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1987 Season1987 was a year in which RedBat seemed to find a sweet spot where increasing experience was still accompanied by a measure of youthful athleticism, leading to that rarity, a winning season. Of the 22 matches played, 11 were won, 6 drawn, and only 5 lost - and two of those defeats came courtesy of Surrey Antilles in the opening weeks. Indeed from 12 July onwards, defeat was a word which seemed to have fallen out of the Collective vocabulary. A narrow victory over STA ushered in a sequence of imposing wins culminating in a 9-wicket hammering of Oakwood after Paul and Giles bowled the opposition out for 24 on what one assumes was an unusually green wicket, even by Dulwich Park standards. Six days after this triumph came a reminder that cricket is a funny old game, as Paul, Giles, and the rest of a strong-looking bowling lineup were carted all over Wiltshire by Westbury 2nds to concede 251-4 in 42 overs - 173 of the runs coming in a second-wicket stand after Paul had removed one of the openers with the second ball of the innings. The second innings of this match must go down as one of RedBat's finest hours (probably more like 2½ hours to be honest), as the batsmen strapped on their pads, looked Westbury squarely in the eyes, and smacked the bowling to all parts. Substantial contributions from Matt, Phil J, Peter and Dave M led the way to a startling total of 206-9 and a well-deserved draw. It wasn't until a minor collapse from 192-5 to 202-8 that the outside chance of an astonishing victory finally evaporated. Epic stuff, and a world away from the synthetic excitement of the limited-overs thrash. On day 2 of the tour the Elm Tree found a fired-up Collective too hot to handle as all-round excellence from both the batting and bowling departments brought an 89-run victory. On the final day, a low-scoring match concluded with a stubborn RBCC side holding out for a draw at 68-8 scored in 36 overs, chasing a Wilton total of 104 in 37 overs. In a brief post-tour Indian summer, five wickets and a fifty for Phils Solomon and Jones respectively saw off Bridgetown, and the season ended with a finely-poised draw against the Vags, who were left stranded on 160-6 in pursuit of RBCC's 163-7 dec, Lloyd Peters scoring 80 of them before retiring hurt. Almost uniquely, the 1987 averages are a pleasure to read for most of the participants. Aside from the usual suspects, who all produced outstanding figures, Mike Welbrock must have been delighted with 14 wickets at 10.0, including two 5-fors; it's a pity that the Collective couldn't hang on to Pete Welbrock as well, his four innings in the season producing over 100 runs at 38.3, including a rare 50 on the Dulwich Park cabbage patch. Looking like all-rounders this year were Biggs, Lloyd, Lee, Jones & Gummer (M). The catching reached a standard never approached before or since, with 63 being held during the season, including two instances of 7 catches in an innings (Bird in Hand & Wilton). At the other end of the scale, Wandsworth Gods were brushed aside with 9 bowled and 1 lbw in a record-breaking display of straight bowling. The season by numbers
1987 Fixture List
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