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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

South Weald 1st XI v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 22 Aug 2015 at 1 p.m.
Great Waltham Cricket Club Lost By 54 runs.

Match report In a season of struggle and with a succession of defeats, it gets to the point where you're sometimes left to celebrate the 'little victories' along the way.

And on Saturday afternoon, there were plenty of them.

When you consider this was the first of two dead rubbers, the attitude of all concerned is the first thing to be applauded. The fielding display - individually and collectively - was simply superb. Admittedly, there was a slight 'blip' in the final over but the commitment, application and intensity from the whole team in sweltering conditions comfortably saved 50-60 runs... if not more. Every player chased, dived, plucked and 'spanked' (ask JT) everything that was drilled in their direction. The bowling unit bowled with control and discipline. Blooma - now just an occasional keeper - continued to belie his years with a virtuoso display of glovework. And then there was the batting... More of that to come.

Losing the toss (2 from 2 - Still got it, lads) it came as very little surprise that we were ask to 'have a bowl' first. Josh Fitz opened up and was unlucky not to pick up Burke in his first over. A flashing edge just clipped the tip of Blooma's diving gloves. Perhaps it was 1st slips after all? Duggers - entrusted with the new ball in a bid to change things up - lasted just 2.2 overs before becoming the latest in a long line of injuries to befall the team this season. JT softened the blow as he picked up a wicket with just his 2nd delivery as Duggers somehow dived forward at slip on his one good leg to help get rid of Palmer (4). Not long after, the stand-in Skipper was soon rewarded for some creative field placements by pouching a catch at 'Fly Gully' to get rid of Burke (41) who'd batted with 'aggressive intent' from ball one to push the run-rate north of five-an-over. With his wicket, the brakes were applied.

Lingala and Hull struggled to break the shackles of some incredibly tight bowling courtesy of Sam Harman, JT & 3rd change (!) bowler Lewis Tucker. Despite going wicketless, Sam bowled a lovely spell of line and length. I'm not sure what '1st XI quality' (?) is but I'm struggling to think of a more improved bowler over the last 2 years. Nigh on 30 wickets for the 2nd XI last year, he's come on leaps and bounds this season.

Tucks removed both Lingala (23) and Hull (14) in quick succession. The first to another piece of precision field placement, the second to a drag-on. 93-4 and the run-rate back in check. Rowling (more so) and Luthra (less so) slowly rebuilt the innings, the removal of the former at this stage would undoubtedly have put a different complexion on the game. So often this season it's felt like we were a solitary wicket away from turning a game back firmly in our favour...

After a slow start, Rowling (84) batted sensibly and applied the accelerator at the right time. Targetting the short-side for his last 30-40 runs to great effect, his eventual dismissal in the last over had brought Weald up to a competitive score.

The final delivery of their innings perhaps summed up our season. Having been nigh on perfect* for 44.5 overs, we somehow conspired to give Weald 3 runs (and the final bonus point) in the most baffling manner you could imagine. When you consider the ball barely left the safety of the square and one of the two batsmen involved was built more for 'comfort than speed'... it took the shine off a polished fielding performance.

*forgetting my calamitous attempt at a routine catch in the deep.

And so to tea. After the furore of 'Chickengate' the previous week, 'Steven Whitehall' found sustenance in a bowl of breaded nuggets. Every morsel of reconstituted chicken 'breast' was savoured as he powered up on protein and filled the void left by the fowl famine he endured just 7 days earlier.

In reply, we were blown away by Harle (4-29) and Hull (2-21). Some injudicious stroke play certainly played its part as the Skipper (7) decided to try to be aggressive and failed, Josh's (2) technical deficiencies were mercilessly exposed, Dan (3) was adjudged LBW whilst Ross (3) tried to meet fire with fire. When Blooma (7) stepped across and somehow deflected the ball onto his stumps, at 31-5, we were looking at being bundled out for something embarrassing. Only Duggers (30) - so often the Patron Saint of Lost Batting Causes this season - and Sam Harman (20) restored some pride to our score. We could all show a little more Kiwi-grit with the bat... it was a shame when the trigger was pulled on Matt's stubborn, one-legged resistance. This is a general comment - not aimed at Ross or Sam for their decisions on Saturday - but as a group of young player-umpires, we're still too pressured by a prolonged LBW appeal. If you think it's out... you give it, simple as that. But don't ever be cowed into submission...

97-8. Game over. Or so we thought.

To be continued...

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South Weald 1st XI Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	3nb 8w 12b 2lb for 6 wickets	25 225 (45.0 overs)
J Burke	ct Richardson b Taylor	41
G Palmer	ct Duggan b Taylor	4
V Lingala	ct Josh De'ath b Tucker	23
R Hull	b Tucker	14
R Rowling	ct Duggan b J Fitzwater	84
M Luthra	b R Toomey	20
M Carter	Not Out	14
A Higgins	Not Out	0
F Harle
A Stroud
M Imbert