RUASCC Season Review 2012

This will hardly go down as one of the club’s most successful seasons, with only four wins in five months, instead it will more likely be remembered for the huge part played by the weather: 11 games were cancelled, two were abandoned for rain and another handful were played on wet, sticky pitches that made batting in particular very tricky.

We only made 200+ on two occasions, in five games we posted less than 100 and only two of our batsmen averaged more than 20 this year. Every player made a contribution - there were just too few games when we all pulled it together at the same time.  There were, however, two wins from two on a very successful tour in Cheltenham.

With thanks to Dr Eagle for providing the statistics, here is the essential Keiwit Blog guide to the key players this season.

Andy Eagle (Captain)
Played 17
335 runs at 23.93
7 catches

Opening batsman Andy Eagle bookended the season with fifties against Greys Green (51) and Mandarins (61), and enjoyed success in the two games against Tilehurst & Theale with scores of 32 and 47. For the rest of the season he scored practically nothing at all.

This season saw Eagle add to his responsibilities as Fixture Secretary and Team Secretary by replacing Richard Tranter as Club Captain. He ends the season with a negative win:loss record but a positive coin toss record.

In the field he is liable to instruct people to field at “sort of thereish” and “on the point… no, not at point, ON THE POINT” but he concentrated hard enough to claim a total of seven catches, mostly from a mid-onny sort of place.

Mike Ward
Played 12
207 runs at 18.82
2 wickets at 19.5
2 catches

Wardy’s reward for not missing tour with a poorly-timed holiday this year was a top score of 46 against Aldsworth – an innings during which he was accused of only having one shot by the team who nevertheless continued to feed it for the best part of an hour.

A patient and steady 29 on the stodgy wicket at Peppard was another useful contribution and a breezy 27 against Hambleden came as a welcome respite from all the times he offered catching practice to slip or played around a straight one early on.

His two wickets came at an impressive strike rate (he only bowled six overs all season) but perhaps his finest moment came as umpire when he gave Kenny out LBW against Greys Green just at the point when everyone was about to kill themselves.

Ian Carpenter
Played 16
251 runs at 16.73
4 wickets at 22.75
2 catches

A new streamlined Carpo was by far our most consistent batsman in 2012, and by that I mean he consistently reached double figures before spooning a simple catch into the covers.

To his evident frustration he was unable to post a really substantial score this season, but 47 at Wargrave and 44 against Aldsworth helped him pass the milestone of 3,000 runs for the club, while he also reached 150 wickets thanks to a menacing spell of 2-8 from five overs at Farley Hill.

Chan Malde
Played 12
141 runs at 12.82
3 wickets at 12
1 catch and 1 stumping

One of the undoubted highlights of 2012 was the opening stand of 135 in the 20-20 game against Birdlip on tour in which Chan amassed 55. It was an innings of flair and power and was typical of a batsman who has now played 200 matches for RUASCC and scored 3,610 runs.

That said, it was not typical of Chan this season. Too many innings simply failed to get started, although
useful runs in the abandoned match at Hambleden contributed to our competitive total.

His exceptional work in the field saved countless runs and also contributed to a wicket against Wargrave when his diving stop at short mid-off frustrated the batsman into getting stumped from the next ball. Two wickets came in his short spell at Aldsworth as he proved he’s not actually a bad bowler either.

Dip Patel
Played 12
131 runs at 11.91
3 catches and 6 stumpings

Dip’s stand-out batting performance this year was the 58 he scored against Tilehurst & Theale which, had it been a 65 or 70, would probably have won us the game. It was the sort of knock that makes you wonder how he only managed to score a total of 73 runs in his other ten innings.

In the game at Fulmer Dip was loosely involved in a 78-run stand with Zia in which he scored 11, took a full-blooded drive straight in the chest at the non-striker’s end and was eventually run out.

And even though his wicketkeeping sometimes resembles a drunken toddler playing table tennis he did manage to take three catches and six stumpings along the way.

Zia Ul-Haq
Played 15
386 runs at 35.09
29 wickets at 15.59
3 catches

In another useful season from the 2011 Player of the Year, Zia’s top score was an unbeaten 103 at Greys Green but his most remarkable innings came at Fulmer where he smashed an incredible 82 in a team total of just 110 all out. On tour he hammered Birdlip for 62 before retiring to give someone else a go.

On those occasions when his concentration wavers he is still prone to getting himself out – most notably being run out when strolling what should have been an easy leg bye at Peppard – but often is batting is so imperious that it seems no one else is capable of dismissing him.

Zia once again finished top wicket-taker and his most remarkable feat with the ball was at Frieth where his spell of four wickets in four balls almost won us the match. He finished with 6-15 that day (the only five-wicket haul by any RUASCC bowler this year) and also took four against Braywood and Tilehurst & Theale.

Zia has now played more than 100 games for the club, taken over 200 wickets and scored over 2,000 runs. To very little complaint he was named RUASCC Player of the Year 2012.

Richard Tranter
Played 13
60 runs at 10
5 wickets at 26
1 catch

RUASCC’s all-time record holder for appearances (729) has 1,150 club wickets and is slowly closing in on 5,000 runs, so a few more trips up the order next season wouldn’t go amiss.

This was a quiet season for the Chairman who only bowled 20 overs, taking five wickets with those “shock & awe” straight ones he throws in from time to time. He was however afforded the appropriate respect by Aldsworth, where he bowled his full allocation of seven overs while the batting team agreed they just needed to “see off the old boy” as they couldn’t get him off the square.

Other notable highlights included the moment at Braywood when, after a long and uninspiring partnership, Tranter was run out by his own captain, and that sensational one-handed catch at slip against Mandarins.

Ken Stewart
Played 11
38 runs at 9.5
11 wickets at 16.82
3 catches

Kenny began the season with an unplayable spell on a damp pitch at Farley Hill, finishing with figures of 4-13. The following week he took 1-1.

In the home game against Wargrave later in the season he could have had six wickets but for some inept catching from his teammates. Kenny’s strike rate is excellent, he is undoubtedly a partnership breaker and he remains a safe catcher as long as the ball goes directly to him.

But the batting! Oh my god, the batting! It’s painful. Honestly, people have slipped into a coma waiting for him to play a shot - it’s like watching Withers in slow motion. He’s like a fourth stump. I’ve seen the fielding team try to declare while he’s in. Please, for the love of all that is holy, MAKE IT STOP!

Waqar Ul-Haq
Played 7
33 runs at 8.25
15 wickets at 14.4
2 catches

Waqar only played seven matches but finished third highest wicket taker, with the best official average. A superb start to the season saw him take 3-5 against Shedfield, 3-42 against Greys Green and 3-38 in a long spell at Highmoor. His accurate and at times deadly left-arm spin caused good batsmen problems and wreaked havoc against lesser teams.

He provides a useful variation and is able to tie down an end, a skill that we lacked with his absence in the second half of the season.

Andy Ashman
Played 13
22 runs at 4.4
1 wicket at 209
1 catch

Andy Ashman has now played more than 300 matches for the club and has probably done at least 20 overs umpiring in every single one.

With limited opportunities to bowl a proper spell he only took one wicket this season, unless you count the beer match at Frieth (which we don’t). He did however show scintillating form with the bat: for the first time that I can remember he reached double figures twice.

Keith Withers
Played 17
50 runs at 16.67
27 wickets at 19.48
5 catches

After two quite awful seasons with the ball Withers returned to some kind of form in 2012, possibly helped by the same conditions that made life so hard for our batsmen. He particularly enjoyed the two matches against Greys Green, taking four wickets in each, and continues to perform well in our rare home games – his season’s best figures of 4-30 against Mandarins and a miserly spell of 1-9 from ten overs against Wargrave suggest he would appreciate more games at the university.

Other highlights included 3-14 at Farley Hill followed by an opening burst of 3-4 from four overs at Peppard. It is also perhaps worth noting that two of his catches were off his own bowling while all five that he dropped were off other people’s bowling.

Withers continues to be a solid but ultimately useless batsman – in his ten innings he was only dismissed three times but with a top score of only 15 not out he is still considered number eleven material.

Other notable contributions:

Dersh Patel: Only played in five matches this year; 60 of his 79 runs came in a third wicket stand of 110 against Mandarins.

Bruce Main: Missed much of the season through injury but made a triumphant return on tour taking three wickets against Birdlip. Some powerful hitting at Hambleden, where he scored 37, reminded us how useful he can be sometimes. Passed 1,000 runs for the club.

Tom Weeks: Played six games this season, averaging 12.5 with the bat. His one wicket came against Aldsworth on tour and he also contributed a couple of catches. Nice chap.

Jagesh Navik: Played nine matches and some entertaining hitting saw him involved in the season’s highest partnerships for both 8th and 9th wickets. Struggled with the ball and took only four wickets at an average of 51, but helped out with four catches.

Merry Christmas everyone, see you next year!