Match Report - Sunday xi vs Hampton Hill

"The team wondered why it took Zo so long to get the ball back" - Ed

HWRCC Sunday XI Vs Hampton Hill CC Sunday 1st XI
Hampton Hill 91 Tong G 3 for 4 Swaine 3 for 13
HWRCC 92-1 Zohaak 57 (Retired bored)
HWRCC won by 9 wickets

A Saturday Wick Wash had the wind in the Sunday XI’s sails as they blew onto the field for the first round of the Bushey Park League. Spirits were high and even the gale blowing could not stop Zo’s voice traveling to the Hampton Hill opener and requests for Zo to stop chatting long enough for a ball to be bowled, blew back. Graham Smith took an early wicket as the ball was flicked off the pads and Mo Bal leaped in the air at square leg, palmed the ball up then caught it one handed. It was a great catch and worth the match fee alone to watch at close hand. Hampton Hill’s No.3 came in and played a couple of nice shots and Smith and Vijayakumar plugged away keeping things tight. Graham Tong came on and off again having removed 3 for 4 including a hat trick chance. Rob Swaine then got in the action in his first over with Phil Miles taking a great catch at slip. 44 for 5 and Hampton Hill were getting blown over.

Everyone had a bowl (not Zo) and a big hitting No.10 helped pull Hampton Hill to 91 all out off 39.3 overs. Mo got a couple of good stumpings with some nice work from Matt Rudolph and Swaine picked up another couple. The game may have been over a bit quicker with a few held catches but special mention must go to Hampton Hill’s opener who batted 105 balls for 22 and carried his bat. Zo’s chat had clearly not worked on this batsman.

Tea was nice. [Lazy - Ed]

Zo opened: 57 off 32. Zo retired, leaving James Madoc-Jones and Matt Rudolph to see the boys home. It may have been over quicker but Zo put the ball in the Allotments and he had to go and ask for it back. Zo then lost £10 in a darts match to bring him back to earth. Wick League wash done.

Special thanks go to Riley and Alison for bringing a professional feel to the day. Riley’s T20 standard of wide calling on a Sunday making him Hampton Hill's fourth highest scorer.

Match Report - Ashtead vs Sunday xi - by Selvsey

"Another Bea the Sunday xi might want to get away from" - Ed

You wait for one Sunday Match Report to come along...

HWRCC 133
Ashtead Got them something like 6 down...

Remember back to the second four day bank holiday in one week: no rain, street parties, commoners marrying princes, mass gatherings in London without a kettle to do some kettling in sight and Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club Sunday XI, away to Ashtead, looked to keep the Royal in the weekend a day longer following the Saturday Wick Wash?

Winning the toss Tong chose to bat and at 32 for 0 from 5 the only issues facing the Sunday XI was if Charlton would think the electric scoreboard was for texting his love interest or if he would pass out from the flatulence in the score box after a royal wedding and a captain’s night at the Wick. But just like Eugene and Beatrice what looks good with a glimpse can be misleading and before Charlton could write “I love you” on the scoreboard the Sunday XI were 67 for 5 from 16.

Out in the middle Rashid was the pick of the early batting looking like Gower till his Husain-like run out (Saddam? ie so slow he was dead? - Ed). Singh looked good until one got through and Miles was sublime, cover drive, then not so with a Strauss (Adelaide day two) leave. Byme hung about for a while and showed promise after a break from the game. Fahad showed promise but didn’t hang about.

Smith and Selves played a quick game of first to pad up goes in next then tested the others early season fitness with some ones and twos before both mistaking the pies to come with the change of bowling as an early sign of tea and holed out wondering when they would next be in the teens with 15 overs left to bat. Meanwhile Charlton’s love messages had worked and he had an audience. A quick 20, with Sadique chipping in a few, left the Sunday XI 133 All Out from 36. Despite Charlton’s girlfriend putting the G in the tail’s WAG the score looked more Duchess of York than Princess Diana and the Sunday XI pondered their chances over some coronation chicken (You're having me on - Ed).

Ashtead started well and at 37 for 0 from 5 the game took on a déjà vu feeling. Fahad had one put down at keeper and then at second slip but a third flew to the right of second slip and Tong caught well. Next ball went straight to second slip again but popped out. With only one option left to assure the wickets his bowling deserved Fahad decided hitting the top of off next ball would do the trick. With one catch, one drop and one bowled in three balls “just do the same again” was easy to say but Fahad did by yorking the next man and taking middle stump. The hat trick next over was not to be but another bowled left Fahad with 4 debut wickets for 38 and Ashtead on 58 for 4. Sadique came on for Fahad and got a good nic for a good catch from Rashid and the Sunday XI looked to be doing more than making a game of it.

As with most tight games there is one person who steps up to make the difference and although Fahad had put the Sunday XI in with a great chance Ashtead’s number 2 was pacing his innings well and sensing the need to up the tempo before running out of partners quickly took himself to 60 and Ashtead to over 100. The Sunday XI did have their chance after tight lines from Tong forced indecision in the Ashtead opener between a front and back foot pull and the ball ballooned between mid off and mid on. Two more royal star crossed lovers appeared as the resulting collision between mid off and mid on left two men on the floor and the Sunday XI’s chance gone. The usual half chances we all imagine could have been more came and went but even with a wicket a piece from Smith and Rashid Ashtead had the time and pushed the ones and twos to get them over the line without taking risks.

A reminder to us all that not all royal love stories end happily and the weekend wick wash was not to be. However, Fahad is clearly a great prospect with the ball for the season and everyone else looked to be getting back into the swing of the new season. 30 more may have been enough, but then Eugene and Beatrice could have picked other dresses and still been upstaged by Pippa Middleton.

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]