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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Rayleigh Fairview 1st XI v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 13 Aug 2016 at 1 p.m.
Match was Tied

Match report Two days later and it's still sinking in. A cricketing comeback that even Hollywood scriptwriters would dismiss as being too far-fetched for the big screen...

...even more so had we snatched the most improbable of victories.

Asked to bat first, we posted a pretty competitive 174-9. Perhaps 10-15 short of what I was hoping for at the 30-over mark (100-4) but regular wickets, some tight bowling and some naive batting/running between the wickets meant that it was only some impressive late-order striking from Tucks and Duggers that got us up to our final score. The last three deliveries were all dot balls with Chappy run out off the last one as he tried to 'scamper' through for the extra bye and the bonus point. How crucial would that prove to be...

Once again, Sam (52) made the key contribution to our final score and he totally dominated the early exchanges, batting with consummate ease. But with his premature departure in the 23rd over with the score on 72-3, we still had a lot of work to do. Even more so when Swanny fell a couple of overs later. 74-4.

Ollie (20) and DJ (24) had started to steer us back on course but they also departed in quick succession as our innings stalled for a second time. Jamie (10) got a bit bogged down by Webster (2-30) before a flurry of boundaries in the final few overs took us up to 174. D Lawson (10-1-23-0), J Lawson (2-22), Osborne (2-32) all bowled tidy spells. That bowling attack is certainly better than the league table suggests...

Bowl well, field well, get through the Fairview top order and this was ours for the taking. What I secretly feared was a repeat of the apathetic approach we'd adopted a few weeks earlier at Rayleigh...

We didn't start well.

Tucks just couldn't hit his straps and when he got it wrong, he was duly dispatched. The harder he tried the worse it got. At the hint of any width, the Fairview openers were 'throwing the bat' and his first 2 overs were a write off. Some heads were already starting to drop. The body language wasn't good. We needed a spark. Step forward Mark Chapman.

I kept faith in Tucks and he repaid me in spades. J.Lawson (19) tried to cut one too close to him and Chappy pouched an incredible, low, one-handed effort at slip. We were up and running. Sandhu (23) followed soon after as DJ took a smart low catch at point (where else would he be?) as Tucks got rid of both his tormentors. Lawson Jnr kept the tempo going and the 50 was already up inside 8 overs. You sensed that one more wicket was going to give us the opportunity to 'get into' the Fairview middle/lower order.

But it didn't come.

Josh - overlooked with the new ball - was fired up and ready to prove a point. His first spell was the best I've seen him bowl this season but - and it's been the story of his season - he went wicketless. I turned to Duggers as he has the uncanny knack of getting you a wicket when you need one. But not today. The run rate was pegged back but the bad balls were still being taken to the boundary. Keating (25) and D.Lawson were slowly taking this game away from us.

I'd resisted the call for Swanny and Chappy for as long as I could. Contrary to some other opinions, I always felt the game would go the distance and I wanted the pair of them in tandem for the final 70-80 runs and for the bulk of the final 20-odd overs.

Chappy applied the handbrake as only he can. Swanny took a while to settle into his groove but when he did, the deadlock was broken as Keating edged hard to slip. Chappy did the rest. 119-3. 56 required. 7 wickets in hand. We'd got the breakthrough. Or so we thought...

Collins (18) lofted his first ball for 6 to take the wind right out of our sails but his aggressive intent was always going to give us a chance. As Fairview brought up the 150, he stuck one down my throat. 150-4. You sensed something was happening... It wasn't just Atul that had a feeling.

175 still felt a long way off.

With D.Lawson still there, Fairview were unquestionably in the box seat. 25 required, 6 wickets in hand. Chappy was bowling with incredible control and accuracy, beating the bat on regular occasions. Swanny was bowling with flight, zip and guile tempting the batsmen into a multitude of false shots... he was brave enough to toss it up in the search for wickets as Fairview crept closer. And then the breakthrough...

At 162-4 - with just 13 required to win - Lawson's (62) stubborn resistance was broken as he chopped on to Chappy. 5 down. We've still got a chance.

In his final over, Swanny floats one up and Payne takes the bait, swinging and nicking a looping edge to Chappy at slip for his 3rd catch of the innings.

166-6. Crumbs.

A tight over from Chappy and Josh Fitz re-enters the fray with Frank Abagnale-wannabe Will Osborne on strike. Osborne cuts hard to the cover boundary and calls Crompton - who'd batted at No.4 earlier in the season, top scoring with 49 - through for two. It was never on. Ollie moved his chunky little legs and pinged in a throw to the non-strikers end where his brother collected and took off the bails. The Fairview umpire was horribly placed and took an age to confirm what we all knew. Crompton was run out by a yard and a half. 167-7.

A couple of balls later and Osborne nicks behind to Biggles. Josh Fitz is on fire. Someone pinch me. 169-8.

Webster strides in. He'd slapped some useful runs down the order at our place earlier in the season. One shot and the game was over. He cut hard to the cover boundary and set off for two. It was never on. Tucks collects, fires in a throw, Biggles collects and the bails are off.

170-9. Jesus. Is this really happening?

And then the moment of controversy.

Chappy pounding in for his last over. Petit facing his first ball. Just a few minutes earlier he'd been stood out there umpiring. The ball explodes off a length, Biggles claims the catch from a glove deflection, the close fielders erupt. The appeal lingers.

Not Out.

I'm not going to dwell too much on what did or didn't happen. In these situations, I believe the onus is on the batsman to walk. Events were unfolding very, very quickly. What shouldn't be overlooked is the reaction of the bowler. Chappy was very late to join the appeal and his view was not too dissimilar to that of the umpire. He wasn't sure. And if he wasn't, how can the umpire be? And that's not me defending a good friend...

After that spell of bowling, Chappy deserved to be the match winner but we had to keep our focus. We can still win this...

Josh - with the bit between his teeth - strides in like Valegro on heat. Jellett isn't going to die wondering. He's going to swing and having played and missed at his first couple of deliveries, he connects with the 3rd and clubs one through cow for 4. Scores level.

But heads didn't drop. Belief didn't waiver. You still sensed there was another twist left in this game.

Jellett - perhaps caught up in the moment - decides that the 'kitchen sink' method will win the game for Fairview and from the final delivery of the 44th over he miscues to cover.

The ball spirals. The fielders converge. Jamie - the youngest lad on the field - calls it and claims it as cool as you like.

174 all out. Game tied.

It felt like a win and although a few us were aggrieved by the outcome, I was still basking in the beauty of an incredible comeback.

Had we lost... I hope I'd still be commending the valiance and resilience of our fightback.

3 games to go. A tough run-in versus the current 3rd, 4th and 2nd-placed teams. I don't know whether to be looking over our shoulders or at those in the top-half of the table.

Win all three and we could finish as high as 3rd or 4th. Lose all three and we could still end up in the bottom two.

One game at a time...

Skip

Ps. Before the full match report, a little nod to Jamie Carroll for holding his nerve to call and claim the tie-clinching catch. The youngest lad on the park, when the moment came, he wasn't found wanting.

Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI Batting

Player Name		Runs	4s	Ct	Ro
extras TOTAL :	4w 9b 6lb for 9 wickets	19 174
Atul Patel	ct & bowled Webster	2
Simon Richardson	b Sandhu	4	1	1
Samuel Harris	ct Jellett b J Lawson	52		1
Craig Swan	ct & bowled J Lawson	5
Daniel Bloom	ct & bowled Collins	24		1
Ollie Fitzwater	b Osborne	20			1
Jamie Carroll	b Webster	10		1
Lewis Tucker	ct Webster b Osborne	13			1
Matt Duggan	Not Out	22
Mark Chapman	run out (Jellett)	1		3
Joshua Fitzwater

Rayleigh Fairview 1st XI Bowling

Player name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
Sandhu	7.0	1	26	1	26.00	3.71
D Lawson	10.0	1	23	0	0.00	2.30
Osborne	10.0	1	32	2	16.00	3.20
Webster	7.0	2	30	2	15.00	4.29
J Lawson	6.0	1	22	2	11.00	3.67
Collins	6.0	0	26	1	26.00	4.33

Rayleigh Fairview 1st XI Batting

Player name		R
extras TOTAL :	2nb 2w 3b 1lb for 10 wickets	8 174 (44.0 overs)
Sandhu	ct D Bloom b Tucker	23
J Lawson	ct M Chapman b Tucker	19
D Lawson	b M Chapman	65
Keating	ct M Chapman b Swan	25
Collins	ct Richardson b M Chapman	18
Payne	ct M Chapman b Swan	3
Osborne	ct Harris b J Fitzwater	5
Crompton	run out (O Fitzwater/J Fitzwater)	0
Webster	run out (Tucker/S Harris)	1
Jellett	ct Carroll b J Fitzwater	4
R Petit	not out *ct Harris b M Chapman?	0