Match Report - Frimley vs 1xi - by Matteeee Deeeee

"Matty D hears that Dazzle fancies opening up" - Ed

HWRCC 168 Normy 67
Frimley 128 Day, Shri, Normy all 3 for
HWRCC 1xi beat Frimley 1xi by 40 runs
Davies, Razzle, Dazzle, Izzle, Zazzle, Zozzle, Nozzle, O'Mazzle, Navezzle, Tozzle, Shizzle

Scorecard

Ah yes. Frimley. That ol’ Chestnut. Placed alongside the idyllic Siemens UK HQ and Frimley Park Hospital roundabout, Frimley CC is a surprisingly friendly place (don’t know why I say surprisingly) with a lovely little clubhouse and a regular band of followers and incredibly biased but passionate nevertheless cheerleaders. Not all of them wear short skirts – which is a good thing – but they do provide a sense of occasion for what is as always the highlight of my week – Wick cricket.

This week a number of us decided to almost miss said occasion through a variety of laziness, confusion and lack of planning. Its not unusual and to be honest if everyone turned up on time (or even near to on time) It would be a first. And everyone does inform you when they are going to be late, which I suppose is a minor blessing. Gatesy once told me at 2pm that he was going to be late. He then arrived at about 2.45 having been driven back from a function he was working at in Devon. He was still in his work gear and reeked of alcohol. He nevertheless still managed to score 50 and from memory won us the game. It takes all sorts in cricket.

A young and youthful XI (From being the 2nd youngest 3 years ago Im now the 2nd oldest!) were confident of beating a Frimley side that have the players to cause upsets. Last year we got 260 and had them about 230-8 on one of the flattest tracks you will find. The ground is also small, fast and bumpy which means that it can rain boundaries. Think Taunton only with better telephone signal.

Tails always fails apparently so we batted. Adam feathered one early on before Rashid joined Ali for an innings building partnership. Taking the score calmly onto around 60 at 3s, Rashid was then caught at mid off for the 3rd week running having done all the hard work. Two opening bowlers with no place but just enough guile had managed to keep things steady, but with the score ticking on we were confident at this stage with plenty of batting in the hutch. But where were these change bowlers? Surely they must have at least a 3rd bowler somewhere....It took 30 overs to see someone else, which is a shame in many ways. However the plan was working – Ali thought he was playing baseball for one shot, Day skewed one to point, Raza was strangled down the leg side and Davies was clearly tired after getting up so early and missed one from the 1st change bowler who had a striking resemblance to Adam Selves in both appearance and cricketing style. The Asian ethnicity being the only obvious difference between the two.

Naveendra was joined by Zohaak making is competitive batting debut and moved things on from what was a hideous collapse. A bit of luck and few bludgeons ticked the score along, but the nagging straight stuff seemed too much for us and the wick was eventually bowled out for a patry 168. This was an improvement on last week, but at least 50, if not 100 sort of where we should have been. Everyone gets ducks, it’s when you get in and then get out that should keep you awake at night.

Teas are always a good at Frimley – theres something about mass produced baguettes that are almost white in colour and chewy.....with creamy tuna mayo.....oh yess! 8/10.

To be fair, 168 is probably a normal score for us, in fact it was arguably better than our average. We’ve done this before – in fact we do it most weeks.

‘Matty – can I open up today. I fancy a go.’
‘Yes Alex – you may’

Tong and Day were on the money straight up, but we were clearly still asleep. In all 4 catches were shelled (of varying difficulty) and one run out missed. In between all that, and a few meaty off drives by Mr Lion who after having bowled 17 overs opened up, the Wick bowlers were doing us proud. Joey was pretty sharp. Rupert could certainly crank it up. But Day is something else. 3 wickets accounted for 3 of the top 4 – invariably just done for pace – simple as that. Shri then came on and bowled a superb spell of controlled fast bowling – regularly hitting an awkward length and on a great line. 3 wickets also, all bowled (twice uprooting stumps). Ali again continued his improved bowling from 2010 with 3 more wickets and Tong returned to take the final one.

It wasn’t all plain sailing however. From 74-9, Frimley ended up on 128 thanks to some courageous if unorthodox hitting from #11 who should have batted top 6. True the ball was starting to get a bit wet and the pressure was completely off, but nevertheless his T20 knock made the game a lot closer than it was. Well played Sir.

MOM – it's got be Ali for his runs and wickets, but the key to victory was perhaps Day ripping out the heart of the Frimley batting line up and the support offered by Shri at the other end. Again, the team woefully underperformed, but it is 3 wins in 3and like Man U you don’t need to be any good to win things. Im an Arsenal fan btw.

Im all over this Saturday...