Skip's Blog

Well we slipped to our second defeat of the season against a strong Imber Court side on the glourious hot sunny sunday just gone. It was a result that I felt was strongly influenced by the toss, with a track like a road and with the sun beating down batting first was always going to be the best option, and having won the toss the home team had little hesitation in making use of the good conditions. Although the track did not change much for the second innings as the heat of the day started to pass the outfield certainly slowed and balls that earlier had gone for boundaries now held up. However, we should not take anything away from our hosts. Their opening batsmen Dons was a class above most of what was on show and without his century the gap would have been a lot closer. But the opposition also bowled better than us, with plenty of league experience on show the likes of Dayes and Blakey  gave an excellent example of how to bowl tightly - between them they bowled 16 overs for just 36 runs, given this it was to our credit that we got as close as we did. To be honest I felt confortable chasing 205, at one stage I thought 230-240 was going to be closer to par but we just could not keep a momentum going when we batted. There were plus points to take from the game, it was great to have Chucky back in the side, and his second spell of four overs were superb, as was his half century, the issue was more around no other batsmen sticking with Joel to take us close to the line. This is not to be critical of the other batsmen, all got in and were attempting to up the scoring when they got out. It was also good to have Mincey back in the side - and bowling! His tidy 8 overs for 22 put the brakes on the scoring when Imber were looking for a flying start. Without the likes of Casper, JULC and M'Nig our bowling was devoid of a lot of our experience, but Borg and debutant Dean Wells did a good job trying to fill the gap. Not that we should forget the contribution of Hippo whose four wickets may have cost a few runs but took him to the lofty position of leading wicket taker for the season! Returning to Dean, he was introduced to the team by Garsh, and he made a very promising start and is clearly a very good all round athlete and he bowled well for one with so little experience of the game. Garsh should also be thanked for pulling in two extra bodies on Sunday morning to ensure we had a full team out. We lost Casper on Thursday afternoon, and then Jamie Gale on Saturday night, and as a result were looking at only being able to field 9 players, but thanks to Steve Cassidy and his sone Jamie we were at least able to get a full team out. One last comment on the game, I think it important that Smut's contribution is recognised, he did an excellent job, especially when standing up to Mince and Hippo, and it was good to see him clock up another 3 dismissals. Yes, a defeat, but one with a certain amount of credit. I am pretty sure Imber pulled in a few stonger players for the match, but we get a chance to turn the tables back at Kempton in a few weeks time. It was also see nice to have the President pop down for part of the game, and with it his confirmation of a President's XI match in September - we will need as many of team available as possible, as I am sure Space will accomodate a few!

 

...And finally! Recognition for Hippo and the shirts! After a few years with living with the 'sweatsuit' shirts (which were ideal on a cold chilly day) we now have some great new club shirts which I have to say are superb. It was also pleasing to see, when rifling through the pile to find mine, how many of the team signed up for one. Well done Hippo -you banged on long enough about it and result is an excellent outcome

Well, when we had Preistfield at not many for 6 I guess we all thought the game was in the bag! Alas it was not to be and a superb batting performance from the visitors turned the game on its head. I heard all sorts of mentions about their batting order being turned around and the shortening of the boundaries at Kempton playing a part but as Skipper I guess I look at my own performance to see if I got the tactics wrong. Firstly, I still think we did the right thing in batting first, and with it our batting line up. The Colonel was superb, and he blasted away like a good 'un in bashing his maiden fifty. Wrighty has been a brilliant servant for the club over the years, sometimes be limited to just a fielding role and waiting his chance down in the 'engine room' to go blast a few runs. Last year as VC he regularly took the number 5 slot but the decision, and Garsh has to take a lot of credit, to put him in at number 4 certainly paid huge rewards. The bowlers were really thrown off by his 'no frills' batting style and text book it may not be but no one could argue that he was not effective - and what a six! - magnificently smashed over long on. Further down our order Casper and JULC took us from a mediocre score to one we should have been able to defend. Their partnership of 83 fell just one short of equalling the club record for the sixth wicket which has stood since 1994. I took the decision to bowl both Garsh and Casper out as they were having such a strangle hold on the batting I thought it would put Preistfield so far behind the rate that our change bowlers would have some protection. Not only that but Casper was carrying and injury which might having frozen up had he tried to come back for a second spell, and Garsh had to leave early so it was important we got his full overs out of him. So in reflection I was happy with the tactics from that point of view. I guess the issue was the lack of a 6th bowler. On Saturday I became aware that Hippo could play, and given the strength of the opposition and that before the game only Windy and Casper had batted this season that our batting line up could do with a little more experiecne - hence I contacted M'Nig and asked if he would step aside to accomodate Hippo, like the gentleman he is, M'Nig agreed. We could have dropped Paulo Davis instead but I thought that sent the wrong message to a new member to the club. I guess now in hindsight you could be of the view that had M'Nig played we may have had that extra slow bowler in the side which would have helped but then again would be have got to 237 without Hippo? Its one of those things we will never know the answer to, but I guess thats the sort of decision you have to make a skipper. Having said all of that it was still a great game, and on another day we may have nicked one more wicket earlier and maybe cantered to a comfortable win. There were certainly positives to take from the game, a second 200+ score (this one without a fifty from the openers) and taking 8 wickets on a flat track - and two more from Hippo is helping to backfill the loss of Mincey at the moment. Of course I guess the lesson to be learnt is that the game is not over to that 'fat lady sings' at six down we thought she was clearing her throat...but in fact she had not even got to the dressing room!

 

Skip