Match Report - 2xi vs Old Paulines - by Joey B

"Old Ps delighted by DBW's 'special filling'" - Ed

Who Do You Think You are KIDding?

HWRCC 2xi vs Old Paulines
Old Paulines 156 (Fudge 4-17)
HWRCC 157-3 (High 56)
HWRCC wins by 7 wickets

Scorecard

Saturday saw the 2nd XI “welcome” OLD Paulines to the Wick for what turned out to be another clinical display.

OLD Paulines are a strange team, in that the team that plays against us in the home leg is never the team that plays in the away game. Their better players seem to enjoy coming to the Wick, perhaps it’s the setting, perhaps the egg mayo. I guess we will never know.

The eleven that did turn up on Saturday were are heady mix of BBC stars from the past and Channel 5 stars of the present. I am fairly sure that 2 members from Dads Army were playing and at least a further 4 or 5 from Neighbours.

Anyway let’s get down to business.

Fudgey lost the toss and rather bizarrely we were asked to field, on a wicket which looked like it might be best to bowl on first. Maybe their skipper Grant (who will from now on will be called Tavare) knew something we didn’t.

Leggsy opened up and continued where he left off last week, probing outside off stump and being generally too good. Vishva making his 2nd xi debut opened up the other end and was also on the money. Bar a few lusty blows from O’Reilly the bowlers had the upper hand. The same theme continued for the first 12 overs with both Leggsy and Vish continually beating the bat and the odd random four from O‘Reilly being hit.

Joey B replaced Leggsy and Fahad ( another 2nd xi debutant) replaced Vish after 12 overs and not much changed . Fahad was too quick and accurate for the batters whilst JB just probed outside off stump. It took until the 21st over to make the breakthrough and it was Tavare (10) who fell, deciding that the predicted end of the world due to arrive that evening was punishment enough for everyone and he would spare them another 29 overs of his batting. 54/1 became 54/2 when Fahad trapped Baldock LBW, too fast, too straight and Riley was given the simple task of just raising the “Goldfinger”. OLD Paulines were 55/2 after 25 at drinks.

Leggsy came back after drinks and immediately struck getting Kokri caught behind by the immaculate Copeland 59/3 and the WICK were well on top. A small partnership followed with O’Reilly continuing to punish anything over pitched and Sen trying to put every ball into the car park. That didn’t last long and Leggsy soon had him caught in the covers by Mackie 84/4.

OLD P’s continued to slowly accumulate runs almost exclusively from the bat of O’Reilly who moved nicely onto his half century. This saw Fudgey decide now was the time for him to chance his arm. It took until his 3rd over to strike when Gardner was expertly caught by Pinball in the gully, then next ball he had Hamilton LBW. The hatrick was not to be though 117/6.

Fahad returned to pick up O’Reilly for a well constructed 87, the catch taken by Vish at mid-on and OLD P’s were well in the mire at 141/7. Fudgey claimed another two wickets in two balls bowling Eyre and Clive Dunn, finishing with 4/17. Leaving the score 141/9. JB was allowed to try and pick up the last wicket which he did but not until after he had opened the buffet car and allowed Toadfish to take the score to 156. Toadfish was out for 22 leaving Captain Mannering undefeated on 2 at the other end.

Tea. Yet another new combo from DBW was unveiled, hard boiled eggs with bacon sprinkles to accompany the usual suspects. This seemed to be well received along with the fresh pasta, so an award of 9 this week seems fair.

Run down to the run chase.

We knew that getting off a good start was crucial, and Coley and Fudgey did just that. Fudgey was particularly severe on Kokri who had a penchant for bowling half trackers on leg stump. Toadfish was bowling a very tidy line at the other end but clearly cricket on Ramsey Street is played differently to that in the Surrey Champ and incessant appealing failed to endear him to the watching crowd. Clearly he was working on the theory if you keep asking eventually you will get, and that turned out to be the case as Fudgey was adjudged LBW. 42/1

This brought Charlie High to the crease and he was immediately at his brutal best dispatching balls to the boundary at will. None of the bowlers were able to restrain him and he brought up his 50 in no time with a lovely straight maximum. By the time he was eventually out (56) bowled by Toady the game was over and the Wick were 128/2. Coley fell a few balls later with Toady picking up his third but Mackie and AJ saw it home with the minimum of fuss and 17 overs left. The Wick won by 7 wickets and continued their move up the table.

With Woodmansterne away this weekend the 2s know continuing the winning run is crucial.

MOM - Charlie High for a brilliant 56 and taking the game away from OLD P’s in a flash. Mention must also go to Fudgey for his 4/17 and also Tanveer for 2/21 from his 8 overs on 2nd xi debut.

Match Report - 2xi vs Cranleigh - by Joey B

"Unsworth missed fiverfor as skipper puts clown at slip" - Ed

More Swinging Than A Night @ Hedonism!!

Cranleigh 2xi - 113 Unsworth 4-29 Kilner 4-20 HWRCC 114-2 Mackie 48* Cole 40* HWRCC 2xi win by 8 wickets Cole, Fudge*, Jackson, Mackie, Kilner, High, Copewell+, Crowther, Unsworth, Breakwell, Lown

Scorecard

“ A quick game, is a good game” has always been one of my favourite cricketing clichés. Meaning what transpired in the 2s game on Saturday must have made it a good game, although Cranleigh may beg to differ.

Upon arrival at the Wick we could see the wicket was one which would offer some assistance to the bowlers, if only we could manage to get first use of it. Cue Cranleigh losing the toss and Fudgey asking them to strap on the “mums and dads” and see what they could accumulate.

Leggsy was thrown the new ball and from the very first delivery had the ball on a piece of string. His meticulous pitching middle, clipping off line paid dividends in only his 2nd over when he had Denton snaffled in the cordon by AJ courtesy of groin and chest. I would have said caught by AJ, but I don’t like to use those words too closely together as you will read again in a moment. Leggsy struck again in the same over when he removed Coldman, bowled by a corker.

Leggsy took his tally to 3 when he had Jones trapped LBW and Cranleigh were in all sorts of trouble at around 15-3 (Riley you need to put in the fall of wickets score on play cricket). They should have been 4 down shortly after when Preece drove a swinging delivery from Leggsy straight into the hands of AJ in the slips only to see the (can’t use the word catch) shelled.

Preece was to get another life when he edged a delivery from Lownsy, who had been quietly going about his work, just wide of Harry who nudged it past Coley at first slip.

Joey B replaced Leggsy and unlike the week before managed to locate the right areas to hit on the pitch, resulting in Lane being caught behind and Beecroft being caught in the Gully. The latter was a particularly enjoyable wicket to get as it's always a pleasure to see a batsmen have more tattoos than runs. Joey finished his 10 overs 2/17 and Cranleigh were around 70/5.

Matty Kilner was bowling nicely from the Kingsfield end and it did not take him long to get amongst the wickets, removing Preece and Payne cleaned up with the minimum of fuss, leaving Cranleigh at approximately 100/7. What followed was Leggsy and Matty mopping up the tail with ease to finish with 4/29 & 4/20 respectively and leave the Wick chasing 114 to win.

I don’t need to mention Tea too much other than to say the cream cheese and onion was another welcome addition to DBW’s squad and took this week’s mark up to 8.5/9

Right - down to the run chase.

Coley saw off the first over from a very lively Beecroft who in my opinion is easily the fastest bowler we will face this year. Fudgey was left to face the first over from the other end and from the first ball his intentions were clear as he slapped Preece nicely through the covers. 2 more boundaries were to come from the over and the Wick were off to the start they needed.

Beecroft continued to ramp up the gas resulting in him removing Fudgey's middle pole, courtesy of a flick via the pads. AJ came to the wicket and was soon back in the changing room via the crowd favourite “Yessssss, no, sorry" from Coley and a direct hit from Albert Steptoe at midwicket. The wick were 20/2 and needed a partnership.

That is exactly what they got as Coley and Mackie put on 80 odd quite superbly. Punishing the bad balls and keeping out the good ones. Mackie was particularly brutal on anything pitched up as he drove nicely through square cover on numerous occasions, whilst Coley continued to accumulate quietly from the other end. They finished up Mackie 48* and Coley 40* as the Wick chased down 114 in 22 overs.

A great team performance with everyone doing their job and setting the standard for the forthcoming game against Old Paulines.

MOM: Unsworth for a quite brilliant spell of swing bowling which set the tone for the day, and were it not for Gomes at 2nd slip would have had 5 wickets.

Match Report - Old Hamptonians vs 2xi - by Fudgey

"Police track down Old Hamptonians' covers" - Ed













CLOSE BUT NO MONTECRISTO

HWRCC 2xi 110 Charlie High 44 Old Hamptonians 111-7 Webster 5 for 19 Kidson 48* Old Hamptonians win by 2 wickets Scorecard

The 2s kicked off their league campaign on Saturday against Old Hamptonians. Having beaten Old Hamps three times in the last year we were confident that a fourth victory would be heading the Wicks way.

Old Hamps is a funny place to go as you would assume that being in the grounds of Hampton School the facilities would be out of the top drawer. Unfortunately for the second week running the wicket looked to have seen better days, we were informed that the local Pikeys had ripped the covers and rain had got through. It appeared more that the local pikeys had cut pieces out, maybe to decorate their caravans or wedding dresses.

We knew it was going to be a day where the toss may prove to be crucial, and in a way it proved to be so. Unfortunately the toss was lost and we were asked to make first use of the wet wicket.

The first few overs were navigated successfully but not without the odd problem due to the bowl leaping off a length or going along the ground from the same spot. Scowen was bowling well from the shallow end with his opening partner Blair doing the same from the deep end. The score had progressed nicely onto 10 when Coley straight drove one back at the bowler, who somehow managed to deflect it onto the stumps only to see Fudgey not quite make his ground and walk off despite the oppo umpire giving not out.

Coley & AJ moved the score onto 32 before Coley tried to work one to leg which straightened and he was caught via the leading edge. AJ followed next over after being cleaned up courtesy of an inside edge off Kidson. The Wick were struggling at 32-3. Worse was to follow shortly after as birthday boy Mackie contrived to glove one behind in an effort to leave it.

This brought Charlie High to the crease who along with Matt Kilner took the score on to 66 with an array of attacking yet controlled stroke play. Kilner was unlucky to get a near unplayable ball from Scowen which he did well to edge through to the keeper. The Wick were 66-5 and soon 66-6 when Zohaak was caught of the same bowler. What followed was Charlie hitting some lovely boundaries and everyone else struggling to keep him company, resulting in the Wick being dismissed for 110 in 28 overs and Charlie top scoring with a nice 44.

It was decided we would go straight back out as tea was not quite ready.

We knew quick wickets would be key and Webbo opened up the bowling like a man possessed getting the ball to go both ways and had both batsmen in trouble. His first over resulted in an edge behind which Harry diving one handed could not quite grasp. It did not take long of him to get in the wickets though as he produced a peach to remove Carson’s bails and another to bowl Stone. Old Hamps were 15-2, maybe, just maybe. Joey B was the next to break through as Mahadkar tried to drive on the up only to pick out the bucket hands of Fudge at cover (20-3). Webbo continued to produce the kind of balls that gave Mr Mcvitie an idea for the name for his orange and chocolate covered cakes and picked up another wicket to reduce Old Hamps to 24-4.

Tea was taken and the game was nicely in the balance.

Upon resumption Webbo (Riley) picked up his fourth and fifth wickets to reduce Old Hamps to 35-6 and we knew the game was there to be won. Then the moment which changed the game, Kidson who the previous week had chanced his arm and got away with it skied one off Webbo to Harry behind the sticks, unfortunately the ball met with the grass and Webbo had to be satisfied with a quite brilliant 5-19.

Despite Leggsy coming back on to pick up Blair and reduce Old Hamps to 65-7 The Wick never really looked like winning and courtesy of some lovely batting from Kidson 48* and some variable lines from the other bowlers Old Hamps chased down the target eight down.

A disappointing start to the season but one which may do more good than harm and hopefully allow us to kick on this weekend at home to Cranleigh.

2010 - WICK XI

1) Noman Ali

What a debut season from the WICKS new 1st XI Star. An ever present in the team, Noman amassed an impressive 66o runs in 16 league games at an average of 47 as well as taking 28 wickets at just over 20 a piece. This was Noman’s first season in England and he is already looking forward to even more success in 2011.

2) Matthew Goulborn

Matthew really benefited from a full season of cricket has he maintained fantastic form throughout the year. 440 league runs included a memorable hundred at home to Mitcham and he wasn’t done there. A regular member of the midweek side, he also notched three figures against the reliably strong, Wine Trade.

3) Nathan Singh

Nathan was the epitome of consistency in 2010 reaching double figures on all but two occasions in a total of 14 innings. With three scores in the 30’s and three others in the 40’s Nathan will be kicking himself that he didn’t manage a half century, but will be delighted with accruing 360 runs and his highest overall run total in a league season. Nathan is one of the most naturally destructive batsmen in the club and I am sure that the newly appointed 3rd XI skipper will build on last years efforts and lead from the front in 2011.

4) Kamran Raza

Kamran once again led from the front in the 1st XI year by contributing heavily with both bat and ball. Kammy scored a valuable 438 league runs, including 4 half centuries and reverting to off spin took 29 league wickets at under 20 a piece. Kamran’s bucket like hands also saw him take 11 catches and making him a nominee for the fielder of the year award.

5) Alex JacksonAJ represented a promotion pushing 2nd XI 14 times last year and contributed a healthy 364 runs from just 12 innings. AJ joined Goldy in a record stand of 178 against Mitcham by helping himself to a league hundred of his own. Batting at #5 AJ was not out 5 times as he often found himself taking apart the spinners and finishing off an innings. AJ finished 2010 with a healthy average of 45 and will be a key member of the team if the 2’s are to go at least one better and secure promotion in 2o11.

6) Joe Hirsch

This was the season the Joe really came of age and turned natural talent into regular runs. Joe amassed 275 in just 10 3rd appearances including two half centuries and contributed well to the 2nd XI when called up for duty. Joe will know doubt look to build on 2010‘s achievements and press on next year.

7) Harry Copeland +

Harry’s glove work improved out of sight in 2010 and a new found confidence saw him take a huge step forward. Harry plucked 12 important catches many of which that turned the game at vital times. Harry has the ability with both bat and ball to push for higher honours in 2011 and as he is already being touted as a 1st XI keeper of the future. Harry is a WICK star in the making and real asset to the club.

8) Graeme Tong

Graeme had the unenviable task of juggling opening the bowling for the 1st XI with being captain of the Sunday team yet he seemed to thrive under the pressure. A true club man Graeme finished a memorable 2010 with 46 wickets and over 250 runs for the club. Graeme led from the front in both teams but shone for the 1’s by taking 31 wickets at just 15 a piece. Graeme is the newly appointed 1st vice captain and will continue to steer the Sunday ship so 2011 promises to be equally as challenging.

9) Tom Donnelly

Tom broke the thirty league wicket barrier for the 1st time in 2010 as he led the 3rd XI attack with great pace and control. Tom finished in the leagues top 10 wicket takers and boasted three 5 wicket hauls in doing so. Tom’s 7/39 was the pick of the bunch as he tore through Oxted and Limpsfield’s top order.

10) Greg Unsworth

Greg was rewarded for a flying start to the season with a well deserved call up and new ball duties for the 1st XI by the end of the 2010 campaign. Greg bagged 9 wickets in his first 3 league games for the 2’s and continued to terrorize 1st and 2nd XI opening bats with late swing throughout the season. Greg finished with 26 league wickets at 19 a piece and signed off in style with 3 for 44 for the 1st XI against promotion pushing Battersea Ironsides.

11) Joey Breakwell

New signing Joey Breakwell joined the 2nd XI from promotion winning Brook and kicked on from where he left off with his former side by being bang amongst the wickets in 2010. Joey announced himself in just his 1st game by taking 4 for 24 against arch rivals Stoke D’Abernon and he followed that up with the seasons most remarkable figures of 10 over’s, 8 maidens 2 for 8 against Old Hamptonians. Only injury stopped Joey from taking league honours as his season was cut 4 games short. However 35 wickets at just over 11 was a great return in your first season for a new club.

WICK

MATCH REPORT - 2ND XI V'S CRANLEIGH C.C.

2'S SINGING LOUD & PROUD AS THEY STRETCH THEIR LEAD AT THE TOP...

With the hanging up of WICKMANS gloves, came the loss of his quill and match reports would soon become a thing to fear rather than a joy to behold.

2nd XI skipper Fudge declared with no obvious replacement in the ranks that with MOM honours would now come an added prize, the daunting task of writing the weeks match report!

Week three of the campaign saw us hit the road and venture away from fortress WICK for the first time this season. The 2nd XI and away games is an interesting combination, normally ending up in some form hilarity along the way as everybody tends to rely on everybody else to get us where we are going. This week was no exception. A three car convoy soon turned into two as we lost, Cronin, Goulborn & Unsworth in the blink of an eye. It did infact transpire that they were doing exactly what they had been told to do, and follow a black BMW 1 series. Unfortunately the one they had latched onto wasn’t their skippers and now still on the A3 and doing 70MPH they were nearer Portsmouth than Cranleigh. A quick call to Unsworth got them turned round and back on the right track. Although they missed the warm up including a light jog and strecth (was this intentional?) they made it for the fielding drills and were just in-time to see their skipper lose a 3rd staright toss.

Being a man who likes a flutter, I struggle to deal with the pure chance that is the toss of a coin. A 50/50 chance with no form that can be studied and relitively few factors that can determine the outcome. This week however I may have fallen victim to one of those factors, the dreaded roll!! The coin was given a decent spin, getting well above eye level before landing on a length, seeming away and just missing the off stump. My call of heads was assertive, however so was Cranleighs skippers handshake as he took the words right out of my mouth and declared they would bat.

Cranleigh is seemingly a very nice place, and to my delight the cricket ground apears be the centre of all activity. At the height of the day we must have been playing infront of more than 50 people (more than you get a most of Blackpool’s home games by all accounts) made up of experienced gentleman who had clearly played the game, elderly couples eating cucumber sandwishes in the shade, young ladies bathing their bodies in preperation for bodrum boozing and hoodie wearing youths more intent on playing loud music than clapping an exquisite cover drive. By the way, Cranleigh is lovely, but very LOUD!!

After much deliberation and discussion it transpires that Cranleigh is in fact a town twinned with “Louderkusen” in Germany and certainly tries to compete in the decible stakes. Trucks are definitely louder in Cranleigh, sirens are deffening and the ice cream van sounded more like a air raid siren as kids flocked away, rather than towards the inviting treats. Fielding first we competed with the noise and encouraged our bowlers to start with a bang.

Unsworth has been entrusted with the new ball this season and is yet to let the team down. Nagging lengths and subtle swing have been more than enough to trouble some good opening bats and along with Lown they started magnifecntly on what looked a belter of a track. After 4 maidens in a row, Lown struck first with a trademark in-swinging delivery that deceived the batsman before striking him on the back leg, bang in-front of all three. Cranleigh’s umpire took on a bit of the Rudi Koertzen’s and proceeded to give the opener the slow finger of death. Number 2 would fall shortly after as Lown produced one to go the other way and grab an outside edge that Harry Copeland took with the minimum of fuss.

Cranleigh then proceeded to lose their heads when all around them were keeping theirs. Cronin announced his arrival back into the team with a direct hit run out and McMullan teamed up with Copeland to dislodge the charging Trawber with another great piece of fielding.

The WICK were well on top, but a period between the two much needed drinks breaks offered Cranleigh hopes of a setting a decent target. I’m not sure whether it was the heat (serioulsy hot by now) or ice crean sirens still still ringing in peoples ears, but we decided to hemorrhage extras which would eventually ended up 2nd top scorer.

We did recover well however, and it was nice to see Cole back to the lines and lengths that contributed to him winning player of the year in 2009. His tight spell, along with equally impressive displays from Lown, Unsworth & Breakwell supported Webster and McMullan who put in 110% effort without bowling the best spells of their season. We have excellent attack that bowls asa team and the team is dove tailing brilliantly at the moment. Long may it continue.

Tea is always a big talking point as we have some hungry lads in the side, yet it transpires in our team, that one mans trash is somehow another mans treasure.

My view on tea is a simple one; it has to be fresh, preferably home made and have plenty available (see hungry lads). What I don’t want is to be made to feel like I’m at a 9 year olds birthday party having just had a swim in the Kingfisher and am now faced with cold pizza, bowls of skips and orange squash you could stand your spoon up in. I’m sorry if my view doesn’t represent those of the entire team but I think I am being generous when I offer up a 3 out of 10, and only because the rosie was PG tips.

The WICK 2nd XI are what I call a proper cricket team. We have new ball bowlers that bowl with pace and movement, 1st and 2nd changes that bowl to a plan with skill and spinners that produce craft and guile. I wish I could say the same for Cranleigh. Cranleigh like most other teams (Oxted and Old Hamptonians apart) start with slow bowlers off long run-ups and their attacks get progressively slower as the innings goes on. These are tactics that work for a couple of weeks in late April and early May but not on hard decks throughout the rest of the season. I urge teams like Cranleigh to shop around for a couple of bowlers who can bend their backs and get the ball above stump height. I would rather toss the new cherry to a lively 15 year old than waste an expensive new ball on spinners in a hurry. I fear it could be a long season for the team from “Loudsville”.

Our reply started with a Crash, Bang and Wallop in-keeping with our noisy surroundings. Cole & Goulborn benefiting from a decent track and some wayward bowling racked up a 50 partnership in no time at all, before Cole (28) was well caught at backward point. Fudge joined Goulborn and after a “pad related injury” he soon joined in with the boundary hitting bonanza. 3 in one particularly enjoyable over saw him dispatch the off-spin of Hiru with 3 successive sweeps to the rope and brought up the 100 for the loss of just 1 wicket. Goulborn who still admits he is not 100% happy with his game (we know when he is because 3 figures follow shortly after) still contributed a well made 42 before walking across his stumps and having his leg pole knocked out of the ground. Jackson (38*) joined the skipper (60*) for another well made partnership and the pair brought the team home by 8 wickets.

The most enjoyable aspect of the win was the contribution of the batsman and the speed and conviction in which we chased the total down. A team that has been bailed out of trouble by its bowling attack suddenly has another string to its bow and sitting 7 points clear at the top of the table the 2nd XI look to have only just got out of 2nd gear.

At the start of the season, we set ourselves a target of 3 wins from the first 4 limited over’s games. If we can make that 4 we will be well set and looking forward to making a real noise in the month of June.

MOM - Fudge

WICK

3xi vs Warlingham - Match Report by Lloydy

Warlingham 3xi - 157 all out on 45 overs (Linter 3-45, Smith 3-32
Hwrcc 3rd XI- 158-4 (Sayce- 75*, Walsh 37)

Risman, Sayce, Lloyd (c), Singh, Copeland +, Ewen, Nicholls, Linter, Smith, Walsh, Rodgers

When you start out in a new league you never quite know what to expect, especially from an early season fixture where the availability for a lot of clubs is somewhat erratic. So it was encouraging that the Wick were able to field 3 strong sides on the first league weekend of the season…. Long may it continue!

First up we played Warlingham who were relegated from the league above last season and after a last minute venue change we arrived at Old Walcountians [careful with the spelling there - Ed] Rugby club full of energy and thankful that we had been spared a tour of the perennial mess that is Purley way/ Ikea’s carpark. Playing at a Rugby ground you are never quite sure what king of track you are going to get, but we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with an absolute road, though be it a green one but certainly no stud marks or lost teeth on a length and a sloping though flat outfield. It was a perfect day for a certain left arm seamer to fill his boots though unfortunately he was called up last minute as a result of a freak testicular injury in the 2’s… get well soon mate! Toss won, bowl first, ATS! Graeme and Linter opened up for us and with a light to brisk down hill breeze blowing across the strip, provided some early entertainment for the expectant wick fielders. The opening bats looked comparatively comfortable though, punishing the short ball and happy to score at 2-3 an over. Frustration began to set in eventually and it wasn’t long before some more expansive shots were played and the edges began to flow. Once Phil found his length he had one opener caught at fly slip by Graeme only to have it wiped off due to a no ball but persevered and had him out the next over in identical fashion. In between Graeme bowled their other more threatening opener with a textbook leg cutter down the slope.

With 3 and 4 at the crease the wick turned the screws with Ewen Snr encouraging the bowlers, the number 4 was cleaned up by the milkybar kid caught behind by Harry and a few overs later Lints struck again bowled this time. Graeme’s consistent line and length encouraged the number 6 to play round a straight one and the wick were on a bit of a roll.

Chairman Nicholls then joined the attack and kept things tight and even took a wicket with his second ball of the season much to Graeme's chagrin. He was ably supported by young Tom Rodgers who also picked up the sticky number 3 thanks to a sharp catch at point by Nathan in his first over. Tom struggled a little with his lines though after this and was replaced by Ewen Snr who bowled his trademark line and length darts and kept the runs down but without the reward of a wicket.

Warlingham then had a bit of a tail wag and realising they were looking like being all out for little over 100 began to chance their hand and throw the bat. Dick and Nipples requested to swap ends so Tom came back on for an over and again took a wicket. The innings was eventually mopped up by Dick and Graeme bowling their last two bats in consecutive overs to leave us needing 157 from our 50 overs plus 5 of theirs.

Tea - Difficult really as it wasn’t their ground. Some said the bread was a bit stale and I’m not sure about the sanity of roast beef and onion as a filler as it recurred on your scribe for the rest of the afternoon. Plenty of it though which is always a plus when Harry is in the side and ginger cake was a nice touch. Tea ran out twice and was served from paper cups which is always a bit galling. – 4

The pairing of Risman and Sayce got us off to a great start punishing anything short or wide and a few that were just lose. Risman walked in the 20’s with a top edge to the keeper and brought the in form Nathan Singh to the crease. Sayce carried on as before and held up his end, frustrating the Warlingham openers. Nathan was unfortunate to fall LBW, narrowly missing out on duck tax to one that kept low and he was replaced by Lloyd who, ignoring Sayce’s suggestion to play himself in creamed the first ball over the bowler for a one bounce 4. It was in the slot apparently. The score board ticked over nicely as the pair (read Sayce) scored at around 4 an over. Lloyd was given out caught behind having struck the ground and brought Will Walsh to the crease.

Will and Paul put on a fantastic partnership with the latter reaching a fine 50 to steer us within touching distance of the win. Will was eventually out to a great one handed catch at midwicket on a well deserved 37 and Harry came in to see us through the final overs to win by 6 wickets with overs to spare. The highlight of his innings being 2 consecutive drives to long off and an attempted third being missed entirely. Indeed the Warlingham keeper was so surprised he made a mess of the stumps without ball in hand much to the amusement of the square leg umpire. It was all over the 4 balls later though as Paul flicked a rank full toss off his legs for four to win the game.

Red ink and a fine 75* for Sayce and 13 points in our first outing in the new league. Early days they maybe but a good start none the less.

Bring on Kempton next week.

MOM Sayce.

[MOM Sayce waves goodbye before disappearing into an Old Walcountian back garden]

3rdXI Vs Weybridge Vandals

Team: Risman, Pushpanath, Crane, High, Lloyd ©, Cameron, Copeland +,Kennedy, Taylorson, Nicholls, Ashmore

With the weather looking bleak to say the least you could be forgiven for thinking this game was to be a non event. However, whilst striding out to the middle for the coin toss it seemed both captains were keen to get a game in as it was decided that we would play through rain unless it started getting dangerous. So I promptly lost the toss for the second time in a row and having seen the damage our bowling attack did to Camberley the week previous we were put in to bat. Riso and new man Shyam looked comfortable from the off and put on an opening stand of 74 befor Shayam fell to a catch at point. The young lad sticking up a hand in hope more than expectation only to find the ball stuck and he celebrated like he had won the lottery. Riso followed shortly afterwards and brought Monkey boy to the crease to partner up Cransey in potentially explosive partnership. As it happened Monkey played a really nice innings full of composure and flair. Sadly Adam realised too soon that you need to leave the drive in the bag when playing on Kingsfield and holed out for a disappointing 6. Monkey and Lloydy put on a strong partnership of 74 for the 4th wicket and saw Monkey reach his maiden 3’s fifty with a number of huge 6’s. Lloydy tried his hardest to prove that you can drive on Kingsfield and was dropped twice on the way to 24 before playing round a straight one to bring Jimmy C to the crease. Jimmy played with his usual bottom handed finesse and ticked the runs along nicely. Monkey decided that his head had gone against their grenade chucker. Jimmy C disagreed. Monkey lost his middle stump next ball for 59. Told you he said. Duncan and the chubby chaser upped the run rate nicely over the last few overs till Jimbo top edged to the keeper and brought Harry in for the final few overs. 47 overs 215 on the board and Lloydy drew the innings to a close with Duncan on 37. Teas- Good with the foods of the world theme extended to some Italian cold cuts. Hot tea was unbelievably welcome. 8/10 With 20 overs being the magic number, the energy of recent weeks fielding performances continued and we found ourselves on top pretty quickly. Jimmy bowling down hill with pace and bounce threatened with everyball. A piece of captaining brilliance saw Duncan moved to 2nd slip and the next delivery drew the edge and nestled into his hands. 2 balls later and he has the number 3 LBW without scoring. Ian bowling uphill in his third over gets one to dip in and the bat gloved onto his own stumps to bring us to 3 for 4 off 5. Nice. Jimmy finished his spell with 4 wickets and Ian with 3, a comedy run out and a wicket for chairman nipps topped it off to win by 165 runs and send a happy Wick back to the bar with their supporters. Thanks go to Dave Ashmore whom I dragged from his bed to field for us and to Shyam for turning out to play on Friday night. Next week we are away to Wallington who were relegated from the Surrey Championship so should be more of a test. Fingers crossed for good availability up the club so we can field strong teams throughout.

HWRCC 3xi Vs Camberley cc 3xi (h) - Match Report by Lloydy

Risman, Crane, Doddy, Lloyd ©, Copeland +, Cameron, Robinson, Taylorson, Kennedy, Tong, Laight

As the proud captain of the Wick’s newest league side, it was with a degree of trepidation that we approached our first game in our new league. All the ingredients for a good days cricket were there: Weather - Check, 11 players - Check, Oppo - Check, Typical Wick pitch - Check. So all going well it seemed until I lost the toss. The oppo had a car missing and we were missing an Aussie (something about shrimp and barbies I dunno) so I helpfully suggested that we would be happy to field first with 10 to enable their remaining players to arrive.

Wick – 1 Camberly - 0

Kirky opened up with the new ball and bowled a lovely line and length that was instantly a challenge to the batsmen who struggled to get their head round the ball angling across and swinging in. At the other end we opened with new boy Graeme Tong. Text from Matty D mid week [He is rapid! Opening bowler Fact!!]. He wasn’t wrong and Tongy hit the mark immediately and took a wicket with his second ball. He and Kirky formed a formidable partnership, miserly on runs and always threatening to take wickets. At 3 for 3 (with only eight players present) Wick tails were firmly up and Camberly looked to be in a spot of bother.

After a spell of 9 overs for 4 wickets and having ripped through the upper order Tong was replaced by Taylorson who continued the demolition with his own run of 4 wickets from 7 overs for 10 runs, supported by Duncan at the other end who shipped in with a wicket off his 4 overs.

Camberly’s innings closed all out for 54 off 30.3 overs. Advantage Wick!

Teas- Interesting Asian fusion with Chicken Tikka [Good work Lloydy - like your use of the word fusion - Ed] but bread slightly dry so 6/10 [Hmmm. Perhaps you were through them so early that the bread was ever so slightly fresher - Ed]

The Wick innings was opened by Mssrs Risman and Crane – a formidable blend of composure and explosive power against the old ball. With the words “You have 75 overs to chase this score so don’t try and do it in the first 3 Cranesy!” they resisted temptation and I am pleased to say batted with control and common sense.

The score was brought up off just 10 overs without losing a wicket and allowed a satisfied team onto the terrace, Magners in hand to cheer on the 2s. An excellent team performance typified by first class fielding and bowling from all. We won’t win games by this kind of margin every week, but we have set ourselves a yardstick for measuring our bowling and fielding against and if we can get close to maintaining this form we will be a tough team to beat.

WICKWASH

[Image is obviously Tongs four for... - Ed]

Sunday xi vs Ashtead (home) Match Report by Jimmy C

HWRCC – Jimmy C (Skip), Matty D, Mark, Harry, Junaid, Vaider, Duncan, Maloj, Del Boy, Sam Kemp, Lloydy

125-9 (Matty D 48, Del Boy 25)

ASHTEAD

67 all out (Junaid 5 /15 – lively!)

HWRCC won by 58 runs

If there was any doubt that pressure applied to someone in the right fashion can cause them to do something you want them to do (think water boarding, dripping a tap in a darkened room, blindfolded) you need look no further than this match report. It is a sad state of affairs when someone needs to be cajoled into writing about what they love and dream about every night (aside from the ‘larger set’), but that is precisely what has happened to yours truly.

Following threats from the 1st Team Captain and Wickman to get his proverbial arse into gear, which included removal from employment and…….actually, that pretty much did it, I caved in and penned the following match report of HWRCC Sunday XI vs Ashtead.

Like Josef Fritzl on holiday in Thailand while the kids are left at home, I simply can’t take leave of my responsibilities. So I’m sorry. There – I said it. I’ve learnt my lesson. And I can assure you that, unlike Fritzl, I will not leave you in the dark any longer over the success of the Sunday team.

And what success we had on Sunday May 4th 2008.

Following an almighty struggle to get 11 players to commit to a game (Geez boys, it’s not like cricket is a girl demanding a full term relationship…..Actually, it kind of is now that I think about it), Debut Wick Skipper Jimmy C led out the first Sunday team of the season against an Ashtead side which Lownsy described, in a more sober moment, as “good” (he’s a man of many words…..).

After promptly losing the toss (ominous start), the Wick were sent in to bat on a sticky wicket. With relatively little experience of captaining (read none), Jimmy C displayed a great deal of uncertainty as he put together his batting order. While Matty D was a certainty to open, it was very much a case of picking and hoping that the remaining players who said they could “bat a bit”, weren’t just pulling a fast one.

Aside from handy performances from Matty D (48), Del Boy (25), it turned out that the rest were pulling a fast one and couldn’t “bat a bit” (I include myself on that score). Although Ashtead bowled on the spot, with the right application and “experience” (I had it throw it in) we should have scored more than just the 125 runs we scraped together. Save the final efforts of Del and Junaid, we would have been looking at a much lower total.

Players go to the break. Tea – ats.

Pep talk time.

Quick to establish who was the boss out in the field, Jimmy C rallied the troops. “Talk it up” was his refrain (amongst other inaudible nonsense) as the boys got together in the huddle. He said that with the right pressure on the batsman and the right “talk”, we might just be able to nick a result.

That turned out to be a massive underestimate.

Taking the game by the thruff of the scroat, Jimmy C put himself and young Junaid in to open the bowling. While Jimmy managed to keep it consistent and the on the spot, young Iqbal let loose. Taking 5 for 15 in a blistering opening spell, Junaid took out the top order with ease. Line, length, nip, height, swing - his spell had everything which makes him worthy of the Wick.

Despite the terrific start and with the game very much in our corner, we appeared to be running out of bowling stocks. However, sensing his carpe diem moment, Skipper Jimmy C sent his trump “surprise card” into bowl.

Some say he is the chap who waited on us at last year’s end of season dinner. Del knows him as Maloj. But to everyone (read Jimmy C) out on the field last Sunday, he is now the new Anil Kumble of the Wick. With pace, spin, aggression, length and…wait for it… experience, Maloj bamboozled the batsman – much like Anil does. Welcome to the Wick my son. And while he didn’t pick up any wickets, it didn’t matter. He had made a statement. The batsmen were shocked and it was game over.

Vaider and Del then came into the attack and picked up the remaining wickets, leaving Ashtead with a miserly 67 runs at the close. It was a great day’s cricket and debut skipper Jimmy C was over the moon with the result.

First win of the season.

I can’t wait for next Sunday.

Match Report - 3rd xi vs Cheam Cavaliers - by Lloydy

It’s good to be back…

The first pre season game seems to have come upon us at a rapid rate of knots. It seems like only yesterday that we were down in Southampton, the rain coming down in buckets, talk of league defeats by the narrowest of margins and people's individual moments of mupperty ringing in our ears. I almost fell off my seat when the announcement of forthcoming net sessions was announced. “But it’s still dark at 5pm and the Corona doesn’t taste right yet. It can’t be cricket time already.” Was my retort. In the preceding week the highs and lows of selection began to become apparent though despite having 30 odd players MIA we managed to select 3 sides for our first warm up game. (Well done lads).

The ground was a pleasant backwater public park beside Ham House for this 40 over a side encounter, where the trimmed out field was married up nicely with a nice flat but very green batting road. Monkey Boy and our SA overseas player began eyeing up the short boundary and I went off to win the toss, which I subsequently won and elected to bat.

We got off to a flying start as Forrest (SA) and Tom B-W (both hockey recruits for 08) set a ferocious pace of 10 an over until Forry fell LBW, (triggered by Kirky- sorry) for 18 to be replaced by Monkey who did what Monkey and kept the pace up nicely. At 100 odd of 10 over’s Jimmy C at square leg shouted “Is it 40 over’s each?” and our entire team grinned and nodded.

Tom fell having provided the stability for the big hitters to bring Doddy to the crease who started well and played with good composure. Monkey then fell going for 1 smash too many and brought Jimmy C to the crease with the words “Slow Down, Play yourself in and you have 28 over’s still to bat”. Doddy and Jimmy put on an excellent, composed partnership of 80 odd runs with both looking like they had been netting for months. 5 to go and Doddy was squared up in front with the ball staying low and LBW was correctly asked for and awarded to bring your scribe and skipper to the crease. A Flurry of quick singles and doubles ensued to see Jimmy C to his maiden Wick 50 before falling for 55 in the penultimate over. I managed to pick out the smallest player on their team to hit over his head for a big 6 over mid off, as part of a quick fire 16 and Harry smashed a nice 4 off his second ball before running himself out. 215-5 off 40 over’s… first game of the season… That’ll do nicely.

Teas were an interesting mix of biscuits and crisps out of the packet with a melee of home made sarnies. Slightly larger than we are accustomed to meant less gluttony all round but a nice BLT made up for it. Rating 5.

Our fielding was a little on the rusty side as you would expect and we were thankful for a slow outfield for once. That said, Kirky produced a lovely economical spell and was unlucky not to be rewarded with a wicket. Likewise Robbo produced the goods after an initial wobble and was equally as miserly on the runs. The oppo scored at about 5 an over and apart from punishing our bad stuff seemed to offer little in scoring shots. New recruit Nick Parkes came onto replace Tommy for a full 8 overs and was rewarded with a good 4-for and bowled a nice line and length. He was ably assisted by Jimmy c who kept the runs down and had their high scoring number 2 dropped twice before Tom B-W taking over from Nick at the tennis court end bowled him as part of his own 4 wicket haul. Dave Ashmore had little chance to shine but did get to briefly turn his arm over in the cause. All in all an encouraging start to the new league campaign with some excellent individual performances. Fielding and bowling practice all round and some consistency throughout the club and this will be a great season.

P.S Corona just tastes better at the wick after a Wickwash! P.P.S Here's a cavalier as driven in Cheam

Hampton Wick Vs Worplesdon & Burpham - Match Report

Hampton Wick 2nd XI vs. Worplesdon and Burpham 2nd XI

W & B 81 all out (33.3 overs) D Ford 7-17 off 17.3 overs HWRCC 82 -2 (19.5 overs) P Sayce 44 n.o

HWRCC win by 8 wickets – league table

Sayce, Goulborn*, Forbes, Cole, Lofting, High, Ewen, Copland Jnr +, Hill, Ford, Lown

You wait 3 weeks for a game then…

Our usual scribe Wickman is off improving his French this week (“Ou est l’estade de cricket”, “vous jouez au cricket?” “Je m’appelle Wickman” etc etc) so it down to wickman’s cousin to take over. (Who is wickman’s cousin?)

HWRCC turned up at home to find the wick looking glorious. The wicket looked like a wicket, the outfield was lush but firm, there were no ducks swimming by the boundary. The wick were thinking we would actually get a game today having had the previous 2 matches abandoned. There is no worse a feeling than getting a game called off. You spend all week thinking about the match, checking play-cricket, washing your kit, asking your wife for a green card to have a couple of beers after the match, when the heavens open up and decide to ruin your day. The recent rain has not been such a bad thing for the Wick, with record takings behind the bar for Saturdays after the decision is made at 1.30pm that if no cricket shall be had, then drinking all day and night is the next best thing.

On paper, HWRCC were in a funny position on Saturday with the amount of unavailables.. Fudge, Clark, Soppitt, Greenwood, Goodwin, Donnelly, Noor, Mackie all not available. So no skipper, no vice, no experience (Del) yet the side the 2’s put out still contained Ford and Cole from the ones. The side was also fielding young Harry Copland behind the stumps. 13 years old and making your league debut – not bad. Goldy, standing in as skipper (with the help from Fudge using a complex signalling method discussed later) won the toss and put the oppo into bat.

To say they started slowly is an understatement. Their scorer decided to do balls faced in the scorebook. The first 10 overs had gone by and only 4 runs had come off the bat. Ford opened up from one end bowling accurately with John Hill coming in from the other end with some good pace. It was dull – Dick Ewen shouting out he had been to livelier funerals then this game of cricket. As the bats decided that the thing between there hands would not be necessary, more and more balls began to hit the pads full and straight. This got fordy excited, with some menacing appeals. (So loud that my mum said she heard them on the Hampton Court flower show highlights show on BBC2 that evening). However, it was going to be one of those days when LBW’s were going to be as common as Jimmy C with a size zero.

The run rate continued to be slow and the pressure began to build up. Fordy eventually knocked over one of their openers with a cracking Yorker to break the stand. It was good pressure by the wick. It took us 12 overs to get the first wicket but the pressure and fielding remained the same. Out came their number 3 and back went their number 3 two balls later (I think asking for middle stump with bat facing forward was a sure sign). Another wicket fell to John Hill and at drinks they were 53-3.

After drinks, one of their bats, who had begun to get in, started playing some shots. Goldy, with the help of some interesting hand signals from the balcony from Fudgey involving a crutch and a bottle of magners gave the signal to bring on Coley for Lown. (At least we think that is what he meant). This seemed to do the job as the change in pace and extra flight bamboozled their good bat and he ended up playing on. From the other end, Fordy was in an angry mood. Getting no luck with LBW’s and the batsman not using the bats, Fordy began to clean up. He changed his angle to around the wicket and it paid dividends. From 68-3, Worplesdon were soon bowled out for 81 (they only had 10 bats but as their number 8 told us “don’t worry, he isn’t coming as his car broke down and anyway, he isn’t very good”). Fordy finished with figures of 17.3 overs, 8 maidens, 17 runs, 7 wickets – all bowled. 5 of these runs were from hitting the helmet. All 9 wickets that day were bowled.

Wick looked very good in the field. Pressure was on the bat from the start from everyone. Harry Copland, playing in his first league game for the Wick, had an excellent day. He was very tidy to the quickies and sharp as Delboy’s tongue after a few cocktails when standing up to Coley. It was actually a bit scary some of the stumping attempts he tried. This boy is Wick.

So we headed in after 2 hours in the sun for a DBW tea. 6.5/10. However, as we sat down to eat, the oppo skipper informed us that we should be going back out due to the time. Now I know rules are rules etc, but when you have had monsoon rain for the last 3 weeks, the one thing I would want to do is make my time in the sun last as long as possible. But this was not to be. So out trundled Sayce and Goldy (with sandwich in pocket) to get on with knocking off the runs. Both started well, with some good looking shots benefiting from some below average fielding, including running a single, then running another 4 overthrows as no one fielding realised the ball had been hurled to the boundary but not hard enough. Goldy then was unlucky to be bowled round his legs followed by Cole, who seemed to get the ball to hit bat and both legs before bowling him. Sayce was then joined by Forbes, who like Sayce began to play some lovely looking shots to knock over the runs. It was left for Dick to signal a wide with the scores level to bring home the 20 points for the Wick.

Overall a funny day of cricket. 20 points by 4.40pm, although sounding great, was slightly unsatisfying. Only 4 guys bowled, all the wickets were bowled and 4 guys batted leaving 3 unavoidable TFC’s. Having not played cricket for so long, we were left looking for Hibby to give us something to do. MOM goes to Fordy with a devastating spell which was just too good. Another mention to Harry Copland who performed with great maturity and really is one to watch. The lead at the top is now 32 points thanks to Lingfield beating Merrow (however Merrow still have a game on us).

So there are 7 games left of this season, Fudge, Clark and Soppitt, who up until this game had all played nearly every game this season, are back next week. We are heading towards the “business end” of the season where every game is important. Yes we are top, but we have a weekend off and 3 teams within 20 points of us (if they win their game in hand). Availability is looking great these next few weeks so with a massive push from everyone we can do well in this league. As Wickman would say

“Viva le Wick!”

3rds vs Bank of England - by Wickman Jr

HWRCC 3xi v BANK OF ENGLAND

When Harry met Lloydy…

Hampton Wick 3s get second win on the spin to make mockery of non-league status

HWRCC – 135 for 6 (35 overs) – Alex (47 not out), Lloydy 30 + Bank of England – 89 all out – (Laight, and Iqbal taking 3 wickets a piece)

Do you remember in When Harry met Sally when Harry Burns opined about the problems of marriage and long-term relationships? (Stay with me on this… I’m about to draw a tenuous link)[Wickman is reading this very carefully and suspects the urine is being extracted, but carry on]. Well, for those of you who’ve only ever perused the “wrestle mania” and “adult” sections of your local Blockbuster Video (firstly, get some culture and secondly, be thankful you don’t have a woman) here’s what Harry had to say on the subject:

“Right now everything is great, everyone is happy, everyone is in love and that is wonderful. But you gotta know that sooner or later you're gonna be screaming at each other about who's gonna get this dish (Harry points at plate). This eight dollar dish will cost you a thousand dollars in phone calls to the legal firm of That's Mine, This Is Yours.”

Ahh… such a doozy of a quote isn’t? Basically, summing up, Harry’s thinking, “yeah, I really like this bird I’m seeing at the moment, but just give it time and we’ll soon be fighting over last night’s pizza, and it will all end in tears. That’s the way relationships are”. (Just as a side point though, if you do have a penchant for “the larger lady” – and who among us doesn’t? - this WILL happen, FACT… and trust me you won’t be getting any of the pizza).

While it might not be immediately obvious as to what any of this has to do with cricket, if you think about the situation of Hampton Wick’s young star keeper – also named Harry (part of the tenuous link being drawn here, keep tight hold) – the connection is clear. Although Harry is by no means a slice of pizza, he is indeed a dish that everyone at the Wick will be fighting over in the next few months - FACT. The harmony that currently exists between the Club’s first, second and third xis will almost surely be strained after his brilliant performance behind the sticks against Bank of England on Saturday. Harry met Lloydy, and Lloydy liked what he saw.

The young colt single handedly saved 20-30 runs behind the stumps in a stellar performance, with some of the best glove work I’ve seen since I took a tour of the Kookaburra factory and saw them making wicket keeping gloves. Keep tight hold. Not only did he ensure that the Wick picked up their second win on the bounce (“we would be top the league… say we would be top the league…”) but also confirmed that when Fudgey meets Matty D, they will be fighting over just who will get first call on Harry when Garf and Clarky are away?

Indeed. Now to the match.

After last week’s heroics by Iqbal, the talk permeating the club all week was whether or not the boys could back it up against the Bank of England on Saturday (by “talk”, I mean, AJ saying to Matty D at nets: “Great win for the 3s on Saturday eh?”, Matty D: “yeah FACT – reckon they can back it up?”, AJ: “Don’t know mate – yeah why not”? MD: “Jimmy C’s good isn’t he?”, AJ: “Yeah, he’s lively as well!”… you get the gist). Following a couple of late inclusions into the squad, and a mysterious decision from the opposition to field in the wet having won the toss, the Wick went out to bat on what Doddy mused was a “bloody slow” track.

Led by openers Risman and Doddy, the Wick made a slow but confident start. However, with the pitch playing as invitingly as a (deleted, this is a family blog), it wasn’t long before they were both back in the hutch after some cavalier shots. Jimmy C joined them soon after following a ridiculous dance down the wicket, leaving the Wick at 4 for 30 after just 15 overs.

Thankfully, stability was soon restored as Lloydy and Alex arrived at the crease, helping to rescue the innings. Alex never looked troubled by their attack, pushing 2s and scoring boundaries at will, while Lloydy kept the runs ticking over at the other end with his usual, aggressive style. A partnership of 70 was quickly put together, helping the Wick to reach a respectable 135 at the close.

After the tea interval, and a great gee up from Lloydy, the boys took to the field in a buoyant mood. With “Direct” and Iqbal opening the attack, there was every reason to believe it could be a short afternoon. Direct, bowling with his usual pace and bounce was as probing as ever, while Iqbal got the ball to swing and dart all over the place, putting their batsmen under pressure from the off. It was little wonder then that their openers were back in the pavilion after only a few balls, both falling in quick succession.

Given the Wick’s good start and sensing an early finish, Doddy helped lighten the mood with a couple of horrible sledges about “banking” to unsettle the Bank of England batsmen. Listed by no means in order of popularity, Doddy came up with these gems:

“Make them play by ‘direct’ debit Des" “Good to see that our bowling is fixed and not variable” “this is gold standard stuff Wick” “send the next one down with interest”

Surprisingly Doddy’s oddball behaviour clearly rattled the batsmen. Direct and Iqbal managed to pick up another couple of wickets each, with Harry taking superb catches on both occasions. This, however, was only a small part of an amazing repertoire from Harry, who dived at everything and pulled off some amazing stops in the process. With the Bank now at 5 for 50, the game looked to be over as a contest.

With few remaining wickets on offer, Kirky and Jimmy C then came on to get into the act. Jimmy C couldn’t buy a wicket, despite constant appealing (Monty Panesar style) while Kirky, on the other hand, swinging the ball beautifully up the hill, picked up three wickets in quick succession, almost getting a cheeky hat-trick.

Thanks to Tommy Robinson and Ian T, the tail was quickly taken apart and the game was over. The Wick had bowled out Bank for under 90 runs with a brilliant bowling and fielding performance, led by the incomparable Harry behind the stumps.

In the team huddle after the win, Lloydy spoke eloquently about the “solid” performance. It’s two wins on the spin now for the Wick 3s, but can they make it three in a row? There’ll no doubt be talk at nets during the week, courtesy of AJ and Matty D, but don’t be surprised if there’s talk about which team is going to keep Harry.

Yours in Wick, Wickman Junior

Sunday xi vs Teddington Town - by Goldy

Sunday XI vs Teddington Town XI - Bushy Parky League - 3rd June 2007.

Teddington Town 103 all out

HWRCC 104-2

HWRCC won by 8 Wickets

MOM - Sissen

Goulborn *, Mackie, Garf, Copeland H +, Iqbal, Cameron, Bishop, Vader, Austin, Hibberd, Sissen

Unfortunately for the batsmen in the team, the dream of amassing a huge total on Sunday was shattered when yours truly lost the toss and was asked to field. With a previous best team total of 346 off forty overs against Teddington Town, you can understand their greediness. That said, fielding first gave the youthful members in the team a good chance to showcase their talents and further prove the Wick has a bright future. Junaid Iqbal, a 13 year old fast/medium bowler made yet another senior appearance and bowled tight lines, rarely giving away easy runs. He was rewarded for his efforts bowling the opening batsmen who had carried his bat through 30 odd overs, middle stump.

The other opening bowler Tom Austin (still at school, but now almost a Sunday veteran) showed what the Wick has been missing this season with some genuinely quick, lively bowling. “Harmy” picked up two wickets for his troubles. Note to 2s Captain Fudge, as soon as his exams are over, Harmys in, FACT! The other wickets were shared around between Vader (3) who bowled some delicious off spin that was reminiscent of Del Boys spell in the emphatic twos win the day before, Myself (pies) and Jimmy C bowling tight and as usual, aggressive. Harry Copleland (who in the morning won the game for the Wick u13s with a fantastic 30 odd not out) kept well behind the stumps. The keeper, aged twelve showed exceptional talent and it wont be too long before the young lad starts featuring prominently it the adult set up. I asked Garf to give him some advice, and he told me he was too good for advice from him, now that is praise!

So Teddington Town set us a measly 103 to chase down. With a batting order that consisted of big hitters such as Mackie, Barrel, Hibby, Sisso and Copeland, this target was never really going to trouble us. With this in mind the order was shuffled around a bit and early on we did our best to make it difficult for ourselves. Barrel went second ball when Vader raised the finger for a ‘dubious’ LBW decision (don’t worry vader, we ve all made them!eh del!?) and Hibby went shortly after playing an equally dubious shot to their decent left armer, having played some decent shots off the leg spinner. Bobby and Garf settled things down and eventually saw us home. Bobby proved he still had what it takes when he hit a HUGE six into the club house – definitely the highlight of the innings. Garf set about his innings in a professional manner playing technically sound and very straight, hitting some lovely four down the ground.

Wick win. Job done.

MOM – Sisso

Dick of the day – Jimmy C for shouting at an oppo fielder when he was about to take a catch. Then when seeing we were all cringing on the sidelines asking “isn’t that what you do?” bloody Aussies!

WICK!

Here's a gratuitous picture of AJ with more hair.

Match Report - 3rdxi vs SR&K - by Wickman Junior

HWRCC 3rd XI v Southern Railway & Kenley 3rd XI (h) – Match Report

Team - Ewen R ©, Risman, Clough, Cameron, Wright, Hirsch, Lloyd, Copeland +, Iqbal, Nicholas, Walters, Moss.

SRK all out for 71, with Derek “You wouldn’t get pitches like this in South Africa” Nicholas taking 6 for very little. Jimmy C, Alex, Dick and Conner all sneaking a cheeky wicket each.

HWRCC 72-4; Lloydy not-out 37.

HWRCC cruises to comfortable victory as boys become men.

It’s not everyday you get to pit your cricketing prowess against Mike Tyson, George Foreman, and the three pesky kids from the Goonies, but Saturday May 20th was just such an occasion for HWRCC’s 3rd XI. To say that recently self-anointed Wickman junior (who still wonders who his father Wickman really is) has never seen anything like it before, would be akin to the reaction of Pete Townsend’s girlfriend on discovering the “pictures” folder of his PC.

While clearly not in Las Vegas on fight night Team Wick, led by Captain Dick were just as prepared as said fighters in boxing’s halcyon era, many of them having attended Fudgey’s 2s warm up and had a cheeky net. Having recovered from the initial shock of seeing the opposition, The Wick headed out onto the field (read: Hill) to bowl. With the outfield looking in need of a trim and some drastic rebalancing (for future reference, a pitch on a 45 degree angle means that it has “character” according to AJ),The Wick set about the task of tearing into the openers. Led by Derrick “I should be in the twos” Nicholas and Iqbal, the openers couldn’t buy a run.

With The Wick clearly on top in the field, Jimmy C decided to question the skipper's tactics in an unprecedented outburst. Cried Jimmy: “Why the #@% am I fielding here! We’re playing on a hill!

While Jimmy C and Dick exchanged verbals (think Ponting responding to big Dunc Fletch after being run out in Ashes ‘05), Derrick did not bat an eye lid. Taking 6 wickets in a blistering opening spell, we were soon into the tail.

It was at this point that the game ended as contest, if it hadn’t already. Out walked to the crease two pads and a helmet wearing what appeared to be an 11 year-old. Barely moving because of the weight of said gear, the young fella could only face a few deliveries before Derrick took out his middle peg.

With two further kids succumbing to Alex and Jimmy C, SRK ended on a difficult to defend 71 runs.

With a small target to chase, Wickman Junior could only see a comfortable win for HWRCC being the result. However, this confidence was ill-judged, as a nervy start of “hit or get out cricket” (right from the book of Shahid Afridi) left Wick on 11-3. The tea interval came at a welcome time for the boys.

After the tea break, Lloydy and Alex played watchfully to their opening bowlers (read: only bowlers) and only went after the loose deliveries. Lloydy batted like a younger version of Greame Hick and with the assistance of Alex, guided the 3s home to a comfortable victory.

Jimmy C later commented on the farcical ending, which saw one of the little blokes getting whacked for two fours in a row by Lloydy, as a “dark day for English cricket”. But then Jimmy C is a bit lively…

After the game, the opposition was invited for a couple of swift brews at Wick HQ. Sadly, given that it is illegal to sell booze to minors, this was unfortunately neither possible nor wise.

Yours in Wick,

Wickman Junior

Matty's Sunday Report

May 20th, home ss Neapotists The Sunday team suffered its first defeat of the season, losing by 40 runs to a decent Nepotists xi. Having to chase 217 off 40 overs on a difficult track proved just beyond the young and inexperienced side who despite some impressive performances and some aggressive strokeplaying, were always playing catch up, and the result was a fair one. Skipper Davies was left with the invidious task of having to find 3 players at midday on the Sunday. He was buoyed by Copeland the greater who managed to find me Sam and Steve - two colts coaches, and a young 12-year old James Madoc-Jones - fresh from a red-inked 50 runs in the morning. Davies was confident, as always. The toss was a formality. We were going to field first whaever happened. I insisted. Young Iqbal, perhaps the keenest cricketer since Matt Goldbrush was a colt, opened up with Master Hibberd, who looked and smelt distinctly worse for wear following antics that shall remain guarded in secrecy the previous evening (being generous there in more ways than one). Nepotists took the attack to us and moved serenely along at 4s, the opener employing a strong bottom hand and using his feet to good effect. Davies followed Iqbal and bowled some tight lines mixed in with some lovely half trackers which were dispatched with aplomb. Steve followed Hibberd and bowled a similar mix. Copeland the greater came on with Marfleet and the spin twins slowed the rate, picking up a few crucial wickets. A Davies double then accounted for the middle order before their best player (clearly a bowling all rounnder of 1xi standard came to the wicket and played like a true batsman, driving through the off side with aplomb and ease. Copeland the younger was again excellent behind the sticks and the fielding was aggressive, especially from Young James Madock-Jones who despite his 4ft frame flew himself about like a salmon, and also has an impressive arm. In response some tight lines restricted the openers run-wise, before the pressure told on Sam who unfortunately ran out Lloyd. Such is cricket. Hibberd came to the crease but didnt last as the aforementioned antics appeared to have taken their toll. Sam then fell, dricing to cover leaving Davies and young Joe Hirsch to start clocking up some runs with the score at 28-3. Young Hirsch looked confident and played some lovely drives through the off side before falling to tight lines. James Madock-Jones played a similar innings, keen to hit the ball as oppsed to prod to meekly, he also timed the ball beautifully a number of times, finding gaps and enjoying himself. It soon became apparent however that the total was going to be too much and when Davies was joined by Marfleet that there were two games of cricket here. What should be done, and was was going to be done. Boundaries were the more appealing prospect, and a number of lofted striaght hits threatened to make the target achieveable, but when the aforementioned decent bat came on, who happened to be a decent medium fast bowler, it was clear that Neapotists were going to win. Copeland the lesser looked excellent against the quicky, despite his frequent conversations with me that he was sh*tting himself. Davies didnt care and employed the unleash on numerous occasions, keen to score boundaries rather than run 2s. The wick ended up on 180-odd, with Davies scoring 79. MOM goes to The Copelands, firstly for helping me out in an hour of need, and secondly for Harry's excellent keeping (Matrix) and brave batting in the face of 1XI sharp bowling - and a plethora of aussie chirp thrown in for good measure. Well played Neapotists, deserving winners.

Sunday xi vs Shepperton - by AJ

Having been 'stitched up' into filling the breach created by Goldy's finals, I was faced with having to motivate both myself, 6/7 other wick members, all of whom had consumed more than their fair share of Corona's/Magners the night before, and 4 bright eyed colts into a 45 over affair with Shepperton.

I could hardly complain though, having royally stitched the 2s up with their game with Old Emmanuel, and to a lesser extent, the 3s game away at BA.

The day was infinitely more enjoyable than the one occasion I captained last year, when Goldy gave me 4 players on the saturday night and cried off to play backgammon with his penpal. The outfield was pretty shoddy to say the least, but understandable given the lack of rain. The pitch was basically dead at the Millennium Wood end but played alright from the other. I won the toss and elected to bat (why would you choose to field first in 25 degree heat on a hangover?) much to the delight of the boys.

Mattyd and Zohaak opened up, and did pretty well, putting on 30 from the first ten, seeing off the new ball and picking off the odd boundary. Zohaak was playing with slightly more maturity than last year and was commendable in both defence and attack. He was followed by Garf, who proved (if briefly) that he can bat properly and get off his beloved 0, playing several effortless cut shots for four. He was unlucky to play on just after drinks and he was soon joined back in the hutch by yours truly, slashing at a wide one and getting a bottom edge to their eldery keeper.

All the while Mattyd was morphing from a man who had forgotten how to spell BDM into the player we all saw demolish attacks last year. His full array of pulls, hooks and drives were there for all to see, and he completely dominated our innings, making an accomplished 94. Indeed, this would have probably been a hundred if their players were a touch more honest with the boundary lines (alas, the groundsman has yet to paint them...ahem ahem).

Cranesey middled a bump ball into the hands of first slip and was unfairly given an over zealous send off by the oppo. Harry Copeland looked solid throughout his brief knock and his technique is definitely in good working order. Another of the colts, Alex Routledge surprised us all by middling 3 cracking boundaries in his knock of 16 (second highest scorer...oh dear) and was eventually undone by a pretty good slower ball. Fordy middled one done long off's throat and proceeded to unleash the full repertoire of his vernacular, a lot of eff's with the odd see you next tuesday thrown in for good measure. It's good to have you back mate.

We felt pretty confident at tea. 177 on a tough track was always going to be competitive. Tea was pretty special actually - how on earth DBW discovered to make a fruit salad is beyond me, but it was utterly faultless. A good deal of cold pasta was also served up, with all the usual trimmings of egg mayo, ham and cheese rolls. For once DBW had done something differently...

Our fielding and bowling effort was very decent compared to the general standard of the last few years. Appleyard and Fordy opened up, neither offering much to their rotund openers. Their Aussie had a decent eye (for a pork pie and a shandy too) and hit a couple of very well timed drives through the covers. Despite the atrocious state of the outfield, it was impressive watching everyone getting behind the ball and wearing the odd one in various parts of the anatomy (why I didn't wear a box to field in is beyond me. I must have a short memory of W&B last year).

Fordy was the first to make a breakthrough before Alex Routledge picked up 3 wickets on his senior debut. It should have been 4 but Craney dropped an absolute dolly at first slip off a well executed slower ball. If it had been a slice of Dairylea he would have caught it. Routledge bowled his full 9 overs on the bounce and didn't serve up much filth at all. Definitely one to watch this year. The Sith Lord (Steve Vaid) bowled a very consistent 9 overs, including a remarkable caught and bowled off an awful full toss.

Fordy's analysis was genius "that's the first time I've heard the bowler say 'oh sh*t' and the batsman to then say 'oh sh*t' to the same ball". Good cricket all round?? Merwin Man also bowled well on debut and was unlucky not to get any wickets.

At 120-6 (or something like that) with ten overs to go, it was game on. Craney came into the attack and bowled arguably his best spell at the Wick so far. Bowling full and straight, no one managed to get him away and he made the captain's job a whole lot easier during their run chase. Fordy came back for his last 2 overs, going for 4 runs and crucially, he picked up the wicket of another of Shepperton's 'large' hitters of the ball. Game on. 19 needed off the last 2 overs, Appleyard came back into the attack and bowled a very decent last over, only going for 6 runs at a match defining stage of the game.

11 needed off the last over, advantage Wick. That was until Craney's first was deposited from a good length into the door of one of the garages. Their supporters (a good 15 of them) were going berserk. Trying to repeat the ball the next shot, Craney's cleaned the lad up, stumps all over the place. Job done. Their last man didn't get anywhere near the next 2 balls, and bizarrely took an aimless walk down the track only to be stumped by Harry Copeland.

This was a really good game of cricket and it was encouraging to see people taking it a bit more seriously than in recent times. The colts system is obviously in rude health, and it is up to us to keep providing them cricket on a saturday and sunday to allow them to progress.

See you in 2 weeks. aj