HWRCC 268 - 4 (Davies 84, Nomaan 58)Roehampton 172 (Farrell 100) Tong 4-27
HWRCC won by 96 runs. Scorecard When people ask me what I do for a living the conversation normally goes something like this:
'I work in regeneration'
'Regenewhat? Is that to do with flowers?'
'No. Imagine a area is sh*t....no jobs, it's messy, no-one can count etc etc. Well we try and make things better'
'Ah......another Beer?' The above isn't technically true. The whole regeneration thing is, but I'm actually a professional (unpaid) cricketer who has a side job in regeneration that happens to be 9-5 monday to Friday. And this is the reason why..... Roes won the toss on what looked to be a bit of a green top. It was however hard as nails and was clearly a batting deck, again. Upon insertion (ahem) the Wick again started brightly with Ali and Davies being aggressive when given the opportunity. The duo again put on another great opening stand of about 80 odd before Ali snicked one behind. Day, living a life more charmed than Aladdin, then scored 44 (for 3) in another decent partnership with Davies who continued his good form looking untroubled. Raza's late (late for a number 4 at least) introduction immediately saw the injection of some violence into proceedings, with a some large hits and some lovley poses to boot. Bonay and the Rash mopped up at the death to ensure we posted an excellent 268 off 41.5 overs. In fairness Roes actually bowled pretty well, especially the Mr Fuchs who kept a tidy line and lengh throughout. I suppose when your confidence is high and you're playing well runs just come - which is what happened on Saturday. Teas - as standard. There was a wedding the previous day and some of the potatoes had mischievously found their way into the spread. And there may have ben some cold onion bhajis (dunno where they came from). 7.5 I said earlier that Im a professional cricketer because I will not be remembered for my ability to 'regenerate', rather it will be my playing of the great game - successfully or otherwise. We knew our response in the second innings had to be patient and measured, yet aggressive. These days you have to work for your wickets, and Saturday was no different. Tuggles and Tongbola started off and despite an old ball, found errors with the bats. Unfortunately we also found errors, principally with our catching - one at cow and one inexplicably behind the wicket. Amends would be made later however. A decent opening stand was finally broken by the star of the day with the ball - Tong. There followed a tightening of the screws as the run rate grew and wickets started to tumble. An early declaration had given us time to take 10 wickets and as the pressure built so did the wickets column with Ali and Tong making inroads. No-one bowled poorly all day, but it was the turn of Raza who sparked the run for the finish line, with some wiley stuff. At the other end the Roes opener was soon running out of partners. With 8 overs to go and only 2 in the hutch, Tughral returned and saw a few large hits out the ground, with Farrell reaching a well earned 100. Next ball however he holed out to deep square where JMJ took a fine running match-winning catch in front of the baiting crowd and the sun set over the Millennium Wood. The vocal chords of AJ and Unsworth keeping the game as animated off the field as on it. The very next ball Tughral twirled his magic and it was over in a flash, Wick win by 96 runs. That was a real slog of a victory against a decent Roehampton team on a fine surface. Its not coming easlity but its 4 from 4 and to a man we're feeling strong. MOM - G. Tong with 14 - 27 - 4. Class
