Braywood 210-9
Zia 5-45, Withers 2-30
RUASCC 121-8
Baker 43, Koslicki 21
Match drawn
Look, I’m going to keep this fairly brief. We’ve seen all this before and there’s only so many times you can write the same match report.
Braywood bat first… opener scores 83… Zia takes five wickets… everyone else doesn’t… dropped catches… 46 overs on a hot day… Braywood 210-9.
Batting collapse! Innocuous bowling… Eagle straight full toss… 34-5… Recovery! Baker caught when looking well set on 43… Pensioner Ken Stewart playing anti-cricket… RUASCC 121-8. Match drawn.
You get the gist. Now for the trivia:
* The first two overs (bowled by Koslicki and Waqar) both followed exactly the same sequence: five dot balls followed by a six. Not seen that before.
* RUASCC’s bacon was saved by a 53-run sixth-wicket partnership between Baker and Koslicki in the middle third of the innings. For symmetry fans, we scored 34 runs in the 15 overs before that partnership and 34 runs in the 15 overs after it.
* With a solid 1 not out, Ashman pushed his season’s average up from 2 to 2.5.
Sounded like we missed a good day at Lord’s too.
RUASCC Highlight: Zia’s first class off-spinner to break the opening partnership – spun through the gate and clipped the top of off. Koslicki’s six into the pony field and Carpenter’s catch to get rid of Nunn were both good too.
RUASCC Man of the Match: Zia. Just for a change.
RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Zia, Carpenter, Baker (wkt), Sirfraz, Waqar, Koslicki, Jagesh, Stewart, Ashman, Withers
Monday 25 July 2011
Sunday 24 July 2011
RUASCC Bowling 2011 (part 1)
It’s a recurring theme of this season that opposition batsmen of all shapes and sizes have been making hay against our bowling attack. In the twelve weekend matches we’ve played so far we’ve been hit for four centuries (three of them not out) and seven fifties. In the only two matches where no one has reached fifty against us, someone has ended up unbeaten in the forties.
(This post isn’t about our batting, but for comparison no RUASCC batsman has yet reached three figures this season - Zia came closest with 90 not out - although six have passed fifty, unbeaten on three occasions.)
There are several reasons behind this: firstly, the one we can do very little about, there are some very good batsmen out there, batsmen who have scored plenty of hundreds against better attacks than ours. If they get in on a good pitch there’s very little anyone can do about it. Secondly, we don’t always take our chances when they come - sometimes we just can’t catch, the guy gets a second or even a third chance and they take full advantage. Thirdly, our bowling isn’t consistently good enough to put pressure on batsmen who have been allowed to play themselves in. It is this third aspect that I wish to focus on here.
Only one Zia
The root cause of our lack of bowling consistency can be summed up quite easily: we only have one Zia.
The trouble really starts in the 40-over games when bowlers are limited to eight overs. In the match at Wargrave Zia took 3-26 from his spell (economy 3.25) and thanks to good support from Main and Jagesh we had them at 64-7 at the halfway stage. In a timed game there’s no doubt Zia would have been kept on till the job was done, but Wargrave were allowed to reach 229-9 taking six an over off everyone else. This happened to coincide with a desperate fielding display during which we dropped a dozen catches, saw their number nine score 100 not out and allowed a man who hadn’t batted in eight years to score 49 of the streakiest runs you’ll ever see.
Big Scores
The result of all this has been that batsmen are making big scores against us every week. The canny ones will be watchful against Zia and hit the pies that Withers serves up to all parts of the ground, then when Zia comes off they know there’ll be a bad ball coming along soon so they can score some runs, start seeing the ball well and build their innings comfortably.
On several occasions there is no doubt that we’ve let these guys off the hook – individual batsmen and teams alike. We’ve got ourselves into some great positions early on but seen our advantage slip when we should be finishing the innings off. The following games are examples of where we’ve damaged the top order but have allowed the batting side to post a competitive (and in some cases winning) total:
Britwell 56-4 to 168-5 (Lawrence 59 not out)
Wargrave 64-7 to 229-9 (Robinson 100 not out)
Farley Hill 92-6 to 175-8 (Ditchburn retired 48)
Southampton 50-4 to 184-8 (Shibasis 68)
Greys Green 82-5 to 181-6 (Shafqat 98)
Tilehurst 81-5 to 172-7 (Stroud 42 not out)
In an early game against Englefield the Sri Lankan opener, Samad, was seeing the ball so well it didn’t matter who was bowling – he finished 130 not out as they successfully overhauled our 226 for the loss of only two wickets. On the artificial wicket at Blewbury Southwell was certainly helped by the predictable bounce on his way to 110, it was the only time this season that Zia has gone for more than five an over.
In decent batting conditions at Tilehurst, Wigmore (109) and Ali (72) put on a stand of 152 that was promptly beaten by Zia (90 not out) and Ward (69 not out). Not a good day for bowlers on either side.
Consistency
I’m aware I seem to be giving the impression that Zia is among the world’s greatest bowlers and that the rest of us are a bunch of witless chancers who couldn’t buy a wicket in the High Wycombe under-fives league for visually impaired tea bags. But that’s only partly true. We have seen some very impressive spells from other bowlers this season, just not regularly enough.
In the game at Southampton Bruce Main took 3-16 in seven overs before injury put an end to his inspired spell. Main also bowled four maidens in that limited overs game at Wargrave and can usually be relied upon to be economical, but he’s missed a few games this year and we’ve certainly missed him.
At Greys Green, where Shafqat scored 98 of his side’s 181-6, Withers bowled an opening spell of sixteen overs for just 30 runs but, importantly, couldn’t get the opener out until the very last ball of the innings when he’d already done the damage. The problem this season is that we never know which Withers is going to turn up: the one who took 3-26 in eight overs against Britwell Salome or the one who ended up with figures of 3-67 later that same day against Britwell Salome. Withers does take wickets from time to time, but he doesn’t change the course of matches – he doesn’t get the really good men out once they look settled. Two of Withers’ best spells have returned figures of 0-22 and 0-41, on both occasions leaving lots of work for others to do.
Jagesh has only played five times this season; Baker and Koslicki have bowled three times each. Greenhalf, Ashman, Tranter, Carpenter and Stewart haven’t bowled enough overs to get into a rhythm. We have a different bowling line-up every week and it’s very rare we get three or four bowlers on song at the same time. To re-emphasise, in the twelve weekend games we’ve played we have only taken 70 wickets and not bowled any teams out, making it difficult to win cricket matches.
NB: I wrote this article before the Braywood game but have updated the figures to include it because it only serves to strengthen my point. Zia took 5-45 from 14 overs leaving the other five bowlers to share four wickets in 32 overs. Opening batsman Lunn scored 83 (before Zia took his wicket) and the home side’s final total of 210-9 means we once again failed to bowl a side out. On the plus side, we drew the match!
(This post isn’t about our batting, but for comparison no RUASCC batsman has yet reached three figures this season - Zia came closest with 90 not out - although six have passed fifty, unbeaten on three occasions.)
There are several reasons behind this: firstly, the one we can do very little about, there are some very good batsmen out there, batsmen who have scored plenty of hundreds against better attacks than ours. If they get in on a good pitch there’s very little anyone can do about it. Secondly, we don’t always take our chances when they come - sometimes we just can’t catch, the guy gets a second or even a third chance and they take full advantage. Thirdly, our bowling isn’t consistently good enough to put pressure on batsmen who have been allowed to play themselves in. It is this third aspect that I wish to focus on here.
Only one Zia
The root cause of our lack of bowling consistency can be summed up quite easily: we only have one Zia.
* The lynchpin of our attack, Zia has bowled 27% of our overs this season and taken 37% of our wickets.In our timed games Zia often bowls long spells of 18, 19 or even 20 overs which enables us to at least pin down one end. In the first match at Tilehurst & Theale his 19 overs cost 3.79 each while the other bowlers were going for 5.36. The fact that he then went on to score 90 not out to win the game only emphasises his importance to the team.
* Zia’s best bowling figures are 5-39 and 5-45 (twice). No one else has taken more than three wickets in an innings.
* Zia has taken 26 wickets at 15.96; the other 44 wickets have cost 39.02 each.
* Zia has an economy rate of 3.32 runs per over; for the rest of us it’s 5.01.
The trouble really starts in the 40-over games when bowlers are limited to eight overs. In the match at Wargrave Zia took 3-26 from his spell (economy 3.25) and thanks to good support from Main and Jagesh we had them at 64-7 at the halfway stage. In a timed game there’s no doubt Zia would have been kept on till the job was done, but Wargrave were allowed to reach 229-9 taking six an over off everyone else. This happened to coincide with a desperate fielding display during which we dropped a dozen catches, saw their number nine score 100 not out and allowed a man who hadn’t batted in eight years to score 49 of the streakiest runs you’ll ever see.
Big Scores
The result of all this has been that batsmen are making big scores against us every week. The canny ones will be watchful against Zia and hit the pies that Withers serves up to all parts of the ground, then when Zia comes off they know there’ll be a bad ball coming along soon so they can score some runs, start seeing the ball well and build their innings comfortably.
On several occasions there is no doubt that we’ve let these guys off the hook – individual batsmen and teams alike. We’ve got ourselves into some great positions early on but seen our advantage slip when we should be finishing the innings off. The following games are examples of where we’ve damaged the top order but have allowed the batting side to post a competitive (and in some cases winning) total:
Britwell 56-4 to 168-5 (Lawrence 59 not out)
Wargrave 64-7 to 229-9 (Robinson 100 not out)
Farley Hill 92-6 to 175-8 (Ditchburn retired 48)
Southampton 50-4 to 184-8 (Shibasis 68)
Greys Green 82-5 to 181-6 (Shafqat 98)
Tilehurst 81-5 to 172-7 (Stroud 42 not out)
In an early game against Englefield the Sri Lankan opener, Samad, was seeing the ball so well it didn’t matter who was bowling – he finished 130 not out as they successfully overhauled our 226 for the loss of only two wickets. On the artificial wicket at Blewbury Southwell was certainly helped by the predictable bounce on his way to 110, it was the only time this season that Zia has gone for more than five an over.
In decent batting conditions at Tilehurst, Wigmore (109) and Ali (72) put on a stand of 152 that was promptly beaten by Zia (90 not out) and Ward (69 not out). Not a good day for bowlers on either side.
Consistency
I’m aware I seem to be giving the impression that Zia is among the world’s greatest bowlers and that the rest of us are a bunch of witless chancers who couldn’t buy a wicket in the High Wycombe under-fives league for visually impaired tea bags. But that’s only partly true. We have seen some very impressive spells from other bowlers this season, just not regularly enough.
In the game at Southampton Bruce Main took 3-16 in seven overs before injury put an end to his inspired spell. Main also bowled four maidens in that limited overs game at Wargrave and can usually be relied upon to be economical, but he’s missed a few games this year and we’ve certainly missed him.
At Greys Green, where Shafqat scored 98 of his side’s 181-6, Withers bowled an opening spell of sixteen overs for just 30 runs but, importantly, couldn’t get the opener out until the very last ball of the innings when he’d already done the damage. The problem this season is that we never know which Withers is going to turn up: the one who took 3-26 in eight overs against Britwell Salome or the one who ended up with figures of 3-67 later that same day against Britwell Salome. Withers does take wickets from time to time, but he doesn’t change the course of matches – he doesn’t get the really good men out once they look settled. Two of Withers’ best spells have returned figures of 0-22 and 0-41, on both occasions leaving lots of work for others to do.
Jagesh has only played five times this season; Baker and Koslicki have bowled three times each. Greenhalf, Ashman, Tranter, Carpenter and Stewart haven’t bowled enough overs to get into a rhythm. We have a different bowling line-up every week and it’s very rare we get three or four bowlers on song at the same time. To re-emphasise, in the twelve weekend games we’ve played we have only taken 70 wickets and not bowled any teams out, making it difficult to win cricket matches.
NB: I wrote this article before the Braywood game but have updated the figures to include it because it only serves to strengthen my point. Zia took 5-45 from 14 overs leaving the other five bowlers to share four wickets in 32 overs. Opening batsman Lunn scored 83 (before Zia took his wicket) and the home side’s final total of 210-9 means we once again failed to bowl a side out. On the plus side, we drew the match!
Tuesday 19 July 2011
Tilehurst & Theale (A) – 17.7.11
Tilehurst & Theale 172-7
Greenhalf 3-32, Waqar 1-14
RUASCC 153-8
Zia 54, Extras 30
RUASCC lost by 19 runs
As my tribute to Tilehurst’s excellent Fleetwood Mac report from our game earlier this season, I have included in this report the names of all eleven tracks and the album title from Take That’s most recent offering. Get well soon Robbie, Denmark needs you.
I woke up in Dorset on the morning of the game with the rain pounding the windows but on checking with Dr Eagle learned that the game was still on. So I left the house at 11am with the rain pounding the windscreen of my car. Game still on. I drove up the A31 and onto the M3 in fog and more torrential rain. Game still on. I arrived back in Berkshire where my neighbours were fashioning a small but sturdy life raft out of patio furniture. Game still on. There wasn’t a patch of ground anywhere in the south of England that could realistically allow a game of cricket to take place so I could only conclude that Theale must be in some kind of freaky weather vortex but fair enough, I had all the affirmation I needed to drive through another rainstorm on the M4 to give it a go.
Incredibly we were rewarded for battling through the flood when we arrived at the ground in sunshine, although the black clouds in the distance looked unfriendly. Still somewhat sceptical we all got ready to play, Trant won the toss and chose to field… then it started raining again. So we just had to wait a bit longer.
And then the weather vortex took hold. For the next six hours there was barely a shower - no interruptions at all. The sun appeared at intervals and the famous Theale wind helped to dry out the pitch. It really is quite incredible how the elements conspired to allow RUASCC to lose yet another game of cricket that we didn’t think we’d ever get the opportunity to lose.
Zia got things going with an early wicket as the home side accumulated steadily in the opening stages. At the other end Withers bowled like Glenn McGrath in his prime getting lift and movement, beating the bat repeatedly but once again failing to actually get anyone out (hey, what do you want from me?) and it wasn’t until the change of bowling that wickets began to tumble. Greenhalf removed Dimmack for a confident 47 and Koslicki followed that with a wicket maiden as Dip took his third catch of the innings behind the stumps. And Greenhalf wasn’t finished yet: he took two more wickets in his third over thanks to a catch by Eagle and an LBW from a knee-high full-toss to leave Tilehurst 81-5 with just 15 overs remaining.
At this point we realised that none of the opposition batsmen had reached fifty yet so to give opener Stroud a chance Greenhalf dropped him a few times, while Bozarth threatened to drive his way there himself as the pair pushed the score to 150. But then 17-year-old debutant Bilal Sirfraz came on to bowl and, showing his inexperience, removed Bozarth for just 39. Waqar bagged a wicket in the penultimate over as Tilehurst reached 172-7, with Stroud carrying his bat for 42 not out.
RUASCC need 173 runs to win
Eagle and Chan began cautiously against the Tilehurst kidz who bowled with good pace backed up by a vociferous slip cordon. Then just as Chan began to go on the attack he holed out to mid-on for 8 and Eagle, whose 9 runs all flew through the slip region, was eventually caught at first slip from an attempted swipe to leg – not pretty. Things were soon looking up though as Zia and Dip added 69 in ten overs to put us back in control – the bowling looked less assured and the occasional long hop or full toss merely provided more opportunities for Zia to slap the ball into the flowerbed by the road. By this point even the outfield was almost dry, lending weight to the theory that there must be some sort of underground machine sucking the water through the earth.
Zia brought up his fifty with his second all-run four but perished soon afterwards when he pulled directly to Rees at square leg. Greenhalf looked busy immediately, aiming heavy blows at the young spinner and connecting with some of them, and with 50 runs needed from ten overs we were comfortably on course.
But in the next three overs we only added one run and lost two wickets, Dip (19) and Greenhalf (13) – that’s RUASCC’s impression of an England batting powerplay – and it was time to raise the SOS. Pensioner Ken Stewart, promoted to number six, made slow progress in the face of more tight bowling and he lost both Waqar and Tranter as the game slipped hopelessly away. Sirfraz whipped a boundary over mid-wicket but the run rate was suddenly alarmingly high and he was caught at point going for another big shot in the final over.
Profesional scorebook operator Withers was mightily relieved to see the eight letters “Koslicki” above him in the order: “just block out the last two balls so I don’t have to get my pads on.” Koslicki obliged, finishing on 0 not out as RUASCC fell 19 runs short.
So that’s four consecutive defeats, but at least Ken got a bat so he should be happy now.
RUASCC Highlight: The first of Dip’s three dismissals, a very sharp edge off Zia’s quicker ball. He did well to take that.
RUASCC Man of the Match: Another economical spell and another fifty – it’s boring I know, but it’s Zia again.
RUASCC Team: Eagle, Malde, Zia, Dip (wkt), Greenhalf, Stewart, Waqar, Tranter (capt), Sirfraz, Koslicki, Withers
Greenhalf 3-32, Waqar 1-14
RUASCC 153-8
Zia 54, Extras 30
RUASCC lost by 19 runs
As my tribute to Tilehurst’s excellent Fleetwood Mac report from our game earlier this season, I have included in this report the names of all eleven tracks and the album title from Take That’s most recent offering. Get well soon Robbie, Denmark needs you.
I woke up in Dorset on the morning of the game with the rain pounding the windows but on checking with Dr Eagle learned that the game was still on. So I left the house at 11am with the rain pounding the windscreen of my car. Game still on. I drove up the A31 and onto the M3 in fog and more torrential rain. Game still on. I arrived back in Berkshire where my neighbours were fashioning a small but sturdy life raft out of patio furniture. Game still on. There wasn’t a patch of ground anywhere in the south of England that could realistically allow a game of cricket to take place so I could only conclude that Theale must be in some kind of freaky weather vortex but fair enough, I had all the affirmation I needed to drive through another rainstorm on the M4 to give it a go.
Incredibly we were rewarded for battling through the flood when we arrived at the ground in sunshine, although the black clouds in the distance looked unfriendly. Still somewhat sceptical we all got ready to play, Trant won the toss and chose to field… then it started raining again. So we just had to wait a bit longer.
And then the weather vortex took hold. For the next six hours there was barely a shower - no interruptions at all. The sun appeared at intervals and the famous Theale wind helped to dry out the pitch. It really is quite incredible how the elements conspired to allow RUASCC to lose yet another game of cricket that we didn’t think we’d ever get the opportunity to lose.
Zia got things going with an early wicket as the home side accumulated steadily in the opening stages. At the other end Withers bowled like Glenn McGrath in his prime getting lift and movement, beating the bat repeatedly but once again failing to actually get anyone out (hey, what do you want from me?) and it wasn’t until the change of bowling that wickets began to tumble. Greenhalf removed Dimmack for a confident 47 and Koslicki followed that with a wicket maiden as Dip took his third catch of the innings behind the stumps. And Greenhalf wasn’t finished yet: he took two more wickets in his third over thanks to a catch by Eagle and an LBW from a knee-high full-toss to leave Tilehurst 81-5 with just 15 overs remaining.
At this point we realised that none of the opposition batsmen had reached fifty yet so to give opener Stroud a chance Greenhalf dropped him a few times, while Bozarth threatened to drive his way there himself as the pair pushed the score to 150. But then 17-year-old debutant Bilal Sirfraz came on to bowl and, showing his inexperience, removed Bozarth for just 39. Waqar bagged a wicket in the penultimate over as Tilehurst reached 172-7, with Stroud carrying his bat for 42 not out.
RUASCC need 173 runs to win
Eagle and Chan began cautiously against the Tilehurst kidz who bowled with good pace backed up by a vociferous slip cordon. Then just as Chan began to go on the attack he holed out to mid-on for 8 and Eagle, whose 9 runs all flew through the slip region, was eventually caught at first slip from an attempted swipe to leg – not pretty. Things were soon looking up though as Zia and Dip added 69 in ten overs to put us back in control – the bowling looked less assured and the occasional long hop or full toss merely provided more opportunities for Zia to slap the ball into the flowerbed by the road. By this point even the outfield was almost dry, lending weight to the theory that there must be some sort of underground machine sucking the water through the earth.
Zia brought up his fifty with his second all-run four but perished soon afterwards when he pulled directly to Rees at square leg. Greenhalf looked busy immediately, aiming heavy blows at the young spinner and connecting with some of them, and with 50 runs needed from ten overs we were comfortably on course.
But in the next three overs we only added one run and lost two wickets, Dip (19) and Greenhalf (13) – that’s RUASCC’s impression of an England batting powerplay – and it was time to raise the SOS. Pensioner Ken Stewart, promoted to number six, made slow progress in the face of more tight bowling and he lost both Waqar and Tranter as the game slipped hopelessly away. Sirfraz whipped a boundary over mid-wicket but the run rate was suddenly alarmingly high and he was caught at point going for another big shot in the final over.
Profesional scorebook operator Withers was mightily relieved to see the eight letters “Koslicki” above him in the order: “just block out the last two balls so I don’t have to get my pads on.” Koslicki obliged, finishing on 0 not out as RUASCC fell 19 runs short.
So that’s four consecutive defeats, but at least Ken got a bat so he should be happy now.
RUASCC Highlight: The first of Dip’s three dismissals, a very sharp edge off Zia’s quicker ball. He did well to take that.
RUASCC Man of the Match: Another economical spell and another fifty – it’s boring I know, but it’s Zia again.
RUASCC Team: Eagle, Malde, Zia, Dip (wkt), Greenhalf, Stewart, Waqar, Tranter (capt), Sirfraz, Koslicki, Withers
Monday 11 July 2011
Peppard (A) – 10.7.11
RUASCC 136-9
Extras 40, Tranter 21 not out
Peppard 139-2
Baker 2-36, Carpenter 0-18
RUASCC lost by 8 wickets
For the third match in a row RUASCC batted first, failed to put enough runs on the board and lost - and today at Peppard it was a real thrashing. Captain Eagle won the toss and chose to bat first in a limited overs game and things looked less than promising a short while later at 22-4.
In the third over Ward was given out caught off his pad and was halfway to the pavilion when Vines, the home skipper, sportingly invited him back in. Wardy embraced the second chance by surviving one more ball before being cleaned up through the gate. Eagle lasted a few more overs before he too was bowled, and the same bowler also did for Baker and Dip as he finished his sixth over with figures of 4-9. Dip had taken a beamer on the forearm and was in too much pain to lift the bat - we’re not sure what everyone else’s excuses were but it is certainly true that Peppard were simply bowling and fielding very well.
Carpenter and Weeks added 35, working hard but getting little reward from the slow outfield. There weren’t many bad balls on offer and each batsman only managed one boundary during the nine over partnership which almost saw us through to the drinks break. Unfortunately the first change of bowling saw Danny Hayden take three wickets in his first three overs to leave RUASCC 68-7 - Carpenter (caught at slip), Seymour (caught and bowled) and Weeks (stumped by Vines, now keeping after bowling a nine over spell) the three men to go.
It wasn’t long before Pensioner Ken Stewart became Williams’ fifth victim, stumped for 4 - it was the only time he took his feet off the floor the entire day. Luckily for RUASCC Richard Tranter is a batting machine these days and for the second week in a row he dragged the score up to something that was, if not respectable, at least within 50 runs of something that could almost be considered par. He hit only the third four of the innings, and his able partner Ben Koslicki, playing his first game of the season, hit three more of his own in a ninth wicket stand of 40. When Koslicki was caught for 14 it was 116-9 and there were still six and a half overs to go, but Tranter and professional number eleven Withers comfortably saw out the innings to finish on 136-9.
Peppard need 137 runs to win
Baker started tightly from the Pavilion End and was rewarded in the third over when Adam Seymour at square leg clung on to a very good catch at the third attempt. Then in the eleventh over he took his second with a yorker that snuck through but Peppard were already scoring at a healthy rate and were 45-2 when wicketkeeper-bowler-captain-batsman Vines came in after a stint in the commentary box. And that was where the joy ended.
Withers and Koslicki both bowled decent spells without much luck as another half-dozen chances were put down in the field. Gradually we stopped caring about the cricket and the inevitable result and instead just remembered to enjoy the beautiful warm sunshine and take a moment to reflect on how blessed we are to be free from persecution and famine and that we can spend our Sundays playing the game we all love (and occasionally hate). However there was still one more RUASCC milestone to be reached as Legg became the 10th opposition batsman this season to pass 50 on his way to 76 not out, then just before 7pm Peppard eased home with 8 wickets and 14 overs to spare and we all fecked off directly to the pub.
RUASCC Highlight: Adam’s catch, possibly. Or maybe… no, got to be Adam’s catch.
RUASCC Man of the Match: For holding the innings together and sticking around while wickets were tumbling, it’s got to be Extras.
RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Carpenter, Baker, Dip (wkt), Weeks, Seymour, Stewart, Tranter, Koslicki, Withers
Extras 40, Tranter 21 not out
Peppard 139-2
Baker 2-36, Carpenter 0-18
RUASCC lost by 8 wickets
For the third match in a row RUASCC batted first, failed to put enough runs on the board and lost - and today at Peppard it was a real thrashing. Captain Eagle won the toss and chose to bat first in a limited overs game and things looked less than promising a short while later at 22-4.
In the third over Ward was given out caught off his pad and was halfway to the pavilion when Vines, the home skipper, sportingly invited him back in. Wardy embraced the second chance by surviving one more ball before being cleaned up through the gate. Eagle lasted a few more overs before he too was bowled, and the same bowler also did for Baker and Dip as he finished his sixth over with figures of 4-9. Dip had taken a beamer on the forearm and was in too much pain to lift the bat - we’re not sure what everyone else’s excuses were but it is certainly true that Peppard were simply bowling and fielding very well.
Carpenter and Weeks added 35, working hard but getting little reward from the slow outfield. There weren’t many bad balls on offer and each batsman only managed one boundary during the nine over partnership which almost saw us through to the drinks break. Unfortunately the first change of bowling saw Danny Hayden take three wickets in his first three overs to leave RUASCC 68-7 - Carpenter (caught at slip), Seymour (caught and bowled) and Weeks (stumped by Vines, now keeping after bowling a nine over spell) the three men to go.
It wasn’t long before Pensioner Ken Stewart became Williams’ fifth victim, stumped for 4 - it was the only time he took his feet off the floor the entire day. Luckily for RUASCC Richard Tranter is a batting machine these days and for the second week in a row he dragged the score up to something that was, if not respectable, at least within 50 runs of something that could almost be considered par. He hit only the third four of the innings, and his able partner Ben Koslicki, playing his first game of the season, hit three more of his own in a ninth wicket stand of 40. When Koslicki was caught for 14 it was 116-9 and there were still six and a half overs to go, but Tranter and professional number eleven Withers comfortably saw out the innings to finish on 136-9.
Peppard need 137 runs to win
Baker started tightly from the Pavilion End and was rewarded in the third over when Adam Seymour at square leg clung on to a very good catch at the third attempt. Then in the eleventh over he took his second with a yorker that snuck through but Peppard were already scoring at a healthy rate and were 45-2 when wicketkeeper-bowler-captain-batsman Vines came in after a stint in the commentary box. And that was where the joy ended.
Withers and Koslicki both bowled decent spells without much luck as another half-dozen chances were put down in the field. Gradually we stopped caring about the cricket and the inevitable result and instead just remembered to enjoy the beautiful warm sunshine and take a moment to reflect on how blessed we are to be free from persecution and famine and that we can spend our Sundays playing the game we all love (and occasionally hate). However there was still one more RUASCC milestone to be reached as Legg became the 10th opposition batsman this season to pass 50 on his way to 76 not out, then just before 7pm Peppard eased home with 8 wickets and 14 overs to spare and we all fecked off directly to the pub.
RUASCC Highlight: Adam’s catch, possibly. Or maybe… no, got to be Adam’s catch.
RUASCC Man of the Match: For holding the innings together and sticking around while wickets were tumbling, it’s got to be Extras.
RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Carpenter, Baker, Dip (wkt), Weeks, Seymour, Stewart, Tranter, Koslicki, Withers
Wednesday 6 July 2011
Britwell Salome (A) – 3.7.11
RUASCC 164-8
Tranter 32 not out, Eagle 27
Britwell 168-5
Withers 3-67, Baker 1-28
RUASCC lost by 5 wickets
The Britwell fixture is one we always look forward to so it was something of a surprise to see Andy scrambling around for players during the week leading up to the game - many thanks to Zia’s brother Waqar and Andy Scarr for joining in the fun. On what felt like the first warm Sunday of the season Captain Carpenter lost the toss and was asked to bat first on a track with variable (low) bounce and a rather striking slope to contend with.
Eagle and Carpenter made steady progress for the first half hour before Carpo got bored with steady and hit four quick boundaries to get things moving along. Unfortunately he then tried to cut a ball that dipped back a mile and bowled him for 25. Number three Baker looked comfortable immediately and he added 21 in a 25-run partnership before using his feet beautifully to miss a straight one.
RUASCC looked to have been coasting at 72-1 but in true RUASCC fashion collapsed to 113-7 against fairly innocuous bowling, losing six wickets in 12 overs including the farcical run out that saw Eagle and Chan having an argument at the non-striker’s end while the wicketkeeper was almost too embarrassed to take the bails off 22 yards away. It was eventually decided that Eagle had to go, and when the distressed opener reached the pavilion he kept walking straight out of the ground. “He’s gone to buy a gun,” said Dr Ashman authoritatively.
Zia (4) spooned his second ball straight up in the air before Waqar (8) Chan (12) and Scarr (1) were all bowled, meaning that with an hour left to bat we had to rely on Pensioner Ken Stewart and Richard Tranter to get us out of the mess.
Tranter cracked a couple of boundaries to keep the score moving while Stewart did well to contain his natural attacking impulse to score seven runs in 13 overs. Then, just after Tranter had belted a perfect straight drive for another four, Stewart was mercifully given out LBW. With ten minutes remaining Tranter clobbered a six over mid-on to take the score past 150 then added a run a ball with Dr Ashman to finish unbeaten on a 21st century high score of 32. RUASCC 164-8.
Britwell need 165 runs to win
Baker and Withers opened the bowling and Britwell, who we were reliably informed didn’t have many batsmen, cruised along to 33-0 with a few early boundaries. In the eighth over Withers found his line and length and drew an edge which Chan put down behind the stumps – fortunately the next ball did exactly the same thing and this time Channy clung onto a much tougher chance diving to his right.
The next two overs were both wicket-maidens as Baker’s off-cutter did for the other opener and Withers tormented the new batsman with five outswingers before the straight one pegged back his off-stump. A short while later an unusually rampant Withers took his third wicket to leave Britwell 56-4.
But then, not for the first time this season, we let the batsmen back into the game. Neither Zia nor his brother Waqar could find a breakthrough as Britwell jogged along at four runs per over. A full-blooded sweep almost brought a remarkable catch by Withers diving to his left at leg-slip but otherwise there were no chances offered before eventually Waqar trapped Clarke LBW for 33 with 35 runs still needed in six overs.
Withers returned at the death but didn’t pose any threat at all with a ball that now resembled a sweet potato - one over went for 15 as Lawrence passed fifty and took all the tension out of the game. Needing just eight from the last two overs they scored them all in six balls off Withers, whose figures took a bit of a pounding.
So RUASCC’s win-loss record for 2011 is now 2-4, and we keep up their proud record of letting an opposition batsman score a fifty in every game this season (except Farley Hill where Ditchburn retired on 48 not out). More on that particular phenomenon in due course.
RUASCC Highlight: The couple of overs during which Withers and Baker reduced Britwell from 33-0 to 33-3. Everything was going so well for a little while.
RUASCC Man of the Match: For top-scoring with 32 not out and at least giving us a total to fail to defend – Richard Tranter.
RUASCC Team: Eagle, Carpenter (capt), Baker, Zia, Malde (wkt), Waqar, Scarr, Stewart, Tranter, Ashman, Withers
Tranter 32 not out, Eagle 27
Britwell 168-5
Withers 3-67, Baker 1-28
RUASCC lost by 5 wickets
The Britwell fixture is one we always look forward to so it was something of a surprise to see Andy scrambling around for players during the week leading up to the game - many thanks to Zia’s brother Waqar and Andy Scarr for joining in the fun. On what felt like the first warm Sunday of the season Captain Carpenter lost the toss and was asked to bat first on a track with variable (low) bounce and a rather striking slope to contend with.
Eagle and Carpenter made steady progress for the first half hour before Carpo got bored with steady and hit four quick boundaries to get things moving along. Unfortunately he then tried to cut a ball that dipped back a mile and bowled him for 25. Number three Baker looked comfortable immediately and he added 21 in a 25-run partnership before using his feet beautifully to miss a straight one.
RUASCC looked to have been coasting at 72-1 but in true RUASCC fashion collapsed to 113-7 against fairly innocuous bowling, losing six wickets in 12 overs including the farcical run out that saw Eagle and Chan having an argument at the non-striker’s end while the wicketkeeper was almost too embarrassed to take the bails off 22 yards away. It was eventually decided that Eagle had to go, and when the distressed opener reached the pavilion he kept walking straight out of the ground. “He’s gone to buy a gun,” said Dr Ashman authoritatively.
Zia (4) spooned his second ball straight up in the air before Waqar (8) Chan (12) and Scarr (1) were all bowled, meaning that with an hour left to bat we had to rely on Pensioner Ken Stewart and Richard Tranter to get us out of the mess.
Tranter cracked a couple of boundaries to keep the score moving while Stewart did well to contain his natural attacking impulse to score seven runs in 13 overs. Then, just after Tranter had belted a perfect straight drive for another four, Stewart was mercifully given out LBW. With ten minutes remaining Tranter clobbered a six over mid-on to take the score past 150 then added a run a ball with Dr Ashman to finish unbeaten on a 21st century high score of 32. RUASCC 164-8.
Britwell need 165 runs to win
Baker and Withers opened the bowling and Britwell, who we were reliably informed didn’t have many batsmen, cruised along to 33-0 with a few early boundaries. In the eighth over Withers found his line and length and drew an edge which Chan put down behind the stumps – fortunately the next ball did exactly the same thing and this time Channy clung onto a much tougher chance diving to his right.
The next two overs were both wicket-maidens as Baker’s off-cutter did for the other opener and Withers tormented the new batsman with five outswingers before the straight one pegged back his off-stump. A short while later an unusually rampant Withers took his third wicket to leave Britwell 56-4.
But then, not for the first time this season, we let the batsmen back into the game. Neither Zia nor his brother Waqar could find a breakthrough as Britwell jogged along at four runs per over. A full-blooded sweep almost brought a remarkable catch by Withers diving to his left at leg-slip but otherwise there were no chances offered before eventually Waqar trapped Clarke LBW for 33 with 35 runs still needed in six overs.
Withers returned at the death but didn’t pose any threat at all with a ball that now resembled a sweet potato - one over went for 15 as Lawrence passed fifty and took all the tension out of the game. Needing just eight from the last two overs they scored them all in six balls off Withers, whose figures took a bit of a pounding.
So RUASCC’s win-loss record for 2011 is now 2-4, and we keep up their proud record of letting an opposition batsman score a fifty in every game this season (except Farley Hill where Ditchburn retired on 48 not out). More on that particular phenomenon in due course.
RUASCC Highlight: The couple of overs during which Withers and Baker reduced Britwell from 33-0 to 33-3. Everything was going so well for a little while.
RUASCC Man of the Match: For top-scoring with 32 not out and at least giving us a total to fail to defend – Richard Tranter.
RUASCC Team: Eagle, Carpenter (capt), Baker, Zia, Malde (wkt), Waqar, Scarr, Stewart, Tranter, Ashman, Withers
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