|
Sat. 19th May 2007
1st XI (122) vs Lohana (Harrow) (62) Won
(Away – 30pts)
The old Mill Hill ground is not looking its best
these days and losing the toss on a wet one was not
ideal. We struggled from the start when Ali Wilson
was run out, showing the turning circle of an oil
tanker – not the ideal way of losing a wicket
considering the conditions. Wickets followed regularly
as the top order mostly made starts only to fall
attempting more attacking strokes on a slow wicket.
That we reached 122 was thanks to a great knock by
new boy Colin Williams who top scored with 29. We
weren’t pleased with our performance but the
pitch had started to cut up from the outset and we
knew early wickets would put them under pressure.
In the event we rolled them. Nigel Bagley hit his
line and length early doors and put them under pressure
in combination with another new boy Mark Westlake.
With the help of a run out and an early Nigel wicket
their ‘overseas’ player came to the
crease. After hitting a pie for four and hitting
a worrying well timed drive he poked one straight
to Jeremy Anderson at short-leg. From there we took
regular wickets helped by a great spell from the
skipper and another run out. Nigel ended up with
5 wickets, showing he is one of the best bowlers
to have in these types of conditions, and skipper
Tharic took 3, including one simply unplayable quicker
ball. The fielding also deserves a mention as we
held onto to some excellent catches with Chanaka
taking two steeplers and Jeremy three, including
two at short-leg.
All in all a great result which sees us take an
early second position spot and start to build some
momentum. We’ll play better sides and must
improve our batting, but something to work on here!
AW
2nd XI (222/8) vs West Harrow (62) Won
(Home)
After some toing and froing about whether they had
conceded the toss, which they had, I generously agreed
to go to the middle and on calling correctly decided
to have a bat. We got off to a steady start without
piling on the runs, and after losing our first wicket
at 71 we were in a position to launch. We attempted
to do so with the loss of a couple of wickets until
Stewart Trotter (again!!!)was joined by Rob Gyles
and they put together a very quick and pleasing to
the eye 60-odd partnership. Mark Campbell, Randy
Reid and Paul Dennison finished our overs off nicely
to end on 222/8.
As always at home, the tea was lovely and set us
in good stead to take the necessary wickets for the
victory .If we had known they were never going to
attemt the victory we might have declared a lot earlier
but hindsight (as they say) is a wonderful thing.
Paul and Mark bowled well in tandem, providing two
different lengths and as the pressure built the batsmen
got more and more impatient, which led directly to
our first wicket; Dave ‘The Cat’ Cattell
at second slip diving (falling?) to his right took
a very sharp catch off Dennison to start their downfall.
The field was brought in to strangle them and after
some fine catching from Matt Blackmore and Amit Bose
(by his own admission, if he can't catch those he
shouldn't be playing – in which case, you
can keep him! Ed. & 4’s Captain).
The wickets fell at regular intervals. Mark Campbell
(14/6/23/4) has bowled unchanged this year and Dennison
(12/3/38/4) is more than welcome to play for us.
Dave Cattell wrapped it up for us. Special mention
to Terry McGrath for his forward roll on the boundary
(8/10!) and throw to maim his own player, and
to Trotter for top scoring again with 42. Thanks,
also, to everyone else involved.
KH
3rd X1 (269) vs Edmonton (217/8) Drawn
(Away – 14pts)
Following a last minute text message I learn that
not only are we missing our regular skipper (‘The
Cat’) but also our skipper for the game (John ‘Flintstone’ Freetone
struck by tonsileyetiss!), leaving the aged keeper
the captain’s armband. With the unfortunate
absence of two Wicks and the Cat, we appear to be
very short of bowling and with only ten men on the
ground. However, two new players (Jatin Rajput and
baber Ali) later allay my fears on the bowling front.
The Edmonton 3rd XI square is notoriously batsman-friendly,
being flat and positioned tastily (for batsmen) close
to the shared boundary and not too distant from the
A10 – a favourite destination for balls hit
by Shehzad Hagi, as well as many of the Edmonton
regulars. Batting first our target is a minumum of
280. With last week’s openers missing and many
players in our side unfamiliar to me, I decide to
open with myself and the one batsman who claims to
like opening. So old Eyetiss and Dave Gillman face
two sharp Edmonton bowlers who look, nevertheless,
as if they might tire after a few overs. With that
in mind I face the quicker of the two and am surprised
to find the ball shooting through low down the hill.
Something for the bowlers! During the shine-removal
exercise, a quick one gets through and I depart for
the pavilion with what would turn out to be the only
duck of the day. This proves to be no bad thing,
since it brings Jatin to the crease. After taking
time to accustom himself to the pace of the wicket,
Jatin shows a variety of fine shots and, with the
help of Dave, pushes the score along steadily. Dave
lives precariously and could have been out on more
than one occasion, but he shows great determination
and when he is bowled for 43, the score has progressed
to 92/2. Adnan then comes to the middle and strikes
a superb drive for four, before being bowled the
next ball (96/3). Chetan Khatri joins Jatin and the
two of them continue to score at a healthy rate until
an unnecessary confusion over a run which was never
there causes Jatin to be run out for a fine 71(144/4).
Like Dave, Chetan lives dangerously, but finds the
boundary regularly before being stumped for 45. Another
quick wicket (Max Harris adjudged lbw) leaves us
on 173/6, needing many more to make a game of it.
At this point the lower order live up to expectation.
Shehzad comes to the wicket with memories of a quick
fire ton two years earlier. He starts out as if he
is going to repeat that feat, until he, too is given
out lbw. Another batsman with a love of hitting the
ball, Dave ‘Cosh’ Crank, marches out
with similar intentions. After three promising boundaries
he is bowled by the returning opening bowler. Shehzad’s
brother Amir, showing much of his brother’s
style and power, then hits a quick 22 including a
massive strike onto the A10. The ball is never seen
again! It probably ends up in Cambridge on the back
of a truck. By the time Amir is out the score has
gone on to a healthier 225/9. But there is more to
come! Erol Hasan, following a telephoned request
from the skipper, dashes to the ground to make up
the side and joins Baber Ali for the last wicket.
The pair do a great job in using up overs and pushing
the score up sensibly. When Baba is bowled for 23,
they have put on 44 vital runs (Erol 17*) to leave
Edmonton a challenging 270 to win the game.
With a track showing encouragement to the bowlers
we take the field with some confidence. After five
overs we make the first strike when Shehzad clean
bowls an opener. Five overs later Baber bowls a fine
delivery to remove the other dangerous opener, making
the score 49/2. In an amazingly metronomic sequence,
we then proceed to continue the pattern in taking
a wicket every five overs to the end of the innings.
The key wicket is that of the big-hitting Bennett,
who is bowled by Jatin. Shehzad takes two more to
make the score 186/6 and Edmonton decide that a win
is beyond them. This enables us to attack for the
remaining overs. Two more wickets – from Adnan
and Jatin – are not quite enough and stumps
are drawn with Edmonton on 218/8.
A good draw with 14 points for us and 10 for Edmonton.
All in all, after the problems of getting 11 men
on to the field and putting out a very different
team to the week before, this was a very enjoyable
fixture played in good spirit. Come back soon, Flintstone
and Cat! Keeping wicket and skippering simultaneously
plays havoc with my ancient concentration!
BSK
4th XI (171) vs Edmonton (140/7) Drawn
(Home – 11pts)
The low scores bely an old-fashioned game of cricket
and battle of wits as batsmen on both sides struggle
on a low wicket, compounded by a slow outfield (the
comedy boundary doesn’t even factor). I lose
the toss and we are ‘invited’ to bat
first, Edmonton clearly adhering to club policy and
going for the run-chase. With five ‘newbies’ in
the team I play a bold hand and open up with two
of them, Taqueer Jamadar (14) and Stewart Booty (3).
They bat well under the circumstances, but a quick
cascade of wickets, including myself (1), leave our
innings in a precarious position. However, the middle
order, principally Sherazi ‘Son of Faisal’ Mohammed
(26) and Nikhil Bajaj (70), breaks free of their
shackles and set the scoreboard moving. Matt Clark
(19) does his bit too, but another flurry of wickets
leaves us 30+ runs short of maximum batting points
with only a wicket in hand. Fortunately, thanks to
cunning captaincy on my part, Asif Aziz is suitably
insulted (and motivated!) after being asked to bat
at No. 10 and thumps a brutish 20, accompanied by
the rather more sedate Dave Kassam (2*). Entering
the final over of our allotted 52 (yes, scoring runs
was that hard!) we still require 18 to achieve the
magical 180. Asif launches a couple but is then caught.
We are all out for 171. I fear it may not be enough
but hope I have the bowling to make the oppo work
to avoid defeat.
However, I lack a recognised ‘keeper and during
tea ask for a volunteer. Taqueer steps forward (‘I
have a little experience’), and is clearly
a modest man for he ‘keeps very well indeed
for the whole of Edmonton’s innings. As for
bowling, I opt for the known and open with Asif and
Manan Banker. Asif has been muttering darkly about
his knees but bowls unchanged for the innings, producing
outstanding figures of 23/2/68/5. His good deliveries
are far too good for the batsmen, who are either
cut-up entirely or left wafting outside off-stump.
Manan (12/2/34/1) also bowls well, but with the final
20 looming and few runs to play with I go for a like-for-like
change and replace Manan with Nikhil (11/2/30/1).
However, it soon becomes apparent that the Edmonton
bats aren’t going anywhere and it’s a
case of running the overs down, which Edmonton see-out
to finish on 140/7.
Throughout the Edmonton innings Paul Sullivan and
Rob Lloyd field uncomplainingly and enthusiastically
and indeed the team’s unflagging good spirits
throughout the day makes my job as captain hugely
enjoyable. On a final note, I’d like to thank
Edmonton 4s for being such fine opponents and they
must surely rate as one of the friendliest sides
on the circuit. I look forward to seeing them again
later in the season.
NW
Sun. 20th May
1st XI (144/7) vs Ruislip (63) Won
A great win for the “Ruislip Nine”. We
left Bounds Green two short and then had to endure
the journey from hell along the North Circular etc.
The skipper’s orders were to bat and open with
whoever was there first - that meant Amit Bose. He
agreed to a 40-overs game and opened with Manan Banker
and Mark Winter, with Faaric Mohammed at three. As
the overs ticked along AP was struggling against
enthusiastic Ruislip bowling and fielding. At 16/3
a very short game was on the cards but Jeremy Anderson
soon got stuck into the bowling. Bosie (10) supported
him sensibly at first, but the crucial partnership
was 50 for the 7th wicket with new boy Tom (‘I
can’t bat, skips’) Spencer who made 29.
Jeremy finished the AP innings with a six over long-on
and unusually we had batted our allotted overs. I
thought 120 might be a decent score on a low, slow
track, so 144 was something we could really defend.
At the post-tea team huddle, I outlined the plan
for early wickets to expose their younger players.
It worked a treat. The skipper and v/c soon reduced
Ruislip to 22/4 with Bosie taking two in two balls!
A double change saw Dave Kassam (2/7) and Manan (3/8)
skittle the home team. They couldn’t cope with
the mix of flight and guile and straight bowling.
Faaric finished the game with a c&b. For Anderson
and Bagley from the Sat 1s, lightning had struck
twice in 24 hours!! Well done lads, but I’m
sure the return match at the Racecourse will be tighter.
Can we manage to get 11 players next time?
NB
APCC Ladies (32) vs Ickenham Won
(Home)
Well, what a lovely day for a cricket match, sun
shining, light breeze … and Dave Cattell doing
the teas. It was a late start as Ickenham's
captain said they do not surface very early on a
Sunday. We had 14 players available by 12.30pm
so I had the unenviable task of selecting a team
from so many, and as it was a friendly I opted for
the coward’s way out and decided to rotate
players. Ickenham eventually had ten players turn
up by 1.25pm and we did the toss, which I lost (hope
that is not going to be a trend as I won most of
them last year). Ickenham decided to bat first,
and it was arranged that they should bat for the
whole 25 overs regardless of how many wickets were
lost. I opened the bowling with Melanie (5/1/6/3)
from the Pavillion end, she kept the batters pegged
down and took wickets regularly. Mel ( 3/0/12/0)
bowled well from the other end on her debut for the
club. Unfortunatly there was not much resistance
from the batters who seemed to be on a death wish
as at least 3 of them decided to hit the ball to
the most acurate thrower on the field and get themselves
run out. Charlotte (3/0/10/2) and Kate (1/0/2/1)
in her last game completed the match bowling. I
tried different bowlers afterwards including (shock,
horror!) myself … and I actually got a wicket!
(wonderfully caught by Bea, thanks Bea) my first
wicket for the club.
Steph and Jane opened the battin with a target of
31 to win, and with the help of the bowlers they
were knocked off in 6 overs, mainly thanks to the
bowlers. Steph was the top scorer in the game with
10. The formalities over I rotated the batting and
I think everyone except myself at least got to the
middle. It was a lovely afternoon with a game of
cricket played in the right spirit. I would like
to thank all of the players who showed up and it
was lovely to have a few spectators. I would
also like to thank Tharic, Mark Westlake, Dave and
Chris Bennett for their sterling efforts at umpiring,
and a special thanks to Dave who did everything but
play, doing teas, scoring and umpiring. Thanks
to you all, and roll on the season.
CL
|
