Saturday 7th May 2005
Saturday 14th May 2005
Saturday 21st May 2005
Saturday 28th May 2005

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Saturday 7th May 2005

1st XI vs. Harrow St Mary's

Report by: Alan Barnard

This Saturday just gone saw us take on Harrow St Mary's at Hydeside in the first league game of the 2005 season, the result of which would tell us a lot more about how well equipped we are for the challenge of first division cricket. Harrow, who had finished a very respectable 5th place in a tough looking first division last year won the toss, and elected to field, despite only having 6 men at the ground just 10 minutes before the scheduled start of play. With the full quota of players arriving a few minutes later, they took the field with 11, and battle commenced.

I know I say this every season, but the Hydeside wicket really is looking and playing as well as I've ever seen it, certainly at this early stage in the season, with massive amounts of credit going to the ground staff of Brent and Dave. In fact, the wicket was perhaps too good for a St Mary's bowling attack that lacked a little penetration, despite sticking to their task throughout a blustery 55 overs.

Venki, making his return to the club after a seasons absence opened the batting with stand-in skipper Tim Beeden, but was soon joined at the crease by Dave Hinnigan after a rash shot from Tim took a top edge, and he departed without scoring. Early on, there were clear signs that this was going to be the Venki show, as he made 50 out of 72, and showed no signs of slowing down. As he eased passed the 100 mark, there were signs that this really was going to be a special innings.

Wickets were falling at the other end, with Adam Herron, Ses Jayasena coming and going, but Venki was still going strong, mixing impeccable timing with improvisation, and some sheer brute force to finish up with one of the best innings I've ever seen in my time at the club. The fact that his eventual 174 (from just under 50 overs) was 36 higher than the previous divisional record speaks volumes, and he left the field to applause from both sides after he was eventually dismissed.

Alan Barnard and Danny Hare pushed the score on to a massive 281, and it was teatime. On reflection, perhaps we batted a little longer than was necessary, but without experience of this division, and the standard of cricket, we decided to err on the side of caution, especially on such a road of a wicket. I think it's fair to say that nobody in the team was questioning that we should put the game beyond St Mary's reach and ensure that we got at least a draw from the first game. I think all of us know how tough it can be to have to chase points over the course of a season.

Opening up, Matty Worton and Archer Cornwall stuck to their task doggedly throughout the opening spell, despite the windy conditions, and managed to beat the bat on several occasions, but only Archer managed any success, picking up his first 1st XI wicket. Ciaran Dodds and Danny Hare also bowled very well with no reward, mixing control with variation in length and pace, but it was clear from very early on that the game could only ever end in a draw, as Harrow were forced to settle for points.

Some clever captaincy from Tim Beeden saw us take an extra 2 points, thanks to 3 wickets which were effectively bought from the opposition, courtesy of the part time spin of Gavin Mardell 2-22, and seam of Dave Hinnigan. The highlight of this passage of play has to be Gavin bowling two identical full tosses, the first of which sailed into the Grocers Ground, but the second of which the skipper made no mistake with at mid wicket. For the record, HSM ended up on 170-4 from 44 overs.

All in all, a little disappointing, and perhaps a little over-cautious but nobody can argue with the 17 points we have on the board at this early stage in the season. Harrow St. Marys are a good bunch of lads, and stayed behind for a chat in the bar afterward, where they were of the opinion that we were reasonably well equipped for this division. It's easy with hindsight, but I think given the chance again, perhaps we should have declared at about 50, and made more of a contest of it. Having said this though, I don't think we could have bowled what looked to be a decent batting side out in 50 overs, even if they were trying to chase down our total.

There were lots of positives to be taken from this game; as well as the return of Venki, there were a couple of other solid batting performances from the middle order, and some good bowling in tough conditions from the seamers. Let's not get carried away, but our target of surviving this season in the division looks to be attainable with a little application, and a lot of hard work. Perhaps next weekend's trip to Old Actonians and what can only be a less batsman friendly wicket will give us a good indicator of how far we've come.

2nd XI vs. Harrow Town

Report by: Pat Carr

First foray into the County League for the 2nd XI - Mixed expectations - Damp pitch.

We met at 1130 for a net and to reintroduce ourselves for the new season.

The one net available was ropey to say the least. I think we expected the ground standard to be much like our own fantastic home - We were disappointed! The outfield resembled an undulating links golf fairway but the track looked ok albeit damp without the luxury of covers.

We lost the toss and were put into bat. The opposition had been heard to say that they fancied their chances of a league win this season - We obviously have other ideas.

Asif was late due to his night working and hurried into open the batting with the rock.

Asif departed from the opening ball and Gafor (ex Kenyan test player) joined Dom at the crease. The 'boys', joint age over 100, played the ball around and gave us a steady but slow scoring start. The wicket was damp and the ball behaved accordingly. Gaf was lbw and Anil strolled out. Anil looked in good nick until he played too early and top edged one for a simple catch. Our new Saffy Zac played a majestic leg glance for four and was then dismissed. Jilesh took over and steadied the ship with two quick scoring partnerships with james H 28 and khazi 12(which was actually 17 but monster was scoring so what can you expect - Come back Kim please!!!) Jilesh was caught on the boundary with a great catch for 32. Beefy and Stav were at the crease and we decided to go over the 49.5 probable winning draw allocation. Stav departed for 8 and Monster joined beefy to hammer the ball to all corners and finish up with 21 not out - Beefy was 19 not out. Special mention to the Monster who hit two huge sixes and a four from consecutive balls. we ended our innings on 208 for 9 off 60 overs. the opposition skipper commented that they have never faced such a strong batting line up before.

The way this league works is as follows. 100 overs have to be bowled. The side batting first bat as long as they want. The side batting second has the remaining overs multiplied by the run rate to achieve a winning draw - e.g.; We scored 208 in 60 overs = rr of 3.47 therefore the oppo needed 40 x 3.47 = 139 to gain a winning draw. However, from 6.30pm there has to be 20 overs bowled, so if, as happened on saturday, we actually bowled 42 overs, then the run rate alters accordingly - In this case the winning draw total changed to 146 - Get it???

Monster (7-0-26-0) and Anil (11-1-34-2) took the new ball - Monster bowled his heart out for little reward and Anil bowled well form the other end. Gaf (16-0-53-3) replaced Anil and gave us the breakthrough stumped by Khazi the Kat. Dom (4-0-21-2) took over from Monster and wickets fell steadily after that. Asif spilled a very very sharp chance at close gully but the fielding was quite good otherwise and the total was never really attainable. Harrow's tactic was to achieve the winning draw total of 146. Stav (4-0-19-0) replaced Dom and bowled well. The standard of batting from the oppo left a little to be desired but a returning 1st XI player steadied the ship and saw them to the 146 required. Khazi, stand in keeper, dropped a sharp chance from this guy early on and it turned out to be the deciding factor in this match.

Harrow ended their innings on 163 - 7 and were quite relieved to do so.

It was obvious that we were generally a stronger side than Harrow and I think they were guilty of underestimating us. Having said that, they gained the winning draw on the day and happily settled for this result - it will be interesting at Hydeside!

The game was played in the true spirit and I sincerely hope the rest of the teams in this league do the same - Watch this space.

In conclusion we played well but the fact that we didn't have a grip on the format is inexcusable - Words were had and the situation is being rectified.

Thanks to big Ray ( who actually failed to give me out lbw in the first match unlike the last two season openers) for umpiring.

Team: Beefy the Brawler, Khazi the Kat, Anil the Aardvark, Gaf the Kenyan Krusader, Dom the Rock, Jimmy Big Bat, Jilesh the Jackal, Zac the Zebra, Stav the Spiv, Asif the Embarrassed and Monster the Mauler.

3rd XI vs. Ealing

Report by: Linserd Miller

It is a start of a new season, which we approached with apprehension, following our promotion to the First Division.

The clock moved slowly towards the bowl off for the new season, the coin was tossed and the Ealing Captain, called correctly. He decided to bat.

The bowling was opened by Street and Coombs, both immediately found an excellent line and length. Street using his many years experience, bowled along the corridor of uncertainty. This kept the pressure on the batsmen, who found it very difficult to score. Street bowled the opener and Coombs took his first wicket shortly afterwards. The opening bowlers continued with their excellent bowling and soon Ealing had lost their 3rd wicket with the score at 20.

Coombs shortly afterwards succumbed to injury, pulling a muscle in his leg and had to be removed from the attack. He was replaced by Baker, who inexplicable bowled 2 very expensive overs and was removed from the attack. Apparently there are rumours that Baker is expecting a baby (if it is true, then history will be created, first man to have a baby). Baker has put on at least 2 stones (28 Pounds) since last season. The captain was apparently speaking to Baker after the match, informing him that he needs to cut down on the after match drinking in order to loose some weight. Baker was replaced by Britz was appearing in his first game for Edmonton this season after leaving last season.

The Ealing 4th wicket pair batted sensibly, not taking any changes defending and taking singles when they could. They were not scoring freely, as the bowling was tight, but they continued to protect their wickets. The Captain could see that our old warrior Street was struggling, especially, after he had missed the whole of last season. The captain being such an understanding fellow took Street off and brought himself on.

Miller and Britz, continued to keep the pressure on, Ealing continued to score slowly and with the overs running out, they had to be more aggressive. At the end of 52 overs Ealing were 181 for 8, with Britz taking 3 wickets and Miller 2.

It was now Edmonton's turn to bat, the batting was opened by Crawford and Berger, and this was a new opening pair for Edmonton. The openers got off to an excellent start, before you could say 95, the opening pair had put on 95 for the 1st wicket. Crawford who only dealt in 6's and 4's was out for 67. This brought in Goddard who was stumped for 11; Bennett replaced Goddard while Berger continued to bat in a very mature manner.

Berger was eventually caught for a very well made 49, Smithy then came in, with Bennett and Smithy knocking off the remaining runs. Bennett was not out 28 and Smithy 9.

Team: Miller (Capt) Crawford, Berger, Goddard, Bennett, Smith, Baker, Coombs, Britz, Street, Varley.

Saturday 14th May 2005

1st XI vs. Old Actonians

Report by: Alan Barnard

After last weekends solid start to the season, the first XI travelled round the North Circular to take on Old Actonians, who had won comfortably the week previous against Indian Gymkhana, and were looking to make it 2 out of 2. Those of us who have been around long enough to remember will recall the last time we played at Actonians, when they chased down 293 in 38 overs, in what has to be one of the most crazy games of cricket I've even been involved in. Myself and Tim were certainly hoping that history wouldn't repeat itself, but without Paul Ryan opening the bowling, surely that couldn't happen again?

Actonians won the toss, and elected to field. Gavin Mardell and Venki opened up on an excellent looking batting strip, and despite some hostile pace bowling from the opener looked the part. Gavin in particular played some sublime cover drives and cut shots, proving that he really is more than capable of playing against the best that the Middlesex Championship has to offer. Sadly, he fell unluckily for 27, the bowler later admitting that he thought it was missing leg, and Tim Beeden was forced to pay up on a spread bet to Alan Barnard on Mardell's score (I won't divulge what the bet was here).

Dave Hinnigan came to the wicket to join Venki, who had accelerated the scoring, and was looking to be positive at every opportunity. When he was dismissed for 59 to a rash sweep shot, it looked like we were going to stutter, but Barney came to the crease to steady the ship, and did so in a way that only he can, scoring one run of his first 9 overs. Fortunately, Dodgy Dave was looking to be positive at the other end, and played some fantastic looking drives for four, taking advantage of some short boundaries along the way.

When Dave fell to an absolute belter of a catch in the covers for 37, Ses 'Timekeeper' Jayasena stepped up, but departed unluckily for 5 smashing a half volley straight at mid wicket, which otherwise would have made a hole in the boundary fence. Dan 'Rabbit' Hare was next in, and being from the Adam Herron school of running joined Barney in an exhibition of quick singles, and turning twos into threes. The score raced along, Barney made his first Division One half centaury, and then departed soon after, whilst Dan finished on a disciplined 40 not out.

Tony Willet took the decision to declare a couple of overs early, to offer the opposition a bit of a carrot to go for victory. It was a bold statement of intent, and since we'd already secured 10 batting points was something that may have worked in our favour. After a tea that pleased the healthy eaters amongst the team, and disgusted Beeden and Co. we took the field to kick things off in the 2nd innings.

Matty Worton was impeccable from the top end, clean bowling the opener in the first over, and beating the bat on several occasions. Doddsey however wasn't quite firing on all cylinders, conceded a few too many, and was replaced by the veteran Archer Cornwall after just 3. Archer settled down to his usual fantastic lines, and went close several times to taking a wicket, beating the bat, and causing much trepidation from the top order.

When the next wicket fell, the skipper came in for the Oppo, and looked solid, but unspectacular until Doddsey in his second, and much improved spell had him trapped leg before to a delivery that kept a little low. It's not for me to comment on opponents players actions, but I think everyone was a little surprised and disappointed about the skippers reaction to being dismissed, and several of their players said so too. Pressing on with the game, Venki spilled a fairly straightforward chance to dismiss the number 5, and Jaya slipped up with another catch that he would have found routine in the gulley which would have lead to the danger man being dismissed. What was all the more surprising is that Venki had taken one of the finest wicket keeping catches you're ever likely to see to see off the number 3.

At this stage, we were all hoping that the old adage that catches win matches wasn't going to come back to haunt us, but that was looking unlikely, as they needed something along the lines of 7 an over at this stage. This is where the game changed. A couple of our boys said afterwards that the No5. was crap, and a cowboy, but to be quite honest, he had a good eye, played the wicket as he saw it, and hit cleanly to score 55 in about 25 balls, and turn the game right on it's head. When he was dismissed by the Rampant Rabbit, the game looked to be in the balance, but the opener was still the man to get out.

A couple of wickets came and went, but he was still in, and passed his hundred, in an innings which started shakily, but improved as it went on. In the end, we just couldn't get the breakthroughs we needed, despite Dave Hinnigan clinging onto a blinder from Mini Smith's bowling, and the Veteran picking up a late leg before. Actonians recorded an unlikely victory in double quick time, and the E-Unit were left to rue spilled chances as they trudged of dejectedly.

In the bar afterwards, the Actoninas team proved to be a top bunch of boys, praising our batting, and suggesting that you need a slow bowler to be really competitive at this level. It's clear to see that we're not going to be outclassed by opposition at this level, and a few of the younger players have come on leaps and bounds in terms of maturity since last season (step forward Dan and Gav). I think what we're missing is a little more concentration and a bit of killer instinct to turn a respectable 13 points into an excellent 30. I think over the course of the game, we were the better side technically, not to take anything away from Actonians, who went about the task of chasing in exactly the right way, and just about deserved their win.

I'd like to think it's going to be a close run game when they come to Hydeside later in the season, let's hope it us that ends up with the 30.

Willett, Mardell, Venkatesh, D Hinnigan, Barnard, Jayasena, D Hare, Beeden, C Dodds, Worton, Cornwall

2nd XI vs. Old Actonians

Report by: Pat Carr

Joint top of the league Old Actonians arrive at a Hydeside and prepare to do battle with the new boys. Wonderful to hear all those local Saffy/Kiwi/Aussie accents.

Our pitch was its usual fantastic self and we felt confident to acquit ourselves adequately.

We lost the toss and that was one of our high points.

Old Actonians put us into bat, this seems to be the only option in this league. Khazi and Dom opened up and were very comfortable. The opening bowlers bowled some good and bad stuff. Batting was not too difficult and the score was ticking along nicely. Khazi suicide single sees him back to the pavilion. Gaf joined the Rock and again found nothing to trouble him until again a schoolboy error saw Gaf depart, run out. This brought Anil to the crease who batted superbly first with the Rock and then a great partnership with Jilesh until they both fell to brilliant catches. The rest of the boys came and went, Billy being most notable for his positivity. We were bowled out for 187 - Never enough. The opening bowler sledged Stavmeister whilst Stav was partnering Beefy. At close of our innings Beefy explained to the opener that his words were unnecessary. He eventually apologised and the matter was closed.

We bowled some average stuff, Northern produced a few jaffas, and fielded like a Stevie Wonder XI. - Nuff said - We were rubbish and deserved to lose. Having said this, even considering how bad we were, we could have still gained a losing draw if we had taken our chances -Old Actonians are not as good as they think they are and we will not play like that against them next time.

Congrats to Anil and Jilesh for saving us some face.

This was our first defeat in 48 games - A record to be proud of, its just a shame that we played so poorly to allow such a defeat.

Big Ray was his usual unflappable self and performed admirably.

Team: Beefy, Khazi, Jilesh, Anil, Dom, Stav, Gaf, Zac, Northern, james and Billy

3rd XI vs. Teddington

Report by: Linserd Miller

Edmonton made the long trip across London to play Teddington. It was an adventurous journey, all that can be said, is thank heaven for satellite navigation system.

The coin was tossed and the captain called correctly, after such a long journey, the captain decided it would be better if the team field first, he therefore asked Teddington to bat.

The bowling was opened by Thomas and Britz, Thomas was a bit wayward, bowling some good balls, but also some very ordinary ones. Britz on the other hand bowled an excellent line and length moving the ball both ways with late movement. The pressure that Britz created was being eased by the some very ordinary bowling by Thomas.

The first wicket fell at 21, however, prior to that unfortunately several easy chances were put down by Burger. He had a really bad day in the field and put down 4 easy catches. Apparently the captain was heard muttering that Burger could not even catch a cold.

Thomas was replaced by McArthur who immediately found an excellent line and length and troubled all the batsmen. In tandem, Britz and McArthur contained the batsmen; the second wicket fell at 54. This then opened the floodgate and before you could say, 'how is that' Teddington were 81 for 7. The captain had to remove Britz from the attack as he had pulled a muscle. Britz was very unlucky in that he only took 2 wickets, but he had bowled 10 overs for 13 runs and 2 wickets.

Maish took over from Britz and bowled a very tight line to keep up the pressure on the batsmen, while at the other end McArthur continued to bowl well and took wickets on a regular basis. McArthur ended with 5 wickets and the Captain was heard shouting, McArthur is in my fantasy league side, he is getting me a lot of points today, so I do not think I will bowl as I am not in my fantasy league team.

After an excellent bowling performance by the Edmonton bowlers, Teddington was dismissed for 106.

It was now Edmonton's turn to bat and the Captain reminded his batters to take care as the ball had been swinging around all day and they need to be careful and graft for the runs. The Captain might as well have told them to go and try and win the game in ten overs as this was certainly the approach that the batters appear to be taking. Edmonton was 13 for 3 before an electric kettle could boil a cup of water. Both openers had been bowled, Crawford and Burger, going for attacking shots. It is rumoured that Burger was told, he could not catch a cold and he could not hit a cricket ball with a barn door, yes Burger had a bad day at the office. Bennett made up the trio of batsmen who did not give the scores writer's cramp.

The two Dave's (Smithy and Baker) were now batting together and finally we had 2 batsmen who realised the need to apply themselves as the Teddington bowlers were using the overcast condition to move the ball around and were bowling very well. Both batsmen played sensibly taking singles and rotating the strike. The scoring rate was very slow; however, they were keeping their wicket in tact. Smithy was eventually LBW for a well made 19, in very difficult situation.

Panchal, replaced Smithy and quickly realise the need to bat carefully and together with Baker, push the total near the winning mark. Impatience eventually got the better of Baker, and he played a rash shot and was bowled for a well made 29. The fall of the wicket brought in Britz who realised the need for patience and batted sensibly, however with 4 runs required, the need to hit a winning boundary got the better of Britz and he was stumped trying to hit the ball into the next county.

Edmonton eventually stumbled over the winning line for the loss of 6 wickets, taking 30 overs to get the 107 runs required to win. Panchal was not out on 19 at the end, he played a very mature innings and the saying that the 'young man has an old head on his shoulder' aptly described the mature way he played.

Team: Miller, Crawford, Burger, Bennett, Smith, Baker, Panchal, Britz, McArthur, Maish, Thomas.

2nd XI vs. Bessborough

Report by: Pat Carr

Is it on or off was the early morning question on everyone's lips.

We wanted to put things right after last week's wretched performance.

The rain abated albeit temporarily and a decision was taken to commence at 2.30 and reduce the match to 80 overs and start the last hour at 6.45

We won the toss and elected to field, surprise surprise!

We got underway and the heavens opened, closed, opened and closed again. Fortunately we managed just one quick dive for cover before a full match was possible.

Monster opened up with the Rock. It was not a track for Monster and he was relieved after two overs. It's a tribute to his team spirit for the way he accepted the decision. Beefy took over. The slower bowling was much harder to put away. The oppo were 50ish for no loss but were now struggling. The opening bat was very solid. The overs were quickly ticking away and the pressure was starting to get to Bessborough. Wickets started falling, Khazi the Kat claiming the opener with a second attempt stumping from the Rocks bowling. Beefy started using his leggy to great effect and had the batsmen in all sorts of trouble. The score ambled to 90 for 4 and we were looking good. Again we did not perform well in the field, three dropped catches and some loose ground fielding let us down. Having said this, we stuck to our task well and with some very good bowling from Stav, Anil, Beefy and Rock we kept the oppo to 162 for 9 off 48 overs.

We needed 108 for a winning draw, we would get 32 overs in return but we wanted the full 10 points, this meant scoring at above 5 an over.

Tea was had and Beefy had a team talk. The gist was that it was in our hands and individuals had to take responsibility and not rely on others.

The rock dropped down the order due to his extended bowling spell. Massif Asif opened with Khazi and the score ticked nicely along until Massif was bowled with the score on 40ish. Anil joined Khazi and both set about despatching the bowling, which has to be said was not the best Bessborough are capable of delivering, to all parts. The 108 was reached in the 20th over and the winning total was reached in the 27th over without further wickets being lost. Khazi still after his elusive league century was not out 96.

A good performance in general but our catching and ground fielding needs to improve dramatically.

This was a great 10 pointer considering the other teams, as far as we are aware, did not play and only get 1 point each.

Thanks for all the encouragement from the abandoned games players who supported until they departed to get hammered with Roachy and his Good Lady! Congratulations mate and good luck from all of us!

Big Ray held his end admirably!

Team: Rock, Beefy, Khazi, Billy, Monster, Stavmeister, Jilesh, Anil, Zac, Jimmy and Massif .

1st XI vs. British Airways

Report by: Alan Barnard

With a slightly unlucky loss, a good solid draw, and a rain-affected abandonment to our names, the First XI found themselves on 40 points in joint 6th in the first division on the Trailfinders Middlesex Championship. In fact, the team that we shared 6th place with were none other than British Airways, who were the visitors to Hydeside this weekend, for a game which historically has served up something of the unexpected; from Airways amassing a huge 300+ score to us grabbing an unlikely 10 run win away from home 10 seasons ago.

The usual preparations were made for a home game, with the majority of the team turning up early for net practice (I think we should spend some time on the fielding next time boys), and a good session was had by all with the newly rejuvenated bowling machine (good work Camber). More unusual was the toss, which the skipper won for the first time this season, and wasted no time inserting BA into bat, despite no recognised slow bowler in the side.

A great deal of time was spent before the game by the skipper and senior members of the team in driving home the fact that we needed to get through our overs quickly. Those bowlers with a longer run-up would have shorter spells, and we would rely on the bowlers with a quick turnaround more this game than we had done previously. A patchy start from Matty by his high standards led to him being replaced by Northern after just 5 overs, whilst Doddsey was swapped for Jaya at the same time as Wills looked to rotate.

Before this took place, it seemed that Airways had decided to send out two pinch hitters to open up, as they were less interested in classical defence, and more inclined to try to crash anything on offer, straight or not through the mid-wicket region. With the wicket offering a little more assistance to the bowlers than usual early on (without doubt a good thing), this gamble backfired, as Doddsey produced a straight one to win an LBW, and a fantastic diving catch from Jaya in the gulley earned Matty a wicket.

Unfortunately this brought in one of the best batsmen in the league, who played some cracking shots, crashing anything short to the boundary, and easing anything over pitched the same way. It was looking to be a long afternoon when Jaya was swapped for Wills, and Northern was replaced by Mini at the top end, as the score was racing along at around 7 an over, and we were looking a score of 350 in the face. This is where the game was to take its first twist.

Gradually, but noticeably, Wills started to take a grip with his seamers, stating that the only place to bowl was at the top of off stump. The ploy worked well, and the free-scoring batsmen were disciplined enough to swap attack for defence, and the run rate gradually slowed. With a couple of decent shouts for LBW turned down, Wills was looking the part from the bottom end, as the run rate dropped below 6 for the first time.

Gavin from the top end was bowling some excellent deliveries, but anything off length was punished for four or six… it was a hard spell for him, but he stuck to his job admirably, finishing up with 19 overs 2 for 99. The key factor was the fact that he was flying through his overs, something that was not lost on the senior team members, who knew that at this rate, we'd be looking at more like 50 overs in return, compared with the usual 45.

The game was turned round by the skipper, who finally got his man, LBW, and then the next over backed his top of off stump call up by bowling the next man, clipping the top of his off stump - excellent control. This gave us the lift we needed, as a few overs previously, things were getting a little bit agitated at drinks, as we knew the game wasn't going as well as it could be. The rest of the BA innings was plain sailing, with a few wickets going down, and their number 7 playing a perhaps overly patient innings to finish up with 48 not out. This was interesting, as Airways had set their stall on 250 being a good score, it seemed, but we knew we had the batting to certainly mount a challenge on this.

After Danny Hare took the last two over from the bottom end, the skipper taking himself off after a truly fantastic spell of 14 overs 3 for 32, BA wound up on 254-8 from 55, and we knew we were in the hunt if we batted well, especially given our excellent over rate. The batting order was decided, and we set ourselves to have a pop at chasing the total down, but after 10 overs, we were looking more like trying to salvage a draw, with 3 wickets falling for next to nothing, as Venki was dismissed controversially off what appeared at first glance to be a bump ball. Gavin and Dave were shortly in the pavilion after rash shots to good balls, and Barney, who was mid banana after the 3rd wicket was out at the crease before he could finish his pre innings snack to join Ses.

Things were looking ropey at this stage, with a lot of playing and missing going on, but with Barney and Ses knowing that they had a lot of overs to play with decided that the only way to victory was survival in the short term. With a few slightly derogatory mid-over yawns from the opposition at our slow progress, and a required run rate of approaching 8 things were not looking promising and it seemed that Airways were heading for the lions share of the points.

Ses had other ideas however, and coupled with the more cautious Barney began to force the pace a little after the two man survival show of a few overs previous. With a couple of 12's in a row, we had a little bit of a springboard, and because of the crease occupation, we were now seeing the slightly older and less threatening ball well enough to play a few shots without taking too many risks.

At drinks, we needed 7.5 an over, and a brief chat with the skipper requested more of the same, but not to go mad. There were singles available, and the wicket was good enough to mean that any loose bowling would more than likely go for four. Ses, who was just short of his fifty commented to Barney as they walked back to the crease that a drinks break almost always results in a wicket. Barney replied that either that was going to happen, or one of us were going to go on the rampage. How right can one man be?

What followed was quite simply magnificent, and won the game. There was a seven over spell where Ses was untouchable. He began by hitting their spinner for three sixes, and then when he was replaced by the opening bowler in an attempt to stem the runs, he just pulled length balls with no effort at all for four. It was an impossible task to bowl to him, and Barney, sensing the momentum was swinging the way of the E-Unit rotated the strike to give Jaya maximum exposure to the ball. As the field spread, the quick singles came, and the ones were turned into twos. There was no yawning in between overs from away players (or the home contingent for that matter) by this stage, as it was well and truly game on.

With things looking good in favour of Edmonton, and Ses on 99, Barney told him not to look at the scoreboard. He did, presented the simplest of caught and bowled chances, and thus ended an innings which was more deserving of a hundred than anything else that I've seen recently. It was game back on, and Airways knew that another wicket at this stage could get them out of jail, and put some pressure back on Edmonton. Barney knew this all too well, and was shitting it, but knew full well that he was never going to give his wicket up, and instructed Herron to do the same.

Herring did a top job of moving the strike along, and raced to 34 in no time, with some cheeky running (a speciality with Barney) and some big hits, whilst Barney gaining in confidence again eased his way past fifty. Herron went with single figures needed, and Danny and Alan (75*) saw the team home to a memorable victory with several overs to spare. Quality.

You could tell how much it meant to the team by the shouting that was going on in the changing room. And when the 4th XI rolled in to announce that they'd pulled off an unlikely win, things got better. By the time we were in the bar, the 3rd XI were back after completing 3 out of 3, and all ears were glued to the phones as news filtered through of the 2nd XI against local rivals Winchmore Hill. With news that Anil Sharma's unbeaten 119 had seen them home, the party could begin, and when Kahzi popped back to join in the sing-song, drinking and general rowdiness.

Top night. Not much more to say. MoM, a close run thing, but Ses just about edges it from the skipper. Top draw fellas, and let's make sure there's plenty more of these days to come in the not too distant future.

Team: Willett, Venki, Mardell, D Hinnigan, Jayasena, Barnard, Herron, D Hare, Worton, C Dodds, Varley

2nd XI vs. Winchmore Hill

Report by: Pat Carr

Winchmore Hill - NO - Winchmore Nil

Most of the second XI have never played against WH so we didn't full understand the 'friendly rivalry' that exists between the two clubs!

We arrived at WH and were all very impressed, what a superb facility, only criticism is the bumpy outfield but that's getting too picky!

We had a chat prior to the match and agreed we had a very balanced squad, even without our quality skipper, Gafor, Stavmeister and a few others who deserve their place - Strength in depth or what?

Hurra!! We won the toss and put WH into bat.

The openers started steadily against Monster and Archer, who both bowled very well. A couple of edges went to the boundary but neither of the batsmen really got after us. Having said that, WH made a steady start and were 50 for no loss after 10 overs. The track was a batting paradise. Sunil replaced Monster and Anil took over from Archer. Our lanky spinner baffled everyone with his turn from the first ball as we watched it disappear at a rapid rate of knots to the fine leg boundary - Sunil bowled a long spell and ended on 19/3/37/2 Anil ended with figures of 3 - 39.

A long awaited return from lloyd was marked by some very accurate bowling, when WH should have been accelerating, they were contained, with the exception of a massive six, which left the earths atmosphere and now has its own orbit and weather system.

After the first couple of wickets, WH lost their way, possibly due to the fact that most of the team have not had to bat this season - Someone suggested that WH second XI rely on a couple of players to perform and have no real strength in depth - Interesting!

We made some fielding errors but in general we acquitted ourselves very well. WH declared on 50 overs with a score of 220. Declaring at the 50 over point negates the winning draw possibility for the team batting second. A great tactic if you have enough runs on the board. This was very gettable on this track, WH don't give teams in this league much respect. They have a superior attitude and in my opinion, a couple of their 'star' players think they are better than they actually are!!! - This was to prove their undoing!!!

We had a chat and I said that I fully expected to get this total, worst ways we take a point and a losing draw, we would not lose!!!

Tea was very average to say the least, maybe the fact that I was 8 minutes late and our gut buckets had scoffed most of it clouds my judgement somewhat!

WH took to the field in their very smart sponsored shirts and very purple caps - Gav would have loved one to go with his very hawaiian shirt.

Jilesh and Asif opened. The WH Streetyesque opener was ok and a young quickie was in action the other end. Asif took off his helmet after the first over and donned his cap. The quickie was quite sharp but very predictable. As soon as a run was scored off him, a bouncer followed. Jilesh was caught out when a short ball hurried him into a hook shot and he skied one - caught. Cometh the hour cometh the man, Anil the Anvil strolled out to the middle. The look of disbelief from the Streety style bowler when Massif despatched him with two consecutive cover drives was a sight for sore eyes. Unfortunately Asif's attempted hook, from young quickie, went from top edge into bridge of nose and a resultant 'V' style cut was tended to on the sidelines - Claret everywhere!!! Anil clipped a ball to mid wicket and was pretty much walking off until the simplest of catches was spilled - He did not give another chance - Catches win matches was never truer!

Asif retired injured which brought Sunil to join Anil - The run rate was never a problem and all the boys so far played some majestic shots. Sunil despatched the bowling and then had a horror moment as he played across the line and was bowled.

Khazi joined Anil and put his gloves and helmet next to him to take guard - "put your kit on before you take your guard you dickhead" was the exact welcome - Were they getting edgy so soon or was it still an affront that they had to waste a Saturday playing inferior opposition. A suitable response was given and we got under way again until two balls later Khazi was trudging back to the pavilion.

Big Beefy joined Anil and plays his usual good stuff. Beefy put on a great partnership with Anil until he was bowled for 12. The important thing was that he stuck around and gave Anil the opportunity to score freely. James came and went as did Dominic. Lloyd joined the fray and the runs kept coming. Anil achieved his ton with another superb shot and was applauded by the watching crowd and most of the WH players. We now needed 42 to win from 8 overs. With 2 wickets remaining plus Massif who had retired hurt earlier.

I think it would be fair to say WH were surprised at our batting strength.

Lloyd was caught behind. We now required 32 from 40 deliveries

All this time Massif was getting cleaned up and having a rest, there was no way he would not bat again if called upon. He was called upon sooner than he wanted to be but responded (Sunil as runner) with typical E's grit and determination. Asif partnered Anil brilliantly until he missed one and was bowled - Asif was magnificent to say the least.

With 14 runs required from 19 balls Archer arrived and immediately dispatched the bowler to the boundary - At this time, Herron,Northern,Doddsy and Big Chris all arrived to offer support - Thanks very much boys, it meant a lot to us!

Monster was on oxygen and valium at the prospect of saving the day - The truth is he was as calm as I have ever seen him and quite relishing the prospect if required.

10 from 18 required. A couple of dots bowled and two singles left us needing 8 from 12. The boys took a quick single and turned it into two with an over throw. Anil guided one past point and ran two - 4 needed from 8 balls.

A huge roar went up as Anil stroked the ball to the boundary for the winning runs - Oh my god!!!

We stayed around for a pint or two before heading back to Hydeside to carry on the motion. Hearing of the other XI's victories added to the enjoyment of the day. Insults were traded, songs were sung, beer was guzzled and fun was had by all -Top class.

Team Krap Khazi, Anil the Anvil, Asif the Warrior, Sunil the Speedy, Beedo the Bold , James the Justifier, Dom the Rock, Lloyd the Law Maker, Archer the Argonaut, Monster - the Mauler

3rd XI vs. Acton

Report by: Linserd Miller

Following last week's league match being abandoned without a ball being bowled, the players were looking forward to playing cricket again. The journey to Dukes Meadow to play Acton seems to take forever; it appears that every car in London was on the A406 for the Bank Holiday Weekend. Who invented Bank Holidays? It must have been invented by a car manufacturer (no prizes for the correct answer).

The Captain won the toss and asked Acton to bat, hoping that his frustrated bowlers would take out their frustration on the opposition batsmen. The Captain welcomed back Adnan on his first game this season by giving him the new ball, with Coombs operating from the other end.

The opening batsmen were very watchful and had a useful opening stand before the first wicket fell to Coombs. The fall of the first wicket appear to open the floodgates as Adnan; bowling a very good spell broke the back of the Acton batting. He took 4 early wickets and Acton appear to be struggling with less than 60 runs on the board and 5 wickets down, however, the 6th wicket pair had different ideas.

The opener was still at the wicket and at this stage he decided to change tactics, together with the new batsman, they decided to counter attack and went after the bowlers. Before, you could say, 'Change tactics' the batsmen were getting on top of the bowlers. The Captain made his only bowling change of the match taking off Coombs and bringing himself on.

The change immediately resulted in the fall of wickets, Acton being bowled out for 154. Adnan had match figures of 6 for 66, the Captain ending the game with 3 wickets.

Following teas, the Edmonton openers Crawford and Burger (yes) made their way out to bat. Unfortunately both openers did not last long, and before you could say 'good over' both openers were out, bowled. The openers were replaced by Smith and Bennett who eventually put on a 100 partnership, after initially struggling to get the ball anywhere near the middle of the bat.

After the initial period in which they struggled, both batsmen played to their strength, Smith unable to get the ball off the square and Bennett smashing the balls to all parts of the ground. Bennett contributed 80 runs in the 100 partnership, before he was caught trying to hit another boundary. Rumours have it, Bennett was trying to get a hundred before the wining line was crossed and also for not being selected in anyone's fantasy league team.

Baker replaced Bennett and together with Smith got Edmonton over the winning line, knocking off the few runs that were required.

Team: Miller, Crawford, Burger, Bennett, Smith, Baker, Goddard, Britz, McArthur, Coombs, Thomas, Adnan.

Enfield Six-A-Side Tournament (Monday May 30th)

Report by: Adam Herron

As 12:45 fast approached and the team made its way to Enfield's picturesque little ground there was a small fear that the day would be rain interrupted, however the dark clouds quickly disappeared and the bright sunshine came out and didn't disappear for the rest of the day.

A quick look at the order of play and we discovered that we were first into battle against Mayfield, whom it was fair to say appeared to be the whipping boys of the tournament. I lost the toss and we were put into bat, me and Dodgy opening up.

Second ball of the day was a slow beamer that I duly dispatched over the short leg side boundary just as a car was pulling into park. It was really bad timing for the driver as the ball landed straight on his back windscreen! The rest of the innings was fairly uneventful apart from some good batting from myself, dodgy and Danny Hare. We managed to get 60 odd on the board and were confident that we could defend that total. We did easily and our first points were on the board, Danny Hare the pick of the bowlers with his tight line and good length proving difficult to get away and he duly took a couple of wickets.

The next game was, in our opinion, going to be the toughest game as we faced Senators, a mixture of Enfield's best players and invited players. We again lost the toss and were put into bat. Things started badly when Dodgy went early on and so with myself joining the Hare at the crease knew the pressure was on us too get runs quickly. Hare called 2 and would normally have made it had he not hit it to a fielder who had had trials with a baseball team as a pitcher! Tilley, Senators skipper, remarked he was the wrong person to take on and with Gav Mardell joining me at the crease we again attempted a quick 2 and Gav was duly run out. Again Tilley made a comment and we struggled through to the end of the 5 over innings with a 6 in the last over from myself helping take the score to 54, which we felt was never going to be good enough. It has to be mentioned the big reason we got to 54 was because of Senators opening over which went for 27, most of them from 4 wides down the leg side!! Many thanks to big Eddie Barber, a former E's colt's player who clearly still holds a soft spot for the club!

We came out to bowl looking to make as much of a game of it as possible but realistically we felt it was a case of damage limitation. However, in the first over Ciaran bowled a decent line and length and made the openers, one of which was Tilley, work hard. The other opener called 2 and Mark 'I've got a big arm' Varley ran round from long off picked the ball up and launched it at the stumps as the rest of the team looked on. As Doddsy watched the ball he knew that it was either going to hit the stumps or kill him, fortunately for him it was the former and Tilley was run out and as Tilley trundled off I commented that he didn't want to take his arm on either!

The game really changed though when the Hare came on to bowl and he took a wicket and a run out while keeping the runs to a minimum. Needing 6 off the last ball I was slightly worried as it was Eddie Barber facing but Varley bowled a good length ball that the Hare fielded and we had won the game. We now felt that we could go on and win the tournament.

Next up was North Enfield who also had a couple of former E's colt's players in their ranks, Tom Miller and Ben Conway. We lost the toss and batted first, Dodgy again having to retire after reaching the magical 25 mark and we tallied up a high total of around 70 odd and the game looked to be ours. We bowled well and never gave them a chance of getting near our total. The highlight of the fielding was when Doddsy attempting to throw the ball over the stumps to me threw to far and Dodgy backing up threw the ball at the stumps and with a direct hit saw the batsmen stranded. This win meant that due to other results we were guaranteed a place in the much coveted final.

For our fourth game we were up against Enfield who had also beaten Senators and so we knew should they beat Mayfield in their last game would be joining us in the final. This game was our worst as we knew there wasn't anything to play for and with some lax batting saw us falling way short of the total set by Enfield. We knew that if we wanted to beat them in the final we would have to raise our game.

Results went the way they were expected and so it was Enfield Vs Edmonton in the final.

Their skipper, Higgsy being the gentleman he is let us choose what we wanted to do and we again opted to bowl first and hoped to keep their runs to a minimum. Doddsy opened up as usual and was unlucky to see a couple of his balls go for four off the edge of James Gatting's bat and ended up going for 16. Not a good start and with Gav 'Pro Performance' Mardell going for about 24 in the first game against Enfield we needed him to bowl medium pace rather than his usual off spin. He did a decent job but went for 14 and so after 2 overs and 30 on the board we feared the worst. However Dodgy came on and only went for 6 runs, 36 off 3, and the Hare who had bowled exceptionally well all day only went for 5 and took his 5th wicket of the day. 41 off 4 and we now felt control had been regained with Varley to bowl the last over. Higgsy was batting with 'Jumbo' Gatting and knew he had to get as many runs as possible and started to take risky runs, the biggest one being a single as jumbo played and missed but Higgsy decided to run even though the ball came through into my gloves. I duly under arm threw the ball to Varley standing at the stumps at the other end and he ran 'Jumbo' out. As he waddled off his dad came to the non strikers end and Higgsy looking to make it a one two called a quick 2 to Gav 'Golden Arm' Mardell, who although never had trials with a baseball team is an avid watcher of the Red Sox, and he launched the ball in to the non strikers end and watched in disbelief as the stumps and bails went flying everywhere! Gatting didn't even face a ball, cue massive cheers from the players and also by the ever present Edmonton faithful, some of whom were well oiled from drinking throughout the day! "Gavin Mardell, Gavin, Gavin Mardell," came the cries. A couple of loose deliveries from Northern however saw Enfield take the total to 54, Higgsy hitting a 6 off the last ball of the over prompting 'Jumbo' to comment, "come on, lets beat these c*nts, they're sh*t!!". Ray Dodds who had heard this comment and was clearly fuming had to be calmed down by Ricky 'I don't want no trouble' Smyth.

Having not had the best innings in the previous game I decided it would be wiser for the Hare and Dodgy to open up with myself at number 3. This ploy came off almost immediately with the Hare dispatching the first ball of the innings for a classy looking 4. Cue loud cheers from the Edmonton massive and the now familiar chant, "Danny Hare, Danny, Danny Hare". Not to be outdone, Dodgy also started well and also hit some nice stokes and a couple of nice fours. However, these sorts of games always seem to create heroes out of people and it was to be Danny 'The Six Machine' Hare who stepped forward. First of all he hit Higgsy into the tennis courts and also served an ace in the process! And then secondly he straight drove the ball out of the ground and through the front window of a car! Everyone in the ground was applauding and the Edmonton massive was going mental. He eventually fell to a catch on the boundary but had inflicted a massive amount of damage to Enfield's total and made my job at number 3 much easier than it might have been. We still had a job to do and some good running and some nice strokes, particularly a straight drive over the bowlers head for 4 from me and it was left to Dodgy to hit the winning runs of Mike Gatting which he did and a great victory for the E's regaining the trophy that we had won in 2002.

I'd just like to thank all the players: Adam 'Captain' Herron, 'Dodgy' Dave Hinnigan, Mark 'Northern' Varley, Ciaran 'Ladies Man' Dodds, Danny 'Six Machine' Hare, Gavin 'Bukakke' Mardell and Danny 'Ginger Whinger' Muschamp.

My player of the tournament has to be Danny Hare for his quality bowling throughout all the games and his batting heroics in the final.