Saturday 8th September 2007 10:16

Match Report | Grannies (Abandoned): This game was cancelled as the Grannies were unable to raise a side.

Monday 3rd September 2007 15:56

News | Tour 2008: We have been invited to Riga, Latvia, in February (14th to 17th) to defend our Ice Cricket World Champions crown. The competition was in hiatus in 2007, therefore, we remain the reigning champions. Cost is £249 per person and flights are approximately £60 if we book early enough. If any CACCC members are interested in coming, please let Captain David Maddocks know.

Monday 3rd September 2007 15:51

Match Reports | Somerset Tour (2 Losses): The results were very unspectacular, partly because we only had a touring party of 7. Although we made eleven with Arts Club replacements, we were soundly beaten both days. The positives to come out of it were Suraj Varma's 4 wickets on Saturday and Luke Hickey carrying his bat (for 30), which may be a first for the Club (to be confirmed).

Rode 231 for 7 (Varma 4 for 49)
Chelsea Arts Club 135 (L Hickey 32*)

On Sunday, where we dropped any number of catches, Christy Kulasingam bowled a very good spell off his 7 overs, taking 3 for 19, and then followed up with an undefeated 40 with the bat. It wasn't easy, so congratulations are due.

Merriott House 204 for 6 (Kulasingam 3 for 19)
Chelsea Arts Club 126 for 8 (Kulasingam 40*)

Sunday 19th August 2007 12:28

Match Report | Flitch Pilgrims (Won): We had a convincing win with which to go into our August break, against a team we have only ever beaten once before. We lost the toss for this 35 over match and were inserted. Ed Skilbeck and Chris Mair opened, and after some cavalier batting, found ourselves at 41 for 3 after 9 overs. Suraj Varma came in at 5 and immediately set about the bowling with relish, with 6's on both sides of the wicket and a straight one for good measure. Some of his shots were no more than punches, but the timing was everything. His fifty came up in 41 minutes off 40 balls. By this time, Ed had anchored his end and was playing an excellent supporting role to Suraj. They put on 102 for the fourth wicket off 12 overs before Suraj fell chasing a wide one. Ed was eventually out after his patient innings. After losing 3 wickets for one run, it was left to Adrian de Jager to play out a great display of hitting, scoring 32 off 17 balls. He was ably supported by the skipper, David Maddocks, who was also undefeated.

The Flitch needed 7 an over, which was going to be a big ask, especially with the bowling attack we had at our disposal. Chris Brown and Adrian opened. Chris's bowling has been impressive all season. He bowls with real pace and venom, having their opener this time with a quick, inswinging yorker. Adrian bowled very impressively from the other end, but with his luck this season, still didn't get a wicket. Captain David Maddocks was giving all bowlers 4 over stints (they were allowed a max of 7). Nic Singleton and Matt Clarke were next on, by which time the Flitch were well behind the run rate. Nic bowled a beautiful spell, getting their danger man with one that nipped back in off the seam and then forcing the next one to edge to first slip with a ball that left him, Suraj taking the catch. Matt bowled a long hop that their bat hit straight down Nic's throat at square leg. Suraj, who bowled probably the spell of the day, bowled their skipper, had a good catch held by Shafraz and took the ninth wicket. We actually had a 'team' hat-trick in that over, with a run out in between the bowler's wickets. It was left to Shafraz Karim to tidy up, and after the Flitch lost their last 5 wickets for 12 runs, we won impressively by 105 runs.

Chelsea Arts Club 219 for 9 (Varma 67; Skilbeck 34; De Jager 32*)
Flitch Pilgrims 105 (Varma 3 for 7)

Sunday 19th August 2007 12:10

Match Report | London Erratics (Drawn): We lost the toss were inserted. We started off well, albeit a trifle slow. Ed Aldwinkle was unluckily out stumped when the ball bounced back of the keeper's pads. Henry Dodson had to retire hurt when the score was 30 due to a hamstring injury. This brought Suraj Varma to join Jaffar Akbany. The following 2 hours were a joy to watch, with these two putting on 212 for the second wicket, which beat our previous highest wicket stand by 28 runs. Jaffar played a brilliant patient innings, while Suraj obliterated the bowling. His 144 was an astonishing innings with 8 6's and 14 4's. His first fifty came up in 45 minutes off 35 balls and his century in 114 minutes off 59 balls, meaning that his second fifty came up off only 24 balls. A quite brilliant innings. Stephen Bate played a quick cameo of 24, whilst Jaffar reached a fully deserved 50, coming up in 121 minutes of 84 balls. His supporting role to Suraj was invaluable. This enabled us to declare at a very healthy total and leave us enough time to bowl the Erratics out.

Chris Brown and Shafraz Karim opened the attack, with Chris claiming an early wicket followed closely by Shafraz claiming their number 3. The Erratics then shut up shop, which meant that we had to bowl with extra guile to get them out. All the bowlers bowled very tightly, backed up by good fielding. Ed Skilbeck came on first change. His average pace panicked the batsmen and he claimed 3 wickets. The third was a quite stunning and brilliant catch by Suraj (who else!), which he almost scooped off the ground at point from a ball that was traveling. Adrian de Jager had a truly unlucky spell during which he bowled quite superbly. He couldn't buy a wicket, but bowled 11 overs for 9 runs, including 7 maidens. Meanwhile, Chris was on fire at the other end, opening his second spell with a double wicket maiden. He was bowling with pace and swing and in that spell, taking 4 for 11. Chris looked as if he was going to win the game for us, until the Erratics' 11 year old no. 11 batsman foiled our victory plans.

Chelsea Arts Club 288 for 3 (Varma 144; Akbany 66*)
Erratics 111 for 9 (Brown 5 for 30; Skilbeck 3 for 12)

Sunday 19th August 2007 11:40

Match Report | Refreshers (Drawn): We lost the toss and were inserted. Chris Mair set off like a train, hitting 24 off 14 balls before his luck ran out and he was caught. We were slightly wobbling at 55 for 3, but a 64 run partnership saw us stabilise. Suraj Varma was in a forceful mood and set about the bowling with gusto. He reached his 50 off 34 balls in 38 minutes and then was promptly out. Meanwhile, Henry Dodson was playing a patient innings at the other end, batting for almost 2 hours for his 40 runs, but more importantly sticking around. Nobody else got going. We were bowled out for 182.

We had the Refreshers at 55 for 4 and thought that we were well on the way. A 5th wicket century partnership saw the Refreshers needing 100 runs off the last 20 overs, 50 off 10 and then 13 off 12 balls. Nic Singleton achieved the breakthrough, bowling their No. 6 and then we had the other bat out. The Refreshers were still well up with the clock. Ed Aldwinckle was bowling the final over, and having bowled well all day, got 2 wickets in 2 balls making for a tense finish off the last 2 balls. Mixed feelings about the result, although a draw seems fair.

Chelsea Arts Club 182 (Varma 58; Dodson 40)
Refreshers 176 for 8 (Aldwinckle 4 for 16)

Saturday 28th July 2007 13:47

Photo Gallery | Launch: Several photos including one from the archive from 1985 were uploaded to our new Flickr account. Have a look and make some comments! Also, please send through your photos to the captain or the webmaster.

Saturday 21st July 2007 15:14

Match Report | Hogarth's XI (Abandoned): This match was cancelled due to a waterlogged pitch.

Saturday 21st July 2007 15:11

Match Report | Cotton 'Test Match' (Runners Up): We failed to retain our title in Suffolk on Sunday last week, where we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. A hackneyed phrase, but it sums up our performance in the final.

Saturday 21st July 2007 15:07

Match Report | Wine Trade (Won): After losing the toss and getting inserted, we lost early wickets. But, our debutante Neil Parry stood firm and scored a solid 50 (65 minutes; 64 balls) but was immediately out. We were wobbling at 106 for 5 when Suraj Varma came to the wicket. He batted in typically aggressive fashion, with his 50 coming off a mere 22 balls in 29 minutes. Suraj carried on in this fashion after his half century, scoring a delightful 86 before being the last man out.

The Wine Trade started their reply disastrously, with another debutante, Tom Matthew, taking 2 early wickets, including their number 3, who was their best bat.  Ed Aldwinckle, the other opening bowler, bowled a very tidy spell and was unlucky in only taking one wicket.  We dropped the Wine Trade's skipper twice on naught and he went on to make 59.  Suraj then bowled a fantastic spell of spin and swing bowling, taking 6 wickets and winning us the game.  His first wicket was a very smart stumping by Henry Dodson and the other memorable wicket was Jaffar Akbany's great catch at first slip. 

Chelsea Arts Club 214 (Varma 86; Parry 52)
Wine Trade 145 (Varma 6-31)

Monday 9th July 2007 23:21

Match Report | Antelopians (Won): On a spongey wicket, we lost the toss and were inserted in a 45 over game. Alex Chamberlin and Andrew Stratten opened. Poor old Stratts, having flown all the way from New Zealand, was out first ball. (Nick Fox once had a similar fate, but he had only come from Japan!) It was the fourth wicket stand of 140 between Alex and Dominic Wilkinson that set us on the way to decent total. With the ball not coming onto the bat, quick runs were hard to come by, but Alex's fifty came up in 73 minutes off 66 balls and Dommo's in 64 off 60. It was good watching them going along, with Alex's straight six and Dommo's punched four off the back foot being the pick of the shots. When they were out within minutes of each other (as is often the way), we were 191 for 4 with 7 overs left and some batting to come. Our collapse at this stage was quite spectacular, with the last seven wickets going down for 11 runs. Extras were 3rd highest scorer with 24 and the rest were in very low single figures!

The Antelopians started well and after after 10 overs were well over the required rate. However, there was a very good run out (Stratts) and a beautiful leg stump yorker from Chris to remove their number three. Suraj bowled his usual mix of devilish balls to put doubt in the batsmen's minds and picking up 2 wickets at just over 2 runs an over. Dommo floated the ball beautifully, picking up 3 wickets, including a fabulous catch by Suraj at shortish mid-wicket. The Antelopians were still going okay, until skipper David Maddocks decided to bowl with a leg side trap set (long on, wide long on and a deep cow corner). He could not bowl anything but an off stump line, but as soon as he got one on the leg, the Antelopians' skipper fell into the trap, with a well-judged catch by Stratts at cow corner. The game was up by that time, and a great team effort saw us come out as fairly comfortable winners. It should also be noted that Henry Dodson not only kept well, but only conceded 2 byes -- a great effort.

Chelsea Arts Club 202 (Chamberlin 93; Wilkinson 66)
Anetopians 150 (Wilkinson 3-28)

Monday 9th July 2007 23:07

Match Report | Rascals (Abandoned): This match was cancelled due to the weather.

Sunday 24th June 2007 22:33

Match Report | Dunsfold (Abandoned): This match was abandoned due to rain.

Saturday 23rd June 2007 21:56

Match Report | Friend & Falcke Marauders (Lost): Burton's Court has been a happy hunting ground for us in the past, but on Tuesday our fabulous start to the season came to a halt. We won the toss and inserted Friend & Falcke in a 45 over match. They set off like a train, and due to some poor fielding, were 53 after 10 overs and at lunch 123 off 27. Our bowling was somewhat wayward and Nic Singleton breaking down after 3 overs did not help matters. Ben Adlington, however, bowled well in his first spell of the season. Dommo Wilkinson and Suraj Varma then slowed down the run rate dramatically. Our bowling improved hugely after lunch. Michael Hosford-Tanner took a good catch in the deep, Henry Dodson a beautiful catch off Ben and a fabulous catch at short long leg by Francis Palmer (our twelfth man) were the highlights in the field. In the end, with tight bowling from Dommo (1 for 29 off 7) and Suraj (1 for 30 off 10), we kept the Marauders to 222.

A run rate of 5 an over was well within our capabilities. We were always behind the clock, however, and then the crucial wicket of Dommo, who was developing a good partnership with Alex Chamberlin, fell (to a good catch by Ed Skilbeck). We didn't lose many wickets until the last frantic push, but the reluctance to push on was extraordinary. Chris Brown gave us some urgency and Alex scored his century off 102 balls in 131 minutes. We finished a good few short.

Friend & Falcke 222 for 6
Chelsea Arts Club 196 for 9 (Chamberlin 103; Wilkinson 45)

Tuesday 19th June 2007 09:01

Match Report | V&A (Won): For this 40 over game, we won the toss and inserted V&A. Dominic Thomas, Chris Brown and Suraj Varma bowled tidy opening spells, leaving V&A at 50 for 3 off 18 overs at lunch. Chris was on a hat-trick at one stage. However, with only four regular bowlers, the two batsmen got their eye in and by the time that Nic, Suraj and Chris came back, they were well set. The one incident of note was Dominic's superb catch at short mid-wicket off Chris Mair from a ball that was going like a bullet. Both in batsmen got fifties. Our fielding after lunch was sloppy, with misfields and dropped catches. Nic Singleton did however effect two smartly taken run outs and the V&A innings closed at 217.

5.5 runs an over was "gettable", but after we started slowly, the run rate increased. Paul Lubbock, in his first innings of the season, kept one end going, but lost Chris (29) and David Logue, bringing Alex Chamberlin to the wicket. Together they put on 107 for the third wicket, which essentially won us the match. Paul got a well-deserved fifty (78 mins;77 balls) and was then promptly out. Alex played a very patient game (for him) and with support from Nic and Jaffar Akbany, scored an unbeaten 75 (50: 80 mins; 43 balls), seeing us home with over 2 overs to spare.

V&A 217 for 6 (40 overs)
Chelsea Arts Club 218 for 4 (38.4 0vers) (Chamberlin 75*; Lubbock 56)

Saturday 16th June 2007 18:55

Match Report | Rode (Won): Captain David Maddocks lost the toss (for the fifth time this year) and Rode elected to bat in a 35 over match. Adrian de Jager and Andrew Gow opened and we had immediate success, Adrian bowling a peach to get rid of Rode's opener and a good slip catch by Stephen Bate off Andrew the other. Rode's No 3 batsman, who can be very destructive when on form, decided that this would be such a day, scoring a century. However, we did put him down twice, once when he was on 8. Overall, the bowlers all bowled well, but the outfield was so fast that once the ball got through, it was an inevitable boundary. We did however give away 22 wides. Adrian (3 for 29) and Suraj Varma (2 for 19) bowled very good spells. The fielding was generally good. Shafraz Karim's fine running catch off Matt Clarke's bowling was notable.

Their total set us a target rate of 6 an over to win. Chris Brown and Shafraz opened and soon saw off one of their opening bowlers. They put on 42 for the first wicket, keeping up with the clock, before Jaffar Akbany and Shafraz put on 96 for the third wicket in 12 overs before Jaffar was controversially out off a no ball signaled by the square leg umpire. Rode opined that the square leg umpire cannot give a no ball because of height. Moving on, Shafraz batted quite superbly, using his paddle shot to great effect. His fifty come up off 46 balls in 62 minutes. Nobody else really got going (although Jaffar was going great guns), although it looked like Stephen and Adrian could have gone on all night. Adrian's 24 took only 9 balls. We won at a canter, with almost 4 overs to spare, thereby winning the 'Chelsea Rose' trophy that Rode bought to give extra spice to our 2 fixtures a year.

Rode 205 (De Jager 3 for 29)
Chelsea Arts Club 208 for 6  (Karim 71; Akbany 37)

Tuesday 5th June 2007 23:07

Match Report | Keevil (Won): On the second game of our Wiltshire Tour, the bowlers (Adrian de Jager, Andrew Gow, Ed Aldwinckle, Suraj Varma and Dominick Wilkinson) did a superb job, with Adrian being the pick. Working up a good pace and beating the outside edge on countless occasions. He was unlucky to only take 2 wickets. The bowling and fielding was so good that after 10 overs, Keevil had only scored 17, and after 20, 40. At tea, Keevil were at 84 for 6 off 35 overs. After batting on after tea, Keevil reached 109 for 7 off 42 overs.

We went out to bat and Michael Hosford-Tanner got a harsh LBW decision. Dommo and Alex Chamberlin went along well enough until Alex ran himself out! Dommo and Adrian saw us home comfortably enough. The pick of the shots being Dommo's six, having come down the pitch to a bowler with an extraordinarily long run up and Adrian's pull to win the match.

Keevil 109 for 7
Chelsea Arts Club 112 for 3 (Wilkinson 36*; De Jager 27*)

Tuesday 5th June 2007 22:48

Match Report | Further Friars (Won): The first game of our Wiltshire Tour brought us our first sunny day this season. We lost the toss and Further Friars elected to bat. We bowled the opposition out for 74, which included 30 extras. Most of the bowlers could not bowl at the stumps (hence 17 wides) and it was left to Patrick Hickey to show them how it was done taking 2 for 6 off 4 overs. His brother Luke Hickey kept wicket very tidily, considering the wayward bowling.

We chased down the target in 18 overs, which seemed an age, losing 3 wickets. Michael Hosford-Tanner remained unbeaten at the end.

Further Friars 74
Chelsea Arts Club 76 for 3 (Hosford-Tanner 30*)

Wednesday 30th May 2007 00:34

Match Report | Penzance Arts Club (Abandoned): The second game of our Cornwall Tour was abandoned due to atrocious weather during most of the Bank Holiday weekend. Typical!

Wednesday 30th May 2007 00:21

Match Report | Trengilly (Won): This was the first game of our annual Cornwall Tour. On a very cold day, having lost the toss in the pub car park, we were in the field for a 40-over match. Chris Brown got a wicket in his second over from a very good catch by Charles Hickey at first slip. At the other end Nic Singleton was bowling beautifully, beating the outside edge regularly (the batsmen were not good enough to get an edge). Two appalling decisions from Trengilly's 'regular' umpire at one end and an equally biased one at the other didn't help matters. Nic eventually got a well-deserved wicket and bowled 12 overs for only 22. The Trengilly batsmen got bogged down due to the accuracy of our bowling and also the fantastic fielding. Suraj Varma then tied down one end and Matt Clarke the other. Suraj bowled his usual economic and deadly accurate spell. After having one strangely plum LBW turned down, Suraj held onto a stunning return catch that was traveling. Matt bowled very tidily and we managed to restrict Trengilly to 136 off their 40, which was a good effort.

In pursuit, we found ourselves at 17 for 3, due to a series of questionable umpiring decisions by their umpires. We regained some stability and were soon up with the clock, thanks to good stand between Luke Hickey and Matt Clarke. Luke, in particular, batted superbly, including a four straight back over the bowler's head. We then lost 3 quick wickets, putting us back in the mire. Matt did well to shepherd the tail. Suraj was then in and although we lost Matt with 38 still needed, Suraj saw us home by taking 20 off one over and finished the match with a six. A special mention for Chris Brown, who although injured, batted with great courage to be there at the end. A fine maiden victory against a team we've played for quite a few seasons.

Trengilly: 136 for 9 (Varma 4-39)
Chelsea Arts Club: 140 for 8 (Varma 39*; L Hickey 31; Clarke 27)

Tuesday 29th May 2007 23:41

Match Report | Chelsea Nomads (Abandoned): Disappointingly, this match was called off by the Nomads just before midnight the previous day, because they were unable to raise a side. As we had more than enough, we played an enjoyable seven-a-side intra-club game instead, with a close finish.

Monday 28th May 2007 18:46

Match Report | Ripley (Abandoned): This match was abandoned due to overnight and continuing rain. Although the pitch was in no condition for cricket, we did beat Ripley in snooker.

Monday 28th May 2007 18:45

Match Report | Artificials (Abandoned): This match was abandoned due to rain.

Tuesday 29th May 2007 23:34

Match Report | Canbashers (Won): This was our first limited overs encounter of the season (35 overs). Captain David Maddocks won the toss and elected to bat. After one of the openers went cheaply, Alex Chamberlin and Shafraz Karim put on 64 for the second wicket in 10 overs. Shafraz made 32 in an equal number of balls before being adjudged LBW and Alex made 53 (50: 55 balls; 60 mins). Vice Captain Henry Dodson started to get going, but realised we badly needed runs and was caught for 35 trying to accelerate. Jaffar Akbany was undone by their spinner. We finished with a score that didn't look like it would be nearly enough. It was probably at least 30 short of what we needed.

However, our bowling was tighter than theirs, our fielding - Michael Hosford-Tanner's in particular - was sharper and we held our catches. Chris Brown's renaissance as an opening bowler was remarkable. He bowled his maximum of 7 overs at pace and returned figures of 1 for 16. Christy Kulasingam bowled very tidily at the other end and whereas we were 60 after 10 overs, they were only 30. The Canbashers had to go for it and after good catches by Chris and Jaffar (two), and after some good supporting bowling, Matt Clarke came on and won the game for us. His off spin had the Canbashers in all kinds of trouble. Alex took 2 stunning catches and Henry claimed 2 stumpings with some smart work behind. It was an excellent all-round team performance.

Chelsea Arts Club: 204 (Chamberlin 53; Dodson 35; Karim 32)
Canbashers: 174 (Clarke 6 for 30)

Tuesday 29th May 2007 23:11

Match Report | Phene Philanderers (Drawn): So, to the first game of the season. Our Captain got lost on the way, so it was decided that we should bat first. After the openers had gone cheaply, and our debutante number 4 was out for a golden, we were wobbling a little at 26 for 3. Suraj Varma came in next and after hitting his first ball for 4 and fourth and fifth for 6, proceeded to get 39 off 32 balls, before going for a big one to be stumped. The fourth wicket partnership between David Logue and Vice Captain Henry Dodson put on 122 (100: 55 mins; 114 balls), giving us a good total to defend. David kept the score ticking over before Henry also started playing his shots, at one point scoring nine 4's off 18 deliveries. David batted beautifully, with a sumptuous cover drive sticking in the mind. His fifty came off 50 balls in 56 minutes and Henry's, who went berserk after he reached his half-century, hit 24 off 10 balls (50: 88 minutes; 64 balls).

The Phene began their innings and it quickly became clear that they were going for the draw. Everyone bowled well enough, although nobody was penetrating on a benign pitch. Had we held our catches, we probably would have won. Off the same number of overs, the Phene struggled to 160, with the game ending in a yawn. The most telling evidence was when one of the their batsmen played out a maiden off Captain David Maddocks's slow tempters!

Chelsea Arts Club: 220 for 7 (Dodson 73*; Logue 65)
Phene: 165 for 6

Monday 28th May 2007 15:31

News | Website 2007: Better late than never, the 2007 site is up and running. The photo in the top-middle is from our 2006 fixture at Burton's Court, in Chelsea, London. Photo credit: Christy Kulasingam.

Stay tuned for the match reports. The Fixtures on the left (and the results) are up-to-date. The rest of the page (e.g. Records) are not yet, but will be soon.