Tilehurst & Theale (at Leighton Park School) – 8.9.13

Tilehurst & Theale 110 all out

Saad 3-17, Main 3-32

RUASCC 111-0

J. Singh 75 not out, Eagle 29 not out

RUASCC won by 10 wickets

Our first “home” game of the season resulted in a comfortable run chase, the first ten-wicket win I can remember in my decade playing for the club.  Tilehurst brought a young team and RUASCC ultimately proved too strong with both bat and ball.

The players were greeted at Leighton Park by rain, and though the game began in sunshine another heavy shower forced a 20-minute break and a hasty arrangement of the covers by some soggy old cricketers.  Although a cold wind persisted, conditions improved and play continued uninterrupted until the winning boundary was scored soon after 6pm.

Eagle won the toss and chose to field, and for the fourth game in a row Withers made the initial breakthrough when a leading edge flew to Obaid at mid-on.  Then Saad took over, full of pre-match Red Bull and hurtling in for ten violent overs against batsmen ill-equipped to either attack or defend against the pace, bounce and wild screams of “CATCH!”  So demanding is Saad of his fielders that he insists they catch the ball whether or not it hits the bat, whether it’s in the air or on the floor and completely irrespective of whether there’s a single person within 25 yards of it.

Nevertheless Saad took the next three wickets to fall, all thanks to catches by close fielders, and Main’s first wicket kicked off a collapse from 80-4 to 110 all out in the 35^th over.

As it turned out Dr Eagle didn’t need to spend much time thinking about his batting order.  Jas Singh went on a bit of a rampage, reaching fifty with his 11^th four, and even Eagle got creative with a six over backward square leg as the opening pair knocked off the runs in just 17.3 overs - much to the annoyance of Andy Greenhalf, all padded up with nowhere to go.

RUASCC Highlight:  “CATCH!”

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Jas Singh.

RUASCC Team:  J. Singh, Eagle (capt), Zia, Greenhalf, Obaid, Partridge (wkt), Tranter, Saad, Main, Ashman, Withers

Hambleden (A) – 1.9.13

Hambleden 128-7 (40 overs)

Withers 3-14, Ashman 2-24

RUASCC 131-2 (22.5 overs)

Zia 63 not out, Eagle 27

RUASCC won by 8 wickets

I love playing at Hambleden - there’s something about it that seems to sum up for me what it is to play for RUASCC.  It’s not a great wicket, there’s a forty-foot slope from one side of the ground to the other and you know you’re going to get skittled out by someone bowling off one pace, but it’s a wonderfully picturesque setting and when you’re out there in the middle you feel you could be playing cricket in the 1950s.

The facilities have been brought up to date this year - a brand new pavilion replaces the old shed that had to be torn down after Ken Stewart’s last toilet visit.  But what may quite soon become apparent is that I’m writing this match report nearly three months after the game without sight of the scorebook and I have very little idea what actually happened.  I took down the salient details: I know we won, for example, but apart from a couple of notes I made at the time I’d really just be guessing at the rest of it.  But with the AGM next Friday I wanted to get the season up to date, so let’s give it a go.

I did at least write down this bit:

The game began with another potent spell from Withers, continuing his improved form of recent weeks, and he removed both openers in his first six overs, which included four maidens.  First an outswinging delivery was edged to Dip behind the stumps before Zia took a great one-handed catch at short extra cover.  Main also picked up a wicket and Hambleden limped along to 24-3 from the first 15 overs.

What, then, can we deduce?  Well, Hambleden finished on 128-7 so that means they scored 104-4 from their final 25 overs.  There, you see, I’ve got this licked now.  To this I can add that Nick Arnold came in at number three and stayed almost till the end; he eventually fell in Withers’ last over, the ugliest caught-and-bowled you’ll ever see.  That Withers, he is good isn’t he.

I’ll tell you what though, I can’t remember anything else.  It says up there that The Good Dr Ashman took a couple of wickets so that’s bound to be true.  Ask him sometime, I bet he could tell you all about it.

Eagle dropped a catch at mid-on, claiming he was distracted by the sun.  That’s right, it was sunny!  Tranter suggested that Eagle would have caught the ball had he been wearing a cap, though this perhaps places rather too much credit to the skill-enhancing powers of casual headgear.  It was off Kenny’s bowling I think, so no damage done.

That’s that then.  Tea!  It was laid out on a table, definitely on a table.  A table near a wall.  I’m going to stick my neck out and say there were some plates.  Chicken!  There was chicken I think.  I might be thinking of somewhere else.

And then we batted!

We lost two wickets: Carpenter and Eagle.  Eagle made more runs than Carpo on this occasion.  Zia seems to have done rather well, scoring 63 not out.

Look, it’s a puppy drinking Ribena!

What we can be certain of is that, asked to chase 129 in 40 overs, we seem to have polished it off in less than 23.  Well done everyone, well done.

Oh, and according to the team list Channy was playing.  I bet he fielded well, he always fields very well.

RUASCC Highlight:  Oh, all of it.  It was such a memorable day, you know.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  An unbeaten fifty at Hambleden, got to be Zia.

RUASCC Team:  Carpenter, Eagle (capt), Zia, Dip (wkt), Malde, Main, Tranter, Withers, Ashman, Stewart

Frieth (A) – 25.8.13

RUASCC 208-9 (35 overs)

Zia 83 not out, Main 59

Frieth 160-9 (35 overs)

Withers 4-21, Ben 2-37

RUASCC won by 48 runs

After an hour of this match I was already writing a report in my head about yet another dismal score on this ground: put into bat first in a 35-over game, RUASCC had collapsed to 43-6.  12 overs in and Dr Ashman was padding up!

Left-armer Harry Williams caused havoc in the top order, first producing a beauty to bowl Ward (3), then taking Malde (1) and Weeks (4) while Carpenter (0) and Saad (1) were also dismissed cheaply.  Debutant Ben hit a quick 20 before he was bowled by Peter Smiley as the two opening bowlers threatened to run through the whole team.  Obviously we missed the steadying influence of Andy Eagle, dodging mountains in Portugal.

At this point the home captain opted to make a game of it and made changes at both ends, a decision that suited Bruce Main as he hit a six and three fours from McKenzie’s first over the followed it up with two fours and another six, thus doubling the RUASCC total in his first three overs at the crease.

Main took the bowling apart and comfortably outscored Zia (even the return of Williams to bowl his final two overs couldn’t shift him) and he raced to an incredible fifty with his tenth boundary.  The pair added 95 before Main, perhaps inevitably, holed out to deep square leg.

Then Zia took over.  From 33 not out at the time of Main’s wicket, Zia marshalled the strike while first Stewart, then Ashman and Withers, held up the other end.  70 runs were added in the last 14 overs, 50 of them coming from Zia who posted his highest score of the season.  Finally, a total at Frieth that we could defend!

On an otherwise sunny and warm afternoon tea was briefly extended by a hailstorm which mercifully passed over quite quickly, and the resulting muggy air and damp pitch proved very much to Withers’ liking.  Finding plenty of movement and passing the bat on numerous occasions, Withers eventually got the breakthrough bowling Tanveer through the gate.  Saad, bowling very fast and straight from the other end, perhaps forced the batsmen into playing some risky shots against Withers’ medium pace and soon Williams was caught at slip by Ashman.

Two more wickets fell in Withers’ final over, including the dangerous Ben Smiley caught and bowled, before our Ben (a friend of Zia) picked up his first RUASCC wicket as Frieth’s top order fared little better than RUASCC’s.  From 58-5 the home side rallied as Peter Smiley hit a confident fifty but with overs running out they never looked like reaching their target.

A stroke of good fortune saw Ian McKenzie run out at the non-striker’s end off Main’s fingertips and Bruce capped a good day at the office with a wicket from the very next ball.  With the result no longer in doubt Smiley was eventually bowled by Ben for 56 and the innings petered out, although not before Saad returned to take the ninth wicket thanks to a catch by Weeks behind the stumps.

So another superb win, the 11^th of the season for RUASCC, and a bowling performance notable for the fact that Zia didn’t feel the need to bring himself on at all.

RUASCC Highlight:  Having smashed a quick 40 off the change bowlers Main was suddenly faced with the return of opening quick Harry Williams - and met his first ball with the most elaborate, un-Bruce-like forward defensive stroke.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  A few contenders this week, as Zia top scored with 83 and Withers ran through the Frieth top order, but for the way his astonishing innings turned the game completely around it has to be Bruce Main.

RUASCC Team:  Ward, Carpenter, Ben, Malde, Weeks (wkt), Zia (capt), Saad, Main, Stewart, Ashman, Withers

Sixpenny Handley (Tour) – 11.8.13

RUASCC 206-6 (40 overs)

Ward 56, Eagle 29

Sixpenny Handley 100-9 (all out, 27.3 overs)

Stewart 3-14, Withers 3-19

RUASCC won by 106 runs

The second match of the tour, and by now the resentment had started to set in.  We’d been stuck with each other for three days, we’d been staying in a filthy hotel with inexplicable evening “entertainment” and at least one member of the team had been guided into a local bush after an evening in Vodka Revolution.  We’d had a pizza together, we’d had a curry together, we’d had a few drinks together… at this precise moment, 2pm on Sunday afternoon, we didn’t want to see any of our teammates ever again, let alone play cricket with them.

With no game on the Saturday we were free to pursue other activities.  Baker, Main and Withers set off for yet another coastal walk and several others went for a round of golf before we all convened in the Walkabout to watch Chris Rodgers and Shane Watson rescue another perilous situation for the Australians in Durham.  Kenny Stewart lost his glasses then went out to buy a new shirt, ending up with the kind of shirt you could only buy if you’ve lost your glasses.

So to finish the tour we just had to pass one more test: the fixture against Sixpenny Handley, another wonderful purpose-built facility with cricket pitch, tennis courts and recreation hall.  Skipper Eagle lost the toss and we were asked to bat first in a 40-over game.

Scoring didn’t come naturally on an unpredictable wicket and Ward accumulated only in singles while Eagle, naturally, accumulated only in edges down to third man.  Having put on 60 Eagle was the first to go when he was run out.  Zia repeated his score from the previous game (hitting one six and one four to make a quick ten) before being trapped LBW by one of several that kept very low.

In a playful shake-up of the batting order Richard Tranter was next in and he made a handy 19 in his long-running chase to reach 5,000 club runs.  Meanwhile Ward eventually started finding the boundary despite having to face a bowler who sent the ball 22 yards high but barely 18 across.  On a number of occasions Wardy found himself beaten by the absurd flight and yet still able to comfortably regain his ground before the ball passed the stumps.

Nevertheless our opening batsman passed fifty for the second time on tour and then decided it was time to give others a go and got himself bowled.  Stewart (11) and Weeks (14) did their bit in the middle order but runs only really started to flow when Malde and Baker, who had been itching to get out to the middle, added 39 in the last four overs to take us past 200.

From the looks on the faces of the home side at tea we suspected we might have scored enough, but when ten runs came from the first two overs we had momentary cause to question our optimism.  Not for long though: wickets in each of the next three overs (two for Withers, one for Zia) made headway into the top order, and a flurry of boundaries from Nodder ended when a full toss from Carpenter was miscued to the bucket hands of Bruce Main at mid-off.

Main’s bowling proved too hot to handle as his five overs went for a mere three runs, while Withers was removed from the attack having taken 2-5, which gave Ken Stewart the chance to run through the lower order taking an impressive 3-14.

With only one wicket remaining the home side did at least reach 100 before death bowler Mike Ward came on to take the final wicket of tour.  A just reward and a fitting end for our undoubted Player of the Series.

Those tour stats in full:

Games Played: 2

Games Won: 2

Highest Run Scorer: Ward (106)

Highest Wicket Taker: Stewart (4)

Most Catches: Eagle, Baker, Main and Ward (1 each)

Mildest Curry: Withers (pasanda)

Purplest Shirt: Stewart (hideous)

Loudest Snorer: Main (troubled)

Until next year then, I’m sick of the lot of you.

RUASCC Highlight:  Tremendous diving catch by wicketkeeper Baker to dismiss Patel after the ball had brushed a glove and looped up in front of square.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  It’s Ward again!

RUASCC Team:  Ward, Eagle (capt), Zia, Tranter, Stewart, Weeks, Baker (wkt), Malde, Carpenter, Main, Withers

Pimperne (Tour) – 9.8.13

Pimperne 138-6 (20 overs)

Zia 2-11, Main 1-14

RUASCC 139-4 (17.5 overs)

Ward 50, Malde 34

RUASCC won by 6 wickets

Friday evening of Tour, a sunny evening in Dorset and a picturesque cricket ground – this is the best part of the weekend, before we all hate each other and the bitter recriminations begin, like a warring family at Christmas.  Withers, Baker and Main had spent the day walking on the south coast; Ward and Weeks had been for a couple of pints – everyone prepares for cricket in his or her own way.

The game: a 20:20 encounter on an astro pitch, with Zia captaining and Eagle pushed down to number 11.  Pimperne won the toss and predictably chose to bat to get the best of the daylight.  Withers and Baker started well and after two overs it was 7-1, then Withers got clubbed for a four and six before Main came on and bowled the other opener.

Carpenter (bowling spin) and Stewart (“bowling”) grabbed a wicket apiece and the home side were 61-4 in the 12^th.  Zia started well, going for just one run in each of his first two overs, and threatened to expose the tail but the Pimperne number six was an entirely different beast.

First Stewart took some hammer as House launched three consecutive, enormous, sixes over long-on.  Baker returned and went for 25 in one over; the fifth wicket pair added 54 before Moore was dismissed for just 1!

Zia restored order with two quick wickets but House was still there and took 10 from the final over to finish on 74 not out.  Probably a good thing he didn’t come in any earlier.

Despite a dodgy start (Carpenter was bowled in the first over) RUASCC always looked in control of the run chase.  Ward played and missed early on and offered a couple of chances but soon settled down to play the perfect innings for a T20 opener.  Malde went on the attack and the pair posted a half-century stand before Chan was dismissed.

Johnny Baker, playing for only the second time this season, continued to push the score along with some quick singles before a knackered Wardy reached exactly 50 and got himself out.  Tom Weeks was bowled just ten runs short of the line but Zia came in and promptly knocked them off in two deliveries.  A comfortable win and a successful start to the tour!

RUASCC Highlight:  “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” – as keeper Ward looked for a run out at the non-striker’s end, bowler Withers appeared less optimistic about the chances of success.  The result: one overthrow.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Ward - for his work with the bat, not the gloves.

RUASCC Team:  Carpenter, Ward (wkt), Malde, Baker, Weeks, Zia (capt), Main, Tranter, Stewart, Withers, Eagle

BBC Caversham (at Kidmore End) – 4.8.13

BBC Caversham 212-7 dec

Ashman 2-34, Main 2-37

RUASCC 148-9

Zia 44, Dip 34

Match drawn

This was the day we learnt that BBC Caversham’s Sunday team is not the same as their Saturday team.  This was an entirely different proposition to that which faced us when we won by seven wickets back in May.

In good conditions for batting (or, to put it another way, awful conditions for bowling) BBC were put in and amassed 212-7 thanks to some powerful hitting from some big guys I’ve not seen before.  Daman Singh got an early breakthrough while Withers again toiled without much success (first ten overs 1-33, next four overs 0-34).  BBC reached 120-3 before two wickets each from Main and Ashman, but an unbroken eighth wicket stand of 28 pushed the score past 200.

The RUASCC response began badly with Eagle caught behind in the third over and Ward given LBW very much against his will, and despite Daman Singh launching two sixes onto the pavilion roof his enthusiasm proved unsustainable and by the tenth over we were 49-3.

Still, Dip’s been in good form of late and he was at the crease with Zia so there was no reason to panic.  The pair added 52 in good time before an ill-judged third run saw the end of Zia for 44.  Malde didn’t last long but Dip hit another four boundaries before he was caught and the run chase was effectively over.

Main went in typical fashion (bowled playing across the line) and Tranter went in atypical fashion (caught behind for a golden duck) but Tom Weeks held on for a vital unbeaten 16 to prop up one end.  Ashman’s defensive vigil lasted until the first ball of the final over when he became the ninth wicket to fall, which left Withers to see off five deliveries to salvage an inglorious draw.

RUASCC Highlight:  The fifty partnership between Dip and Zia.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  It’s a rollover.

RUASCC Team:  Ward, Eagle (capt), D. Singh, Zia, Dip (wkt), Malde, Weeks, Main, Tranter, Ashman, Withers

Braywood (A) – 28.7.13

Braywood 253-5 (40 overs)

Main 2-40, Acres 1-32

RUASCC 220-9 (40 overs)

Acres 57, Ashman 32 not out

RUASCC lost by 33 runs

On a bright and breezy afternoon RUASCC suffered a first defeat since May, falling short in a limited overs game.  This was the third match in succession in which we have seen an unbeaten century scored against us, and in all six innings the batting sides have posted scores of more than 200, with no side being bowled out.  The heatwave has been a punishing time for bowlers (at the time of writing even Jimmy Anderson has just recorded his worst ever Test Match figures, 0-116).

In Eagle’s absence Carpenter took over the captaincy so for once there was actually a 50% chance of us not fielding first, however Carpo lost the toss and we fielded first anyway.

Opening the bowling Withers lurched between dropping short (getting pulled for four) and pitching up (getting driven for four) and after eight expensive overs was banished to the deep cover boundary to think about what he’d done.  Braywood’s wicket is unforgiving for anyone dropping short and over the course of the innings it happened a bit too regularly.

Main took another two wickets to add to his four last week and debutant Sam Acres held onto a caught & bowled for his first RUASCC wicket.  Jathavedan, who had been dropped in the slips having scored just one, went on to retire on 114, while others also contributed at a decent rate of more than six an over.

After another superb Braywood tea (homemade Victoria Sponge with fresh cream and strawberries a highlight) the RUASCC innings began with the unusual scenario of a Jas Singh opening the bowling to Jas Singh.  Jas Singh (opening with his brother Daman Singh) drove loosely into the covers but a difficult chance was dropped to deny Jas Singh a wicket that would have enthralled trivia buffs until the end of days.

But Braywood didn’t have to wait long for their first breakthrough: having hit two fours in the second over Jas mis-timed one to mid-on and was caught.  Daman hit three boundaries before being trapped LBW and Carpenter was almost run out without scoring but survived two more balls before being caught at deep square leg without scoring.

Meanwhile Sam Acres was progressing smoothly, the ball rocketing off the middle of his bat as he began with four boundaries.  Likewise Chan Malde, who raced to 17 before he was bowled to leave us 77-4 after 15 overs.

Acres was joined by Weeks and the pair added 60 with Sam doing the lion’s share of the scoring.  A second six took him to 49 and his seventh four brought up his half-century.  When he was stumped for 57 our hopes of a win were stumped as well.  A mini-collapse ensued as Weeks, Stewart, Tranter and Main were dismissed and RUASCC slumped from 137-4 to 160-9.  94 runs needed from just seven overs with only Ashman and Withers at the crease.

Any thoughts of an early finish were dispelled by Dr Ashman who set off with real intent, walking across his stumps to pull for four, and regularly lifting straight deliveries over the in-field for runs.  Withers showed less bravado in trying to tick along and support his partner, but whenever Ashman had the strike we knew the ball was getting hit.  The 200 came up in the 38^th over as Ashman repeatedly found the boundary, and eventually Withers even managed to dispatch a couple of rank full tosses to the leg-side fence, but the fun was ended as we ran out of overs, only 33 runs short.

The campaign to move Dr Ashman up the batting order has officially begun.

RUASCC Highlight:  Ashman’s highly entertaining innings.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Acres for his debut fifty.

RUASCC Team:  J. Singh, D. Singh, Acres, Carpenter (capt), Malde, Weeks (wkt), Main, Stewart, Tranter, Withers, Ashman

Hurst (A) – 21.7.13

Hurst 262-6 dec

Main 4-41, Withers 1-47

RUASCC 216-5

Dip 51 not out, Carpenter 42

Match drawn

From the moment I stepped inside the score box at Hurst Cricket Club I knew this was going to a very special afternoon.  Because, you see, this is more than just a score box, this is a Scorers and Umpires Facility, a modern, purpose-built home for the administrators of cricket.  This is an M&S score box.

For a start, they’ve got the basics right: the facility is located directly adjacent to the pavilion.  To many people this might seem the obvious place to put it – at Peppard, for example, you barely have to walk five yards between the two – but try telling that to Kidmore End who built their fantastic pavilion for the players on one side of the ground but left the score box on the opposite boundary.  I liked the Wokingham one that was elevated to give a fantastic view of the action but they ripped it down when they built houses all over the pitch.  “Progress”, I suppose.

The Hurst facility has gone beyond the usual limits of a score box but it still has all the familiar traits: there’s barely room to walk around because of all the bats, pads and stumps strewn all over the floor, there’s an empty can of Red Bull and a dinner plate speckled with melted cheese on the desk and there’s a bit of scrap paper with the home team scribbled on it left tucked inside their scorebook.

But the Hurst box has some great touches – rather than the usual knackered old leather swivel chair there’s a wonderful old bucket armchair, not so easy to rotate perhaps but nonetheless perfect for comfort, height and posture.  Then there’s the desk lamp facing outwards to the square for ease of acknowledging the umpires’ signals, and the little window that opens just a little to give some welcome breeze on a hot day.  I should add that the score box is thoughtfully located on the western edge of the ground so in the evening it’s shady and cool.

All that said, what really elevates this place to the very top of my list is the electronic scoreboard.  This is only the second remote control scoreboard I’ve ever operated, and with all due respect to Bluecoat School (now there’s a fixture we should bring back) I think it’s my favourite.

So easy to operate, so clean in its functionality and filled with clever little touches, this is what scoring should be like every week.  You add runs to a batsman and it automatically adjusts the total, you mark a batsman “out” and it automatically changes the “Last Man” and “Last Wicket Fell” boxes.  A scorer really does get spoilt!

Due to the simplicity of the whole thing you find yourself updating the scoreboard EVERY BALL instead of waiting for the end of the over.  Even in those boxes with the cables to change the display it can feel like a hassle – especially when counting down from 20 overs because you have to keep going “over the top” to reduce the number by one.  And especially when the cables don’t work, like at Kidmore when at the end of each over I was forced to leave the box, walk round the front and punch the display to get it post 0 and 4.  Not ideal.

I certainly don’t want to come across as beating up on Kidmore End because, let’s face it, you’re by no means certain to find a score box at all, with many grounds settling for the traditional hanging-the-metal-numbers-on-hooks approach.  But there are other ways of communicating the score using just a board, and here it is perhaps worth noting two of my favourites, Britwell Salome and Tilehurst & Theale, who have each come up with a slightly different way of hiding or revealing the component parts of each number, the former with bars you can fold back and forth, the latter with sliding plastic switches.

But when it comes down to it, you can’t beat a good score box.  And Hurst Cricket Club has a damn good score box.

Right, any questions?

What’s that?  The game?  Well OK if you insist.  A potent spell from Bruce Main reduced Hurst to 69-6 after 15 overs but an exceptional young left-hander came in and hit 137 not out in 20 overs.

A big target.  Singh (29), Carpenter (42) and Ward (32) all got in before getting out and with 100 needed from just seven overs a draw was inevitable.  Dip played beautifully again for 51 not out and he was ably supported by Main who hit a quick 26 not out.

And this is how it looked on the score box:

RUASCC Highlight:  Pressing the “out” button and seeing the total transfer to the “Last Wicket” box.  Bliss.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Main.

RUASCC Team:  J. Singh, Carpenter, Ward, Zia, Dip (wkt), Eagle (capt), Main, Jagesh, Tranter, Ashman, Withers

Britwell Salome (A) – 7.7.13

Britwell Salome 203-1 dec.

Main 1-31

RUASCC 204-4

Ward 60 not out, Dip 44 not out

RUASCC won by 6 wickets

Another game, another successful run chase for the unstoppable RUASCC.  On a baking hot sunny day Eagle lost the toss and the home side made the obvious choice to bat first, thus relieving our skipper of the opportunity to stick them in on a batsman’s paradise.

And a long old toil it proved to be.  Withers and Main bowled OK on the whole but with perhaps a few too many four balls giving the two opening batsmen the chance to settle in.  One wide half volley from Withers was smacked to the left of Ward at point but the fielder, despite reacting quick enough to get his hands on the ball, spilled it as he hit the floor.  Seemingly misplacing his ire, Withers then slipped in a high full-toss which the batsman did well to avoid – although the ball dipped alarmingly and almost bowled him on leg stump before disappearing for four byes.

There was precious little in the way of excitement or chances after that.  Zia, right hand still in a cast, bowled ten overs for just 27 runs and Ashman sent down a tidy spell but neither could make the breakthrough.  The score passed 100, both batsmen passed fifty and Kenny almost passed out.

Finally, with the score on 176, Main found a bit of extra bounce and a thin edge and Dip took the catch behind.  That proved to be the only success – the Britwell skipper reached his century and after 43 overs tea was called at 203-1.

Over tea we learned that the same wicket had produced more than 500 runs on the previous day so there was plenty to interest our prolific top order.  As has become the norm in recent weeks Jas Singh opened with Eagle and they set off nicely, reaching 36-0 from the first ten overs.  Eagle again targeted his favourite area behind square on the off-side and, such is his mastery over that region, even when he flicked a single into the leg side a wild throw evaded the keeper and gained him another four runs to the third man boundary.

Jas played yet another impressive innings in an opening stand of 81, hitting seven fours before he was bowled for 44 in the first over after drinks.  With 124 needed from the final 20 Ward set off at a decent rate, reaching 30 by the time Eagle got himself out, stumped for 42 – a selfless act designed to help push the scoring along, we think.

This brought Zia to the crease but he lasted barely an over before he too was stumped, for 0, and Malde also failed to trouble the scorers, caught at short fine leg off a tentative scoop.  127-1 had become 130-4 and Dip Patel joined Ward with 74 runs still needed from just eight overs.

Dip started with three consecutive boundaries, then launched an enormous six over the practice net at mid-wicket as 24 came from the first two overs.  Ward hit a boundary to move into the forties and another 15 runs came from the 33^rd over to swing the momentum firmly in RUASCC’s favour.  Ward reached a splendid fifty soon after, and the perfectly timed onslaught meant that just seven runs were needed from the last two.

As it turned out they only needed three deliveries.  Ward took a two and a single setting up Dip to hit the winning boundary, finishing on 44 not out in one of his finest attacking knocks for years.

And while all this was going on we were keeping an eye on the tennis score, as Andy Murray became the first British man to win a Wimbledon title since Jonathan Marray in 2012.  And Kenny almost passed out again.

RUASCC Highlight:  Dip’s effortless six over mid-wicket as the fourth-wicket partnership accelerated towards victory.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Ward takes the honours for his brilliant batting, despite dropping a catch off the man who writes the match reports.

RUASCC Team:  J. Singh, Eagle (capt), Ward, Zia, Malde, Dip (wkt), Main, Tranter, Stewart, Ashman, Withers

Whitchurch–upon-Thames (A) – 29.6.13

(With thanks to Andy Eagle for the match report)

Whitchurch 182-8 dec

Zia 2-27, Main 2-30

RUASCC 184-4

Fawaz 57, Zia 47 not out

RUASCC won by 6 wickets

The ground nestles beneath the steepling and wooded slopes of the Thames valley to the north, whilst giving way to the south to assorted houses, paddocks and meadows until the river itself is reached.

A dry and hard track…ideal for chasing runs upon!  RUASCC duly fielded and opened with the Ul Haq brothers: Zia with his bowling hand in a cast, Waqar back after a break and a spell of 14-1-46-1 indicated he’d not lost the knack.  Whitchurch scored slowly from occasional boundaries to the short sides of the ground but tight fielding kept running to a minimum. Newcomer Adil’s pace was impressive and helped him reach figures of 12-1-41-2.  Main’s bounce from a short run-up caused problems and it was only thanks to some hearty heaves and swipes from Turner at no. 10 (22 n.o.) which took the opposition to 182-8 declared.

The highlights of the innings involved two club stalwarts. Firstly Chan, keeping and standing up, received a ball straight to his forehead from a glancing shot; he was out for few seconds… we could tell because he wasn’t telling someone about the virtues of some smoked Brie he’d tasted the night before.  He left the field amidst concerned team mates but he appeared to be soon recovering, sitting amongst the opposition… we could tell because he was extolling the virtues of a fine bottle of Pouilly-fume he’d had the night before.  Partridge, back after last year’s annual appearance, took the gloves and did well.

The other highlight involved Tranter persistently berating a young batsman for running down the track and abusing the Spirit of the game… so vehement were the Chairman’s protestations that the Skipper had to intervene to avoid a Tranter related Incident (TRI) occurring.  Meanwhile a Greenhalf Relation Incident was taking place as Andy’s dad strolled the boundary with Andy’s son; a cue for Trant to regale his story no. 3 about Greenhalf Senior being the gynaecologist who delivered his daughter, Philippa, who they all thought was a boy.  It was time for tea!

Staff opened with Eagle and Asim, carefully against tight bowling until Asim swiped across the line for 24. Eagle was joined by Fawaz and soon after stranded by Fawaz going for an easy single, run out for 19. Mumblings of “karma” back on the boundary.

At the start of twenty overs, we were 80-3 off 20 needing a further 102 runs. Zia and Fawaz set about this in forthright fashion and smote the ball to all corners, thus cleverly avoiding the ruts and veritable potholes caused by the aforementioned youngster who had so concerned Trant.  Fawaz is not a pretty bat to watch but he is effective and his 57 was yet another big and important innings for RUASCC this year.

Zia, by now in self-commentary mode, was joined by Chan in the final chase which now looked pedestrian thanks to the opposition skipper deciding to bowl and deliver an appetising buffet.  Chan’s cameo of 14 not out was a fillip to a batsman who’d not found his form hitherto and we were delighted by flicks, drives and cuts whilst Zia played as he does when set a mission.

Indeed we had hit 80 runs from the last 10 overs as we won easily by 6 wickets. And the RUASCC rampage through the lower echelons of local cricket continues.

RUASCC Highlight: Chan’s dismissal whilst keeping.

RUASCC Man of the Match: Fawaz for his 57 or maybe Zia for batting and bowling in a cast

RUASCC Team: Eagle (capt), Asim, Fawaz, Adil, Zia, Malde (wkt), Greenhalf, Partridge (wkt2), Waqar, Tranter, Main

Highmoor (A) – 23.6.13

RUASCC 139-8 dec

J. Singh 54, Ateeq 19 not out

Highmoor 113 all out

Withers 6-31, Ateeq 2-21

RUASCC won by 26 runs

Last year’s match on this ground was an absolute shocker: RUASCC batted first in a quagmire, reached 74-9 in 48 overs and lost by 5 wickets.  So, knowing full well how important it was to go out and win the toss, Eagle went out and lost the toss and, inevitably, we were asked to bat first again.

The team news was doubly disappointing: Zia was ruled out with his fractured thumb and Ken Stewart was available following his return from holiday. 

On another damp pitch against some extraordinarily tight bowling the RUASCC innings was dominated by Jas Singh, showing increasing assurance as an opener, who batted for 31 overs and top-scored with 54.  Playing very sensibly in difficult conditions Jas nevertheless hit eight boundaries, the importance of which was reinforced by looking at the state of him every time he ran a “quick” single.  He dominated partnerships with Eagle (10), Dip (11) and Greenhalf (12) and was eventually removed by the immaculate Gayan who at that stage had figures of 3-4 from TEN overs.

Malde, Tranter, D. Singh and Stewart contributed just 15 runs between them but debutant Ateeq managed to drag the score up to respectability with some useful late hitting.  One had to feel sorry for Pensioner Ken (run out for 0) when he was sacrificed to allow Ateeq back on strike in the final over, but no one felt sorry for Gayan when a six from Ateeq ruined his figures and left him nursing 3-19 from 13 overs.  RUASCC had nearly doubled last season’s total and the more optimistic members of the squad were claiming that humiliating defeat was by no means inevitable.

That said, without Zia it could have all gone horribly wrong had Withers not channelled the spirits of Lillee and Trueman to bowl his finest spell in ten years.

Highmoor may not possess the strongest batting line-up we’ve ever faced but it hardly mattered – on this form Withers would have troubled the Aussie Test team of the 1990s.  The Waugh brothers would have been crushed; you’d see Allan Border crying into a tin of XXXX.

There was little sign of the onslaught to come as the openers saw out the first half hour, then wicketkeeper Dip took exception to the batsmen’s attempts to steal some ground and decided to stand up to the express pace of Withers.  The trick worked admirably as it resulted in a stumping for the first wicket.  There followed a catch for Stewart at mid-on and then the key wicket of opener Taylor, trapped LBW to the deadly Withers quicker ball.  44-3 and Withers had all three.  It’s no surprise that people were starting to draw comparisons with Bob Willis at Headingley 1981.

At the other end Daman Singh had been replaced by new boy Ateeq and his fifth over brought two wickets, the first a great catch by Ashman’s forearm, the second a lob straight to Greenhalf in the covers.  Then Withers, into his 11^th over, bagged his fourth wicket when Miraque chipped to Ateeq for another comfortable catch.

At this point RUASCC were undoubtedly favourites but a 7^th wicket partnership of 45 put the home side right back into the match.  Harris took the attack to the bowlers and hit several fours and sixes over the mid-wicket boundary.  Two overs from Stewart went for 19 runs and Withers incredibly bowled four consecutive overs without taking a wicket.

Harris posted a quick fifty and Highmoor only needed 30 runs from nine overs, but the danger man attempted one big hit too many and was caught on the long-off boundary by a very relieved Dr Eagle from the bowling of Jas Singh.  The momentum swung back in favour of RUASCC.

The lower order started to block, but it was a hopeless task against Withers, bowling a spell reminiscent of Andrew Flintoff on the final morning of Lords 2009.  Bowling with a close, attacking field Withers and Jas finished the job in three overs for the addition of only three runs.  One batsman (who shall remain un-named) was heard to tell his partner between overs not to play any stupid shots, but ignored his own advice and came down the track to the first ball of Singh’s over and was clean bowled.

Another catch from Ateeq (his third) off Withers sealed the match and a win by 26 runs.

Withers’ sixth wicket was his 200^th for RUASCC and his 6-31 from 16.3 overs represent his best figures since his debut in 2003.

The RUASCC juggernaut thunders on.

RUASCC Highlight:  Without Ateeq’s 19 runs at the end of the innings the match could have ended very differently, and his six off Gayan in the final over somehow made us all feel a little better about things.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Withers for his best spell in years, but he’ll have to share it with Jas Singh who first scored fifty to set up the total then took the vital wicket of Harris when Highmoor threatened to overhaul it.

RUASCC Team:  Eagle (capt), J. Singh, Dip (wkt), Greenhalf, Malde, Tranter, Ateeq, D. Singh, Stewart, Withers, Ashman

Farley Hill (A) – 16.6.13

Farley Hill 129-9 (all out, 37.4 overs)

Zia 2-10, Ashman 2-23

RUASCC 130-4 (33.4 overs)

Zia 82, J. Singh 32

RUASCC won by 6 wickets

It really didn’t look promising when we arrived at Farley Hill in pouring rain – rain that persisted until just after the scheduled start time of 2pm.  But as the grey cloud got a bit whiter and the showers turned to drizzle, Captain Eagle went out to the middle, lost the toss and was, perhaps surprisingly, asked to field.

Zia, thumb still heavily strapped, showed he can bowl using just his fingers and took a wicket in his first over.  From the other end Withers found plenty of swing but couldn’t get his lines right so it was down to Zia to make the next breakthrough, although it owed much to some magnificence from Chan Malde.  Jalil flicked a bouncing ball off his legs and Chan, just backward of square, dived to his left, parried it with one hand and caught it with the other as he hit the ground.  As a team RUASCC can drop a lot of catches but just recently it feels like we’re taking some real crackers.

Withers got some luck in the next over as Henry attempted a flick to square leg and ended up being caught behind off the back of his bat, but it was when Withers was replaced by Dr Ashman that the wickets started to tumble: first Hussain picked out Greenhalf on the mid-wicket boundary then Garrod cut a short ball straight to Withers at cover.  Meanwhile Jas Singh was bowling a tight spell from the other end and took 1-12 before injury forced him to come off, and when Dave Law picked up an LBW the score was 71-7 with just 12 overs remaining.

There followed a strong counter-attack from Khan who hit 35 not out, but he ran out of partners when Law’s second wicket and an unlikely run out from the lethal arm of Tranter finished the innings on 129.

RUASCC’s opening partnership lasted just three deliveries because, for the second time this season, Eagle was bowled by Shaw.  No one was particularly surprised because the captain had been explaining just a few minutes earlier how this was going to happen.  Zia batted out a maiden over, Jas Singh did the same from the other end and the innings got off to rather sedate start.

In the 11^th over Zia decided he’d had enough of poking around and launched two sixes and two fours to put a dent in Shaw’s otherwise immaculate figures.  Jas continued to be watchful and when the score reached 44-1 Zia had amassed 40 of them.  Remember, he was batting with a fractured bone in his right hand!

A couple of bowling changes followed but the score continued to build at five an over.  Zia reached fifty for the first time this season and Jas showed increasing assurance in his supporting role.  Finally in the 25^th over, having just reached the century stand, Jas hit one straight in the air and was caught by the bowler.  Only 29 runs were needed for victory but RUASCC still managed to make it a bit painful: Young Sam, playing for the first time since last year’s tour, was bowled for five and Zia was finally dismissed the same way for 82.

It was left to Dip (2 not out) to hit the winning runs in the 34^th over and avenge our defeat on this ground earlier in the year.

RUASCC Highlight:  Another superb catch this week, Chan’s dive at leg gully.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Zia

RUASCC Team:  Eagle (capt), J. Singh, Zia, Griffiths, Dip (wkt), Malde, Greenhalf, Tranter, Law, Withers, Ashman

Kidmore End (A) – 9.6.13

Kidmore End 174-9 dec.

D. Singh 4-34, Withers 3-49

RUASCC 175-3

Fawaz 72 not out, Asim 40

RUASCC won by 7 wickets

Such was the state of some of the RUASCC players on arrival at sunny Kidmore End you would have thought the local ambulance service had a problem with its sat-nav.  Zia rocked up with a heavily bandaged right hand and declared he was unable to bowl, Dip’s lower back pain rendered him unable to keep wicket, Singh (D) struggles to walk fluently at the best of times and that’s before we even think about Eagles knees.  The good news was that there were enough youngsters like Ward, Weeks and Fawaz to add vitality to the team.  And of course there’s Withers, fresh from running the Wargrave 10k in a personal best 44:03 just a couple of hours earlier.

Eagle won the toss and put the home side in, with Ward taking the keeping gloves, and on a splendid batting pitch the Kidmore openers had a look at Withers for a couple of overs before smashing boundaries at will over mid-wicket and long-on.  It could have been a long and miserable afternoon but the lively Fawaz broke through in the twelfth over (with the score already on 55) and Withers removed the other opener in the next.  From here the scoring slowed dramatically and Withers took two more wickets, the first thanks to a sharp catch into Zia’s injured hand at silly mid-on.  Having seen his first six overs smeared for 33 runs, Withers recovered to finish on 3-49 from 12.

Then, remarkably, an enormous hanging basket appeared from behind some trees:

Best bowling figures of the day went to the younger Singh brother whose first wicket came when a mis-timed drive flew to the left of Eagle at mid-off and the captain covered the ground with the grace of an arthritic giraffe before plucking the ball from the heavens with an outstretched left hand.  It was a catch no one else in the team could have made simply through the lack of being 6’5” tall and it brought howls of delight and incomprehension from all sides of the ground.

When Singh finally removed Driscoll for 37 the score was 148-6 and despite some powerful late hitting from Frost the innings concluded on 174-9, shortly after debutant Asim had picked up his first RUASCC wicket.

After tea Withers made the long pilgrimage to the scorer’s box on the far side of the ground.  Now it cannot be denied that the Kidmore score box is a comfortable, well-proportioned little cabin with an excellent view of the pitch – the only problem is that its sodding numbers don’t work so you have to keep leaving the box and smacking the front of it every time the total passes 0 or 4 which, by the way, it does quite often when Fawaz is creaming the bowling to every conceivable part of the boundary.

The RUASCC innings began in bizarre fashion with Eagle’s pal New taking the first over and setting the perfect field as the skipper pretended not to notice:

After a couple of dot balls the temptation proved too great and Eagle cut to the boundary (through backward point, of course).  The experiment was aborted after a single over and the field returned to normal, but both Eagle and Asim took to the task nicely and both men had three fours as their only scoring strokes before the first single was taken.  Asim in particular seemed to be in a hurry and another three boundaries took the first wicket partnership past fifty in just the tenth over.

As so often happens to RUASCC/Eagle, a change of bowling brought an immediate wicket when Eagle was caught from Cooke’s first delivery.  When Ward was bowled in the same bowler’s next over it was 65-2 but that brought Fawaz to the crease and, like his batting partner, he was in for a good time: 19 runs were added in the two overs immediately following Ward’s dismissal and with 20 overs remaining fewer than 100 were needed.

By the time Asim had been caught off a high full toss for 40, an excellent innings that included nine fours, Fawaz had raced to 25 and he was joined by Weeks who intelligently rotated the strike to allow his partner to get on with it.  A six and several more boundaries took Fawaz to his second RUASCC fifty and when the 26^th over went for 15 runs it brought up the fifty stand out of which Weeks had scored five.

With victory in sight Weeks hit a couple of boundaries of his own before Fawaz sealed the win thanks to a misfield from the first ball of the 28^th over.

RUASCC Highlights:  Eagle’s remarkable left-handed catch, closely seeing off Zia’s remarkable right-handed catch.  Splice these two together and we’d have the ultimate fielding machine.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Fawaz.

RUASCC Team:  Eagle (capt), Asim, Ward (wkt), Fawaz, Weeks, Dip, Zia, J. Singh, D. Singh, Ashman, Withers

Mortimer (A) – 2.6.13

RUASCC 171 all out

Dip 51, Malde 37

Mortimer 162-4

Baker 2-31, D. Singh 1-14

Match drawn

For many years now the English Cricket Board (ECB) has set out a series of directives for the management of young players in an effort to protect them from injury and harm.  This includes things like making sure they wear helmets when batting or keeping, and limiting the number of overs they can bowl in a spell.  But as far as I’m aware there is no such set of directives to protect us older players from the demoralising effects of getting smashed all over the park week after week by these same precocious little bastards.

I don’t know what business they have being so bloody talented anyway.  A 16-year-old boy should be fat, spotty and socially unacceptable… unless that was just me.  As a teenager my only recognisable talent was for eating crisps, having stepped up from KitKats around the time of my twelfth birthday.  A 16-year-old definitely should NOT be well-built, polite and considerably better than me at something I’ve been trying to do for LONGER THAN THEY HAVE BEEN A THING.

You can probably guess where this is going.  We arrived for a game in Mortimer and saw that half the home side were younger than the RUASCC kit bag, and only by 8pm, once we had narrowly avoided defeat, could we escape to the pub safe in the knowledge that they weren’t allowed to follow us.

Having lost the toss and been asked to bat on a pitch with no significant bounce, Ward was given LBW early on but Eagle began positively, driving a four through square and then levering a huge six over fine leg.  After two more boundaries from the skipper he was bowled for 22, then both Jas Singh and John Baker were done by balls that kept low.  At 77-4 we were running out of top order.

Fortunately both Dip and Chan decided this was the right time to post their top scores of the season.  By showing commendable concentration and attacking the bad balls the pair added 81 important runs in the next 14 overs.  Dip reached his annual half-century with his sixth four, but five minutes later both batsmen were out, and the significance of the partnership became increasingly apparent when the last six wickets fell for just 13 runs and RUASCC collapsed to 171 all out.

(Special mention here for the tea, which was widely acknowledged to be the best so far this season.)

An early breakthrough for Singh (D) looked promising but the second wicket pair pushed the score up to 78 with the help of some generous donations from Withers who is now wicketless in three matches.  After a much-needed change of bowling Baker took two wickets in quick succession - the first thanks to a catch from Withers who by now had been banished to the deep mid-wicket boundary.

This brought a young man named Fritz to the crease, and this is exactly the sort of problem child I was talking about before.  There he is with his immaculate defensive technique.  There he goes picking off the leg-side full tosses and dispatching them to the boundary.  Look at him turning singles into twos with his sharpness between the wickets.  And listen to him politely acknowledging a rare decent ball from the non-striker’s end.  What are the ECB doing to protect us from this indignity?  Nothing!  There should be a rule that these kids can only bat for six overs in a spell, the insufferable, talented, well-rounded, amiable little shits.

With ten overs remaining Mortimer still needed 80 to win, but then they started scoring at ten runs an over which caused Dr Eagle a good deal of concern.  RUASCC, missing Zia, seemed incapable of tying down either end and soon Fritz, and his much more experienced partner, needed 22 from the final two.  Fritz took plenty from the penultimate over but in a frantic bid for a single was run out on the last ball for 46.

Withers was called upon to bowl the final over, a task which was made considerably less daunting by the departure of Fritz, except that the new batsman was Fritz’s slightly bigger older brother.  Fortunately he struggled to lay bat on ball and only managed to add three runs to the score, and RUASCC left the pitch relieved to have earned a draw.

RUASCC Highlight:  When Andy Eagle faced a bowler called Andy with Andy Ashman and Andy Greenhalf umpiring.  A really special moment for Andy fans.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Dip. 

RUASCC Team: Ward, Eagle (capt), J. Singh, Dip (wkt), Baker, Malde, Greenhalf, D. Singh, Tranter, Ashman, Withers

Tilehurst & Theale (A) – 26.5.13

RUASCC 215-8 (44 overs)

J. Singh 45, Zia 37

Tilehurst & Theale 162-9 (41 overs)

Zia 5-21, Waqar 2-22

Match drawn

After being bowled out for just 73 the day before, a RUASCC team with six changes travelled to Theale for the second game of a warm and sunny weekend.  For the opposition view, Mr Cooper has once again produced the goods in his match report, although I understand that Operation Yewtree are on the case after it was discovered that the site contains images of some very young barenaked ladies.

Meanwhile, in a bid to appeal to the modern youth, I’ve brought my own match report a bit more up-to-date and translated it into gangsta rap, thanks to the fabulous gizoogle translator.  Enjoy.

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With Eagle absent ten minutes before tha scheduled start time dat shiznit was left ta Zia ta do tha toss, win it, chizzle ta bat n' take over as captain fo' tha day. It make me wanna hollar playa!  Eagle n' Fawaz opened tha battin n' put on 66 before they both fell tha fuck up in quick succession. I aint talkin' bout chicken n' gravy biatch.  Da two freshly smoked up men, Jas n' Zia, carried on tha phat work n' added 79 runs but they too was dissed n' dismissed up in tha same over n' shit.  Jas was caught just five runs short of a gangbangin' fifty n' Zia was caught off a high full toss dat should have gone ta tha mid-wicket boundary but somehow ended up at mid-off.

Da RUASCC innings could have faltered at dis point but Baker held firm fo' 28 not up while tha tailendaz contributed tha odd boundary before gettin out.  Da fucked up Jagesh rocked up ta rupture suttin' as he attempted a second run n' was run up by a cold-ass lil considerable distance.  Afterwardz his schmoooove ass could barely make it ta tha boundary before collapsin up in a heap.

Despite tha fall of wickets Baker n' Co managed ta add 40 runs up in tha last five overs ta finish on a straight-up respectable 215-8.

Da freshly smoked up bizzle was given ta Fawaz n' off-spinner Nadeem n' dat shiznit was tha slow bowla whoz ass took tha straight-up original gangsta wicket when Mehta was adjudged LBW despite clearly believin he’d gots a gangbangin' fair bit of bat on dat shit.  In tha tenth over Nadeem took tha second wicket ta leave tha home side 25-2 but tha innings was rebuilt by Blake n' Why, whoz ass saw off a thugged-out dozen bowlin chizzlez ta add 65 before tha ever-reliable Waqar came on ta remove dem both.

At 93-4 T&T needed 123 ta win wit 14 overs remainin n' fo' a while dis looked on tha cardz as they added another 46 fo' tha fifth wicket.  Then tha door was firmly shut by Zia whoz ass removed both Holda n' White up in one over, props ta a sharp slip catch by Jagesh n' a phat low take by Nadeem.

With tha run-rate reduced ta almost not a god damn thang Zia dissed n' dismissed Cooper n' Brown ta make RUASCC phat favourites fo' tha win yo, but tha lower order blocked just long enough cause I gots dem finger-lickin' chickens wit tha siz-auce.  Zia’s five-wicket haul was sealed by another pimped out catch by Jagesh, whoz ass despite only havin use of one leg managed ta dive ta his fuckin left at slip n' snag it one-handed a inch from tha floor. Shiiit, dis aint no joke.  But tha final wicket wouldn’t come n' Tilehurst & Theale finished on 162-9.  Another hugely enjoyable, high-scorin game n' two mo' phat match reports, n' you can put dat on yo' toast.

RUASCC Highlight:  Jagesh’s second slip catch, quite remarkable.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  Zia.

RUASCC G-Unit:  Eagle, Fawaz, J. Singh, Zia (capt), Baker (wkt), Nadeem, Waqar, Taimour, Jagesh, Ashman, Withers

Greys Green (A) – 25.5.13

Greys Green 173-3 dec.

Nadeem 2-48, Obaid 1-18

RUASCC 73 all out

Obaid 25, Eagle 11

RUASCC lost by 100 runs

Well, let’s not dwell on this one too long shall we.  Towards the end of last season we were bowled out by Greys for 67, with left-armer Rooke taking 5-29.  This time it was 73, and Rooke took 5-20.  If Kevin Pietersen has a problem against left-arm spin, it seems our entire team has difficulty with left-arm swing.

The home side’s 173-3 was built patiently over 51 overs, with Knight carrying his bat for 91 not out (the same batsman scored 79 in the same fixture last year).  Withers and Zia bowled a combined 31 wicketless overs so it was left to debutant Nadeem, a tall and devious off-spinner, and Obaid to pick up the three wickets between them.

Greys’ success was based on patience early on, not losing wickets, then doubling the score in the last 40 minutes.  It’s fair to say this isn’t the example the RUASCC batsmen chose to follow.  Sajid was caught in the covers, Zia clean bowled and Dip LBW all without scoring.  Greenhalf launched one six across the road and over the trees but he was bowled by Rooke for nine, and Eagle was done by Ahmed, another who often gets wickets against us.

From 36-5 Obaid decided to go on the attack and he hit one six and four fours in an entertaining 25.  After he was brilliantly run out (by Rooke) while dawdling a second, Nadeem (3) and Malde (1) became Rooke’s fourth and fifth victims.  Then it was left to Skilliter to come on and clean up the tail: first dismissing Tranter then bowling last man Withers, leaving poor Dr Ashman stranded on 7 not out.

Still, at least it was a nice day (photo courtesy of Prof Sewell).

RUASCC Highlight:  Tea.

RUASCC Man of the Match:  For scoring a third of all our runs and taking a third of all our wickets, it’s Obaid.

RUASCC Team:  Eagle (capt), Sajid, Zia, Dip (wkt), Greenhalf, Obaid, Nadeem, Malde, Tranter, Ashman, Withers