Match Report - 2xi vs Stoke D'Abernon - by Clarky

HWRCC 2XI vs Stoke D’Abernon 2xi

Toss: Stoke

HWRCC 242-3 (50 overs) Golforbrazeeeeeeel 79, Fudge 46, Wright 45*, Mackie 40*

Stoke 243-7 (49.3 overs) Patrick 102, Lawes 72, Lown and Cameron 2 for.

Goulborn, Cole, Fudge*, Mackie, Wright, Clark+, Soppitt, Cameron, Donnelly, Powell, Lown

New Wick Proverb Say… Be Careful What You Wish For

Since our embarkation on the road to Surrey Championship cricket three or four seasons ago the 2s have become used to some pretty tedious cricket. With a few notable exceptions in the Fullers we often found ourselves playing sides with little or no ambition who took a perverse pleasure in playing draw at all costs cricket.

One of the exceptions to that rule has been the Stoke D’Abernon game each year. This correspondent has played in the fixture for the last three years and every game has been exciting and has produced a result. Both sides go for it, with the minimum of carping and a healthy dose of good sportsmanship.

It was with some joy that we discovered, after two straight promotion seasons, that we would finally get to play some 50 over win/lose stuff in this division. For once, although important, the toss would not play a huge factor in how the game developed… we always dreaded having to bat first knowing that however early we declared, if oppositions chose to stodge out a draw not even throwing up pies would tempt them to chase our totals.

It was an absolute pleasure to get to tea yesterday having delivered a more than competent performance with the bat and know that – weather allowing – we would have a result one way or the other. Thank goodness for a bit of common sense and a worthy stage for us to take on a club who we’ve had some good games against.

In the event though we reaped what we sowed as the battle of the two newcomers to Surrey Championship Division 5 was won by a deserving Stoke side with three balls to spare. The margin sounds tight – and here on paper it is – but really the Wick’s talented bowling attack failed to put the visitors under enough pressure to win this game. So – result cricket we wanted, and result cricket we got. After weekend one we find ourselves propping up the division knowing we’ve been in a great game of cricket… that doesn’t feel quite so great if you are laundering your dove, magenta and black kit today.

Stoke were dismissed here last year for approximately 160 and the batsmen were ruthless in pursuit of the target. This time around Stoke inserted the Wick to see what we might set them in largely bright conditions.

12 months ago this track was a sporty little number as the previous curator was spending too much time elsewhere. It was a result wicket in the worst sense. Bounce at the Millennium Wood end was embarrassing and many an opposition skipper was heard to grumble. The only thing we could say was it was as bad for both sides. We ourselves were turned over on it so we knew how it felf.

The strip yesterday was tinged with green and there was some underlying moisture which suggested it could be a bit sticky, but once the shine disappeared from the new ball it was easy paced and favoured the bat. Only over-ambition against tight bowling created chances in both innings. It is fair to report a number of balls failed to rise at the MW end giving both 'keepers some tricky clean up work to do but there were no scuttlers which suggests the new roller and even newer groundsman are having a positive effect.

Mills for Stoke bowled to that end and started in parsimonious fashion, swunging the ball away from a good length and excellent middle and leg line. Very few balls left the square and both bats had to work hard to extract any value. Golborn, off the back foot, pierced the field often but seldom found the rope early on. Finally Mills persuaded an increasingly indignant and agitated Cole – who had looked for the most part in bat all day mood – to essay something rustic and Stoke broke through, Cole caught well at slip. Ten overs for 22 runs from the Kingston end was an excellent spell and the wicket of Cole was scant reward.

Fudge and Golborn, the latter growing in fluency as the innings progressed (that late cut was out and timing was evident), decided that a firm base was desirable and eschewed anything risky until drinks were brought out. Harkett, later to play a direct and devastating role with the bat, plugged away towards Kingston and profited from the caution displayed. His excellent line and nagging length proved difficult to get away and time and again when he did err slightly the two right handers found only the close in cover fielder who had a very good afternoon in that position.

As Golborn’s game became more fluent, so Fudge also threw off the shackles. He dismissed the change bowler Stewart onto the Pavillion roof, breaking the first tile of the new season, and later began to take a liking to offspinner Lawes who gamely chose to defend the shorter boundary. Goulborn continued to rote the strike and began to time his powerful on drive too. In sight of a deserved ton he unfortunately perished to an excellent diving catch in the gully as he and Fudge pressed the accelerator. A partnership of 109 had set the game up and at this point with 9 overs to go it was time to explode. Unfortunately, attempting to clear the infield once too often, the skipper then skied one to long off missing out on a deserved half century.

This brought together Wright and Mackie. The left hand / right hand combination was ideal for the match situation, bringing the short boundary into play from both ends. Mackie was fluent and the spin combination of Lawes and Hopton struggled to stem the scoring. How the Stoke D’Abernon skipper must have rued bowling out Mills at this juncture. Mackie crowned the run chase with a devastating over against Hopton timing two sixes into the car park and Wright bludgeoned an effective 45 to somehow overtake him in the scoring. The two came together with 45 balls remaining and contributed 84 runs – a really crushing contribution which we hoped had handed us the momentum which TV commentators are so fond of.

At tea The Wick were pleased with the total, feeling it had been assembled to plan by keeping wickets in hand. It was clear to all that with so much grass on the outfield and the addition of sand that the short boundary would hold the key to the result.

Tea itself was one of Dave’s classics. Clotted cream was in evidence on scones (bullet hard though Dave). Chorizo was back. The egg lubricant was slightly too runny for the purist. Clarky was introduced to the concept of combination buns by Fudge and saw a new genius in the portly one’s work through the hatch. With pork products abundant, your reporter politely enquired of DBW whether there was mustard to be had not believing any would be extant. Not only was there mustard, there was a choice. This was a bitter sweet moment. The mustard was the piece de resistance without doubt and the tea scored 8.5. However the realisation that this reporter has probably missed out on five years worth of mustard left him raging against the dining that he might have enjoyed. DBW’s truculence in this matter has cost him dearly as the sour taste of missed opportunity forced reappraisal of the tea in hand and it was severely marked down to a 7.

Stoke’s reply started in a blaze of shots and some wayward bowling from the Wick. Tosses were full. The line was occasionally leg stump. Quick, short and wide stuff was cut away over the slips. Stoke were away out of the traps like one of our all rounders after the larger set. However in an attempt to maintain this furious pace both openers perished to ambitious shots and number 4 was also in too much of a hurry. Despite some less than tight work The Wick had noses in front, Lownsy had 2 for and Stoke must have been concerned that the best laid plans might have, as the poet says, “gan aglay”.

But we were unable to capitalise because we could not keep our discipline. Too many cafeteria balls were bowled and by half way Lawes, who smashed the ball around and Patrick, playing rather more circumspectly and with a pleasing degree of technical prowess and style, had assembled half the runs they needed on the dot of drinks. If you recall, The Wick had assembled only 60 at this point so Stoke’s bowlers in our innings and their batsmen here, had turned the game in their favour.

Annoyingly this lack of control from us infected nearly everyone – Jimmy C aside who maintained a good line throughout and Lownsy who fought back from an ordinary start - and we were unable to wrest back the initiative. With the pitch favouring the batsmen, we really needed to be able to keep catchers in but skipper Fudge was forced to protect the boundaries and station his men on the thirty metre markers because of the regular poor balls. What regulation chances that were created – through first and second slip – were through sadly vacant positions. Others from Delboy, who started extremely well tormenting Patrick in the 80s with flight and changes of pace, were only just within grasp of fielders sprinting to arrive at orthodox positions long abandoned. Clarky, up until this point extremely tidy behind the timbers, almost held onto one such chance but the ball spilled agonisingly from the tips of his gloves in front of the packed pavilion. On such margins games are won and lost. The breakthrough did eventually come when Lawes aimed one too many aggressive heaves at Jimmy C to fall for 72.

The doubt Delboy created in Patrick did at least slow the youngster’s progress with his century approaching and it seemed we might be able to keep him quiet enough to drive the rate up. But others around him maintained the busy progress and an at first nervous and rusty looking Harkett blossomed to clout an aggressive 32 mostly from poor balls including some unforgivable full tosses that didn’t necessitate him using his feet.

Towards the end the pace became frenetic – one bat skied one to the safety of long leg just out of the grasp of the despairing Clark again who’d run 40 yards to get there, the other jammed down on a Yorker and squirted the ball down to a vacant fine leg for three just when the pressure might have begun to count. Harkett finally smashed a length ball over mid off which carried Stoke home just as we thought we had exposed what looked like a tail.

The winning margin was three wickets and brought mixed feelings. Relief on the one hand that we were playing result cricket after years of stodgy rearguards by unambitious oppos, annoyance on the other that we had let a promising position slip. We simply weren’t sharp enough in the field but huge credit is due to Stoke bats Patrick, Lawes and Harkett for taking it to us in such spectacular fashion.

Stoke were worthy winners and their umpire, who stood both ends, was excellent so thank you. We’re of course looking forward to the return fixture later in the summer – ominously there was talk of Mills and Harkett getting even longer spells!

It will be up to the individuals here to work hard in the excellent new nets and for the team to go up another notch in all departments against Cranleigh next week.

Congratulations to Will Patrick on his debut ton for Stoke D'Abernon.

MOM – Golby.

[Here Golby capture's Mackie middling one into the carpark]