Royal Cricket

Gallant 10-man Wick fall just short of remarkable win

Danny Lee and Harry Copeland the standout performers as MS is taken to hospital

HAMPTON WICK – 241/2 off 40 overs (Danny Lee 100+, Harry Copeland 47, MS retired hurt)

Defeated by

HAMPTON HILL – 244/9 off 39.4 overs (Jimmy C 4/44, Lee 2/25)

Before I get into this week’s match report, I’d like to take the opportunity to welcome back Danny Lee to HWRCC – it’s good to see you back mate. After stops in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Tibet (?), Danny has been hounded back to the Wick after a number of phone calls and threats. Ats.

Now onto the match.

Following last minute cancellations and sickies, the Wick managed to get 10 players out for the away game at Hampton Hill. This was a rarity for the Sunday team, I must say. Stepping up to the plate at the 11th hour were Harry “Heart throb” Copeland and Charlie High, who went on to play telling contributions in the match, but for different reasons.

After arriving at the ground, it was clear that runs would be the order of the day. The outfield was as flat as a tack and the boundary on the leg side was positively “colt-size”. You would therefore think that winning the toss would be crucial. It wasn’t. I lost the toss and we still ended up batting. Go figure.

MS and Bobby opened the batting as usual. Playing shots that put them back years, the boys were travelling at about 4 runs per over and looking comfortable. But cricket can be a harsh and cruel mistress, as we all know. With MS on strike, he went for a slog sweep off a ball that didn’t quite get up high enough. Hitting the top edge of the bat, the ball slammed into MS’s forehead. The “cracking” sound could be heard from the boundary line apparently.

Going down quicker than (i've deleted this bit - a bit lively) MS looked completely out of it. While there was initial relief that he seemed to be ok, the volume of blood which pissed down from his head suggested otherwise. A first aid kit was brought onto the ground at the double, and MS had to be bandaged up and taken to hospital. Not a nice sight at all. Particularly as I now only had nine players left to continue the remainder of the match. It was a bit lively.

But, cricket is a funny old game. With MS off to hospital, Danny Lee came out to bat for his second game of the season. He seemed relaxed. He was, I guess. Despite being dropped twice in the first few overs to some the easiest chances you will ever see, Danny was invincible. Smashing ball after ball over the ropes, the clubhouse, into the trees and over the fence, Danny was on fire. Before long he had notched up his 50 and the boys were looking comfortable.

After Imran, who made a solid debut for the club, was sent back to the pavilion after being caught and bowled, Harry “Heart throb” Copeland came to the crease. After a recent flurry of runs for the 14-year old, the question on everyone’s lips was: “can he back it up with runnnnnssss?”. The answer was: yes, he could. Playing some classic drives through mid wicket and shots off his legs, Harry was on fire. And with Danny Lee at the other end knocking it about, we were only 2 down for 100 odd after 20 overs.

Harry and Danny continued to smash Hampton’s bowlers around. Danny, who smashed nine 6’s in total, went on to bring up his 100 with a straight six over the sidescreen. Incredible knock mate. And although Harry fell just short of his 50, Jo Hirsh came in to finish off the run fest. After 40 overs we had reached 241-3.

While we were confident we had plenty of runs on the board, having only 10 men was always going to be a bit lively. Heading out to bowl, Tommy Robinson and Whinney opened the attack. And while Tommy struggled to find his rhythm with the breeze, Whinney bowled beautifully into it. Bowling Yorker after Yorker, it was amazing that he only managed to pick up 1 wicket.

As Hampton Hill got off to a flying start, it was clear the boys needed to take some wickets. Skipper Jimmy C came into the attack and picked up a wicket in his first over, after a sharp catch from Sisso at mid-off. Jo Hirsh came on to bowl from the other end and also got amongst the wickets, turning a beautiful delivery into their number 4 batsmen’s stumps.

With the Hampton Hill three wickets down, we felt we still had a sniff in the match. Charlie High, who came in at the 11th hour, put down a sitter of Jimmy C’s bowling. A few choice words were exchanged. Luckily for Charlie, Jo Hirsh took a great catch a few balls later to put them 4 down and still with a load of runs to get.

Running out of bowling options, Danny Lee was brought into the attack at the end of the match, and took two quick wickets. He was joined by jimmy who managed to take a further two wickets and sneak a run out to put Hampton Hill 9-down needing 6 runs to win off the last two overs. After an embarrassing mix up between the wickets, Danny Lee had a terrific chance to run out the non striker, but was agonisingly wide of the mark.

Kirky, who was bowling a beautiful spell, had the last over – they needed 3 from it. After two dot balls, it looked like we might just do it and pull off a great win. We didn’t. Their number 11 hit a boundary with two balls to spare, and the match was over. Gutted.

With 10 men playing for the Wick it was a terrific team performance in difficult conditions. Everyone put in all they had and showed great character and despite the loss, Skipper Jimmy C felt very proud to captain them.

MOM – Danny Lee (100+ not out). Terrific batting.

WICK