Player of the Week - Week 4

1xi vs Farncombe

Fahad Tanveer bowled one spell of genuine fast bowling. He was fast and accurate and skittled the oppo for 134 runs. He took 6/12 in 8.1 overs. Nomaan Ali played a very good innings of 94 helped us to put a very good total 240. MOM Fahad Tanveer.

2xi vs Sinjun

In a disappointing performance the only major contribution was made by Rob Reeves with +40 runs. MOM Rob Reeves

3xi vs Chessington

Sam Kemp hit 68 out of 150 on a wet deck to set up our win. Oppo only got 85 so shows value of his runs. A shame he has done his hammy and we won't see him for a few weeks. MOM Sam Kemp

4xi vs Sunbury

Nick Browning, he opened the bowling taking 9-0-30-1 helping keep Sunbury down to 180. And then opened the batting and scoring 39 against probably the quickest bowler he’s ever faced.Mention to Ben Dawes - never played cricket before and hit an very entertaining 25! MOM Nick Browning

 POTW – another tough one but it goes to Sam Kemp

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Do we? Yes, Wickman thinks we do. Despite a second team match report there's not much to read today after a washout weekend.

For the last week every rain break filling presenter, the execrable Cricket Writers on TV (that's a terrible show, it really is) and every columnist worth their salt has had a pop at the ECB and KP. This amateur writer thinks that opinion is divided with the wearied salaried hacks just about on the side of the ECB but with a sizeable mass of humanity on KP’s side. And Piers Morgan. Who is beginning to get boring.

The reason? Having dumped KP from the team, the ECB’s lawyers then caused the public relations cock up of the decade by insisting that, in these days where the commentariat includes every man and woman with a Twitter account, no one directly involved could talk about it. Leaving everyone BUT those who were directly involved in it to be able to talk about it. Subject to libel laws, naturally.

And then out comes the MD of England cricket, Paul Downton, and talks about it. On a long radio segment with the questions asked by Aggers. If you have listened to it, Downton does a competent job of trying to explain what lead him – it was him – to the decision to get rid of KP.

He says that when he sounded people out (players, coaches and whoever else he spoke to) they said that KP was a problem. Not THE problem. THE problem was that the team had collectively gone in the head. But A problem. There were rumours of spats and fights, team meetings gone awry, a lack of heart.

It probably boils down to this. So fresh in post that he’s not officially in post, Downtown turns up down under to have a look at what’s going on. He finds a team totally at rock bottom. Players wondering where the next wicket or run is coming from, top bat returned home ill, top spinner given up, Captain on the edge, coaching staff out of ideas (with head coach realising that he’s going to have to fall on his sword) and the Aussie media cock-a-hoop.

It’s the dark before the dawn.

Downton knows he has to do something about this. No one is going to accept that there’s nothing he can do. There’s no point commissioning a review and sitting back while folk have a pop at the process and then deride any recommendations. He knows that the fastest way out of this is to get a new coach in, change the personnel a bit and get some results on the pitch. Probably targeting the Test series against Sri Lanka when greenish pitches and alien conditions could sneak England a series win.

Downton is from the real, hard commercial world (having worked in the City) albeit with some playing pedigree. While he knows the game moves slowly, he also knows that the in the corporate world – and especially in the harsh end of the City – heads have to roll and you have to shake the tree to show that you are doing something.

So he looks around for people to fire, to show tangible change.

He probably can’t fire the coach. The coach has to agree with him that is time to go. Luckily he does. Frankly – who wouldn’t agree that Flower had to go, including Flower. The team were on the turn like rotten meat back in the second half of the English season.

Cook really hadn’t established the sort of hold over the side that he really needed to. Communication with players had started to show rifts in planning. Compton was dropped in the middle of the Summer for batting a bit slowly. That decision looked poor when Trott returned home a couple of months later. Carberry took to the press to bemoan the way that he was treated. Swann thought it okay to pull up stumps mid tour. Finn was suddenly unpickable. To the outside observer there are various other players still turning out for England whose body language screams “I’ll be retiring soon”.

In the middle of it all you had KP. He had an average tour at best. Injured, distrusted and perhaps the least needful of an England contract of all the team members, he made himself a target for action. Without a match turning or saving contribution anywhere in the series he provided something that no one else did. Headlines for the arriving MD hoping to set his stamp on proceedings.

Get rid of KP, talk up the next generation and move on and you have a chance of showing that you have had a major impact. In jettisoning Ashley Giles too – I’m not sure many England fans really believed that Spanish royalty was the answer post Ashes and Dutch debacle – you have a winning formula (whatever you might think of Moores).

For those of us bemoaning KP’s exit there are some stark realities. KP’s real magic came in the shorter form of the game largely. His reverse sweeps, switch hits and left handed slogs – while they crept into some of his Test innings – were forged in the short form. But pre StraussTextGate KP was trying to give up 50 over cricket so that he could play IPL and Test cricket. To become England’s Chris Gayle. He did play some stunning Test innings and some startlingly unorthodox shots and he could bully like no other English bat for a generation. He did clear bars. But he did do disengagement too well. Too often even his biggest fans wondered if he really gave a shit as he tugged off his helmet and ran his hand through his hair with that slightly mincey walk back to the dressing room.

And as we all know, when your gun bat gets out and doesn’t look as if he gives a damn, it sends a terrible message.

So back to Downton. He goes round the team and the one thing that the majority of bewildered players, coaches and hangers on can agree on is that there’s something not quite right about KP. He’s not making an unarguable case for selection any more. He doesn’t look as if he gives a shit. He’s wealthy enough to pick and choose. He’s not really a team player. He’s opinionated and doesn’t always give the impression he’s fully on board. Not that there was much else to talk positively about by the way. But KP is the one thing that seems unarguably wrong.

And then there’s this unavoidable feeling that the management had given up trying to keep KP onside. Cook had had a go. There had been a rapprochement with the cabal of senior, or at least more established and vocal players (Anderson, Swann, Prior, Bresnan) and the others (Trott, Bell and the younger mob) weren’t loud enough or opinionated enough to weigh in one way or another. Flower didn’t seem to care much for the man and Giles hadn’t selected KP for a while. Who knows about the rest of the management? Can’t imagine there was much love lost. So that was it.

A collective “We’ve tried” was probably the end of it.

And, frankly, it was Downton’s job to act on that. If there was no longer the will to try to manage KP, then Downton had no option but to can him. Personally I think that’s a damn shame – that there’s not the will to try. That for this summer at least we’ll have no chance to revel in the sort of innings that a flawed genius can play for a country and divide the critics, the public and even his own team. But it is time for him to go if can no longer be accommodated for the good of the team.

That’s not to say that this writer won’t miss KP. His innings were like highlight reels in real time. He did things that some of us can’t even dream of. From those first one day innings in South Africa where he took on the baying mob, to hoisting McGrath into the Lords pavilion, almost losing the Ashes at the Oval and then winning them, slogging Murali into the Oval stands left handed… oh it was amazing to watch.

But it’s over. And we need to get on with it. We need to talk about Kevin. And we’ll need to talk about Kevin until one of the new breed takes over his mantle. Because that’s what cricket is about. Looking for the next genius.

Chessington 2s v Wick 2s Saturday 17th May

Keith umpired this game...like this

The 2nd Xi arrived at Chessington undefeated so far this season. OK a win against Chertsey 3rd X1 and abandonment against Cranleigh was the sum of results this season but undefeated is undefeated. The Chairman arrived to be told that the oppositions umpire would be late. This turned out to be 7 days late resulting in umpiring from both ends. Not happy. Del won the toss and decided to bat despite having seven players making their debut. (Cranleigh does not count) Soon The Wick were 15-2 with Ejaz thinking it was a T20 game and Collier edging behind. A change of bowling meant Zohaak Tughral was facing Hossain Shaboodian , a rotund slow inswing bowler. If I was a betting man I know where I would put my money. Surprise, surprise after one successful swipe Zohaak was on his way back to the pavilion comprehensively bowled. Imran and Bob Reeves put on a few before Luke Vinay, a non-spinning very slow looping bowler persuaded Rob to tap back a return catch. Rob made a good looking 42. Two quick wickets to Viney then saw the Wick at 92-6 on a true but slow wicket and in trouble. Del & Imran built a good partnership with Imran, starting slowly, developing a stylish innings until he hit one down long offs throat for 52 valuable runs. Del then helped the tail add a few and the Wick were 163 all out with less than 2 overs left. Overall we considered this at least 50 short of par. Star bowler for Chessington Viney 3-18 from 10 overs.

Teas 6 /10 Average sandwiches although the jam doughnuts were good.

The Wick opened with Shaz and Waqar with Shaz getting their useful opener smartly caught in the gully by Imran. Once Waqar found his line he too took a wicket so Chessington were 20-2. Singh then came on to bowl and bowled really well turning the ball considerably. Now in cricket the full toss can go one of two ways. The first is the deserved dispatch for 4 or 6. The other way is to take wickets ( ask Nomaan and Mackie) The Chessington batsman decided on the latter not once, not twice but three times hitting down the throats of Wick fielders. Apart from some resistance from the Chessington skipper it was only a matter of time before the time before the Wick recorded a deserved victory. With Kamran (looking remarkably like Raza who now plays cricket in Peterborough) taking the last 2 wickets Credit to the skipper whose gamble of returning to his front line bowlers to finish off the game paid off .So a good win by 30 runs with the Chessington top scorer being extras 44 of which 37 were wide’s. !!!

Great day, great game, wrong result

HWRCC 1XI lose to Cobham Avorians 1XI by 28 runs

Match scorecard

Saturday was one of those days when the Wick felt like an evening party of a safari holiday in South Africa. And not only because Tid was there. Thankfully the cricket matched the setting, and even though the 1s lost a keenly fought contest, there was enough to shout about towards the end of the day to keep two balconies and plenty more besides happy. #Magners as Goldie would say.

Cobham Avorians batted first on a flat deck. Despite some good balls, the Avorian openers were well suited to, and well drilled in, batting on such surfaces. Very much a Warner/Rogers combo. Warner flayed away (proper cricket shots I might add), whilst Rogers hung around for people batted around him. The #3 (a bit of the Dilshan about him) made a few in very quick time, and the #4 (a brand of forward defensive Colly would have been proud of) made a few less in a bit more time, but the score was ticking along - 103-2 at one point. Tanveer returned for a second spell of fast and got 2 in 3 balls to bring the Wick back into the game, the second a proper strawberry plucked by RobbieO at square leg (with MattyD watching on at point…the joys of left/right hand combos).

Enter big Bailey (body of Kieron Pollard, face of Sue Pollard), who showed remarkable levers, yet also constraint in managing a potentially difficult situation. Junjua (dot dot dot) and Tughral (again bowling beautifully without reward) plugged away. 201-5 and Cobham were in the lead. As Im looking at the scorecard I note the #7 scored 36 – not sure where these runs came from, but clearly they did. The innings never really kicked on, but 236 was still a decent score and normally you be big favourites with that down the Wick.

Bowling was improved on last week, but nothing special, other than perhaps Tughral who is due something big very soon.

Teas – coronation chicken. Not something you want just before going out to bat.

The reply started quite well. Nothing to do with the opening bats, more the fact that there were more wides than legitimate balls in the opening  20 minutes. The law of sod then kicked in and one pitched bang on and nipped back to clean up Davies with a good one, and then Rashid was stung with one that similarly nipped back in. Immo is never out lbw, and he is goolie. Ahmed played a typical Ahmed knock. A few biffs and then carelessly getting out. Enter the Dragon, with Bonay and Ali (Bomaye) combining well, before Oliver and Tong offered similar support to Ali (Bomaye) as he set about chasing down a score that we were always second favourites for, but never out of it (until the end, when we were all out…then we were out of it).

Ali’s knock came to a very disappointing end – plopping one to mid-wicket as if he was throwing an egg to him. This came after a wonderous innings full of flicks and drives to all parts. Sheer power and grace, and hopefully a sign of things to come for the rest of 2014. As it happened, his demise was probably curtains, although like last week many a batsmen made double figures (everyone else in fact other than Usman), but no one was able to make the big score needed to get us over the line. As with last week, plenty of positives, but some toughening up is needed before the season starts to get really difficult. Thus far, the standard of play has been slightly down on last year, but the boys are currently at 80% - this needs to be more like 90% to get some points on the board and start the charge.

Fair play to Cobham – a good bunch of lads and enjoyed the banter, and the day as much as we did. Probably more, as they won! #6 and #7 batted excellently and it was a good watch to see our bowlers put real effort in and see it repelled with integrity and grit. There’s a lesson in there somewhere.

Oh, and Arsenal won the FA Cup, which is nice.

3xi vs Walton on Thames - Wickman's Match Report

The Wick innings was not the briskest cricket we have seen...

Sayce, Clark, Kemp, Sayce R, McMullen P, Chedmonds, Farooq, Dare, Cabraal, Linter, Van Vurren

Wick 152

Walton on Thames 78

Gritty Wick Grind Out Bonus Point Win

Last week cricket on Kingsfield was a soggy, cold and ultimately unrewarding thing. Yesterday it was the opposite. As different as a photograph is to its negative, this week’s cricket was dry, warm and the result went decisively the Wick’s way. Returning to the pavilion replete with points to find a burning sun lowering in the sky, Pride on tap and the place packed with people enjoying the first really summer-full day of the cricketing year, this writer felt instantly happy.

Sayce won the toss. With his brother and Paddy wrestling with traffic jams and the sun out he decided we would bat. Sayce and Clark would notice on scratching a mark that the green surface of the wicket sat on top of a dampish clay. Not surprising after last weekend’s torrential rain.

It gave rise to some flaccid cricket. From the top end Allen opened up for Walton and generated decent pace and some swing. When he found the right length he defeated Clark with two that seamed away too far to take an edge. Otherwise the ball either skidded on or occasionally bit and bounced. One attempt to bounce Clark resulted in hilarity as the ball only just got above waist high and came through at a snail’s pace. Clark played three shots all of which missed and received some wry observations from behind the stumps. Clark eventually clubbed one back over the bowler’s head to the long off boundary but mostly singles were nurdled and it was painfully slow.

At the other end Walton’s Clarke bowled a useful line from left arm over. In his first over he had problems with his length but neither of our openers could pierce the field. Unfortunately he settled into a rhythm which eventually returned him the extraordinary figures of 10 overs 1 for 13. The one was Clark who threw his hands at a wide one and was caught tamely at a deep extra position.

Kemp joined Sayce. A combination of the two paced track and winter rustiness meant that he struggled to time the ball and had no success piercing the field. He was horribly dropped at mid off early on and so after that cautiously nurdled his way to a gritty twenty something. Sayce played the shot of the innings leaning back to pull Allen to midwicket with lazerlike precision and real power. Then having forced the change, Sayce P tried to hit some loopy legspin into the middle of Hampton Wick and was undone sending Sayce R to the middle.

Kemp and the younger Sayce then put on the Wick’s most profitable partnership with Sayce looking the more fluent of the two. Kemp eventually perished to Desai who suckered him with a straight one. At one point Rob’s last three scoring strokes were all boundaries – and they became his last three scoring strokes as he found a way to get bowled. McMullen joined the fray fresh from a 7am finish of the previous evening’s Oxford shenanigans. There was no sawdust this week as it wasn’t wet but it was worth trying to find some as he felt that a volcanic eruption of some unremembered drinks was not far away. Typically he smote a number of vigorous boundaries in an entertaining 16.

Linter – with golf cap perched on his head – strode to the middle and was soon entertaining us royally. A lofted drive over cover was exquisitely timed. A pull shot in the next over had us squinting to see if that truly was the negative of Sir Vivian Richards. But Linter too perished, getting through a shot too early to be caught off a top edge.

Those of us congregating round the scorebook were trying to establish what a good score was. With Charlton now back on the sidelines after a brisk five, we felt the innings was in the balance. 120ish for 7 felt not enough and we looked fearfully at our resources. But we were wrong to doubt. Alex Dare played some lovely attacking strokes, Farooq smoked a couple and The Prawn was patient in assembling 11 and reluctant to leave the crease when finally undone. 152 felt like enough.

Tea included some Asian supermarket starters. Everything else as per usual. DBW still persisting with that cream cheese. 7.

Walton’s reply would need to negotiate one of the strongest 3s bowling line-ups this correspondent has had the good fortune to be selected alongside. Of the batsmen only Clark has not bowled a spell in the League. An embarrassment of riches. Van Vurren and Linter opened up and both were miserly in the extreme. As is the way with Linter he bowled beautifully and would have taken a wicket with the only bad ball he bowled had a crushingly hungover Paddy not downed a relatively simple chance due to an inability to select the right spot to intercept the ball.

The let off was not costly as The Prawn ripped through the same left hander to give Kemp a routine – if rapid – catch to his left. A pattern emerged as Walton’s captain timed full balls away to the boundary – probably the only bat on either side who did. Walton’s keeper kept him company – and his batting looked as tidy as his keeping had earlier.

The skipper replaced Linter who had changed from his usual hue in the heat to a red that Wickman remembers from litmus paper in chemistry lessons. Sayce then proceeded to bowl a series of exemplary maidens before pinning the number three in front – and then bowling the number 4 in the same over to put the cat firmly amongst the pigeons.  Worse was to follow at the other end as the fluent oppo skipper tried to drive at a quick straight one from Ed and lost his off stump to leave Walton reeling at 20 something for 4.

If they were hoping for respite from our bowlers at the next changes then they were to be disappointed. Cabraal and then Dare were brought on to give it a twirl and so they did. Another wicket before drinks – to Cabraal meant Walton – if not dead and buried – could hear the sound of coffin carpentry and the sound of a grave spade breaking ground.

Drinks brought a flurry of wickets almost immediately. Lovely Turkish from Dare in particular and Charith mixing it up caused three more bats to perish in short order. Farooq was summonsed to help provide the last rights and took a wicket in his second over before Kemp took a second catch when Charith induced a top edged sweep. Walton had assembled 78.

It was a good performance in the field – almost blemish free – and put into context the earlier batting travails and gritty fightback. Efficient and sometimes ruthless stuff.

MOM – really difficult this week as so many performances. Probably the skipper turning the screw with the ball…

Match Report - 4xi in Watery Premier League Debut

Wick 113 a/o Miles 42
Sinjun Grammarians 10ish
Match Abandoned

Wick: Edmonds*, Copeland+, Miles, Clark, Strange, Cooper, Ritchie, Smith, Taylor, Bendall, Allen

Oppo: Lots and lots of South Africans

New Captain Edmonds Rallies the 4s Before Play

 

 

The story of Noah is a pretty basic one. From memory God decides to clean up a bit and sends some biblical rain down. He warns Noah in advance so he can pack up his family, breeding pairs of every animal he can lay his hands on and some grub into a big floating zoo he has knocked up.

Post the watery apocalypse, Noah releases all the animals into the wild and they get down to the business of restoring nature’s order. Meantime Noah and his family shag like rabbits and repopulate the world. It’s surprising if you believe the Old Testament that the entire planet is not then covered with people suffering terrible genetic disorders, but there you go. This column is not one for philosophical endeavour or for the questioning of belief systems.

Yesterday there was no Ark available when the heavens opened with the Wick 4s at an even 87-5 on a terrible deck. Just the newly refurbished storage hut on Kingsfield.  It is a new testament to the hard work done by folk on Groundforce day that it is possible to get 22 people into the hut without players having to remove scythes or pitchforks from their anii when they stand up as in previous years. But at the same time, sitting down in what equates on match day to a cold stable crossed with an extremely messy laundry that has been knocked through into a cricket shop, is not the way that one would choose to spend their Saturday.

When it came to the repopulation afterwards, Sinjuns’ South African bowlers did the rogering. In ten overs après la deluge the Wick subsided to 9 down for the addition of only 13 runs. Uckerman did not concede a run in taking two wickets in five overs. Wick wickets fell as if the batsmen’s eyes had failed to adjust from the darkness of the Kingsfield shed to the by now blazing sunshine. Gentlemen – only a late flurry of blows from Mr Allen preserved our blushes to post 113.

But it was not a defendable 113. While Sinjuns deservedly were on top in the game after making the most of the condition of the pitch to remove the Wick top order, and later to skittle the tail, they were not so in charge that they should be set a target of 66 runs in 20 overs to win the match. That the travail of trying to build an innings on such a pitch could be triumphed over by 11 swift blows would be a travesty, surely? But that is how the rain rules work.

The Wick were sent into bat on what was a really offensively damp track. The ball created divots from the off and balls ballooned over batsmen and bounced out of reach as the oppo bowlers revelled in being able to bang it in and not concede. Miles was pinged on the helmet and Clark bobbed and weaved in his new lid too. In the fourth over Clark drove one that stopped in the pitch back to the bowler having mentally told himself not to do exactly that.

Harry faced one ball and then decided to ask Phil to run two to long off. Phil is strictly a one or four kind of batsman as you will know and failed to be convinced. Harry, with that distinct crouched running style that reminds this writer of the way in which The Fraggles move around on Fraggle Rock, almost managed to run three to avoid losing his wicket but he was beaten by the throw. When Rob Ritchie, having added a new shot to his armoury, swept at a dobber unfortunately he did so so early that he was through the shot and allowed the ball to balloon off the back of the bat to first slip, the Wick were already anxiously looking up and wondering if rain could save them.

At the other end, Phil Miles was playing a typically robust innings. Like Marcus Trescothick, Miles eschews foot movement and throws his hands at the ball whatever the delivery. This was as effective a strategy as any other and Jonny Allen also used it to great effect later. A cover drive off the back foot was his best offering but by no means the only pretty shot he played. He deserved more but did not add to his score after the rain break.

For the home side Will Strange looks to be a good addition to the squad. One lofted boundary showed much promise but he was skittled by a pea roller before he could really get going. Ed Cooper’s pull shots were timed beautifully and a couple rocketed to the boundary. But he was unable to survive the pitch for long. Jonny made 26 as the innings subsided but could do little more as he ran out of partners.

This track should really not have been played on as it continued to rain. While it was legitimate to start the game, it took too much water and the Sinjuns bowlers could only really stay on their feet by bowling off a couple of paces. They were keen to press home the advantage that they had created but torrential rain during tea finally ruined the pitch.

Without much enthusiasm The Wick took to the field with the adjusted target of 66 to defend in 20 overs. The deck was absolutely unplayable at this point but Sinjuns scented blood and thought they could do the victory target quite quickly if they were lucky.  

Dave Bendall manfully ran in for an over and looked suspiciously at the footmarks after every ball. Old man Smith managed a couple of legitimate balls before slipping and collapsing like a tall tree felled in a jungle clearing in his follow through, presaging urgent negotiation and the end of the match.

Positives to be taken – Miles and Allen’s batting, Strange and Cooper cameos. Negatives: Smith mentioned games played with biscuits during tea and his eyebrows seem to have become incredibly bushy during the Winter lending him a menacing air. Oh. Tea. Absolutely nothing new. J S Sainsbury brought to you with exactly the same skill and dedication as previous seasons. A 6 because this writer’s hopes of innovation were dashed.

If Sinjuns were minded to grumble that we did not simply acquiesce to bowling off two paces and lobbing it up to allow them to win, a final biblical volume of rain came beating down from above as we packed up the stable / laundry / cricket shop to clean away the stain of the match and its unfortunate end. It is only a miracle that some of the worst offenders in the Wick batting display were not the intended targets of the deluge. Edmonds, who had looked quietly furious all day, stalked back to the pavilion quietly pleased.

Oliver bashes it around, but Wick 1XI fall at the last

In my humble opinion the best way to revise for an exam is to play cricket. The other option is to stay at home and revise – and do it badly because you can’t concentrate knowing you should be sunning yourself in white pyjamas. Mr Oliver is clearly cut from the same cloth and he took Saturdays game away at Godalming to catch up on some much needed algebra learn-age. Like a cat he settled in behind the scorers in the scorebox and buried his head in his books. Admirabe. Unfortunately he chose this opportunity to make his most significant contribution for the 1XI to date, albeit ultimately in a losing cause, and so was unable to revise as much as he would have liked. Every cloud…

Godalming 1XI v HWRCC 1XI scorecard

Whilst there was maybe eight 1xi squad players unavailable on Saturday, the team remained strong and offered an opportunity for those picked to make claims ahead of the league that starts on May 10. With daboos aplenty, perhaps losing the toss and batting on a damp dog of a wicket was not an ideal start. Crowther and Tong didn’t last long, and a few interesting lbw decisions later saw both Ali and Malik (daboo) sunning themselves. These four averaged 3.5.

This did however offer a chance for others to make an impression. Ahmed (daboo) and Tughral Zo biffed a few with neither quite reaching 20. Tanveer also fell to the guile of Agge (50 this year and possibly the best character on the circuit – a true gentleman off the field and class act on it).

But then a recovery. Mr Oliver – coming in at 6, an hour earlier than perhaps he would have liked, put together a mature 7^th wicket stand of 50 with Ahmad (daboo). Oliver is a wonderful, classy player full of flicked and booming off drives – not dissimilar to a recently departed Madoc-Jones (he will return from the dark side one day). However on Saturday he was forced to score ugly runs and showed great maturity in riding out a difficult start to end up with 65 at a run a ball. You can add 15 to that score too because the outfield was very big and grass cut to a local Council special standard.

Ahmad in contrast showed he can hit a ball and played very sensibly and simply – block the straight ones, and hit the ones on his legs hard and far. At one stage we would have taken 120, but a score of 175 was a very good response – below par for a normal Godalming track, but given the time of year perhaps only slightly below par. Within that 175 was a great inning from Singh (daboo). After missing/blocking many a ball, he unfurled a mow over cow – Saran Singh Six! Unfortunately the other 10 balls he faced were all dots – but still, a good story.

The Godalming response started slowly (not that ours was fast), and Ahmad and Tanveer both impressed with accurate/hostile spells respectively. Both deservedly got a wicket. But a very tight opening spell failed to lead to a convincing position, and Godalming found their way slowly but surely to 79-3. Singh was given the chance to show his skills, and a promising start was rewarded by the prize wicket of Agge caught in the deep (no surprises there), and whilst wickets started to fall, runs were still being accumulated. Ali impressed as always – ending the day 9-4-22, and Tughral Zam (re-daboo) also bowled really well and would have got more with a harder track – his time will come.

All of a sudden we found ourselves in a proper cricket match – all results possible right through to the last over, with Godalming needing five runs and the Wick one wicket. I wouldn’t say luck was on Godalming’s side – because it wasn’t. We dropped 4 catches and missed 5 clear run out chances where direct hits would have won us the game in the final throws of the match. Godalming got home off the final ball to win by one run – well played.  

I have much love and respect for Godalming, and I know many of their players and characters well, but there is no way we should have failed to bowl them out for less than 175, even if they are a bit of a bogey side for us. Nevertheless there were many positives to take for the season ahead. The Wick’s attitude was spot on throughout, Oliver and Ahmad impressed with the bat, and Ali and Tughral Za with the ball.

Finally, being scorer means I get to see every ball and able to analyse the statistical quirks of the game. For example, in the Wick innings there were two short runs (both to Ahmed – there is a lesson there). There were also three 7-ball over’s in Godalming’s reply (and we got a wicket off one of them). Knowing these facts make me happy.