Saturday 2nd June 2007
Saturday 9th June 2007
Saturday 16th June 2007
Saturday 23rd June 2007
Saturday 30th June 2007

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 June 2007

1st XI vs. Indian Gymkhana

Report by: Alan Barnard

Despite it being Saturday 2nd June, the season really felt like it had not started yet. After a few stop-start performances against our last 3 opponents, and plenty of bad weather to boot, it was quite nice to see the sun shining, and the Hydeside track looking like it usually does. Last weekend saw our batting capitulate after our bowlers had got us well into the game, and it was hoped that we had learned a few lessons to take forward into our fixture against league leaders Indian Gymkhana. Certainly there was a very good vibe before the game, with people netting from early on, and a positive warm up as well.

When the skipper lost the toss, and we were inserted, we were looking to pick up a minimum of 175, but ideally something approaching 220, in order to put the oppo under pressure, and maybe pick up the wickets we needed to win. What transpired was a combination of some poor batting and shot selection, and some very disciplined left arm spin bowling, that saw us skittled for 128 on a decent pitch. In fact the only 2 highlights were Adam Herron and Tony Willett, who both scored in the late 20's, and looked to be positive against the spinners as they built a late partnership. Dave Hinnigan can also consider himself a little unlucky, as he looked solid, but hit a rank bad ball straight to a fielder, when it probably should have gone for six. There's not a lot more to be said about our batting performance if I'm being honest.

At tea, we knew pretty much that the game was up, but were determined to fight all the way in order to get something from the game, be it wickets, or even the unlikeliest of wins. Credit where credit's due, we bowled well. Mark Varley started off bowling some good lines, and bowled an excellent away cutter to dislodge one of the openers after tidy work from Tony Willett at slip. Wali Khan again bowled unluckily, having a couple of decent shouts turned down, and a chance spilled in the slips. One member of our side took it upon himself to sledge away at the Gymkhana number 3, who really looked like he wasn't up to playing this standard of cricket. I was amusing enough, and when said sledger also fielded very nicely to run him out, it was a small victory for ECC.

Dan Hare and Tony Willett also bowled nicely to pick up a wicket each, as we gained a second bowling point, but it was academic, and the visitors passed our total for the loss of 4 with almost 20 overs to spare. After the game, despite the defeat, there was some positive words from all concerned, and it was agreed that we would make more of a concerted effort to enjoy our cricket and back our instincts. That said, it was certainly disappointing from my perspective that we failed to use the full 55 overs… batsmen need to value their wickets a little more than they are at the moment, and build partnerships. I don't think our bowling and fielding can be faulted to be honest. Indian Gym are a good unit, and on that showing probably deserve to be there or thereabouts at the top of the league. That said, I firmly believe that this side has what it takes to win games in this league, and do so with a smile on our faces, so let's make a start next week. Bouncebackability!

Team: Mardell, Hinnigan, Balachandiran, Hare, Barnard, Herron, Willett, Khan, Fletcher, Varley, Lawrence

2nd XI vs. Old Actonians

Report by: Martin Loveday

It was a nice warm day and the sun was out, the journey down to the ground went well, so all in all it looked like it was going to be a good day, well except for those traveling down with Beeden who couldn't open the windows of his car as well as one of the doors.... Roll on the new car Beedo....

We won the toss and elected to field first. Dodds and Loveday opened up and caused the batsmen problems from the first ball. It was swinging and both bowlers bowled with great control beating the outside edge on many occasion as well as taking the outside edge but the ball going into all the gaps. It wasn't long before the edge caught behind but for some unknown reason was given not out. This invited some words and got our backs up. Loveday got his justice when the same opener was given LBW plumb in front and the first wicket fell. It wasn't long till Dodds was rewarded with a wicket when he got the nick which was well held by Rai behind the stumps. How this next fella was at 4 is beyond me but he didn't last long as Loveday got an inside edge onto the stumps and they were now 3 down for about 38. Dodds took another 2 wickets before drinks and after 25 overs they were 46 for 5. A double bowling change as Elia replaced Loveday and Arul replaced Dodds, but for Arul was to only be the 1 over as some loose deliveries gifted them 3 boundaries in the over and relieved some of the pressure. Elia was bowling well and causing them all sorts of problems and Perera was getting into his stride after replacing Arul. Perera took the next wicket just as a partnership was starting to gather some momentum thanks in part to a good catch from Baker. Elia got the next shortly after and they were now 7 down and only their number 7 was proving hat he had any sort of application and was putting the bad balls away and building up a decent score. The Perera - Baker combination worked again and they were 8 down and this left Elia to clean up the tail who were quite poor with Rai taking a sharp stumping and the number 11 was bowled by one of the skippers bamboozling deliveries (The one that doesn't turn). They were all out for 128 in about 47 overs.

It was a good performance from everyone in the field and with the ball. The energy was excellent and all the catches were taken and even young Gallage showing improvements. Tea and I have to hand it to them it was excellent with plenty of pasta, salad, bread and fillings and rice. Old Actonians take a bow.....

It was now time for us to go about knocking off the runs, Smith and Hazell opened up and had to deal with the swinging ball the same as the opposition did and the runs were hard to come by. It was very slow progress but with just over 2 runs an over required they were waiting for the bad balls which there were not many of. Smith was slightly more positive and after 18 overs we were 31 - 0 with Hazell on 7 and Smith 18. It was Smith who went first when he played all round a full toss and was caught right in front. Rai joined Hazell and looked to pick up the run rate with some good running but he fell just short of 10 and when Arul came and went for the same the score looked something like 60 - 3 off 30 overs. The decision to Baker in at 5 was inspired as he started to put the ball to all parts off the ground picking up boundaries and also it seemed giving Hazell a little more intent as he also started to pick up the rate. Baker did perish with us still needing just over 10 but we were seen home by Hazell and Gallage with over 5 overs to spare and plenty of batting still to come. Hazell deserves some special mention as he batted for 46 overs for 47 or so runs and Baker played the perfect innings at the perfect time to get us home.

All in all a very good performance against a team of wrong-uns and by wrong-uns I mean a team that had 7 left handers in the batting line up.

Team in batting order: Smith, Hazell, Rai, Arul, Baker, Gallage, Perrera, Beeden, Dodds, Elia, Loveday.

5th XI vs.

Report by: David Sans

Not much to say this week I'm afraid, as we were truly out classed by a very strong looking Highgate 4th XI.

On a good note I made it three wins out of three, coin tosses that is.

So after winning the toss and deciding to bat with ten men, as new member Scott Day had not shown up for the meet time at the club.

We struggled our way to 92 all out in 41.1 overs, worringly thought i yet again could not get out, so for me not to have an average after four weeks of league cricket things must be looking up.

In their reply, Highgate took their time and had the scores level when finally they lost their first wicket, Needless to say the new batsman came in and they got the winning run.

So only 4 points this week, but now with two home games on the bounce, and with the doc back next saturday hopefully we will get over this match and bounce back with some much needed points.

Saturday 9th June 2007

1st XI vs. Old Actonians

Report by: Simon Roche

What a day, the sun was out there was no traffic on the North Circular and the 1XI win away at Actonians. All things considered I think everyone was fairly happy about all the above…

Despite the usual shambolic attempt at getting a cricket team to meet at a pre-defined time at Edmonton we managed to get on our way, only needing to pick up Wali and Prabhu en route. Somehow the E-Unit were all ready and set for warm-ups at Actonians ground at about 12.30!. The wicket looked good and reminded some of the hallowed turf at Hydeside (other than a 5 inch gash just short of a length at one end… but given some of the wickets we play on maybe I'm nitpicking).

The skipper won the toss and inserted Actonians into bat with the hope of the usual tight bowling that has been seen in recent weeks. Pep talks were good (except Herron who looked like he had just been tasered when asked to contribute), even the Rabbit piped up.

Wali and Varls opened up proceedings bowling good lines, it was quite obvious early on that anything short was going to be punished. Wali got their danger man - Alexander who has rattled up some big scores against us - in the 3rd over. Varley continued to toil away with not much joy and was soon replaced by Prabhu, who proceeded to bowl an uninterrupted spell of high quality spin bowling. Wali came off a couple of overs later with a respectable return of 1-32 of nine (slightly ruined by 10 off the last over). Danny Hare replaced him and initially took some pain but gradually got into the groove and bowled 19 overs on the spin.

Throughout Prabhu and Danny's spell the fielding was tight and the Actonians batsman found runs hard to come by, all of them got starts but we continued to stick to our lines and keep our heads up, despite a couple of batsman getting 50's wickets fell at fairly regular intervals…. At 55 overs the Actonians total of 222 looked very gettable on the track which was playing well…. Prabhu ended up with 3-71 from 21 overs and Danny 1-90 off 19, but the main thing was how tight they kept it.

Tea was slightly forgettable…

The E-unit was confident that we could chase down the total with a good pitch and a strong batting line-up, which has so far failed to fire this season… the omens were not good when Dodge spooned a leading edge in the second over, then the amazing happened… in strode Wali who proceeded to play one of the most destructive innings anyone has seen. He reached his fifty with the score on 53-1 off about 8-9 overs, Beedo was mainly a spectator as Wali smashed the ball to all parts of the ground, surviving a couple of tough chances (and some unseemly sledging from the opening bowler who took a dislike to being smeared all over West London), but given the number of cowboys we come up against I think we deserved a bit of luck.

Wali and Beedo put on 102 for the second wicket before Beedo chipped one up to mid-on. Then came the expected ECC collapse as Barnard directed a full toss straight back to the bowler and Danny Hare went first ball lobbing an easy catch to point - apparently it was all Hazell's bat that was to blame!

At 103 - 4 things were looking a bit bleak but Herron strode to the wicket with purpose and was undeterred, putting on a fifty partnership with Wali to put the game firmly back to Edmonton - including a sweetly struck six over the sightscreen. But an unwise charge down the wicket saw him stumped and Wali followed soon after with the score on 186 for a quality 115 and quite possibly a place up the order in weeks to come (no doubt to Doddsy's delight!)

Hazell and Prabhu then put on 33 for the 7th wicket with a mixture of sturdy defence and lusty blows - it was all getting a bit excited on the balcony with some crazy maths and pacing (apparently I have turned into Barnard… how very dare you). At this stage I would also add that Kev and Barnard had spent most of the innings hiding in the dressing room not watching the game, adamant that leaving the dressing room would immediately trigger a wicket… this was obviously true in Barney's case when he left the dressing room to go and bat.

When James finally fell at 219 only 4 runs were needed from 3 overs and the celebrations were almost starting, Prabhu bided his time and dutifully smashed a short ball over midwicket for the winning runs…. And a long night of drinking ahead and some well thought chants including the crowd favourite "He ain't got no legs..."

All in all a very professional performance and no doubt the confidence gained from chasing down 222 against a team that feel they should be there or thereabouts this season should help individuals find some form… bring on Calthorpe.

Team: Beeden, Hinnigan, Khan, Barnard, Hare, Herron, Hazell, Balachndiran, Roche, Lawrence, Varley

2nd XI vs. North Middlesex

Report by: Martin Loveday

Edmonton hosted North Middlesex.

Sorry fellas if this report is lacking but I was unaware aware I was detailed to do it so here goes:

Edmonton lost the toss and were put into the field. Dodds opened up from the bottom end and Loveday at the top. Loveday hit his stride early on and it wasn't long before the first wicket fell, when Elia took an easy catch at second slip. Their number 3 looked as good a bat as I have seen in this league all season and the other opener although not very fluent was proving hard to dislodge with his gritty batting style. Dodds took a little bit of punishment with the very short leg side boundary to contend with and a good bat who latched onto anything short. A change of end for Loveday and the introduction of the skipper from the top end. Although wickets were not falling the run rate was being kept down by some good fielding and some good bowling on a very flat wicket. The voice of Dodds could be heard telling their batsman that it was a 250 track and he was probably about right. As they looked to accelerate the scoring Loveday picked up his second when the number 3 tried to drive a ball that wasn't there and was caught at point by Perrera. They were definitely showing some more intent and there young opener who had amassed 50 in 43 overs was bowled by Loveday. The fourth wicket went soon after as Loveday claimed his fourth when an attempted cut went straight to Poyo who took a good low catch. No more wickets fell and they did manage a few more lusty blows by the time they declared their innings on 236 - 4 off 50 overs.

Tea was had and it was not good.

With the second eleven losing 3 batsmen to the 1's and having a fourth unavailable it was a new look top order. Rai and Gallage were given a chance at the top of the order. We started brightly enough and reached 60 odd for none with Rai being the more positive. It was however at this point that things went south. Wickets started to fall in blocks and before we knew it we were 5 down for about 85 having lost Gallage (caught at slip), Perrera(caught) , Rai (caught), Poyo (stumped), Arul (stumped). Baker and Sivathasan looked to steady the ship but Baker was starting to get frustrated with the lack of running between the wickets as the Wookie is not as young as he once was and this led to him giving his wicket away after scoring a good 30. Dodds and Elia both came and went trying to hit the ball out the ground and the loopy spin bowling from the bottom end with the short leg side boundary was our downfall. Benedetti a late call up to the 2's came in at 10 and is a specialist stayer and was put down the order specially for this situation. As expected Benedetti was in complete control and Daz even decided that he felt comfortable enough to blaze some boundaries along the way to saving the game but a missed time cover drive saw him caught and depart for 20 odd and it was now Loveday and Benedetti to survive 9 overs with the score on 145 - 9. There were no scares and even a beautifully timed cover drive to the boundary from Loveday saw us draw the game finishing on 151 - 9.

It has to be said we didn't all that well at times but the fielding and catching was excellent with debutante Poyo and Benedetti excellent and Gallage continuing to show great improvement. The batting was a bit poor Rai hit 49 and Baker 30 but we lost 4 wickets slogging for sixes when some proper was the call for the day. 236 should not have been beyond us but it is far to say that this was the best side we have played so far this season and they were also a good bunch of lads who took some banter (mainly from Dodds) and gave some good banter back (mainly to Dodds).

Team in batting order: Rai, Gallage, Perrera, Arul, Poyo, Baker, Sivathasan ,Dodds ,Elia ,Benedetti ,Loveday

5th XI vs.

Report by: David Sans

After a big defeat to the hands of Highgate 4th XI at the Wilf Slack Ground, We have a run of two home games on the bounce, First of them being Birbeck College 3rd XI.

Well the weekend was looking good with the best possible team avavlible, bar Mr Cooper, as he only told me he was avalible after I had arranged my starting Eleven, and with no contact from the higher XI captians it was a week of not losing any players, which was even more of a shock.

Well saturday came round and I arrived at the club at 12.30pm, after putting my kitbag in the changing rooms, I then procced to set up the stumps and every thing else we need on Grocers.

While walking back to the changing rooms I saw a whole team show up in their club tracksuits, I thought, cor the second XI look like their gonna have their work cut out for them.

Only to Have Alan Porter say...Dave your Oppo are here..... I think you can all guess my reaction...under my breath..I said...BALLS, well thats the polite version anyway.

So after showing them to their changing room, and myself getting changed, myself and the oppostion captain proceded to walk over to Grocers to do the coin toss, hoping that I would win it, the Birbeck College captain called HEADS.. and down came TAILS, yeah baby thats 4 out of 4 coin tosses I have won this year, and please may it continue.

So I obviously chose to bat first.

Well we didn't get off to a great start, Thomas boxer was caught for 0, in the 2nd over, leaving the score on 2-1, Adam Shirley came in at number 3 and put on a partnership of 12 with opener Chetan Khatri.

Adam was then bowled for 4 in the 4th over, leaving us struggling a bit on 14-2, Alan Lord then came in and was putting on a nice partnership Chetan when in the 17th or 18th over, cant quite remember, Chetan was run out for backing up, well it was quite contriversal and after Chetan had walked off and taken his pads off, the oppo captian called him back, so with Tony Brown alert as ever, he suggested I take the drinks out while Chetan put his pads back on.

After the drinks break Chetan and Alan carried on their partnership until the 23rd over when it happened again, Chetan was run out for backing up.

At this point can I just say sorry to Chetan as he did ask me not to mention it happened twice but everyone was talking about it in the bar after you went mate so I thought I might aswell put it in my report.

Anyway after losing our 3rd wicket for a partnership of 100, Alan Lord then proced to get caught on I am almost sure 2 balls after Chetan got out, in the same over leaving on us precariously on 114 for 4 wickets.

Tony Brown and Adam Lord were the new batsman at the wicket and they both procced to play some nice shots and put on 20 runs, before Adam was bowled and the score being 134/5.

New member Scott Day came to wicket and on his first ball took a huge swipe and stumped, and the score now 134/6.

Bill Billimoria went in and bill and Tony put on 18 before Bill got caught for 10, leaving us on 152/7, then in the next over, on the second ball in the 34th over Tony Brown was bowled, Johnny Squires then came to the wicket and was bowled first ball leaving the score on 152/9.

Well if my day hadn't start great, going in on a hatrick ball was the last thing I wanted.

Thankfully I manged to see off the last 3 balls of the over, Myself and the Doc ( Anand Rooban ), procced to put on a partnership of 14 when the score was 166/9 and the doc was on 4 and myself who had scored 2.

But I shall say that one of them was a bye but as Scott didn't signal Tony Brown said give it Dave.

Well thats when we lost our last wicket, I have been told that it was a beautiful Cover drive, and i was so amazed I actually played one that I stood there just admiring the shot when I looked up and saw the Doc halfway down the wicket, and I was so sure that the ball had gone past the fielder, considering he had turned to his right that I nsaid yes run, to my dismay I was run out by some good fielding, mind you i now actually have an average....OF 12!!!!!!!! SHOCK HORROR.

Well the fielding side of things was not as dramatic as our batting, as they cruised their way to the target in 28.1 overs, with the Doc, Bill, Adam Lord and even Myself picking up a wicket.

So a defeat but we still got 10 points leaving us on 54 points from 5 games, and that aint bad, considering as I said in the bar to the rest of my team that stayed, if we get 10 points a game were gonna end up with 180 points which, should be more than enough to avoid relegation and you never know, if we manage to pick up some wins the unthinkable might happen.

Just one more thing to say about this weekend.....

GO ON THE 1ST XI... FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON, AND HOPEFULLY LOADS MORE TO COME.

Team... David Sans, Thomas Boxer, Chetan Khatri, Adam Shirley, Alan Lord, Tony Brown, Adam Lord, Scott Day, Bill Billimoria, Anand Rooban, Johnathan Squires.

Saturday 16th June 2007

2nd XI vs. Harrow Town

Report by: Martin Loveday

The fixture was Edmonton to host Harrow Town.

The opposition turned up and Stav went for the toss. I don't know if he won or lost but we were in the field. About 13:20 and it starts to bucket down, Willett phones Stav to say he's not coming out in the rain and he is sitting in the car park until it stops. Luckily enough the covers were left on the pitch thanks to some sound talking form Gavin "THE WEATHERMAN" Mardell. Play was delayed till 14:05 and we got the covers off the pitch and we were ready to go.

Dodds opened up with Loveday and the circus began, their 1 and 2 played some horrible strokes with the odd quality cut from the bowlers dropping a little short but generally top edges over slip, and edges past gully. Dodds picked up a wicket as another moooooo went wrong but this time found the hands of Perera at point. In came their number 3 and it he continued in the same fashion cross batting anything across the line. There was intermittent spells of rain causing the ball and outfield to get a little wet but everyone agreed we should try to ride out the worst of it. Dodds and Loveday were both replaced after going for a few. Willett at the bottom end and Elia at the top. They both bowled with good control. Willett picked up the next wicket after there other opened finally got an edge to gully and was held by Dave `I HAVE BUCKETS` Smith. The 2 bowlers managed to regain control as Willett picked up another shortly after drinks. Stav swiftly followed that up with a well a ball that bounced and was caught at slip by Smith after Rai managed to take the pace of it behind the stumps. The banter was good and there was plenty of encouragement, we knew we could get right back into the game with another wicket as the scoring had slowed drastically. Willett got the next as another heave across the line went wrong and a high catch to Hazell at cover. 160-5. Their number 7 came to the crease and looked a little uncomfortable at first but soon started to play some nice shots. Willet with yet another wicket and I think it was bowled and they were now 6 down. No surprises for guessing who got the seventh and completed his 5 for and Willett was still bowling well despite the skipper asking him if he was alright after every over.... Loveday on to replace Elia at the top end and the first over or so was a bit wayward before he snared the lefty at 7 when he hit across the line and lobbed any easy catch to Mardell at square leg. Loveday had found his groove now and soon picked up his second with a thin edge behind that was taken by Rai. The batsman thought he didn't hit it although it was quite a blatant edge playing away from his body. Willett cleaned up the number 10 when trying to go for a straight six managed only to present Dave `I HURT MY FINGER` Baker with a simple catch. All out for 210 and after the flyer they got off to we should thank Willett for some outstanding bowling and Stav who pulled us right back into the game.

Tea was had and something different a bit of pasta was produced and was very nice. It seems like a step in the right direction maybe things will change for the better...

Time for us to bat and Rai on the back of 49 last week opened up with Smith. We got off to a solid start but it wasn't until Rai hit 12 off an over that the run rate every really got going and it was perhaps a fortuitous over as all 3 went through or over the slip region. Both batsmen started to play some nice strokes notably a cover drive each before Smith managed to miss one and get caught behind... That meant that young Arul went to the crease and although didn't look in any trouble gave a leaning edge to mid on for about 20. Willett joined Rai and smashed a big straight 6 into the allotments but when he tried a flick to the short leg side boundary he didn't quite connect and was caught at mid wicket.

Hazell joined Rai and they set about running hard and hitting the bad ball. Hazell was positive from the start and showed that he can bat as opener or a bit more positive in the middle order. Rai reached his fifty and it was a well deserved knock and showed that he was in decent touch following on from last weeks score. Rai then decided to give the fielder at deep square leg some catching practice and he dropped a dolly, maybe that was the bit of luck he needed to go on and get a ton. No the very next ball Dave "IT WAS A SHORT BALL THOUGH" gave another chance to the same fielder but was this time held. Mardell wandered to the crease and he and Hazell were playing quite lovely cricket keeping the scoreboard ticking between 3 and 5 an over with the odd boundary, notably that of Mardell who hit a lovely 6 when flicking over mid wicket. The Weatherman and Hazell steered requiring 50 off the last 10 overs. Hazell was bowled for 25 trying to pick up a boundary with us still needing about 40. Baker joined Mardell and they fed him some long hops which he steered to the leg side boundary. Baker stroked some 2 into the cover region as well as hitting the odd edge through the vacant gully region which was un-manned. They bought their opening seamer back on and he had Baker swaying all over the shop, no one could really understand why as he wasn't quick but to our amusement we ignored his calls for a helmet. They replaced the "quickie" and bought on what looked like a spinner, Oh no this fella bowled the worst ball ever a long hop well outside off that hit Mardell on the toe on its second bounce - however for some reason Mardell had decided to charge the long hop and was out of his crease and stumped. We needed about 10 runs in 2 overs and Perera knocked them off in an over, playing the shocking spinner for 2 consecutive fours to end the game and Baker ended on 30 odd not out.

Although we dropped a couple of catches and the fielding was generally very good considering the conditions. The batting stood up and knocked off the runs in what were quite dark conditions by the end and the energy displayed by all was good. It was a good victory and 10 points especially when you consider all but 1 other game was abandoned.

The team in order of batting line up: Rai, Smith, Arul, Willett, Hazell, Mardell, Baker, Perera, Elia, Dodds, Loveday

5th XI vs. GWR

Report by: David Sans

Well a cracking day of cricket for all concerned.

The day started off great with me winning the coin toss yet again, and obviously choosing to bat first.

Everyone chipped in with runs, A Poyo (22), C Khatri (26), N Arul (28), Alan Lord (38) and with Thomas Boxer not out on 24 and a cracking inning from Tony Kershaw with 73 not out, I decided to Declare on 236/7 after 45 overs.

On to the bowling and I don't think anyone expected what happened to happen.

Well after the first 20 overs things were looking a bit ominous for us with them being 133/1.

Then came the bowling change that makes captains look good!!

I brought on Bill Billimoria at the allotment end and Antonio Poyo from the school end, and boy why did no one tell me he was that quick I would have opened with him.

Well anyway once these guys came on, we picked up wickets at regular intervals, including two run outs off Antonio's bowling, even Pate'y got in on the act and got a run out.

With 3 balls left in the game, GWR'S score was 236/9 in 36.3 overs.

In came Antonio and bowled, the batsman edged it and Thomas Boxer took an awesome and I mean awesome catch behind the stumps, we all went mad as you can guess, great feeling a draw, from what at one stage looked like a almost certain defeat.

TEAM…..DAVID SANS, ANTONIO POYO, CHETAN KHATRI, NELSON ARUL, ALAN LORD, TONY KERSHAW, PETER PATE, TONY BROWN, BILL BILLIMORIA, THOMAS BOXER, ANAND ROOBAN.

Saturday 23rd June 2007

1st XI vs. Harrow St. Marys

Report by:

Abandoned - Rain

2nd XI vs. Hornsey

Report by: Martin Loveday

Edmonton travel to Hornsey on Sat June 23rd

We arrived at the ground nice and early as usual and noticed that there new pavilion was excellent. The pitch could have been mistaken for Lords as it leant from one side to another and we were told that it did infact have the exact same incline from one boundary to the other..... The pitch looked a little green but looked like a good wicket. Stav lost the toss again and we were put into the field.

Dodds (I had 10 stubbies last night) and Loveday (I wanna go home at 11:00 last night) opened up the bowling..... Dodds showed some good pace and aggression whilst Loveday struggled with the incline and slope. Their openers played some decent looking strokes but it was apparent that the lefty was keen on the drive so we put fielders in place and his runs dried up. We had a couple of chances but failed to take the all important wicket and both bowlers were replaced. Elia and Perrera were the replacements and bowled tightly. Elia was turning the ball a long way and picked up a deserve wicket couple of quick wickets getting rid of their right hand opener just past his 50 (LBW) and their no.3 cheaply after a good catch behind off the glove from the keeper. The no.4 didn't look like he wanted to play after giving his wicket away with an awful slog that went straight into the hands of Hazell. Perrera picked up a wicket with a straight full toss that had their left hand opener bowled just short of 50 and all of a sudden they went from 105-0 to 136-4 off about 30 overs. They had a good partnership going with some excellent running until the 41st over when the rain came and it turned out that we were to loose 6 overs from the total. We went back out there knowing if we could restrict the runs up to the 47th over we would have pole position. Unfortunately we were not able to stop them getting around 7.5 an over and they posted a total of 224 - 6 with Perrera picking up another wicket bowled in his final over.

Tea was taken and was good. It had some variety and there was plenty.

We went out to bat thinking that we could chase the score down as the outfield had been electric but the rain had somewhat dampened our thinking as the ball was pulling up now. We still had hope as Smith and Rai got us off to a good enough start having to deal with a swinging ball in quite dark conditions. We managed to get to about 12 overs before it started to rain again and the revised amount of overs was that we would face 37 and would require 178 for the winning draw. We would need just about 5 an over to get this for the remaining 25 overs with all our wickets in hand and this was definitely achievable. We got 25 off the first 2 overs back and we were comfortable but then we started to loose wickets with Smith going first with the score on about 65 for 22. Rai was still batting well and was joined by Roche, Rai was next to go when he was caught behind again in the 40's and 3 overs later Roche was undone by a swinging yorker and was bowled. Baker and Hazell at the crease and probably our form players with the bat to date but Baker found it hard going and was bowled going for a wild swing. We were still up around the run rate and had plenty of batsmen to come but you could see that Hornsey were visibly lifted and buoyant at this point. Hazell went next when he was given LBW and to be fair it looked like the poor fella received another stinker as he was halfway down the track but he had to go. Poyo and Arul now at the crease and they looked to calm things down, we had conceded that we could forget the run rate for 3 -4 overs and let the boys get settled and have a dash later in the innings but wickets would carry on falling at regular intervals when Poyo was C&B to a good catch and Arul went a few overs later playing an uncharacteristic expansive drive which resulted in him being bowled. Perrera and Dodds were looking at preserving their wickets but at the same time running hard and hitting the odd boundary to keep us in with a shout and it was all going well until Perrera run himself out. Captain Elia joined Dodds and they carried on putting bad balls away when they could and with 1 over to go we still required 18. There was no way we weren't going to have a go but Elia was bowled by a ball that kept low first ball leaving Loveday to block out the remaining 5 deliveries. Loveday put his second ball to the mid off boundary as a flighted delivery was smashed past the close catchers the result was that we finished 14 runs short and had to settle for a losing draw.

Whilst having a beer with the Hornsey skipper (who was a top fella) and Maurice who was an old team mate of our very own Lloyd it turns out that they are a good bunch of lads who lay hard but have a lot of fun as a team with some very useful players. Their league position does not do them justice, so we wish them the best and hope for another good game at home later in the season.

Team in batting order: Smith, Rai, Roche, Baker, Hazell, Poyo, Arul, Perrera, Dodds, Elia, Loveday

5th XI vs.

Report by: David Sans

Not much to report here.

Apart from the whole team leaving the club at 11.30am.

While traveling to Imber Court, in East Molesley, receving a call after being in the car for an hour and being at Kew Bridge, to be then told that we can have the points as the pitch is double booked.

So 20 points, thats 94 from 7 out of 9 games, not bad considering we finished with 128 points from 16 league games last season.

Saturday 30th June 2007

1st XI vs.

Report by:

2nd XI vs.

Report by:

5th XI vs.

Report by: David Sans