Dear all,
A surprise loss from 3rd place Old Hamptonians meant that the 1’s were promoted with a week to spare. Well done to the 17 who represented the side. Things still very much in the balance for the 4th X1 who need to win to retain their Premier Division status. A win for the ladies will see them qualify for the regional finals.
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News
SMCC Annual Dinner & Dance
The end of season dinner is scheduled for Saturday 20th October. All the details are on the attached poster, but please make everyone effort to come and support the club and see everyone one last time before the close season. You can sign up now on tinyurl.com/bnyx2u6 – there is an early bird discount for those paying before 20th September.
Poker Night – Saturday 15th September
Sagar is arranging a poker night at the club. All are welcome and details are on the attached poster. If you are interested in playing, contact Sagar direct!
Garden Table
Marta has tracked down the following pub table for free in East Dulwich http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/file.php?9,file=60633 but it requires a van to collect – does anyone have one? If so, can you coordinate with Marta directly (marta.m@live.co.uk).
Surrey Championship Dinner
The annual awards dinner at the Oval will be held on 5th October at the Oval. Roger Dakin will be the Master of Ceremonies and Chris Cowdrey will be guest speaker. The club has paid for 4 tickets as part of its membership to the league, but there is the opportunity to get more @ £38 each. It would be good to get a table, especially with some members of the promotion winning 1st X1. Please let me know if you would like to make it as I need to confirm numbers in advance.
Coaching opportunities
For those who are interested in coaching – please see the attached e-mail from Surrey.
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Last weekend’s results:
Saturday
SMCC hosted Farncombe in the penultimate game of the league season. A win would keep SMCC ahead of Hamptonians with one game to play, a loss would potentially open the door for Hamptonians to pip SMCC at the post. In the last encounter between the two sides, SMCC were hammered and Ellis instilled in his players the importance of the game and a reminder of how dangerous this Farncombe side can be. Farncombe won the toss and opted to bat on a surface which had been soaked the previous weekend during the lightning storm. Edwards struggled to find his rhythm, but was able to extract some movement out of the pitch when the ball was in the right areas. Appleton was mixing up his deliveries well and a slower ball accounted for De Ruyter, who skied to point. Ellis was beginning to locate the middle of his bat and fell hooking a short one straight to square leg. Thomas looked to play positively and struck the ball cleanly as he and Shareef Hassan took the score past 100. Hassan fell soon after, edging to slip but at 120-3 at drinks, SMCC felt in a good position to kick on. This soon changed. Thomas drove at a wide delivery and nicked off, Kasheef Hassan hit in the air to mid off, Dias tried to hit out and could only edge to the keeper and Fuller was LBW. At 137-7, SMCC once again needed their mid/lower order to dig them out of a hole. Little and McGill began to rebuild with solid defence and patience. The score edged up and Little started to widen his range of strokes. McGill fell trying to increase the pace, yorked by the impressive Adam Appleton before Little launched 3 sixes over the pavilion. Patel and Mortimore fell in quick succession to leave Little unbeaten on 55*. SMCC taking their score up to a competitive 222. Adam Appleton finishing with 5-31. Upon the resumption, Barnes and Ravesi began quickly, threading drives through the offside and punishing any loose deliveries. Ellis quickly introduced Lassana Dias after just 6 overs to stem the flow of runs and take pace off the ball. The opening pair remained watchful against Dias and attacked at the other end. However, Dias struck in his 3rd over, removing the dangerous Barnes LBW as one straightened down the line. Gehy fell soon after as he failed to pick an arm ball and, again, was struck in front. At 100-2, Farncombe were in the same position as SMCC earlier in the day. They too, now suffered a collapse. Hassan bowled Jaggard as he tried to force off the back foot, Ravesi squeezed a full delivery from Mortimore to slip, Cussans hung out his bat and feathered a catch behind off Mortimore, Edwards was stumped from a superb delivery which dipped, turned, beat the edge and forced Edwards to overbalance and Elkins was LBW hitting across the line. 104-2 had become 112-7. Dias soon finished his superb spell (10-6-4-4) and the Appleton brothers looked to edge Farncombe up. They batted sensibly until Mortimore found a leading edge which looped to De Ruyter, who dropped the simple chance before grabbing it inches off the ground. Johanson was bowled by Mortimore and McGill finished the job by disturbing Sewell’s furniture.
Another week, another get out of jail story. This time it was Warren and Lass who had the major impact on proceedings. News filtered through later that Hamptonians had lost to Maori and so SMCC have been promoted to Division 3 along with Chipstead, Coulsdon & Walcountians. A great fighting ability, a winning mentality and no little skill has secured this promotion, which is a great achievement considering the number of cancelled fixtures. Many thanks to the 17 who have represented the 1st X1 in 2012. (D Ellis)
1st X1 League position – 2nd / 9
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Won – no report.
2nd X1 League position – 7th / 10
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Lost – no report.
3rd X1 League position – 5th / 18
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Two games to go and two wins needed to ensure survival for the 4th eleven! Pressure? What pressure? A toss won and into the field we go. First ball, first wicket! Haynes fires down a short wide one that the batsman gently guides to Brinsden in the gully who made it look very easy and so we were under way. There number 3 could bat, but only in one mode and after bludgeoning 40 odd picked out Brinsden again but this time on the deep square boundary off a rank short ball from Adamson, he bowled a lot of good balls too and ended up with four. Some decent batting and some ridiculous cheating resulted in Normandy reaching 149 for 9 from their 45 overs, it also resulted in Angry Pete Adamson and the even angrier Hendo getting a good telling off from the skipper, the ever diplomatic Bell. Tantrums aside, a good effort that restricted the oppo to a below par total. Moss fell early but a solid partnership between Adamson and the ever improving Knapp got the innings going. Have I told you the funny story about how to lose two batsmen in one ball? Adamson hits the ball, an easy single to take, sets off and rips his calf muscle, strands Knapp half way who is then ran out, Adamson retires hurt, and Normandy regain belief! Only for Brinsden to smash the ball to all parts and smash their belief at the same time. An easy win by 7 wickets in the end, a massive bonus point that sees the team 3 points clear of the drop and their fate still firmly in our own hands.
If you don’t have a game this week, then come down the club and support us on Saturday, the boys will definitely appreciate it. (A Henderson)
4th X1 League Position – 9th / 10
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Last game of a league season that has seen the V’s become a competitive outfit. We have challenged in every contest save one this term. Many youngsters have been blooded and come on well. Several old men have been found a home. In front of an expectant Mayow crowd, one excited spectator taking hundreds of photographs, we took on the might of Dartfordians. I had to concede the toss for lack of an umpire and so Curtis Knott and I march out confidently to face the music. The track is horrible. Shooting low and whistling past chin it takes a great deal of patience, getting forward and taking blows to prosper. Young Curtis lost his off stump to one that kept low. Armani Sharif (9) looked good and reached the boundary twice before by being undone by a short one that stuck in the pitch and was smacked back in to the bowler’s grateful hands. Kirk Smith promised to play sensibly, had an almighty heave at a straight ball and got bowled round his legs. Kirk tried to claim the ball had swung. The only thing swinging was him. This brought Stan Barrett-Johnston to the crease. An excited ripple rang around the boundary. What Father/Son tragedy could be acted out this week? None as it transpired. After taking a stern lecture from his son about dancing down to the pitch to the spinner the old plodder (22) inexplicably tried to smash one over cover and was predictably caught. Mike Nicholas was bowled by one that turned sharply to clip his off stump. Stan (33) and Andy Taylor (20 not out) then batted really well adding fifty runs. Andy was cutting the ball behind point beautifully and Stan was punishing the poor ball with that curious cross batted drive of his. The young man fell to a slip catch caught in the stomach and Andy carried his bat but the tail didn’t do any wagging and we were all out for 138. Maybe 20 short of what we might have got. In the field we open up with Armani (12-3-19-2) who beat the bat at least thirty times with scant reward. Jamie Davorn (6-1-11-10) bowled well and troubled the bat. But as the ball got soft and the pitch flattened out our lack of a spinner made itself felt. Mark Davis (8-0-43-2) and Hugh Irmiger (4-1-32-2) toiled manfully but were unable to blow the Dartfordians innings away. It must be said that Dartfordians can bat and applied themselves without complaint to the track. We could moan about edges not going to hand but truth be told we did not bowl well enough consistently enough to win the game. On reflection I could have shuffled the bowling differently – live and learn. No matter it has been a good season in many ways. The chat on field remains of the highest quality. Davorn and Irmiger dish out their ironic colt remarks, Stan tries to act tough in his moments of consciousness but the prizes go to Mike Nicholas for this gem. I think he was referring to Jamie Davorn’s bowling when he offered the opinion that his bowling was akin to braille – full of dots and the batsmen couldn’t see it. Marvellous.
A great pleasure to return to the club to discover that the 1’s had been promoted and the 4’s had gone a long way to securing their survival. Curry night and the return of Justin Sbresni. What a great club. Viva S and M. (L Johnston)
5th X1 League position – 8th / 10
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Sunday
The Sunday 2’s won chasing down 216 with a rapid 73* from Sayif Sarwar and a solid 61 from Lewis Knapp.
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp
This weekend’s games:
Saturday
1st X1 away to Southern Railway & Kenley
2nd X1 home to Addiscombe
4th X1 home to Ashtead
Sunday
1st X1 Home to Carnegie
Ladies 1st X1 away to Lingfield
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/fixtures.asp
Best of luck to all the sides.
Dan