08 Match Reports P4
3rd August v Sutton - Cancelled
10th August v Spencer a tba on the list and the conference yet again earned their fees by matching us up with a really nice fixture at Fieldview in Earlsfield just a short boundary throw from Openview where Ovalites used to play...remembering many happy trips to that area I set off without the aid of sat nav or even that quaint old booklet an A-Z but I also should have remembered what a pain the traffic is thru Tooting even on a Sunday as I arrived 20 minutes after play started...now, as we were batting that's not too bad I hear you say...except I had the Match Balls...sorry chaps! Soon comforted by a couple of Lisa's scones (so many bun jokes) I settled down to watch a masterly batting display by Talpe (24) only for the inevitable rush of blood to ruin it and cut short what surely would have been a 50 as he skied a dolly. No worries.."Supersconeman" Cutler up next..bowling looked tame... oops...clean bowled for 2. Confidence restored as Perera cut and stroked his way very quickly to 22 while at the other end Jerricho scoring at half a run an over decided to run him out...hmmmm!
By now it was time I took my turn at umpiring...and had the easy decision of giving a plum lbw... unfortunately Mr Jerricho took umbrage...everyone on the field thought he was out...he reckoned he hit it..interesting as from my front on view the bat was about a foot away from the ball and behind his leg when the ball thudded onto his front pad right in front of middle...Now he's not able to defend himself on this site of course and as a rule I wouldn't normally have even mentioned this dull moment in the game ...but as he decided to publicly "have a go" in front of everyone during the drinks break he can f...whistle!!... Not one to hold a grudge I will also confess to a mild gloat of satisfaction when he took one plum in the gonads when we were fielding.....It's only a game Paul!
Anyway Thornton upped the rate with a swift 21 and Lailey (27) and I enjoyed a 8th wkt stand of 29, young Jack C- Little went for a goldie before a stirring and amusing last over included a battling 5 for Ballantine as we were all done for 146 with a couple of balls left and me (Fawcett) not out 14.
A Fabulous tea but the same could not be said of the impending doom and gloom of the weather with black clouds looming like a scene from Independence Day! The match was evenly poised, a couple of early wickets, tight bowling from Fawcett (2 for 25) and Cutler (0 for 15 off 6) a bit of a batting stand, an excellent run out by Talpe/Ballantine (wk) before the first of many interruptions for torrential rain...one short sharp shower started and stopped before we got off the field! ..weird.. but with the score at 94 for 5 and with 18 overs remaining the heavens opened and stayed open as the stumps were removed with the match abandoned as a Draw...hope we can go back again tho'!
Chadwick 146 All Out (Time) Spencer 94 for 5 Result: Match abandoned as a draw
Toss won By Chadwick (Bat) Weather: Cold Cloudy then came the rain!!
Talpe ct 24 Jerricho LBW 10 Cutler b 2 Perera ro 22 Thornton lbw 21 Georghiou b 1 Lailey ct 27
Hill b 8 Fawcett no 14 Coulthard-Little b 0 T Ballantine b 5
Fawcett 8 2 25 2 Cutler 6 2 15 0 Talpe 5 2 19 1 Hill 4 0 30 1
17th August v Leatherhead & Cobham - Cancelled...no team
24th August v Surrey Ovalites - Cancelled..no team (raining anyway!)
31st August v CXWMS - Postponed - Rain
With the appalling weather continuing it was time to build an Ark or re-arrange the last few fixtures... by cancelling our sponsors day game scheduled for the 14th ... it makes way for a new look end to the season..
7th September- re-arranged game v CXWMS...(Charing Cross & Westminster Medical Students)
at Imperial College Sports Ground
Report by Will Thornton...
Under a gloomy, grey sky Chadwick’s inspired fielding performance was just the bright start needed on such a dreary Autumnal day. Their opening pair were about as dull as the weather struggling to score runs off the consistently tight and accurate bowling of Joe Griffith (I think something like 1 for 9 off 7) and even an untidy over from Alastair Dougall, who retired from bowling with an injury after just the one, barely saw the scoreboard tick over at all. However, despite the clouds ever threatening precipitation very soon the only thing falling were wickets from a very unthreatening batting side. Toby Cutler came on to replace the lame Dougall and true to form always looked like taking wickets. His spell included one memorable moment when the batsman edged an awkward length delivery to slips whereupon the most extraordinary juggling act, which any circus troupe would have been proud of, continued for about half a dozen exchanges between Griffiths and Smith until the latter finally held on to bring TC a very useful wicket haul of 3 for about, let’s say 24 from 8. (For greater accuracy with regard to any statistics quoted in this report, please refer to the scorebook – that’s what it’s generally used for! ) Next came Andreas Georghiou with his own unique action of slow spin bowling, varied trajectory, length, width, height and general guile yielding two timely wickets ,though by now their innings was beginning to accelerate. But the wickets were falling with regularity too, including some fine run outs, two of which were admittedly suicidal and one involving a slick piece of handy work from Andreas who steered the ball driven back off his own bowling onto the stumps to catch the unfortunate batsman out of his ground from backing up. Well he should have been paying more attention really. Soon the writing was on the wall and with the writer of this report being offered a generous 2.2 overs to bowl at the end of the innings things were wrapped up when after offering up some generous full tosses down the leg side I did manage to bowl one of good length and direction for the hapless tail-ender to miss. All in all a pretty tidy performance in the field managed to limit CXWMS to 136 all out from 32 overs out of a possible 35. I should also add of particular note two splendid catches at short fine leg by Lawrence Hill some enthusiastic fielding from what could be a first for Chadwick (I write with complete ignorance of the club’s esteemed history) a lady cricketer in the form of Lisa (TC’s girlfriend and Chadwick’s one and only supporter) (wrong on both counts-ed) and perhaps the most dynamic and outstanding moment in the field (some of you may have missed this though not as keen an observer as myself).. a one handed dive, well more a ‘collapsing’ motion really, by Paul Jerricho to deny the batsman perhaps a single past extra cover.
137 runs required off 35 overs at a rate of ...well do the math – less than 4 an over. Very achievable. Skipper Lailey and Jerricho got us off to a solid start. First wicket down - enter Toby Cutler who struggled with his timing at first on the type of pitch that one might more usually encounter in late April. Remind me what those cover things are used for? But he hung around and built his innings nicely only to succumb in a moment of madness trying to hit the ball out of the park. We’ll put that down to a momentary loss of concentration. Well, he had by now managed to accrue the bulk of the runs but we were still 50 odd short and the run rate was climbing. Yet again our middle order failed miserably (that’s you and me Lawrence). For a while with some good clean hitting from Joe Griffith and sensible restraint from Andreas Georghiou it still looked possible. But with a tidy spell of bowling at the end (and in fact throughout the innings), we seemed all of a sudden to require 22 runs off the last two overs – an impossible task on such a big ground with a very slow outfield. Alas, I think most of us felt that that was one that slipped away from us.CXWMS CC won by 9 runs.
Enjoy the last two games (weather permitting) I’ve certainly enjoyed my first (½) season with Chadders but won’t be available now until next season.
Well done for contributing report Will - lets hope you've set an example!! --ed
CXWMS CC 136 all out (35 overs) Chadwick 127 for 7 Result: Lost by 9 runs
Toss won by: CXWMS (bat) Weather: Dull & Gloomy (Pitch. Bit of a pudding)
Lailey ct 28 Jericho ct 5 Cutler b 47 Perera b 7 Thornton ct 3 Hill b 0 Dougall ro 4 Griffith no 14
Georghiou no 4 H Smith & Lisa Gartell did not bat
Grifftih 8 1 8 1 Dougall 1 0 2 0 Cutler 8 1 21 3 H Smith 3 0 36 0 Georghiou 7 0 29 2 Hill 3 0 20 0
Thornton 2.2 0 18 1
14th September v Thorpe report by Nick Fordham..
At last! A Sunday this summer that did not start with a morning of staring out of the window at gloomy, grey skies and wondering whether the game was off or not. Blue skies, little fluffy clouds and a gentle breeze…perfect cricketing weather – but would our endeavours match these conditions?
Rocky won the toss and elected to bat, despite the fact that we were still three men down. In the absence of Griffith (and with Dougall carrying a slight niggle) the opening of the bowling was entrusted to Looker and Cutler. Both bowled tidy spells but with no reward. Two latecomers, Griffith and Fawcett, replaced them, but they too, failed to find that first elusive wicket. Come the drinks break and Thorpe were 82 for 0 wicket and Chadwick were in trouble. Much scratching of heads (and arses) ensued. But it’s amazing the revivifying effect of a cup of lukewarm orange squash! It was Griffith, with three quick strikes, who provided the breakthrough. Firstly, as the batsmen set off for a quick single he seized upon the ball and threw it to Rocky behind the stumps who smartly had the bails off. One down. Next over, just as their number one was upping the pace and taking advantage of the noticeably short boundaries, Griffith clean bowled him. Finally, he greeted the next batman with a couple of innocuous looking but nonetheless short balls, one of which made contact with the poor guy’s arm – an audible crack was heard from behind the stumps! After much rubbing and grimacing the batsman beat a hasty retreat – retired hurt.
Then Rocky called on the services of Chadwick’s new secret weapon - Andreas Georghiou! Here is the man who opened the coaching manual on slow bowling, saw the words ‘guile’ and ‘variation’ and decided to read no further. He baffled, bamboozled and bewildered the opposition – not least the man who straight after receiving a beamer was bowled by a ball that bounced twice before making contact with the stumps – his face was a picture as he walked the walk! As well as that Georghiou took a smart catch off his own bowling from a ball which the batsmen met so early it went straight up and came down with "ice on it"...if he'd hit it as far long as he had high..it would have been a four!, Cutler got another and a third catch was taken at mid off - a superb, athletic, one handed catch as the fielder dived to take the catch low and left handed – the fielder? Step forward and take a bow, Graham Fawcett! Andreas got his five-wicket haul when the retired batsman returned, stuck another limb in the path of the ball, and was given out LBW. We found out at close of play that Griffith had broken the poor man’s arm!
By tea (worth going for alone!) Thorpe were 178-8 and Chadwick were back in the game.
During the break Looker amused us all with tales of how they bowl a maiden over Nevada style – like spin bowling, its all in the fingers apparently. Coincidently, fingers was the topic of conversation at the other end of the table as Cutler, nursing badly bruised fingers, (from dropping two other chances!) informed the skipper he might not be able to bat. And so it was that Jerricho and Dougall opened the batting. In the very first over Dougall hit the ball, called a quick single and sprinted down the pitch…only to find Jerricho waiting for him at the other end…oh dear!! Much to the amusement of the opposition and spectators alike the enquiry into who was out and whose f**king fault it was started there and then. A fuming (it was my call) Dougall took the long walk back to the pavilion and declared ‘I’m never opening with that man again!!” (#)
Meanwhile back on the pitch a sheepish Jerricho played on to a ball so absurdly slow that time stood still as it crept towards his wicket, tickling the stump and dislodging the bails. (the stump umpire reported hearing a huge snort of satisfaction among the stifled sniggers coming from the boundary) Next Perera was caught coolly at mid off and Chadwick were a dismal 4 for 3! The dreaded Chadwick batting collapse had begun….but… two things were to swing the game back into Chadwick’s favour. Firstly, lulled into false sense of security, the Thorpe skipper took off his openers, one of whom had notched up five consecutive maidens (admittedly three of them against Jerricho) and introduced his second string. As Boycott would say, had he been watching, it was "buffet" bowling as Lailey and Georghiou, the new batsmen, duly tucked in and helped themselves. By the time Georghiou was out they had put on 82 runs for the 4th wkt. (one short of a season record ..so far!) Brief but valuable contributions from Griffith and Hill and the Thorpe target seemed very gettable. Cutler (having noted the bowling) suddenly started to warm up. Asked how his fingers were he answered ‘not too bad if I middle it’, and he took to the field with the advice of Fordham (that well known batting coach) ringing in his ears ‘Middle it, Toby!’ and middle it he did, smashing 7 fours and 4 sixes in a not out 7th wkt partnership of 69 with Lailey in which he scored 55 of the runs. Cutler reached his half-century and the game’s target with a mighty six and Chadwick had a memorable victory to treasure. A great all round performance but special mentions must go to man of the match (or should that be top banana!) Georghiou (5-36, 32 runs), Skipper Rocky (56no), Slasher Cutler (55no) and Joe Grrrr....riffith....and the Fawcett catch...(I added that bit -ed)
(#) Those who would like to... please send a postcard to the skipper stating (in no more than 50 words).. I would like to open with Jerricho because…
Thorpe 178 for 8 dec (Time) Chadwick 182 for 6 Result: Won by 4 wkts
Toss won by: Chadwick (Field) Weather: Indian summer!..v nice
Dougall ro 2 Jerricho b 0 Perera ct 2 Lailey no 56 Georghiou b 32 Griffith ct 13 Hill ct 5
Cutler no 55 Looker Fordham Fawcett dnb
Looker 5 1 21 0 Cutler 6 0 24 0 Griffith 10 1 40 1 Fawcett 5 0 24 0 Georghiou 8 0 36 5
Fordham 5 1 23 1
21st September v Morden
The day began with everyone refusing to bat with Jerricho.....(full report to follow!)
Morden 168 for 9 (40 overs) Chadwick 171 for 3 Result: Won by 7 wickets
Toss won by Morden (Bat) Weather : Sunny and Bright..little chilly in the shade...
Dougall ro 44 Jerricho lbw 18 Talpe ro 8 Cutler no 44 Perera no 26
Griffith, Hill, Fawcett, Fordham, Atterbury, Ms Gartell...dnb
Griffith 9 1 29 2 Fawcett 4 1 30 1 Cutler 6 1 12 0 Atterbury 8 0 25 2 Fordham 4 0 23 0
Hill 8 0 29 3 Talpe 1 0 11 0
