Saturday 3rd May 2008
Saturday 10th May 2008
Saturday 17th May 2008
Saturday 24th May 2008
Saturday 31st May 2008

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Saturday 3rd May 2008

1st XI vs. North London

Report by: Mark Varley

After a steady start to our summer with victory against Calthorpe, this week boasted a much tougher challenge. The opponents were North London of the County league's division two. With a week of heavy rain it was a relief that our bank holiday was due to be sunny. However it was obvious after a brief inspection, that the track had been affected by the bad weather and didn't look too friendly for batting, and so came the toss which was promptly lost and we were put in to bat! In fairness apart from the track being a bit soft it was still flat and should've been manageable for our batsmen.

Chrissie Arul was entrusted with topping the line-up with Dodgy after a comfortable opening stand the week previous, but soon fell to a soft dismissal after looping an easy catch to point from a delivery which stopped in the wicket! This brought in Wali at three, a bit earlier than would be preferred, and the young attacking batsmen also found it hard to find the pace of the pitch and soon nicked a wide on behind, there was a discussion between umpires as to whether the ball had carried and it had. In came Dave Rai and after a slow 5-10 over spell, where runs were tough to come by, played around a straight one and was given LBW! With the run rate trickling along at around 1.5 Dan Hare came in and looked to attack the short boundary to get the innings going. North London's openers didn't offer many bad balls and it was going to be a patient batsmen that lasted any amount of time. Dodgy had run out of patience too soon and lost his wicket. Then the quick's were replaced at the bottom end by some very slow and tempting off spin, seemingly so we could mount a competitive total, which Dan started to take advantage of. In came Barney to steady the rapidly sinking ship at around

60-4 from 25ish over's. He and Dan began rebuilding with some efficient running and dispatching over the very short boundary. Dans cameo came to an end after missing a sweep off a straight delivery from the spinner. The total was hovering around 100 runs and two more quick wickets of Ash and Chat fell. In came Wills and after a few lusty blows and Barneys 50 the openers were brought in to clean up the tail. Not much was left of our innings once Wills was out barring a stubborn stand from Varley and a not so stubborn golden from Doddsey! So we had a total of 146 to defend after a gritty 70no from Barnard helped us to save face!

Opening from the top end was Wali and with a couple of niggles he was complaining about wasn't up to his usual ferocity and dished out a few early sighters for the North London openers which were duly dispatched to all parts! Wills was plugging away from the bottom end and after a couple of close LBW shouts got his first victim with a perfect in-ducker which had off stump uprooted. North London made steady progress and never looked like letting victory slip even after a stern effort from the four bowlers after Varley and Doddsey replaced Wills and Wali.

The telling difference was the North London opener who made light work of the run chase with a quick fire 92no which knocked the stuffing out of the team. It was far from any sort of form we want to be bringing into the forthcoming season as we had a poor day with the bat and didn't help with some shoddy fielding and too many loose deliveries. On a day had we played half as good as we know we can we might have given the oppo a good run for their money, but this weekends performance was well below a par showing and I hope we have blown away the cobwebs before our opening match against Southall next week!

Team: Arul, D Hinnigan, Khan, Rai, D Hare, Barnard, Ash Perera, Gallage, Willett, Dodds, Varley

Saturday 10th May 2008

1st XI vs. Southall

Report by: Martin Loveday

The fixture was away to Southall which is always a tough fixture. We arrived pretty early and to be fair the ground and wicket was easily in the best condition I had witnessed here and the boundary on both sides were a long way out, making the straight boundaries the shortest.

Kev won the toss and elected to field first, Wali Khan took the first over and Mark Varley the second. Wali seemed to struggle from the early stages with some persistent injury but was able to find a yard of extra pace on occasion whilst Varley was probably looking slightly more dangerous bringing the ball back into the right handers. Varley picked up the first wicket when he caught their opener right in front for a very easy LBW. The batsmen started to settle a little with their danger man (3) looking to play his strokes and his favourite being the straight drive. He was able to hit a few sixes and we lost the ball in the 6th over and the replacement wasn't much cop. The batsmen built a solid partnership without really giving anything away, although some loose aerial shots kept us interested. The partnership was now in excess of 100 and the number 3 had his fifty and the 2 was about an over behind.

A change of bowling was required in the 18th over as Loveday replaced Varley and went for 10 off his first with a couple of long hops. A double change as Dodds replaced Wali at the other end. Both bowlers were able to tighten things up by taking the pace off the ball and bowling the set field. they had reached 140 - 1 when Dodds got the breakthrough, a low full toss was hit straight to Wali at midwicket and he held on to take a good low catch. Their danger man was still in and still looking to be the aggressor but Dodds got him shortly after when a clever use of the pitch made the batsman play a pull shot which was guided very high but straight to safe hands Varley on the deep square leg boundary.

Loveday got a wicket when the 5 got frustrated and tried to go over the cover field set and managed only to sky a high catch to Danny Hare who held on well despite running back and the possibility of a collision with Wali. We were back in the game and kept taking wickets as Dodds picked up another 2 one bowled and the other LBW, just a testament to the wicket to wicket bowling. It was Loveday's turn again as he took 2 in 2 balls firstly a stray one down leg side had the batsman off balance and Beeden took the stumping and the very next ball was another LBW trapped right in front. They were now 8 down for around 188. The next wicket went to Dodds as an inside edge grazed onto leg stump to leave them 9 down, but it was soon 10 as Dodds cleared up the 11 with a slower ball that was skied to Hazell at Mid Off. All out for 195 in 49 overs - a great team effort considering the start the opposition managed to get. The fielding was good throughout and everyone kept their focus even amongst the strange tactics of the opposition taking 4 minutes to get out to the crease on at least 2 occasions, we declined the right to have them timed out.

Tea was taken - not much to write home about there, a couple of sandwiches and some cakes.

We set about our run chase with Chris Arul and Dave Hinnigan opening the batting. They had 1 sharp opening bowler but the wicket was relatively slow. Arul was the first to go with the score on 11 when he was given LBW, seemed to get some bat on it though as all areas of the ground later confirmed. This brought Wali in but his stayed was short lived as he was bowled. Dan Hare lasted 2 balls when he was given out caught behind off what appeared to be a big bump ball, but he had no choice but to go and we were rocking on about 28 - 3. Hinnigan was looking set early on playing some lovely strokes to all areas and with Alan Barnard joining him they started to build the a partnership, something which we discussed in the changing room. However Hinnigan went with the score on 44 when he simply missed a straight drive and got bowled. Hazell was next in and seemed to struggle somewhat with his timing, early season cobwebs I expect but he and Barnard managed to tick the scoreboard over and got us to around about 60 - 4. I cannot actually remember James dismissal but he was next to go, leaving us a tough ask to get a draw out of the game. Beeden joined Barnard and to be fair they played very nicely putting the bad balls away without playing any risky shots. The score was ticking along and the overs were running down relatively quickly as they had 2 spinners on. Beeden was able to play some nice sweep shots to the boundary whilst Barnard putting the ball into gaps. We were starting to feel that we could even snatch a victory with these 2 going well and the run rate picking up. Beeden gifted his wicket away when a full toss was top edged to square leg when really he could have put it anywhere. Dodds was 8 and strode out with some intent to keep the momentum going and was soon hitting his stride and the ball over the boundary ropes.

As they bowled their 20th over in the last hour we were just 6 runs short of the win, but it could have gone either way in a tightly contested game Barnard and Dodds were about to shake hands with the opposition but the game was not over as we had thought with the umpires confirming that there was still 6 minutes of the last hour still to be played. Southall did not take kindly and surrounded the umpires demanding explanations but they were absolutely correct as our scorer Chris Barnard confirmed - there was still 6 minutes to play. When play finally resumed Barnard managed a single to get Dodds on strike and then Dodds managed to get run out by the keeper as we were looking for quick singles. Loveday walked to the crease and got a 1 but was bowled when Barnard got the single to put him back on strike. Now we had 2 wickets remaining and required 2 for victory and thanks to Southall getting through that over in about 4 minutes 30 we would get 1 more over with Barnard on strike. First ball was a single and now Varley was on strike and he managed to get the ball to mid on for the winning run.

The game was over and fair play to Southall despite the obvious disappointment regarding the miscalculation of overs most of their players shook our hands after the game. Hopefully all bad feeling was forgotten after the game as most of our opponents spoke to us in the bar afterwards, as we wished each other well for the rest of the season, and returned to North London with 30 points, a little luckily in the bag.

Team: Arul, D Hinnigan, Khan, Barnard, D Hare, Hazell, Beeden, Dodds, Loveday, Varley, Lawrence

Saturday 17th May 2008

1st XI vs. Turnham Green

Report by: Alan Barnard

After last week's late drama away at Southall, we saw ourselves going into the second week of the season looking to pick up another 30 points in order to maintain our 100% start. The opposition this time round were newly promoted Turnham Green, a side which we are familiar with from our pre-2005 days back in Division Two of the Championship. With the weather looking iffy at best, we could only hope to get some kind of game completed, and make the best of some pretty bad conditions. On a more positive note though, the Hydeside track was looking excellent, and had not been affected by rain in the build up to the game.

On winning the toss, there was some debate as to whether to bat first and try to pick up as many bonus points as possible as rain was likely to make winning difficult, or to bowl first, try to restrict, and chase down, hoping that the rain would allow us enough time to pick up a win. In the end, we opted for the latter option, and took to the field at 1.30pm with a light drizzle in the air.

Wali Khan opened up from the top end, and immediately looked a different bowler from last weekend - it's amazing the difference that a hard, pacey wicket makes to a bowler, and Wali seemed to be relishing the conditions. Mark Varley was also looking good from the bottom end, and soon picked up a wicket, thanks to an LBW decision where the Green opener seemed to step across the line, trying to play to leg. From this point onwards, it was the Wali show though, and as the ball deteriorated steadily due to the wet outfield, he was the only Edmonton bowler that consistently bowled line and length in the conditions.

It wasn't a vintage fielding display, as a few catches were put down, some harder than others, especially given the ball, which after about 25 overs resembled a bar of soap, but the team stuck to their task, and worked hard to maintain as much pressure as possible. Varley was replaced by Loveday, who struggled with the wet ball, and was expensive in the process, despite picking up one of the better batsmen cheaply with a low full toss. Wali was plugging away at the top end, working his way through the Green top order, and had taken 3 wickets by this stage, with Barnard taking a sharp catch at backward point, and a couple clean bowled. The rain was getting more persistent, but with both umpires seemingly keen to stay on the field, and wickets still falling, the home side looked to make the best of bad conditions. Credit has to be given to the Green opener, Edhouse, for his patient 57, which anchored the innings for the most part, and without which the visitors could have been out for under 100.

Hare replaced Loveday from the bottom end, and managed to get a degree of control back, bagging two wickets in the process, including a good catch from Ash Perera. Hare was probably unlucky not to get a third, with Adam Herron, returning behind the stumps for the first time this season making a fantastic leg-side stumping attempt, which was as sharp as anything I've seen in ages. Meanwhile at the other end, Wali was still going strong, despite having bowled 20+ overs, the Afghan quickie ending up with final figures of 6-60. It was more a case of having to keep him on, as none of our other bowlers could actually hold the ball by this point.

Tea was taken after the Turnham Green innings closed on 157, and the covers had been put on the wicket.

The run chase was led by 16 year old Chris Arul, who went on to play his best innings yet for the 1st XI, and Dave Hinnigan, both of whom knew that any sign of rain would lead to play being suspended, and us ending up with between 10 and 15 draw points. With that in mind, both players looked to be very positive with the two opening bowlers, cracking anything short of a length away for four. In fact, after 8 overs, the score was almost 50, which was a massive bonus, given the dark clouds that seemed to be engulfing the ground. It was nice to see what the pair of them can do with the bat, and we certainly hope that they'll continue to develop their opening partnership for the club for some time to come.

Anyway, a couple of bowling changes and a superb 140 run partnership later, and Chris Arul was picked up on the boundary, which led to a mini collapse, with Wali Khan and Dave Hinnigan following shortly afterwards. It was left to Danny Hare and Alan Barnard to see things home, reaching the required 161 for the loss of 3 with 16 overs left of the last 20, and no major scares. I think it would be fair to say that the Green bowlers struggled with the conditions, and the wet ball, but credit has to be given to the two openers, who both played positively, but sensibly to get us up to the target with minimum fuss, and secure the points.

All in all, an excellent display from the whole team, and testament to our staying power that we stuck with the wet ball in the first innings when Green threatened to get away and post a much more taxing total. It was good to see that nobody's head went down, even when catches did, and that there was plenty of encouragement. It was one of those days where we seemed to pick up wickets just at the right time to slow things down and get control back. Let's hope that this is a sign of things to come, and we continue to show this type of form throughout the season.

Team: Arul, D Hinnigan, Khan, Barnard, D Hare, Herron, Hazell, Perera, Lawrence, Loveday, Varley

Saturday 24th May 2008

1st XI vs. Old Lyonians

Report by: Kevin Lawrence

On the third Saturday of the new season the 'E' unit rolled into town, with two good performances and results behind them. Old Lyonians were the opposition. The sun was blazing and the wind was blowing, the toss was won (again) and without hesitation the opposition were put into bat. Wali Khan down the hill and Mark Varley into the raging wind got the vote from the skipper to open the bowling.

With two bat pads Wali produced 6 or 7 unplayable overs dismissing the top 3 batsmen (all bowled) and 1 caught by Dodgy. Whilst superbly supported at the other end by Varley. The only resistance came from the weather - the stop / starting while heavier balls were found. (Mr Beeden, you have lost a lot of weight but you now need anger management classes - you know?) The Old Lyonian skipper came to the crease with the score on 33-4 and to be fair, looked a good bat. He was their only batsman who looked in no trouble. However, The Northern Rock had other ideas - without any previous luck (although he had bowled well up to this point). Mark joined the party; the skipper was dismissed, caught by Dodgy and what can only be described as an unbelievable piece of fielding by Chris Arul no 6 was also dismissed. Chief scorer Mr Barnard Snr was doing his best to keep up!! 50-6, what a start! Batsman 7 and 8 were now in, the ball was now not swinging but the damage was done. Mr Khan's pace was now our weapon. No 7 bat was dismissed trying to hook caught Varley and no 8 was clean bowled.... Mark, feeling left out clean bowled 9/10. A job well done!!

Tea was taken.

So at half time the team talk was about taking responsibility, and the openers getting more runs under their belts. Sadly Chris Arul got another 'iffy' decision, while Dave 'Dodgy' was soon looking the class bat that he is. Wali was soon joining Dave to the wicket. By now the 'E' unit was well on it's way. Oh, by the way Wali has added lip reading to his many talents followed by the biggest swish of the bat with head 'up' was followed by "I heard the umpire call no ball" - sorry mate the lads ain't buying it. Dodgy got one to stop on him and gave the bowler catching practice. Barney strode out to join Wali with no more than 10 required. The last over saw us needing 1 and the old Lyonian field all out on the boundary - bizarre, however Wali didn't disappoint - accepting the gift of a single and the game was WON. The pink hat got another outing (well done Dan). The Barmy Army was ably carried out by Aiden Lawrence and Chris Barnard. Well done chaps!!!

The Team: Lawrence, Barnard, Khan, Herron, Beeden, Loveday, Varley, Hare, Arul, Goddard, Hinnigan.

Saturday 31st May 2008

1st XI vs. Birkbeck College

Report by: Alan Barnard

After the best possible start to the season, with 3 wins from 3 games, we travelled round to Greenford to face Birkbeck College - a side that we know from past experience are very difficult to beat. On arriving at the ground, it was clear that the heavy rain in the week had made the wicket very wet, although the ground looked in very good shape other than that, including a very nice outfield, and willow trees around the boundary making things look very picturesque (I know I'm going to get stick from the boys for saying that, and I probably deserve it).

Kev proved that he can toss the coin with the best of them, winning again, and putting the hosts into bat on what, we hoped, would be a wicket that got easier to bat on as the day progressed. After a good warm-up, and some stretching, play started a few minutes early, with the usual opening duo of Wali Khan starting off from the bottom end, and Mark Valey from the top end. Things were going very well, as Birkbeck were reduced to 23-3 with Wali picking up two, and Varley one, thanks in the most part to a couple of excellent catches from Hare, and one from Varley running backwards at mid-on.

Things started to go a little awry from here on in, as the Birkbeck middle order looked to consolidate. The number 4 hit anything off line or length away for 4 or 6, whilst the 5 played patiently, and showed the control that the top 3 perhaps were lacking, as the two looked to build a partnership. Bowling was particularly tough from the top end, as a wet footmark meant that despite the sawdust, none of the bowlers could be confident of their front foot being stable in their delivery stride. 23-3 became 150-4, and we were staring down the barrel at this stage.

Martin Sanjeev had a brief spell from the top end, and bowled nicely, but within himself because of the conditions, and was eventually replaced by Loveday, whilst Hare replaced Wali at the other end. After a few very wayward overs from the pair of seamers, they started to settle down a little bit, with Hare in particular bowling some nice lines - it was a theme of the game that the slower bowlers got more reward from a slow, stopping pitch. At this stage wickets started to fall, and the pair bowled unchanged for 23 overs, with Hare looking the most threatening. Loveday picked up one wicket, but it really was the Danny Hare show, with the youngster defying a big night out the evening before to end up with figures of 5-59 from 16.

We had pulled the game around to something resembling parity by tea, with Birkbeck all out for 212 - the final wicket coming courtesy of a direct hit run-out from Hare (who else?). After a brief team talk, where we discussed our shortcomings, and tried to focus on the positives, we made the long walk to the pavilion, where tea was laid out. It was from the DIY sandwiches school to teas, but filled a gap, and Barney and Varley were particularly impressed with the fiery chilli sauce, which hit spots that other teas in this league just can't reach…

Back to the cricket, and Chris Arul and Tim Beeden opened up the proceedings, looking positive, but trying not to take too many risks. The Birkbeck openers were not offering much up in the way of balls to hit, and taking the pace off the bowling seemed to be the order of the day. When Beeden fell trying to go long over mid-off, Martin came into the proceedings, and he and Chris ticked things along nicely picking up singles, and going for the occasional big hit. At 70-1, and with the required rate at just about 5 and a half per over, we looked good, although there was a long way to go.

Things started to go badly wrong when Arul walked across his stumps to hit to leg, and was bowled around his pads. Wali, after a brief cameo followed soon after, and Barney lasted just one ball (something he was later to get a lot of ribbing for back at the club). Hare and Martin looked to consolidate, but when Martin fell, bowled inside edging onto his stumps, and Herron departed a few balls later, we were really struggling. This was made worse when Goddard and Loveday both lost their wickets in quick succession, to leave us about 100-8.

It was time for the skipper to take charge, and he did so excellently, first batting with Hare for a number of overs, and then Varley after Hare had fallen LBW for a well made 27, which in the context of the game was worth a lot more. The final two batsmen survived a few hairy moments, but looked solid enough, as they battled all the way to 122-9, and ensured that we would get the draw points as well as what we had already. Credit where credit is due, Hare, Lawrence and Varley showed some of the batting order how to keep their wickets in tact, and we owe the draw to these three's efforts. Credit must also go to the Birkbeck opening bowler, Qaiser, who over the course of 3 spells picked up 7 wickets for 48 from 21 overs by bowling good areas, and controlled pace. I think we can learn some lessons from this.

Credit must also go to Birkbeck, we knew that they would give us a good game from past experience, and came as close to winning as is possible. That said, we should focus on the positives - Hare batted and bowled well, Martin looks to be a good acquisition, and in spells, we fielded and bowled very nicely. We just need to work more on the times where we're not on top of the game, and respond better to sides asking us questions. All in all, a tough game, a slightly disappointing performance, but perhaps a game that we would have lost last season, so there's no disgrace in walking away with 12 points. Lastly, a big shout to Hare and Loveday, who between them made me look very stupid at the 'guess which hand the ball's in' game - thanks boys!

Team: Arul, Beeden, Martin, Khan, Barnard, Hare, Herron, Goddard, Loveday, Lawrence, Varley

5th XI vs. Wembley

Report by: David Sans

With a very wet week before this home game against Wembley, things were looking like we might have to cancel it. But thankfully with a dry Friday afternoon and having the cover on it during the week we were ok. Going into the game us and Wembley had both lost 3 games each but they had 5 more points than us due to more batting and bowling points, I had gone on record as saying "SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE IN THIS GAME", and I was to be proved right.

I won the toss for the first time this Season and have to admit I was 'umming' and 'ahhing' as to whether we batted or bowled and I saw Peter Pate walking towards me swinging his arms, so with that I chose to bowl!!. Well we started of well and took some early wickets, we had Wembley 33-3 off 22 overs, witch promise you it was very boring stuff, they had a left hander who was blocking and leaving Bill, I was that bored I brought the field in and stood at second slip!!!!.

Well after losing two more wickets Wembley then started to actually play some shots and score some runs!!, eventually we bowled them all out for 126 in 50.3 overs. Here's where I must add that Thomas Boxer and Jack Aylott both took a stunning catch each!! Sorry Tom, I think Jack's was slightly better! But only slightly!

Anyway after tea, the run chase proceeded, and to be fair our lads didn't look in that much trouble with the bowling. Bill was out in the first over though chasing a wide one, leaving us a wicket down with no runs on the board! But then that brought Charlie Peat to the wicket, and yes it is Billy's younger brother. Well Charlie and Thomas didn't look to have any threat of getting out and this turned out to be the biggest partnership that most probably the Fifth XI have ever had, it being a partnership of a 103!!!!!!

Unfortunately Charlie got run out for 43 so just lost out of his 50, but hopefully more innings like that to come from him once school packs up for the summer!!...yes mate that's a place in my side!!! Tommy boxer then went on to get his 50 and ended up on 63 not out as he and new member Courtney Hibbertt saw us home to victory with 4 overs left!!!

20 points in the bag, and our first win of the season, and now we go into the big match with Brentham and MR SQUIRES on Saturday... I'll say a big 'hi' to him from all of you.