Highmoor (A) – 24.6.12

RUASCC 74-9 declared
Baker 16, Law 14 not out

Highmoor 75-5
Waqar 3-38, Law 2-22

RUASCC lost by 5 wickets

Before we begin I should probably point out that I didn’t play in this game; in fact I wasn’t even there. I don’t say that to absolve myself of any of the blame for the hugely embarrassing and demoralising defeat (although it certainly helps) but rather to explain any factual inaccuracies that may potentially sneak into the report.

I arrived home on Sunday evening after a lovely weekend in Dorset and immediately asked Dr Eagle how the match had gone. He said it had gone badly. He said we lost the toss and we were bowled out for 74 on a wet, slow, sticky pitch with a puddle outside off stump. I was forced to agree that yes, it did indeed sound like it gone badly.

But it’s really only now, with the benefit of seeing the scorebook, that I can begin to understand the full crippling extent of the badness to which Dr Eagle was alluding. It looks, I have to say, very bad indeed. But then I suppose any team, even one with the strength in depth that RUASCC possesses, would struggle without the trio of Zia, Ward and Withers – you simply can’t replace sportsmen of that calibre.

That’s not to say there aren’t positives to be taken from the batting performance, and some of these statistics do give reason for optimism:

• Yes, we only scored 74 – but we managed it in just 48 overs! That’s an impressive run rate of more than 1.5 per over. 
• Not just one, not just two, but an incredible THREE partnerships got into double figures!
• We weren’t bowled out! Law and Ashman put together a beautifully crafted unbroken stand of nine before the rather sporting declaration.
• None of the opposition bowlers got a five-for. Yes, Guyan took 4-15 from 13 overs but that doesn’t get you on the honours board, does it.

There’s not much more to say about the scorecard except that with scores of 0, 1, 3, 16, 1, 14, 2, 7 and 2 RUASCC’s batsmen curiously managed to spell out the phone number of a car rental station in Kirkcaldy where Ken Stewart used to work as a toilet brush.

The home side certainly didn’t have it all their own way in the run chase as five batsmen fell to the opening pair of Waqar and Dave Law for a total of just nine runs. Waqar’s line and length bowling evidently proved difficult to get away while Law, playing in his first RUASCC game of the season, frequently touched 90mph in an 11-over spell of raw hostility. Which oddly included a stumping. But anyway, in the end RUASCC’s 74-9 proved to be not quite competitive enough, possibly 10-20 runs short of a decent total, and Highmoor sealed the victory in the 24th over.

RUASCC Highlight: Feeding the ducks in the pond outside off stump.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Might be going out on a limb here but I would suggest it was one of the bowlers.

RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Dersh, Carpenter, Baker, Dip (wkt), Chan, Law, Waqar, Tranter, Jagesh, Ashman

Farley Hill (A) – 17.6.12

Farley Hill 118 all out
Withers 3-14, Carpenter 2-8

RUASCC 119-6
Zia 33 not out, Dersh 18

RUASCC won by 4 wickets

Allow me to begin by apologising for the unacceptable delay in posting this match report. In my defence it’s taken me six weeks to get over the shock of RUASCC winning a cricket match.

Eagle made three good calls early on: he won the toss, he put the home side into bat and he gave the new ball to brothers Zia and Waqar who repaid his faith by conceding 46 runs in ten overs before Zia eventually stopped bowling his slower balls and removed Jalil for 17. Waqar removed the other opener in the very next over at which point Eagle took pity on the batting team and threw the ball to Withers.

But Withers, possibly affronted by being relegated to first change, unleashed the beast within and took a wicket in each of his first two overs (one bowled, one LBW). From 46-0 Farley Hill were now 58-4 and Withers, unplayable in this sort of form had 2-2.

Jagesh came on to replace Waqar and he too picked up a wicket, then Carpenter got in on the act, starting with two maidens before finding an edge to Dip and an LBW to leave Farley Hill 91-7. Jagesh grabbed his second of the day (another clean bowled) to finish with 2-22 before making way for Tranter who quickly settled into his line and length peppering the square leg umpire and any low-flying pigeons. But, as Eagle correctly predicted, the third legitimate ball of the over rapped the pads in front of middle stump and the ninth wicket went down.

A snarling Withers was brought back on to finish the job and he only needed two balls before Harvey slashed at a wide one and was brilliantly caught by Jagesh diving to his right at fly slip. 118 all out, and it was a decent performance from the well-honed, disciplined, athletic fielding unit.

The RUASCC response lacked fluency, and although the required run rate never became an issue the regular clatter of wickets was a worrying sight at times. Ward was first to go, mis-timing a drive to mid-on for 9, before Eagle was bowled for 15. Dersh and Carpenter added 29 but were both dismissed by Harvey to leave RUASCC 80-4 with sixteen overs remaining.

Zia and Dip put together the most important partnership, although a brutal drive from Zia nearly put an end to Umpire Sewell as the ball ricocheted off the stumps at the non-strikers end and hit the startled Professor squarely in the shoulder. Sewell was escorted from the pitch and encouraged to rest while Eagle went inside to fetch a cup of tea but, unable to find a teabag, Eagle instead returned with a Twix. At first Sewell was visibly unsettled by the shiny wrapper but, once inside, he was pleased with the parallel nature of the high-energy snack bars and wolfed them down, making a mental note to add them to his next Ocado shopping order.

Meanwhile on the pitch RUASCC passed 100 and so needed only 19 to win with ten overs remaining. Easy, you might think, but Dip was too eager to get the job done and got himself out with the score on 116. He was followed first ball by Turley but just when we were starting to wonder if we could pull off a most inexplicable collapse the winning run was given to us with a no ball.

Zia finished unbeaten on 33; Sewell finished slightly beaten but soon regained use of his legs.

RUASCC Highlight: Jagesh’s flying catch at fly slip.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Prof Sewell

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), Dersh, Carpenter, Zia, Dip (wkt), Turley, Waqar, Tranter, Jagesh, Withers