Dear all,
2nd X1 Promotion Party!
The 2’s are having a drink up after the game to celebrate their promotion to Division 3. Feel free to join them after the game for food and drink!
End of Season Dinner
Just some advance warning that the End of Season Dinner will take place on a Saturday night in mid October – date to be finalised in the next week.
Ladies Cricket
The ladies are due to play their first ever game for SMCC on Saturday, 11th September. Please come up to the club and support! Contact Lisa Stephens if you can offer any assistance.
Last weekends results:
Saturday
The 1’s survival hopes finished with a whimper as they were thoroughly defeated against the Champions, Valley End. The persistent rainfall in the week left the 1’s with an important toss to win, which Ilbery duly lost. Inserted on a wet pitch, the going was tough against a good bowling attack. Only Fuller, Fernando and McGill batted with any real application and all made scores in the 20s. SMCC bowled out for 131. Early wickets were key and they did not materialise… The only real highlight of the display was a stunning one handed effort by Davenport at the end of the game. The rebuild begins here… (D Ellis)
1st X1 League position – 10th / 10¦lt;br /> ————————————————–———–
After partying like it was 1999 last weekend, some important information came in…. the 2’s weren’t yet promoted! Doh! So we travelled to the champions, Valley End! Double doh!! Woking and Horsell were catching us by the day (if you believe the points they were awarding themselves?) – this was an important game.
The toss was won (again) and off we went to bat. Claw went early, but a fantastic 2nd wicket partnership by ledley (93) and kockle (78) of 170 set us up for a huge total – wrong… The wickets tumbled quicker than a Pakistani no-ball. It was left to Crutts to get his highest 2nd x1 score of 10 not out to get us upto 231-9. Respectable, but 50 short of expectation, especially with a 30 yard boundary on one side. Some of the batting was woeful…
That score set up one of the great matches, probably the first Valley End had played in, but the 3rd nail biting finish of this season for S&M. With 11 overs left, VE needed a run a ball with 6 wickets left. The next over, bowled by KDR, went for 15 but a stunning running diving catch by Ledley (which pronenly means he’s out of England’s European qualifiers) swung the game back to us. Then, a quiet over by Crutts and a wicket for Kash. A bowling change and the unfortunate Armani was very unlucky to go for 22 (plus 4 byes) on his comeback over. Heads dropped… still 4 wickets to get and only 11 runs needed – surely no way back! One last rally cry from the skipper and a big push from a group of players who just don’t know when they are beaten! An inspired spell by a fired up Kash (who finished with 5-49) saw off the tail and VE defeated by 5 runs. A fantastic way to secure promotion – even Claw (who has seen everything) was moved to say “that was one of the best games he’s played in”.
The final league game is this Saturday at home to old spotbettians I mean Sinjuns. Join us in St Gabriels for a beer after the game! (M Eldridge)
2nd X1 League position – 2nd / 10 ¦lt;br /> ————————————————————-
An excellent end to the season as the 3s demolished gobby Farnham to record their 9th win and finish 4th in the league, one away from promotion. Incredibly, 5 of this team had never played for the 3s before but all mucked in – Jim Hughes and Shindi Khaira bagged catches and Barney Smith took a 5-for with nagging accuracy that reminded some of a (very) young Jeff Hardy. Special mention, though, must go to Barney Smith’s dad John who dusted down his kit for the first time in 12 years, took his position at first slip and showed that at 61 his reflexes were as sharp as ever in snaffling a sharp chance off Kevin’s bowling. (A comment that the Secretary could have practised for 12 years and still dropped it was duly ignored.) The pattern of the game had seemed eerily familiar as Tom Breed and Luke had bowled tightly for the first 12 overs and then looked on enviously as the other bowlers got the wickets! Kevin took a couple and Saif one as Farnham were shot out for 105. Then Jim and Barney put on 76 for the first wicket to take the contest away from Farnham, whose captain seemed to be having some kind of nervous breakdown as he embarrassed himself with a selection of petulant outbursts that his teammates had to apologise for.
As if this weren’t entertainment enough, more was provided by debutant and number 3 Nathan Evans who stroked his way to a majestic 4 (although he claimed a bye had come off his batting “so I should have got 5”) and the inspired lunacy of Saif Sarwan (three boundaries – cow shot; Dilshan; switch hit). A win by 6 wickets with a cobbled-together side showing the depth in the club at this level and the spirit. And a fitting end to Lee “Kiddy” Vidler’s tenure as captain – he leaves the team in better shape than when he took it over (16th in 2008), and his 962 runs in two-and-a-bit seasons will be hard to replace. Although we’ll miss Lee for his directness, good humour and generosity, parents throughout Surrey can breathe a sigh of relief as the playgrounds once again are safe. (J Sbresni)
3rd X1 League position – 4th / 18
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The 4th X1 went into a must win game against fellow title contenders AOB knowing that a win would put them in pole position for the championship. The oppo turned up 45 mins late so captain Henderson claimed the toss and put AOB into bat. Tommy Ramsay once again produced a blinding spell which put AOB at 0 for 2 (including a stunning catch in the slips), but wickets didn’t follow quickly enough and they scraped their way to 139 for 9, Hendo taking 3 for 19, Dampier 2 for 7, Ramsay two wickets (deserved a lot more) and Gladstone 2 wickets to continue his fine haul of wickets.
Set with a target that should have been well within reach the 4’s batsmen didn’t step up, aided by some poor shot selection and some great catches the AOB bowlers tore through the side with only Henderson (28), Josh Ball (22) an Gavin Buck (13) showing any sine of resistance. All out for 107 wasn’t a result that the season deserved but a top three finish should be seen as a great result in our first season in the league .
4th X1 League Position – 3rd / 10
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The 5th X1’s last league game of the season found us at home at Belair Park, a damp and green track and a well-grassed outfield. The loss of Skipper Bell to a freakish accident saw stand-in skipper Johnston lead out a young team including colts Curtis Knott, Stan Barrett-Johnston, Sufiyaan Osman and Rory Thomas. Brett Lynch, Elliott Charles, Michael Nicholas, Jim Roebuck and Brijesh Patel are still in the first flush of youth. The skipper and Kevin Morgan added wisdom and experience.
The opposition weren’t desperately impressed with the facilities or the track but were decent about it. OW’s were pretty pleased to win the toss and soon had reduced us to 36 for 5 on a difficult pitch. Those who know and love the Belair track are aware of its variable bounce and it’s alarming ability to leap from a good length. There was certainly plenty of that on offer all through the game. After 30 overs we had crawled to 50. Jim Roebuck batted a long time to steady the ship with Brett Lynch (19) before perishing. Rory Thomas played the innings of the day to general delight. In less than ten overs the impressive young cricketer thumped 46 not out in a classical fashion. Playing in the V with power and grace the powerful Thomas made light of the track and with support from Lynch and Nicholas (12 not out including a massive six) won us the game. The shot of the day was probably Rory’s straight drive for six. We finished on 127 for 7 off our 45 overs.
After tea the captain was pressured in to opening with himself by Brijesh and Kevin and their instincts were to pay off. The best thing about this team is the enthusiasm and willingness of the players. Sufi and Kevin volunteered to field in close and they took four catches between them at silly mid-off and silly mid-on. Young Sufi took three excellent catches at silly mid-on and was responsible for decimating their top order. Kev took the catch that wrapped the innings up. The bowlers did their job on a helpful, sticky wicket. E. Charles 1-28 off 7, Johnston 6 for 13 off 9, Nicholas 2 for 12 off 5.1 and Lynch 1 for 7 off 3. The fielding was magnificent. Elliott Charles took a magnificent catch around the corner and everyone threw themselves at the ball.
A great way to end the season. My thanks to all the players who have helped the 5’s have a successful first league season. Stan kept well despite wearing one on the helmet and Kev’s sledging is becoming legendary.
Let’s finish with Jim Roebuck’s haiku which rather sums yesterday, and us up. Please note that this one meets the 5-7-5 syllable rule for the form. (L Johnston)
Late order boundaries
Opposition wickets fall
Sniffer’s catch wins it.
5th X1 League position – 4th / 9
————————————————————- ¦lt;br /> http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp ¦lt;br /> This weekends games: ¦lt;br /> Saturday
1st X1 away to Churt
2nd X1 home to SinjunGrammarians
3rd X1 league season finished
4th X1 home to Oxted & Limpsfield
5th X1 league season finished
Sunday¦lt;br /> 1st X1 TBC
2nd X1 TBC
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/fixtures.asp
Best of luck to all the sides.
Dan