Lamgas to the slaughter
By Jono Pettit
Morden Corinthians travelled to Warlingham on Sunday and promptly gave Lamgas a good roasting, recording a convincing 8 wicket victory.

Winning the toss, Charlie put the home team in to bat, but despite a typically tight opening spell from the skipper it was the Lamgas openers who took the early advantage with some hard straight hitting. It wasn’t long before spin was called upon to force a breakthrough. This shrewd piece of captaincy was the turning point of the game, as the two-pronged spin attack first penned Lamgas in and then slowly picked them off.

The tight off-spin of Leon provided an effective contrast to the flighty leg-spin of Tony. Suddenly chances were appearing. Catches were dropped, but heads weren’t and the MCCC fielding began to improve, spurred on by the steady hands of Tony and Charlie who caught an opener each, the latter removing the impressive McCarthy for 67.

Wickets continued to tumble. Tony bagged his first ever five-wicket haul for the Corinthians with a deceptively slower delivery that fooled everyone, including himself, to dismiss the dangerous Bhatti. Jono replaced Leon with more of the same spin and, with the aid of some fine catching from Charlie and Keith, polished off the innings with four wickets. From 103 –2, to 158 all out – somehow reminiscent of a few Corinthian-style collapses!

MCCC’s reply saw Robin fall early. His replacement, Jono, seemed content to play and miss whilst supporting Brian, who looked typically solid at the crease, in more ways than one! A steady partnership ensued laying the foundation for victory.

After some punchy cover drives, Brian was eventually bowled by a snorter from Bhatti for 36, bringing Leon to the crease. From there on in, the two Corinthian batsman seemed to be as much in competition with each other, as to who could hit the hard shot, as they were the bowlers! Both batsmen bludgeoned 4’s and 6’s to every part of the ground (including four consecutive 6’s from Jono) as MCCC romped home to an easy 8 wicket victory with 12 overs to spare

Also Worthy of a Mention:Bowling: Batting:
Tony Hammond 5 – 61 Jono Pettit 73*
Jono Pettit 4 – 9 Brian Douglass 36
Leon 1 – 33 Leon 34* *not out
Charlie Cowburn 2 catches

Champagne Moment:Keith Pilgrim’s catch: No one thought he’d catch this one. Least of all him!

For the Record Batting Order
John Fisher Lamgas v MCCC Robin Hardwick
MCCC won by 8 wickets Brian Douglass
23rd May 2004 Jono Pettit
Friendly - Time Game Leon
Toss won by MCCC Steve O’Neil
Pitch Condition: Good. Dry and flat with even bounce Charlie Cowburn
Weather: Fine and Dry Jim Patel
Match Captain: Charlie Cowburn Keith Pilgrim
Graham Pinkney
Ali Herat
Tony Hammond

MCCC v's Old Manhattans 22 May 2004 @ Long Ditton Rec

Another good weekend of weather saw Morden Corinthians Saturday XI get their second win of the season against Old Manhattans. Andy Fletcher winning the toss elected to field first in a timed game. Steve O'Neil and Jess Sharling were opening the attack for MCCC with Vic Luis not available. Steve O'Neil continued from last weeks impressive seam bowling spell to strike immediately, when a sharp catch was taken at slip. This was the sign of things to come. Steve O'Neil ripped though the top and middle order to claim figures of 6-26. MCCC rookie, Krishna Murali, flighting the ball beautifully took the remaining four wickets in a spell of 4-19, leaving MCCC 88 to win.

Abdul Hussain and Brian Douglass started the run chase in brisk fashion. The first wicket to fall was Brian Douglass who played onto his stumps off slower ball. By this time, Abdul Hussain was well set, smashing 19 runs in one over. Abdul looked certain to take MCCC through to the finish however was bowled out by Beamish on 41. Majid Rafiq and Mark Bartram completing the job to take MCCC to an 8 wicket win.

MCCC Bowling Figures
Overs Maidens Runs Wickets
Jess Sharling 8-1-21-0
Steve O'Neil 15-7-27-6
Krishna Murali 10.1-1-19-4
Pinkney 3-0-5-0

MCCC Team: Abdul Hussain, Brian Douglass, Mark Bartram, Majid Rafid, Imran Ahmad, Andy Fletcher, Steve Vickery, Krishna Murali, Steve O'Neil, Jess Sharling and Graham Pinkney.

Photo Link
Brian and Abdul going out to bat

MCCC v's Morden Parish Saturday 15 May 2004 @ Cheam Park Won

On the hottest Saturday of the year so far Morden Parish won the toss and put MCCC into bat for this limited overs game. The match was at Cheam Park - One side of the field had a very short boundary with the other side having a big tree before boundary line!

Viv Sharma and Andy Fletcher got MCCC off to a solid start on a difficult batting wicket as the Cheam Park pitch was still somewhat spongy. First wicket to fall was that of Viv Sharma (9 runs) when he was bowled by the Morden Parish opening bowler, Seargent. Brian Douglass, who's had a sparse season by his standards, was again very unlucky, smashing an uppish drive to a one-handed diving catch in the covers. By this stage MCCC were 23-2 after 8 overs. Morden Parish's over rate was much slower than expected but Majid Rafiq in his usual number four slot starting moving things along, restoring confidence in the batting. Next to go was the Skipper, Andy Fletcher, who gave a catch whilst trying to be more aggressive as the run rate need to be picked up. Imran Ahmad was the number 5 and ably provided support for Majid who managed to plunder 42 runs in no time whatsoever before playing onto his stumps. Krishna Murali, was making is debut for MCCC, played a couple of lovely cover drives before being stumped on 8. Whilst the wickets started to tumble at one end, Imran held on to score when the opportunity allowed finishing on 50 n.o. The MCCC innings finished on 149-9.

Opening the bowling for MCCC was Steve O'Neil and Vic Luis. First blood was to Steve, who was getting the ball to move off the seam with safe-handed Brian Douglass diving superbly at gully to take a half chance. Steve's impressive line and length mixed in with a bit of variation did the trick! Vic although bowling well at the other end wasn't able to match Steve's 4 wickets. Graham was first change and made an immediate impact signaling a middle order collapse. A brief resistance by Anwar of Morden Parish held up the inevitable. Majid and Krishna rapping up the tail.

A great team performance to register the first win for the Saturday Team.

Bowling Overs-Maidens-Runs-Wickets
V Luis 7-3-6-0
S Oneil 9-3-24-4
G Pinkney 6-0-20-4
T Hammond 3-0-24-0
M Rafiq 2-2-0-1
K Murali 2-0-7-1

Team (batting Order): 1.Viv Sharma, 2.Andy Fletcher (Captain), 3.Brian Douglass, 4.Majid Rafiq, 5.Imran Ahmad, 6. Krishna Murali 7.Steve O'Neil 8.Vic Luis, 9.Tony Hammond, 10.Steve Vickery (WKT) 11. Graham Pinkney

Photo Links from game

Majid Departs
Imran hits out
Majid running between the wickets
Steve Vickey taking a break
MCCC Team photo @ Cheam park

MCCC surrender to Crossbats
Match report to follow

FOR THE RECORD

Match: Barnes United v MC CC. Date: 17 April 2004
Toss: MC fielded, by agreement. Match format: 35 overs
Pitch: soft with uneven patches. Weather: sunny and mild
MC match captain: Viv Sharma.

How SAD was that…


By Steve O’Neil Ramsadeo

Sadly, a distinct lack of spring and inspiration in the Morden Corinthians batting was evident early on in its innings, as the team chased the 163 runs set by Barnes United on a wonderfully warm sunny day for the time of year.

Although Corinthians' batting was a huge improvement on the previous match, some of its players were obviously still shaking off the affects of Seasonal Affected Disorder (SAD) as they took to the field of play. However, players’ reflexes soon awakened as the ball fizzed along the lush outfield.

The home side, batting first, started well, pushing the score up steadily before the first breakthrough by Corinthians ‘flipper’ specialist Graham Pinkney. Field placing was adjusted for each batsman but the majority of catches offered were frustratingly just short or wide of the fielder.

Both teams had to cope with a soft, uneven ground, which called for some hard running between the wickets. The Barnes’ batsmen were alert in picking off the singles. However, Corinthians pressed on resolutely, with bowlers Vic Luis and Majid Rafiq also grabbing a share to the total five wickets claimed in the 35 overs.

Steve Herat, going in at number four, stuck around and became the one beacon of hope in the top order of the Corinthians batting. The left-hander glanced, swept, and chipped the majority of his scoring shots on the leg-side, carving out a gritty 41 before being caught, driving the ball to mid-on.

While Steve H delivered a solid performance, the majority of the Corinthians batsmen were not in the zone. They needed a more measured approach in their stroke play if the team was to have a good chance of passing the target. Alas, Corinthians was bowled out for 135.

Viv Sharma, in his debut as Morden Corinthians skipper, deputising for captain Andy Fletcher, directed the team confidently and effectively on the field. According to Viv, reaching the total was within our capability. However, he added that it was the elusive extra 25 runs or so that Corinthians needed early on in the innings which would have made for a closer finish, particularly if our key batsmen had performed to their usual potential.

ALSO WORTHY OF A MENTION

Batting:
Tushar Wadhwa on his club debut scoring an adventurous 17.

Catches (2 in the outfield):
A volleyball-style assist by Vic Luis fielding at short mid-off, with the ball deflecting out of his hands and travelling over his head into Viv’s waiting palms.

Tushar kept his nerve to hold a lofted ball at deep mid-on, inches inside the boundary.

Team/batting order:
Andy Spencer, Viv Sharma, Majid Rafiq, Steve Herat (keeper), Steve O’Neil Ramsadeo, Nitin Anandkar, Vic Luis, Tushar Wadhwa, Jim Patel, Tony Hammond, Graham Pinkney.

Result: Morden Corinthians lost

-Ends-