Sat 4th July - 1st XI v Weybridge

WEYBRIDGE 228 (64.5) beat DULWICH 129 (45.1) by 99 runs

A depleted Dulwich attack did well to bowl out their opponents for 228 in their Division 1 match in the M.Zaidi & Co Surrey Cricket Championship at Weybridge, but a batting collapse saw them go down to defeat by 99 runs.

Weybridge chose to bat against a makeshift opening attack of Dan Empson and Akito Jacques, making his first team debut. Jacques took the first wicket with the score on 45 in a useful spell of 1-23 off six overs. The score had reached 52 off the first twelve when the quickies gave way to the slower bowlers, and the runs dwindled to a trickle. Only 57 came off the next 25 overs for the loss of four more wickets, including Aussie overseas player Christian Howe who made 47. Dulwich raced through their overs and had already bowled 37 in the two hours before lunch, by which time Weybridge had reached 109-5. Hopes of polishing off the innings quickly were thwarted by Nick Farrell, whose 62 off 87 balls saw his team to 195-8 in the 59^th over. A few lusty blows by the tail took Weybridge to an all-out total of 228 after 64.5 overs. Will O’Donnell, Lucas Parry and Harrison Perry each took two wickets, while Patrick George, making his first appearance for the first team since 2023, wheeled away for 17.5 overs to take 3-52.

Dulwich had bowled their overs so quickly that they were left with 58 overs to get the runs. But they got off to a disastrous start as Jacob Rhodes, Tommy Wright and skipper Ollie Steele were all gone within the first eleven overs with just 24 runs on the board. Opener Peter Fretttingham, who had taken 20 balls to get off the mark, dug in to make 27 off 61 balls. But his dismissal straight after the tea interval sparked a collapse in which six wickets went down for 29 runs as the innings stuttered to 87-9 in the 32^nd over. At this point George joined Perry in an enterprising last wicket stand which put on 42 in 13 overs to raise the score to 129 and ensure a modicum of respectability. Perry made 24 off 55 balls, while George remained unbeaten on 22 off 44. Most of the damage had been done by Howe, who bowled 14.1 overs to take 7-38.

Dulwich take just three points from this game and slip to seventh. This completes the first half of the season and next week sees the start of the return fixtures. Dulwich travel to Walton on Thames, who beat them by just two runs in the first match of the season and who are currently fourth.