Lancing drawn in Cricketer Cup

The OCCC have been drawn at home against old rivals Lancing Rovers in the first round of the 2008 Cricketer Cup. The tie will be played on Sunday, June 15 on Jubilee and, if we win, we will face the winners of the game between Winchester and Clifton. We first played Lancing as long ago as 1926 and for more than three decades they provided the traditional finale to the annual cricket week.

The match will again coincide with OC Day and more details of that can be found on the official OC Society site. For more information on the OCCC click here.

Awesome 1st XV secure promotion

A magnificent season for the OCRFC finished with the 1st XV unbeaten league champions. They were the only team in Surrey with a 100% league record. Of course they didn't always make it easy for themselves; 9-0 down in the final game at Mitcham with 10 minutes left, they just squeezed ahead on the line 10-9.

Captain Graeme Brown, who will continue next season, awarded the 1st XV tankard to Sam Langmead, who fought off a strong challenge from top try-scorer Tim Roles. Player/coach Andy Houston will also be back next year, although top OC Kiwi David Shaw (recipient of Tony Price's Chairman's award) will be heading back South.

The club finished the season with a fine tour to Zagreb, capital of Croatia, beating the oldest club in the Balkans, Mladost, 45-32.

OC rugby looks forward to continuing its rich vein of form in 2008-09, running three sides with enjoyable rugby for all. New playing members are always most welcome.

The Cronk-Cunis U-21 tournament is on Sunday 31 August. Simon Steer (simon_steer@hotmail.co.uk 07720 078530) is captain again. Contact him if you would like to play.

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England cricketers to debate at Cranleigh

England cricketers past and present will form a distinguished panel at a forthcoming MCC Spirit of Cricket event, sponsored by Artemis Investment Management and being held at Cranleigh School, Surrey, on Monday 21st April.

Former Test captain Chris Cowdrey will host an evening of lively debate and will be joined by England spin bowler Monty Panesar, Middlesex captain Ed Smith and the National Selector, Geoff Miller, in discussing the spirit of cricket and issues affecting the game today.

The MCC Spirit of Cricket evening at Cranleigh is a spin-off of the hugely popular annual Cowdrey Lecture (first delivered by Richie Benaud in 2001) - an event that has quickly established itself as an important date in the cricket calendar.

The invited audience will be comprised of young school and club cricketers and their coaches. In what promises to be an entertaining evening, the host, Chris Cowdrey, said:

"I'm proud of my father's achievement, along with Ted Dexter, of setting out a vision for the spirit of cricket. It was terrific for this to become part of the Laws of Cricket but the challenge now is to make this relevant to cricketers of the future. Cranleigh School has set us the challenge of having a fun evening which also gets to grips with some of the big questions facing the game today. At such a busy time of the cricketing year, we are extremely grateful to Monty, Ed and Geoff for giving up their time to debate these issues with us, and to Artemis Investment Management for sponsoring the event."

MCC Secretary & Chief Executive, Keith Bradshaw, said: "MCC retains a passionate commitment to promoting the spirit of cricket. The Cowdrey Lecture serves an important function in discussing the cricketing issues of the day and the evening at Cranleigh School promises to be an exciting extension of this. I am particularly pleased that the event will be held in the early season and will be attended by a young audience. With such an impressive panel, I'm sure that the topics raised will inspire each young cricketer as they approach the beginning of their own cricket season."

Managing Director of Artemis Fund Managers, Dick Turpin, said: "Artemis is delighted to support such an important venture. The Spirit of Cricket must play a central part in the future of the game worldwide".

Guy Waller, Headmaster of Cranleigh School, said: "We are thrilled to be hosting this event. Those of us involved in Schools' cricket like to think that we play the game in the best possible spirit but it is never something to be complacent about. "