20Twenty versus Green mambas
Oppo- 140-6 from 20
Morden 141-7 from 19.5 overs
Morden Won the toss and bowled

The 20Twenty mob arrived on a less than balmy evening to do battle with the Mambas. On arrival the author was met by Steve Cummings who calmly pointed out that a certain South African test and one day bowler was playing for the oppo. After the laughter died down the reality of the situation set in as the guy that Steve was pointing at did actually bear a remarkable resemblance to the SA cricket player. The author did a quick check and discovered that he did have his helmet (which had never been used before).

Anyway, the game proceeded with Roy “Campfire “Cummings choosing to bowl. His thinking being that maybe we could soften the ball up which would ease any bodily damage inflicted by the SA bowler waiting in the wings. We could only imagine what was going through his head as he witnessed Mordens finest running around in the field slagging each other off. Andy bowled a decent first over and was devastated not to have an lbw go his way. Tush came on and found out the hard way that bowling short to Saffies does not usually end in wickets but rather boundaries and lots of them. Tush convinced the batsmen were edging him for six, although the straight sixes may have exposed the flaw in his theory. The mambas batsmen started to open up and thrash the bowlers around. Roy frantically chasing the ball with the fielders and shouting at them if they were not spot on his mark, The oppo were 45 off the first 5 overs. After witnessing this, the other morden bowlers suddenly developed hamstring problems and were not keen to bowl. The skip turned to Craig “ I can do it” Harper who proceeded to deliver an exceptional spell. Removing one opener then picking up 2 further sticks. Craig and Nick “I is a kiwi Superstar” Hughes then proceeded to bowl well and we were able to bring back the score to 70 odd from 10. The boys sensed that a chink in the armour had appeared and were fielding well. Steve taking two great catches. Some more tight bowling led to the freak that IS Roy taking a catch that defies belief. The sequence of events follows. Roy bowled short, the bat tried to hook it, toed it straight back to Roy. The ball arrived about 2mm above the ground on Roys follow through. Roy flung himself down and managed to flick the ball up with his finger. Lying flat on his back he then was able somehow to kick the ball up from the flick with his foot, jump up and catch the ball. Everyone was shocked at having witnessed the event. Kind of like observing a donkey show in Tijuana Mexico. Absolute amazement. More freaky stuff was to follow. The next bat hoiked Roy for what looked to be a six straight back over his head. The Bombay express on the boundary (aka Tush) raced around full pelt and thrust out his hand over the boundary in attempt to flick the ball back into play. However the ball stuck and tush proceeded to do a one legged hop along the boundary edge to prevent falling over the boundary. God knows what the Saffie star was thinking witnessing these freakish fielding acts. Anyway the mambas were pinned down now and if it was not for Roy getting caned for 20 off the last over then the boys would have been happy chasing the target. The author must mention that the straight six hot off of Roy was one of the largest seen at the club. The batsman who had yet to play a cricket shot nonchalantly pushing the ball straight back over Roys head and into the garden where the pikey fell out of the tree last year.

Anyway the mambas finished on 140. A good fight back from the boys. The oppo captain assured us that the SA cricketer would only be bowling as fast as their fastest bowler. This led us to question well if he is their fastest bowler then how fast would he be bowling? The boys donned the headwear and headed out. A decent start saw the team on 15 after the first 2. Steve smacking a six square of the wicket before getting out. Gerry hit some great shots before being done in by one bouncing on a length. Nick and Jason progressed the innings cautiously as the SA player was introduced. Jason flicking him off his pads for 4 and Nick nonchalantly smacking him straight back over his head for a boundary. This caused a bit of a stir as the lower order geezers were worried that the “kiwi meister “ would infuriate him and he would take his anger out ion the lower order boys. Jason was out for a great innings, closely followed by cumbejah Cummings. Morden were around the 100 mark by this stage with “Heffner” Hughes going strong. Craig wandered out to the square and wandered straight back. Hefner was joined by Andrew Jarrett who left the first ball and charged all and sunder sub sequentially. Unfortunately only connecting once. He even entertained the crowds with his jellybean backward dive into the crease. Aj and nick were running hard. AJ decided to play a cricket shot through the covers and was rewarded by being run out by Hefner. Hefner was next to go following a great knock of 39 odd. The tension was in the air with the boys needing 19 from 2. Ryan eased the tension by smacking 13 from the penultimate over including a great straight six. This left 6 from 6 for victory. The boys scampered a double followed by a streaky single. Andy A then pushed the second to last ball through the leg side and the boys ran like a pair of chimps at an all you can eat banana buffet. Scampering through for 3. Morden had won.

Great game against good opposition. The SA cricketer involved refused to respond to questions about the world cup semi final and instead chose the fifth amendment.

League versus Englefield Green
Played at Raynes Park
Mccc Won toss and batted first
291-6 39 overs
Oppo- 81 all out
Morden Won by 210 runs

The Morden league crew descended upon Raynes Park to further the league cause. Tension was high as the Mighty Saffies were playing some lot from a small Island down south somewhere in the Tri Nations. Even though it looked like rain was on the cards as well as some gale force winds, the boys arrived in shorts, t-shirts and slops assuming that the weather would be hot and humid followed by some showers. Oh well you know what they say abut assumptions being the mother of all …….. Our skip Gerry won the toss and choose to bat (although he philosophically mentioned that he did not call, and as such he did not win the toss but the oppo captain lost the toss) After this bit of wisdom some of the lads settled back to contemplate life, whilst the rest of the saffies and kiwis were seen scaling the fence nearby in a desperate attempt to get into the old Wimbledonian club house where showing the rugby.

Kalleem and Brian strode to the crease watched by Nick and Jason, the rest of the crew settling in to watch the rugby. The author did not witness the innings of either batsman as he was watching the rugby, so according to the scorebook Kalleem hit a devastating 77 and Brian was out on the 40s. Great start lads (SA 12- NZ6 at half time). Jason H and Nick H were in next. Nick was out for 14 after losing his rag and charging down the pitch. Some may say he was a bit to worked up by watching the Haka. Anyway he charged, got a huge edge and gave gully a nice catch. He strode off to listen to the saffies getting excited as the boys were now 19-9 up. Jason hit some great shots till the shot that he got out to when he was on 46. Great knock. In strode Steve “Ray Mears” Cummings and his brother Roy “Baden Powell “Cummings. Steve set up shop whilst Roy tried to smash the shop down. Both were distraught to see Andy Allan appear over the fence screaming like a price is right contestant who had just won the jackpot. Apparently the NZ team had somehow managed to beat the boks. Witnesses say the ref was seen pulling on an all black jersey for the final 10 mins and could be watched playing as an extra forward for the all blacks. The saffies were very silent on the sidelines whilst Nick H suddenly had some voice. The Cummings brothers were quite the sight to behold. Roy charging down the pitch whilst Steve stayed back and clobbered. Steve hitting 19 off an over including a windmill shot. Both were out with Steve getting caught in the 30’s and Roy getting done in lbw whilst trying to flick a straight one square. At this point the true batsman of the team arrived. Craig “If it walks” Harper and Andy “I didn’t know the rugby was on” Jarrett. Craig smashed a massive six and both looked in good touch to score a double century each off the last over. The rain came down and we all dashed off. Morden finishing on 291-6. Tea was served with 500 people crowded into an area that could hold 20. Someone ate all the sandwiches and mayhem ensued as people scavenged tea from other teams. Steve Vickery resorting to using a second hand teabag to satisfy his thirst. Some one slipped Steve Cummings a kit kat and the beast was awoken. The mouth going at 100 miles an hour. After a lengthy delay and serious doubt being cast as to whether we would resume, the game got under way again thanks to Roys secret stash of sawdust. Morden opening with Andy Allan and Craig “Hefner has nothing on me “Harper. Both bowled well in difficult conditions. Our skip dropping an easy catch off of Craig. Andy got the breakthrough and then picked up another. Craig followed suit with some great bowling. The team bowled well with Nick " I is a kiwi" Hughes grabbing 3 sticks with some devastating bowling. Andy " I is kiwi 2" , Craig " i bench press fat birds", Gerry " Not so sure in the slips" and Kaleem " I will appeal for anything" amongst the wickets. The first and second teams arrived to hurl abuse at us much to the confusion of the oppo. Jason H slyly fooled the batsmen into a run out. A bullet throw and quick work by Steve v (who took a great catch off of Andy) ensured the batsman was out. Andrew " sick note"J attempted some spin only to see the ball spinning over the boundary for six. The team fielded well except for Steve “ Sun in my eyes “ Cummings who dropped a sitter (must have been the sugar from the kit kat) and Gerry “ Jump up jump up and get down ” Coetzer . Never mind boys these things are never remembered or mentioned.

The oppo were out for 81. Good win and the boys went off for a few drinks.

MCCC Sat 1st XI v Red Cow (Away)

Lost by 6 wickets

After negotiating our way though what can only be described as apalling weather, the width restricted gate and some kind of "sun dance" we clollected ourselves and discussed whether or not we should play cricket or swim around on the field.

After much discussion and pondering about wheather or not we should bat or bowl first (which was fairly obvious considering the down-pours every 5mins or so). Our captain Cuan "i'll make my own decitions" Brown decided to do the opposite and bat first. The batting in general was avarage to say the least, although there were a few highlights when Andrew "I called Q's bluff" Jarrret, actually played some cricket shots to get 39, before being bowled trying to cut one off the middle stump that was 2.1cm above the pitch.

With the sun deciding to make an apparence and only 95 odd to chase the oppo was looking in the driving seat, well..... more like horse and cart seat. They constructed their innings around the fact that they have 30 overs to get the runs and then proceeded about getting the runs at the slowest pace possible. There were some very good bowling performances to keep the oppo in check from over 1 to over 27. All in all a dismal day for cricket that turned out nice.

Man of the Match: AJ for being the only one that turned up to play cricket, scoring 39 of 2 balls and bowling 6 overs for 7 runs.

MCCC beats Godstone by a whopping margin.

In the Sunday fixtures, a Godstone game has assumed a lot of significance over the past few years.

MCCC brought for this game a very balanced side, with almost everyone capable of swinging the bat and/or bowling to the other end.

As has become a habit, I lost the toss yet again. The only change being that, yet again, the opposition captain asked me to bat, something which I would have wanted to do anyway. So the toss was effectively negated, from my point of view.

This year, from the outset, it seemed like the Godstone team strength wasnt as strong as the earlier years. Steve C and Sayeed I opened the innings. The instructions were pretty clear. A good start was needed. Both openers started slowly and were en route to consolidating a decent score, when Imran skied one, trying to pull, and was caught. I was one down. From my previous year experience, I knew the pitch wouldnt be the best batting paradise in Godstone. This one seemed to assist the bowlers with the new ball initially, on one end. Steve C and myself, both steadied things further and at one point were going at a run-rate of around 8. Boundaries flowed from both bats regularly.

Steve C, looking very good, went for a prempted shot and was out for 48. Vivek was the next batsman in. He seemed to be very confident (from the practice he had taken in Oval). By drinks, the score was around 118 off 20 overs. Some good boundaries flowed and I scored a half-century.

Seeing the score consolidate rapidly, in came Scott - Godstone's renowned all-rounder. His spells were very simple. Pitch it short and lift the ball shoulder height outside the off-stump. If he was an opening bowler, we would have been very happy to see him off, but it was not to be. I asked Vivek to try to score off him and to get the team score closer to 200. Vivek did just, but couldnt keep the shot on the ground and he was caught at backward point. Khalim - suffering from fever - came in with full gear. He started off playing some steady strokes and soon boundaries started flowing. I tried to score off another Scott delivery and was caught somewhere on the offside. I never bothered to see where. I ended up at 60.

Ryan came in next and he was trying to score some quick runs. Khalim had some good straight drives and when he presents the full face of the bat, they are full of runs.
Ryan was gone in no time and so was StevO trying to up the run rate. We had a handful of overs and were trying to reach 250+. The instructions were to go for the kill. Khalim got out for a well made 49. Craig the Harper and Tush the Wadhwa were at the crease for the last two overs. Craig creamed a magnificent six over mid off. Tush on the other hand, didnt get much strike, but did well to push Craig to run four off the last ball of the innings. The final score was 266.

Tea was pathetic. The less we speak about it, the better.

Andy and Tush opened and took 2 and 3 wickets respectively. Wickets started flowing in as usual. Scott was the only one who managed to put up a fight and ended up at 42. The others barely scored runs or stood their ground. Craig reminded me of Irfan Pathan of India, as he seemed to have forgotten how to bowl, after becoming a batsman.

At one point, Godstone was 66 for 7. SteveO picked up two valuable wickets. Ryan chipped with 2 valuable wickets, one of which was that of Scott. The last wicket was becoming all too special, and over and over, everyone tried, but with no luck.

Finally it was upto the fever boy, Khalim to wrap up the show. GodStone all out for 107.

Though the oppo wasnt really as tough as they were last year, it was satisfying to have a happy dressing room chat at the end of the game. Normally, we end up being disappointed in that room, and it was a welcome change.

Scores:

MCCC - 266/7

Satish V - 60
Khalim - 49
Steve C - 48

GodStone - 107 all out

Scott - 42.

Tush - 3 wickets
Andy A - 2 wickets
Ryan L - 2 wickets
Steve O - 2 wickets

The spirit of the Sunday team is flag high. I hope that the team will rejoice such victories, take confidence and move on to the next challenge coming their way.

MCCC Saturday Chairmans XI vs Wimbledon 5th XI

[Photos]
Scorecard

Wimbledon
1.Cairns Bowled Bartram 20
2.Shanker Caught Bowled Bartram 16
3.Laurence Bowled Compton 47
4.Sirfraz Bowled Pinkney 76
5.Pimm Caught Pinkney 24
6.Flowers Caught & Bowled Imran
7.Kelly Bowled Imran 28
8.Liu 3
9.Poll 6
10.Rahim
11.Laskie
Total 245

Bowling
Overs Maidens Runs Wickets
Mark Bartram 6-0-45-2
Azam Malik 5-0-32-02
Tom Compton 5-0-49-1
Saad Anwar 8-0-38-0
Graham Pinkey 6-0-43-3
Kaleem Ahmad 7-1-15-2
Imran Ahmad 3-0-14-2

MCCC Batting
1.Kaleem Stumped Bld Cains 74
2.Cambell Gower ct (Point) Flower 7
3. Pal Chak LBW Flower 0
4. Mark Bartram ct Behind Bowled Kelly 2
5. Azam Malik ct bowld Liu 20
6. Saad Bowled Cains 20
7. Arsalan Khan bowled Cains 0
8. Imran ahmad Bowled Lawerence 5
9. Keith Pilgrim Caught Bowled Laurence 11
10. Tom Compon Bowled Shanker 5
11. Graham Pinkney Not Out 0
Total 176

Wimbledon Bowling
Overs Maidens Runs Wickets
Kelly 6-1-31-1
Flower 5-1-33-2
Liu 8-1-39-1
Heskey 4-1-17-0
Rahim 1-16-0
Cairns 2-1-1-3
Pol 0.1-0-1-0
Shanker 3.2-1-8-1
Lawerence 3-0-12-2

The WestOne Victory.

[Match Photos]

Having emerged from an embarassing defeat last year chasing little over 100 runs, I knew that defeating WestOne was something I would relish a lot.

The team we had lined up was quite balanced and nearly everyone could bowl. It was always going to be a challenge putting up a decent total and thats what was needed to give ourselves a chance to compete.

The conditions were playing hide and seek as can be expected on the British mainland. It was turning slightly gloomy when we went in to toss and maybe the WestOne skipper thought he could use those conditions a bit, when he decided to field first.

Knowing that the wicket would keep low during the second innings, it was a good option to bat first. Vivek and Khalim were the openers. They had a good start with Khalim scoring some quick runs. Unfortunately Khalim got what can be termed as a slightly harsh decision, when he was caught off a delivery aimed at his chest. On a different day, the decision could have gone the other way. 26/1

In went Satish V. I was initially wary of the ball keeping low and wanted to play my shots as sensibly as it gets. Vivek on the other hand was holding up one end and we started out to build an innings steadily. The objective was to avoid losing early wickets. The score reached 60s when Vivek was bowled out, off an inswinging delivery. In came Ryan Lang. Ryan wanted to be fluent in shot making and did play some free flowing shots initially. The wicket was holding up and he soon played on.

The next bat was Hemant. He is in good form this season and he started off with a very risk free approach to batting, something which delights any captain. While all these wickets were going down, I was holding up the other end and made around 33 when I got LBW off a low delivery on the off. The score was 75/4.

In strode Steve O and he couldnt trouble the scorers much as he got out for 3. Next to go in was Tush. I spoke to Tush about doing some pinch hitting and he did just that. He wacked a 6 and a boundary in quick time, before pulling a full toss to be caught at mid on.

Imran was next. Though he was one finger down (he injured it a couple of weeks back), he played very well to score 21 runs, including a rare - 4 runs - which he and Jadid's cousin actually ran, though the ball stopped just short of the boundary!!!

The tail was nearly exposed after Imran got out and we ended up at 141. I would have wanted 150 on that pitch, but had to be happy with the way things went our way.

The tea was as hopeless as it could get. It was easily the worst tea I have ever had.

One of the things you do on wickets which keep low is you target the stumps all the time and make the batsmen play as many deliveries as possible. Andy A and Tush started out doing just that.

Andy A started the bowling with a delivery on track and the umpire (oppo guy) didnt give him out. It would have been out I would say from first slip. An argument ensured and some unpleasant words were exchanged and one could see that the mercury levels were rising around the playing area. The second delivery, the batsman tried to go for a quick single, Ryan fired one in from square leg and we had our first break through - a run out. 0/1.

Unpleasant exchanges part II followed. After some time, sense got settled in again. The same over, Andy got the next batsman bowled right through his gates. 0/2.

Tush started off with his over with a sparkling delivery and the batsman gave it a wild swing only to land at first slip. It came straight at me and I accepted it gleefully. 0/3.

The very next ball, a full-toss, the new bat gave it another go and it landed at second slip - Hemant's hands clutched against his belly. 0/4.

One could feel that we were onto something big and the team was all pumped up and the spirit was fantastic. Now, we had to get these 2 bats out, as they were the main guys. Andy got one of them, caught brilliantly by Khalim, running in from Mid Off. They were 20ish for 5. Then it was upto Tush and he got a couple more wickets, both bowled. The last of which hurt the batsman. The ball hit his box and as he was in pain, it rolled on to dislodge the bails.

Andy got one the other end and WestOne was reeling at 33/8. In the weather of tumbling wickets, 4 catches were also dropped. So you can say that we could have got them for a much lower score, at the end of the day.

The match was soon over as Tush got his first 5-fer for the season and the oppo was bowled out for 44 in the 14th over.

Summary:

MCCC - 141 all out in 36 overs
WestOne - 44 all out in 13 something overs

Batting performances:
Satish V - 33
Imran - 21
Tush - 16

Bowling performances:
Tush 5 wickets
Andy 4 wickets
(Only two bowlers used.)

It is not to state that WestOne was a weak oppo. I think we outplayed them in almost every department on the given day. Our bowling was on dot and our fielding was very supportive. And as I had thought, 141 was indeed a score worth defending on that pitch.

A very memorable day for this Sunday team. Congrats to all of you for putting up such a splendid show. This spirit and energy has to continue through the season.
Bring it on!!

League Boys Versus Staines and Laleham
Played - Away
Morden- 279-8 39 overs
Oppo- 89 all out 23 overs
Morden won by loads

The league crew descended on the home of the Staines Massive init? on sat to take up the league challenge once more. The team were missing the Cummings bros due to some poor excuse that Roy was getting married or something along those lines. Poor show really, where do they come up with these excuses. The side was bolstered by the return of Female fan favorite Nick "hefner" Hughes. Anyway we arrived in glorious weather to inspect the artificial track. Gerry lost the toss and the boys batted much to the joy of the saffies who immediately crowded into the bar to watch the Boks.

Kaleem and Girish strode out to do Battle and Girish soon strolled back after been bowled by a deceptive ball. Hefner took one last drag of his smoke, flicked it away (causing the girls to swoon) and strode out to the middle to show us what batting was about. Unfortunately Tush was umpiring and was clearly in the mood to bat himself so he gave Nick out in what can only be described as Stomach above wicket. Nick strode back and resumed his looking cool duties. Majid strode in carrying an injury and hit some big shots before being run our. Maj not being able to ground his bat in time. Unlucky Maj. Our Skip strode in with morden at 35-3 in the 10th over. He took an over or two before launching the Staines bowlers to all corners. Kaleem succumbed to a low delivery and this brought backstreet boy harper to the crease. Craig began smashing the bowlers about and pretty soon the total began to sky rocket as the boys stuck in. Sixes and fours were flying left right and centre and we lost time as the oppo had to repeatedly search for the lost balls thanks to Gerry. Gerry and Craig reached their 50,2 before Craig was out trying to smash the big one. A great knock of57 confirming that Craig now officially See's himself as a batsman and not bowler. Ryan strode in and watched as Gerry continued his brutal onslaught. Ryan decided to join in on the act and started his own merry war, blasting all comers all over the park. Ryan was out next caught on the boundary. Andy j strode in and watched as Gerry smashed a straight six for his hundred. Fantastic knock from the skip. Gerry then decided to accelerate even further and launched a ball over the trees on the boundary, causing a delay as the oppo jumped in a car to fetch the ball from the next county. Gerry graciously retired allowing Andy A a knock. Andy j was out next trying to hoike a low delivery on middle. Tush finally got his chance to bat after sticking all and sunder whilst umpiring( not to skip dont let Tush ump anymore). Tush hit some big shots before running himself out in a desperate effort to get the strike. Well that was that 279 on the board.

After Tea the boys took to the field. Andy A came close to striking in his first over but was denied. Andy j took the wicket of the opener with his first delivery. Andy A came charging in before picking up the next 3 wickets. the skip kicked off the Andy's and bought on Ryan and Tush. Both lefties struggled with line at first giving Steve V a torrid time behind the sticks. Ryan was unlucky when Craig " Roy the second " Harper spilled a chance whilst trying to look like a hero. unlucky bru we don't remember these things. Actually we do. Tush picked up the next 3 sticks with some good bowling. Girish was brought on and picked up a wicket with some good bowling. Kaleem was brought on and wrapped up the game. the oppo all out for 89 with 32 extras the top scorer.

Another good win boys.

Man of the match- Gerry for his great innings.
batsmen of the Match- Gerry and Craig
bowlers of the match - Andy A and Tush.
dropped catches- Craig "nSync" Harper
premature finger ejaculation- Tush for his shocker

The league boys send their congratulations to Roy and Lindy on their Marriage.

MCCC 1st XI vs BK XI Saturday 2nd June 2007
Lost by 7 wickets

[Match Photos]

On a sunny afternoon in deep South London we found ourselves playing at Battesea park against BK XI. The weather couldn't have been more of a contrast than the previous weekend with people having to apply sunblock vigorously.

The team lineup had a couple of changes this week. Jadid Khan made a welcome comeback after a back injury and bought his nephew along as we struggling to get a team out. Simon Watt, has been in good form with the bat and ball, was also back to bolster the side.

Jason Ware continued his good toss calling and took the positive step of batting first. The pitch looked was damp with green patches. The outfield was very uneven. Making a guest umpiring appearance was retired Corinthian player Robin Hardwick.

Marky B and Azam 'Azza' Malik opened for Morden and right from the offset the ball was keeping dangerously low. Batting was going to be more difficult than initially thought. Despite this, Azza didn't take long before he got off the mark with his usual positive stroke play. Unfortunately, this didn't last for very long when as Azam got a ball that kept low which bowled him for 9 with the score on 15 for 1. Walking off the field, Azam's frustration was clear for all to see.

In at 3 was Jadid's nephew Arsalan Khan, who is spending the summer in London. The conditions were somewhat different to what Arsalan is used to but still it didn't phase him as he played some fine orthodox strokes. At the other end Mark Bartram was holding things down until he reached 22 when the low bounce off the wicket resulted him being bowled. At this stage there was a bit of pressure starting to build up and the skipper was next in. Jason didn't look that comfortable and found it hard to adjust to the low bounce and it wasn't long before he fell to a cotentious LBW decision from our very own Jim 'Rockstar Paine' who by his very own admission had been out 'on the lash' the night before! Next up was the salsa king Steve O'Neil who was going to need some of his fancy footwork to contend with this unpredictable pitch. Steve managed to carve some nice shots on his way to 14 before giving his wicket away by scooping an easy catch to mid off. Simon Watt was the next man and started settling the Morden innings which now on 51-4. The wickets then started tumbling at the other end starting with the another jubious LBW decision against Arsalan. The chairman, Imran Ahmad who is having a shocker of a season with the bat didn't last more than an over getting out chasing a wide one that went to the keeper. Jadid 'attack is the best form of defence' Khan didn't last the end of that over either. Going for the big one he under-estimated the low bounce and the leg stump was dislodged. Simon now started to worry as there was a definite chance he was going to run out of partners! The collapse continued and Morden went from 100-5 to 120 all out with Simon stranded at the non strikers end.

During some good whole some tea, the team had a chance to contemplate over the fact that 120 was well short of a score to defend. Azam opened with great venom and probably his best spell of the season to date. An easy chance of Azam's bowling was put down by the skipper in the first over and this was an ominous sign. Both BK's openers started off on their task in earnest. Asim cut through pretty much everything that was put in front of him. Simon Watt had to go off only after one over because of a nose bleed. Imran Ahmad found himself as an early first change bowler. He was taken to task and his brief spell was unsuccessful. Simon recovered and came back but by this stage BK was cruising. At the other end Azzam temper was raging after some misfielding which to be fair wasn't helped by the outfield. Probably the best spell of bowling from Morden came at the end when Jim 'Rockstar' Paine came off his usual 50 yard run up to bowl some tidy line and length and claimed a wicket. It was all in vane.

Post match we went over to the Prince of Wales pub for a drink with the Oppo. They confirmed that the BK in their name didn't stand for Burger King. However the true meaning has been forgotten. The oppo were a very sociable bunch of guys.

For the record

Toss Won by
Morden Corinthians - we elected to bat

Match Format
40 Overs a side - 8 overs per bowler max

Tea
A good selection of sandwiches and cakes

Muppet Moment
The idiot who was flying his silly remote control plane in the mid off region with a couple of crash landings on the field of play.

Other highlights
Graham Pinkney's 52nd Birthday - where was the cake though?
The opera singers in the park.

Pitch
Green and damp with a bumpy outfield

Scorecard
Batting
Azza Bowled 9
Mark B Bowled 22
Arsalan Khan LBW 13
Jason W LBW 1
Steve O'Neil Ct Mid off 14
Simon Watt N.O. 31
Imran Ahmad ct behind 0
Jadid Khan Bowled 0
Cuan Brown LBW 0
Jim Paine Bowled 4
Graham Pinkey Run out 8
extras 22

Bowling
Azam Malik 5-32-0
Simon Watt 5-30-1
Imran Ahmad 2-18-0
Steve O'Neil 2-12-0
Graham Pinkey 2-16-0
Jim Paine 2-7-1