Wick 3s Win Again on Another Swampy Wicket
Friday was the sort of Summer’s day that cricket was
designed to fill. Warm, with a breeze and clouds drifting across the sky. But
of course it was Friday. Over Friday night it would rain buckets. And then on
Saturday morning, as England
faced down the Haka and indeed the All Blacks, the heavens opened and deposited
half an inch of rain across Surrey . No doubt
many rain cards were played on Friday night. Certainly Ched did. Maybe even a
whole pack of 52.
Wickman’s mobile phone remained strangely free of
cancellation texts though. Had Saycey lost his phone? Had the storm knocked out
communications across the region? Had Saycey been washed away in a mudslide
while inspecting the pitch?
With one eye on the weather forecast the pitch had been
deemed playable – but only in the future. Ie if we could get to 2pm without any
more rain there was a chance that a reduced overs game would be played. As we
are now in timed territory, the overs allocation would be 47 max, 37 max. The
sun came out. A light breeze described as a “zephyr” by Grazza whispered up
from nowhere. Amazing conditions given what had happened before.
Sayce lost the toss and the 3s would bat. While this was not
what we hoped for… batting second gives you control of the result in a timed
game - countless match reports on this blog will tell you it is not easier to
bat as time goes on on Kingsfield. Back in the 1950 and 60s some of the finest
ever test matches were resolved on uncovered pitches. For the likes of Derek
Underwood it was not the wet wicket that he enjoyed, but the wicket that was
getting heat into it and drying. That creates turn and uneven bounce. This
wicket was drying from the top of the slope down the hill almost in front of
our eyes. But like every game this season so far, the track was still damp when
we started. Later our spinners would enjoy conditions. But more of that in a
bit.
The skipper declared that we would bat 42 and declare. The
Wick have seemingly become dodgy track specialists this year, getting off to
slow starts and then dogging it out. With the addition of Hirsch to the opening
partnership we hoped for a faster start. However after 10 and 20 overs we were
where we had been in previous weeks. 2ish an over and with work to do. Joe had
been horribly dropped when he flicked a ball to square leg on zero and one of
our opening pair was also put down at first slip. But having survived these
scares, Hirschy looked the more fluent of the two early on and hit some
boundaries, but Sayce seemed determined to cash in however long it took.
For Leatherhead Robinson was the stand out performer with
the ball. Each week we are coming up against someone who can tie up an end and
today he managed it beautifully and was principally responsible for tieing the
Wick down. He bowled 11 overs for 13 runs and never looked like conceding a
boundary.
Eventually Imran and Ejaz showed up – in time for Ejaz to
replace Hirschy when he missed one that moved off the deck. Ejaz hits the ball
hard and doesn’t mess about. He injected some urgency into the Wick innings and
as Sayce unfurled his attacking strokes the rate crept up to just over 2 by
drinks – 65-1. The introduction of spin to proceedings impressed Ejaz who
uncomplicatedly hit a couple of big sixes and – if timing on this track was
still not easy – got on with it. As both bats looked to press on Sayce was
egregiously dropped and run outs were missed as Clark, deputed to come in next,
donned and removed his batting gloves as many as four times in two overs.
Eventually Ejaz was removed by Higgs and Clark
was told to get on with it, taking the skipper at his word, eschewing any
defence and playing in a rather cavalier fashion after previous weeks. A couple
of boundaries and some scampered 1s and 2s later first Sayce was dismissed
skying one for a well deserved 62 and Clark followed in identical fashion
almost immediately caught by the same fielder. Imran had a go at moving things
on. Tom Symmo and Rob Ritchie formed an unlikely death partnership where the words
“well run” were never likely to be used. Try as we might we couldn’t quite set
them four an over though and the skipper called the boys in at 166, leaving the
oppo 42 to get them.
In the field Leatherhead were excellent on the ground, some
of their boundary fielders saving certain boundaries – one even palming back a
six into play to save five runs, another sprinting 40 yards and scooping a ball
up one handed to save another three… top stuff. However the three chances they
grassed… well…. They win matches, those catches.
Tea. Er. There was something new but it didn’t make that
much of an impression obviously. 6. Dave on mid-season form. Next week he won’t
be there for the first time in living memory and Keith (Lorraine obvs) is doing the teas. How cross
is Wickman that he can’t be there? Dear oh dear.
So – to the field. The wicket was now certainly drying out
and would be very difficult to bat on. Something that we think had eluded the
oppo skipper when he sent us in. Ched initially had real trouble working with
the footholds down the hill and bowled like a drain. The skipper bowling up the
hill found a spot a couple of times where the ball leapt like a salmon trying
to get up river to get laid. As Smith wisely said as one ball almost
decapitated their best bat “that’s the ball that won the match”.
Wickman’s not entirely sure which ball it was that did win
the match. But Saycey bowled one of the openers off an inside edge and then
pinned the number three in front in the same over. Kemp Jr then bowled an away
swinger which bit and clipped the glove as it went through. Sydney took a fine juggled catch at first
slip, finally controlling the ball behind him and to his left inches from the
turf.
For a time opener Walters and skipper Robinson formed a
useful partnership. Walters drove particularly well and with power, Robinson
cut and drove the ball with power and grim determination. You could just about
see these two taking the game to the Wick. But the pitch would almost certainly
come into it somewhere and we were soon to see its teeth.
Alex Dare was introduced and from the off was extracting
very significant turn – perhaps as much as a foot of deviation as the pitch
became the sort of minefield that it can in these circumstances. He bowled into
a very rough area where the oppo bats had failed to garden and eventually one
spat enough to bowl Walters. Soonish the number 6 paddled Alex to Rob Ritchie
who pulled off a stunning one handed catch behind square on the 45. Next ball
the Surrey Vets player on their side bottom edged Dare into his stumps and it
was now, we felt, all up to the oppo skipper.
Imran had been introduced from the bottom end to bowl
legspin. His first ball dipped and span and it looked like we had a real find.
Some of the other balls in his first over were not of the same quality and
perhaps we were not quite so excited. But as he found some consistency it was
clear that bowling together he and Daro would wrap things up. They did – a stumping
and a variety of catches doing the job.
Credit to Leatherhead – they’ve had a tough time getting a
side out this year to date but they very much decided that they would chase the
score until they could no more – and, refreshingly – the Wick won the game with
overs to spare and few alarms. Their bowling and fielding performance was
accomplished bar the catches they put down – on another day they might have
dismissed us for fewer.
MOM is a difficult one. Wickman notes that the Captain has
modestly mentioned Dare’s four for in dispatches. He must have wrestled hard
with himself because his knock was the stand out batting display of the day. On
balance though Daro bowled beautifully, flighting it and only bowling a dart
from time to time for variation. We were all delighted to see him take a wicket
with his leg break, non more so than Clark behind the stumps who benefited with
a neat stumping late in the innings.
All good. This win took the 3s to a challenging position in the
table. Events the following week, not yet described here, will show whether
that’s an illusion…
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