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