A second straight promotion for the Wick 2s delivered by the skin of the side’s teeth with three straight wins to finish the season was just reward for a season which at times touched stunning. With hindsight aggressive declarations earlier in the season would probably have led to a slightly less fraught final week to the season and even greater success – but then that final weekend wouldn’t have tasted so sweet. It wouldn’t be Wick if we didn’t push it to the wire.
Wickman is not sure could have predicted that the standard in this division would only be a half, not a whole, step up from last year. Looking forward in March you had to assume that the cricket we were playing in the bottom division of Fullers would come in for some scrutiny at the next level up and that we would be undone and sent, if not packing, then certainly to look for some wrapping paper, gift tags and frilly bows.
In the event during that first part of the season that in years past held the Wick ransom to the University terms we simply exploded out of the batting blocks and it was difficult to see how anyone would ever beat us. Horley watched us pile on the runs like a relapsed slimmer scoffing a month’s supply of cream buns round the back of a Greggs outlet. Kingstonian celebrated an early wicket but were then made to toil like old aged pensioners at the harvest when all the boys were away at war and Ripley, like so many Morpeth householders, were made to look miserable by the rising tide of Wick runs.
That we were only able to take ten wickets once in those three games was not a criticism of our bowlers or fielders although it’s true to say that we have bowled and fielded better before and since. No, safety first in May and June will keep you North of the Wooden Spoon is a fair summation of how our oppos treated the early part of the season. Wickman supposes if you are on the wrong end of a shoeing early doors you probably think there is a great valour in a draw. Perhaps, you think, it builds character. Perhaps, you imagine, you will be in the wash up at the end of the season and any points needlessly ceded to the opposition at this point may well come back to haunt you.
For whatever reason we found that the only major difference between the two divisions was that our oppositions would be quite willing to block out for 40 overs rather than the more usual 10 of the division below. This correspondent really was close to thinking that Saturday cricket was not worth the bother, not worth the sacrifice of an afternoon in the company of one’s loved ones if this was what the good burghers of Surrey were about.
When we then went away to Lingfield – scene of one of the better games of 2007 – and failed to take the final wicket despite having 66 balls to do it – Wickman would be lying if he didn’t say that he thought that the Wick had blown it before even July had begun. That was a depressing journey back to HQ. 66 balls. Wickman estimates that if 16 might have hit the stumps he would be pleased enough to smoke a cigar at the memory. But ball after depressing ball passed wide of the stumps and there was nothing doing for a side that was hungry to win but, like a rat in a lab experiment, couldn’t find the way out of the maze and off towards the food.
Brilliant then that in between Merrow turned up to ours, won the toss, batted, collapsed and then watched us flay them around the Wick like an Austrian Dad in a cellar and head to the bar early. Ditto eventual league winners Stoke D’Ab, who batted themselves into a dominant position before spunking the lot well before the game had developed into the sort of foaming sensual abandon that it deserved given that the two teams finished only 10 points adrift of each other at the end of the season.
July saw a relative cruise through the teams that finished in the bottom half of the table. The boys dealt with Weybridge, Churt and Caterham easily despatched, Churt only bringing 8 men which always seemed optimistic on their behalf. Byfleet set The Wick 182 in 43 overs to provide the only real challenge of the period. The boys chased particularly well in this period and everyone was chipping in with quick, confident runs.
Which was why the mega collapses of Woodmansterne and Battersea were quite as mystifying as they were. How could largely the same line up fail to even pass 100 in a game? How could this team drop simple catches and be so shabby in the field when they had been so positive? It proved to be a blip because following the rain off at Chobham (how important would the result of THAT game have been given that we finished the season only two points in front of them) we then won three straight and never looked like losing any of the games.
The secret this year was in a relatively settled team. 10 players played more than 10 games. Only six played only one game. Seven batsmen contributed 150 runs or more. Fudgey made 550 at 44 (another phenomenal season and ranking him at No1 in the division), Hibby 311 at 77 with that magnificent 151* at Ripley just sublime in the memory (the third highest score made in any league) and Wrighty 307 at 51. Coley (250+) and Golby (230+) both put in very respectable chunks of runs too. Tommy D, Powelly, Duncan, Junaid and Del all took 10+ wickets at respectable averages in the early teens. Powelly took the season’s best 4-10 early on and if there was any slight eyebrow to be raised this year it was how such talented line ups didn’t get five at any point in the year. Clark managed a respectable 19 dismissals this year and improved as the decks became harder. Soppitt and Cole made a formidable spin twin partnership towards the end of the season and Del, as is his way, made very valuable contributions with the bat at important times.
It was, above all, a team performance in the final weeks of the season, that told. If the first half of the season had been about individual performances and big numbers, the run in was about grit, fight and backs to the wall stuff. This correspondent will fondly recall the fielding performance against CMO which was a grassed half chance away from perfect. The bowling was extraordinary – targeted, nagging, too good. If their visiting umpire had given a very plausible LBW they’d have scored no more than 50 against us. The noise, support, banter, camaraderie and general sheer enjoyment in that game was enough to raise hairs on the back of your neck. And this was in THE high pressure game of the season when a loss would have consigned us to another year trying to get up.
The final game will live long in the memory. We put in a very strong performance which should be the template for Fullers cricket. A well paced innings from Golby and a brutal one from Wrighty, both fulfilling their promise and talent, set up a big score in 43 overs. Then, on the strangest of decks, we simply wore down the opposition by bowling straight at the stumps and, once a few nerves had left the side, catching everything else.
It was a big ask to have got through at the first attempt and frankly no mean feat. That we didn’t end the season as champions and didn’t smash everyone in sight may just have taught us how to win again and about how to get through next year. Wickman can’t wait to see what the new season holds.
Huge congratulations to Fudgey for his 109 and innovative skippering, Hibby for that innings, Tommy for topping the wickets table and Powelly for backing him up. But there were so many other important performances over the season. Junaid’s slower ball was genius. Duncan’s LBWs at Lingfield to get him four for. Wrighty’s immense 72 and Golb’s gluey 66 at Shepperton. Delboy’s 66 to bury Whiteley. Nathan’s absolutely hard-on inducing 54 at Kingstonian. Charlie’s 69* against Caterham. Clarky’s all round day against CMO including Inspector Gadget catches. Powelly’s 4-10 vs Horley including some ripping reverse swing. Tommy destroying S&L’s top order with 4-21. Coley’s 3-3 against Churt. Lownsy ripping 4 out at Kingstonian and bringing "the wrestler" to the Wick celebration lexicon. Shauny’s opening spell at Woodies. Hirschy’s catch to give Fudgey a wicket at Weybridge. Saycey emerging from someone’s back garden before taking a blinder at Shepperton. Unsworth’s runs at Woodies. O’D’s important c&b against Byfleet. Tid ripping out CMO’s gun bat. Webbo bowling the perfect spell in the same game. AJ’s exemplary 50 against Horley and criminal run out (using Clarky as a runner) of Wrighty. Hilly getting the Stoke D’Ab skipper. Mackie’s keeping when Clarky was on holiday. Hodgy smashing the stumps to pieces at Shepperton. Even Toogood played.
It’s almost enough to make you want to play another season…
Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club * 1863 - 2013 * 150 Glorious Seasons
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Season Report – HWRCC 2xi - by Wickman
A second straight promotion for the Wick 2s delivered by the skin of the side’s teeth with three straight wins to finish the season was just reward for a season which at times touched stunning. With hindsight aggressive declarations earlier in the season would probably have led to a slightly less fraught final week to the season and even greater success – but then that final weekend wouldn’t have tasted so sweet. It wouldn’t be Wick if we didn’t push it to the wire.
Wickman is not sure could have predicted that the standard in this division would only be a half, not a whole, step up from last year. Looking forward in March you had to assume that the cricket we were playing in the bottom division of Fullers would come in for some scrutiny at the next level up and that we would be undone and sent, if not packing, then certainly to look for some wrapping paper, gift tags and frilly bows.
In the event during that first part of the season that in years past held the Wick ransom to the University terms we simply exploded out of the batting blocks and it was difficult to see how anyone would ever beat us. Horley watched us pile on the runs like a relapsed slimmer scoffing a month’s supply of cream buns round the back of a Greggs outlet. Kingstonian celebrated an early wicket but were then made to toil like old aged pensioners at the harvest when all the boys were away at war and Ripley, like so many Morpeth householders, were made to look miserable by the rising tide of Wick runs.
That we were only able to take ten wickets once in those three games was not a criticism of our bowlers or fielders although it’s true to say that we have bowled and fielded better before and since. No, safety first in May and June will keep you North of the Wooden Spoon is a fair summation of how our oppos treated the early part of the season. Wickman supposes if you are on the wrong end of a shoeing early doors you probably think there is a great valour in a draw. Perhaps, you think, it builds character. Perhaps, you imagine, you will be in the wash up at the end of the season and any points needlessly ceded to the opposition at this point may well come back to haunt you.
For whatever reason we found that the only major difference between the two divisions was that our oppositions would be quite willing to block out for 40 overs rather than the more usual 10 of the division below. This correspondent really was close to thinking that Saturday cricket was not worth the bother, not worth the sacrifice of an afternoon in the company of one’s loved ones if this was what the good burghers of Surrey were about.
When we then went away to Lingfield – scene of one of the better games of 2007 – and failed to take the final wicket despite having 66 balls to do it – Wickman would be lying if he didn’t say that he thought that the Wick had blown it before even July had begun. That was a depressing journey back to HQ. 66 balls. Wickman estimates that if 16 might have hit the stumps he would be pleased enough to smoke a cigar at the memory. But ball after depressing ball passed wide of the stumps and there was nothing doing for a side that was hungry to win but, like a rat in a lab experiment, couldn’t find the way out of the maze and off towards the food.
Brilliant then that in between Merrow turned up to ours, won the toss, batted, collapsed and then watched us flay them around the Wick like an Austrian Dad in a cellar and head to the bar early. Ditto eventual league winners Stoke D’Ab, who batted themselves into a dominant position before spunking the lot well before the game had developed into the sort of foaming sensual abandon that it deserved given that the two teams finished only 10 points adrift of each other at the end of the season.
July saw a relative cruise through the teams that finished in the bottom half of the table. The boys dealt with Weybridge, Churt and Caterham easily despatched, Churt only bringing 8 men which always seemed optimistic on their behalf. Byfleet set The Wick 182 in 43 overs to provide the only real challenge of the period. The boys chased particularly well in this period and everyone was chipping in with quick, confident runs.
Which was why the mega collapses of Woodmansterne and Battersea were quite as mystifying as they were. How could largely the same line up fail to even pass 100 in a game? How could this team drop simple catches and be so shabby in the field when they had been so positive? It proved to be a blip because following the rain off at Chobham (how important would the result of THAT game have been given that we finished the season only two points in front of them) we then won three straight and never looked like losing any of the games.
The secret this year was in a relatively settled team. 10 players played more than 10 games. Only six played only one game. Seven batsmen contributed 150 runs or more. Fudgey made 550 at 44 (another phenomenal season and ranking him at No1 in the division), Hibby 311 at 77 with that magnificent 151* at Ripley just sublime in the memory (the third highest score made in any league) and Wrighty 307 at 51. Coley (250+) and Golby (230+) both put in very respectable chunks of runs too. Tommy D, Powelly, Duncan, Junaid and Del all took 10+ wickets at respectable averages in the early teens. Powelly took the season’s best 4-10 early on and if there was any slight eyebrow to be raised this year it was how such talented line ups didn’t get five at any point in the year. Clark managed a respectable 19 dismissals this year and improved as the decks became harder. Soppitt and Cole made a formidable spin twin partnership towards the end of the season and Del, as is his way, made very valuable contributions with the bat at important times.
It was, above all, a team performance in the final weeks of the season, that told. If the first half of the season had been about individual performances and big numbers, the run in was about grit, fight and backs to the wall stuff. This correspondent will fondly recall the fielding performance against CMO which was a grassed half chance away from perfect. The bowling was extraordinary – targeted, nagging, too good. If their visiting umpire had given a very plausible LBW they’d have scored no more than 50 against us. The noise, support, banter, camaraderie and general sheer enjoyment in that game was enough to raise hairs on the back of your neck. And this was in THE high pressure game of the season when a loss would have consigned us to another year trying to get up.
The final game will live long in the memory. We put in a very strong performance which should be the template for Fullers cricket. A well paced innings from Golby and a brutal one from Wrighty, both fulfilling their promise and talent, set up a big score in 43 overs. Then, on the strangest of decks, we simply wore down the opposition by bowling straight at the stumps and, once a few nerves had left the side, catching everything else.
It was a big ask to have got through at the first attempt and frankly no mean feat. That we didn’t end the season as champions and didn’t smash everyone in sight may just have taught us how to win again and about how to get through next year. Wickman can’t wait to see what the new season holds.
Huge congratulations to Fudgey for his 109 and innovative skippering, Hibby for that innings, Tommy for topping the wickets table and Powelly for backing him up. But there were so many other important performances over the season. Junaid’s slower ball was genius. Duncan’s LBWs at Lingfield to get him four for. Wrighty’s immense 72 and Golb’s gluey 66 at Shepperton. Delboy’s 66 to bury Whiteley. Nathan’s absolutely hard-on inducing 54 at Kingstonian. Charlie’s 69* against Caterham. Clarky’s all round day against CMO including Inspector Gadget catches. Powelly’s 4-10 vs Horley including some ripping reverse swing. Tommy destroying S&L’s top order with 4-21. Coley’s 3-3 against Churt. Lownsy ripping 4 out at Kingstonian and bringing "the wrestler" to the Wick celebration lexicon. Shauny’s opening spell at Woodies. Hirschy’s catch to give Fudgey a wicket at Weybridge. Saycey emerging from someone’s back garden before taking a blinder at Shepperton. Unsworth’s runs at Woodies. O’D’s important c&b against Byfleet. Tid ripping out CMO’s gun bat. Webbo bowling the perfect spell in the same game. AJ’s exemplary 50 against Horley and criminal run out (using Clarky as a runner) of Wrighty. Hilly getting the Stoke D’Ab skipper. Mackie’s keeping when Clarky was on holiday. Hodgy smashing the stumps to pieces at Shepperton. Even Toogood played.
It’s almost enough to make you want to play another season…
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