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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Rayleigh 2nd XI v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 26 Aug 2017 at 1pm
Great Waltham Cricket Club Won by 8 wickets

Match report Job done. And the return of the ellipsis...

A typically brutal 114* from DC sealed win Number 12 against 2nd placed Rayleigh II in a fairly flat encounter that felt more like an end-of-season friendly than a top-of-the-table clash. With promotion and the title all sewn up, it was an odd game where both teams were - by and large - going through the motions for significant passages of play.

Our bowling and fielding performance was... sufficient. Sufficiently good when required. Sufficiently bad at others. And incredibly comical on more than one occasion. J-Fitz pushed past the 30-wicket mark by removing both Lynch and Smith in quick succession during a typically fearsome opening spell. Not for the first time this season, Ollie tirelessly played second-fiddle and deserved more from his opening 7 overs that came at a miserly cost of just 7 runs.

On his 1st XI debut, Joe Reed - with a run-up to rival Courtney Walsh - picked up a wicket in his first over as Kalpesh plinked a rank full toss to a disbelieving and disgruntled Ollie at short cover. The muted celebrations from everyone (except Joe) pretty much encapsulated the mood throughout our fielding efforts. Frost nearly departed before getting a run as J-Fitz shelled a tough chance at square-leg but Joe didn't have to wait too long to pick up his 2nd wicket as Turner was cleaned up by a yorker-length delivery that 'rolled' out of the back of Joe's hand. According to Joe at least. His 6-over spell yielded 2-21 and there was sufficient evidence that 'cutting-it' at this level wasn't a problem for Joe. Duggers picked up Hindfen-Jones fairly quickly and cheaply to leave Rayleigh 61-5 before Frost and Krise dug in and chivvied the score beyond 100.

The introduction of Lewis Chapman - fresh from his GCSE results - into the bowling attack helped to rouse us from our slumber as his mixture of flight, turn and bounce picked up the next 3 wickets to fall. The delivery to remove Frost(48) was an absolute beauty. A quality batsman undone by a wonderful spinner's delivery. The Art of Spin Bowling is a difficult one to master - just ask Josh Fitz - but if Lewis keeps working at it, he could quickly develop into one of the 'missing links' in the 1st XI. He could (should) have picked up a 5-for as Joe, DJ and Dad (Chapman Senior) all shelled pretty routine chances. Ollie came back to pick up the 9th wicket as our laboured efforts in the field allowed Rayleigh to push beyond 150.

**Insert funny story about Sam and Ollie having a 'handbags' moment on field placements**

Rayleigh II closed on 168-9 as news slowly filtered through that Bentley II had rolled Goresbrook II to move into 2nd spot... but I don't think any of the Rayleigh lads were remotely disappointed.

And so to our reply that was a mixture of the sublime and the ridiculous.

Promoted to the top of the order, Chappy's innings lasted all of 2 deliveries - and the 1st was a wide - before he edged to slip where Nunn held a good catch. At least he had a nice shower.

It was all set up for a Batting Cup shoot-out as Sam marched to the middle to join DC. In a bullish mood - largely as a result of the aforementioned handbags - his stay was (sadly) all too brief as he drove uppishly to mid-on attempting a 'Richardson'. 12 for 2. Hmmm... was this in the script?

Daniel's wonderful match report from last week saves me the job of taking this opportunity to commend Sam on his never-mentioned batting performances this season. Nigh on 600 runs in the 1st XI. 1200+ club runs in 2017. Leading from the front. Astute. Humble. Modest. A captain that scores big runs when it matters... we haven't had one of them for a while.

The rest of the innings was a procession. Initially slow before turning rapid-fire. Prior to the fireworks that followed, DC was watchful against the lively new-ball spell from Verrinder and Wheeler, patiently waiting for the bad ball before dismissing it the boundary. Dan was busy from the outset and was scoring at a similar rate to DC with some sublime shots before the change bowlers entered the fray and the scoreboard started to rattle along.

In the 94-run passage of play from 65/2 to 159/2, DJ chipped in with just 14 runs as DC dominated both the strike and the run scoring. Before you new it, we'd raced to the target inside 30 overs. DC plundering a breathtaking 114*.

Job done.

(Ex) Captain's Musings:

1. The latest in a long line of thumping victories. We've walked this league and that's not being disrespectful or dismissive of our opponents. The jump up will be harder but isn't insurmountable. There will be new challenges to adapt to but we take momentum into Division 1. J-Fitz proclaimed 'Back-to-Back'... So why not? But we'll need to improve... faster, sharper, fitter.

2. Our first title since 1998. Back then I was just about to pluck up the courage to ask my wife out on our first date. A lot has happened in the intervening 19 years but I plan to spend this Saturday afternoon breaking my only rule and emulating one of my cricketing heroes - Paul Allen - by having a cheeky bottle of Becks before the result has been confirmed.

Roll on Saturday...

(Ex) Skip

Yes Bank Maximum Sixes: DC. Take your pick from the one over the pavilion or the one that endangered the players on the next pitch.

Vivo IPL Catch of the Match: No stand-out contender. Lewis just pips the captain.

FBB Stylish Player of the Day: Lewis with 3/49. The ball that got Frost was a peach. Special mention for the Rayleigh scorer whose felt-tip pen work was exquisite.

MOTM: 114 off 90 balls. 17x 4s. 4x 6s. It can't be anyone other than DC.

BSW Marquees Muppet of the Day: Sam's misfield that went for 4? Dan's shin-stop at point? Both were left in the shade by Joe's bizarre 'sliding tackle' attempt at long-leg... it defies description.

Rayleigh 2nd XI Batting

Player name		Runs
extras TOTAL :	1nb 3w 4b 5lb for 9 wickets	13 168 (45.0 overs)
Lynch	b J Fitzwater	12
Smith	b J Fitzwater	4
Turner	b J Reed	9
Kalpesh	ct O Fitzwater b J Reed	4
Frost	b L Chapman	48
Hindfen-Jones	b Duggan	6
Krise	Not Out	42
Brown	ct M Chapman b L Chapman	6
Verrinder	ct Harris b L Chapman	11
Wheeler	ct L Chapman b O Fitzwater	3
Nunn	Not Out	10