Dear all,
Commiserations to the 4th X1, who came within 6 runs of securing their status in the Premier Division – you’ll bounce back next year. Congratulations to the Ladies, who are through to Finals Day on 23rd September at Epsom CC after the comprehensive win against Lingfield (match report below). I’m sure they will appreciate some support.
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News
Promotion / End of Season Drinks – This Saturday!
It’s been mentioned (loudly, in some corners) that the lack of beers for a promotion winning side is a shocking indictment on the club. Fear not… there be a few drinks this weekend! I stress, this is not an exclusive 1st X1 event, it is a chance for the whole club to celebrate the season / share stories / generally not accept that the summer is over. Meet time: 7.30pm at the Bar! Which nicely leads into the below…
Poker Night – Saturday 15th September
Numbers are looking good and the pot could be quite substantial – if you’re still keen to play – contact Sagar or show up early on the night. Details on the attached poster.
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.
End of Season Groundwork
Roger will require some assistance in a couple of weeks when all the cricket has died down in the process of repairing and preparing the ground for the winter and the 2013 season. More details of times and days will follow, but if you are keen to assist, please mention to Roger that you are a willing volunteer. Remember, the better the post season work, the better the wickets come next season!
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Last weekend’s results:
Saturday
SMCC travelled to Southern Railway & Kenley for the last game of the 2012 season keen to do the double on SRK to avenge the defeats of 2011. The day didn’t start well with late arrivals and the no show of Mohammad Safi. They didn’t get better as SRK won the toss and proceeded to put on 91 for the first wicket. SRK benefitting from some poor S&M fielding and bowling. Hindmarsh continued his recent good form and was the aggressor of the partnership. Shareef Hassan bowled well with little assistance from his fielders (read captain) and JC was his usual threatening self. It took a change bowler to finally get a wicket, Barber edging Thomas behind. Dias then took the prize wicket of Hindmarsh for 53 with a well disguised arm ball. Thomas then had Adie LBW and McLean fell in the same manner, but to Dias. Patel and Djilali then put together a determined partnership and it took the return of Kasheef Hassan to put an end to it, finding Patels edge. Hassan hen took the next 3 wickets, Filmer-Court bowled, prior LBW and Djilali LBW. Rao then took the 9th wicket as Scullard sliced to cover before Hassan wrapped up the innings, bowling Manns to take 5-51 from 7.1 overs. Extras joined Hindmarsh with the top score of 53, whilst SMCC were disappointed to concede more than 200 runs for the first time this season. SRK ending 209 all out from 47.1 overs. SMCC mixed up their batting line up in response, Dias opened the batting with Thomas and both looked to attack the new ball. the pair took SMCC past 50 without loss before Thomas skied a catch off Prior. Fuller was promoted to 3 and immediately opened his account with a boundary off his first ball. Dias fell in the same manner as Thomas, this time Hindmarsh was the bowler. 3rd X1 star batter Thompson came in at 4 and looked at ease. Fuller was adventurous, though his paddle over the keeper came close to losing him a few teeth. Thompson was next to fall with 24 at more than a run a ball. Fuller then guided to slip and Little came to the crease with youngster Rao. Little played the senior partner role perfectly and mixed solid defence with some expansive shots, a highlight being the effortless straight drive into the houses. Rao struggled initially, but battled through and scored some pleasing boundaries square of the wicket on his debut. Little passed 50 for the second consecutive week and it was apt that he score the winning runs. SMCC achieving the target in 37.2 overs, with 5 wickets in hand. And now on to building for next season, if we are able to retain this side, we will again be a competitive outfit. Thank you to all the players, see you next year! (D Ellis) 1st X1 League position – 2nd / 9
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Lost – no report
2nd X1 League position – 7th / 10
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No game
3rd X1 League position – 5th / 18
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Heartbreaking loss
4th X1 League Position – 8th / 10
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No game
5th X1 League position – 8th / 10
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Two hour drive to Guildford to play Merrow CC in delightful surroundings. The track is good and the day broiling under clear blue skies. I lose the toss and open up the batting happy and free of care. All soon changes as we lose young Curtis snicking outside his off stumps and then I merrily place the leg side full toss in to midwicket’s hands. Mark Bartolo chopped on so we are 6 for 3. Mark Davis, umpiring, asks the Oppo if they want a 20:20 beer match. We are rescued by Jack Hughes (19) and Rory Thomas (50) who bat with intelligence and skill to put on 63 runs for the 4th wicket. Jack looked capable of a huge score but misjudged a lofted drive and was caught. Rory went on playing beautifully, especially straight down the ground. Eight fours in his maiden fifty for the club. Rory was supported by Mark Davis (14)and Andy Taylor (11) who both threatened to get us up to a decent total but it was not to be and we finished on 125 all out in the 37th over. At least fifty short of where we should have got to. Things looked promising for us in the first over when Hugh Irmiger succeeded in enticing the opener in to a big shot at a full wide delivery and Andy Taylor took the catch well. This was deceptive as it was the only wicket we were to take. The bowling was too erratic, too many cheap runs and the fielding display lethargic. Only Mark Bartolo (8-0-25-0) and Mark Davis (4.3-1-32-0) threatened consistently. Richard Hunsley was the star fielder with a tireless display. Merrow batted very well and it was good to see their colt make a classy fifty – just a shame it was at our expense. Merrow were a good bunch with a nice set-up. It would be good to give them a better game next season. Never mind – we managed to reconcile ourselves to our disappointment after the game and it was instructive to hear Marcus Shukla’s techniques on attracting women. Ask him about it. Commiserations to the 4’s on their heartbreaking defeat – they will be back. (L Johnston)
Sunday
As summer finally arrived so did the ladies XI in ‘The Bushes’ (Lingfield to most) for a rescheduled game. Traumatic car journeys for some and knowing this was a must win game put pressure on all the ladies but nevertheless we begin the day smiling and ready to challenge the young Lingfield side…We lose the toss and are put in to bat. Never mind. We can only have gained experience and wisdom from our poor batting in previous games. Captain for the game Sally Keith has thought hard about the order and sensibly puts in T Mattinson and R Hassan, who bat well together until Mattinson (8) departs after missing a rare straight one from the Lingfield bowling attack. In comes the Skipper (7*) who bats patiently against some interesting bowling, until finally frustration for the lack of a run means Hassan (16) ends her innings trying to sneak a quick single. M Little (11) comes to the crease with confidence in her stride after hitting a magnificent 20 runs for Dulwich CC last week, and with some clever running and powerful strikes manages to increase the run rate until she too is run out. K Klomp (8*) then adds to our total and impresses with the bat, hitting her 8 off only 6 balls. Lingfield give us a hand in bumping up our total with 63 extras and we finish on 113-3 off 20 overs. Decent. A very trusting skipper places the ball in E Johnston’s now sweating hands and asks her to open the bowling. For once there are no major casualties and it was not too humiliating (3-1-9-1), and D Selwyn-Kuczera likewise was useful with the ball from the other end (4-1-7-2). A wicket in the second over with a fairly simple run out instilled yet more confidence in the side and we continued to pick up wickets fairly regularly. M Little and C Pierre-Packer both bowled with skill and flight and were unlucky not to get their names in the book. Lingfield were finding it difficult to connect bat with ball due to our impressive bowling, and so as I watched on from deep mid-wicket in the cool of the shade, I realised I was beginning to quite enjoy myself. Overall we put in a good performance in the field, taking 4 catches, including 2 very tidy ones from the keeper M Merjava, one very high and the other an inch from the ground. S Hallows (3-0-10-1), R Hassan (1-0-2-1) and L Mazur (3-0-5-2) all bowled well and delivered the other wickets, and so we managed to bowl out Lingfield for just 52. Boooom! It was a convincing victory, and much credit must go to Sally for taking on the title of captain for the week and doing a sterling job. There is still lots of room for improvement but it’s nice to win. Coach (back from Barbados and driven straight from the airport to watch our game) managed to say these encouraging words: “It was not a good performance. But congratulations.” Oh well. Roll on the finals. (E Johnston)
In the other Sunday game Kasheef Hassan led the way with 93 against Carnegie as SMCC posted a challenging 292-6 in 40 overs. Rao also chipped in with 54. Carnegie fell 57 runs short with Bartolo taking 3 wickets.
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp
This weekend’s games:
Saturday
Friendly Fixtures
Sunday
Friendly Fixtures
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/fixtures.asp
Best of luck to all the sides.
Dan