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1995 Season1995 saw the Collective adjusting to the new reality that most of the membership now lived out of London, and were finding it increasingly difficult to make the commitment required to sustain a full fixture list. The response was a sharply reduced list of matches this year, with most of them taking place outside the Smoke. Results on the field were the usual mixture. The traditional season opener at Cokenach saw the traditional war of attrition on the traditional moribund wicket, while some rusty batting left Ebrington with an easy target to chase in the second match. The victory against Dulwich Village on a valedictory visit to our erstwhile home ground at Belair was really a one-man show from ringer Paul James, who scored 103* out of a total of 137-7; a similar story against Red Star, where another ringer-heavy XI eked out a narrow victory. A much more recognisable RBCC team asserted itself to record a win over Nuxley; this was unfortunately the last victory of the season. The debut appearance of the Oxford University Servants XI on the RBCC fixture list was more notable for a fraught journey to the ground than for the 2-wicket defeat which followed, and Nutley Hall were allowed off the hook after Matt and Jon had led the way to an imposing total of 232-5; despite Phil Solomon's 5-12, the rest of the bowlers just couldn't remove the Nutley Hall last pair. The tour, based in Oakham, was generally hard work this year for everyone except Phil Jones. Barrowden and Wakerley were rather too strong in the first match, as were Gretton in the last. The real action happened in the second match against Stamford Nomads. The game was a high-scoring draw with both sides passing the 200 mark on a cold blustery day, but the defining moment occurred at about 7.36 in the evening, when Phil clipped the ball into the outfield, called Steve Donnelly through for two runs, and thereby became the first RBCC player* to score a ton. Few cricketers know what that actually feels like, but we can at least enjoy it vicariously by reading Phil's own words. * excluding ringers
The season by numbers
1995 Fixture List
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