Our President has a voracious appetite for content, so match reports must be written for grand defeats as well as grand victories. And this defeat was of the grandest, most Park Hillian nature.
On Saturday 5 September 2026 at Chrystie Road Recreation Ground, Park Hill bowled Tadworth CC 2nd XI out for 116 in the Surrey Downs League, then folded to 90 all out in 28 overs to lose by 26 runs. Elliot Ransom took 4-36 for Hill. It was, frankly, magnificent.
Match at a glance
- Result: Tadworth CC 2nd XI won by 26 runs
- Tadworth CC: 116 all out (32.3 overs). Bowling: Elliot Ransom 4-36, Will Chipperton 2-37, Clare Hunt 2-8, Tyler Jones 1-10, Alex Mackay 1-11
- Park Hill CC: 90 all out (28.0 overs). Richard Goldsbrough 27, Will Chipperton 19 not out
- Venue and date: Chrystie Road Recreation Ground, Saturday 5 September 2026
- Toss: Park Hill won and chose to bowl
- Player of the match: Elliot Ransom
- Full scorecard: Park Hill vs Tadworth on Play-Cricket
The build-up
All week the excitement had been building for our ‘home’ game against Tadworth. It is always a good fixture, but this time we had perhaps the strongest team we have fielded all season. A batting line-up with five centurions in it, plus the much-hyped (by him) return of Alex Mackay, meant we went into the game feeling very confident indeed.
The wicket
The wicket was an absolute travesty: greener than Augusta, with more lurking demons than a Dan Brown novel. Skip Chip won the toss and decided to bowl.
Tadworth’s innings: 116 all out
And bowl we did, very well in fact. Tyler Jones and Mackay opened up with excellent control, taking a wicket apiece and going for just two an over (1-10 and 1-11 from five overs each) before handing over to the spin kings, Chipperton and Ransom (E).
Both bowled well, but Elliot was the absolute pick, causing the batsmen all sorts of problems and finishing with a superb 4-36 from his eight overs. Chip chipped in with 2-37.
Tadworth toiled hard on a wicket made for bowlers and kept looking to score. Eventually Clare Hunt (2-8) and Kyle Hicks (a miserly 0-4 from three overs) cleaned up the tail, and Tadworth were all out for 116 in the 33rd over.
Park Hill’s reply: 90 all out
As we tucked into velvet cake and questionable salad at the break, confidence was high. Even Park Hill couldn’t mess this up. Surely. Not with that amount of batting?
Stupples and Shaun McLean opened our response. Things began solidly, although the warning signs were there early, with Stups taking a rocket to the gentleman’s area. He resumed after swallowing them back down again, but was soon trapped leg before, and Goldsbrough strode in. He struggled with the length and the pitch too, and after four consecutive balls of umpire El and Shaun telling him to move his feet, he finally got the memo. The two big men dug in and moved us on to 30, before Shaun middled his forward defensive straight back into the grateful bowler’s hands.
Next, a very hungover Symons, who was treated to a snorter on his third ball which the keeper caught somewhere around his head.
Prem joined Goldsbrough and the pair got things moving, playing carefully and patiently to take us to 61. Goldsbrough then went to pull another rogue ball, missed it, pirouetted, and knocked his own bails off. Hit wicket, for 27. Oh dear. But, as he reflected on the walk back, ‘we’ve got plenty of batting left’.
Mackay next. Howdens-sponsored, Shropshire megastar Mackay. Game over, surely.
No.
Two balls later he was back in the changing room mumbling something about his head not being in it, his sponsors furious, the new kitchen dream in tatters.
Prem then followed suit and it was Chip and Elliot at the crease. Wily old pros with over 700 runs between them this season, they set about their business and moved us on to 78. Should be fine from here.
No.
‘Shall I take him on?’ asked El of Chip between overs. A firm ‘no’ from his skipper, which was even more firmly ignored. Els came down the track, somehow yorked himself, and was back in the hutch.
Next up, Tyler. A fifty to his name this season. He’ll stay in and help Chip guide us home, surely.
No.
Two balls later Tyler is down on one knee in front of his stumps. Why? Who knows. Symons, who by now looks so tired he could burst into tears at any moment, raises the finger of doom. Someone thinks he hit it. Nobody really knows what is going on, but he’s out either way.
Hicks joins Chip, who now moves into sixth gear because we are still only on 78. A couple of dashing blows to the boundary follow and Hicks remains steadfast in defence. Can we do this?
No.
Hicks is bowled by a corker, and Clare, knowing full well she has an awards dinner to go and dominate, goes first ball. That’s that: 90 all out, beaten by 26 runs. Our finest defeat since the last time we did this about four years ago. One for the ages, and surely a shoo-in for the Collapse Awards.
Afterwards
Of course, this is Park Hill, so we didn’t dwell on our ineptitude for too long. We were soon in the pub discussing the ifs, the buts and, more importantly, which bat we are all going to buy next season.
For the record, this is not how Park Hill vs Tadworth usually goes. See Chipper’s ton against Tadworth in the 2025 cup, Hill a Tad too strong in May 2025, and, for balance, the 2024 duck-cup special.
Player of the match – Sponsored by Nicholls Residential = Elliot Ransom
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Park Hill Cricket Club is a friendly club based in Epsom and Ewell, playing Saturday league cricket in the Surrey Downs League and Sunday friendlies across Surrey. All abilities welcome, as this report proves. Join Park Hill, or catch up on the rest of the season in our match reports.
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