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Great Waltham Cricket Club

Scorecard

Hornchurch Ath 1st XI v Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI on Sat 05 May 2018 at 1pm
Great Waltham Cricket Club Won by 58 runs

Match report For those avid readers of GWCC match reports, this will be a considerably happier report following Sunday’s rather more depressed outlook. Returning to division 1 for the first time in a while, the 1st team were quietly optimistic despite the loss of key members from their title winning side a year ago. We’d certainly got younger and fitter as 8 members of the team were under 30, one Chapman replaced another as is GWCC tradition to be always fielding a talented Chapman. Hopefully we’ll be seeing both brothers (and father?) in the 1st team soon. Who’ll be the tallest at that point is anybody’s guess.

Losing the toss was the perfect start to my cricketing weekend, sun was shining, strip didn’t look that green; I was praying that the Hornchurch skipper would bat first. Alas no, we were inserted and our undercooked batting line up was in the firing line. Si had promised me a scratchy mid to high teens score and upon arrival Gary had declared that ‘this looked like the sort of ground Dave would get a hundred on’. This didn’t quite go as stated but still it was a good start. The opening partnership that looked so solid last year continued their form into the new season. A mixture of defence and attack was the order of the day (I’m sure you can guess in what order). Hutchison was miserly in his opening spell conceding just 7 runs in 6 overs. The ground wasn’t conducive to quick scoring run as the pitch proved challenging but the outfield was proving even more so. Si sent one cover drive racing away, which on a mid-summer Waltham track wold have cracked the wooden fence; early season Hornchurch however, it barely reached the outfield. 2 scored. Simon would later remark that he had at least 10 runs taken away from him, a statement he carried over into Sunday’s game.

It was a shame then when Si was adjudged LBW in the 19th over and the less said about my innings the better. All the while DC was doing DC things, looking at ease and scoring at quicker than a run a ball. Gary’s prediction was looking every more likely, until what can only be described as an odd lapse of concentration led to Dave getting bowled. 59 very valuable runs off just 56 balls. Ollie and Dan set about trying to emulate their Springfield partnership from a couple of years ago but Crane seemed intent on ripping through our middle order as he claimed both wickets to take 4 of our top 5.

Suddenly we were teetering on the edge at 137-5 with 15 overs left to bat and our batting not looking quite as deep as it had done in the previous year. The runs were drying up as Hornchurch looked to turn the screw. 10 runs and 6 overs later Luke was dismissed bringing Morne, the perennial number 11 to the crease. Buoyed by the fact his eyes were working and fresh off a top 10 run making indoor season, Josh fancied a piece of the Hornchurch bowlers. It was a good thing Gary was down the other end. After starting cautiously Kamran Akmal blossomed in the partnership, taking 38 of the 47 runs they put on together. It was a superbly judged innings, increasing his strike rate at all the right times, Gary was able to shepherd the lower order to a highly competitive total of 201-8 in 45 overs.

After an abridged tea break we entered the field not as refreshed as we would like to be, although the mighty ‘ammers were winning 1-0. Tom and Sam Curran were scheduled to open up. I’m sure they’ll argue who is who. Josh got an early breakthrough as he pegged Bastin’s off stump back in the 3rd over. This would set the tone for our bowling performance. The pitch was fairly lifeless so accuracy was at a premium. The top 3 bowlers (JT + the Marsh’s) delivered: none went for more than 26 whilst all bowling 8 overs or more. Ollie and JT bowled 5 maidens between them in 20 overs, restricting the Hornchurch batsmen ability to score and paving the way for the bowlers behind them to pick up the spoils. Ollie’s opening spell only picked up the 1 wicket but he was deserving of more. Tails, restored to the 1s, set his sights high and was able to dismiss set batsmen throughout the innings with his nagging line and length.

Looking down the detailed scorecard (thanks JT), I can see how tight we were able to keep it at the top, making Hornchurch play catch up on a pitch and outfield that just wasn’t conducive to that sort of cricket. 7 runs allowed between over 10 and 15 really cemented our superiority at that time in the match. We were all unfortunate enough to witness one of the longest overs ever recorded in cricketing history as new Gunn, Joe Reed, was able to claim 2 wickets in 1 over. 1 bowling, 1 stumping. Congratulations to Gary for a helluva take and convincing the square leg umpire to actually give a stumping. Didn’t see many of those given last year, if any. 63-2 became 93-6 in a 15 over spell, which reminded me so much of last year as we took wickets in bunches and squeezed the game. Despite some late hitting by Sushant and Marks we were always in control of the game and eventually bowled Hornchurch out for 143 in 40 overs. What a wonderful start to the season.

Captain’s report

• I was impressed by our fielding over both days. Obviously I’ll take all the credit as fielding has been renewed focus of ours during training sessions. JT can have some too as a level 2 coach
• We only dropped one catch and that was a ‘speccy’. I must really stop listening to skip’s premature celebrations.
• I was impressed by the responsibility people took during the game. It was mostly the ‘older guard’ who took responsibility with the bat, guiding us to an above par score on a tough pitch. Then, as I’ve previously mentioned, the first 3 bowlers, bowlers who have been around the 1st team set up for roughly 10 years now took it upon themselves to set the tone, which they did wonderfully well.
• Joe Reed 4fer. Take them however they come.
• More no balls than wides? That isn’t good enough, though we did only bowl 8 wides all day.
• Tidy keeping display by Gary stood up to the stumps all day. I think that’ll be commonplace this year.

VIVO Perfect Catch of the Match – Good solid hands from Si in the outfield
TATA Nexon Super Striker of the Match – DC, he’s got the MRF. IPL teams are looking.
FBB Stylish Player of the Match – G. Bloom for a smart innings and good glove work
Star Plus Nayi Soch Award – This award will be brought out periodically when appropriate. Village cricket isn’t all that innovative.
Muppet of the day: Joe for bowling the longest over in village cricket history? Me for nicking off and not feeling it? Simon for hitting a cover drive on the floor? Or Josh Fitz for needlessly getting run out off the final ball to give Hornchurch an extra bowling point.

Great Waltham Cricket Club 1st XI Batting

Player Name		Runs	B	4s	6s	SR	Ct	St
extras TOTAL :	2nb 17w 5lb for 8 wickets	24 201
Simon Richardson	lbw Crane	22	58	1		37.93	1
David Clout	b Hennegan	59	56	8	2	105.36	2
Samuel Harris	ct wk b Crane	0	1			0	2
Daniel Bloom	b Crane	28	35	3	1	80.0
Ollie Fitzwater	lbw Crane	7	16	1		43.75
Gary Bloom	ct wk b Crane	42	56	5		75.00		1
Luke Tanner	lbw Marks	4	18			22.22
Joshua Fitzwater	run out ?	10	17			58.82
Lewis Chapman	Not Out	5	7			71.43
Joe Reed
James Taylor

Hornchurch Ath 1st XI Bowling

Player name	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets	Average	Economy
Huthchison	9.0	2	25	0	0.00	2.78
Turner	7.0	1	39	0	0.00	5.57
Marks	9.0	0	38	2	19.00	4.22
Crane	10.0	1	35	4	8.75	3.50
Hennigan	10.0	0	59	1	59.00	5.90

Hornchurch Ath 1st XI Batting

Player name		R
extras TOTAL :	9nb 8w 2b 1lb for 10 wickets	20 143 (45.0 overs)
Chumpynets	lbw b O. Fitzwater	14
Bastin	b J. Fitzwater	2
Gil	ct D. Clout b J. Taylor	24
Samarasekera	st G. Bloom b J. Reed	13
Gooch	b J. Reed	2
Heneghan	ct S. Richardson b L. Chapman	5
Sushant	b J. Taylor	24
Marks	ct S. Harris b J. Reed	30
Turner	ct D. Clout b J. Reed	5
Hutchison	ct S. Harris b O. Fitzwater	3
Crane	Not Out	0