There were wild scenes among Clifton players and supporters at Arundel as Old Cliftonians won the Beechbrook Capital Cricketer Cup in the first ever Super Over at a final. With both sides making 228 all out, the match went to a single over shoot-out in which Old Malvernians could only manage 8 runs and Clifton won in 3 balls to clinch victory.

Arundel was again a perfect setting for the final, the ground bleached almost white on another hot day. There was a West Country feel to the game with players on both sides playing in the West of England Premier League and Phil Mattingley, one of the umpires, also coming from that league. The other feature of the sides was their youth with Ben Figueiredo the Clifton captain and Alex Milton of Malvern the only players the wrong side of 30.. Both schools have also recognised the importance to their wider futures of engaging with their alumni sporting base and brought enthusiastic supporters with them to swell what was an excellent crowd. Paul Shea the lead sponsor from Beechbrook Capital also was there to enjoy the day and we thank him for his great support.

Clifton won the toss and unsurprisingly batted. Their prolific opening pair of Ollie Meadows and Jonny Sadler took the score to 41 before Sadler was bowled by a trimmer from Liam Smith. Although there were plenty of runs to be had, the ball gripped enough for spinners and seamers to pose a few problems. Ash Lakhani helped Meadows to add 45 before he fell for 16, but the muscular Shay Sainsbury injected some pace into the innings and dominated the third wicket partnership with 46 off 38 balls, including four sixes. Meadows, not at his fluent best, fell for 54 off 77 balls at 135-3 and Sainsbury soon followed at 150-4. in the 31st over. The final 19 overs only produced 78 runs, and Clifton were grateful for a last wicket stand of 22 between Zain Syed, who made 22 not out, and Ryan Kilmister. They were eventually bowled out for 228 with 7 balls of the 50 overs to go. The slow left-armers, Josh Haynes and Joe O’Gorman, each took 3 wickets, while Liam Smith proved the most economical bowler, conceding only 31 off his 9 overs.

The feeling around the ground was that the Clifton score was at least 30/ 40 short of par. Old Bedfordians had chased down the 290 of Old Tonbridgians to win the 2025 final in not dissimilar conditions. However Clifton struck with 3 early wickets, the Malvern captain Josh Haynes lbw to seamer Joe Millard for 8, Joel Cox run out and then the vital wicket of the leading Malvern run-scorer, Alex Milton. He played defensively to slow left-armer Ryan Kilmister and was bowled by one which turned. From 41-3, Freddie Wynn and Ollie Cox set out to repair the damage, the former more cautiously and the latter more extravagantly. They put on 95 to take to score to 136 when Cox, who had made a fluent 53 off 57 balls played an unnecessary swipe across the line and was bowled by Kilmister. Dan Holland soon followed but Flynn Gunston helped Wynn to take Malvern within sight of victory at 185-5. Wynn, who had made 82 off 112 balls, and was in sight of his second hundred in a final, then unfortunately stepped on his wicket while working a ball away to leg, and Jamie Brooks followed by bowling Myles Holland first ball. Gunston was still there and took the score to 223-7, with 6 runs to win, but he was bowled by Jonny Sadler for 48 off 48 balls. Angus Catto followed in the next over to a brilliant catch at backward cover by Shay Sainsbury off Millard, a ball which could have easily gone for four to win the game. This left the last-wicket pair at 225-9, 4 to win off 9 balls. They managed only 3 when Joe O’Gorman edged Sadler to wicket-keeper Logan Bowden, a 2026 school leaver, with the scores level and 3 balls to go. If they had managed to block out the last four balls without losing a wicket, Malvern would have won on the wickets lost rule. Kilmister was the best bowler in the match with figures of 10-0-26-2.

The rules were hastily consulted and the Super Over began. Louie Shaw, who had been economical in the match conceding only 33 runs, though without a wicket, bowled the Clifton over. Ollie Cox and Gunston could score only 8 and even that relied on a misfield conceding 3 off the last ball. Meadows came in with Shaw to face the Malvern over bowled by Josh Haynes. 2 off the first ball was followed by 2 boundaries to take Clifton home. It was fitting that Meadows followed his father John who had made 144 not out in Clifton’s last winning final in 1993. It had been a long wait but a result to which Clifton had been building gradually over the last few Cricketer Cup campaigns. Malvern did their bit to add to the excitement of the day but may have been left with the feeling that they had good chances to win the game.

The awards and the Cup were presented by Paul Shea and Cricketer Cup President Johnny Barclay, who regaled the crowd with some great advice about savouring the moment. The Cricketer Cup is grateful to all those at Arundel who helped put the game on. The 2026 competition has had some really exciting games and new sides are emerging to challenge, with Clifton becoming the eighth club to win the Cricketer Cup in the past nine years.

(Photos by Martin Williamson)