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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Stock I v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 11 Jun 2011 at 1.30pm
Great Waltham Cricket Club Won by two wickets.

Match report With the toss won, Stock were asked to bat first on a track that had been sweating under the covers overnight. With the 'Kidz Car' still to arrive, eventually the Fitzwater boys materialised along with a tired looking Andy Elgar... all of them had a different story as to who was at fault and when
Stock got off to a quick-fire start, it did appear that some of the team still had their heads and minds either in the changing rooms or somewhere down the A12. The opening pair rattled along to 41 without loss before DC picked up two wickets in 3 balls dismissing Hodges (26) to a sharp catch at 1st slip from Chappy then scattering the stumps of No.3 Norton (0). Suddenly the pendulum swung and the momentum of the game started to change quite dramatically.

Clouty followed up his double strike by quickly removing Cole (6) who picked out Kendo running in from the long-off boundary. The trap was carefully set and the batsman duly obliged with an injudicious shot. The catch itself was a cracking effort as the wise money was on the ball, right up until the very last moment. Westwood (2) became the 4th victim of the innings as he chopped on to his leg stump as DC seemed intent on winning the game himself.

Great support was coming from the other end from Ollie Fitz who was firmly 'applying the brakes' to ensure there was no let up in pressure. Johnson (26) hung around long enough to sweat out his hangover before Kendo removed him with a scrambled seamer. Sadly, just 2 balls into his 2nd over Martin had to pull up with a calf problem... the only silver lining for the team was the dismissal of opener Jack Lewis (33) just 4 balls later as Rob ended an abridged over with the 1st of his four wickets. 109-6.

A lower-middle order partnership between John Lewis and Raeburn - both one time top order batsmen - ensured a recovery as the score crept past the 150 mark. Chappy - also nursing an injury - was a model of control and consistency in a misely spell of 9 overs for just 22 runs. The wickets came from the other end as Rob removed his chief tormentor Lewis for 42, trapping him smack bang infront of his stumps as he looked to hit across the line again. A great comeback having been carted in his previous over for 18. Just three balls later Mayhook (0) was dismissed in bizarre circumstances as a leading edge spiralled high into the sky just yards outside of his crease. With fielders, bowler and keeper converging it looked for a few seconds that the ball would land safely before Blooma swooped to pouch a breathtaking one handed effort just inches from the deck. 158-8. No.10 Griffiths (24*) batted sensibly to ensure the score moved on to 175 before Raeburn (13) was dismissed LBW to give Rob his 4th and final victim. The look of incredulity on the batsman as he trudged off belied the incessant appealing that was in store later in our innings.

A vital partnership of 29 was added for the 10th wicket before Josh Fitz returned to the attack with a great spell of 'at-the-death' bowling that culminated in the removal of Davidson's (10) off-stump whilst leaving the leg stump bail untouched... a beautiful sight for any bowler. Missed chances, a 'phantom' stumping and a general 'easing off' allowed Stock to close on 204 in the 45th over. Our ground fielding was - generally - pretty poor and the nagging frustration was that we'd gifted them 20-or so runs through the course of the innings.

In reply, our difficulties at the top of the order continued as Cole removed Sam (0) with his 2nd second delivery. Andy hit the ground running with a sublime cover drive before offering the simplest of return catches that was grassed by Cole on his follow through. An incident that clearly broke his rhythm as Andy punished his mistake with a succession of boundaries much to the delight of the James Caan lookalike sat on the bench in the pink jumper. Swanny (13) had looked well set before Cole shattered his timbers with a beauty. The pendulum was starting to swing back in favour of Stock.

The change bowlers from both ends were punished to all parts of the ground as the score rattled along to 100-2 in only the 17th over. A passage of play where Andy and Gary really dominated the bowling combining the beautiful with the brutal and it looked like we were heading for an earlier than expected finish. Or so we thought...

Andy departed for 60, trapped LBW after an elaborate and extravagant appeal that now became a regular feature of the innings as the wicket got lower and slower. Andy looked in a different class to anyone I've seen this season but he'll be bitterly disappointed not to have converted this into a 'big' score.

The skipper strode in at No.5 to ensure we edged that bit closer to our target before Clouty could enter the fray with his big-hitting. An entrance that came about sooner than expected as Blooma (34) departed Leg Before attempting to paddle sweep Raeburn. Cue appeal. Cue dismissal. From 100-2 we were now 4 down with very few added. Once again, the pendulum started to swing...

DC settled the nerves as I scratched about at the other end. A few lusty blows from Dave (33) pushed the score up to the 140 mark before he was the latest LBW victim to the tidy bowling of Norton. A partnership that Dave had dominated meant we were still 60+ short and the Stock 'tails' were well and truly up. A cameo from Ollie (8) before an ugly swipe across the line gave the returning - but now spin bowling - Cole his 3rd victim. Chappy was out 'caught behind' from the next delivery leaving us precariously placed with 40 runs still required. Rob strode to the crease with a borrowed bat and duly dispatched Norton back over his head for 6 as I suddenly clicked into gear and started to find the boundary. It was ugly, edgey and slow but we were inching closer to our target.

The drama continued as the match reached it's thrilling denouement. Rob 'popped' his quad when pushing off for a single to be replaced by Ollie as a runner. A quick single pushed into the covers, a slip of the spikes, a cry of 'Go, Go, Go!' but a last ditch dive saw both Ollie (walking) and Rob (limping) back to the pavillion. In strides Josh with 20+ runs still required and a crippled Kendrick padded up at No.11.

Runs Required were always just less than Balls Remaining but a scrambled three and square cut boundaries in successive overs - as Davidson was reluctantly thrown the ball and brought back into the attack - meant the target came down to 9 off 12. A decision was made to 'get them in the 44th' and the 1st ball of the penultimate over was edged down to 3rd man for four. A more controlled shot guided the next delivery down to the same region for 2 and as the field came up, another edge though the vacant slip cordon ensured another boundary and a massive win. I could lie and talk about the two beautiful on-dives that crashed to the boundary but I'm generally an honest bloke. Streaky? Definitely. Satisfying? Unquestionably.

Sadly the handshake I was expecting from the Stock captain brushed off of my outstretched palm in what can only be described as a disappointing act of poor sportsmanship. Just for the record, I don't do the Lottery therefore my numbers are worthless but for the sake of argument let's go with 7, 9, 16, 22, 25 & 42. Kipling hit the nail on the head... "If you can meet with triumph & disaster, And treat those two impostors just the same...".

Right... next up, Writtle at home in a run of 3 out of 4 home games.

Couple of things:

1. Forget about the table. I'll only start looking at it seriously when we've got 3 or 4 games to go... and that's if we're still in the mix. Nothing will be decided by then. I just want the 7 wins that normally ensure safety for another season so we can build from there. I still maintain this will be a very tight division and the real test will come when injury & unavailability hit hard during July & early August (& V weekend, etc). It's a cliche but just focus on the next game. We've had a good run and won some close games, had our share of luck and met teams (i.e. Burnham) on a bad day. That's not to take anything away from the 'brand' of cricket we're playing... we just need to concentrate on our roles within the team.

2. Nets. It was great to see so many people up there last week (16?)... but let's not get sloppy in our approach to practising. Quality netting will pay dividends on a Saturday afternoon.

3. Punctuality. Get to games on time. Preferably having slept in your own beds the night before. That said, if you get 60 every week, keep doing what/who you're doing...

4. Matchday jobs. We've got the luxury of umpires this season and Sam was good enough to do the book for 30+ overs... it's not just down to the young lads to do the book, scoreboard, drinks. Pitch in... or at least offer to.

5. When you're given an order... stick to it.

Stock I Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	for 10 wickets	0 204 (0.0 overs)
J Lewis (Jnr)	ct Swan Bowled Kearney	33
M Hodges	ct Chapman Bowled Clout	26
B Norton	b Clout	0
D Cole	ct Kendrick Bowled Clout	6
C Westwood	b Clout	2
D Johnson	b Kendrick	26
J Lewis (Snr)	lbw Kearney	42
A Raeburn	lbw Kearney	13
M Mayhook	ct Bloom Bowled Kearney	0
D Griffiths	Not Out	24
T Davidson	b J Fitzwater	10