Last 2 games v CWoA and v Hounslow Navigators. Both rained off. A late wet August ends an otherwise glorious season, weather and cricket wise.
v Richmond Yorkers. Another cloudy evening, we were happy to win the toss and bat. 148/7 was a good score from the 20, with 45no from Swain and 30's for Paul and Noman. Richmonds opener was run out with a direct throw from Swain early on and from thereon wickets tumbled regularly, including another run out, Richmond found scoring difficult, finishing up on 79/9. 2 wickets a piece for Rick and Paul, 2 catches for Ian and a champers moment with Knobby taking a low and fast caught and bowled.
v Ealing Engineers (Parkmen). Reg's Ealing came to Spelthorne this eve for our only meet of the year. And records were broken. Our highest ever total in a 20/20...221, for 2. Probably our highest ever opening partnership also, between Wendel and Swainy. Wendel retired on getting his 100 with a 6 in the 16th over when the score was on 181. Its fair to say we probably had the rub of the green, the wicket still dryish when we batted, and nicely juiced up thanks to the constant light drizzle by the time we came to bowl. Ian and Paul taking advantage of the conditions to knock out the top 5 (including Lux and Ragulan) in the first 10 overs. The light stated fading towards the end, but HL ended up winners by 47 runs.
v OCCC. Only the 2nd time ever we've managed to bowl the full 20 overs and not get a single wicket. Funnily enuf, the other time was at OC's, in 2011. Can't blame the wicket as we managed to lose 7 men chasing in a losing cause. Alex put down the only chance. As much as it pains me to say, OC are a fine 2020 example of how to turn 1's into 2's, waiting for the fielders fumble, or an extra 1 for the throw. They do it every time. They were 66 from 10, but managed to amass another 100 in the next 10 overs to reach 168/0. HL had a fine batting line up this eve, so were confident, welcoming back Wendel from a 5 week lay off. Paul pinched hit 19, Wendel smacked 55 and looked like he could get the 55 needed from the remaining 6 overs until he was stumped to a slow one. Noman, Swain, Chris and Alex failed to trouble the scorer too much. Shafiq hit 36, but we couldn't quite find the boundaries we needed as the light faded against some half decent 2020 bowling, HL falling 18 runs short. Actually, a very similar story to the June game. 2nil to OCs this season. Bah.
v CWofA. 3rd meet of the season. 50no from Lux, 45 from Imran, 20's from Alex and Richard helped HL to a handy 174/3 from the 20. In response, 2 wickets a piece from Imran and Paul kept Chess in check. Despite HL loanees Ash, Noman, Shafiq scoring 100 between them for the oppo, Chess finished up 16 short on 158/7. 2-1 HL. Champers mo: Jims first over: 3 dropped catches...
Magdalen CC Tour 2015 to Norfolk.....If you are awaiting match reports, you'll be awaiting a while. All 3 games called off - rain...However, the tour, as is usual, didn't pass without incident. We did manage to find a small village in the Broads called Magdalen. Wondering if they have a cricket team? We'd quite fancy a game....
V Wandsworth. An epic 3 hour battle was fought out on Wandsworth Park this evening, as HL beat old rivals Wandsworth on the very last ball of the match. With 1 ball left, the scores tied, a leg bye, frantically run by Jim and Adam, gave HL victory by the narrowest of margins.Wands batted first, a couple of their guys got 30's, their skipper caught by a juggling Hardeep in the short covers. Adam was on a hatrick, Rick got a couple, Farooq bowled fast without reward, Wands finishing up in 149/8. Lux (39) anchored the innings, Paul (26) hit a few silky 4's. Farooq and Ash looked good for a while, Imran caught behind by a snorter. With 31 required and 4 overs left, Adam (20) came in and with help from Jim at the end, duly scored the 11 runs need off the last over, for a famous win.
So, its 10 years to the week, when we almost lost Jim. Managing to get run over whilst playing a game of mid week cricket is quite impressive. Charlie says be careful when climbing over fences and running across dual carriage ways to go fetching cricket balls that have just been hit for 6. Jim, spun 5 foot in the air, very fortunately didn't land on his head. Rush hour traffic gridlock in Ealing ensued, awaiting the ambulance to take Jim away (to hossy). Some of the oppo on the day weren't the most gracious, but the game resumed an hour or so later. Miraculously, Jim returned after the game, battered and bruised, but patched up, and didn't play for several weeks. First game back, just as umpire, at square leg, he was hit in the head by the ball from a sweeping batter...Lucky Jim. That's why we have an annual award, given to the player who has suffered pain or injury, having gone above and beyond the call of (midweek 2020) duty...
v Elmbridge. Yet another very warm evening in Sunbury. A 107 opening partnership between Lux (38) and Swain, off just 10 overs was ended the ball after the latter scored his 50. Thoughts of 200+ soon disappeared as a collapse unfolded, HL losing 9 for 57 off the next 10, thanks to careless batting and a dry low wicket. Goldens for Ian and Jim, only Alex offered any resistance with 24. However 164 is still a respectable score and Elmbridge needed to bat well. Their top 3 managed double figures, but decent bowling only allowed Elm to stutter to 110/8 off their 20. 3 wickets for Ian, and wickets for Rick, Don, Swain, and reluctant bowlers Jim and Adam. Champers mo: Alex, backing up, getting in the way of a Rick on drive, stopping a certain 4 and receiving a nice forearm bruise in the process, Rick then out for a duck.
Golden Boy...
v Harrow. Another hot hot evening welcomed our old foes Harrow to Spelthorne. Harrow opened up having won the toss. Again, Spelthorne was looking another 160 plus pitch today, but tight bowling from Hounslow contained Harrow to just 125/7 from the 20. Some controversy with a stumping, the batter refusing to walk. Hounslow can make a meal of chasing lowish scores and tonight we left it to the last over to claim victory, winning 4 down, with 4 balls remaining. 30's for Lux and Swain, 20 for Alex, 3 wickets for Rick, and 3 stumpings for Steve. Indeed, Steve stumped one off Paul, taking Paul to the magical number of 300 wickets for Hounslow, the first to do so. Ricks 3 gives him 297. Since 1992, Hounslow have played Harrow 38 times. We now stand at 18 wins each. (1 tie, 1 abandoned).
The Harrow lads, enjoying a drink, or two, after the match...
v CWoA. Spelthorne...Scorchio...The hottest day in 10 years, 36.7 degrees recorded at Heathrow today. Won the toss, and no hesitation in batting first. Only DMS Mansfields 49 helped HL finish up on a below par 128/5. We needed early wickets and Paul duly replied by bowling the top 3. Ian/ Rick chipped in with 2 each, to bowl friends CWoA out for just 88 in 17.5 overs, 40 runs short.
A pint and full moon on the hottest day in a decade, Spelthorne Sports Club, 1/7/15
v GSK. Ealing dropped out but we were able to find a replacement fixture v local opposition GSK. Always a tough game, HL took the field with just 10, with key drop outs for religious and work reasons. GSK batted first on this hot late June evening. Had the skip allowed it, heads may have started dropping when they were suddenly 52 from 5 overs. However, 20/20 is a fast moving game, the situation can often be recovered, and in a blink of an eye GSK were 83 for 7 from 12 overs. However, any thoughts of wrapping the innings up early were dismissed when 95 runs were put on in the last 8 overs, leaving GSK with a very respectable 178/9. As said many times on this 'ere blog, 9 an over is always a tough chase. Apart from DMS Mansfield with an effortless 65, (8*4, 4*6), the next highest score was just 13, HL falling short by 38 runs. There was a last wicket stand of 58 between DMS and Rick, in which the latter somehow manged to score none of them... To be asked by the oppo skipper to nominate their man of the match after a 40 run defeat is amusing, but it had to go to Pavan, who took a hatrick, Knobby, Ian, and Mike being his bunnies this evening. Don't see those very often, so the chap who scored 45 and took 4 wickets missed out. Infact, our Ragulan was on a hatrick, so in all 4 golden ducks this evening. Interesting game, tasty pizza and played in the true spirit. (GSK 178/9, HL 140/9, Rags 3/35, Paul 3/24, Immi 2/28, Richard 65, A catch and stumping for Mike). We meet again in August.
Other News.
The race for the first Leisure player to take 300 wickets is on. Paul stands at 296, Rick 292. Its fair to say that there are missing score sheets from the 90's for games Paul would have played, but stats are whats on paper so the above is how it is...
Magdalen Tour, one of the highlights of the summer calendar is almost upon us. HLers Knobby, Ian, Steve, Swainy, Hitesh, Wendel, Alex, Paul due to jump on the magic bus to Norfolk...Indeed, Knobby celebrates his 10th year of playing for Mags this weekend..
v Superstars. These guys really are superstars. They come from all over the SE, out of London on the train, and then walk half hour to the ground, to play us. So, of course, its always nice to beat them. Which we did this evening, reasonably easily. 59 from Shaf and 47 from Wendel got us to 161/3 from the 20. In response, Don picked up 2 wickets, All 11 of us could have bowled, but only room in the book for 9. Season Champers moment contender: Knobby with a direct throw run out of their opener, as SS limped to 130/6. Regular keeper Mike left to spectate as Imran took 2 catches.
v Thames Water. New oppo, despite having the same home pitch in common. HL into bat on a dry, hot evening with fast outfield. Knobby and Farooq retired at 25, Wendel got a golden, extras scored a few, HL finishing up, perhaps a few shy, on 142/5. Despite some master blasting from their opener, regular wickets fell. With the help of some good catching (Ian2) and maybe some generous umpiring, TW ended up 17 short, 9 down. 3 wickets for 4 runs from Paul, 2 from Swainy.
v Old Cals. 4 wickets from Imran for 12 runs pulled back OCs from 90 off 10 to 138/5 from 20. 7 an over should have been very doable this evening, A crazy run out first over perhaps set the tone, and alas, we were always just behind on the run rate throughout, despite a rare 20/20 half ton from Alex the goose, and 23 from Shaf, we fell 10 short, 8 wickets down. OCs bowled and caught well, even Terry, who got Imran, then Swainy for a golden, and then caught Alex...
v Harrow. The traffic was as awful as ever, but all felt good as a sun drenched Roxbourne Park welcomed a newish looking Hounslow team, with debutants Imran, Lux and Farooq, joining long time seen Mr Wuu for this one. Into bat, and 40's from Imran, Wendel, and 20's from Swain, Lux took us to a handy 166/5. HL felt confident, but were expecting Harrow to run us close. 9 overs later Harrow were 49/9, thanks to a mix of good bowling and school boy batting. Ian taking danger man Wiggin, bowled by a yorker, first ball of the innings, and finishing up with 3 wickets, a debut 2 for Farooq, 1 for Mr Wuu and 2 run outs. A last wicket partnership of 50 gave Harrow some respectability but still fell 70 short. A harrowing experience for the home side, but we meet again in July.
v CWofA Sunny, warm evening in Chessington. Lost toss. A dragons fury start from Chess, pegged back in the middle and then 50 runs in the last 3 overs took them to 179/5. At 9 an over, we were up against it, despite a Wendel flurry mid innings with 41 including 1 absolute massive rameses 6 (and 3 other wimpy ones), we fell 28 short. 20's from Adam, Chris and Ian, and 3 wickets from Paul. Good game.
v Elmbridge. Rain. Cancelled.
“It is not inconceivable that, by late July, Strauss will once again be describing KP as a Cricketer of Unbelievable Natural Talent, as he did last summer in the commentary box, albeit in the form of an acronym” ….From Cricinfo, May14th…
v Hounslow Navigators. First game of the season on a windy evening in Sunbury. Dropped catches loose matches and when their (already..) in form last man was dropped at point with just 3 runs needed, it was as good as all over. Good to be back, and everyone got a go.
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