1st XI Match Report Vs Shepherds Bush - Craft and Graft

28th April 2007 Shepherds Bush Vs HWRCC

Shepherds Bush won by about 100 runs

HWRCC won the toss and elected to field.

HWRCC: D Lee, A Jackson, R Cole, M Davies*, K Razi, M Forbes, T Crowther, G Jones+, S Whinney, D Ford, J Ewen.

It has become somewhat traditional that I start my match reports with an apology and I shall begin this year in similar form. If this match report is a bit up and down, and lacking imagination I am sorry, but after the first full weekend of the season I am exhausted. You can do all the fitness work and training you like over the winter, but it still doesn't prepare you for a full on weekend down The Wick.

The 1st XI reconvened on Saturday at Shepherds Bush with a bump rather than a bang. Our enigmatic fixtures secretary has come in for some stick for the choice of opposition this weekend but The Bush provided the 1's with exactly the kind of stern examination the boys needed.

Matty won the toss and invited the home side to bat. Joey and Kamran opened the bowling for the Wick and voices of encouragement that had been subdued for a long frustrating winter resounded round the ground. The track was generally slow and low, which meant there was a great emphasis of getting on the front foot, and the Shepherd's Bush opener certainly did. If we come across another player of his class all season it will be a huge surprise. His opening partner however never really got going as Joey got him to tickle one down the leg side for the keeper to claim a scrambled effort. Early blood to the Wick but a false dawn.

With conditions offering little for the bowlers, graft and craft became the watch words for the next 19 overs. The Bush batsman worked the ball around with great skill. The way they picked the gaps was a genuine lesson in batting for those of us who have struggled in recent times and think that the only way to get back to form is to blast the ball out the ground.

For the Wick it was a case of graft and waiting for half chances. At 110 for 1 at the 22 over drinks interval it would have been very easy for heads to go down and conceed 300+. Not a bit of it though. Team spirit galvanised a group of promising youngsters into a title winning side last year, and the early signs are that there will be a never-say-die attitude once again. The fielding effort led by new man Dan Lee in the covers and Pinball who stepped in at the last minute, was both committed and threatening.

Eventually the hard work paid off as the wise old head of Coley encouraged The Bush 2 and 3 to go large and they were bowled and caught respectively. Chances were few and far between all day but everything was taken.

Whilst the Bush skipper steadied the ship the rest of the side came and went without really registering in the memory. Shaun Whinney, making his 1's debut came into the attack and picked up 3 quick wickets, and seemed to wonder what all the fuss was about. Joey made his keeper work hard for another, Fordy got the final wicket to an LBW, and all the while Kam bowled a very tight line and length without reward.

Shepherds Bush finished 239/9, but given their position at drinks the boys had every reason to be proud of the efforts in the field. It was hot, most had little game time under their belts and the way the bowlers stuck to their task, encouraged by committed fielding spoke volumes about how far the club has moved on in recent years.

And so after 45 overs in the sun and the heat, it was off to tea to replenish spent energy. I'm afraid to say though that this was the only department in which our hosts let us down all day. Lacklustre would probably best describe it: 2/10

Dan and AJ opened up brightly. Whilst Dan manoeuvered the bowling in exemplary fashion, and played shots off the back and front foot with equal authority, AJ seemed content to wait for the bad ball. At one point it looked as though batting second might be to our advantage as the batsman had registered the conditions and made every attempt to get forward.

Eventually following a sumptuous drive straight back past the bowler for four, AJ lost concentration and looked for an even bigger shot. When watching the Shepherds Bush's Kiwi bat, what impressed me most was when he took Coley for four through midweek by moving his feet, and then as Matty moved the man from square leg to plug the gap, he waited for Coley to re-ajust his length and then milked him for a single into the then vacant square leg. Clever cricket, and the kind of thing the Wick batsman need to work on.

Coley came to the wicket in place of AJ, and started in determined mood if not a little scratchily. All seemed back on track as the pair played with patience, and the scored board ticked over in a steady fashion. When Dan mistimed one to mid-on, just short of his 50, Kam came in a looked in Bullish mood. He dispatched his 3rd ball over mid-wicket for 4 and hit the bowlers off their lengths. Meanwhile in the background Coley continued to acculmulate and play himself into form, with boundaries increasing in regularity as his timing improved.

Kamran went as the score moved past the 100 mark with a big drive, that if he'd connected with would have dissapeard back to Chiswick. It was not to be though and he skied it only as far deep long off.

That then triggered a collapse as Davies came and went without ever managing to get his feet moving, debutant Mike Forbes, got a good ball that nipped back through the gate and when Pinball left a straight one, the tail was left to play a supporting role to Coley. Garf offered little resistance and started where he left off last year with a duck, which brought in Shaun who is really starting to enjoy his batting. He was quick to crack a ball through point in the encraoching gloom and compiled a very encouraging 16.

With only Fordy and Joey, 7 overs and an impossible task left, Rich Cole looked to push on and went past fifty. When Fordy perished though Coley opened up to much and the Wick closed around the 150 mark ( I forgot to look at the scorebook), well short of the target.

The score suggests a sound beating but a lot of positives can be taken from the game, and we know the areas in which we have to improve. To lose to a good side like Shepherd's Bush will stand us in better stead than dispatching an ordinary side with ease. On our day we would push Shepherds Bush much closer and I would even fancy us to beat them, despite the huge difference in League positions.

Also there were 4 debuts for the 1's who all jumped right into the team spirit and fought shoulder to shoulder with their new team mates, in unfriendly bowling conditions.

Wick man of the match has to go to Coley for his wickets and runs, although special mentions to Dan Lee for his fine 42 and his fielding, and to Shaun for his 3 for and an encouraging knock with the bat. No one let anyone down though and it was an encouraging team performance typified by the team work ethic.

I must also put a mention in for our opponents and hosts. They were a fantastic bunch of guys and whilst I do not want to eloborate on events with a group of locals who were there for football game in the morning, I would like to thank them for their hospitality and the way they dealt a situation which threatened to spoil everyone's day. If you read this guys you are welcome down the Wick any time. On the same note, thank you to Ali our wonderful scorer who conducted herself with the class befitting a member of the Wick.