That's Just Not Cricket - 2xi vs Godalming - A view from the Balcony

"Green Top at Wick 'Not Cricket'" - Ed

HWRCC 2xi vs Godalming
Godalming 99 (Fahad 4-18)
HWRCC 100-4 (High 47*)
HWRCC wins by 6 wickets

Scoreboard

Godalming made the trip to the WICK on Saturday and in a tight league where the top 5are separated by just 10 points every game seems to have an added sense of importance attached to it. Godalming did the double over the 2s last year (gifted two wins by inadequate displays) and yet despite us finishing 30 points ahead of them in the league the Balcony felt that we really owed them one.

With the local area having seen its first real soaking of the spring/summer in the days leading up to Saturday's match, we were greeted with a green pitch and a lush outfield. Despite its greenness on top, it was firm below and promised to do plenty early on but with bright skies and drying wind this would be an important toss to win. Skipper Fudge did just that and had no hesitation in asking the oppo to bat.

If you have ever played at Godalming you will know that is the best batting track in the league. If you haven’t, think of an Oval net with short boundaries and a bare outfield. The bounce is true and the pace prefect enabling batsman to play through the line and get maximum reward for their shots. However Godalming is not the norm so you can understand Skipper Fudge's surprise when he saw the surprise on Godalming faces on being confronted by a green top. The pitch was already in their heads as the majority of the team stood looking over it, cursing. Fudgey for one doesn’t mind a sporty track and we all think that a fair contest between bat and ball always makes for a better game and invariably an early finish (hiccup). Runs scored in testing conditions or even good bowling to exploit a helpful pitch live longer in the memory than a boring run fest and a dull draw. That’s just not cricket.

So The Wick had the psychological advantage, now The Wick had to make the most of winning the toss by bowling well and taking its chances. Webster (legitimate excuse) arrived 20 mins after the start of play so Dom Lown and Fahad Tanveer (late with no legitimate excuse) took the new ball. Both made an excellent start, bowling tight lines and joining the dots before Tanveer made the breakthrough having the opener Stow caught behind. You often hear the saying “bowling in partnerships” and we saw real evidence of that on Saturday as Lown continued to bowl well and keep things tight whilst Fahad claimed the first three wickets of the innings. On another day Lown would have grabbed a couple himself however a return of 0/19 from 7 proved to be the perfect foil for his partner. Fahad bowled with pace and control, cart wheeling Dawson’s off peg before being too quick for skipper Tunna (normally caught fishing outside off stump according to legend) and bowling him too. Godalming were 21-3 and furthermore were still seemed distracted by a pitch that actually hadn’t contributed at all to any of their dismissals.  

Skipper Fudge in his new role of a “batsman who bowls, but not quite enough to be considered an all-rounder for fantasy cricket purposes” replaced Lown and once again (to the continued amazement of his team and himself) found consistent lines and lengths at a quick enough pace. By this time the Godalming batsman Wright and ex-skipper Harms were digging in and although still struggling to time the ball, they were at least getting in behind the ball looking to build a total that would at give them a chance of returning home with some points. 21/3 became 51/3 before the skipper struck with a ball that pitched on middle stump and jagged away from the left handed Harms. Harms did well to get an outside edge on it and Harry did well to get to an excellent catch low down. 51/4!

Webster, who had now been on the pitch long enough to allow him to bowl, replaced the excellent Fahad and immediately caused the batsmen problems. Wright was caught (more groped, gathered and clutched) by Jackson at cover for 19 and Powell plucked at silly mid-off by Naveendra for 0. Godalming were on the rocks at 61/6. Enter Hale and Haine. Hale who was by far the most vocal of the Godalming players regarding the state of our pitch continued to mutter and shake his head during his brief and uneventful stay at the crease. Perhaps he should have put more energy into smashing short and wide balls from the tiring Fudge than bemoaning the surface however he neglected to take up these invitations and when Fudge finally relocated his radar he cleaned him up with a ball far too quick for this no.6.        

So that brings us on to Haine. We don’t normally comment on oppo players except in passing but Haine is a strange chap and invited speculation in this particular instance. He too was apparently unhappy with the conditions and proceeded to what we can only describe as sulk for the length of his innings. Between balls he mainly spent his time with his arms crossed, looking to the ground, or on other occasions he would spit and phlegm on the track (that's just not cricket) making it even greener that it already was. One gets the impression he would have rather have been anywhere else but the WICK on Saturday and based on his behaviour we shared the same sentiment. He was eventually dismissed in uncertain circumstances. Given out for hitting the ball on to his boot and being caught again by Naveendra at silly mid-off there was confusion as to whether or not it had hit the boot, the ground or his spit? Either way, Nav took a great catch and he was back in the hutch. Wickets 9 & 10 followed shortly after and Godalming were dismissed for 99. Tanveer finished with WICK best figures of 4/18, Fudge 2/22, Webster (who has been excellent this year) 3/20 and Nav 1/14. Our old friend E X Tras top scored with 25 and the WICK required exactly 100 from exactly 60 overs to win.

Tea was Tea. A typically great home spread that always gets an 8 or a 9, but bagged the higher of those two marks this week for pre-Wimbledon strawberries. What more is there to say? Nothing! So we will briefly touch on teatime habits and two players in particular that caught this scribe's eye.

This is my 18th consecutive season playing at the WICK and your correspondent has worked out that in that time I must have averaged at least 15 DBW teas a year, it follows that I have eaten somewhere in the region of 800 cheese and tuna combination sandwiches in over 270 sittings. And in those years I have shared tables with some of the WICK greats including Flux, Mansfield, Kennedy, Culham & Bloom but this Saturday I had the pleasurable company of Risman and Lown. “Riso” is a legend in his own time, WICK through and through. He has played at the WICK for years but if anything he seems to be getting younger, not older!! And maybe I have discovered his secret? Sweet no Savory! A plate full of cakes, scones, muffins and biscuits were accompanied by a strong cup of tea, this is the diet of a man who has played cricket in three (maybe four) decades for the WICK. Is it the sugar that he thrives on or the reluctance to try and DBW egg sandwich? Whatever the answer it works for him and will dramatically effect the way that I “tea” from now on. Lown on the other hand goes for a balanced approach piling up a plate full of sandwiches and savoury items before making his way to the sweet end of the table where he carefully selects which biscuit or cake will be his pudding. These are carried separately to the savoury items (careful not to cross contaminate the two) back to his seat before being placed direct onto the table. This caught Riso’s eye in particular as he remarked about the cleanliness of the table, but Lown seemed satisfied in the knowledge that DBW had properly wiped down and with his job (bowling) done he tucked into his hearty meal.

So to the run chase! Another low total, with plenty of overs but in true WICK style there would be the odd hiccup and nervous moment before we could celebrate a well deserved 13 points. The biggest of those moments came at 25/4 with Cole, Fudge, Goulborn & Jackson all dismissed by the impressive Dominic Dawson but (as the balcony pointed out) with the batting order just about right it was concluded that we had all got out on purpose in order to let the men in form finish the job.

Mackie and High in particular were watchful early on and then clinical later on as they accelerated their innings perfectly to see the WICK home by 6 wickets. At this level High is the most talented batsman in the league and could (provided he stays with the 2s and doesn't get a well deserved call up to the 1s) win the league for us. His destructive style was too much for Haines who bowled shorter and shorter the further and further High despatched him. More foldy armed sulky poses would follow.

So we are now in the top 2, and with the unpredictable Maori in town next Saturday, we will be hoping for another green top and another home victory.

That is Cricket!

MOM - Fahad. It is one thing winning the toss in helpful conditions but it is another bowling brilliantly in them and taking 4 for not very many. He set up the match for High and Mackie to finish.

WICK

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.

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

HWRCC 2xi vs Horley (h) Match Report

Singh, Clark+, Fudge, Gobly, Wright, Jackson, Soppitt, Powell, Donnelly, Webster, Lown

HWRCC 227-5 (Fudge 72)
Horley 93-10

HWRCC wins

2s deliver Wickwash

What a day. Blue skies with big old stratocumulus. Hot, humid almost dank skies. An alliterative haze hung heavy over Hampton Wick. At twelve the eleven arrived, changed and practiced. Horley hovered.

Who cares how the Wick has turned into a hot, hard deck but all of a sudden, second week in May, happy Wick bats should rejoice. Suddenly after a 2007 in which the only thing that was predictable was that it wouldn’t do what you thought, here was a deck with bounce and carry. Both. Together. In the same ball.

Horley won the toss and decided to field. Their skipper was a bit freaked out by the Wick’s practice session perhaps. But this was a stinking afternoon to bowl. Yes it might have rained a bit the day before. It might have been greasy. But Clarky had been playing fetch with Wickmutt and a cricket ball that morning and he would swear later that the dog’s lead had taken all the moisture off the square. The burning heat removed the rest.

Nathan and Clarky opened. Clarky was sent in in lieu of AJ who was travelling back from a family do the night before in a Northern industrial town. Before he had time to get anxious, Nathan had holed out at mid on from a no ball and then wellied an off drive to… cover to collect the first taxworthy (quack) innings of the day. 1-1. Not what the captain had ordered. Clarky was supposed to be smashing it around, not Nathan.

Fudge and Clark consolidated and found little to worry about. This was a surprisingly true surface despite being greener than a first year university student doing a stint on reception during the holidays and being asked to use the PA system to locate Mike Hunt. It was hotter than it would have been were they trying to film To Kill a Mockingbird on the outfield. And the the oppo’s opening bowler pulled a hammy. So the first wicket down partnership just left the good balls and hit the rest.

Clarky almost died because he was forced to run a lot (all run fours might look good in the scorebook but they look shit when 39 year olds participate in them in 27 degree heat). They put a 70 partnership together before Clark turned for a non existent second, slipped and was stranded trying to get back. Questions were asked but it was just a bad accident. Clark was wearing studded boots etc etc etc.

Goldy – selected by 99 per cent of all fantasy selectors – managed to make it look as if he had edged a leggy into the gloves of the keeper. It was his first ball sadly. Quack. AJ and Fudge then pushed the score along to 110 until Fudge conspired with the oppo to get out when on 72. Frankly he should have got 172 because up until he got out the wickets had been taken off a full toss, a run out where someone slipped and then a leg break which turned so much that the umpire gave it out.

AJ and Wrighty then set about piling on the runs. Both made unflustered progress mostly scoring straight or behind square in blocks of four runs. Eventually AJ decided he couldn’t run any more. This, he said, was down a muscle pull in his thigh. Mostly your scribe thinks that’s because he was out the night before giving it large on the dancefloor. Cutting some shapes. Etc. Well anyway he felt a bit tired and started limping. He asked for a runner. At that point the Wick had lost three wickets. Some knob was going to get stitched up.

It wouldn’t be Fudge. What skipper goes out to run in the heat of the midday Sun? Only mad dogs really get involved. Would you really send Nathan out to run? Probably not. So, instead, send out the oldest man in the team (by probably 9 years) who had to spend 10 minutes in the cellar to cool down earlier. Next time just keep your mouth shut and deal in boundaries. Clarky had once given AJ a paid job in a PR company. He was upset when AJ was unable to persuade his colleagues to turn that into a full time position. Even more so on Saturday. Clarky would have enjoyed waiting for a fresh Alex to turn up to work on the Monday morning. Before asking him to… well in PR you don’t have really crud jobs… spend all week… licking the dirty bits out of the photocopier. Or something.

AJ eventually ran Wrighty out a boundary or so short of a well deserved 50 (reactolite rapides are so yesterday but on Wrighty they seem moderrrrrrnnnnn) using Clark as an instrument before proceeding to a sublime Aj-like 50. Sisso’s teeth – Sisso had AJ in his fantasy team – were visible reflected off the moon by the Hubble Telescope. And the innings was closed leaving Horley to score 228 off one more over than the Wick had managed 227. Any grumbles? All thought that the Horley skipper could have announced himself earlier. Otherwise… nope.

Sadly Horley didn’t fancy it in reply. If, they said, we had offered them 180 off 55 then (looking at their nails, fingers scrunched into their palms) they might have had a go. Oh please. Why not bat first then and set 180? Tea, by the way, was a really disappointing 5.5.

5.5? Yes. Not one bit of bread could be called fresh. Forget everything else. The – bread – was – not – fresh. No wonder Horley didn’t come out firing. How could they on stale bread? Perhaps Dave knew which way the 2s toss would fall? It totally undid the good work Dave had pulled off by creating chicken tikka open sandwiches. Happy Daves? No.

Horley didn’t really have a go. Who would have after that tea? They lost two wickets pretty quickly and then didn’t rebuild. They eventually made 93 in reply. Webbo, Lownsy, Powelly and Timmy F bowled such tight lines that there was nothing going. So Horley shut up shop. Reeeeeeally early. Webbo was the Q of quick if not quite the a of accuracy. Del came on and selflessly threw up some relatively expensive overs to get Horley to hole out. They did. He took three for. At least the hammy victim Horley opener smashed some. He will be pleased with his batting. At the other end Powelly bowled a mature full and straight spell that cleaned up 4 bats. It was quick, accurate and unplayable. Powell is back. FACT.

The fielding was amazing. Golby juggled a phenomenal catch at gully to bring one down which suggests with practice he could be one of the all time Wick gully greats. Clarky coped well with some interesting crop spraying. Fudgey and Webbo in particular fielded like demons. While Horley conceded 40 runs to misfields and poor throws the Wick challenged every bat to risk something. No one did.

The Wick won with many overs to spare. That Horley felt we had gone too far in scoring 220+ off half the overs suggests they may not be the most ambitious oppo we will face this year. No matter. This was a good game, fought at close quarters. Both sides acquitted themselves well.

Powelly MOM.

Perfect.

Hampton Wick 1st XI Vs Kempton

Davies*, MacArthur, Lee, Razzi, Bishop, Jackson, Cole, Forbes, Ewen, Jones, Webster.

Hampton Wick won the toss and elected to field.

Kempton 134 all out. Ewen 7-30 Razzi 3-21 Dows 48

HWRCC 136/4 Razzi 42 Bishop 30* Porter 2-33

HWRCC won by 6 wickets

Kempton were quite aggrieved as Bishop knocked off the last couple of runs to sink them to a 6 wicket loss. Kempton felt it had all come down to the toss of a coin, and that the Wick's sticky wicket favoured the side batting second. Granted the wicket was as lively as King Herod in an Early Learning Center, but the way they approached their innings defied belief.

Joe Ewen bowled well for his 7-30, but he will bowl better this season without such handsome rewards. From the very first ball when opener Watts flayed a ball which threatened little, to Dan Lee at point, you wondered whether Kempton had walked out to bat with their eyes closed, and not felt the puddles splash up their legs. When the Kempton skipper followed soon after in almost identical fashion, again to Lee at point Joeys began to taste blood and rather liked it.

Dows and Ricks then began to rebuild the Kempton innings and mixed aggression with a willingness to wear the snorter. They were brutal on anything shy of length and HWRCC bowled too short on a day crying out for a full length.

A thought must be spared for every bowler who bowled from the the Millenium Wood End, as the wind was strong enough to produce Acme style facial distortion, and made a measured run up a bag of liquorice allsorts. With the wind at his back though Joey finished his opening salvo following a rain break with the wicket of Ricks for 39.

Kamran replaced Joey and Barrell did likewise for Webster. Kamran got his reward for patient and disciplined bowling, removing the Kempton 5 and 6 before finally coaxing Dows (48) to give further catching practice to Dan at point. His fourth catch at point and to be honest I was beginning to wonder if I shouldn't give him the gloves and move to point myself just to see some action.

With Dows gone Davies showed no hesitation in bringing Joey back into the attack to finish proceedings. Joey duly obliged and did what all good fast bowlers should and mopped up the tail with a minimum of fuss. Matty D's insistence that every over would be his last obviously had the required affect and it was akin to watching a hunter taking out ducks with stinger missiles as they come in to land on a park pond. Kempton 134 all out and it was HWRCC who went into tea the happier XI.

You are all familiar with DBW's tea so I won't offer a mark. Although I think he should be docked half a point every time he produces a clone of the week before and a half added every time he makes our eyes bulge with surprise.

As alluded to earlier Kempton felt the Wick had the easier of the batting conditions, but the way the top three approached the chase showed more than an ounce of thought and skill. Sam MacArthur and Dan Lee prodded and left, determined not to throw away their wicket as the ball continued to skip, and dart around. Even when Dan timed a ball beautifully off his legs through mid-wicket and into the car park neither got carried away.

Eventually Sam (14) was undone by a ball that reared off a length but Matty came in a continued with fervent application. Dan (16) followed soon after to bring in Kam, who played what he described as one of his most determined innings, despite his best efforts to run Matty out, who eventually fell for 14. The hard work had been done though as the ball was now soft, the wicket slightly drier, and the openers seen off.

Barrell joined Kam and their partnership of 58 was a lesson in application and patience from these normally free scoring batsman. Kam certainly rode his luck on more than one occasion, but the their gamble to go over the top against the older ball, allowed them to then pick the singles as the field spread. With plenty of overs to spare, all his team mates were dissapointed to see Kam fall short of his 50, but AJ came in and finished the job with Barrell with a minimum of fuss.

A couple TFC's, but this was because of a very good performance of Joey and the top order doing their job. Still a slightly rusty performance in the field but the team spirit was as evident as ever and everyone will have to opportunity to stick their hands up and make telling performances as the season moves on.

Also from everyone in the squad a huge congratulations to the 2's for not only getting their game on but winning it so well. You can't ask for any more than a Wick Wash.