Detail: 03-05-2008 -

Result:
Welcome to newcomer Zubir Ahmed - who thought he was going to walk across the park to play tennis, but instead was persuaded by Guy to join the Blues, and spend the afternoon playing cricket!

A finely fought match ending in a tie - according to this report, courtesy of the Crossbat's Captain:

"Crossbats vs The Blues

Venue – Hampton Wick

Fine weather greeted Crossbats as they arrived at Hampton Wick for their match against The Blues. Some early season player numbers were a concern for The Blues as they could only manage to rally 7 troops for the encounter. Dunbar, being a very generous and understanding captain, discussed various options with The Blues captain, to ensure a fair match was had by all. With the toss again lost by Dunbar, it was The Blues who padded up.

The first breakthrough came early when Gumbley found the edge and it was safely pouched by stand in keeper, Tillson. The next breakthrough was some distance off and The Blues made use of a spongy pitch that offered little for the bowler, scoring runswith gay abandon. The partnership was finally broken when Reeve got one to leap up off the deck, surprising the batsmen who gloved it through to Tillson.

The Blues had some hitters and they were scoring plenty of runs, but it was only a matter of time before they holed out. And it was Smith who created the next wicket, enticing the batsmen to hit big – but he did not get all of it and Dunbar safely claimed the catch on the boundary.

Next it was Jones, frustrating his opponent into also hitting big and he too found the safe hands of Dunbar just inside the boundary rope.Jones claimed his second moment’s later going right through the batsmen and then Dunbar chimed in with one for himself. A stodgy last wicket partnership saw The Blues through to about 183 – Unfortunately the Blues players are not schooled in the art of scoring – a lot of dots and dashes that Closely resembled hieroglyphics made up the scorecard. The score board said 170, the scorebook transcripted into 183, so the only fair thing the Blues captain could do was take the 183…………..

It must be said that the Blues may well have scored a lot more runs had it not been for the athleticism of Crossbats Man of the Match, Alistair Wright, throwing himself around like a teenager, sprinting to save the single or the boundary, setting a perfect example to his team-mates, because as they say, every run counts, whether it’s off your Bat or the ones you save in the field….

Chasing 184 for victory, keeper batsmen Tillson made his first appearance with the bat for the season and his first appearance on the duck list when he was Bowled for nought. Wright was next and he soon settled into his work. Running two’s and hitting boundary’s was on the menu and he, together with Winch, put on 49 before Wright Perished to his signature dismissal shot, the flat bat crossbat to a crossbat, filling in the field for the Blues.

Carter, looking to improve on last week started solidly, but it was not long before he was undone, dragging the ball back onto his stumps.

3/89 Amongst the commotion, Winch passed fifty, trying desperately to make up for last weeks match losing performance… Dunbar came to the crease and was very lucky not to be back in the hut with a pair after the easiest of catches was grassed in the outfield – After a stern talking to from Winch, Dunbar knuckled down as best he could, until second ball after drinks, also playing his signature dismissal stroke, the ‘very average cut shot’, was caught in the gully.

At 108/4 Crossbats were still in the hunt and Van vuuren look in good attacking form, scoring boundaries and running hard. The pair added 40 before Van vuuren was caught at mid off. Smith was next in and added 7 before he too was caught.

Things were getting tense, 171/6 with 2 overs remaining…13 for victory, but not to worry, Winch was still there on 92 and nothing was going to stop him taking crossbats to victory…………….Alas, the muppet threw his wicket away once more……..I must commend him on his 92, otherwise we wouldn’t have got anywhere near the total, but again Winch left his Team stranded, still requiring 13.

With one over to play crossbats had narrowed the victory margin to 9. Reeve relieved some pressure with a boundary off the first ball of the last over…….5 from 5Another 2 to Reeve off the next ball made it 3 from 4 and all seemed well….. Dot ball – 3 from 3A quick single, 2 from 2 Bob, feeling the pressure, came down the wicket to the next ball and swoosh!.........2 from 1 Last ball, all was tense and what a circus!

Ball bowled, Bob has a swing and a miss, Lips is bolting down the pitch, Bob is standing his ground, Crossbats Are screaming from the boundary for Bob to run, Lips gets to Bob, they have a quick conversation and he turns and sprints for home, the opposition fumble the ball and

When they finally gather they can only manage to fire it in, hitting their bowler square in the middle of his head…….What we all failed to notice, including Lips, was that our Helpful South African umpire had called a wide! Scores were tied and there was still a ball to go!!!!! This should seal it, no problem…..But the pressure was too much for Jones who again had a swing and a miss and Reeve, doing his best was run out by the keeper, leaving the game a tie.

When all is said and done, it was a fair result for a good day’s cricket – Next week it’s the Bank of England at Barnes, which should be a cracker!"

Scorecard (c/o Crossbats)

The Blues 1st Innings 183/6 Closed (Overs 35)
Freeman c Dunbar,B b Smith,S 49
Metson c Tillson,D b Gumbley,J 6
Appleton c Tillson,D b Reeve,S 47
Upsdell c Dunbar,B b Jones,B 20
Singh b Dunbar,B 10
Blay b Jones,B 0
Coach not out 20
Ahmed not out 15
extras (b16 lb0 w0 nb0) 16

TOTAL 6 wickets for 183
FOW
1-0 2-0 3-0 4-0 5-0 6-0

Bowler O M R W
S Van Vuuren 5 0 38 0
Gumbley,J 7 0 33 1
Reeve,S 7 0 26 1
Smith,S 6 0 44 1
Dunbar,B 4 1 7 1
Jones,B 6 0 31 2

Crossbats 2nd 1st Innings 183/8 Closed (Overs 35)
Winch,G b Appleton 92
Tillson,D+ b Freeman 0
Wright,A c Van Vuuren b Upsdell 15
Carter,A b Upsdell 6
Dunbar,B* c ? b Ahmed 8
S Van Vuuren c ? b Ahmed 21
Smith,S c ? b Freeman 7
Reeve,S run out 8
Jones,B not out 3
Gumbley,J dnb -
extras (b23 lb0 w0 nb0) 23
TOTAL 8 wickets for 183
FOW
1-2 2-51 3-89 4-108 5-148 6-171 7-171 8-183

Bowler O M R W
Freeman 7 1 19 2
Metson 3 0 32 0
Singh 7 0 28 0
Upsdell 5 0 23 2
Ahmed 6 0 35 2
Coach 2 0 12 0
Appleton 5 0 28 1

[updated 30 Jul 18]