month of the season, but slowed after the new 50-overs section ended, and the title race ended in anti-climax as champions Hampstead could afford two miserable defeats in their last two games – including the would-be showdown with Richmond.
From 'nowhere' Hampstead suddenly emerged with six successive wins that took them clear. Their overseas player Jamie Gibson, a big influence on and off the field, had to return to New Zealand early after breaking and dislocating a finger. The seam all-rounder signed a contract with Wellington for the winter and is unlikely to return to London.
Hampstead moved west to their present Lymington Road site in 1877, then described as a cultivated arable field with growing crops of “turnips, mangold wurzel, potatoes”. They changed their name from St John’s Wood (Hampstead) CC and adopted new colours. In those days the setting was still rural, with sweeping views towards the wooded Hampstead slopes.
In 1886 the future England captain Drewie Stoddart scored 485 in a day for Hampstead against Stoics, and between 1891 and 1905 the former Australia fast bowler Fred Spofforth took a barely credible 951 wickets. With Stoddart and Spofforth in the side, Hampstead must have been the strongest of any club in the era.
Rolling on through the years, 2015 finds Hampstead as a very different place. The 150th celebrations included a visit by Charlotte Edwards and her England women's team in June to launch the club's women and girls coaching programme as part of the Sport England and ECB campaign This Girl Can... England played a match against a Hampstead men's XI, with Carter providing public address insights.
The England wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor was surprised at the interest generated. She commented at the time: “It is nice to see so many young girls coming and enjoying cricket and enjoying what we have to offer. Being role models to these girls is something that is important to us, and it is nice to see smiles on their faces. There were huge numbers, a lot more than I thought. It was so good, we had so much fun. Some of them are barely six or seven and they are hitting the ball better than I was at nine or 10.”
Hampstead CC can be proud of themselves in 2015.
15 September 2015
Of all the ECB premier champions, Hampstead could claim the best timing when they won the Middlesex County League. This was a superb way to round off their 150th anniversary season.
One could arrange any number of dinners, parties and charity events, but on-field success must be the best marker as Hampstead powered to their second title in three years under the captaincy of Steve Clark – having never won the league before that.
The first person to agree with that would be Jim Carter. His charisma as Hampstead's chairman has taken the club forward, and his sense of pride at cricket would no doubt more than equal his satisfaction as an actor in Downton Abbey. The show, with Carson the butler, enters a final triumphant ITV series on 20 September.
At the other end of the scale Finchley were relegated for the first time in their history, and a measure of consolation was dashed when they lost in the final of the Middlesex knockout cup, losing by 75 runs to Stanmore at Uxbridge.
Hampstead were assisted by Ealing's administration error that led to a deduction of 10 points - one win - for fielding an unregistered player, which eased the pressure at the top, and likely champions Richmond suffered a dip in form when it mattered. A mouth-watering final fixture – Hampstead versus Richmond at Lymington Road – became irrelevant when the title was settled in the penultimate weekend.
Ealing's success in the ECB NatWest Club T20 at Cardiff certainly compensated for their relatively modest fourth place in the league. The familiar names of Chris Peploe and Ollie Wilkin featured strongly in both matches at the SWALEC stadium – a 10-wicket semi-final win over Chester Boughton Hall followed by an eight-wicket win over Exmouth under lights in the final. This was Ealing's second national T20 title in five years.
Exmouth set a good 175-run target, but Ealing raced home with almost four overs to spare, thanks to Peploe's 70 off 52 balls and Wilkin's 44 from 20 balls at the start. Robbie White's 41 off 23 balls clinched a handsome victory.
David Lye, a powerhouse in Exmouth’s semi-final win against Pudsey Congs, had given his side another good start with 48 off 34 balls, but momentum slowed after left-arm spinner Peploe took two wickets in his first over. An Exmouth player to catch they eye was Dan Pyle, 17, from Blundell’s School, with 41 from 25 balls until he was run out.
Wilkin and Peploe shared an unbroken stand of 86 as Ealing crushed Chester Boughton Hall by 10 wickets. The 2014 champions made a mess of their innings as Chris Glasper's 3-12 reduced them to 22 for five. In the other semi-final Jonny Bairstow's brother Andrew hit a quick 44 to take Pudsey Congs to 152-7, but Exmouth squeezed home with one ball to spare after Lye's 65 off 55 balls, winning by five wickets.
Ealing topped the Middlesex League in the first month of the season, but slowed after the new 50-overs section ended, and the title race ended in anti-climax as champions Hampstead could afford two miserable defeats in their last two games – including the would-be showdown with Richmond.
From 'nowhere' Hampstead suddenly emerged with six successive wins that took them clear. Their overseas player Jamie Gibson, a big influence on and off the field, had to return to New Zealand early after breaking and dislocating a finger. The seam all-rounder signed a contract with Wellington for the winter and is unlikely to return to London.
Hampstead moved west to their present Lymington Road site in 1877, then described as a cultivated arable field with growing crops of “turnips, mangold wurzel, potatoes”. They changed their name from St John’s Wood (Hampstead) CC and adopted new colours. In those days the setting was still rural, with sweeping views towards the wooded Hampstead slopes.
In 1886 the future England captain Drewie Stoddart scored 485 in a day for Hampstead against Stoics, and between 1891 and 1905 the former Australia fast bowler Fred Spofforth took a barely credible 951 wickets. With Stoddart and Spofforth in the side, Hampstead must have been the strongest of any club in the era.
Rolling on through the years, 2015 finds Hampstead as a very different place. The 150th celebrations included a visit by Charlotte Edwards and her England women's team in June to launch the club's women and girls coaching programme as part of the Sport England and ECB campaign This Girl Can... England played a match against a Hampstead men's XI, with Carter providing public address insights.
The England wicketkeeper-batter Sarah Taylor was surprised at the interest generated. She commented at the time: “It is nice to see so many young girls coming and enjoying cricket and enjoying what we have to offer. Being role models to these girls is something that is important to us, and it is nice to see smiles on their faces. There were huge numbers, a lot more than I thought. It was so good, we had so much fun. Some of them are barely six or seven and they are hitting the ball better than I was at nine or 10.”
Hampstead CC can be proud of themselves in 2015.