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