Sunday XI vs Chiswick and Latymer

Tongy’s Ton and Tanveer Torments

With April finally deciding to bless us with above freezing temperatures the Wick kicked off its 150^th anniversary season to some long overdue pleasant spring sunshine. The wicket, square and outfield -  despite the weather - looked as good as it has ever done; it was great to be back to playing cricket down the Wick. The familiar sight of what seemed like a thousand colts, an out of breath Charles Edmonds with burger in hand after attempting to control colts and DBW chuntering away from within the kitchen were reassuring sights and sounds of Summer.

This new season will see many new captains at the Wick and the Sunday side has a new double act in Graham Smith and Richard Cole, the experienced duo taking the helm this year after Graeme Tong decided that doing both Saturday and Sundays was a sure fire way royally to piss off the girlfriend. Will the experience of this pairing provide fantastic mentoring to a young Sunday side this year or will the old farts fail to inspire? Only time will tell [Bit harsh - Ed].

Smith was in charge for this first game and had a strong XI to call upon with many 1s and 2s players keen for some early season practice. 1^st toss 1^st win and Wick get a chance to stick some runs on the board. Tongy and Imran opened up, initially looking to ensure no early batting scares on a green lively looking deck. They were assisted however by the poor control of the Chiswick and Latymer bowling attack. Tongy getting a nice juicy full toss to despatch to the cover boundary and Imran getting a log hop that was slapped towards the Pavilion square of the wicket. The bowling didn’t pose any great threat and soon Immy was confident enough to start getting down the track to the bowlers and start heaving a few over mid-on.  The ball was doing a bit when put into the right areas but these decent areas weren’t used enough and the openers found themselves able to leave when necessary and put away the frequent bad delivery.

After the 1^st ten the score board really started to accelerate with Rashid in particular having the confidence to take on the oppo attack even after fresh bowling was introduced from both ends. Rashid had raced to 50 within 13 overs but Tongy soon managed to catch up taking 16 from an over and racing from 30 to 46. The partnership was finally ended when Rashid tried a slightly ugly heave across the line and found middle stump disturbed. The opening stand of 122 in 18 overs however had set the platform nicely. Noman strode to the crease keen for some early season practice and soon found his timing with some sweet drives straight and through the covers.

It wasn’t to last however as he was undone by the slowness of the early season wicket and got a leading edge to mid on. This set the tone for a series of dismissals in similar fashion, with Iain Tong and Jamal both getting caught in a similar way attempting to push the score along. G Tong however stayed firm and decided to anchor the innings and kept pushing the ageing ball around with some ease. Charles was next in with an amazing technicolour display of kit including bright orange gloves, blue helmet, luminous yellow shoes and garish purple stickered bat giving him the look of a pack of highlighters you might use for revision purposes at A-level. This dazzling display unfortunately didn’t last too long as he was bowled with one that nipped back through the gate.

Fahad and Prashant came and went quickly but both had enough time and the crease to support Tongy and launch some heavy blows, Prashant only needing one sighter before lofting an impressive straight six.

Tongy in the meantime had been scoring freely taking boundaries at regular intervals and 1s and 2s with ease. He soon found himself in the 90s and in the 37^th over realised Noman had been slack at changing his score, jumping from 95 to 99. He took the single that next delivery and brought up his 1^st ever ton, not a bad way to start the season. He was run out for 100 and this allowed just enough time for Ed Charlton to bring some comedy into proceedings. You can always rely on Ed for that moment of worry that turns into amusement and today it was the top edged hoick with the ball managing to find its way between helmet and grill. See Facebook for pictures of impressive shiner! Captain Smith was keen to get out into the middle and so declared on 238 for 9 in 39.4 overs [So keen that he didn't bat? - Ed].

Tea-ATS, some things never change, DBW tea’s being one, however there was a new treat, a potato cheese and leak Frittata, however this new addition seemed to confuse most and it was barely touched. Shame - as frittatas go - and I am an expert - it is ok, give it a go!

The warm glow of early spring was replaced with a chilly breeze and gloomy cloud cover for the Chiswick reply and like the grim conditions the scorecard didn’t read much better. Fahad after some impressive net performances in pre-season relished being back with new cherry in hand and soon had stumps flying and the slips in action. 2 batsmen bowled, one with leg stump cartwheeling, and 2 nicks behind saw the score at 8 for 5. Captain Smith got in the action as well with a trademark away swinger caught behind by Madoc- Jones. The oppo captain offered impressive resistance and numbers 6 and 7 stuck around to allow him to score 50 this making the score 65 for 6 then 80 for 7. He cashed in when bowlers were rotated and with the spinners struggling to grip the ball in chilly conditions the balls were well punished. However as soon as he departed the end was near. Fahad came back on and with the help of G Tong and Prashant mopped up the tail. Oppo all out for 93 and a convincing 1^st performance of the year for the wick.