Match Report - 1xi vs Merrow (a)

This was a strange game. Having got promoted last year, Merrow were full of enthusiasm and bite, unlike the previous week's opposition. We were rightly cautious but not afraid of their skills.

The opposition skipper seemed to know more about my players than I did. His knowledge was initially impressive, and latterly disturbing, asking me if Dominic Gates and Richard Cole still played for The Wick. They won the toss and bowled. No surprises there.

Davies and Hooper opened up. Whilst Davies went early to a good ball, Hooper started to smoke the ball through midwicket like the ball was on a zipline. O'Mahoney, slightly bogged down, unfortunatley got an inside edge, which brought Raza in with Hooper. The score moved onto 80-2, before Hooper fell one shy of 50. Raza then followed, skying one off the slow left arm of the opposition skipper.

AJ and Mackie progressed the score after drinks to 125, before both fell caught in the outfield. Neither Zammy nor Whinney lasted long, and it was left to O'Donnell in partnership with Ewen to get the total up. They went slightly beyond what we would have settled for at one stage, posting 170 with O'Donnell 22* on debut.

At half time the team was confident of 20 more points given the armoury in our attack.

Teas. Rubbish. 2/10 [Two out of ten? That makes the editor weep for you poor unloved boys. Oh the horror, the horror - Ed] Lots of buttered fresh bread but you had to make sandwiches yourself [Noooooooooooooooooo - Ed]. Tesco tuna paste etc. There were lots of picked onions. I like em, but not for cricket teas. Some big chunks of cheese were supplemented with some Branstons (or chutney, as Whinney called it). Very poor.

In reply, much like the Wick's innings, Merrow got off to a speedy start. Both Ewen and Whinney started with fire, but the pitch was easy paced and the short boundary and quick running made scoring easy enough. The breeze had now become a serious wind, which affected all bowlers. Clearly it was a day for Fordy mate et al.

Fordy came on and got the breakthrough. LBW. ats. O'Donnell then came on and bowled with good control and enthusiasm, getting his first Wick wicket caught at Gully.

Enter Tughral. He again spun his way to 3 excellent wickets, aided by some adept stumping action by O'Mahoney and a snaffle by Hooper at short midwicket. Zammy also got a run out (although it came after he had made an initial fumble).

Raza joined the party, tying up one end to put the pressure on the bats to try to force Zamm out of the attack. As the ball softened and the slippers moved into the ring, the runs dried up. The #3 Aussie, a very good bat, top scored with a patient 60-odd, before eventually being caught in the deep.

Merrow ended up 25 short, but it had been tense throughout as both innings had mirrored each other - fast starts, and as the ball softened runs became very difficult to come by. Lessons for the Wick - dont get caught in the outfield, use your feet to upset the spinners/dibbly dobblies, and be patient. The difference was that we had a #10 who scored 22*, a class leg spinner and runs on the board. The pressure was too much and 40 points had become 60.

The batting was better, but still short of where we can be. The fielding was much improved on a bobbly outfield and horrendously windy conditions. The bowling was as sound as ever.

It must be remembered though that Merrow dropped a lot of catches and let through a number of extras. In all honesty we didn't deserve this victory, but Merrow certainly didnt after their fielding performance. We can be pleased however that we won playing within ourselves. You cant ask for much more. No doubt we will start losing once we start playing as we know we can.

[Here's a picture of O'Mahoney early in his innings]