Australia v England, 4th Test (Melbourne) - 26th-? December

I love Jonathan Trott.

Currently unbeaten on 141, his Ashes average is 96.33 and in 17 Test matches he averages about 63. Earlier today he had me struggling to remember the name Ravi Bopara.

He says it's down to hard work and is happy to admit that he's not the most exciting batsman to watch:

"I think it's important I don't over-rev when I'm batting and try to look to over-hit the ball.

"I try to be calm and patient and play my natural game, which is to obviously just accumulate here and there and let the other guys hit the boundaries and sixes."

I'm happy to admit that I'd rather watch Trott build a big hundred than get the quick fix of a Pieterson 50 (although both have their place, obviously).

And it's not just Trott. I find myself feeling incredibly happy for Matt Prior - for so long all we heard about was wicketkeeping clangers and finding a keeper-batsman worth his place in the side. Well, Chris Read, Geraint Jones and Tim Ambrose can look forward to a bit more County cricket because now we can watch a performance including six catches and 75 not out and there's nothing particularly surprising about it.

I'm a bit worried about Collingwood though. Now is definitely the time for his place-saving 150 but it doesn't look like he'll get a second dig in this match. The selectors must be tempted to give Morgan a go in Sydney, especially if we've already wrapped up the Ashes.

With the ball Tremlett is having a field day on these hard bouncy wickets, Anderson looks to have recovered from his tired third Test and even Bresnan's come in to take two wickets while Finn rests up. Swann may not have been the match-winner we expected but we've had so many others that it doesn't seem to matter.

I'm staying up for the 3rd day's play tonight. I fancy Prior, Bresnan and Swann to throw everything at it and push the lead up to 500. Then if there's any swing at all we could be 4 or 5 deep into the Aussies again by the close.

Too confident? Maybe. We all saw what happened in the 3rd Test. But this is an England team with confidence and, possibly for the first time in my lifetime, more quality than the Australians.

Australia v England, 1st Test (Brisbane) – 25-29th November

Nocturnal Cricketers

At the end of each Test Match the vast majority of cricket writers cobble together a hastily scribbled “marks out of ten” piece, a quick and easy guide to the best and worst performers and a perfect way to generate thousands of ill-informed opinions from the general public.

Obviously I would be delighted to do the same, however I’m afraid I find myself at a slight disadvantage when it comes to reviewing the First Test: like many people in the UK I didn’t watch a single minute of it.

I don’t have Sky TV and I do have a day job so staying up to watch all or some of the action is out of the question. Instead all I can do is go to bed full of optimism, with an idea in my head of what would be a good outcome, and wake up to hear Jonathan Agnew’s report on the Radio 4 Today programme. It’s not ideal because this means you have to take in a whole day’s play in just a few seconds - one minute play hasn’t started, the next minute it’s time for stumps. Cricket is a slow-boiling game of concentration and building partnerships; you can’t just hear the score and feel satisfied.

The First Test

On the night of the first day (if that makes sense) I went to bed, I didn’t know who would win the toss, but I decided that if England batted they would probably be 270-7 when I woke up. What is more, I had the last two wickets falling in the last fifteen minutes of play – a perfect example of Boycott’s “add two wickets to the score” scenario. When I woke up I heard that England were indeed batting but that is was actually slightly worse: 236-8. But I didn’t know that Pieterson had looked promising in his 43 or that Ian Bell (76) is finally becoming the batsman we know he should be. I missed Siddle’s hatrick for crying out loud – six wickets including a hatrick in an Ashes Test on your 26th birthday! Crikey. What am I doing with my life?

A lot of the excitement is lost when you’re not engaged in the action. At the very least you simply want to be able to see what’s going on as it’s going on, but ideally you would have all of the following things in place:

* Live coverage on the TV
* The sound turned up so you can hear the commentary and crowd noise
* People around you who understand and enjoy cricket
* Some sort of carbonated or fermented liquid in a glass

On the morning after the second day’s play I got to work and tried to at least generate some cricket-based discussion. We may have all missed the action but there must be some talking points. I asked my colleagues:

“Did anyone else switch on the radio this morning and get excited when you heard that Australia were 143-5 at tea but then have your hopes dashed because it turned out Hussey and Haddin added an unbroken 77 taking them to within just 40 runs of England’s first innings total?”

The answer was no, of course - completely the wrong audience. My colleagues know absolutely nothing about cricket. They think a late cut is what happens when you go to the hairdressers after work.

I realised I needed something to soften the news in the morning, and once I discovered it, I started using the ECB (England Cricket Board) highlights for the last couple of days. Each session is summed up in a couple of minutes and you at least get to see the wickets fall and a few boundaries.

http://www.ecbtv.co.uk/page/Video/AshesHighlights201011UK

Then only two wickets fell in the last two days and it finished in a draw. Try explaining that to my colleagues.

Results

My need to hear information first-hand extends beyond cricket – I never like to be the last to know.

In my other life as a football fan I support Watford and I always want them to win, but when I was younger a goal always meant more to me if either a) I was there at the match to see it, or b) I was the first person to notice the score change on Teletext. Hearing about a goal or a result second hand takes a lot of the thrill out of it – I don’t want to come back from the bathroom to find out something everyone else in the room already knows.

It’s the same with The X-Factor. No, hear me out here please. As a man, I find the result of the X-Factor vote the most important part of the show. Well, you wouldn’t watch it for the music would you. I can’t watch the live performances and then miss the Sunday night verdict. I wouldn’t watch a football match till the 80th minute then walk out of the pub.

The Second Test

To bring this back to cricket, as I write this we’ve already had the first day of the Second Test and I woke up this morning to hear some good news from Mr Agnew: Australia 245 all out and at one point they were 2-3! And I missed it again. Boo!

And this is why Saturday night will be our Ashes All-Nighter. We’ve found a man with Sky TV and we’re going to join in. In an act of desperation we are giving up sleep just so we can say “we saw it happen WHEN IT HAPPENED... even if it’s just the third day of the Second Test Match – the eighth day of a 25-day series”.

Until then, we have the second day to negotiate - I’ll wake up tomorrow morning and just have the score fed to me. As a cricket blog I suppose it’s my responsibility to make a prediction here, so I’ll be brave and say I expect us to be in the lead with five wickets down. Come on England!

RUASCC Review 2010 - The Bowlers

In the final part of my RUASCC team roundup, it’s time to turn our attention to the people who do the damage with the ball - those who like nothing better to see the stumps scattered all over the park, but can’t remember clearly the last time it happened.

Jagesh Navik
18 wickets @ 17.56

Jagesh finished the season as RUASCC’s second highest wicket taker despite only playing in 8 of the 20 completed fixtures. The highlight was undoubtedly an astonishing spell of 5-36 against Frieth which almost led to the successful defence of a rather mediocre total of 112 (Jag had already top-scored with 21 not out that day). Jagesh’s aggression and barely-concealed hatred for all batsmen were never more in evidence than in the match at Highmoor when one of the openers had reached 49 and looked in no trouble at all when Jagesh’s bouncer sent him to hospital for half a dozen stitches over the left eye.

A bowler who can usually be relied upon to take a couple of wickets each time he bowls, Jagesh also had the honour of bringing the season to a satisfying conclusion at Warborough where he clean bowled the number 11 batsman to seal the win. He was quickly brought back down to earth, however, when he was forced to take the bus home afterwards.

Jagesh held onto two catches this season and also managed to beat his own record for number of minutes spent on the phone during RUASCC matches.

Keith Withers
13 wickets @ 43.77

Withers played in 18 of the club’s 20 matches this season (including one as substitute fielder), his work with the scorebook was tireless, he wrote match report after match report and he even found time to make the tea for one game at Leighton Park. It’s that sort of contribution that will earn someone the RUASCC Club Award 2010.

On the pitch, he took 7 catches and contributed to 2 run outs despite possessing the weakest throwing arm outside of the Ethiopian Anorexic Centre for Female Landmine Victims. In the game at Stonor he carried his bat for the entire 40 overs making just 18 not out – an innings which may have saved a draw but could have lost a fixture. On the 9 occasions that he batted he was only dismissed twice, but on seven of those occasions he didn’t score more than 1 run.

Withers’ performance with the ball is best summed up by his spells at Peppard (0-40), Hambleden (0-47) and Stonor (0-62).

“OK, have a rest there Keith.”

Ben Koslicki
11 wickets @ 24.55

Koslicki’s haul of 4-40 in 11 overs at Peppard was the best return from his seven RUASCC matches this season, while several other useful bowling performances deserved more than they got. He picked up wickets against Britwell, Braywood and Highmoor among others and in the game at Stonor he took the catch that gave RUASCC our only wicket of the day.

Ben can be rightly proud of the fact that all of his 20 runs this season came from boundaries (two fours at Farley Hill; three fours at Britwell). Let’s hope he doesn’t have to work too many Sunday afternoons during the summer of 2011.

Andy Ashman
8 wickets @ 32.13

Dr Ashman is the only RUASCC player to finish the 2010 season with more wickets (8) than runs (7). He is also undoubtedly the only RUASCC player to have umpired more overs than he spent batting and bowling put together. In 12 matches he bowled just 39.1 overs achieving a strike-rate of under 30.

His best bowling (3-48) helped a winning cause at Hambleden. He also took wickets at Portsmouth (removing their key man for 85), Stonor (our only one!) and with his first ball in the return match against Hambleden at Leighton Park. After his slow, short, wide loosener was hacked horribly to Carpo at slip, Ashman stated that his aim had simply been to not bowl a wide.

With the bat he was involved in RUASCC’s highest 10th wicket stand of the season – an unbroken 9 with Jagesh at Frieth. He contributed 0 to RUASCC’s lowest team total of 96 at Woodcote and he finished 0 not out in the final game at Warborough where he didn’t face a ball but still managed to run Withers out.

His work as both Club Treasurer and Club Conscience should never be under-estimated.

RUASCC Review 2010 - The All-Rounders

These are the men who hog all the glory - if they fail with the bat, at least they get another chance to shine with the ball (and vice-versa). Here is my salute to the RUASCC men who sometimes fail with both.

Zia Ul-Haq
364 runs @ 36.4
25 wickets @ 12.28

Zia finished the season top of both the batting and bowling averages. He took the highest number of wickets, had the best economy rate and he bowled more maidens than anyone else. But really, what else did he do?

Well, he scored three fifties and was involved in the best partnerships for each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th wickets; his best bowling figures were 5-20, he took three catches and he became the 11th RUASCC player in history to reach the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets for the club.

Describing Zia’s individual highlights would take a considerable chunk of my word count, however the 82 he scored against Wargrave at Leighton Park seemed all the more remarkable considering he was hobbling for the vast majority of it. This was followed by 70 at Hambleden, littered with fours and sixes. He is human though: he recorded ducks at Frieth and Woodcote, the latter owing to the fact that he took guard a yard outside the crease to a spinner and was out stumped by a yard.

Zia has developed a Swann-like knack of taking wickets in his first over, which proves exceptionally useful when he replaces “Wicketless” Withers as first change. At Peppard he was introduced with the score at 63-0 and before long it was 84-4, with all four wickets to Zia. He took 3-7 from a 10 over spell against the BBC and on another occasion bowled seven consecutive maidens.

Whether bowling off the short or the long run-up he is accurate, economical and dangerous – except, that is, when he throws in the slower ball (a danger to local aircraft) which usually ends up in the hedge at square leg.

Quite simply the outstanding RUASCC performer in 2010, Zia is the worthy winner of the Player of the Year award.

John Baker
242 runs @ 34.57
9 wickets @ 31.78

Johnny Baker made several handy contributions with the bat this season – he made one fifty (65 at Tilehurst) and two scores of 41 (one at Portsmouth in a match-saving partnership of 103 with Main; one at Braywood in a 114 stand with Carpo) and ends the year with the second highest average.

Against Greys Green, on a roasting hot day in May, he first top-scored with 37 then bowled 16 overs and took 2-40. Later in the season, facing a desperate match situation at Stonor, he briefly lifted hopes of a run-chase when he hit three consecutive fours in one over only to be caught at mid-wicket off a long-hop in the next. I can still hear the scream of “NO!” as he realised what was happening to him.
Bowling-wise, a spell of seven overs, 1-12 at Portsmouth was notable mostly because every other bowler had trouble keeping the run-rate down that day. During the season Baker took two catches and, thanks to some athletic diving, almost held onto a few more.

It should never be forgotten that on the Friday night of tour Johnny Baker drove seven of us to the curry house and back to the hotel under intense pressure. Man of the Match.

Bruce Main
144 runs @ 28.8
17 wickets @ 24.23

Probably the best New Zealand all-rounder since Hadlee, Bruce Main had another highly effective season despite playing in only 11 of the 20 matches. His best bowling figures (4-36) and his highest score (63) both happened to occur in the same match – on tour in Portsmouth – where, perhaps not coincidentally, he was rooming with his mentor Keith Withers. Coming to the crease at 51-5 against some talented young cricketers, and having seen his own top order fail to play their way in, Main smashed anything slightly short to the boundary and flat-track-bullied his way past fifty to ultimately earn us the draw.

In another vintage bowling performance Main took 4-64 in the game at Britwell Salome, and even when he’s not taking wickets his economy rate can sometimes seem like torture – figures of 1-7 from a 9-over spell at home to Greys Green for example. There is one over at Peppard he’ll want to forget (but I won’t let him) when a 14-year-old with a Mongoose hit 20 runs and was dropped twice at long-on.

This season Bruce passed 100 wickets for RUASCC with a career average of under 24, and the big Kiwi’s importance in the field was underlined by a total of 13 catches, almost twice as many as his nearest rival.

Ken Stewart
103 runs @ 17.17
16 wickets @ 18.56

One definition of an all-rounder is a cricketer whose batting average is higher than his bowling average. Well, Ken was close enough for me. Opinion is divided between those who feel Ken should be a genuine all-rounder batting at number 6 (Ken) and those who feel he is more suited to batting at number 10 (everyone else).

But the fact is, when you consider two of Ken’s biggest contributions to the team’s cause this season, one was with the bat (his match-saving 46 not out at Britwell Salome) and one was the ball (4-48 against Tilehurst). If that’s not the mark of a true all-rounder I don’t know what is!

Stewart chipped in with useful wickets every time he bowled: three at Hambleden, two at Frieth, two against Greys – the list goes on – and his average of one wicket every 22 balls is the best strike rate of anyone in the team. He also showed remarkable reactions for a man of his vintage by holding onto five catches. At 71 he is certainly the front-runner for the Best Newcomer award.

Richard Tranter
37 runs @ 7.4
4 wickets @ 29

Q: Why did the cricket ball cross the road?
A: Because Trant was bowling at Greys Green!

That infamous over at Greys aside, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Trant has scored nearly 1,000,000 runs for RUASCC and taken nearly 400,000 wickets in a career spanning the lifetime of fourteen US Presidents and nearly one Ken Stewart.

His best figures of 3-4 against BBC helped to give Trant the superb strike rate of 22.5 balls per wicket. Yes, one of the wickets was a Canadian girl, and yes those 22.5 balls would cost nearly a thousand runs, but to reduce Trant to the level of mere statistics seems rather like discussing which brand of hand cream God liked to use when he created the world.

Stationed in his favoured gully position Trant chose to hang onto three catches this season while allowing many other, presumably inferior, chances to get away. His three stories each got several airings despite his time-consuming responsibilities as Club Captain, and while umpiring at Peppard he had a spectacular row with a certain bowler who felt he should be awarded a wicket simply because the wicketkeeper knocked the bails off.

During RUASCC’s record breaking run of 14 consecutive lost tosses, Trant was responsible for 12 of them.


Coming soon: The Bowlers (and Keith Withers)

RUASCC Review 2010 - The Batsmen

In this first instalment of my RUASCC 2010 Season Review I focus on those brave men who step out into the middle armed with nothing but gloves, pads, thigh pads, arm guards, a groin protector, a helmet and a kilo and a half of wood.

Andrew Eagle
510 runs @ 26.84

Opening batsman Eagle played in every match for RUASCC this season which means that for every minute we were fielding he was there questioning the field settings. He did manage to make himself useful though: in the first game of the season he took quite a remarkable one-handed catch on the Farley Hill boundary, the first of his five catches in 2010.

With the bat this was something of a comeback season for Dr Eagle - he passed fifty no fewer than four times (including his career best 86 at Highmoor) and topped 500 runs for the season during his 59 in the penultimate game of the season at Peppard. Against Tilehurst on an artificial pitch he was almost knocked out by a bouncer but went on to score 43 not out and save the draw.

This was an excellent season in which Eagle passed 7,000 runs for the club - it also saw a marked reduction in the number of times he threatened to give up cricket.

Michael Ward
348 runs @ 21.75

Wardy recorded his highest career score of 90 in the second game of the season on a freezing cold day at BBC Caversham – a game which saw the opposition reach only 64 runs between them! His one other fifty came in quite a remarkable performance at Peppard when, having kept wicket for 40 overs without conceding a bye, he opened the batting and scored 68 not out in the run chase.

A quick 30 from Wardy is a feature of several of RUASCC’s better batting displays this season and it’s perhaps no coincidence that our two scores of under 100 (Woodcote and Stonor) were in matches that he missed while off on some sordid adventure.

Wardy holds a 100% winning record as Captain having overcome Hambleden in his one match in charge, and although he can’t quite claim all-rounder status yet, it should be noted he also took two wickets (both clean bowled) as well as five catches and a stumping.

Ian Carpenter
341 runs @ 24.36

No one came closer to scoring a century this season than Carpo who was cruelly run out for 98 at Braywood. The innings included 15 fours and one six and helped to take RUASCC from the desperate position of 45-4 to 212 all out. Although this was his only fifty of 2010, Carpo posted some particularly useful scores towards the end of the season – his 34 against Greys and 39 not out against Hambleden were both vital in securing victories when chasing relatively low totals.

Like Ward, Carpenter also maintained a 100% record as Captain – and few who played at Hambleden will be able to forget the skipper bellowing out orders from the deep cover boundary before bringing himself on to take the last two wickets. Perhaps under-used as a bowler, he took 4 wickets in just 13.4 overs all season. He also contributed four catches, mainly from the slips.

Chan Malde
170 runs @ 24.29

A quite spectacular performance at Farley Hill brought Chan almost half his season’s runs in a single innings. Coming into bat at 34-4 Channy helped himself to 80, using his new B52 bat to its full potential, in RUASCC’s highest 2010 partnership of 125. It was enough to put the game comfortably beyond the reach of the home side.

An altogether different kind of knock earned Chan another 39 runs at Warborough in the final game of the season. With RUASCC again in trouble Chan carefully supported Zia on a wet, tricky wicket while the pair added 111 to give the bowlers a sufficient total to defend.

On tour in Portsmouth Chan also made a notable contribution on the golf course as he and Wardy were victorious in the fourballs.

Dip Patel
160 runs @ 12.31

A Captain’s Performance at Tilehurst was the season highlight for Dip, as his knock of 77 helped RUASCC to a useful but ultimately beatable total of 219-7. The partnership of 98 with John Baker was a feast of beautiful strokes on a hard-baked outfield - one drive in particular was so well timed it didn’t make a sound off the bat. In the game at Hambleden Dip hit his very first ball for six over fine-leg, an act which further demoralised the home side after they’d only just dismissed Zia for 70.

During the course of the season Dip passed 2000 runs for the club, took five catches (and a stumping) and completely lost his rag with Andrew Eagle. Now that’s what I call a summer.

Sam Griffiths
133 runs @ 19

Restricted to just nine appearances due to work commitments in London, Young Sam won’t put this season down as one of his best. We saw glimpses of his superb eye and wonderful timing at Stonor where he scored 28 in a total of 98-4, and also at Farley Hill where he timed a cover drive so well it would have gone for a flat six had there not been a man to catch it on the boundary. On the plus side, I understand his university football career is going very well.

Sam’s wicketkeeping can always be relied upon and he can boast six catches and a stumping for the season. One catch he didn’t quite make was halfway down the track at Portsmouth where he was flattened by Bruce Main.

Dersh Patel
96 runs @ 19.2

Dersh can claim two unique records for the 2010 this season. Firstly, he was the only RUASCC batsman to play against RUASCC. Looking very relaxed and confident, he came out to face us at number 11 for Greys Green, but to everyone’s relief Zia dismissed his partner before he’d managed to hit a significant score.

Secondly, he is the only RUASCC batsman to retire hurt without facing a ball, blaming an arm injury for his reticence at Farley Hill. His departure left the last wicket stand of Withers and Koslicki to block out the draw, which they did, but were tempted not to just to see if he would come back in again.

In just six innings for the club this season his highest score was 42 not out, contributing to RUASCC’s highest score of 235-5 at Hambleden. His partnership of 115 with Zia was the record for the 4th wicket. We understand that in the few games Dersh played for Wokingham this season he averaged 80 with the bat – which is nice for them.


Coming soon: The All-Rounders

Season Review – Bowling (Part 2)

Right, let’s get this over with, shall we?

Wargrave 11-1-50-1
In my first game post-holiday I started with a maiden and took a wicket (a slip catch by Zia) in my third over – both promising signs that a recovery of form might be on the way. But while nothing went disastrously wrong in this spell, nothing went particularly right either. Wargrave were nudging ones and twos at will towards the end and as they found me about as threatening as a heap of well-fed guinea pigs.

Portsmouth 7-0-44-1
A poor performance in this game could easily be explained away by the fact we were on tour and quite a lot of drinking had gone on. We’d been out clubbing all night and I was a bit jaded – certainly not at full strength. It is a bit of a worry, therefore, that this performance was indistinguishable from most of the others in 2010. My one wicket came thanks to a catch by Johnny Baker at point and everyone was so relieved we all forgot to congratulate him.

Hambleden 8-0-47-0
I don’t remember bowling a single good ball in this game, which is up there with the first Peppard game as contender for my worst showing of the season. I do remember being hit for two straight sixes and I also remember that the same two batsmen couldn’t get Zia off the square from the other end. Yes, I was bowling up the hill, but I can’t place any blame on the conditions – Dr Ashman replaced me and took three wickets.

Frieth 0.4-0-8-0
Defending a total of 112, I was brought on to bowl with Frieth at 105-9. As I said in the match report, some players would rise to the occasion and shatter the middle stump with the first ball of the over. That’s not really been the story of this season for me, and I needed only four balls to make a complete cock up of it.

Stonor 10-0-62-0
Stonor finished on 212-1 from 35 overs so I certainly wasn’t the only bowler to get hit about that day. In fact, this was a significantly better spell than any other I had bowled in the last few weeks. There were still too many four-balls, but with two very confident, hard-hitting batsmen there wasn’t much margin for error. Probably the first time in my RUASCC career I’ve gone three matches without taking a single wicket.

Greys Green 8-3-23-1
My first over went for 12 runs so the final figures actually represent a decent recovery - after clean bowling the other opening batsman in the second over everything seemed to tidy itself up and I didn’t get hit much again. Greys were dismissed for 116 with Main taking 1-7 and Zia 3-10 from similar spells.

Hambleden 8-1-20-3
Finally! It turns out Withers can bowl properly after all. The Hambleden openers would have been looking to fill their boots when they saw me open the bowling again, but something really clicked that day. Only one boundary came from my eight overs (a cover drive from the very last ball) and three top order batsmen were sent packing. This sort of thing used to happen a lot more often. I don’t know if there’s one specific thing I did differently, but more than one teammate commented afterwards that I ran in “with intent”.

Peppard 8-1-45-1
Having conceded 40 runs in just 5 overs here two months before there was room for improvement against Peppard. The opening pair set off like a train though, and after my initial 7 over spell I had conceded another 42 runs with nothing in the wickets column - I’d beaten the bat a few times but the batsmen were well in control. It wasn’t until I returned for the penultimate over of the innings that I managed to sneak a leg stump yorker through for my only success.

In the final match at Warborough I was unable to bowl due to a leg injury and an underlying inability to bowl. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, we won our fourth consecutive game to finish the season on a high.

The Stats

• I bowled 133.4 overs, more than anyone else for the club, and finished the season as only the fifth highest wicket-taker.

• My 13 wickets cost an average of 43.8 runs, the worst bowling average of anyone who qualified for a bowling average.

• My best figures were 3-20 and that was in one of the two matches I took more than one wicket.

• I conceded an average of 4.26 runs per over and only bowled 18 maidens in the entire season (average of just one per match).

It was without doubt my worst season since I started playing cricket and only on rare occasions did I feel like the same player I was in 2009. One thing that is patently obvious to me now is that I need to put in more effort: run in faster, hit the pitch harder and show that same “intent” that revealed itself in the return match against Hambleden. When I slow down to try to find the right line and length I get hit for more fours because the batsmen don’t feel threatened and just need to wait for the short ball, wide ball or full toss – which will inevitably come. I get away with a lot more when I bowl quicker, however my tendency to over-pitch does get found out when I meet a batsman who can drive the ball.

My problem is that I knew all this halfway through the season when I wrote the first part of this review - http://keiwitcricket.blogspot.com/2010/07/season-review-bowling.html - and yet I seemed quite unable to act on it. I’m optimistic that next season will be better and I’ll put in a strong pre-season from early in 2011 to make sure. Then you’ll see a much happier, fitter, stronger, wicket-taking blog.

Warborough (A) – 26.9.10

RUASCC 149 all out
Zia 66, Malde 39

Warborough 123 all out
Zia 4-39, Main 3-48

RUASCC won by 26 runs

Full scorecard can be found here.

On a grey, wet and cold day in the beautiful setting of Warborough, the final game of the season was a low-scoring affair decided by one key batting partnership. The rain did fall but only lightly, and the long, green outfield gave poor value for any shots along the floor. RUASCC’s fourth consecutive win to end the season was quite an achievement with only ten players - as well as being a man short, a calf muscle injury had rendered Withers unable to run thus reducing him to the fitness level of the rest of the team.

TRANTER LOST THE TOSS AGAIN.

Warborough chose to field and, with Ward running late due to a morning football match, Carpenter opened the batting with Eagle. Against good, accurate swing bowling the RUASCC innings began slowly and Carpenter was the first wicket to fall with the score on 7, bowled by a leg-cutter that just clipped the off bail. Eagle followed for a duck in the next over, caught down the leg-side by the keeper having been cramped for room. An early trip to the pub looked odds-on at this stage.

Fortunately for RUASCC, Zia is in such good form with the bat that he went on to score 66 despite being bowled for nought. Early in his innings he ducked a full toss only for it to crash into his middle stump, but with neither umpire clearly announcing a no ball Zia began to make his way to the pavilion. In a show of sportsmanship Warborough might well now regret, they called him back for another chance and he soon pummelled successive sixes in a partnership with Chan that got the visitors out of trouble.

In fact they added 111 in just under 21 overs, Chan scoring mostly with delicate glances down the leg side, Zia scoring mostly in fours just about anywhere in the park. Zia passed fifty for the third time this season and was coasting along on 66 when he charged down the wicket and was stumped. Next batsman Ward, clearly unused to having to wait for his chance in the middle, only scored 5 before he fell to the same bowler.

Bruce Main briefly showed some of his powerful hitting and made a rapid 14 before Chan turned down his request for a single. Main, slipping as he turned, suffered the misfortune to be run out while lying face down in the middle of the wet pitch. 139-5.

Joined at the crease by Tranter and staring at a long tail, Chan decided it was time to hit out. Sadly he missed a straight one and was bowled for 39, and that was about all RUASCC had to offer: Tranter was bowled for 3, Jagesh run out for 4 and suddenly it was 148-8.

Last man Withers, bravely batting without the aid of a runner, pushed his fourth ball into the covers, called for a single and had just succeeded in dragging his wounded leg to the non-striker’s end when he realised Ashman was enthusiastically calling for a second run. Hampered by his injury and also by his lack of a jetpack and/or time machine, Withers failed to make his ground by about 18 yards and was hopelessly run out. During a lively teatime discussion The Once Good Doctor Ashman insisted he was only carrying out the Captain’s instructions which were, presumably, to bring the innings crashing to an embarrassing conclusion on 149 all out. The News of the World is investigating.

Chasing 150 to win the Warborough innings started strongly with the openers seeming to have none of the trouble getting the ball away that affected 80% of the RUASCC team. They raced to 47-0 before Main made the breakthrough thanks to a sharp catch by Tranter in the gully and it was soon 51-2 as the other opener tried to hit Zia over long off and only succeeded in finding Main who judged the flight well to take a good catch. Zia, not for the first time this season, took a wicket in his first over then after another 14 runs had been added he took his second, clean bowling Whitty for 5.

Three overs later Bruce Main reacted superbly to adjust his follow-through and pick up the loose ball to run out Martinus at the striker’s end, and the very next ball he caught-and-bowled Thompson to leave Warborough 66-5. This left the match intriguingly poised with the home side needing 80 to win from the final 20 overs with five wickets in hand.

The situation swung dramatically in RUASCC’s favour again within the space of two overs as first Zia took a return catch for his third wicket then Main won an LBW decision with a full-pitched straight one. However, Main’s body rebelled against being asked to bowl a thirteenth consecutive over and he suffered a calf injury seemingly remarkably similar to the one Withers was already carrying. Withers, who had been hidden in the slips all afternoon, was sent out to mid-off as Main (3-48) took his place next to ‘keeper Ward.

Warborough had just crept past 100 when Zia took his fourth wicket, another hapless victim clean bowled. In the next over Main’s replacement Jagesh found an edge and the chance went straight to the big Kiwi who claimed his second catch of the game. Like I said last week, Main never drops them.

Zia, desperately trying to fit his overs in before leaving for work at 6pm, was still causing problems from the other end and he found an edge which was put down by Main at slip. While a Warborough win looked increasingly unlikely the draw remained a distinct possibility as the last pair understandably shut up shop. Five fruitless overs followed and time was running out, but as the batsmen blocked everything straight and left everything wide, Jagesh (2-30) produced the perfect ball: the one that starts wide and comes in. It proved too good for Johnson who politely allowed it to pass and peg back his middle stump. Warborough 123 all out with just two overs to spare.

RUASCC Highlight: The post-match curry.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Zia (66 & 4-39) - another superb all-round performance.

RUASCC Team: Carpenter, Eagle, Malde, Zia, Ward (wkt), Main, Tranter (capt), Jagesh, Ashman, Withers

Peppard (A) – 19.9.10

Peppard 198-6
Zia 2-23

RUASCC 199-6
Eagle 59, Ward 28

RUASCC won by 4 wickets

On a cool and cloudy day in Peppard a strong RUASCC side recorded another hugely satisfying win, successfully chasing down almost 200 in 35 overs in the dark after the home side had won the toss and batted first.

It was a victory that had looked unlikely after Main and Withers shared the first 14 overs and Peppard were 80-0. While it’s true to say there were a few streaky shots, it is also true that the opening batsmen, Legg and Vines, were in complete control - yes, they played and missed, but far more often they played and hit. It started to look like the breakthrough would never come, but these days RUASCC have the ideal man to turn to: Zia came on to bowl Legg with a tasty off-break.

At the other end Jagesh replaced Main and, despite an expensive first over, he found his line and soon the batsmen struggled to get the ball away. A handful of consecutive tight overs paid off when Vines looked to launch Jagesh over long-off and only succeeded in finding Bruce Main who took the catch easily. 102-2.

Peppard’s number three, Asquith, a man of considerable presence, played Zia with caution as the spinner racked up a spell of seven consecutive maidens, which included one wicket when Asquith’s partner was trapped bang in front. The next man, a young left-hander, didn’t last long as he launched a Baker delivery high in the air and much too close to Bruce Main. And Bruce Main never drops them.

At the other end Asquith was lucky to survive when a powerful drive was dropped by Bruce Main. With the RUASCC players scratching their heads trying to work out what had just happened, it was pointed out that Main must have deliberately put it down because the bowler, Baker, had earlier dropped a chance off him. However this logic couldn’t explain why Dip dropped one off Zia and Chan refused to hold onto one at slip having done the difficult part diving to his left.

As the Peppard innings drew to a stuttering conclusion Main and Withers returned to take a wicket each and thus at least partly justify their selection, but in the final over Main came in for some hammer from a 14-year-old with a long-handled Mongoose. As well as hitting a massive six and a four the young batsman was also dropped twice by a generous Jagesh who immediately phoned everyone to tell them about it. At the end of the over Peppard closed on 198-6 from 45 overs - a strong recovery from RUASCC’s change bowlers.

Peppard, who earlier in the season were awarded with the “Most Improved Tea 2010” accolade, consolidated their superb work by bringing out the pizza and sausages at about 4.15pm. A fantastic effort highly approved of by the visiting judges.

The RUASCC innings began with the controversial displacement of Withers from the score box (Peppard had their own scorer), a troubling experience for Withers who spent the next few hours signalling randomly at strangers and etching numbers into the pavilion wall. On the pitch, Ward and Eagle perhaps drew inspiration from the Peppard opening pair and set about building an attacking fifty-plus partnership of their own – Eagle confidently lofted Tim Vines over the six slip fielders while Ward hit some exquisite drives into the offside of all places.

The run rate was boosted considerably by a large number of byes, effectively acting as a third batsman, and once Vines finished his bowling spell he took over the gloves in an attempt to stop the flow behind the stumps. This move achieved only limited success, however the bowling change worked wonders as Ward was bowled by Vernon for 28. 72-1.

Dip began comfortably enough but before too long he chipped a catch straight to Roy Hayden at square leg, then Baker joined Eagle and the pair added more useful runs meaning the required rate never rose too high. It was all going swimmingly for Eagle (despite Peppard’s use of two third men to cut off his favourite shot) and he drove another boundary through the covers to bring up both his fourth fifty and pass the milestone of 500 runs for the season.

When Eagle had reached 59 he was given out LBW (“possibly outside the line and I put a bloody big stride in”) and soon Baker went the same way, equally if not more dubious about the decision. Zia hammered his first ball for a straight four and he had moved quickly to 13 when he was bowled trying to hit to the leg side and it seemed that some of the good work was being undone. With five wickets down and 50 runs short of victory the first murmurs of “doing a RUASCC” began to surface, while Jagesh took some time out from phoning everyone in order to send someone a text.

Chan arrived at the wicket and set his stall out immediately with a confident pull shot at a short ball from the young spinner. Unfortunately the ball didn’t cooperate and bowled him for a duck, but everyone agreed it was a pleasingly positive and aggressive duck.

Fortunately, with Ken Stewart absent, the RUASCC batting order had strength in depth and a seventh wicket partnership of skipper Carpenter and Bruce Main is certainly a very capable one. In increasing darkness Main, who enjoys thrashing young boys through the covers, brought back memories of his innings in Portsmouth with some firmly struck boundaries and there was more to celebrate as Extras reached their first fifty of the season with yet another bye. Carpenter kept a cool head to hit the winning boundary at the end of the 35th over and suddenly it all seemed surprisingly easy.

RUASCC Highlight: The batting gave plenty to choose from – classy straight drives from Ward and Zia, plus Eagle’s numerous controlled edges.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Andrew Eagle - a pleasing return to form.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Dip (wkt), Baker, Zia, Malde, Carpenter (capt), Main, Tranter, Jagesh, Withers

Hambleden (at Leighton Park) – 12.9.10

Hambleden 118 all out
Withers 3-20, Stewart 2-17

RUASCC 121-2
Carpenter 39 not out, Zia 38 not out

RUASCC won by 8 wickets

After a week of filthy weather and Saturday’s cancellation it was something of a relief to get a warm, sunny day at Leighton Park. RUASCC, captained for the first time by Michael Ward, sealed their third win in five matches and their second inside a month against Hambleden.

With Tranter away on a kayaking holiday in southern Japan, Ward did at least give a subtle nod to the Silver Fox by losing the toss in his honour. Hambleden opted to bat first on a green wicket and RUASCC, featuring not one, but two ten-year-olds, took to the field.

Evidence from the first half hour suggested someone has finally mentioned to Keith Withers that the season has started: after two tight overs the opening bowler was rewarded with a nick to the keeper for the first wicket. Several more edges followed, one almost held by the diving Baker at second slip, and the second wicket duly arrived shortly after as Arnold creamed a straight drive back at the bowler’s face. Withers, presented with a straightforward choice of “catch it or die” somehow clung onto the ball and it was 14-2.

Zia, bowling another insultingly economical spell, also bagged an early wicket as Hambleden’s top order crumbled. And Withers hadn’t finished yet – a full, slower ball on leg-stump found a way through to give his best return of the season: 3-20 from eight overs.

Baker replaced Zia and he was frustrated very early on as new batsman Winchester popped the ball up nicely to Ward at cover only to see the chance put down. Ashman, bowling from the other end, had better luck when his first ball was slashed horribly to Carpenter at slip who grabbed it like it was the last cheese sandwich. Realising he wasn’t getting any help from the fielders, Baker decided to go it alone and cleaned up the stumps instead leaving Hambleden six wickets down with only one batsman, Winchester, standing in RUASCC’s way. His confident driving and clouts towards mid-wicket, as well as his consistent success at keeping the strike, pushed the Hambleden score up towards 100.

Then, as Winchester played a square cut to bring up his fifty, Baker’s return throw from the deep cover boundary managed to evade Dip’s gloves for an overthrow, at which point Eagle helpfully asked whether there was anything the wicketkeeper might like to differently in future. Dip, after a moment’s considered thought, calmly enquired as to whether perhaps Dr Eagle might like to assist him by taking over behind the stumps for the rest of the innings. While Eagle pondered this from the mid-wicket boundary, a short but productive meeting with the captain resulted in Dip deciding that he simply loves keeping too much to let someone else do it, and just a few minutes later he was ready to receive the next ball. It’s one of the most rewarding things about playing for RUASCC – seeing these infrequent episodes of potential disagreement being dealt with in such a mature and positive way. It sets an excellent example for the ten-year-olds.

Back to the game, and as so often tends to happen, the introduction of Ken Stewart into the bowling attack earned RUASCC the key breakthrough – Winchester again chipping the ball into the covers and this time Ward taking it safely running to his right. After that there was minimal resistance as RUASCC swiftly mopped up the tail. Such was the visiting side’s dismal fate that they even suffered the indignity of succumbing to a run out from “good arm” Withers (deadly from silly mid-off). Carpenter took another slip catch to give Stewart (2-17) another wicket and the final scalp went to Rahul Patel whose uncle Dip took the stumping. 118 all out.

It would be remiss of me here if I failed to offer a big thank you to the visiting members of the Patel family for an excellent tea.

RUASCC’s innings began with a left-right partnership for both sides: Ward and Eagle doing their best to nullify the threat of two quick, aggressive bowlers including the main batsman Winchester. Thanks to some generous wicketkeeping it was byes that set the early pace, reaching ten before either batsman had got off the mark. Eagle, despite being 6’5” tall, was peppered with bouncers by the left-armer - he attempted to hook one and allowed the others to pass before sending a message to the pavilion that perhaps a helmet might be a good idea. He didn’t need it though, for in the next over he was done by a quick, full one and was out LBW for 2.

Having seen off the quicker bowlers things got easier for Ward and Carpenter. When presented with several short balls down the leg side Ward proved adept at finding the backward square leg boundary, and when Winchester unwisely chose to start bowling spin Ward spanked him for two consecutive fours thus swiftly putting an end to that experiment. Carpenter slashed hard over gully to get off the mark and never looked in any trouble at all while, for the second consecutive match, he took control of the run chase.

Having put on more than fifty for the second wicket Ward went for 29, bowled attempting another big shot, but that was to be Hambleden’s last success. Zia (38 not out) and Carpenter (39 not out) played cuts, drives and pulls all over the park and made light work of polishing off the last fifty runs. RUASCC won by 8 wickets with more than 12 overs to spare.

RUASCC Highlight: The enormous fight.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Not for the first time this season - Zia. Economical with the ball, devastating with the bat, he was well-supported by Withers (3-20) and Carpenter (39 not out).

RUASCC Team: Ward (capt), Eagle, Carpenter, Zia, Dip (wkt... not wkt... wkt), J Baker, W Baker, Stewart, R Patel, Withers, Ashman

Mandarins (H) - 11.9.10

Match cancelled - apparently not good weather for ducks.

Greys Green (H) – 4.9.10

Greys Green 116 all out
Zia 3-10, Main 1-7

RUASCC 117-4
Carpenter 34

RUASCC won by 6 wickets

RUASCC’s first home game of the season brought a very welcome win against visiting Greys Green thanks to a much improved bowling performance and, possibly not coincidentally, the return of Main and Zia to the starting eleven.

Tranter won the toss, as he does so frequently these days, and put Greys into bat on a hard, dry university pitch. Main opened up with a maiden before Withers was hit for three fours in his first over prompting thoughts among the fielders that this could be a long afternoon. Fortunately, improvement was imminent as Main and Withers shared five consecutive maidens with a wicket apiece (both openers clean bowled) to leave Greys struggling on 15-2 after the first half hour of play.

Greys worked hard to rebuild their innings and, with the help of a few edges and a few overthrows, formed a useful third wicket stand. Baker almost pulled off a terrific catch in the gully off Main, but he just couldn’t close his left hand around the ball and had to be content with saving a certain four. Main, whose nine-over spell brought him 1-7, and Withers (1-23) were replaced by Baker and Zia but success didn’t come immediately as the partnership passed fifty.

With the score on 71-2, Zia got the double breakthrough trapping Jenkins LBW for 28 and three balls later taking the prize wicket of Skilliter, bowled for a duck. A very important over this for RUASCC as the Greys captain has been known to score big runs in matches over the years. From here the innings never really got going again – another vital wicket came when danger man Shafqat was rapped on the pads and Umpire Sewell’s finger was up before Johnny Baker could turn round to appeal.

Zia clean bowled another to finish with 3-10 from his eight overs (what a difference he would have made at Stonor last week!) and RUASCC were in such a strong position that Captain Tranter felt able to bring himself and Ken Stewart on to mop up the tail. Stewart held onto a return catch from his third ball before Tranter’s straight, good-length delivery found a way through. Then despite a quick cameo from Dersh (4 not out) Stewart and Sewell combined to earn another LBW and end the Greys innings on 116.

RUASCC’s batting order was restored to normality this week as Stewart and Withers dropped back to numbers ten and eleven respectively. Ward and Eagle opened against some tight, wobbly bowling from Shafqat and Skilliter and made slow progress to 15-0 after eight overs. Not many more had been added when Eagle (11) chipped a low full toss back to the bowler and had to go.

The first bowling change saw the return of young leg-spinner Alex McKenzie who many of us remembered from Frieth where he took 2-30 and scored the winning runs. His first ball was short and Wardy pulled it over the rope for six to move to 15; his third ball was a full toss and Wardy pulled it straight to mid-wicket who caught it at something like the twelfth attempt. 31-2.

As with the Greys innings, it was the third wicket stand that steadied RUASCC’s reply. Carpenter and Dip put on 54 in ten overs, skilfully putting away the bad balls and, in Dip’s case, somewhat fortunately surviving some of the better ones. The change bowlers didn’t seem to carry the same threat and Carpenter found the long pavilion boundary with some powerful hitting.

It was McKenzie who dismissed both batsmen in the space of a couple of overs. Dip (16) had a slash at a wide one and nicked it to the keeper while Carpenter (34) left another wide one and momentarily left his crease as the keeper threw down the stumps. 88-4 and 29 runs were needed from the last nine overs. Surely not even RUASCC could mess this one up?

All fears were allayed as Baker (15 not out) cut his first ball for four and hit two more boundaries while, after a quiet start, Chan (14 not out) and his enormous bat clubbed three fours of his own over the mid-on region as RUASCC made it home after 27.3 overs with six to spare – a convincing and well-deserved win.

RUASCC Highlight: Zia’s ripper to remove Skilliter and turn the match in RUASCC’s favour. Ward’s six over mid-wicket and a straight drive from Carpenter were two memorable shots, while Tranter’s wicket was also the cause of much celebration.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Shared between Zia and Carpenter this week. In a low scoring game Carpo’s 34 proved very useful in RUASCC’s successful run chase. Zia’s 3-10 went a significant way to keeping that target down.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Carpenter, Dip (wkt), Chan, Baker, Zia, Main, Tranter (capt), Stewart, Withers

Stonor (A) - 29.8.10

Stonor 212-1
RUASCC 98-4

Match drawn

Such is the nature of timed cricket that this sort of match can end with neither side claiming victory. This was a match dominated by one team from the very first over right through to the last, and yet RUASCC never looked in danger of being bowled out and losing the game.

In three years RUASCC haven’t put out a full-strength side against Stonor and it didn’t look promising from the moment we arrived with only ten players. Notable absentees included Ward, Zia, Main, Jagesh, Dip and Dersh and this resulted in a depleted batting line-up, a depleted bowling line-up and a depleted umpiring line-up. It also meant Withers was promoted to open the batting, thus indirectly leading to a depleted scorers line-up.

All those who chose to miss the game would be kicking themselves if they’d known Tranter would, for the first time this season, call correctly at the toss - it was an oddly sentimental moment that will not be quickly forgotten by those who were there. Taking the only sensible option available to him, Trant chose to field first but from very early on it became apparent ten fielders wouldn’t be enough.

The Stonor openers cut and pulled anything marginally short of a length and several shots off Baker ended up in the hedge by the road. They made rapid progress until swirling wind and diagonal rain took the players off. Now, Stonor is a superb setting for cricket with its rolling hills and high vantage point, but once that wind and rain comes in you really get a taste of how exposed it is. In the rush to leave the pitch one of the batsmen put his foot in a rabbit hole and twisted his ankle, prematurely ending his innings. This trip down the rabbit hole earned him the nickname “Alice” for the rest of the day.

After ten minutes the rain petered out and the players returned to the field where bowlers Baker and Koslicki were again treated harshly by the Stonor clubbers. Withers replaced Baker from the running-into-the-gale-force-wind end and saw his first ball dispatched over square leg for four before wrestling a small amount of control and only going for six runs an over.

Koslicki was replaced by Ashman and the first wicket finally arrived when the Good Doctor unleashed a low full toss which was spooned straight to Koslicki at mid-off. This turned out to be RUASCC’s only success in 34 overs as Stonor hit hard and ran well to finish on 212-1 at tea.

RUASCC’s reply began badly as Withers and Eagle padded up. Then, once on the pitch, Withers got off the mark in the first over playing a very Eagle-esque edge for four through the vacant third slip region. It would be stretching the point somewhat to say the runs flowed after this as the opening pair put on 20 in about 14 overs before Eagle edged behind for his second successive single-figure score.

Carpenter came in at three and immediately punched the ball through mid-wicket for his first four but a few overs later, facing the same bowler, he didn’t quite get enough on the ball to clear mid-on and was caught. His brief but entertaining innings set about a pattern that was to be repeated by Baker and Young Sam later on.

Baker took 12 from one over and was getting ready to pummel us to victory when he pulled directly to mid-wicket. Young Sam took a similar approach hitting four fours and six (and surviving a raucous LBW appeal) on his way to 26 before missing a dipping full toss which crashed into his leg stump.

Meanwhile Withers concentrated on simply being there at the end of the game. Forward defensive followed elaborate leave which in turn followed forward defensive, prompting some barely-concealed aggression from the slip cordon and, in particular, one left-arm spinner who couldn’t draw the slightest hint of a stroke. Withers, displaying commendable levels of concentration and a dispiriting lack of confidence and talent, plodded on. Blocking and leaving, leaving and blocking, until just ten overs remained and he was joined by another obdurate little bugger, Ken Stewart.

At this point the match, which had previously been slowly expiring, simply curled up and died. Withers blocked one over; Stewart blocked the next. A few byes were taken, a couple of twos (Withers even hit a square cut for four when the Stonor skipper introduced his own off-side tempters) but neither batsman would budge. Stewart successfully saw out the final over to draw the match and leave Withers stranded heartbreakingly just 32 runs short of what would have been a second career half-century. RUASCC 98-4.

RUASCC Highlight: Sam putting the ball in the hedge for six during his cameo 26.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Genuinely struggling here... this week it’s a rollover.

RUASCC Team: Withers, Eagle, Carpenter, Baker, Griffiths (wkt), Stewart, Scar, Koslicki, Tranter (capt), Ashman

Frieth (A) - 22.8.10

RUASCC 112-9
Jagesh 21 not out, Stewart 20, Carpenter 18

Frieth 113-9
Jagesh 5-36, Stewart 2-28

Frieth won by 1 wicket

RUASCC’s first fixture in the mountainous, tribal village of Frieth was not one for the batsmen to remember. The two teams managed just 225 runs between them – ten fewer than RUASCC scored for the loss of only five wickets last Sunday at Hambleden – and it wasn’t that bad a pitch. The fact is RUASCC had the batting and the bowling to win this game comfortably, and despite only posting 112-9, probably still should have won as Frieth were wobbling at 93-9 in response.

The route to this lovely, remote cricket ground takes you via a sophisticated network of single lane tracks, past a group of territorial and competitive pigeons and into the middle of a large field atop a hill from which, on a clear day, you can see the arch of Wembley Stadium and, if you’re really lucky, the large, blue corrugated hell that is Ikea.

Following a quick warm-up in the nets the RUASCC team looked on as the two captains went through the charade of walking out to the middle, having a chat, flipping a coin and walking all the way back again. In future might I suggest Trant just asks the home skipper whether he’d like to bat or bowl? 14 consecutive tosses lost, and if you feel like unlearning something today, try this.

On this occasion Frieth opted to bowl first and that looked a decent call as RUASCC were 40-5 after 17 overs. Ward gloved behind for a duck, Eagle went LBW for 9 and Zia was cleaned up second ball, all by the same left-arm bowler (who finished with 3-2 from six overs). Then Dip hit two boundaries before he pulled straight to mid-wicket and Law was caught at short fine leg off a full toss which he will maintain to his very last breath should have been given a no-ball.

Fortunately for RUASCC the fall of the fifth wicket brought Ken Stewart to the crease and his partnership of 27 with Carpenter (18) turned out to be the biggest of the innings. But 67-5 soon became 67-7 as Carpenter was caught down the leg side and Tranter fed the ball straight to mid-off without scoring. Stewart (20) was then stumped after charging down the wicket to the young leg-spinner and realising he would struggle to get back to his crease the same day.

From 82-8 Jagesh and Withers pushed the score up past 100 but Withers (10) came unstuck as soon as he tried an attacking stroke and dragged a half volley onto his stumps so it was left to Ashman (4 not out) to see Jagesh (21 not out) through to tea. 112-9 from 48 overs.

Out came the carrot and kidney bean sandwiches for tea as RUASCC sought a plan that would secure an unlikely victory. The plan, as it turned out, was this: bowl Zia and Jagesh for as long as we possibly can. And it nearly worked too.

While Zia ripped through his overs economically from one end, Jagesh had the unenviable task of bowling a 13-over spell from the other. After a useful, if shaky, opening partnership of 28 Jagesh made the breakthrough by destroying the opener’s leg stump. What followed brought back memories of Jagesh’s spell against Greys Green last year (7-58) as wickets tumbled, two more clean bowled and a catch each from Stewart and Trant to give Jagesh his first five-wicket haul of the season. I dare say he was unlucky not to get a couple more as our wicketkeeper failed to cling onto his chances.

When Jagesh (5-36) was removed from the attack he was replaced by Dave Law who, after one ball, realised the shoulder injury sustained in unsuccessfully diving for an earlier catch would prevent him from contributing a meaningful spell. His over was completed by the evergrey Ken Stewart who took the important wicket of Williams (26) and another very sharp return catch on his way to collecting 2-28.

Although it was clear that Frieth, supremely confident of victory, had messed with their batting order, it wasn’t entirely clear when the good batsmen appeared. A panicked single saw the end of Clee as bowler Zia turned and threw down the stumps with the batsman about three miles from safety. Then the home captain, Fraser, marshalled the strike towards the end but he skied a leading edge off Zia to become the ninth wicket down. It was 93-9 and all three results were still possible.

Finally, at the end of a 19-over stint, Zia had to leave for work with six overs left of the game. With only eight more runs to defend, who else could Tranter turn to other than senior bowler and current Player of the Year Keith Withers, fresh from an afternoon chasing the ball to the backward point boundary?

There are two kinds of player in this world: there is the one who seizes this type of opportunity and, with one fast, swinging yorker, wins the match and the adulation of his teammates. Keith Withers is, this season at least, the other kind of player. Withers needed only four balls to give away the two boundaries required for defeat - one a fortunate edge down to third man, the other a glance to fine leg.

Frieth’s young leg-spinner (16-5-30-2) and number 11 batsman (18 not out) Alex McKenzie must be about the easiest pick for Man-of-the-Match they’ve had this season.

RUASCC Highlights: Ken’s instinctive catch off his own bowling and Zia’s tremendous direct-hit run out.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Not just for top-scoring with the bat (21), but for his remarkable spell of 13 overs taking 5-36 – it’s Jagesh. Oh, and he took a catch too.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Carpenter, Zia, Dip (wkt), Law, Stewart, Tranter (capt), Jagesh, Withers, Ashman

Hambleden (A) - 15.8.10

RUASCC 235-5
Zia 70, Eagle 51, Dersh 42 not out

Hambleden 188 all out
Stewart 3-34, Ashman 3-48

RUASCC won by 47 runs

The Hambleden pitch, with its two-tier bounce system and massive slope, can be a tricky one to score runs from so it’s really quite remarkable that over 400 were scored in Sunday’s game. It is even more remarkable that more than half of them were scored by RUASCC who have struggled on this ground in recent years.

With Tranter absent due to line-dancing commitments, Ian Carpenter took over the captaincy for the day and proceeded to lose RUASCC’s 13th consecutive toss. Asked to bat first in a 40-over match, Ward and Eagle laid the perfect foundation with an opening partnership of 77 as both batsmen showed commendable concentration against some tight bowling on the difficult surface.

Having seeing off the opening bowlers Ward was given LBW for 32 and Captain Carpenter joined Eagle who had crept into the thirties for the umpteenth time this season. Then just past the halfway point in the innings Carpenter chipped a slower ball to mid-on for 16 and Eagle, who had just reached another fifty, was caught trying to hit over the top. 106-3.

The second half of the innings was dominated by another fine partnership – this time between Zia and Dersh. Scoring at an excellent rate, Zia reached his second successive RUASCC fifty and pushed the score past 200 with several overs to spare. Dersh, showing some decent strokes himself, brought up the hundred partnership before Zia was eventually caught in the deep for 70. 221-4.

Dip joined his brother for the final overs and hit his first ball, a full toss, for six over fine leg to continue the fun. This was followed by a bizarre three that would have only been a single except the clearly aggrieved fielder didn’t move towards the ball to pick it up – one of a number of signs that the home side weren’t enjoying their afternoon game. Dip was caught at mid-on for nine, leaving Withers to occupy the non-striker’s end for two balls as Dersh added two more runs to finish on 42 not out. Withers, still yet to be dismissed for RUASCC this season, added another 0 not out to his burgeoning reputation as someone who’s clearly not in the team for his bowling. 235-5.

Ken Stewart, relegated to number nine for unspecified misdemeanours, was not called upon to bat.

Zia-time was once again limited so the batting legend was asked to open the bowling. Rattling through his overs at his usual speed, he barely gave anything away and barely gave Withers a chance to breathe. With eight overs, 1-14, he bid farewell and headed off for work while at the other end Withers, with eight overs and 0-47, sadly had to stay.

Replacing Zia down the hill, Ken Stewart finally made a meaningful contribution to the game as he took an early wicket, the first of his 3-34 – all clean bowled including a true ankle-biter. RUASCC were, at all times, being reminded of their responsibilities by the ever-vocal Carpenter, and at the other end Dr Ashman achieved similar success with the slow, straight one and finished his spell with 3-48 thanks to a catch each from Ward and Withers at mid-on and long-off respectively.

Hambleden’s run rate remained fairly consistent – at the twenty-over mark they had been marginally ahead – but with the regular fall of wickets they always looked unlikely to chase down the target. Guest Adam Seymour bowled two overs, one of which spanned an impressive twelve balls, and even Ward had a tweak taking 1-16 in three overs.

But the final say went to Captain Carpenter who brought himself on with four overs to go and ended with figures of 2-3 from just ten balls as he clean bowled the last man to win the match.

Upon first glance the Hambleden scorebook had them somewhere between 176 and 191 so, siding with the tick box, the total of 188 all out was settled upon. A win for RUASCC by 47 runs on a beautiful sunny day in the beautiful village of Hambleden.

RUASCC Highlight: Dip hooking a high full toss for six from his first ball. And Ward’s headband.

RUASCC Man of the Match: For scoring 70 runs and bowling eight overs with an economy rate less than two – Zia. Honourable mentions reserved for Eagle’s fifty and Stewart’s despicable daisy cutters.

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Carpenter (capt), Zia, Dersh, Dip (wkt), Withers, Seymour, Stewart, Koslicki, Ashman

Portsmouth (A) – 8.8.10

Portsmouth 182-7
Main 4-36, Baker 1-12

RUASCC 157-7
Main 63, Baker 41

MATCH DRAWN

The only cricket match of the 2010 RUASCC Tour produced a performance that was, as you may have already noticed, dominated to a large extent by Bruce Main and Johnny Baker. In addition to their rather helpful batting and bowling they each also took a catch, just in case you were worried they didn’t get involved enough.

On Sunday morning a message came from Portsmouth to say they were putting out a weaker-than-expected side, mostly consisting of colts supported by a couple of 2nd team players. Similarly RUASCC were also putting out a weaker-than-expected side: RUASCC.

Due to the cancellation at Southampton on Friday the touring side approached this game fit and well-rested. Or at least they would have done had Chan not ruptured his Achilles tendon playing golf on Saturday; or if Eagle, Ward, Young Sam and Withers hadn’t been out entertaining the sailors on Gun Wharf Quay until 2am Sunday morning; or if Ken hadn’t over-exerted himself by staying awake in the hotel bar till almost 6pm. Fortunately, Bruce Main and Johnny Baker were fit and well-rested.

On arrival at the ground, directly next to the sea, RUASCC engaged in an intense and at times brutal net session with Main showing his intent to cause pain by aiming a bouncer at Ward’s sweatband-covered head. Young Sam managed to bowl the ball backwards and Ashman found some swing he didn’t know existed. This was followed by some intense catching practice with Ward and Chan belting cricket balls all over the field for Main to chase - and all this was achieved while trying to make sure the roaming black Labrador didn’t urinate on our vulnerable cricket bags.

It was something of a relief when the home side eventually arrived just before 2pm and it was of course no surprise that Trant lost the toss and was asked to field. Main and Baker opened the bowling on a decent pitch and Main bagged the first wicket when one of the few Portsmouth adults played onto his stumps. With a quick outfield the ball had to be bowled in the right place and Baker’s spell from the other end was especially frugal: seven overs cost only 12 runs and he picked up a wicket of his own thanks to a sharp catch by Young Sam standing up.

Main’s second wicket came off a leading edge that was caught safely by Withers at mid-wicket, then Baker was replaced by Withers and he helped out the new bowler with a tidy catch at point which absolutely nobody congratulated him for. Portsmouth Youth were 54-4 scoring fewer than three runs per over and there was a suggestion that perhaps we should ease off the gas a little to make a game of it. Then Portsmouth Youth stepped on the gas.

A partnership of 99 followed as Withers was hit for a straight six and several other boundaries while the fielders tried without much success to stem the flow of quick runs. Opening batsman Goddard passed fifty and had the greater share of the strike and not even Stewart’s accuracy and surprising bounce could dislodge the pair. It took The Good Dr Ashman to finally remove Goddard for 85 – Young Sam taking the catch despite the batsman’s attempt to block his run. 153-5.

Main returned for the final few overs and was involved in the game’s most fascinating incident: one delivery was slashed high into the air half way down the wicket and several calls were heard – Main shouted for it, Tranter called for Young Sam to take it, Young Sam then called. Eventually the ball fell and Main clung onto it above the dive of the wicketkeeper and everyone started shouting at each other again. Main shouted at Young Sam, Young Sam shouted at Tranter, Ward just giggled and Chan tried to wrap a five-iron round Ken’s head (although that might have been a different incident). No harm done in the end.

Portsmouth added several useful runs to their total thanks to a few fortunate edges and some very quick running and they had reached 182 before they tried another crazy run on the last ball of the innings and Young Sam was credited with a stumping off Main. 182-7 from 35 overs.

RUASCC have been scoring well at times this season and, on a good pitch against a team of youngsters, would have fancied chasing down the total. Things didn’t start well, however, and Ward was back in the hutch after only three balls having edged behind to the keeper for 0.

Eagle and Carpenter got the ball rolling and both had just reached double figures when they departed in near-identical fashion – each slapping a full toss straight to the big target at short leg. It quickly got worse as both Chan and Sam fell to the left-arm spinner Marston who finished with 4-29. Nothing to be ashamed of, getting out to Marston, who we were told is the leading wicket taker in the Hampshire under-14 league. RUASCC were 51-5 and struggling when Main joined Baker (already on 15) at the crease.

Main adopted a positive strategy from the start and employed his two shots to devastating effect. With the fielders in close, anything short was pummelled over mid-off or through the covers and anything over-pitched was met with the trusty long-arm sweep through mid-wicket. Suddenly the ball didn’t seem to be turning or swinging – it just seemed to sit up and get thrashed to the boundary by the flat track bully from New Zealand. With Baker providing able support the fifty stand came up in just a few overs, and as the run rate continued to accelerate there was still a chance for RUASCC to reach the target.

Main reached his fifty with another boundary through mid-wicket and had contributed 63 to the partnership of 103 when both batsmen were dismissed in successive balls, both caught off full tosses going for big hits. 157-7, still 26 runs short of victory and only a couple of overs left for Stewart and Tranter (with a combined batting age of 130) to see out. The final over, from the returning Marston, was a maiden that Tranter negotiated calmly and a draw was the result.

The game was somewhat reminiscent of last year’s Sunday game on tour, when Portsmouth & Southsea’s youngsters had hit 248 before restricting us to 192-9. Based on the evidence of these two games, the most successful policy when batting against young players with good technique is to leave the elegant strokes and quick singles behind; opt instead for sheer brutality and have them fetch the ball from the hedge a few times.

So, an unbeaten tour for the mighty RUASCC army. What heights are still to be reached I simply cannot say.

RUASCC Highlight: It really should be the exhilarating batting of Main, but from a neutral’s point of view you would have to say the shouting match the followed Main’s caught-and-bowled was the highlight.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Bruce Main

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle, Carpenter, Baker, Chan, Griffiths (wkt), Main, Stewart, Tranter (capt), Ashman, Withers

Wargrave (at Leighton Park) – 1.8.10

Wargrave 192-8
Zia 2-42, Jagesh 2-44

RUASCC 183-8
Zia 82, Eagle 27

MATCH DRAWN

On the first Sunday in August RUASCC played their first “home” game of the season at Leighton Park School against the lesser-spotted Wargrave Cricket Club. In a pleasing show of hospitality Captain Eagle lost yet another toss (eleven in a row for the club) and in an equally welcome display of politeness Wargrave opted to bat first.

And they made a decent start, with three early boundaries, before Zia’s extra bounce found a leading edge and Young Sam took the catch almost on top of the stumps. From the other end Main was hitting the right areas (as usual) and the outside edge over the slips seemed to be the shot of choice. With nearly an hour played the score had just passed fifty when the batsmen attempted a suicidal run to Jagesh’s right arm and the second wicket fell. The third soon followed when a Zia bouncer was brilliantly taken by Young Sam having deflected off the batsman’s glove. Sadly the necessary forward dive crushed one of Sam’s fingers and Dip took over the gloves shortly afterwards.

As the innings continued many balls seemed to go high in the air only to land between fielders, but Main clung on to a steep one off his own bowling to leave Wargrave four wickets down for about a hundred runs. Jagesh replaced Zia from the Tennis Court End and picked up a wicket of his own, clean bowling the man with the bat made almost entirely of edge.

Withers came on to replace Main and, to everyone’s relief, bowled a maiden with his first over. While Withers imagined the ball was swinging a bit, Dr Ashman pointed out that he was now bowling so slowly the earth was rotating just a few inches before the ball reached the other end. Either way, success came in Withers’ third over courtesy of an edge to Zia at slip.

Robinson (Henley 2nds, don't you know) was going along nicely on 32 but he fell for Jagesh’s long-hop trap when his enormous pull shot went straight to Withers on the square leg boundary. Withers had been placed there only three balls earlier and he gratefully accepted the catch.

The visitors had passed 150 and with two young lads swinging the bat they carried on at a run a ball until the end. Ken Stewart took a wicket with his first ball then saw a catch dropped from his second in an eventful one-over spell as Wargrave finished on 192-8.

After two weeks away on holiday the pressure was on Withers to come through with an edible tea and as far as I know, 48 hours on, there have been no reports of any unpleasantness from either side. It is sad to report that several peanut butter sandwiches had to be discarded as their expected popularity was greatly over-estimated.

With Wardy absent, presumed drunk, a new opening pairing was needed and it was decided that Zia should accompany Eagle at the top of the order. Wargrave quickly realised they needed a man on the boundary at square leg for Zia but they couldn’t stop runs coming at a decent rate in the early stages. Eagle continues to play with the confidence of a wookie in an ewok basketball match and soon the gentler opening bowlers were replaced by more obvious pace. This brought about a couple of maidens but, once Zia decided to accelerate, 26 runs came from two exhilarating overs.

One ball into the 18th over umpire Dersh announced there were twenty overs remaining, however this was widely shouted down and it was agreed we would fit in one more. Almost immediately Eagle made his first mistake, chipping the ball to point for a handy 27. 72-1.

Carpenter was next in and the runs continued to flow. Zia, despite being severely hampered by a muscle injury in his leg, and Carpo, on the back of his 97 at Braywood, recorded our second half-century partnership of the innings before Carpo was run out for 21 going for a risky single. 139-2 with a run a ball needed for victory.

Wargrave fielded well throughout the innings and Carpenter, Dip and Stewart were all run out with direct hits. Dip was done for by a superb thrown from mid-on; he didn’t even wait for the umpire’s signal. Young Sam, in at number five, chipped the ball to mid-wicket for a duck and suddenly RUASCC were running out of batsmen.

Things got even worse when finally Zia was dismissed, caught going for another big hit for a magnificent 82. Stewart’s run out, the sixth wicket to fall, brought Main in and his partnership with Dersh, who found the gaps well for plenty of singles, was the last hope. Main then became the fourth RUASCC batsman to be run out and in the penultimate over Dersh holed out to mid-off with twelve runs still needed.

If you could pick two men to bash twelve runs from six balls it most definitely wouldn’t be Jagesh and Withers. In fact they picked up just a single run each from the final over and RUASCC finished ten runs short of victory.

RUASCC Highlight: The two overs that went for 26 runs as Zia and Eagle (mostly Zia!) accelerated.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Two wickets, one catch and 82 runs all achieved while apparently attempting to shake off a broken leg – Zia.

RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Zia, Carpenter, Dip (wkt), Griffiths (wkt), Dersh, Stewart, Main, Jagesh, Withers, Ashman

Braywood (A) - 25.7.10

While I was up here:



This was going on down here:

A team resembling normality in personnel if not in personality met at Braywood on a day that always threatened rain which never came. Trant lost the toss, which hardly needs any comment nowadays but that’s ten in a row for the club this season. We fielded, so all’s well… Koslicki and Main opened well enough but the openers dispatched any loose balls over the fast outfield.

The first wicket fell at 58 courtesy of Main, followed by Ken beguiling their good opener to pat one to Ward at point. That was about it as highlights went as their third wicket put on 99 runs until Trant took one at deep gully from Koslicki. Eagle took a good running catch also from Koslicki whilst Baker bowled tightly at the other end to stem further runs and take two wickets but, having faced 45 overs, Braywood set 233 as a target.

The tea was gargantuan and would have covered three fixtures. Ward and Eagle opened against two spinners; Eagle was looking on form until he smacked a full toss straight into their leaping skipper’s hands at short cover for 4. Ward followed soon for 1 and Dip’s lack of recent form continued as RUASCC slumped to 37-3. Chan was unlucky to be caught and bowled for 7, and now we were 45-4!

But Carpenter was there and his trademark backfoot lifted pulls to leg were ominously building up runs. He was joined by Baker who played second fiddle for much of their 114 run partnership. Carpo was in scintillating form as he pulled and cut his way to a quick fifty and higher. Then the day took a turn for the worse as Carpo, as last week, called for a quick one and Baker selflessly ran himself out for 41.

Sam took his place and we still looked on for the win, needing a run a ball. But again a poor call ended in a needless run out, alas of Carpo on 97 (including 15 fours and one six); what an innings, it deserved a century! Sam continued to hit hard with Bruce employing his sweep but a top edge ended his innings. The win now looked unlikely especially when Ken, struggling with an injured hip, took a wander up the track thinking the keeper had missed the ball only to find he hadn’t and was run out!

Despair was replacing joy on the bench as now even the draw looked shaky, not helped as Koslicki went first ball to their skipper who had decided some pace might now be a good idea. Main and Tranter are normally a safe pair of blockers but the tragedy was completed as Bruce was bowled off his legs with two balls remaining and staff lost by 21 runs. Another day of “Ifs and Buts”, and really disappointing not to have won let alone drawn this game.

Highlight and Man of the Match: Carpo and his 97.

Team: Ward, Eagle, Carpenter, Dip (wkt), Chan, Baker, Griffiths, Main, Stewart, Koslicki, Tranter (capt)

Report Writer With Merit: Dr Eagle

Tilehurst & Theale (H&A) - 18.7.10

My thanks once again to Dr Eagle for penning this week's match report. I had a lovely holiday, thank you for asking.

Just when it all seemed to have gone well in that we had managed to find 11 players, the afternoon took a turn for the worse before making a handbrake turn into the bizarre!

T&T thought they were playing away and had booked out their pitch, we heard from our “scout” Wardy and from an early arrival from the opposition. Eagle & Carpenter tried, with their undoubted charms, to persuade the Sports centre to allow us the main pitch but all we were offered was the artificial 2nd pitch. Well, seeing that our other choice was to cancel we trekked to the forbidding oval that is the 2nd pitch. Eagle lost the toss (9 times in a row for RUASCC now) and a youthful (and I mean that as in “fast, fit, threatening and cocky”) T&T batted.

Zia and Jagesh opened, and it was with much satisfaction that Eagle took a catch at long off, Zia having just told him to drop back a bit as he was going to try a slow one! This was the first of eight catches for RUASCC. Two more wickets fell as Venu took catches off Zia and Jagesh, one a good diving effort. Their older left handed opener (he must have been at least 30) looked solid until he smacked one that seemed destined to be a stylish four to long off until Ken Stewart somehow grabbed hold of it as it just passed the non-strikers wicket. It was a miraculous catch and Ken’s day got better as he replaced Zia and took two wickets in two balls. His slow, flighty deliveries encouraged rash shots from the middle order and catches went to Carpenter twice, Weeks and Ravi to give him figures of 10-0-48-4. T&T rallied for the 8th wicket but a brilliant run out from Ravi from Venu’s bowling had the innings nearly complete and T&T declared on 192-9.

After an al fresco tea, Ward and Eagle opened and were met by some immediately fierce bowing, the concrete belly of the artificial track giving higher bounce than they were expecting. Eagle pulled and cut two fours, then successfully ducked a fast bouncer. And then he ducked, again, one that did not bounce so much; which was a mistake as he soon realised when the lump on the back of his head appeared! Retiring to nurse his blow (and I do realise it could have been SO much worse), Zia took to the stage and smote the ball to all parts as is his wont; he was dropped twice which spurred him on to make 43 before sadly retiring to go to work! I do think we could have won the game if he hadn’t! Ward, after a promising start of some lovely shots went for 19.

Weeks did not last long, run out after a rather optimistic (tactically so?) call from Carpo. He was replaced by Ravi who was a guest courtesy of Jagesh. He had a few runs before he too retired and was carried off with a pulled hamstring! You see what I meant by “bizarre”! Ashman’s sub, Adam Seymour, took his place and things slowed down rather, especially when Carpo went for 18, another stylish start unfinished.

So it was that Eagle took to the crease again and T&T thought it would be fun to put back on the young tearaway who had struck earlier on. Eagle thought it wise to don a helmet at this point. What followed was something like Atherton facing Donald! With a silly mid off and on, both in helmets and an orthodox and fly slip cordon, the youngster bowled bouncer after bouncer. Eagle hit two successive pulls for four before moving to the offside and upper cutting with gay abandon, at one point clearing both slip rings and nearly scoring a six. Suddenly the run rate picked up, although things the other end were rather too slow, even after Adam had been replaced by a walking Ravi (plus Weeks as runner).

One wonders if a judicious substitution of Ken at this point would have helped our chase; “Ifs and Buts” as the Great Leader would say. Eagle continued to deal mostly in fours and withstand the attack but it was too late perhaps to make up for lost time earlier. So RUASCC made the draw and Eagle made 43 not out whilst probably concussed. Twenty runs short - irritatingly only one run per over for the last 20 overs, which made it seem at once an honourable draw and a missed chance.

RUASCC Highlight of the Match: Probably Ken's stupendous catch, but mentions to the batting of Zia & Eagle.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Ken Stewart for his 4 for 48 and that catch (Zia and Eagle also contenders).

RUASCC: Ward (wkt), Eagle (capt), Zia, Carpenter, Weeks, Ravi, Seymour, Venu, Stewart, Jagesh, Ashman

Peppard (A) - 11.7.10

The day started on a surprising note as Tranter didn’t lose the toss – Eagle did instead. Standing in as skipper, Eagle continued our fine tradition of calling incorrectly and on a hot sunny day with a baked brown outfield RUASCC were asked to have a bowl. In a team missing all the usual wicketkeepers (no Young Sam, Dip, Dersh or Chan) Wardy took the gloves and discovered a joy in fielding he never knew
existed!

And so the match began. Main, bowling tightly as ever, saw an edge dropped in the slips while Withers, from the Pavilion end, dragged a metaphorical sack of horse manure onto the square and started smearing it around the place. As each of the first four balls of his fifth over flew to the boundary the score passed 50 and the Peppard openers looked in complete control.

But with the score on 63-0 Withers was dragged round the back of the pavilion and shot twice in the head out of kindness, while Zia replaced him and found success immediately: bowling Dyer with his first ball then catching Hayden Junior with his third. And it wasn’t long before the score was 84-4 as the irresistible Zia, bowling off his longer run-up, ripped further into the top order.

In the other bowling change Koslicki replaced Main and started the longest spell of his life. Bowling at a decent pace his early overs were short on luck as more runs went through third man but he eventually made the breakthrough with a tasty Yorker as Peppard, with plenty of teenagers in the batting line-up, struggled past 100 with
six wickets already down.

With 30 overs gone Zia was replaced by guest Adam Finlay who had already impressed with his fielding. “He’s got a good arm, is that because he’s young?” asked one man who isn’t young. Finlay bagged a wicket in his second over as a mistimed drive flew over his head and into the safe hands of the onrushing Dr Eagle. “Yes!” he cried as his gallop took him almost to the other end of the pitch before he was able to stop.

Eagle soon followed this up with another catch at mid-off as Koslicki’s fine spell started to return the rewards it deserved. The arrival of Chard Senior helped to push the Peppard total up past 150 and he had helped himself to 30 before top-edging a full toss, caught safely by Ward running back towards fine-leg. Another wicket for
Koslicki meant he finished with 4-40 from his 11 overs.

Zia returned for the final over and with the very last ball of the innings a long-distance stumping from Ward, looking increasingly comfortable behind the stumps, gave him superb figures of 5-20 from ten overs. Peppard all out for 164 - the first time RUASCC have bowled out an opposition side this season.

Buoyed by another superb tea, Eagle and Ward set off in confident fashion and reached their second fifty partnership of the season thanks in part to some helpful full tosses from the young opening bowlers. With no one fielding deep on the leg side Ward was able to swing the bat, and Eagle’s impressive form continued as he outscored his partner in the early stages. Eagle eventually fell for 24 to an
outstanding slip catch but the foundations were already laid at 55-1.

Carpenter (4) wasn’t able to get going and his dismissal brought Zia in. With no intention of playing himself in, Zia clubbed some brutal boundaries in a rapid 19 before he skied one to backward point and was well caught by Hayden. Greenhalf, still defying a broken elbow, aimed some useful thrashes at the ball and RUASCC looked to be easing toward the winning target. Having needed 105 from the final twenty overs RUASCC were regularly hitting eight or nine an over with Ward, building on his good start, passing fifty with another boundary.

The end of Greenhalf’s cameo brought Finlay to the crease and he was involved in the game’s major point of controversy. A delivery from Chard seemed to clip the top of the bails, but there was some confusion as to whether or not the wicketkeeper had dislodged the bail with his glove instead. Umpire Tranter said “not out” and an argument ensued complete with finger-wagging and sweaty red faces. Play soon restarted although the incident was still being talked about after the game. Perhaps the most surprising thing for those watching from the pavilion was that Tranter was doing some umpiring.

Finlay had made 4 by the time he was properly bowled and Ken Stewart, batting hero of Britwell, brought his steady hand to proceedings. With three overs remaining, the match was finally settled by a beamer that missed everyone and disappeared for four. The result: a very welcome win by five wickets. Wardy, involved in every single ball of the match, ended unbeaten on 68.

So, was Wardy’s success due to the added focus of the wicketkeeping responsibilities? Or was it down to the net session before the game? Last time Wardy scored 68 was the first game of tour last year, and on that occasion he was on the outside of about four pints of lager. Whatever it is, let’s keep it going!

RUASCC Highlight: Zia’s first over. 63-0 became 63-2 in the first three balls.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Wardy.

Most Improved Tea Award: Peppard. Gone was the unidentifiable grey paste, here there were pizzas, cakes and fresh fruit. It was a very good effort indeed.

RUASCC Team: Ward (wkt), Eagle (Capt), Carpenter, Zia, Greenhalf, Finlay, Stewart, Main, Tranter, Koslicki, Withers

Season Review - Bowling

Cricket is a team game based almost entirely on the statistics of individuals. If I take six wickets in a match, for example, I’m helping the team. If I only take six wickets in the first half of the season, I’m a passenger. Unfortunately, so far in 2010 I have served RUASCC most effectively from the scorer’s table, although my enthusiastic fielding and willingness to look after the kit bag between matches will not, I am sure, go unnoticed when the awards are handed out.

Principally, however, I am a bowler. And as an opening bowler, blessed with fresh legs, a shiny new ball and two cold batsmen, my job is to take wickets and keep the run rate down - and if I can’t do both, for heaven’s sake pick one and do that. I’m not going to beat anyone for pace so in the past I have tried to bowl a consistent line and length with a suspicion of away swing and hope the batsmen do the decent thing and get out.

I don’t hold up my bowling to any great standard, I only ask of myself that I do as well as I can. Which is why this comparison with me (from 2009) is so frustrating:

• In 2009 I took 32 wickets at an average of 24.19; in 2010 I have taken 6 wickets at an average of 45.

• My strike rate in 2009 was a wicket every 38 balls; in 2010 I am taking a wicket on average every 73 balls (or 12.1 overs).

• Somewhat surprisingly, my economy has improved slightly from 3.79 runs per over in 2009 to 3.70 in 2010. And I’m still bowling a maiden every 5-6 overs.

There are many possible reasons why my bowling might be unsuccessful, but not so many that could cause such a difference in fortune between last season and this. I’ve had some thoughts, many of which conflict with each other:

1. I bowl too slowly, meaning batsmen have enough time to play whatever shot they like.
2. Sometimes I try to bowl too fast at the expense of line and length.
3. I can’t bowl six good balls, there’s always a four-ball full-toss hiding in there somewhere.
4. I’m too predictable - not enough variation in flight or pace.
5. I bowl too full, inviting the drive and too often erring towards the half-volley.
6. I’m not getting enough movement in the air or off the pitch, making it easier for batsmen to hit me.
7. I (still!) don’t have a settled run-up – I can’t decide between the short, sharp run-up and the longer, more relaxed approach.

I don’t know what I was doing differently last season, but my guess is it’s a combination of some or all of the points above. Suggestions welcome.

Season Review

Here is a self-indulgent look at the matches played so far, and specifically my contribution with the ball. Remember, there may be no I in “team” but there’s one right at the centre of “Keith”, so let’s crack on shall we.

Farley Hill: 10 overs - 0 maidens - 42 runs - 0 wickets
First game of the season, and even after a month of nets my radar was way off. Four an over with no maidens suggests it was a four-ball in each over that did the damage, although I was hit for one colossal six towards the end.

BBC Caversham: 8 – 5 – 8 – 1
On the face of it the figures look good, but you have to remember that different rules apply in this fixture. Tranter took 3-4, for example. My one important task, having been brought back on to bowl at the death, was to grab that final wicket and win the match. This I spectacularly failed to achieve.

Greys Green: 11 – 4 – 35 – 1 (had been 8 – 4 – 11 – 1)
In this match I seemed to spend a long time bowling line and length (i.e. slow) to a left-handed opener who played and missed three times an over but wouldn’t budge. And I nearly hit his guide dog once. After that, my last three overs went for 24 as Greys chased down 170 to win.

Tilehurst & Theale: 11 – 1 – 50 – 1 (had been 4 – 1 – 9 – 1)
Another decent start, with a maiden and a wicket in my first two overs, but T&T took off after that and chased down 219 to win. I came back on towards the end and tried to bowl fast, straight and full but went for some streaky runs through third man.

Woodcote: 4 – 0 – 27 – 0
Chasing 97 to win, Woodcote only needed 15 overs - four of them happened to be mine. I don’t remember doing too much wrong, just their opening bat (who made 52 very quickly) timing the pants off it.

Highmoor: 12 – 2 – 31 – 1
In this match I made a conscious effort to bowl quicker from my longer run up and this economical spell coincided with RUASCC’s first win of the season. I felt much more in control resulting in plenty of dot balls but, once again, not many wickets.

Britwell Salome: 12 – 1 – 37 – 2
Further signs of encouragement at Britwell where I picked up my first two-wicket haul of the year (I took 6-63 on the same ground in 2009). Again, it’s a decent economy rate but my season’s best figures of 2-37 would have been an average performance last year.

Peppard: 5 – 0 – 40 – 0
This really was a wretched performance. My first over was tight enough and only cost one run (a wide!) but then the full toss monster came back to stay. After the first four balls of my fifth over went for 16 runs my bewildered teammates stared at me as if I’d just defecated on the pitch. I could have saved everyone some time and effort before the match by simply walking around the rope with a bucket of cricket balls and slinging one into the hedge at twenty-yard intervals. Fortunately for RUASCC, Zia replaced me from the Pavilion End and took 5-20.

And that’s us up-to-date.

In my first ever match for RUASCC (in 2003) I took 6-25 against Tilehurst & Theale. I can’t picture myself achieving that sort of success these days, and maybe that’s part of the problem – lack of confidence and self-belief. When I’m bowling well I feel like every delivery will result in a dot ball or better. At the moment I'm trying to stop the flow of boundaries.

I’ll miss the next two matches as I’m away on holiday but I must return believing I can turn my season around. In the meantime I hope RUASCC get another two wins, and that my absence from the scorer’s table won’t be too great a loss.