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.
Monday 22 November 2010
Thursday 4 November 2010
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)
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)
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