MCCC vs. BK XI 21st May 2006
Match Played at: 'Home Pitch 3'
Match Played home or away: 'Home'
Weather: 'Cold and windy'
Toss won by: 'MCCC lost toss and bowled first'
Pitch Condition:'Wet and spongy'
Match Format: 'Overs Game (40 per side)'
MCCC Total:'147 all out'

MCCC Batting Order:'1 S Pervez
2. M Bartram
3. G Patel
4. H Patel
5. J Ware
6. R Capitao
7. A Malik
8. M Scott
9. C Brown
10. A Jarrett
11. S Vickery'

Notable batting performances:
'Mark B got us off to a flyer with a quick-fire 21 before being caught in most spectacular fashion at mid-on. The rest of the runs were fairly evenly spread with Girish and Azam standing out for their run rate on what was quite a difficult pitch to get the ball away on. The tail “wagged” to get us frustrating close …but no cigar. A special note for gutsy performance from Mikey who retired hurt after wearing one on the chin and then went back out to continue in last pairing.

Oppostion Total: '148 all out'

Notable Bowling performances:
'Our bowlers performed well on an unresponsive surface – especially so since all our pace attack seemed to be carrying injuries which brought their speed down from “Glen McGrath” to “Rory McGrath” !

A very impressive pair of “caught and bowled” from Roy – who if he hadn’t caught the first one would have been wearing the ball in A&E over the weekend

M Scott- 6-3-22-1
A Malik- 5.2-0-31-3
R Capitao- 8-0-29-2
A Jarrett- 8-1-29-2
G Patel- 5-0-17-1
S Pervez- 2-0-15-0'

Match Result: 'MCCC Lost by 1 run'

Champagne moment:
'Ensing argument when Cuan" Sledge" Brown was bowled by a beamer. He ducked as the ball dipped over his head and hit the top of the stumps. Bowler had been no balled and a heated debate on the laws of cricket ensued. For all those concerned a full toss passing the batsman at waist level is a no ball, not over the shoulder or past the wicket. Mr Brown repaired his hair do which had been parted by th seam of the ball as it flew over his head. Indeed an impressie athletic display by Cuan who managed to limbo under the head seeking rocket which was the ball '

MCCC Man of the Match: 'Mike scott for his brave return to the fight.'

Additional Comments about match:
'It was wet and cold. The anti-podeans in the team were making it clear that this wasn’t the sort of weather they’d usually go fishing in let alone play cricket …and they talk about whingeing poms?

It WAS wet and we were lucky that it cleared up a bit when we went in to bat. However it was a good game played in the best spirit.

MCCC stuck to their task and kept BK XI down to 148 which after their openers run rate (started at around 5 an over seemed) a good result. I say “148” – but their book seemed to show a random number generator approach with at least three possible totals of between about 143 and 150 !

Our run chase started well and we had hoped to pick up the pace with our secret weapon combination of Roy and Aza surreptitiously slipped in at no. 6 and 7. Our chances took at knock when first one then the other went a little more cheaply then we’d hoped, Roy to a very unfortunate played on off his pads.

At 104 for 8 things got serious. Mikey took one on the chin and walked off a little groggily to find some ice and probably whiskey to go with it. This left the MCCC hopes riding on the 11th wicket stand …betting odds would have been “long”!

At 130 this came to an end after much reliance on leg-byes that 11th wicket stands depend so much upon. Mikey then came back and with no ill-effects picked up from where he had left off. With 3 overs remaining he fell gallantly looking for what we believed was the last 4 that we needed to win.

Post match drama only increased when after bringing in the auditors we found that we’d only actually lost by 1 run!

Sunday 14th may MCCC vs Hawley c.c
by Tony Hammond

With majid deputising for Gerry, and trying to keep our 100% sunday unbeaten record, losing the toss, and being put in the field. roy and craig, starting off the bowling, restricting the oppo to 25 off of 14 overs for 3 wkts, majid taking a great
catch under severe duress from a fast approaching tony. a change of bowling brought jim and satish on, with a fantastic showing from satish taking 5 wkts for 10 runs in
a paltry 5 over spell. graham & tony got an over in before satish finished off the oppo with a run out. hawley with only 10 men all out for 58. with it being a timed game they decided to let us go straight into bat before having tea,matt and steve got us off to a flying start with matt being caught at sq leg by a sub fielder(the one & only brian "gazelle" douglass) who was helping out while their man put the tea's on. 41 for the first wkt, only needing another 18 runs majid went in to assist steve, who belted his way through the bowling to finish the match off inside 12 overs.

Champagne moment: majid holding the catch under pressure from tony
m.o.m 5 wkt star + 1 catch + run out satish vishwanathan

Form data

MCCC vs Kingston Methodists
1. Opposition Name: 'Kingston Methodists'
2. Match Played at: 'Taunton Avenue'
3. Match Played home or away: 'Home'
4. Date of match: '05/13/2006'
5. Weather:'Overcast '
6. Toss won by:'MCCC lost toss and put into bat'
7. Pitch Condition: 'Damp but firm'
8. Match Format: 'Overs Game (40 per side)'
9. MCCC Total: '219 - 5'

MCCC Batting Order:
1. Mark Bartram
2. Suleman Pervez
3. Azam Malik
4. Roy Capitao
5. Gerry Coetzer
6. Jadid Khan
7. Harris Khan
8. Krishna Murali
9. Chris Whitfield
10. Steve Vickery
11. Andy Jarret'

11. Notable batting performances:
'Who scored the runs?

Gerry Coetzer - 87
Suleman Pervez - 67
Azam Malik - 34

'
12. Oppostion Total:'121 - 10'
13. Notable Bowling performances:
'Who got the wickets?

Gerry Coetzer - 3
Chris Whitfield - 2
The rest of the wickets were shared out between Andy, Roy, Chris, Krishna and Jadid

'
14. Match Result: 'MCCC won by 98 runs'
15. Champagne moment:
'Harris Khan's wonderful diving catch at square leg off Andy's bowling

Gerry Coetzer humongous straight six which hit the top of a tree 4 miles outside the ground. What is his bat made of?'
16. MCCC Man of the Match:
'Gerry Coetzer for his outrageous 87 off 5 balls and 3 wickets'
17. Additional Comments about match:
'Any muppet moments?

Master Capitao cursing his luck that he couldnt get in to face possibly the oldest living cricketer in the history of the game, only to get in and out to him after........2 balls. Go on Roy!Appeared to satisfy all the major food groups and was pretty tasty to boot!

MCCC’s Saturday 1st XI played their first home fixture of the 2006 season at Taunton Avenue against Kingston Methodists under grey, overcast skies. Kingston won the toss and on what looked like a pitch that would assist the seam bowlers, they decided to bowl first.

Opening for MCCC were their specialist openers Suleman Pervez and Mark Bartram who strode to the crease with their usual confidence and gusto. Kingston’s opening bowlers maintained a good line and length and got a great deal of assistance from the pitch. Soon enough, Mark Bartram decided to take line and length out of the equation with a towering six off a pull shot that would have left Freddie Flintoff scurrying for the nearest air raid shelter. Unfortunately, Mark’s aggressive innings was cut short when he played on to a ball that pitched short of a length and then pea rolled under his forward defensive to tickle the leg stump.

This brought the explosive Azam Malik to the crease who was unusually kept quiet by some excellent seam and swing bowling from the Kingston seamers. Despite this Azam and Suleman managed to put on a good partnership which included Suleman being given run out by the square leg umpire although the other umpire had signalled 4 – Suleman clearly not out, continued to play on and made Kingston pay for their misplaced appeal. Despite 1s and 2s coming with regularity, the team management decided it was time to push on and sent the message to the batsmen to accelerate the run rate. Azam responded immediately by smashing 12 off the next over with some cracking on drives. Suleman, a proven top class player played more like a young Javed Miandad as he toyed with the Kingston bowling, cutting at will and using his wristy subcontinental technique to frustrate the Methodists no end.

Kingston soon introduced some spin into the attack and Azam deposited the first ball over the long on boundary for 4 before being bowled by the highest donkey drop since King Kong fell off the Empire State building. This brought the stylishly named Roy Capitao to the crease, who had patiently waited for his turn to obliterate Father Christmas’ loopy off spin. Roy defended the first ball confidently only to dance down the track and smash the next ball!......straight to deep cover. Yes Roy, it was the bat’s fault.

Gerry Coetzer’s trip to the crease was simply breathtaking. After deciding that running 1s and 2s was for the weak, he proceeded to savage the Methodists with a destructive display of brutal hitting. No one was safe, the pavilion, the spectators, the parked cars, everything and everyone was in grave danger. Gerry even tried to knock over a tree with one of his cracking straight drives. Note to self, watch Gerry bat from within the safety of a bunker. MCCC finished on 219 – 5. Suleman ended on a wonderful 67 runs before he was bowled and Gerry ended on 87, cruelly robbing himself of a sublime century by trying to hit one too many balls into the nearest low flying aircraft.

MCCC’s bowling and fielding performance was as imperious as their batting with the first Kingston wicket to fall in the first over. Despite playing with a career threatening shoulder injury, the pacy Andy Jarret picked up a wicket off his fourth ball with Haris taking an outrageous diving catch at square leg. Chris Whitfield followed up with some beautiful seam and swing bowling and with a tiny bit more luck would have ended up with a Five-for. Also, a special mention for Steve Vickery who took some blinding catches behind the stumps off Chris and also facilitated a cunning stumping. Kingston were never really in the hunt and lost wickets at regular intervals. Krishna, Jadid and Gerry all chipped in with wickets and Kingston were finally dismissed for 121.

A very enjoyable day’s cricket was had by all and the Saturday XI is now looking like a settled, consistent and determined team – this bodes well for the rest of the season.

Morden Corinthians v Woldingham Village Cricket Club at Woldingham Village Saturday 13th May 2006
Match Report by Vivek Sarohia
MCCC (109-6) beat Woldingham Village (108) by 4 wickets. More Photos



On what turned out to be a lovely spring afternoon, Vivek's Eleven recorded their first win of the season against Woldingham Village. Woldingham, in the depths of Surrey, had a picturesque little ground with a beautiful wicket. Being at the top of a hill also made it a lovely hike from the station for Brian Clifford and Ewan Cotter which I gather they enjoyed tremendously (not!)

Woldingham chose to play a timed game and after winning the toss, asked MCCC to bowl first. MCCC only had 10 players which made the task of fielding difficult, especially with one boundary so close to the square. However a fantastic performance in the field all afternoon from MCCC meant that runs were hard to find for Woldingham, with Brian Clifford and David Lumby carrying on from where they left off last week. Brian in particular used the spring conditions to his advantage, beating the bat consistently with his outswing. From the other end David was all guns blazing and soon Woldingham were 21-4, with two wickets apiece for Brian and David. Brian got one to nip back to trap their opener LBW for 13, following this up with a slower ball which their number 3 misjusdged, giving Ewan his first catch for the
club. David got the other opener with a brisk ball which their player nicked to keeper Vivek Sarohia and the number 4 tried to hit over the covers but mistimed his shot with Satish Viswanathan taking a good catch.

Woldingham's middle order proved to be a much stronger proposition and their number 5 particularly enjoyed his pull shot, three times hoisting the ball for 6 over the short leg side boundary and out of the ground. Luckily for the bowler concerned (who shall remain nameless) his match fees were not increased to cover for the lost balls! Craig Stewart and Satish Viswanathan, first and second change, proved however they were more than a match for them with their pace bowling, with Satish taking 3 beautiful wickets clean bowled, and Craig getting a caught behind and a clean bowled. This left Adil Javed to bowl his left arm spin at the tail enders and he made no mistake with his forth ball which their number 11 dragged on to his stumps to give MCCC a score of 108 to chase.

MCCC had half an hour to bat before tea, which they used to good effect with Girish Patel and Craig Stewart hitting some good shots to get the score to 36 without loss. After a lovely tea, 10 more runs were added before Craig got a ball which kept low off the spinner and he was adjudged LBW. Ewan got 2 runs before getting bowled, and Brian looked in good form before he played across the line to a straight ball. Woldingham were beginning to think they still had a chance when Girish was given LBW shortly afterwards. Imran Ahmad and Hemant Patel however helped steady the ship and put on 27 more runs before Hemant was bowled to leave MCCC 88 for 5. Adil Javed came to the crease and batted sensibly with Imran to get the score up to 105, leaving 4 runs for victory. Imran could see the end in sight and wanted to finish it with a four, but attempting a straight drive was caught by a good catch at mid off. It was therefore left for the captain Vivek to come out, and after Adil had hit 3 runs, he hit the winning run to give his team their first win of the season.

Overall a great performance in the bowling and fielding department set up this win and gave the batters a very good total to chase down. Hopefully the team can build on this and win many more games during the rest of the season.

Bowling:
Brian Clifford: 7-2-28-2
David Lumby: 7-1-24-2
Craig Stewart: 7-2-16-2
Satish Viswanathan: 7-0-25-3
Adil Javed: 0.4-0-3-1

Fielding (Catches):
Vivek Sarohia: 2
Satish Viswanathan: 1
Ewan Cotter: 1

Batting
Craig Stewart: 17
Girish Patel: 25
Ewan Cotter: 2
Brian Clifford: 8
Hemant Patel: 9
Imran Ahmed: 15
Adil Javed: 12*
Vivek Sarohia: 1*
David Lumby, Satish Viswanathan DNB

Morden Corinthians v Battersea Ironsides at Abbey Recreation Ground, Morden. 6-5-06
Match Report by Barik Choudhury
MCCC Umpire: Graham Pinkney.
Corinthians (85 all out) lost to Battersea Ironsides (86-6) by 4 wickets.
Match Photos

Torrential conditions gave way to the world’s first ever game of Water-Cricket.
Pads and Gloves were exchanged for Flippers and Snorkels. In such conditions, runs were scored in 1’s and 6’s as the pitch became so saturated that hockey sticks would have proven quite useful.

As a result a score of 120 would have proven a likely winning score. Corinthians could only manage 85, with the ever reliable Mr. Extras top scoring with 23, Vivek Sarohia managing a captain’s innings of 15, David Lumby 14, and Imran Ahmad 13.

Corinthians bowling from the outset was tight and accurate, Brian Clifford the pick with 4-29 and Chrirag Patel with 2-19. Brian could justifiably feel that a 5-for was there for the taking, however he was controversially denied a caught-behind early on, and on a hatrick ball saw the ball chopped a millimetre past the leg-stump.

The match could well have swung on such moments, as Battersea stuttered to 68-6 but by then Corinthians’ main 3 bowlers had bowled out their overs, and finding a fifth bowlers to support Girish Patel proved a struggle. An extra bowler, or an extra bit of luck may have enabled Corinthians to pull off a miraculous victory.

BATTING:
Girish Patel 2
Hemant Patel 2
Haris Khan (Wkt) 5
Vivek Sarohia (Capt) 15
Imran Ahmad 13
David Humby 14
Ewan Cotter 0
Barik Chowdhury 9
Chirag Patel 1
Brian Clifford 0*
Theo Moore 1
Extras 23
TOTAL 85 all out

BOWLING:
Brian Clifford 8-1-29-4
David Lumby 8-1-23-0
Chirag Patel 8-1-19-2
Girish Patel 2-0-6-0
Theo Moore 1-0-7-0
Vivek Sarohia 0.4-0-5-0

Amamorphics CC v MCCC Saturday 06 May 2006
Match format: Originally 40 overs - Rain reduced to 35 overs.
Toss: Amamorphics won and decided to bat
Tea: 7/10 (Honorable mention for the delicate samoosas)
Pitch: Very green, soft and a little longer than your average 22 paces.
Weather: Rain Rain Rain
MCCC match captain: Andrew Skip Jarrett
Result: MCCC, WIN by 9 wickets

On arriving the chaps noticed that the field was a rather interesting combination of a short 35m boundary (uphill) and a long SGC style 100m boundary (downhill). One would automatically assume that the batsmen would pick the short boundary to play their shots. However, the grounds man had counteracted the cunning boundary distances by leaving grass cuttings on the short boundary side. This prevented many glorious cover drives and turned 3's into 1's. The first drops of rain started as the opening bowler Mike Scott (2wickets for 16 runs in 6 overs) bowled his very first delivery, and immediately put a damper on the day’s events. This lead to a rain reduced game with a greasy outfield and a rather slippery piece of leather. Despite the conditions many of the players put their bodies on the line (and generally on the floor) in a good fielding display. However, many would have thought that a number of the players were re-enacting scenes from Disney’s Fantasia as the outfield was closer to an ice rink than a cricket ground. The champagne moment was some inspired captaincy, that lead to Andrew placing himself in the firing line and taking 2 amazing catches. Even the batsmen would concur that it left one wishing for those slow motion replays! The bowlers struggled with the wet ball, but Majid Rafiq with his controlled spin (3 wickets for 5 runs in 6 overs) and new joiner Chris Whitfield (2 wickets for 1 run in 1 over) wrapped up the tail in quick succession. Steve Vickery redeemed himself from some earlier chances, with a sharp stumping and a great run out (from Jason Dead Eye Dick Wares bullet return).

Facing 70 off 35 overs Mark Bartram and Suleman Pervez swam to the crease to get MCC's innings underway. The openers battled through some decent line and length bowling in the poor conditions and got MCC off to a steady and controlled start. By this stage the continuous rain had turned the wicket into a rugby pitch, and the ball was rearing to throat level from a length or staying low. Mark (on 10), whom was well set and playing some solid strokes, succumbed to a low delivery which managed to sneak through. Majid Rafiq joined Suleman and immediately set about reducing the deficit. Suleman managed to lose the sole of his shoe in the mud, but soldiered on, playing most of his shots on the front foot for a well deserved 24 not out. Majid, employing some classic front foot drives, square cuts and leg glances steered us to victory in the 22nd over for a solid knock of 38 not out.

Muppet moment goes to the lanky opposition opening bowler that was accosted from the side line by his fiery Italian girlfriend throughout his batting and fielding performance. Mate, in case you didn’t hear her message "She was off to the pub with your brother and would see you later".

Record-breaking Corinthians in the driving seat
By Steve O’Neil Ramsadeo

Westcott CC v MCCC
Match format: 40 overs.
Toss: MC batted, by agreement
Tea: 8/10
Pitch: soft, typical of early season
Weather: dry, cloudy.
MC match captain: Gerry Coetzer
Result: MC, WIN.

Two Club records were smashed on the May bank holiday weekend, as the Morden Corinthians opening batsmen racked up a partnership stand of 159, with the team going on to score a mammoth innings of 348 for 3.

Openers Brian Douglass and Steven Cummings, cruised confidently in building the score, stroking the ball with placement and power on a soft pitch which offered very little assistance to the bowlers. Predictably, the short boundary meant this was going to be a high scoring game. Indeed, the first wicket fell at 191, with Steven hitting an impressive ton, in which he scored a quick-fire second 50 that was dispatched in only 16 balls. Steven unselfishly retired, having made 101. Brian contributed with a diligent 73 before being caught in the covers. New Club member Satish Viswanatan (24) was joined by Majid Rafiq (96), who together piled on the runs, carving out a boundary-packed 125 partnership.

Wescott, which fielded a side comprising seniors and colts, worked tirelessly in the field, making some brilliant run-saving stops, but the total was a huge ask for such a predominantly young side, which ended their innings with a valiant 164 for 9.

The Corinthians matched their awesome batting with some solid fielding and bowling. The Champagne moment went to Steven Cummings for his diving catch on the off-side boundary. Not surprisingly Steven was named Man-of-the-Match for his excellent batting and fielding.

The previous highest Corinthians opening partnership was 157, held by Robin Hardwick and Brian Douglass, against Hindhead in 2003, and the highest Club innings was 274 in the nail-biter against Riverside in the 2004 season – both of these games ending in victories for MC.

MC CC team/batting order:Brian Douglass (Keeper), Steven Cummings, Satish Vishwanatwn, Majid Rafiq, Steve O’Neil Ramsadeo, Gerry Coetzer (Capt.), Craig Harper, Roy Cummings, Jim Patel, Tony Hammond, Graham Pinkney.

Form data

MCCC vs Netherne - Saturday April 29 2006

1. Opposition Name:
'Netherne CC'
--
2. Match Played at:
'Nertherne'
--
3. Match Played home or away:
'Away'
--
4. Date of match:
'04/29/2006'
--
5. Weather:
'Overcast '
--
6. Toss won by:
'MCCC won toss and bowled First'
--
7. Pitch Condition:
'Damp but firm'
--
8. Match Format:
'Overs Game (40 per side)'
--
9. MCCC Total:
'165/9'
--
10. MCCC Batting Order:
'1. M. Bartram 12
2. J. Calabro 6
3. H. Patel 2
4. G. Patel 17
5. N. Hughes 52
6. J. Ware 0 (golden)
7. R. Capitao 52*
8. C. Brown 3
9. A. Jarett (c) 0 (golden)
10. S. Vickery(wk) 0*
11. M.Scott (dnb)'
--
11. Notable batting performances:
'Who scored the runs?
N. Hughes (52) and R. Capitao (52*)'
--
12. Oppostion Total:
'190/9'
--
13. Notable Bowling performances:
'Who got the wickets?
M Scott (3/46)
G Patel (3/56)'
--
14. Match Result:
'Netherne won by 25 runs'
--
15. Champagne moment:
'Some glorious cover drives by N. Hughes and a timely return to form'
--
16. MCCC Man of the Match:
'N.Hughes and R.Capitao for brillant half centuries, curiously using the same bat'
--
17. Additional Comments about match:
'Any muppet moments?
R. Capitao attempting to hit the Netherne slow bowler out the park, only to land on his backside.

What was the tea like?
Standards raised from the previous week, with branson and cheese sarnies and the addition of malt bread'
--