Morden 3rd's vs Crossbats 1st XI
Raynes Park Sports Ground, Pitch 1
Saturday 17th May 2008

By Vikram Sangar

On a cold and damp day in Raynes Park, Morden's 3rd team took on their toughest challenge of the season so far going up against Crossbats 1st XI.

With light drizzle in the air and more rain forecast for later, the two captains (both named Brian) tossed the coin out in the middle. Crossbats won it and decided to field.

Having planned on doing the same thing, Morden were thrown off their pre-game strategy and instead focused on getting the best use out of the pitch.

With morale high following the previous week's batting total, Morden went into bat quietly confident a good start could see them post a decent total.

The new opening partnership of Hemant "look for three" Patel and Theo "Gimme Some" Moore struggled to make an early impression on the new ball. Both men opted to bat defensively and runs proved difficult to come by.

In a rare foray of excitement, Theo Moore lofted a fantastic off-drive down the ground for the first boundary of the day which came after almost 10 overs of play. The excitement was short lived for Theo however as he edged behind to the keeper Spiro to depart for 9.

Keeper Paul "Lowey" Low was the next man in knowing he had to try and push the accelerator and get the team moving. He began his innings well, hitting two boundaries in quick succession and racing onto double figures. Unfortunately he too was back in the pavilion soon after, holing out to Van Vuuren for a quick fire 13 off 14 balls.

With Morden now 38-2, much was needed from our middle order as former captain Vivek Sarohia entered the fray. With Hemant holding up one end, much was needed from Viv to get the innings moving.

After getting off the mark, Viv struggled to time the ball and find the middle of the bat. Opener Hemant was finding it tough out in the middle too and was unable to impose his natural game on the bowlers Fraser and Van Vuuren. After grinding it out for almost 10 overs, Hemant's misery was ended when Van Vuuren had him trapped LBW for just 9 to leave Morden reeling on 39-3.

Things soon got even worse for Morden when Vivek departed for just 1 to leave Morden in big trouble on 39-4. Visions of last season's performances soon came haunting back into the minds of most players. Just what was going on???

Token Aussie "Double A" Andy Allan and Girish Patel were now the two men fresh at the crease. With plenty of overs remaining, big innings' would be required from both men to help Morden post anything like a decent total.

That notion was thrown out of the window pretty quick when Crossbat's bowler Jones got the prized wicket of Girish for a five-ball duck. Double A soon followed him back to the pavillion when he missed a straight delivery and was clean bowled by Reeve for a run-a-ball 3. Morden were now in deep deep trouble on 43-6 and with Crossbats smelling blood.

The Clifford brothers tried to restore some pride to the Morden total with a couple of boundaries but were unable to bat out many overs. David departed first for just 4 while captain Brian played a loose top-edge shot that had him caught for 13 off just 10 balls. With Morden now on 63-8, all that remained was to try and get the remaining batsmen to somehow bat the remaining 16 overs.

The pitch was not doing a great deal but it was poor shot selection that had accounted for most of the batsmen so far. The trend continued when Raj "The Had" Sharma holed out to Reeve for just 2 to give Jones his second wicket of the game.

With the middle order having failed miserably, there was not much that could have been expected from the tailenders.

That said, the enigmatic Vikram Sangar dug-in and battled valiantly to try and get Morden somewhere near three figures. With only a number 11 batsman for company in Geoff "Sugar" Balasoglou - Vikram tried to take as much of the strike as possible, leaving Geoff with only one or two deliveries to face each over.

With the spinner Fitch now on to bowl, Vikram's eyes lit up and he tried to take the bowler on immediately by driving him down the ground. Unfortunately as lady luck would have it for Morden on this day, the first big shot Vikram tried - he holed out to Reeve on the mid off boundary who took the catch at the second attempt. Vikram was the last man to depart for a defiant 7 off 26 balls, leaving Geoff as the last man on 6no. Crossbats took 8 catches in all during the innings, not dropping a single chance.

Morden's final score- just like the weather- was dismal, scoring just 78 off 29 overs.

It may have been a poor showing with the bat but the guys were determined not to go down without a fight.

Captain Cliffo took the chance of opening the bowling alongside Geoff, leaving usual opening bowler Raj as first change. However both bowlers immediately found it hard to get a consistant line and length, especially Geoff who was wayward with his bowling. Crossbats began hitting both bowlers around the park as they quickly raced onto 28-0 off just 4 overs.

Raj was quickly brought into the attack and was rewarded immediately with a good piece of bowling, beating opener Smith all ends up and bowling him cheaply for 3.

Aussie Andy Allan was also brought into the attack and opened up with a maiden over. The bowling had dramatically improved in the space of a couple of overs and Crossbats were now a little wary of our bowling attack.

Not that batsman Spurdle cared though. Dressed in a pink top, the opener played almost with contempt for Morden's fielding - nonchalantly walking down the pitch and walking runs without a care in the world for being run out. On three or four occasions, the batsman was almost caught out but somehow always made it back to the crease on time.

His luck did eventually run out though, being stumped sharply by Lowey to give Raj his second wicket. Crossbats were now 46-2 with both openers back in the pavillion. Game on?

Raj was now inspired and determined to give Morden a fighting chance. He was bowling quick, making the batsmen play and miss and using aggression to his advantage. The new batsmen were finding it tough to score off "The Had" and this played into Raj's hands...literally.

Upon bowling another quick delivery, batsman Wright tried to smash the ball in anger past the bowler, only to see Raj stick out his right hand and take a sensational one-handed catch at head-height! Three wickets for Raj and this was easily the best C&B seen all season. Crossbats were now 53-3 and a little worried about what was going on out in the middle.

Spinner Fitch was the next batsman in. With more fire in his belly, Raj continued his one-man crusade and got Fitch to edge a delivery to first slip where Vikram was on-hand to take a sharp catch! Vik smiled at having caught the guy who removed him from the crease earlier and Crossbats were now in trouble at 59-4. Morden were now sniffing at just the hint of huge upset.

Raj finished his spell of seven overs, taking 4-19 in the process- his best ever figures for the club. Unfortunately despite his and the rest of Morden's best endeavours - 78 was never going to be enough and Crossbats won the game soon after by 6 wickets with over 20 overs to spare.

Lots of discussion after the game about a possible re-match. Had Morden produced a better batting performance then a different result could well have been on the cards.

Plenty to think about for Captain Cliffo though! Lets hope this batting performance was just a one-off...


Man of the match

Raj, by a country mile

Jonty moment

Raj again! That caught and bowled will live long in the memory

Monty moment

Andy Allan dropping a sitter off of his own bowling

Haydon's Presidents XI vs Morden Corinthians 3rd XI
Saturday 12th July 2008
Raynes Park Sports Ground, pitch 1
35 over game

MCCC 3rd XI won by 44 runs
Haydon's President's XI won toss and elected to field



The thirds rolled up to Raynes Park on what was a fairly cold, overcast day for this time of year, for an AWAY game against Haydon's Presidents XI who had humiliated us quite badly last season. It did not help that some of our star players were missing as Cliffo, Amit and Vivek were living it up in sunny Leeds, while Andy Allan was missing out too. We were also without Geoff “left arm thunderbolts” Balasoglou and Theo “the ultimate finisher’” Moore who became victims of the new captains Rafa like rotation policy.

In Captain Cliffos absence, VC Raj made his debut as captain. Things got off swimmingly as Raj had been on at the team all week to turn up on time for 1pm, and then proceeded to show up about 45 minutes late, the M25 and a small petrol crisis accounting for the time.

Stand in VC Paul “Lowey” Lowe did a sterling job at keeping the lads “on it” with fielding drills before talking Captain Sharma out of starting with 7 slips. From this point onwards most field placements were “delegated” to Lowey as Raj went out into the middle for the toss… after losing we were asked to bat, which came as a surprise as the oppo only had 4 players, we kindly agreed to wait for another 15 mins and it was out to the middle.

As our openers Paul and Tom “TC” Compton strode out, the oppo still only had 8 or so players, both played aggressively and things were looking good as TC hit an enormous 6 down the ground. It was soon after this that the rest of the oppos players turned up and this prompted a swift bowling change.

TC soon fell playing one big shot too many and “The Late (or on this occasion, the 1 hour early)” Vikram Sangar and Lowey then consolidated before Lowey popped one straight to a fielder, this left us on 46-2 from around 7 overs on what was a fairly slow pitch and outfield… a good solid start for us to build on.

Ewan “ZoT” Cotter then walked in and saw off a few overs from the oppo's danger men, Vik and Ewan adding 10 runs before the latter was bowled. This was where the entertainment really began as the one and only Nabhan “9 lives” Shiraz joined Vik at the crease. Vik carried on scratching around and rather uncharacteristically pinching singles before being bowled for a hard earned 13.

Nabhan proceeded to play one of the most entertaining knocks of the season as he got himself in, and then started blasting all and sundry, unfortunately the ball kept plugging in the outfield and only 3 boundaries were scored, however, how the ball didn’t find a fielders hands is a mystery to us all. The most amusing sequence involved the ball flying towards the same mid off fielder 4 times in the space of 2 overs, and 4 times the fielder backed off, then ran forward, only for the ball to sail just over his head. There were another couple of dropped catches but 9 lives Nabhan played a good aggressive knock (25 from 30) which is exactly what was required at the time and left us on 89-5 from about 20 overs.

At the crease now were the Patel brothers, who set about doing what they do best, rotating the strike and amassing the runs, as usual they were making it look easy before the call came out to “ATTACK, ATTACK, ATTACK” from the stand in skip… Hemant soon fell and this sparked somewhat of a collapse, David, Gopal and yours truly departing for a sum total of 1 run from the bat. This left Richard Wainer to go out in the last over and show the tail how its done scoring 8 from 4 balls (not out) including a stunning 6 straight down the ground… needless to say, those 4 balls alone have earned him a promotion up the order for future matches, lets just hope its not at my expense… ahem.

Girish finished not out on 30 from 34 and it was 148 – 9 at the close, quality teas consumed by all, and before we knew it, it was time to go out and defend our score. Captain Sharma consulted his pre-prepared masterplan (written on a small post it note) and we were off, opening honours handed to Gopal and Rich.

The 2 openers bowled extremely well, especially Rich who bowled out with figures of 7-1-2-11, and Gopal at the other end proved slightly more expensive but bagged the prized wicket of the oppo's dangerous opening batsman for only 1 run.

A problem arose with the oppo's number 3 Khalid, he got himself in and played a very impressive array of shots… Time for captain Raj to stop shirking his responsibilities and take this kid to school, the plan was for Mr Dependable (Girish) to keep one end tight, while Raj attacked from the other, and it very nearly worked, Girish not conceding many and Raj almost nabbing the danger man 4 times in his first over, however, after this blip in his innings, he got used to the change in the bowling and began carting us both all over the park.

Things were getting desperate, there was a glimmer of hope however, as Girish, in his last over, had induced a reverse sweep which bounced up and was just missed by Lowey (who kept very well otherwise). The gears started grinding in Raj's brain and the genius decision came to bring on The Southall Express Vikram Sangar from Girish’s end whose awkward length and lack of pace could provide something a bit different. His first over was tight, but the 3/4th ball of his second induced another big top edge from another reverse sweep and this time Lowey wasn’t so kind and bagged the catch. The lads, to a man, ran in full pelt to celebrate as we all knew we had bagged their key man.

Raj then pulled himself out of the attack and gave Cliffo Jnr a spell bowling in tandem with Vik. Vik bagged four, David two and it was all over after 27 overs, Haydons Presidents XI scoring 104 all out. The game was played in a great spirit, and was probably a bit tighter than the scoreline suggests, I’m sure the Presidents XI will be gunning for us next year.

Man of Match: A superb team effort, but the Southall Express Vikram Sangar bags this one, he got the key wicket, and then continued bowling very well and getting through the middle order (5-1-16-4) not to mention his uncharacteristic, watchful 13 from 30… all run!!!

Monty Moment: Nothing other than Loweys drop spring to mind from our team, and he righted this wrong only a couple of overs later, breaking with tradition, I’m going to have to give this to the oppo with their 4 identical “misjudged” chances against “9 lives” Nabhan.

Jonty Moment: Have to give this to Ewan “Jonty” Cotter for his running catch in the covers.

MCCC 3rd XI vs Riverside
Saturday 24th May 2008
Weather - dull, overcast, chilly

MCCC 3rd XI won the toss and decided to bowl


The boys rocked up to their favourite venue, the lucky Dundonald Rec pitch one, having suffered a little wobble after a great start to the season. Two wins had been followed by a "winning" draw at Battersea, then a reasonably comprehensive, but hard fought, loss at home to a strong Crossbats side.

Winning the toss and bowling was always a preferred option throughout the unsuccessful 2007 season and Cliffo followed suit here. With a bowling line up containing Clifford (x2), Balasoglou, Sharma, Patel, Khare and Sangar, it seemed like a sensible option, especially given the leaden skies overhead.

Having thieved a scoreboard from the lock up (still not 3rd team scorecard, cheers Chairman?) the boys set out on the field. A very tight opening spell from Lumboo and Raj kept the scoreboard well under control and although both bowlers ended their spells wicketless, the rate was well and truly under control. The skipper bowled eight overs off of the reel for just 14 runs, leading from the front for once... Anyway, removing the VC from the attack after 5 overs paid dividends as Girish picked up Jeavons' wicket with a very adjacent looking lbw decision. From there on, Riverside never quite recovered. Geoff Balasoglou continued his excellent early season form, bowling quickly and economically, picking up their number three bat with an unplayable delivery. Girish continued to work through the upper order, bowling numbers four and six to finish with hugely respectable figures of 3-13. Both he and Geoff bowled their full allocation off of the reel too, suffocating the batsmen into submission. Vikram replaced Geoffrey and nicked a wicket, clean bowling the number five after a wooly, but economical spell.

A little rally followed, as Vikram, David and Amit bowled at the lower order. Their main batsman remained at the crease and was on the verge of carrying his bat until Amit found his line... First he had him dropped at extra cover by a "running" Vikram, but then in his next over he picked out David who took an excellent catch. The best was saved for the end of the over though, as Amit bowled both numbers eight and nine with their first deliveries (the batsmen crossed when the opener was dismissed). Then, following it up on his next over, he produced another yorker length delivery which brought him his hattrick. Cue aeroplane celebrations and all sorts and Amit was mobbed by his awestruck teammates... Anyway, we didn't quite bowl them out, but they closed on 130. Maybe a few more than we'd have hoped, but still very gettable.

Teas consumed in fine style, as ever, MCCC set out to bat.

In a slight change of tack, Captain Cliffo promoted himself to open the innings with Vivek. The gameplan was discussed at length and Vivek was to stick around while Brian played his shots. Or not. In the second over Vivek mowed all around a straight one and was comprehensively bowled. Oh dear. In comes Lowey, similar gameplan but again soon after he tries to launch the opening bowler into the road and this time is caught at mid off. Amit comes in next, oh I'll spare you. Suffice to say for Vivek read Amit. 24-3. Suddenly the captain has to stick around and reign in his shot(s)? Not good. Luckily in comes Hemant Patel. If ever a man was suited to coming in at 24-3 and steadying the ship, it was him. And so it proved, with the pair combining to put on an excellent 89 run partnership for the 4th wicket. It wasn't without incident, with Clifford surviving a couple of tough chances in the outfield, including a drilled straight drive which went straight to the bowler's right hand, but it didn't stick. Hemant fell with just 17 required, bowled looking forward a big shot to keep the run rate up, however in came Girish to see us home in fine style, ignoring his captain's instructions to let him score the winning runs ;)

Man of the match

Amit Khare, despite blotting his copybook with a dreadful shot to get out, you don't see many hattricks so he fully deserves the honour!

Jonty moment

There was only one catch in the entire Riverside innings, so I guess it goes to David for making a difficult take look easy.

Monty moment

There was only one catch in the entire Riverside innings, because Vikram dropped a dolly in the ring. Makes this decision just as easy as the above!

1st Team versus Hook And Scarborough
Hot
Lost toss and made to field
Won by 6 wickets

The crew descended upon the playing fields of the coronation rec. The author and Hefner Hughes arrived at the fields to be told that we had the wrong field. A keen eyed Hughes spotted some shirtless chavs on the other field that bore a remarkable resemblance to the Cumings brothers. After relocating we discovered that the chavs were indeed the Cumings bros who were running around thinking they were back on Toti beach. The author and Hef arrived to the great debate on who will win the try nations. The oppo rocked up and our commander in chief Roy “Bat where I want, Bowl where I want and will play wicket keeper when I want “ Cumings strode out to lose the toss again. To the joys of the lads we were made to bowl in Durban like humidity. The pitch was about as responsive as one of Tushs rohipnol moments. Roy donned the gloves and the boys were firing bullets at him as payback for making us field. Matt “ I have retired from rugby to further my cricket career” Reid and AJ starting the proceedings. Matt kept a tight line as was reflected in his 4 overs for 2 runs. AJ kept a tight line to the boundary but settled in fearing the ruthless skipper would yank him from the attack. The boys in the slips were sweating as a reported sighting of a crocodile had been seen around the slip cordon. The skip made the change of bringing on Gerry “ Check out my footwork” to try and get more response from the pitch. Unfortunately the ball we were using seemed to have been refurbished 12 times and was dead after the 5th over. The first wicket fell when the batsman made the mistake of taking on campfire comings in the outfield. Net result a run out. AJ was still ambling in and managed to induce an edge down the leg side which the crocodile immediately snapped at and devoured. Second wicket down. Gerry then picked up another stick getting the other opener to play onto his stumps. Tiaan replaced AJ and picked up another stick with Jason “ My back is f…d man” Howarth taking the catch at point. Gerry continued the great bowling by bagging 2 more sticks. A great catch at cover by Campfire and then bowling Kevin Pieterson (saffa in an English cap) with a great arm ball. Tiaan produced his first flipper and ran down the pitch shouting at everyone whether they saw the flipper. Craig “ I receive text messages from the club I joined” Harper provided some entertainment by doing a two step back 3 steps forward routine followed by a face plant and chase of the ball as it rolled past.

NK joined the attack and began to bowl a good line. Craig replaced Gerry and we all stood in awe as the oppo gave him tap resulting in Hefner Hughes running from side to side on the cover boundary. Luckily for us NK started to pick up the sticks. Craig managed to get a wicket and AJ was nearly eaten by the crocodile when going for a catch.Oppo out for 106.

Corrie and Matt strode out to bat after tea. Matt “Eyes as big as saucers” Reid missing a full toss and returning to the pavilion. Roy “ I have not batted in 2 innings so screw the rest of you” C arrived at the crease The oppo were joking that the boys were in a hurry but actually did not realise that we were. Corrie began a savage attack on the bowlers and we were soon 70 odd for-1. Roy displayed his reverse sweep to piss the oppo off even more before being bowled by the slowest ball you have ever seen. Hefner Hughes arrived and immediately scooped the ball in the air between 2 fielders. After that Hef began to play his drives and the score continued to build. Corrie was out next 3 short of his fifty (in about 12 balls). This brought the invalid Jason to the crease. He could not run but decided that boundaries would be fine. Jason soon returned after some fine shots. Nk arrived to block a shot before hefner finished off the innings. The boys finishing the job in 15 overs. The funnels were subdued as the boys were too tired to be bothered.


Batsman- Corrie
Bowlers –Gerry and NK
Thanks for coming award- Steve Cumings

Kingstonian 3rd XI vs MCCC 3rd XI
Kings College Sports Ground
Saturday 26th July
Weather - Sticky, muggy, hot, cloudy.

In the style of the legendary fast bowler Geoffrey Balasoglou: - "Hi, My Name's Vivek and I will be writing your match report today". This is without any idea of scorecard as I don't have it so will be all from memory - apologies.

MCCC were missing their vice skip Raj, so the Tom "to be married next week" Compton stepped in to take the vice captaincy. Other changes from last week was the return of the Patels. Confidence was high after winning 5 games in a row, and the team wished to make amends for losing against Kingstonian last year match last year. Brian "Lumboo" Clifford lost the toss, and we were inserted into bat. Girish Patel and I went into bat, and we set off pretty quickly. I remember hitting some runs and was feeling good. I was on 12 off 9 when i decided to play a paddle down leg, got it all wrong, got a top edge and was caught by keeper at a leg slip position. Absolute rubbish. Still it meant Amit "what Geoff could become" Khare could come into bat. At this point I went off with Geoff to try and teach him a thing or two about bowling as there were some nets at the ground. This meant I missed 11 overs. When I came back Amit was out for 30 and Lumboo was batting with Girish. I was told Amit was out caught behind to the keeper. I am sure it msut have been a blinder of an innings.

Just as I was got back to pitch, I see Lumboo hit a full toss straight to deep cover who decided that he liked the skipper too much, so he decided to drop it. The whole team must have liked Brian as he helped himself to 70 runs. Great effort skip! He got out trying to hit a spinner out of ground and got bowled. This was when I was told I had to umpire for last 20 overs. Think score was 170 at time. Tom Compton was in and playing cautiously - telling me he had to get to 20 runs. He then decided to take my advice and "go sick". He went on to score 44 not out. At other end, Girish was accumulating nicely and by 38th over was on 98 runs. At this point, an older gentleman came on to bowl, and told everyone to go to the boundary so Girish could get 100, which I don't think I have ever seen before. He then bowled really slowly so that Girish could hit him for 4. Unbelievably however Girish got his shot all wrong and was caught plumb in front. Even more unbelievably the bowler didn't appeal - his quote "he deserves a century - let him get his 100" was I think one of the most friendliest gestures I have ever seen on a cricket field. Girish went one better next ball, and made sure he played all around it to get bowled. The bowler was more upset than Girish that he didn't make a century!!. Last over David "Lumbinho" Clifford hit 5no. We ended on 281 for 4 off our 40.

Okay - bowling time. Gopal Patel and Lumbinho opened the bowling. Bowled respectably but no wickets. A few runs were being hit, so Lumboo brought on Geoffrey. Now after my great coaching, I expected big things. Sadly, Geoff bowled his worst spell in ages and had to be taken off after three overs. I am pretty sure he is hating me and my coaching right now. Sorry Geoff. Kingstonian were on 70-0 off 9 overs and were flying. Lumboo decided to shake things up and brought on the strike pair of Hemant Patel and Amit Khare - and they didn't let Lumboo down.

5 overs later Kingstonian were 80-5, with Hemant bowling with lots of flight and guile, and Amit his crazy horses medium pace. Hemant got 4 wickets, including a running take by nephew Gopal . At this point, Lumboo shouted out "I wish I was born a Patel". Someone else shouted to Hemant to "look for five". Sadly he didn't get there but great spell. Amit was making sure he was keeping his strike rate one of the best at the club with 6 overs, three maidens, 3 wickets for two runs. Another great effort.

With 120 on the board and 6 wickets down Lumboo brought on his "mystery" bowlers of Nabs and Theo. Nabs bowling style reminds me very much of Graham Pinkney, but the wicket he got round the legs off one of their players was definitely mystery. The shouts of "Nab him" by the Morden fielders was I thought very sharp....erm not.

At the other end, the mystery was how Theo could finish off his forth over. I don't think he would have any complaint with my statement that it was the "worst over ever witnessed at Morden". It lasted 12 balls, including five wides, two no ball beamers and a number of fours. This time I cant take credit for bowling as earlier Theo had told me as a keeper never to tell him how to bowl. Imagine what he would be like if he did listen to me. Jeez the mind boggles.

So at this point game was getting ever so tedious. Lumboo was getting very upset with standard in field - a highlight for me was when after a drop he went into what only could be described as an epileptic fit where he wriggled round on his back and smashed his sunglasses on the floor. Thankfully Lumbinho came back to bowl and Theo caught a nice catch at mid wicket off him. Finally it was left for Girish to bowl and he finished the game off with a clean bowled. It was 8.30, pretty dark and insects were biting. Time to go home. I think MCCC won by 100 runs. Well done team.

Men of Match: Goes to the Patel trio - runs, wickets and catches. Well done Girish, Hemant and Gopal

Monty Moment: All really hard chances, but poor Nabs unfortunately dropped four....ooops again blame me as I spent 10 mins on catching practice with him. I see common theme here...

Jonty Moment: Gopal Patel's catch off his uncle was pretty good. Theo catch not bad either

Epsom Methodists vs MCCC 3rd XI
Gibraltar Recreation Ground, Ewell
Saturday 14 June 2008
"Time game"


The usual grey, cloudy day greeted us for the annual trip down to Ewell to play the Methodists. Fresh from a midweek outing for the Pinkney XI and a few drinks to afterwards watching Euro 2008, the boys were raring to go. Or not. Anyway, the captain tossed and won, deciding to insert the home team.

Twenty minutes later, this looked like a mistake with MCCC only having 8 players. The Patels appeared to be lost on the way, as was Amit. Luckily Vivek was around and filled in, hobbling at first slip for a bit. Still, the shambolic start was reflected in the field too. Lumbinho and Allan took the new ball honours. Both struggled a little with their line and length, with the occasional good ball beating the outside edge. A difficult start and this continued when Simon dropped a sitter in the covers off of Smith, David being the unlucky bowler. Eventually Andy got his man and pegged Smith lbw with a nice inswinger 35-1 and the errant members had turned up. Normal service could resume...

Or not. The MCCC fielding effort continued on it's wayward path. Richard came on and had a catch dropped first ball by David. This was off the captain (Johnson) and would prove to be costly. Richard took out the other opener eventually and bowled far better than his figures suggest. Girish bowled unchanged from one end for 14 overs straight and was his usual metronomic self. He picked up two wickets, bowling both of the Darke brothers and had a catch dropped at mid on by Hemant, who was then subject to a volley of abuse from Girish.

Still, Epsom were scoring reasonably quickly, aided and abetted by 27 byes. A lot of these were very wide and a less generous umpire would have added further punishment to our total! Andy returned and picked up another wicket at the end, caught smartly at long on by Girish, who proceeded to tell his brother in no uncertain terms that's how you take a catch...

Anyway, innings closed and Morden needed 167 to win. Achievable, but nicely set up.

Top teas consumed and off we went. Paul and Simon opened the batting and set us off in fine fashion. Both players found the boundary with ease and the run rate was racing along nicely until Paul was bowled by a grubber that kept low. Simon departed soon after, mistiming another booming drive to be caught in the covers. Still, at 35-2 Morden were nicely ahead of the run rate, with Amit and Tom at the crease. Both players played slightly curious innings, mixing long spells of dot balls with mighty boundaries. Tom pounded their left arm quick for a huge six back over his head, but tried to repeat the dose and lost his middle peg. At the other end Amit was having all sorts of fun and hit the biggest six I've ever seen in an MCCC game. It landed in a nearby road and after 10-15 minutes of looking for it, we gave up and replaced the ball. Sadly Amit's excitement got the better of him and he was given out lbw, reverse sweeping, the first ball after drinks.

85-4, with a decent amount of overs left. MCCC were still well on course for a win, but all four results were definitely possible. Hemant and Brian played watchfully for a while. Well, Hemant played watchfully while Brian was stuck facing their left arm quick bowler. He never looked comfortable and after some streaky runs through the offside, there was no great surprise when he dragged on onto his stumps attempting another smear through backward point. Hemant followed soon after, playing all around a ball on off stump to the same bowler and Morden were 107-6.

Loads of overs in hand, but the nerves were really growing. Girish and Andy are a very good 7-8 combination at this level and the pair of them combined to excellent effect. Girish was understandably the more understated of the pair, with Andy striking a couple of massive sixes off of Morris. They got to 149-6 before Andy was bowled by a peach of a delivery from the same bowler. We needed 12 off 18 balls at this point, David soon came and went. The rate was rising and tensions ran high. Raj joined Girish, Girish was happy to play for a draw, but Raj was not having any of that. Morris bowled the final over and a few streaky runs here and there left us needing 6 off the last ball, Raj told Girish to go for it, but Girish couldn't make contact and was bowled. Game drawn with Rich sat padded up, happy not to have to face!

Great game of cricket, yet another tight game between us.

Man of the match

Girish for a patient 28, plus two wickets. Outstanding player on the day was the opposition's captain though.

Monty moment

Simon's drop in the covers, Hemant's drop at long on.

Jonty moment

Girish's running catch in the deep off Andy.

Morden Corinthians 3rd XI vs Morden Corinthians 2nd XI
Neutral venue (Wandsworth Common)
Saturday 26th April 2008
Cold, grey, windy


MCCC 3rd XI win toss and elect to bowl
MCCC 3rd XI win by 5 wickets


Given the dark skies and cloudy weather, it could only mean one thing - the start of a new cricket season. The "not so" Mighty Thirds set out on another season, thinking that surely we can't be as bad as last year. Can we? With new signing Andy "Not that Andy Allan" Allan added to the team, it looked on paper to be a reasonable side that we were fielding...

Having finally located the rest of our opposition and exchanged some light hearted pre-match banter, Lumboo one the toss and "invited" Simon's boys to bat first. Begrudgingly, the 2nd team took to the crease.

The old opening bowling partnership of Clifford and Sharma marked out their ends and prepared for battle. To say that Clifford struggled with the slope and wind would be an understatement, figures of 4-1-4-1 look extremely respectable on paper but do not begin to explain the tosh that was dispatched in the general direction of the batsman. The unlucky bat to be dismissed was Mark Bartram, trying to send a long hop somewhere into Wandsworth town centre, but being fooled by the complete lack of pace or bounce and losing his middle stump. Actually, that's a lie, the ball barely had the pace to knock the bails off still... A wicket's a wicket eh?

At the other end Raj was bowling superbly at Pal, but the man he actually dismissed was Simon, trapped dead in front on his big toe. 5-2 and the weather conditions were absolutely foul. Game on?

Clifford pulled himself and the VC out of the attack to be replaced by Geoff and Richard. Geoff bowled with genuine pace and direction, being rewarded with the wickets of Pal and Azam. Pal was caught smartly at slip by Vikram, while Azam was beaten for pace and lost his off stump. Already Geoff had as many wickets as he managed in the entirety of the previous season! 25-4 and this was more than game on. However Jason "Titanic" Ware had gritted himself in at the other end and was proving impossible to budge.

Another change then, this time Girish and Andy "Oz" Allan. Girish struck immediately, taking out Vivek "Why do I have to play for the seconds?" Sarohia, caught brilliantly by Theo at fine leg. Vivek went for his trademark pull shot only to balloon a top edge towards Theo who came hurtling forward and ended up falling over and clasping the catch between his not inconsiderable man-jugs. Still Jason would not be budged, until he popped one bag to Andy A who took a smart caught and bowled. This triggered an almighty collapse, with Girish picking up another two wickets, including possibly the Thirds first and only catch at silly mid off (Raj Sharma, catching Faisal Ali).

The final bowling change saw David and Theo having a dart at the tail end. Pinkney smote Theo for a mighty four through midwicket before trying the same short again and being pouched smartly by Girish Patel, atoning for an early drop.

All out for a painstaking 65 off 32.4 overs. A quick barbecue in the improving weather and we were off again. Surely even the no-so-mighty thirds could chase 65?

Cliffo decided to make a game of it, reversing the batting order so that those who didn't get a bowl were pushed up the order to get a bat. This gave the opening partnership of Hemant and Vikram a crack at knocking off the runs. Both men started positively, Vikram taking a liking to Azam's bowling and smashing him tennis-style over his head for a couple of big blows which plugged on the "outfield". Simon was bowling tidily at the other end and picked up Vikram and then Ewan in the same over. 18-2 and a wobble was on? Paul Low then came and went for a brief 4 and then with David being caught at slip by Vivek there looked to be a properly wobble on.

In came the skipper to "settle the nerves" and struck a couple of big hits to take us within touching distance before aiming a huge swipe at Pinkney's first ball and dragging it onto off stump. With 17 needed, the ideal man to come to the crease was Girish and he saw us home easily along with Hemant for a famous win.

Man of the match

Girish Patel for 3 wickets and a tidy not out.

Monty moment

Nothing springs to mind. Both Girish and Richard dropped catches, but it's so long ago I can't remember how or why.

Jonty moment

Theo catching Vivek out. A brilliant moment.

Wimbledon 5th XI vs MCCC 3rd XI
Saturday 5th July 2008
Oberon Sports Ground, Lindisfarne Road

The Mighty Thirds rocked up to Oberon Sports Ground on the hunt for revenge, having been pasted comprehensively by 40 something runs in the return fixture4 weeks previously. Side note - it's quite nice that 40 runs is what counts as a hammering this season eh? Last year that would have been classed as a narrow defeat!

On arrival at what must be noted as one of the nicest grounds, pavilions and pitches we've played on all season, we were told that Wimbledon had been let down and only had 9 players. 20 minutes later, this became 8 players. Hmmm... This lead to Fergal guesting for the oppo and us agreeing to let one of their guys bat twice (depending how it went).

Toss lost, asked to field. Usual opening pair of Clifford and Sharma prepare for battle. Clifford took a liking to a strip which offered pace and carry, whistling a couple past Retief's nose while Raj tried to see how much pace and carry could be found on the adjacent strip. Eventually he came back to bowling on our wicket and induced a tidy edge which was pouched by the chairman. Cliffo nearly made his own breakthrough, but a mistimed pull sailed tantalisingly over his head and fell safely. After that a spell of consolidation followed so the brains trust were withdrawn, to be replaced with Geoff and Andy A...

The left arm seam twins bowled beautifully, Andy finding a consistant line and length, allied to Geoff's raw pace at the other end. Geoff produced one of the best balls ever seen for MCCC, swinging it viciously into the batsman, before jagging it away off the seam to take off stump. Outstanding and lovely to watch from a very straight third man! The disbelieving batsman wanderered off and was soon to be joined by the skipper's son who fenced a a similar delivery next up and was caught at gully by the chairman again. Geoff was on a hattrick, but sadly couldn't pull it off!

Andy A followed that up with his own jaffa, supremely taken one handed by Lowey behind the stumps. With the Dons firmly on the racks, the skipper let his secret weapon out of the cage and unleashed Amit... What followed was a quite remarkable spell of bowling, Amit took the next 5 wickets for just 11 runs. Their number three bat had survived the carnage, but got an unplayable cutter to be felled for a resolute 14. Then the lower middle order was blown away. Second wicket pitched just on the edge of the cut strip, then jagged back viciously to take off stump out. In came Morden's loanee, Diver, he departed caught behind by Lowey (his housemate/tenant), the skipper's son then returned to the crease for a second bat... The poor lad lasted twice as long as last time and was caught in the covers for a second ball duck! Madness. Amit is running round and round in circles on the outfield celebrating. Nine down fof 60ish and one more wicket to get.

We let it slip a bit here, in the face of some big hitting by the number seven who had surveyed the carnage from the other end, along with their opening bat who had returned to the crease for another crack. They put on forty or so, including 23 plundered off of 4 luckless overs from Gopal. Finally realising he was unlikely to get a bat, the skipper stuck himself on for a quick blast and knocked the number seven's leg stump over fourth ball back.

113 all out, a stark contrast from the 188 they racked up first time around (they were missing several of their good players from that game).

Anyway, on with the chase. Deciding in true Corinthian spirit to tweak the batting order, so that those who bowled least got to bat at the top, Girish and Lowey strode to the crease.

Girish was soon on his way back after a watchful 12, nailed dead in front by Retief (or more accurately, by Raj who alleged failed to spot an inside edge). Anyway, no matter as Lowey was setting about the bowling attack with gay abandon. Only having 9 fielders was obviously a hinderance, but still he made the most of it, unleashing his signature cuts and pulls. Hemant was watching intently at the other end, protecting his wicket in true Patel-style! Sadly this was not to last long, as he was castled by their other opening bowler. Even so, we were cruising at 64-2 with Lowey already on his highest score for MCCC. Imran joined in, just as the opposition finally came up to a full set of XI players. Two of their fourth team players turned up to see how the match was going (they'd just bowled their oppo out for 47) so Cliffo let them join the fray. Paul was less than impressed, as they both came on the bowl. At his head. Still, he and Imran gritted in and some lovely inside out cover drives from Imran saw him off and ticking too.

Lowey spent twenty minutes scratching around in the high forties, before finally bringing up his maiden 50. He carried us home undefeated on 60*, but Imran fell with just a couple needed. This let Tom Compton come to the crease and mow and one bounce four over midwicket to win it.


Thanks to Wimbledon for being excellent hosts, a most enjoyable afternoon of cricket.

Man of the match

Lowey and Amit, can't separate the pair of them.

Monty moment

Lumboo watching a top edge sail over his head? Can't think of anything else.

Jonty moment

Lowey's one handed caught behind off Andy A.

Morden Corinthians 3rd XI vs Cuddington Casuals
Saturday 19th July 2008
Dundonald Recreation Ground, pitch 2



The Mighty Thirds© arrived in high spirits to try and secure a fifth straight win. Unfortunately, those spirits were Tequila, Sambuca, Jack Daniels and Jaegermeister. Oh, so much Jaegermeister. To the unaware, it was the skipper’s birthday the night before and just 12 hours before 9 of the starting XI were downing shots in Balham. As ever, the skipper was being forced to lead from the front. Fair play to the vice-captain though, his decision to keep himself topped up by drinking right the way through until sun-rise was exactly the sort of genius expected from someone with a 100% record as stand-in captain.

Enough pre-amble. The game…

Cuddington turned in dribs and drabs, winning the toss and decided to field. Brave, considering they had 5 players at the ground. With Viv “A bat has a middle?” Sarohia and Vikram “The Late Vikram Sangar” Sangar smelling cheap runs, they were chomping at the bit. Sadly we faffed about for another 30 minutes or so which meant they had 8 to take the field, plus a small child. It was heartening to find an oppo suitably ramshackle on a day like that.

Anyway, eventually the game started and Vikram started mowing the ball to all parts, presumably because if it didn’t go for four then Vivek ran him to within an inch of his life. Stand out shots included a flat batted tennis style smash back past the bowler and an almighty pull over the head of the square leg umpire (which was me, so yes it did go high). Eventually someone had a word with the opposition and told them how bad Vivek was at playing spin. Three balls later, one mistimed “drive” and a tidy catch at mid-on, Vivek was wandering back having made 25 out of a 72 opening partnership. By far our best opening stand of the season (I think).

Not long after Vikram was heading back too, caught in the same fashion having made a personal best score of 45. This brought the two biggest hitters together, Amit and Lumboo. With perilously little batting to follow, the pair of course started in watchful fashion. Or not. A competition to see who could hit the ball the furthest on the enormous outfield ended in a dead hat, the pair adding 47 off 30 balls before drinks. 126-2 at the pause and a well deserved break for the captain who appeared to be sweating Jaeger.

Immediately after the resumption Amit was bowled by a ball which turned 30 inches from right to left. Or that’s what he made it look like anyway. Theo “How old’s that Pizza?” Moore came to join the captain. Under strict orders to stick around for a bit and then get stuck in, Theo did exactly that. Sadly the getting stuck in didn’t last as long as we’ve grown to expect from Hussey and he played all around a straight one. Rumours that it was a tactical decision because Theo was on the verge of a coronary after trying to keep up with the skipper’s running are unfounded.

Thereafter followed a procession, albeit with a common theme. The captain would welcome a new batsman to the crease, tell them the ball wasn’t doing much, stick around for a bit and try not to make him run too much. The new batsman would then run like a maniac, because the skipper didn’t have the energy to reach the boundary before getting out. The Thirds don’t do “following orders”.

First up was Nabhan, who poked around, ran around and then played around (hitting one straight back to the bowler).

Then David (Lumbinho). An all ran four first up, then a chip to midwicket.

Fergal “Back and better than ever” Diver. A resolute 14 ball duck, which was the closest anyone came to following orders. None more so that when Lumboo was on 49 and told Fergal to back up like his life depended on it. The ball was dropped somewhere near his feet and the charge began, the skipper bringing up a 4th 50 of the season and celebrating with a shrieking girly squeal and he careered past the non strikers end and towards the game on the second pitch.

After that it fell away a bit. Clifford holing out to mid-on and Raj/Geoff provided some entertainment in the last few overs. However 184 off 35.2 overs seemed rather too little, especially given the start.

After some tea-based shenanigans, the boys prepared to reluctantly enter the field. It was starting to get warm and some faces were looking rather green. None more so than then opening bowlers.

Anyway, in they “raced” and the skipper struck first, nailing someone lbw. Party time, 7-1, maybe we can win this? Ever better was to follow, with Raj “The Had” Sharma rattling out the next three bats, each of them “clean” bowled (actually all came via inside edge or pad, but it just says bowled in the scorebook!). The best part being the celebrations though. Raj had spent the last hour sulking because he got out and the first wicket prompted a primal roar and then a somersault/machine gun celebration favoured by Robbie Keane. Clearly inspired by this, then second one was celebrated in Torres fashion (Jesus - arms outstretched) and then my personal favourite the third, which was Heskey’s DJ desks celebration.

Special doesn’t even begin to describe this team…

Anyway, back to the cricket. The big West Indian Claude Thomas was at the crease and anything in his arc was being gloriously lifted over the covers for four. Raj rattled in to bowl the final ball of his spell and induces a big top edge. At various points Amit, Vivek and Raj all called for this (some report hearing Graham Pinkney call for it at Raynes Park, it was up that long). In the end nobody went for it, they all raced towards each other and left Vivek to sort of half-drop it. Later Raj claimed he was racing in to catch the rebound if Viv dropped it, all present agreed that was a pretty fair assumption.

Anyway, both opening bowlers went off to find a blood transfusion, allowing Geoff and Richard to come on. Geoff took the idea of being introduced to the attack a little too literally, walking up to the batsman and shaking his hand “Hi, I’m Geoffrey, I’m going to be bowling at you now”. Did I mention special?

Both bowlers were outstanding, Richard following up last week’s legendary spell with another brilliant performance and Geoffrey combining raw pace with consistency and bounce. Rich pinged off stump, as he always does, while Geoffrey set up Viv for 3 catches behind. A thin edge off the dangerman Thomas was the best, the funniest being a gloved catch off S Amerasinghe who after a lengthy (but good natured) discussion was finally happy that if it hits his thumb then it is out.

Bowling changes a-go-go now, with Fergal being allowed to bowl and having two catches dropped off his bowling. Take a bow Nabhan (tough one in the gully) and David (an absolute sitter at mid off). Richard then took the 9th wicket, with David clinging onto a tougher chance. Fergal was shanked from the attack rather harshly then Nabhan’s evil catch-dropping plan came to fruition taking the final one caught behind (4 for Viv!). Poor Theo was all primed to take the last wicket in front of his Mum, but it wasn’t to be.

A great game of cricket, played in a cracking spirit (an indeed played entirely on spirits by at least 6 of us). Thanks to Cuddington who are always a pleasure to play against.


Man of the match

Sod it, I’m having that.

Monty moment.

David’s dropped catch and the Viv/Amit/Raj incident.

Jonty moment.

Fergal’s rolling, diving, headlong effort to stop a ball which was gently rolling to another fielder’s feet anyway.

Morden Corinthians 2nd XI vs Woking & Maybury 2nd XI

A beautiful sunny day greeted the Invincibles as we squeezed past the wooden bridge and onto the ‘picture skew’ Brookwood Rec Ground to accept the challenge of the mighty Woking and Maybury 2nd XI (upbeat after trouncing their own 1st XI recently).
Our esteemed leader won the toss and for once elected to bat under good conditions. Simon ‘allrounder’ Watt has been known to field first in 30 deg weather before so it was a pleasing sight to sit back and admire the tree within the boundary rope, the horses in the paddock opposite and Pal ‘VC’ Chakravorty and Matt ‘Chequebook’ Oliver stride to the crease.

Moments later this state of enjoyment was interrupted after VC promptly strode back to the sidelines after chipping one in the air for the easiest of catches. Enter Jason ‘confidence is high’ Ware….. exit Jason ‘confidence WAS high’ Ware, after trying to pull the 3rd ball to the onside and instead guide the leather onto the stumps.

Mark ‘silver fox’ Bartram came to the crease exuding all the bravado of a prize bullfighter. In the meantime, Chequebook found out that he had written one too many dodgy cheques that this batsman could not cash and found himself tickling one down to the keeper, if only to test his skills out.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man and enter Salsa Steve O’Neill, the Invincibles inform batsman, surely all would be safe? But alas, the silver fox preferred the banter on the side lines, which went along the lines of what a wonderful top order the Invincibles have, and he decided a quick exit was the better choice.

Salsa Steve was soon to follow and hot his heels was Azam ‘match fixer’ Malik, whose record against W&M is under investigation by ICC officials. You see, he was seen leaving the crease with a smile on his face, which could have meant only two things: 1) either match fixer was getting a cut of the briyani tea that was promised or 2) his exploits in Angel the previous night may have been with a female sibling of the opposition. Regardless Angry Azam has never fallen to a duck with such a smile on his mug before.

Enter our Invincibles hero, captain Marvel himself, Simon ‘killer’ Watt. The killer had a disapproving look on his face, a look that said, “Why am I playing with these Muppets?”. The look changed to amusement as killer had to put up with the antics of the lower order. Firstly Cuan ‘delhi belly’ Brown played his pad instead of the ball to get himself bowled, then followed our secret weapon, Theo ‘ Roger’ Moore on loan from the thirds after an awesome season thus far. In fact Roger, can boast an average higher than our top 5 combined. But, the immortal words were heard from Roger’s lips, “You, know I’ve never got a duck this season.” If the game has taught us anything, it is to be humble, especially in the middle of a purple patch. The author remarked back to Roger, “You’ve not played for the Invincibles yet”. Roger was dismissed for a golden duck, shear proof that the Invincibles’ batting is under a devilish and magical spell by the cricketing gods.

Killer and Steve ‘Swayze’ Vickory put on a handy partnership, Swayze even hitting out while relishing his no 10 position and oddly enough, more time at the crease. Graham ‘GP’ Pinkney was last man in. He produced some moments of magic with late cuts down to third man and swinging his arm and bat in windmill motions to intimidate the 14yr old spin bowler.

Finally our embarrassment came to an end, with only killer weighing in with 23, the rest single figures, with 3 little ducks joining in for a total of 81, 25 of these being extras.

With such fine numbers posted, it was difficult to rally the troops to defend, especially when the first 2 overs went for 16 runs. The W&M openers, whose combined aged was about the same as the author where in fine form and showed little respect to our banter on the field. Again we never covered ourselves in glory with misfields and chances in the air, where we pretended to be stuck in quicksand instead of shifting it to get where the ball was falling. A highlight was the ripper taken by GP at a leg slip position. 6’7” GP then proceeded to do his version of the knee high sprint (at pace) the length of the pitch. A lowlight was VC Pal, fielding at silly mid off due to back problems, stopping a screaming with his thumb. Personally the author thought he was a girl’s blouse for having to go off for ice, but it is subsequently transpired that he has several breaks in his hand and is off for 6 weeks! It has been duly noted that Angry Azam has played previously with cracked bones, so no excuses Pal! We of course wish VC a speedy recovery.

In the end, W&M finished 4 down before marching past our total with a hundred over to spare. Its time we pulled our socks up, played with some pride and showed everyone what we are made of. If each of us can get 15 runs, that’s 165 runs before extras, which will win more games than it will lose. Come on you Corinthians, show us your spirit!

Match: Morden Corinthians 1st XI vs Parkhill
Playing conditions: 45 overs
Venue: Raynes Park pitch 1
Weather: Sunny, hot, occasional cloud and windy.
Pitch: Hard
Date: 05/07/08
Result: MCCC win by 202 runs

The Muppet circus once again descended upon Raynes Park for another eventful day of cricket. Stories of new kit and parking fines surrounding another expensive trip to Fordhams Sports (aka Cummings Sports). Gerry "too much golf" followed the oppo skipper out to the middle and returned having handed the decision of bowling first to the oppo. So, with the words "i have a really bad feeling about this", Mat "having a shocker but have a new bat" Reid and Steve "grass curb" Cummings strolled out to the wicked to take up residence. They both started well each hitting some nice boundaries but Steve was clearly was not playing off a 14 handicap this week and was given out full stretch plumb in front of middle stump for 9. NK "I only get runs on Sunday" joined Mat at the crease but Mat was beaten by a great delivery removing his bails. having lost 2 quick wickets the boys were a little worried when Nick "catching practice" Hefner only spent 2 deliveries out in the middle having dollyed a catch to cover for a duck. Now reeling at 3 for 22, having lost 3 wickets for no runs panic spread quickly thought he camp fearing Mat's premonition was coming true. Nobody including the oppo's bowling figures could have guessed what was about to follow.

2 very solid (ship steadying) innings from Gerry 18 and NK 37 playing some great strokes to get us back on track before falling victom to the curse. After a couple of quick wickets we now had Craig "I is a kiwi/aussie/batsman" Harper and Corrie "i really need some runs" at the crease. What happened next will go down in history as "the day i got that hundred!". We were 6 for 151 Craig decided to bludgeon every oppo bowler over the boundary scoring a great 147 which included 13 sixes and 11 fours. With the fall of Corrie for a good knock of 31 this brought Tiaan out to watch the oppo chasing the ball into the trees, car park and bowling green. He played a great supporting role scoring a well played 26 happily handing the strike to Craig to dispatch the ball to and over the rope almost every time he hit it.

The one chink in Craig's innings apart from being dropped early in his innings (a BIG mistake on the part of the oppo fielder and subsequently fined by the funnel) was when he decided to use a new, controversial lucozade hand grip. He got a nicely flighted delivery from a spinner and when the ball finally reached him he swung the bat so hard it flew out of the new hand grip and almost went over the square leg boundary. This act, if seen by olympic selectors would have easily earned him a place in the hammer throw.


We finished our 45 overs (oh my god we lasted the distance) on 309 for 7. A great effort considering the poor start.

Our bowling effort was to the same high standard as every week. Ryan "hit the ball grrrrrr" opened well with Tush "wadwaa waaablaaablaa" bowling great line and length restricting the oppo to less than 3 an over. Jim "super sub" bowled a great line and length frustrating the oppo. Tiaan "a little bit awkward" master spinner took another huge bag of sticks completely confusing every batsman into submission. A great fielding effort all round apart from Mats "still having a shocker" dropped catch in the slips and we rolled the oppo for 107

Batsman: Craig 147 off 17 deliveries
Bowler: Tiaan 5 wickets
Muppet Moment: Gerry asking for a helmit umpiring at square leg after Craig threw his bat at him.
Concert not to go to even if you have cricket: Ben Harper