Saturday 2nd July 2005
Saturday 9th July 2005
Saturday 16th July 2005
Saturday 23th July 2005
Saturday 30th July 2005

Any views expressed in these reports are the views of the author, and may not necessarily reflect the views of Edmonton Cricket Club, its committee or its members. If you find anything offensive or inaccurate in the content of these reports, or if you have any queries reagrding the reports, please contact us via email, stating the report you're referring to and the date so that we can take any action deemed necessary.

Saturday 2nd July 2005

2nd XI vs. Barclays

Report by: Pat Carr

Barclay's (You Cant Bank On E'm!!!)

Very overcast day with a bit of a chill in the air!!!

Barclay's won the toss and put us into bat. Khazi and Beefy open. A good opening stand with a few boundary's and the odd slow single. Beefy departs with the score on 70ish for a good 40. Anil the anvil joins Khazi and the slow ones are turned into quick two's until Khazi goes, caught with the score on 123 from 26 overs. Barclays bowled ok and our usual batting paradise misbehaved a bit so we thought the usual 280 was pretty unlikely. Jilesh joined Anil and played some good strokes until he was out, caught to a very good catch. Anvil passed the half century mark yet again. We made the 200 runs in just over 42 overs. Gaf and Anil were hitting out until Anvil gave an easy chance to point and was dismissed for 71. James H pushed the score along until he departed and Bandit strolled out and attempted a few lusty blows with mixed success. Gaf fell and Lloydy joined the fray. A mixture of very quick running and good solid shots saw us through to the 50 over declaration at 249 for 6. We still had the Skipper, the Rock and Arch to bat if necessary, our strength in depth is phenomenal.

Declaring at the 50 over point in this league means that the team batting second have only the option of a win or a losing draw - if you have scored enough runs, then it is a great tactic.

I managed to scrape a few crumbs up for tea due to the Goddard monster snaffling up most of the rolls/sandwiches/cakes in double quick time.

Barclays started off well enough even though their opener was dismissed by lloydy in the first over. The other batsman was quite cavalier and knocked himself out playing onto his head in the fifth over from a Lloydy missile. The guy wanted to carry on but was told to take a break and return later if he felt well enough. Little partnerships developed and batsmen came and went with regularity. Anil bowled well, as did Gaf and Arch. Barclays cannot be accused of shutting shop. The skipper came on for a few overs with a little success. They went for their shots and gave it a good go. The last pair batted out for a losing draw for the last eight overs.

Big up to Jimmy H who looked positively sprightly in the field, he will be drug tested before the next match. Seriously though, well done James, good effort. Bandit took a great catch at cow corner that was worthy of a BIG BIG UP.

I apologise for the brevity of these reports but unfortunately I am inundated at the moment.

Ray was his usual self - (read into that what you will) Only joking big man, another very unbiased performance. The oppo's umpire was very good also.

3rd XI vs. Twickenham

Report by: Linserd Miller

Edmonton made the long journey across London to play Twickenham, after what seems like hours of driving, the journey was finally completed. The Edmonton captain called correctly on the toss of the coin and after long deliberation decided to field.

The bowling was open by Vikram Maish and Andrew Thomas, both bowled very well, but without success. They both beat the bat on a regular basis, but both were very unlucky. The openers had put on 50; the captain was considering changing the bowlers when the first wicket fell. After the fall of the first wicket, it was not long before the second wicket fell.

The opening bowlers were replaced by Kirk Brown and Randy Noel. Randy was playing his first game for the 3rd eleven following his promotion from the 4th eleven. Kirk bowled an excellent spell making sure that the batsmen had to play and not giving them any room to play any shots. Randy also found and excellent line bowling with flight and occasionally pushing a faster ball through caused all the batsmen problems.

With both bowlers in operation wickets fell at regular intervals and eventually Twickenham was bowled out for 161. In the process, Colin Bennett took an excellent catch in the Gulley off Kirk diving full length and with both feet off the ground , held on to the ball travelling in excess of 100 miles an hour(the speed that the ball was travelling has not been verified). Randy took the last wicket of the match, ending with 5 for 36.

Tea was duly taken, after which the openers Errol Crawford and Kamal Panchal went out to face the Twickenham bowling. Crawford smashed 20 runs in the first over he faced and made 30 after 2 overs. The match then changed, after the opening bowler was taken out of the attack. Panchal soon lost his leg stumped, bowled behind his legs. The fall of the wicket brought in Justin Benedetti, unfortunately Justin did not last long before he was LBW. Justin departure brought in Colin Bennett.

The Twickenham Bowlers who bowled right to the end of the match, were bowling a very tight line did not give the batsmen anything to hit and really put the batsmen under pressure. The game had basically now come to a standstill, the batsmen unable to score and the overs were quickly running out. Crawford who had raced to 30 in 2 overs, had now reached 50, but the last 20 runs took 12 overs. In a moment of madness, he rushed down the pitch and was stumped, while he was still at the bowlers end. The dismissal of Crawford brought in Adnan, who immediately changed the tempo of the match, taking on the bowlers, crashing the bowling to all parts. It appeared that Edmonton was now on top, but the game had another sting in the tail.

After a very watchful innings from Bennett, he was out LBW, which brought in Randy. Edmonton had lost 5wickets with the score on 100, two very good bowlers on for Twickenham and the game was in the balance. Adnan kept attacking and brought the score within 30 runs of Twickenham score. In what can only be described as a moment of madness (insanity, lunacy, psychosis, folly, idiocy) Adnan decided he would try the reverse sweep and was bowled.

It is rumoured that after Adnan dismissal, the captain lock Adnan in the dressing room and punching sounds could be heard. Apparently Adnan explanation of his black eye after the match was that he got hit in his face by the ball when he was batting. None of the players can recall him being hit by the ball.

Adnan dismissal brought in Vikram, with 2 youngster's batting the pressure was really on as Twickenham attacked them with everything. Randy and Vikram was up to the task and gradually with determined defensive play and the occasional attacking strokes, Randy eventually hit the winning run with 2 overs remaining in the match. A very good match for young Randy taking 5 wickets and hitting the winning runs.

Team: Bennett, Miller, K Brown, Crawford, Cooper, Maish, Drayton, Adnan, Panchal, Thomas, Noel

5th XI vs. Ickenham

Report by: David Sans

After winning the toss and after a very sharp 1.30 start, we managed to score 213-7 declared in 51.3 overs, with young Chatura Gallage scoring 65 opening the batting and young Billy Peat most probably batting the best he has with a very grity 40 runs. Tom Simons came in and got 28 off, well, I didn't keep count but I recokon it was about ten balls.

After having tea at 4.20pm. Yeah thats right 4.20pm! (they bowled their overs so fast it was unbelieveable) we came to firld. amd Bala bowled very well without any luck and everyone else did well too, but with the early tea it ment we had to bowl more overs which cost us the game really.

Oh we dropped 6 catches if I counted right, so you can see why its a small report!

Ickenham ended up getting 214-3 so we lost. Still, there's always next week.

Saturday 9th July 2005

1st XI vs. Harrow St Marys

Report by: Alan Barnard

As we moved into the 2nd half of the season, precariously placed just above relegation, the trip to Harrow St Mary's, who were placed second in the table, was the order of the day. With regular skipper Tony Willett having to call off on the day, with injury; Adam Herron stepped into the breech as he had done earlier in the season. The ground was little changed from when we last played there about 5 years previously, and the track was looking green, but better than some that we'd seen this season.

Herron called incorrectly, and we were put into bat by the opposition, as always looking to restrict us and chase down the target. It's interesting to note that this is the 9th time out of 10 that we've batted first this season, perhaps we'll achieve some kind of batting points record if this continues. At any rate, the conditions appeared ok for batting, as Ses and Venki took the field.

Things were looking great, as they rattled up a quick fire partnership of about 70, and when Ses fell, for a solid 35, it was more of the same from Dave Hinnigan and Venki, who by this time had moved onto 75 playing some excellent shots with solid defence. This was as good as our innings got, as Dave was dismissed in the slip area, and Venki followed to a rash sweep shot shortly after. This sparked a terrible collapse, as Barnard, Herron, Hare, Mardell and Beeden were all back in the pavilion without seriously troubling the scorers.

The collapse was as much a result of the Harrow first change bowlers, who bowled to an impeccable line and length as it was to the shot selection of some of the batsmen, who shall remain nameless. With the innings petering out rapidly at about 160, it took a brief flourish from the tail (Varley, Dodds and Cornwall) to push us, most importantly past the 175, and then onto 194 all out. The highlights of this late spell were two home runs from Doddsey and Northern, which disappeared way into the trees.

After a fantastic tea, we took the field knowing that we'd have to be bang on our game to restrict the opposition on a tricky wicket, but one that they had experience of playing on. As the batsmen looked to be positive early on, it soon became apparent that it was going to be the Venki show, as he took a cracking catch at mid-on, to a ball that had 4 written all over it from Northern. 2 overs later, he had produced a fantastic run out, and then took another routine catch off the bowling of Archer.

Things were starting to look a little more positive for us at this stage, but there was still a long way to go as the opposition skipper, and danger man Tony Wright was in, and starting to play shots. Wright was a tough player to set a field to, with combinations of backward points and two gulleys tried in combination with a deep third man in an attempt to stem the runs. His partner in crime at the other end seemed intent on trying to run himself and the skipper out at every opportunity, but somehow managed to avoid all Edmonton attempts (and there were plenty of them), as they started to build a menacing partnership.

With Varley bowled out, we switched to Doddsey, who struggled to find rhythm, and it was Archer who turned the match in our favour, when the running specialist turned the St Mary's skipper back after calling him for a suicide single, and Archer had the presence of mind to field the ball, turn and throw down the stumps at the non-strikers end. Game on, and things were starting to get interesting now.

Hare was brought on to replace Dodds, and took a wicket soon after courtesy of another sharp catch from Venki, and when Northern came back from the top end, and took an LBW with his first ball back after the umpire took what seemed to be an age to raise his finger, we could see things going our way. Our hopes were dashed though when Venki put down a tough chance at mid off, and the Indian was absolutely delighted to see Beeden pouch an even better catch at mid off, which had the same batsman staring in disbelief that the big man had clung on.

Hare took another wicket as Barney moved well to hang on to one coming in from the boundary, and then thought he had the No. 10 plumb in line with a low full toss, but the umpire was to deny us a shot at the last man, to Hare's disbelief and disappointment. The remaining 3 overs passed without incident, despite Varley beating the bat a couple of times with some impressive lines, but with 19 points in the bag, we were happy with our afternoons work.

On reflection, this was one of our best performances of the season. Put into bat on a tough wicket against the form team in the league, we posted a decent score, thanks to Ses, Dave and most importantly Venki, then we set about defending it with at times sublime fielding, and some good bowling to boot. It really was a pleasure to be involved in the 2nd innings of this game, where everyone pulled together, despite a lack of bowling, and fought as hard as they could for the cause, scrapping for every point on offer. If we show this sort of spirit for the remaining 8 games, we'll be very unlucky to find ourselves playing our cricket in division 2 next season.

Team: Herron, Jayasena, Venkatesh, D Hinnigan, Barnard, D Hare, Beeden, Mardell, Dodds, Varley, Cornwall. Scorers: C & J Barnard.

3rd XI vs. Ealing

Report by: Linserd Miller

The first half of the league season has now been completed and the first game of the second half of the season saw Edmonton visiting Ealing. The coin was spun and the Edmonton captain called correctly, he decided to field after careful consideration.

The bowling was open by Andrew Thomas and Patrick Coombs both bowled well, but the score was rattling along as Edmonton had only 9 players as Kirk Brown and Vikram Maish were apparently lost on the North Circular, making the short journey from Edmonton to Ealing. The missing pair eventually arrived to help with the fielding; apparently the captain fined both players for their tardiness (they had to pay his match fees)

The first wicket fell when Patrick got one to keep a little low and bowled one of the openers. Wickets were not falling and the score was rising when the captain decided to bring on his regular opening bowler Vikram, who immediately found a good line. Thomas was getting tired, so a second change was made and Randy Noel was brought on. Unfortunately this was not young Randy's day, so the Captain made a change and brought himself on. Linserd Miller the master of line and length, immediately got into a great rhythm.

After getting a wicket after a 6 over spell, Vikram was replaced by Kirk Brown who bowled very aggressively, and it was not long before he took his first wicket. Kirk was bowling at a lively pace and beat the bat on a regular basis. Meantime at the other end Miller kept a very tight line and the eventually, the opener who he had tied down was deceived into making a false shot and Randy took a excellent catch, the opener departing for 70.

The fall of the wicket only prompted Kirk to crank up his pace and before long he had removed the most of the middle order and ended with 4 wickets. It was clear Kirk was now running out of steam and Randy was brought back into the attack, Miller and Randy then polished off the tail, with Ealing being dismissed for 198.

It was now Edmonton's turn to bat, there was some concern that some balls were misbehaving, the odd ball was keeping low and occasionally, some would rise unexpectedly off a good length. Errol Crawford and Kamal Panchal went out to face the music, the openers were watchful as the Ealing Bowlers kept a tight line.

It was not long before Edmonton lost their 1st wicket when he was caught and bowled as he tried to cover drive the bowler. The fall of the wicket brought in Vincent Drayton, who did not last long, he was bowled behind his leg playing inside the line of the ball. Adnan marched to the wicket in his usual manner, he attacked from the outset, smashing anything short or over pitched to the boundary. Crawford was now well set and started crashing the bowling to all parts. It was not long before he had reached 50 and he continued to take the attack to the bowlers.

Both batsmen were taking the attack to the bowlers and Adnan playing one shot too many was caught on the long off boundary. With Adnan departure, Colin Bennett went out to bat, Bennett played the anchor role for a while, but once he was set, he also started to take the attack to the bowlers. Crawford unselfishly, decided to give Bennett most of the strike and when the winning run was hit, Crawford was 96 not out. Without a thought for personal glory (the opportunity to get a hundred) Crawford once again demonstrated what a good team man he is.

Team: Bennett, Miller, K Brown, Crawford, Coombs, Maish, Drayton, Adnan, Panchal, Thomas

5th XI vs. Wembley

Report by: David Sans

Well not much to say I am afraid as I am very depressed with the result admittedly it's the reason I have had the hump since Saturday night.

I know its only cricket but I do my best and even when I got a good team it still don't go right.

Anyway I lost the toss and had to field first. Need I say more four drop catches 3 by one player who shall remain nameless as he had just one of those days, even though he took 3-59. Well bowled Mr Barnes. Sorry Chris, I'll buy you a beer on Saturday mate. Bala bowled well again taking only 1 wicket as did the northern legend himself Mr Kenway.

Batting well not much to say really, almost the only positive was that Alan Waters made his return to the fives which was only his 3rd game this year considering he didn't play all last year and considering we were all out for 94 I think 12 or 13 not out proves that Alan batted better than anyone else even though admittedly Bala did get 35.

Anyway as usual there's always this coming Saturday and as I am typing this on a Wednesday, looking at my team for Saturday I gotta be positive

Saturday 16th July 2005

1st XI vs. Old Actonians

Report by: Alan Barnard

With last weekends excellent draw against second placed Harrow St. Marys, where we secured 19 points, and opened a small gap over our relegation rivals Hanwell and British Airways, we were faced with a home game against Old Actonians. Actonians were placed 4th in the table, having picked up some excellent results recently, so it was going to be a tough encounter. The away game earlier in the season saw us slip to our first defeat of the season, despite scoring 260, a disappointing finish to what had been an excellent batting performance.

The Hydeside pitch was looking a little greener than usual, but still appeared to be a belter, and the benefit of decent practice facilities on the square courtesy of the portable net can't be underestimated, with 6 players netting before the start of the game. Tony Willett, returning to the side after being kept out with injury the week previous called correctly, and had no hesitation in putting Actonians into bat, despite us looking a slow bowler light, and the weather being very warm.

We started off brightly, Matty Worton getting some lateral movement, and looking threatening, beating the outside edge on occasion, and Ciaran Dodds, who took an over to find his line was bowling to his areas very nicely. The danger man was dismissed for 20, as Matty produced a pearler, which Herron made no mistake with behind the stumps, and the centurion from the away game was on his way back to the pavilion.

The number 3 rode his luck early on, as he appeared to tickle a ball down leg from Matty, which really should have gone for four, but the umpire was not interested, and the batsman quite legitimately stood his ground. The partnership that followed was steady, but unspectacular, and was split up when Willett, bowling his medium seamers snared the other opener LBW playing all around his pads.

By this time, Varley was bowling from the bottom end, and was mixing some absolute jaffers that could only be left alone or played and missed at, with some rank full tosses, which were duly hit to the boundary for four. He was replaced by Danny Hare, who produced a wicket with his first ball after drinks, as the number four crashed a firmly hit drive straight, which picked out Dave Hinnigan at a straight mid off, who made no mistake at all.

The skipper came in at this point, and started slowly, offering solid defence, or no shot at all to anything on a length, as Hare and Willett slowed the run rate right down. Unfortunately, they started to stray in length, and anything remotely full was hammered for four in the brutal way that can be expected from a former test batsman. By this stage, Willett began to struggle in the heat, and when Danny Hare, who had been bowling excellently from the bottom end, was bowled out due to his ECB restrictions, we were faced with a problem. We needed to get through the overs as quickly as possible, and we didn't have a recognised slow bowler.

The decision was made to go with Venki and Barney, (who had not bowled in any type of cricket for over a year) at the death, and it paid some dividends. Despite bowling some wayward deliveries, both bowlers did enough to stem the run rate, Barney picking up the wicket of the number 3, who had moved onto 70 by this stage after a sharp catch from Tim Beeden at extra cover. The stage was set for the skipper to crash runs, and he did so, easing onto eighty before being run out on the penultimate ball of the innings.

It was an interesting final few overs, with the batsmen seemingly content to tick along at 5 an over, taking the score up to 253, despite the fantastic track, and fast outfield. Barney and Venki bowled as well as could be expected in the circumstances to a well spread field, and tea was taken at 54.5 overs.

The Edmonton innings was a blur, with Venki underlining his intent early on with a blistering 96, and at one stage had scored 92 out of 118, a feat that was all the more impressive as we had Ses Jayasena at the other end, who is not renowned for his stoic defence, and Boycott style innings building. The Actonians opening bowler was bowling at three quarters pace for some reason, and as Venki began to assert his dominance with a back foot drive which rattled into the scorebox wall at pace, the bowler kicked a stump out of the ground in frustration. It was a show of petulance which was un-called for, and something which nobody likes to see on the cricket pitch at any level.

Ses went for 25, and Dave Hinnigan came in to Join Venki. As Venki continued to accelerate, the skipper brought himself on, and bowled some tidy lines, taking the pace off the ball, an intelligent move, something which would be expected from a man with his international pedigree. Venki, despite some lusty blows straight, and over mid wicket became frustrated, as the runs dried up, and was bowled for 96. This brought Barney in, who looked to positive from the offset, trying to score at least a run a ball as much as possible.

Dave was briefly bogged down by the skipper, and after a team talk with Barney, the decision was taken to take on the slow bowling, despite the risks. At this time, Sean Fitzgerald was bowling tidily from the top end, and the ploy of taking the pace off the ball was working well, as the run rate crept up to 8 an over. Dave responded admirably however, hitting the skipper out of the attack with some well improvised shots, and playing arguably shot of the day, pulling a back of a length ball one bounce into the Grocers fence.

By this stage, the opening bowlers had been reintroduced, perhaps not the best decision on a flat wicket, and Barney and Dave started to hit through the line of the ball, and ran excellently to put pressure on the fielders to rocket the scoring rate along. When Dave fell, somewhat unfortunately to a well struck drive to cover, Herron came in for more of the same. Barney departed for a lightning 62, and at this stage, the required run rate was below 5 an over, and game was swung well in our favour.

In true ECC style, a mini collapse followed, with Herron holing out in the deep, Hare going for one lusty blow too many and getting bowled, and Beeden falling LBW first ball. From needing 40 to win with 7 wickets in hand at 5 an over, we now needed 16 to win from 18 balls with 3 in hand. This situation called for the experience of some old heads, and it was Tony Willett and Matty Worton who saw us home with 3 balls to spare, after some well placed edges, intelligent running, and finally a resounding flash over backward point from the skipper to seal 30 points, and send the assembled Edmonton players and supporters, well, f*cking mental.

At the end of the game, the opposition didn't come off the field, didn't shake hands, didn't pay their match fees and didn't stay after the match. The skipper appeared to lead a team talk / debriefing session on the outfield, as the bemused Edmonton players clapped in just the two batsman and the umpires, then went downstairs to get the celebrations underway. The behaviour of the opposition, led by the skipper was most definitely not something that should be expected from a former international cricketer, and was a disappointing end to what was an excellent game of cricket. The two games between these two sides have produced two last-over victories, and points aplenty, they should be an advert for our league, and two sides playing positively, and should be enjoyed, rather than leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

A big shout must go to Actonians seamer Sean Fitzgerald, who went via the bank to pay up the missing tea money, and stayed for a chat and a beer after the game. The boys in the bar were as vocal as can be expected, especially given it was Doddseys birthday, and a top night was had by all. These 30 points by no means mean we're safe, but from a bad result 2 weeks ago, against Osterley, where morale was at an all time low, we've picked up 49 points out of a possible 60 from 2 of the top 4 teams, and if we continue to play like this should be able to consolidate our position in Division 1.

Willett, Venkatesh, Jayasena, D Hinnigan, Barnard, Herron, D Hare, Beeden, Worton, C Dodds, Varley. Scorer: C Barnard

5th XI vs. Perrivale Phoenicians

Report by: David Sans

Well on Saturday there was a very happy man in the clubhouse and yeah if you heard about the 5th team result you'll know that man was me!!!!!!!!!!!

Perivale were the visitors to Holtwhites and if you'd seen my starting X1 you'd think that me winning the toss and batting first was a good decision, admittedly it was in the end but the 5th team aint the same without a dramatic batting collapse...

Nick Martin-Clark who has been playing in the 4th team opened the batting with Justin Benedetti Nick got 0 first ball, Justin only got 2, Kamal Panchal thankfully got 44 batting number 3, new recruit Alan lord only got 1, and we were left rocking on 90-6, but with a partnership worth over 150 TONY KERSHAW got 113 his maiden hundred and BILL BILLIMROIA 62 not out we managed to get to 243-7 oh and I better mention that the DOC got 3 not out....

And so on to the bowling at tea my official scorer suggested that I only bowled TOM and the DOC 5 overs each and that I gave everyone a bowl just to see what happened after all having all these runs to play with the draw was in the bag.

Did I listen ....NO... but that's the way it goes after 20 overs out of 40 Perivale were 57-2 and then at drinks I changed things around, I brought Kamal on and I brought Chris Barnes on ok Chris didn't get a wicket but Kamal got 2, so I replaced Kamal with Bill Bilimoria who took 3-33 in 5 overs and Alan Lord took his first 2 wickets for the club, while Bill Bilimoria was on a hat-trick in the last over with 3 balls left but their left hander had enough in his batting arsenal to be able to block out unluckily.

So Perivale ended up on 173-9 not a win but its the most points we can get without winning so we cant say we didn't have a go at them!!!!!!!!!

So as that was such a good result I look forward to this coming weekend and hope I don't lose any of my shall we say very very very very good bowlers with out dropping names in case he don't end up playing for me, and I suppose with such a good result it means I cant quit as captain, as I have been threatening that I would...........

See you all next week and enjoy cricket week.

Sunday 1st XI vs. Abbots Langley

Report by: Adam Herron

After losing our last 2 league games due to not being able to field as strong a side as we'd have liked and also to some very below average batting performances I was lucky enough to get out probably one of the strongest Sunday sides since last season. The luxury of having both Venki and Anil in the side was a massive boost to us and it was also great to have Randy back (due to not being able to play in the cup game as he is judged as an overseas player) and Danny Hare making a rare appearance on a Sunday!

Having agreed with the Langley skipper for them to bat first we had Varley and Archer opening the bowling as usual and After a few overs Varley found the breakthrough we were looking for removing the leg stump, which would be a trend he adhered to all day. Neither Varley or Archer, (who again was involved in another quality run out), bowled as well as they could do but we were well on top and after 6 and 5 overs each respectively Dodds and new boy Asif took over the honours with Dodds removing one of the oppo's best bat and over seas player caught at point by Venki. These two again had 5 overs each and were replaced by Randy and the Hare. Randy, as is becoming a regular occurrence, bowled extremely well and went into the club house with figures of 2 for 19 off 10 overs while Hare bowled reasonably well without getting the wicket he deserved. Varley, having seen a couple of colts come out to bat, pleaded to bowl again and with the smell of blood in his nose took 3 wickets to make it 4 in all and finish with figures of 4 for 23 off 8 overs. And so it fell to Anil 'run machine' Sharma to finish off the Langley batsmen and he bowled the number 10 and saw the other new boy Adeel take a quality and comedy run out with him picking up the ball and running 5 yards before under arm throwing the ball and hitting the stumps! It was quick thinking and helped cull any last resistance the Langley batsmen had as they were all out for 160 off 44.2 overs.

It had been a clinical bowling performance although there are still a few mishaps with the fielding that need to be addressed if we want to beat the better teams. High Praise was afforded to spin King Randy Noel who the Langley batsmen said was the best spin bowler they had faced all season. The lad is only 17 and still developing but could be a big name in the future at our club so let's hope he can keep this standard up for years to come.

With the total needed to win about 100 runs short and with the batting we had it really was a case of who would get to their fifty first for Anil and Venki and they didn't disappoint as right from the first ball they went after any bad balls and punished it usually for 4 but also for six occasionally and it was the 'run machine' who got to fifty first and really looked in top nick. Venki wasn't far behind and also looked class although he did give a couple of half chances playing the odd loose shot. Anil ended up on 88* and Venki was 74* as the winning runs flowed and were got inside 20 overs (19.1 to be precise) and the match was over by 6 pm. This feat was all the more remarkable as Abbots Langley had played 3 won 3 and so we really did do well.

All credit to the Langley boys who were a nice bunch of lads who didn't leave the ground straight away and were full of praise for the way we had mercilessly beaten them. Some of their boys even said that it was a joy to watch some of the strokes our Indian lads had played so I wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season as they really did restore my faith in sportsmanship after the terrible way the game had ended on Saturday.

Well done to my lads as our record looks slightly better having now won 2 lost 2. We have 3 hard games coming up in a row with Ickenham the last team to play so we are going to really have to play to the best of our ability if we want to avoid relegation.

Team: Herron, Barnard, Dodds, Varley, Cornwall, Noel, Hare, Sharma, Venkatesh, Asif, Adeel.

Saturday 23th July 2005

1st XI vs. Alexandra Park

Report by: Alan Barnard

Last weekend saw Edmonton secure a win against 4th placed Old Actonians to temporarily ease relegation worries, but with fellow strugglers British Airways and Hanwell pulling off victories, the latter in unlikely style against first placed Osterley, we needed to secure 30 points for the second weekend in succession. It was with that background that we took on Division 1's bottom side Alexandra Park at Hydeside, on a day that threatened rain throughout, but never produced more than a few drops.

Skipper Willett lost the toss as usual, and it was unsurprising that the AP skipper elected to field, in an attempt to control the game. Venki opened up with Ses, as is the standard procedure these days, but the free scoring Sri Lankan was back in the pavilion before long after mistiming a forcing shot to some very slow-looking bowling. This brought in Dave Hinnigan, who batted sensibly throughout to anchor the innings.

Venki fell for 40, and Barney came in to join Dave. It was a slow and unspectacular partnership, which had certain members of the Edmonton support dozing off at times, but the score ticked along when the bowling allowed it. Alexandra Park had an excellent left arm spinner bowling from the bottom end by this stage. Despite not actually turning one delivery to our knowledge, he bowled a fantastic line and length to ensure that his first nine overs went for just six runs.

When Barney departed, as had always been on the cards to comments of 'this bloke can't bat' from the bowler, we were stuttering, despite not actually looking in danger of losing wickets. Wicketkeeper batsman Adam Herron came in at 5, and batted with real energy, rattling off 60 run in under 40 balls, and turning the tempo of the innings in about 12 overs. When he departed, Adam Bilimoria, making his first Saturday appearance, and a welcome return to the 1st XI dished out more of the same, including, what can only be described as the most outrageous cow shot of modern times.

When the ball was retrieved from the A10, he contributed nicely to a partnership of 40, and when the declaration came, we were 240-4 from 52, with Dave Hinnigan securing a patient and well constructed unbeaten 88. AP had flown through their overs, and with the wicket looking a little greener than usual, and cloudy conditions overhead we were hopeful of securing 10 wickets in the 45+ overs we would bowl. In fact, 240 proved to be an excellent declaration, as it acted as a carrot to AP not to bat negatively, and to have a go at the run chase, and Wills can only be commended for this.

After a tea that failed to inspire (sausage roll and tuna sandwich anyone?), we made our way out the hallowed turf of Hydeside to set about the 2nd innings. Matty took the ball from the top end as usual, whilst the skipper opened up from the bottom end, bowling with a large proportion of his pace of old, both up the hill and into the wind. It was Matty who made the first breakthrough though, as the opener leg-glanced firmly, and Adam Herron took off to his left to pouch what has to be a contender for catch of the season. When Matty picked up another LBW, things were looking up, and Wills joined the party too when Barney caught the skipper low to his right at third slip.

With the openers bowled out, Doddsey was brought on from the top end, and bowled with excellent control, just back of a length to trouble both batsmen, and was unlucky not to take a wicket. Venki was introduced, and despite going for a few runs looked threatening, as we tried for another breakthrough. It was the occasional slow bowling of Gavin Mardell that brought the next wickets though, as he bowled an impeccable line and length to stifle the batsmen. With frustration setting in, he slipped in a rank long hop (some might say accidentally) which was dispatched towards Tony Willett at cover, however, the skipper clearly hadn't read the script, and dropped a tough chance low down.

Not to be put off, Gavin produced an equally suspect delivery after yet more overs of control, and this time Willett made absolutely no mistake moving smartly to his right. Gav then snared the number 7 LBW to swing things even more in our favour. Despite looking very suspect to start off with, AP's wicketkeeper and number 8 battled for a time to delay the E-Unit's wicket taking. In fact, it was a piece of quick thinking from Adam Herron that split them up, as he noticed the batsman loitering out of his crease and threw down the stumps. It seemed to take an age, but the umpire raised his finger (somewhat harshly it would seem) to bring an unlikely stumping off Matty's bowling.

With the ball swinging like a couple of scorers on a weekend away, the light poor to middling, and the AP tail at the wicket, the stage was set for the customary 15 over survival story of failed LBW appeals, dropped catches and specialist blocking that has been so much a story of the last few seasons. Fortunately for us, and for the sanity of the amassed ranks of supporters, this was not going to be one of those days, as Willett turned to the experience of Archer Cornwall, who bowled with pace and accuracy to take the last 2 wickets with 9 overs to spare, and get us into the bar early. Unfortunately, it was not early enough to avoid Dave Baker's 100 for the 4th XI, which led to mixed reactions (including despair and disbelief) from the 1st XI square.

Anyway, 30 points in the bag, and a good job well done from all 11 Edmonton players, who all played a part in an excellent win. Let's hope we can continue in similar fashion for the rest of the season, as we look to cement our place in the top division for a second season running.

Team: Tony 'Bush Kangaroo' Willett, 'Submarine Man' Venki, Ses 'Legend' Jayasena, Dave 'Boycott' Hinnigan, Alan 'Big Girl' Barnard, Adam 'Gamechanger' Herron, Adam 'John Wayne' Bilimoria, Gavin 'Murali' Mardell, Matty 'Short Back and Sides' Worton, Ciaran 'Ham Role' Dodds, Archer 'Ambrosia' Cornwall. Scorer: Chris 'Jacuzzi' Barnard.

2nd XI vs. Bessborough

Report by: Chris Goddard

Going to the picturesque village ground of Bessborough, to play the team propping up the bottom of the table. Everyone turns up on time for our usual early net session. Special welcome to Sunnil, Another Dom import. I go out, win the toss and surprise, surprise I elect to field. For some reason all a bit slow to go out onto the field and no fielding practice was taken up.

Rambo bowled the first over, his usual line and length and pace. Both batsmen couldn't really get anywhere near him. Second over, new boy Sunnil bowling up the hill. Bowls a good spell, taking one wicket with a very good pace for a 17 year old. Rambo continues to bowl well from the top end, taking the odd wicket, but going for bout 17 in 17 overs. Kev plays around with the other end, Dom, Lloyd, Anil and finally Stav bowl from the other end. All bowlers were struggling with their run up at the other end as it had a bump before. Rambo still nailing down one end. Batsmen come and go. Got to the 60 over mark and they were 220 odd all out. I think Rambo bowled 28 overs on the spin and went for very little runs, Well done fella. Stav getting five wickets, bowled a decent line and length.

Tea is taken, while Kev ponders the batting order. He decides with Dom and Khazi as we only need 4 an over to get the winning draw.

We go out, Khazi and Dom put on bout 30 odd before Khazi departs. Jus behind on the run rate- Anil comes in and dispatches there captain for 12 in an over to bring us up in the run rate. Dom, Sunnil, Rambo, Hazell fall with no significant add to the score. Anil goes unluckily after a daisy cutter hit middle stump. 110 for 6 Lloyd and myself are in. Put on 25 odd in 2 overs to get back on the run rate, with some quick running between the wickets. Lloyd missed a straight one middle stump gone, Zack, comes and misses a straight one. I leave a straight one. Up to Kev and Stav to bat out for the Loosing draw for 4 overs which they do. 140 we ended up on needing 175 in 40 overs to get the winning draw. Basically we didn't bat well enough, this score should have been easy considering the batting we had, it was a difficult track but we never looked like keeping up with the run rate.

Hopefully this week against the rivals will be better!

Team: Kev, Stav, Dom, Sunnil, Hazell, Lloyd, Rambo, Khazi, Goddard, Zack and Anil

3rd XI vs. Brondesbury

Report by: Linserd Miller

Following a free Saturday, as Teddington was unable to field a side the previous week, we were looking forward to the game against Brondesbury. We made the trip to Kodak, on arrival it was obvious it was going to be a difficult pitch to play cricket on. Brondesbury arrived 45 minutes late to start the match. When Brondesbury finally turned up and the captain called correctly and elected to field.

On what was certainly a very difficult wicket to play cricket, the bowling was opened by Vikram Maish and Andrew Thomas. Straight away it was evident, how difficult it was going to bat on as some balls kept low and others kicked wickedly. Maish was clearly not bowling well and he was removed from the attack after 2 overs and Adnan replaced him in the attack.

Adnan and Thomas was now bowling in tandem, bowling a good line and length and it was not long before wickets started to fall. Thomas got the first wicket with one that kicked off a length and took the edge of the bat, and Errol Crawford taking the catch behind the stumps. Wickets started to fall on a regular basis, and before you could say, 'Cricket is a funny game' Brondesbury were 25 for 5 with Thomas taking 3 wickets and Adnan 2 wickets.

With 2 new batsmen at the wicket, Edmonton were looking to bowl out the opposition for less than a 100, as they thought anything over 100 would really be really difficult to get. This was where the game suddenly turned, one batsman was careful in defence and despatching anything slightly off line to the boundary. The other merrily swinging at everything thing, it was long before the score had reached a 100, the captain knew he had to do something urgently, he brought himself on. With his subtle change of space, Linserd Miller soon got the gun slinger with Randy Noel taking an excellent catch at deep mid wicket. The captain decided to bring on Randy, and with both bowling well they slowed the run rate. Edmonton got a well deserved breakthrough, when Brondesbury top scorer was run out for 89. At the end of their innings Brondesbury had made 209 for 9. The Edmonton players knew it was going to be a very difficult target to achieve.

After a pleasant tea, it was now Edmonton's turn to face the music. After the first ball, it was clear that the wicket had lost none of its venom. Crawford and Kirk Brown, bravely try to face the music, but it was very difficult. It was not long before, Brown was bowled and Crawford followed shortly after, caught at mid wicket.

The fall of the wickets brought in Marcus Burger and Adnan, Burger try to consolidate, while Adnan took the attack to the bowlers. Adnan method of attack was working as the score started to move in the right direction. Burger approach did not work as he was bowled by one that lift and turned sharply. This brought in Nick Martin-Clarke, who decided to take the careful route, and try to protect his wicket at all cost. Nick was unfortunate in that in only his second attacking stroke he was caught on the boundary.

Kamal Panchal came in at the fall of the wicket and the game had now entered the last 20 overs phase, with the time now after 7 pm, in fact the last 20 overs started at 7.15 pm. With Adnan attacking and Kamal using the edge of the bat, the score was gradually approaching the 160 mark. A bowling change was made by Brondesbury, which had immediate effect, with his first ball he had Adnan caught for a well made 71. In his next over he had Panchal caught as well. Two new batsmen were now batting in fast fading light, Colin Bennett and Randy Noel, however, they were equal to the task and both started bating positively and gradually got the score 193, when the captain brought back his opening bowler, who was quite rapid, in the fast fading light, the batsmen got 4 runs off the over and with the score now 197 and Edmonton requiring 13 runs to win off 3 overs with 6 wickets down the game ended in a farce. The Brondesbury captain and also their wicket keeper took up the stumps and walk off and said, it was too dark, he could not see the ball and the rest of his team followed. The less said about this the better, but this was not cricket. Why did the Brondesbury captain bring back his fastest bowler in the dark? The batsmen did not complain about the light, this is not how cricket should be played. Edmonton ended with a draw, instead of a victory, which they certainly deserved, especially as Brondesbury did not arrived until 45 minutes after the scheduled start time.

Team: Bennett, Miller, K Brown, Noel, Crawford, Maish, Maish, Adnan, Panchal, Martin-Clarke, Thomas

Saturday 30th July 2005

1st XI vs. British Airways

Report by: Alan Barnard

Given the amount of alcohol consumed by 8 out of the 11 starting players the night before at Edmonton's inaugural Caribbean night, this game was always going to be something of a farce. Before I begin my brief report, I'd like to say a thank you to Archer Cornwall, and his team of helpers that worked tirelessly in the run up to, and during the Caribbean evening to make the whole thing a success. Top work Arch!

Back to the cricket, and after many hung-over antics, the team turn up at BA, well, I say team, but I actually mean seven players, as Archer decided to take a detour, which added 40 minutes to his journey. Barney is taken to standing naked in the dressing room for long periods of time as a special treat for the assembled players, Doddsey and Dodge have seemingly purchased the European Lucozade mountain, whilst Tim, Gav and Herron are looking very much the worse for wear. In fact Herron's condition was so severe that he actually went the whole car journey without saying a word, surely some kind of record.

All members of the team at some stage have to visit the gents, some more than once (Is Archers cooking really that bad?) and as a result of this, the toilets are effectively rendered out of action for months to come. Wills wins the toss (just about the only things that did go to plan today), and decides to take the field with 7, with the full backing of his semi-team. Amid cries of "we thought it was a six-a-side", and "let's start with four slips" from the Edmonton comedians, we trudge out to the field, where the batsmen and umpires are already waiting.

Anyway, play starts with the BA batsman hitting Doddsey through one of the huge gaps (there were lots of them, as we only had 5 fielders) for several sweetly timed fours. Just as we were expecting to be chasing 500, the opener managed to pick out the only leg side fielder, and Willett made no mistake Kenway-stylee to make it 16-1. At this point, there were conversations going on between Barney and Ses, who was lost in Hammersmith as to the best way to get to the ground, with the talk being cut off during each ball as Barney put his phone in his pocket.

Things could have been so much worse, and when we managed to secure our full quota of players, the score was about 55-1. The introduction on Archer and Varley almost at the same time (surely you have to have been on the field for the number of overs you've been off the field to bowl, something that was not questioned by the umpire) made an immediate impression, with Archer getting slapped unluckily off a decent length and line from the offset, and Varley bowling well, with a drunken control that he has honed to perfection on Sundays in recent seasons.

When the other opener fell, the number 4 came in, which heralded what has to be one of the most bizarre sequences of cricket that I've seen in my 20 years of playing the game. First ball from The Duke, he plays a solid looking defensive stroke, which yields no runs. Second ball, he plays the most absurd shot in cricketing history, hitting a length ball just outside off stump about 50 yards over the mid-wicket boundary, amid cries of "shot" from his team, and "Sweet Jesus, what the f**k was that?" from Barney and Mardell. The over ends with another quite outrageous cow that results in a group of scientists from the Centre for Dairy Research (http://www.apd.rdg.ac.uk/Agriculture/ASRG/dairy.htm) setting up camp on the boundary.

At the end of the over, an Edmonton player overhears said number 4 batsman telling number 3 batsman to "just play straight". Oh how we laughed. Overseas "professional" The Randyman is introduced into the proceedings on his 1st XI debut, and settles into a magnificent line and length, slowing the scoring rate (which was beginning to get silly by this stage), and getting turn out of what seems a pretty tame pitch. John Wayne decides to take him on, and hits him for 2 enormous sixes, somewhat unsurprisingly over mid-wicket, which showed up on Heathrow's air traffic radar (this guy clearly has the best bat in the league, despite Beeden's protestations). Randy intelligently then slips in a flatter ball, thanks to a word of advice from the skipper, which is hit skywards towards, wait for it, mid-wicket. Ciaran Dodds who is loitering with intent on the boundary ambles round the rope with the kind of laid back nonchalance that would suggest that he may just have partaken in some funny cigarette smoking the night before, to pouch an excellent catch.

The rest of the innings is a blur, with Mardell mixing his usual control and turn with some comedy beamers, that threaten to go for six wides (if such a thing is possible), and Tony Willett returning to the attack. Randy takes 4-for with a wicket from the last delivery, whilst other highlights of the innings include another fine take in the deep from Rasta-boy Dodds, and a stunning low catch from Varley at long off. We troop in for tea reasonably happy that we've only conceded 280, when for a large portion of the innings 400 seemed favourite.

Tea was an interesting affair, with Barney providing the entertainment, showing he was clearly still drunk from the night before, but putting various items of fruit in his pocket, and playing 'guess my fruit' with anyone that would listen to his bleating. Tea seemed to go on for quite a time, and we seemed to be the only people left in the tea room, as the day of comedy was only going to continue. The fact that you need to take a taxi to get from the tea room to the dressing rooms, and back again when you realise you've forgotten your key doesn't really help, but a 40 minute tea is a pretty poor show, and for the 2nd time in the match, the Airways fielders, and the two umpires, were left out in the middle tapping their feet and looking at their watches as the E-Unit turned up late for the party.

This time it didn't matter however, as just 1 ball was bowled in anger by the Airways opener at Mini Smith when the heavens opened, and all hope of play was abandoned. That's right folks, an eternity to get round to Hounslow, 8 shockingly hung-over players that clearly should be in bed, rather than running around in whites, 55 overs in the field, many of which were without 11 players, and what do we get back? 1 ball. Great. Apart from that minor point, it was quite a fun day, and one which once we'd got back on the sauce back at Hydeside seemed a lot more agreeable than it was at the time.

Willett, Mardell, Jayasena, D Hinnigan, A Barnard, Herron, Beeden, Noel, C Dodds, Varley, Cornwall. Scorer: C Barnard

2nd XI vs. Winchmore Hill

Report by: Chris Goddard

All turned up early and Hydeside in preparation for a tough fixture against local rivals Winchmore hill. The weather was slightly overcast and there were a few hangovers from the night before. We were also reminded that we still didn't have an umpire. So their umpire would have to do both ends, something we knew we would regret. As Kev was on holiday, Stav was stand in captain. He went out and did the toss, which we won and as usual decided to field.

We took the field knowing that a win will put Winchmore out of the reckoning for promotion. Rambo and Monster opened the bowling. On the 3rd ball Rambo decided to take their openers middle stump out of the ground. 0-1. There Number three came in and looked shaky. Lovers bowled from the other end, and was slightly struggling with his pace but made up for it with his line and Length, bowling a good spell. Lovers was replaced by Anil, who bowled well with no luck - the batsmen couldn't get near him. Rambo continued from the other end and was still bowling well. It was about 140 for 1 when the heavens opened and first rain delay, we had got through bout 30 overs by this point.

After a 30 min delay we come back on with Lloyd. He bowled really well but also with no luck. Stav brought himself on and bowled well. An hour later the heavens opened again and Winchmore declared on 238- 4. We bowled well and fielded reasonably well, but had no luck whatsoever.

Had tea and Stav decided to open with Khazi and Zack. Both looked sturdy against their bowling attack. Hitting a few boundaries on the way to 38, when Khazi didn't quite middle one that went to mid- wicket. Anil came in and started knocking the ball around. Zack fell bowled and Jilesh joined Anil at the crease. The two of them started caressing the ball around and running singles with the occasional blow. Jilesh and Anil both fell and so did Rambo. Lloyd and Stav were in both were looking comfortable. Slowly notching up the score, 120 odd for 5, Lloyd got a ball that hit him in his box. Winchmore appeal, umpire sticks his finger up. All the players say he was unlucky and even spectators thought it was very high. I join Stav and am instructed to stick around as long as possible. 6 overs later I'm triggered by their umpire, for stretching halfway down the track and it hitting me above the knee roll, Khazi laughing at the square leg umpire position. Dom comes in and sees of the rest of the overs for the loosing draw and a point.

As the game was restricted due to rain to 43 overs a side we could only get the win or loosing draw. We got the latter. Firstly we bowled reasonably well and fielded reasonably well, but our batting needs to be sorted out, we are not scoring enough runs for the batting order we have. As Anil said we all have jobs lets start doing them from next weekend.

Team: Stav, Zack, Khazi, Rambo, Anil, Loveday, Jilesh, Lloyd, Dom, Goddard and Asif

3rd XI vs. Acton

Report by: Linserd Miller

Edmonton welcomed visitors Acton following the away game the previous week. The Acton captain called incorrectly, at the toss of the coin, the Edmonton captain decided to field.

The bowling was opened by Adnan and Patrick Coombs, Adnan trying out his injured elbow to see if he could bowl his normal pace, as our opening bowler Vikram Maish was late, apparently as a consequence of the previous night entertainment at the club.

Adnan tried to bowl fast, but it is quite clear, his elbow is not better yet, he was maybe bowling at three quarters of his normal speed and was struggling for accuracy. The opening pair bowled reasonable well, but it was clear, it was not going to be Edmonton's day. Adnan got the break through, when he had one of the openers caught behind. This brought in the number 3, who had played against us last season, and was playing for Wembley at that time and had made a large century against us.

The less said about our performance in the field the better, the bowling was reasonable; however our fielding was very ordinary. We got their number 3 for 75, bowled by Vikram Maish. Linserd Miller got their number 6 for 68, after he was dropped first ball and dropped several times after, all off the unfortunate Miller. Dave Baker bowled their number 7 for 108, after he was also dropped several times, off the unfortunate Miller. Acton made 329 for 8, with Maish and Miller taking 3 wickets each. It was clear that the previous night, entertainment had affected the performance of the Edmonton players while fielding, there were so many dropped catches, you could not count them on both hands, all that can be said is that it is a good thing that Edmonton does not have a 'Caribbean Night' every Friday night. It was an excellent night out, and the steel band was a good touch, not so sure about the Limbo, sorry let's back to the cricket.

After the close of Acton's innings, the rain came, while we enjoyed our teas. After a long tea break, due to the rain, the only result that was available to Edmonton was to get maximum batting points, by reaching 180 as it was not possible to score 330, in just over an hour, as it turned out Edmonton faced 25 overs, so basically, Edmonton had to score 180 in 25 overs to get maximum batting points.

The batting was opened by Nick Martin-Clarke and Errol Crawford; it appeared that the effects of the previous night merriment would also affect our batting as Crawford was run out without facing a ball. It was not a good start, for our chase for maximum batting points. Vince Drayton batting at number 3, was positive from the outset, his first scoring stroke was a four, followed by two sixes. At the other end Nick was unable to get the ball off the square struggling badly. It was not long before he was put out of his misery when he was caught for 10. Adnan came and went after 2 balls, hitting the first ball for six, caught off the second, our 3rd wicket falling at 47.

Dave Baker came in at number 5 and decided to play himself in, while Drayton continued to take the attack to the bowlers. Drayton eventually fell for 54, of which 48 runs were in boundaries. I do not have to tell you that Drayton was out caught on the boundary, yes he was caught on the boundary.

James Hazell replaced Drayton, and not long after Baker was bowled trying to hit the ball into the A10. Coombs and Hazell decided to attack the 180 in stages, get 150 for 4 batting points and then go after the 180 for maximum batting points. James played to his strength, keeping out the good balls and dispatching the bad balls to the boundary. Coombs on the other hand decided that any balls bowled to him had to go the boundary. With this approach, the score rapidly moved to 180, and the 180 was reached on the first ball of the last over. James finished on 53 not out and Coombs on 34 not out. James 54 contained only 4 runs which were not boundaries and Coombs 34 had 4 runs which were not boundaries.

I hope that our performance was due to Friday's Caribbean night or a bad day at the office and not a trend.

Team: Bennett, Miller, K Brown, Noel, Crawford, Maish, Maish, Adnan, Panchal, Martin-Clarke, Thomas