Saturday 25th August 2001
Saturday 18th August 2001
Saturday 11th August 2001
Saturday 4th August 2001

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Saturday 25th August 2001

1st XI vs. Polytechnic

Report by: Alan Barnard

with Edmonton building the pressure on the league leaders, and only a couple of games left in the season after this one, Polytechnic made the trip round to North London to take on Edmonton. As with many of this seasons home games, we took the field with 9 men - this time thanks to Sesiri 'What Time Do You Call This?' Jayasena and Adam 'Clothing' Herron. Matt Worton opened from the top end, but was soon in trouble after an over, suffering from 'a stomach bug' - although we just suspect that he didn't fancy bowling in the stifling heat. Neil 'The Hair' Roche took over, and bowled tidily, complimenting Skipper Tony Willett who was bowling very tidily from the bottom end.

Because of the extreme heat, the two pace bowlers were quickly replaced, and Stav 'Bubble' Elia and Alan 'Michelle' Barnard took over. Wickets started to tumble for Poly, and some good fielding led them to be 5 down. We were flying through the overs by this time, and Poly were running out of time to amass a good score. Neil Roche was brought back on for a short burst, and took a wicket immediately. Venki and Barnard were brought back on, and mopped up the tail, Alan finishing with 5-45, a career best. Poly were restricted to 165 all out from 54.1 overs, a very gettable target on another good home pitch.

The bowling performance was in fact bettered by the batting, with Ez Prinsloo and Venki Starring. After losing stand-in openers Barnard and Bilimoria early on, the two mainstays of this seasons batting line up came together. After a steady start, shots started to be played, and there were a few large shots from Ez, and a few cultured ones from Venki. We cruised to victory, for the loss of two - a very similar situation to the meeting earlier in the season at Poly, where the same batsmen piled on the runs to ease to victory.

All in all a very pleasing days play - rest assured, there was plenty of lager drunk in the bar afterwards, with the now legendary Dick Owen 'Home Win' Jug being purchased. The night was not complete without the obligatory trip to O'Raffertys in Wood Green, where 3am phone calls were made to Tim Beeden, and anyone else we could think of. Nice. Team:- Willett, A. Bilimoria, Barnard, Venkatesh, Prinsloo, Herron, Ses. Jaysena, S. Sivathasan, Elia, M. Worton, N. Roche.

2nd XI vs. GWR

Report by: Martin Loveday

I will have to start off with a low note I'm afraid, as we left the Cooper left the club with ten men due to the non appearance of GT. I was picked up at Arnos Grove at 12:20 (11:30 meet). Then Cooper's car cut out and myself and Waker had to push start the car. We arrive at the ground on time and things started to look up as we saw the facilities were second to none. The sun was beaming and we won the toss and elected to field. It was the sensible decision when considering we needed to win the game.

Loveday opened with G.Brown the bowling was straight and G.Brown was getting lots of movement away from the right handers with lift. One of Glenn's bad balls which was short was top edged and dolleyed straight up to J.Hazel at square leg, Dropped. Not what we needed. Loveday saved his arse by getting him out bowled in the next over with a shocking leg side delivery which was missed going for a big shot. The other opener started to blossom playing some good strokes and some bad and was lucky to escape an outside edge off Loveday which the keeper failed to move low to his right. Later he also got an inside edge that somehow managed to miss the stumps. G.Brown then took control and dismissed their no.3, 4 and 5 with in 3 overs. Two were caught by Archie at first slip and one by squires. Glenn also took another to get himself 4 wickets.

Archie and Dominic cam on as first and second change and bowled well leaving runs hard to come by. I don't really know how to continue other than saying Archie took a couple of wickets as the no.1 bat started to hit across the line. When he was on about 65 he topped edged a dolly into the leg side and was dropped by J.Hazel who should be shot as this is not the first time he has dropped a vital catch and cost us enormously as this bat carried on to smash the ball around. Linsford was now on and he and Archie were bowling. Archie took another and left Linsford to dismiss probably the worst batsmen in the world. Once there no.1 had reached 110 Linsford bowled him and they were all out for 167 and thanks to J.Hazel it was 50 more than they should have got.

Tea was lovely and its nice to see a bit off effort going into it for once. Now it was our turn to bat and basically there is not too much to say. The ball was keeping low and we lost a number of wickets to lbw's and bowled as no one could play this delivery. Archie top scored with 15 and some beautiful strokes before hitting the ball straight back to the bowler for a c & b. Glenn Brown and an injured L.Miller put up some resistance but to no avail as we were bowled out for about 102.

A few of us were discussing in the game in the bar and it was said that there were a few comments being made by John Hazel saying the skipper was wrong to field first but the way I see it is if you can get a team out for 167 with one player scoring a fortunate 110 of them. You actually should be blaming your son who did without doubt cost us the game, and not for the first time this year. But to finish on a better note I would like to praise GWR for there facilities if not so much there wicket. They were friendly and fair throughout the game which is something that I had not seen in this league prior to our encounter.

3rd XI vs.

Report by: Alan Porter

After a poor result against the 4thX1 the 3rds promotion hopes were given a bad jolt and with a big game against Twickenham to come it was vital the 3s got something out of the game. The toss against twickenham was vital and luckily the skipper won the toss and them Es decided to bat and put pressure on the opposition,but this seemed to have mis-fired when we were reduced to 71-5 but a superb recovery led by Mickey Billson and James Hazell who both scored centuries enabled us to recover to 314-8.With the weather taking a turn for the worse theEs had to bowl 20 overs to make a game and this was achieved between heavy and showers and the Es managed to get enough points to go clear in the 1987 league even though it was only by 2points and with the 3 weakest teams to play over the next 3 weeks . three wins would be vital with the final two games being AP and Southgate.

The first of these gmes was against Kenton and after inserting the opposition on low and slow pitch it was a struggle to remove the Kenton batsmen as Paul Ryans figures of 15-8-27-0 show with the strike bowlers having no luck the golden arm of Annan Rooban was employed and this brought  immediate results and the golden arm claimed 3 wickets the bowlin was shared at this stage by Alan Porter who claimed 4 wickets and the young players Daniel Hare and Daniel Billson both making there debuts for the threes and  fielding well and collecting a wickets apiece and Kenton were allout for 117.The openers K Fursse and C Turner finding boudaries hard to come they had to run alot of singles and twos and progress was slow and steady but with victory in sight CT was caught and Ray Bullen was sent in to finish the game this he duly did and the Es  won by nine wickets.

With North London 5s unable to field a team 20 points were greatly received and two thirds of the treble had been acheived and so we moved to thedelights of warren farm and Hanwell 3rd X1. On the hottest day of the year Hanwell batted first on a reasnable wicket but against an opening attack of P Ryan and A Vickers runs were hard to come by with both opening bats content to leave many deliveries wickets as at Kenton were hard to come by.The break through came from Alec Vickers and with Paul Ryan bowling 14 overs straight off in 30degres and claiming 4 wickets in a superb effort on a very hot day and with C Dodds breaking down after 5 overs it was a really good  spell by Paul with Alan Porter brought on to clean up the tail Hanwell were bowled out for 107 in 43 overs. K Fursse and A Edwards opened the batting and Andre seemed to want to finish the game inside the first few oovers and with   the skipper picking up the pace the target was reched in only 13 overs with Andre 54no and Kevin 34no and a victory was acheived thus ensuring the target we had of 60 points from three games and it is now onto AP ON SATURDAY for a crucial game in the threes quest for the 1987 league championship.

Saturday 18th August 2001

1st XI vs. Hanwell

Report by: Alan Barnard

Our string of good results recently were maintained, despite seemingly letting victory slip out of our grasp. After losing the toss, Hanwell took the slightly surprising decision to bat. I think their intention was to bat for 55 overs, put the game beyond us and gain 15+ points on the way to winning the league. In fact, this was very close to what happened, despite us slipping from a very strong to a very weak position in a matter of 10 or so overs.

As always, Matty Worton started off excellently, dismissing their danger man Ganguly with a sharp caught and bowled, and he and John Street picked up a couple each to leave the struggling. We reduced them to 107-7, a superb position, when their number 6, partly through skill, and partly through a complete inability to hold even the simplest of catches smashed a quick fire 100 to turn the game on it's head.

Suddenly, we were chasing 238, rather than the 138 that we would have expected just a few overs earlier. As it transpired, it began to rain at this point, but both sides were adamant that we should play the 20 overs required to constitute a match. With some sporting bowling, and expansive shots, we rattle up an impressive 175 in double-quick time to take full bonus points. All in all, not a bad result given the weather.

2nd XI vs. Southall

Report by: Martin Loveday

The day started with the important toss which Cooper lost again and we were put into bat. Kev Lawrence and Pat Carr were given the go ahead to open the batting and they did so in great fashion. Kev was a rock as normal (no offence mate) and was waiting for the bad balls and just running the ball into the gaps. Pat was more aggressive and started to play his shots. The bowling didn't seem great but Pat struggled during one over, where he was dropped by the keeper then edged one straight to the groud through second slip and the next ball was dropped by second slip. Pat then took control of the bowlers and started driving the ball sweetly and was unlucky to be dismissed in the 40's by a some what awkward shot. In went the skipper and he returned swiftly for 4. This brought Daz to the crease. Basically Daz then took the oppo apart. With shots going to all areas of the field and 3 sixes off 3 balls bought up his fifty. Daz carried on going playing some great shots to reach a hundred after a faultless innings. Kev was then inspired to play two off drives in one over of the absolute highest quality putting the ball either side of the fielder on the boundary. Daz, Kev and Waker all fell quickly as we were pushing for a declaration. It came after 49.4 overs and the score on 251 for 4. Thanks to Kev's 78 and Daz's 108 and Pat's 47 we were in high spirits and in a great mood at tea.

Loveday opened up at the top end and it was a poor over even for a lossener straying down the leg side. Pat was straight on the button and started causing the batsmen problems early on. Loveday started to bowl better and maidens were in the offering, beating the bat on numerous occasions outside the off stump. Pat had there best bat dropped at second slip when he would have been on about 10 - 15. Loveday cleaned bowled the other opener with a well directed yorker. Pat then took there no.3 with a good outswinger which took the edge a was caught by Squires. The new bat  was then cleaned bowled by Loveday with a jaffa for 0. Pat then took the next after he played on to his stumps trying to cut a ball that wasn't there to be cut. The no.1 bat had by this time dispatched a few bad balls to reach his fifty and looked in good nic. Steven Silvathesen bowled well in his two overs a took the edge of there no.1's bat which went between gully and second slip and away for 4. First ball after drinks and there was a few drops of rain in the air and they walked off saying it was too dangerous to play.

The match was then aboned due to rain but we can take heart from a good batting, bowling and fielding display.

Saturday 11th August 2001

1st XI vs. Phoenicians

Report by: Alan Barnard

First XI vs Phoenicians - As normal skipper Tony Willett was sidelined with a dislocated and fractured little finger (tart), I was asked to take on the captaincy for the important game against mid-table Phoenicians. By winning this, we could move up a couple of places, and really show our intentions of promotion to the league leaders. In the end, it was the toss that decided the result of the game, but there were some sublime moments along the way (step forward John Street).

After making the easy decision to put Phoenicians into bat, despite only having 7 men at the ground at the time, we took the field with 9 and Matt Worton and John Street began to make inroads into their top order without looking too threatening. It was an easy decision to keep them both on for the first 28 overs, as we simply were not conceding runs. Steve Sivathasan and Venki had brought us up to our full quota of players, and with Matt bowling as well as ever, we took our chances and left Phoenicians 5 wickets down with a run rate of under two an over.

The next event was a historic first, John Street, who had bowled about 15 overs, 2 for 30 from the usual bottom end, moved in for another over and took the first hat-trick of his career. The highlight was an absolutely unplayable ball for his second that Ses Jayasena snapped up behind the stumps. The third was a caught and bowled, which, given the circumstances was never going to be dropped in a million years!! Wild celebrations ensued as all ten of us rushed in with big high-fives.

Some late hitting from their number 10 (who Matty and I have a little history with) boosted their score to 115 all out, with Daz claiming the last two wickets, but this was not looking like anywhere near enough on a reasonable batting strip. And this was underlined when Ses Jayasena opened the batting and scored briskly to reach 65, Danny Fuller and Venki both went cheaply, but captain marvel scored 34 not out to steady the ship and see us home with 6 wickets in hand.

Celebrations afterwards were wild, as most of the 1st XI stayed around for drinks. In fact, I think we had a record number of jugs, with 3 team jugs, a John Street 'Hat Trick' Jug, a Dick Owen 'Home Win' jug, and a Matty Worton 'Pissed Up' jug. We also made Streety have an aftershock, which he managed to keep in his mouth for the required 20 seconds - the man is a hero.

Martin 'Beer Monster' Loveday, Dave 'Retirement' Smith, Third XI mainstay Archie McArthur and Myself were later seen in O'Raffertys in Wood Green celebrating a victory which moved us up to third in the table. Sadly there was no scandal this time, other than the customary memory loss and drunkenness - although I'm sure Paul Cooper will be quick enough to spread some rumours. Team:- Barnard, Ses Jayasena, Fuller, Venkatesh, D. Hinnigan, Cooke, D. Sivathasan, S. Sivathasan, M. Worton, Loveday, Street.

Saturday 4th August 2001

1st XI vs. MTSSC

Report by: Alan Barnard

After guiding what seemed like the whole first team via mobile phone and A to Z to the easy to get to Sudbury Hill Playing Fields (with emphasis on the fields), we fielded a strong looking First XI against second place MTSCC. Special mention at this stage to Kate 'Why am I here?' Aikins and Ez 'Pie Muncher' Prinsloo, the former getting lost perhaps thanks to Simons lack of directional sense, and the latter getting stopped by the police for a number of traffic offences. In fact, Ez was stopped for chatting on his mobile, and driving with a flat tyre - fair play though, when the police had left him alone (after he had done his best 'I'm South African and I don't know what I'm doing' impression), he carried on driving, and talking on his mobile.

If we are being honest about the ground, it had arguable the best security gate in the league - video camera and all. However, the rest of the facilities we sadly lacking, and the wicket was a soft and ill-prepared as any we've played on this season. After losing the toss again, we were put into bat, and looked comfortable against the new ball with Ses 'timekeeper' Jayasena and Chris 'Short Leg' Stockman looking in little trouble against the opening burst. MTSCC appeared to be playing the newly adopted American Football 'roll on roll off' rules. They had a squad of 14 and at any given time, 11 of them might have been on the field, changes being made without consulting either umpire, or visiting skipper.

After four quick wickets fell, Venki and Myself steadied the ship, putting on 67 without too much trouble until I skied one to square leg. Wickets continued to tumble, most unlucky was Ez, who hammered a pull shot against a helpless short leg, and the ball popped up (on the half volley) into the hand of slip. How the could have claimed this catch in beyond me, but the umpires reluctance in giving the batsman the benefit of the doubt was also somewhat disappointing. We finished on a reasonable 130 all out, which on a poor track was not too disappointing.

For the first time in years, we were out tin the field before the tea interval but were happy to go into tea at 5 having taken 3 MTSCC wickets, with John 'Quality' Street doing the most damage with 2 wickets. The first of the rain came at this point, and it started to look like an abandonment. This was the cue for the silliest tea in the clubs history. Ez Prinsloo ate all the crisps, cakes, sandwiches and pies… we started playing Mini Golf with a spoon as a club, and a cup as the hole, and we had a sweep on how many bites Ez would take to eat a round of sandwiches (2 - cheers for your money boys).

Special mention to Scorer Chris 'Outspoken' Barnard, who was proud to display his full 12 inches (albeit slightly green) on the tea table, much to the amusement of the Edmonton players. Rain came and went from this point onwards, and the first session after tea proved to be the most productive, with Matt Worton producing two unplayable deliveries to dismiss two of their better batsmen. Tony Willett managed to drop a sitter at mid-off, dislocating his finger in the process, and this brought on super-sub Paul Ryan, who fielded impeccable from Fine Leg to Fine Leg! We should have made it 6 wickets, when Ses, keeping for the first time dropped a sharp chance of Matty, but we were perhaps the happier team when the umpires deemed the run ups to be too dangerous after we took our third break for the rain.

All in all a fair performance, with spectators Tim Beeden, Kate Aitkins and Paul Ryan getting wet in supporting the teams cause. The changing room was a happy place, apart from the corner where the smelliest whites ever had been left. All I can say is roll on Phoenicans. Team:- Willett, Jayasena, Stockman, Vengkatesh, Fuller, Hinnigan, Barnard, Prinsloo, Roche, Willett, Worton, Street. Sub:- Ryan

2nd XI vs. MTSSC

Report by: Martin Loveday

For the first time in a long while Andrew won the toss and decided to field first. Loveday opened up from the top end and started off well giving the batsman a few problems in the first over. On the last ball of the over the batsman played a way full drive which took a thick outside edge and a sitter was dropped by sub fielder James Hazel. Dominic continued to bowl from the bottom end causing the batsmen problems whilst Loveday went to pieces and got smashed all over the field. Dominic picked up a wicket with them on about 70 for 0 off 12. Daz was first change and bowled well swinging the ball away. It was up to Daz and Dave Baker to do the damage as they worked there way into the batting line up. A great catch from D.Stevenson jnr off Daz removed their slogger for 47 despite being dropped earlier on in the innings. The fielding took off with catches being taken runs being saved and a run out to boot. They ended up 199 all out Daz took 3 as did D.Baker, Dominic 1, Glen Brown 1, Kev Lawrence 1 and a run out.

Just after tea the rain started falling and conditions were extremely hard both teams. With bad light and a wet wicket ours batsmen performed brilliantly. Kev and Dominic opened up and put on 60 together before Kev got out for around 35. In came Andrew Cooper who had promoted himself in the batting order since the week before whether this was due to the conditions or maybe a new found confidence it proved to be a decisive decision. From as early as his 6th ball Cooper put a bad full toss on his legs away overt the boundary for six runs. The partnership was racing along and this was mainly due to Coopers aggressive batting, and Dominic just stayed around playing some beautiful shots which on any other day the balls would have gone for 4 but as the outfield was wet they had to run most the runs. Cooper blasted 76 off no more than 10 - 15 overs and was finally dismissed with Edmonton requiring about 25 runs to win off 18 overs. In came Daz who smashed a couple of big shots and finished off the innings in about 5 overs. Dominic carried his bat through the innings with a superb unbeaten 53 or so. It really was one of the better Edmonton 2's performances that I have seen in my 3 years after a bad start caused by myself the rest off the team played superbly and worked hard for each other in the field when heads could quite easily have dropped. A special mention to the batsman who excelled in the most difficult of circumstances and a real captains performance by a revived Andrew Cooper.