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Sat. 26th May 2007
1st XI (263/7d) vs Hayes (43/1) Abandoned
(Home – 10pts)
A frustrating day thanks to the weather and opposition
who turned up late, which effectively cost us 5 further
points. When they did arrive, having forfeited the
toss, they were surprised to be in the field: it
was overcast and the wicket was damp. Actually, it
played pretty well as Ali Wilson (76) and Jeremy
Anderson (51) put on 89 for the first wicket. The
Richmond bowling on pitch 2 looked better than the
Hayes attack, but fair play to Ali and Jeremy for
their innings. The runs piled up with further 20s
from Sanduna Kapugeekiyana, Chanaka Wirasinha and
Anthony Shaw. Overall, we had batted well and Tharic
declared after 48 overs.
Rain delayed the Hayes innings after tea. It abated
but we ended up bowling in steady drizzle in cold
and gloomy conditions. Paul Dennison dismissed one
of the openers, but further success eluded us. After
another stop for rain, the game was abandoned 2 overs
short of an official “game”.
NB
2nd XI (78/7) vs Tamil Utd (152) Drawn
(Away)
We arrived early to miss the Wembley traffic, so
well done to all for making the early meet time.
I won the toss - which we were all extremely happy
about as the council-prepared "pitch" left
a lot to be desired. The fact it had a set of stumps
22 yards apart was the only clue to its true purpose,
so we put the Oppo in to dodge the missiles. Their
tactics were to have a swing is it was pitched up,
so we soon realised that if it was not pitched up
the wickets would fall.This they duly did, thanks
to two brutal deliverieis from James Carnegie that
had Mark "Duracell" Campbell muttering
he was at the wrong end. We took regular wickets
and they looked like never making three figures – if
only it was that easy. After letting two easy chances
bounce in front of him Terry McGrath decided to pull
in an absolute screamer under the helmet. Tamil formed
a couple of decent partnerships that got them through
to 152 much to the annoyance of everyone involved;
we dropped catches at crucial times and our fielding
was very poor in stages when it should not have been.
Special mention to Amit Bose, whose philosophy of ‘if
you bowl straight and they miss – you get a
wicket’ worked very well for impressive
figures of 2 for 16 off 7; to Stewart Trotter for
taking his second AP wicket in 7 years (thanks ump!
); and, of course, thanks Mark for another short
spell of 22/7/68/4 - and yes, I plan to bowl him
unchanged for the entire season.
It rained at the break while we ate our sandwiches
(for future reference – BYO), but we were keen
to make a go of chasing the runs so took to the field
at the soonest opportunity. However, most of us were
back and changed in 30 minutes or so due to poor
shot selection, bad running and, on one occasion,
a good ball getting an LBW. The rain was always steady
and on 41/7 with 18 overs to bat we were praying
it might come down a tad harder as soon as possible.
Randolph Reid was as stubborn as ever and proving
impossible to remove – I think it was the absence
of chicken at the tea interval that had made him
so determined to keep them out there as long as he
could. When he was joined by Campbell batting at
9 (‘travesty!’) we had hope
of seeing the rain arrive to rescue us, and after
much fussing at the crease from Mark and some fine
boundaries from both lads we made it to 78/7 and
the rain saved our bacon. It seemed like a minor
victory against a team we should have skittled.
Finally – cold showers, postage-stamp sized
changing-rooms, no sightscreens, and poor tea: it’s
fair to say I’m glad not to be returning any
time soon.
KH
3rd XI (91) vs Richmond (92/4) Lost
(Home – 6pts)
On another damp day we won the toss and batted. Against
what I think is the best attack we have faced at
this level we struggled to score runs against two
bowlers who put the ball on the spot and found some
movement. Overs and runs ran parallel with both your
correspondent and Robin McKeown becalmed! Wickets
then began to tumble, some to good bowling and later
one or two to poor shots. Munish ‘Mani’ Grover
was the only batsman to look comfortable but pulled
a long hop to square leg. All out 91 and although
the conditions were not easy this was never going
to be enough. We fought hard with the ball and never
gave up but they knocked off the runs in around 25
overs. Mani was the pick of only three bowlers used
with 4 for 33 from 13 and in truth could have had
one or two more.
JF
4th XI (138) vs Teddington (139/2) Lost
(Away – 7pts)
It looked a pretty grisly day, which was a shame
because Teddington’s ground is situated in
the glorious heart of Bushy Park, way down South-West
London way. Breaking with 4’s tradition regarding
fixtures in this area, we all arrived in good time
for a 1.45pm start. I lost the toss (again … something
of a trend this) and we were put into bat. The pitch
was more than a bit lively and several times our
batsmen escaped with streaky slashes down to third
man or ‘air’ shots through the covers.
However, one of the oppo opening bowlers took 4 wickets
through a combination of bounce and accuracy, and
their crafty Saffer slow bowler also picked up 4,
and only Rohan da Silva (46), returning to AP after
several seasons away, and Nikhil Bajaj (29) settled
in for prolonged stays at the crease. We were
all out for 138 after 48 overs, which at least demonstrated
a degree of steady watchfulness on the part of the
batsmen but also a certain lack of vigour in the
top order.
When we came out to field after a perfectly acceptable
tea the cricketing Gods had made their displeasure
known and a steady drizzle had begun, which did not
let up for the next two days. The ball resembled
nothing so much as a bar of soap and the bowlers
struggled to maintain a steady line and length. Teddington
overtook our score inside 22 overs for the loss of
only two wickets, one of their openers heaving and
slashing his way to 70-odd. Aside from the result
(and the weather) it was a not wholly disagreeable
day out – everyone cheerfully helped out with
scoring and umpiring, and special praise must be
reserved for Steph Mindel, who received a late call-up
at 12.30pm (thanks Carol!) and drove all the way
down from Herts and ‘kept beautifully, including
an acrobatic and juggled catch behind off
Nikhil.
NW
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