Dear all,
Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend, let’s get straight on with the news:
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Devon Tour update
£30 deposits are now being collected. To confirm your availability, pay your deposit or if you need any more info please contact Robin Hobbs on 07886 893134 / rdh199@hotmail.com. As a reminder, the tour is running from August 11-16 and is open to all.
Trust XI
The Trust XI, competing in a Sunday League designed to bridge the gap between colts and senior cricket, kicks off this weekend. The league has designated that teams should be able to provide an umpire and scorer for all fixtures. If anyone is free to assist for any of the next 5 weekends, please contact Shareef Hassan (07954 794 480) as soon as possible.
Midweek Cricket
Our midweek friendly fixtures have started. If anyone is interested in playing midweek cricket, please contact Chris Reardon on 07527 204 914 or 020 8699 6662. The next fixture is a home game against Locksbottom on 5th June.
Mirash Tandoori
Sally Keith has done a fantastic work in brokering a sponsorship deal with Mirash Tandoori (on Lordship Lane) to support the club and, in particular, the ladies team. If you are in the area, or are a regular customer already – pop in for a meal and please thank them for their support!
http://www.mirash.co.uk/index.html
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Last weekend’s results:
Saturday
Lost – 5 changes from last week’s victorious side. Out went Davenport, Shah, McGill, Blackburn and Little. In came Thomas, Mortimore, Kash Hassan, Rostami and Goodwin. Addiscombe lost the toss and were asked to bat on a wicket which was a looked pretty good to bat on for most of the day. The talk was to tighten up at the start and squeeze in the middle. We almost managed it… Addiscombe were quick to pounce on the loose delivery and we were unable to apply the pressure we would like. The squeeze certainly came on with Mortimore (2-19) and Carr (2-21) into the attack and they reduced Addiscombe to 105-5. Addiscombe batted sensibly to reach the 200 mark. Patel (4-51) returned at the end to pick up 3 wickets (including a good catch in the deep from Hill).
The less said about the batting, the better. The first 3 wickets were caught in the “V” trying to clear the field and when the next 3 wickets fell to good bowling, SMCC had a mountain to climb at 75-6, Rostami and Patel came together and started to bring down the deficit. Rostami fell at the end of the spinners spell and K Hassan fell soon after. Patel, however, was still at the crease and determined to chase down the target. He found some support in Mortimore and regularly found the gaps in the field. Patel batted well for his maiden 1st XI fifty and ended 58 not out after losing his support but managed to drag SMCC to within 40 runs of the target and a losing bonus point. A long journey to Churt awaits for SMCC who will hope to improve on a dismal batting display in this game. (D Ellis)
1st XI League position – Joint 5th / 10
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Won – The 2nd X1 played Middlesex based Ashford in a Surrey Championship league game on Saturday. Wacky races set off at 10.45am! The skipper picked up another 1st placed podium finish and definitely heads the driver’s championship this season. Ilbers and Ginge (Dastardly and Muttley) set off from Reading and came second (surely a first for both of them!). Martin “see you when I get there” Thompson (Pete Perfect) decided to take the A4 and was last seen sitting in traffic on Earls Court Rd for a living. He again ended with Nil points. Charlie (of course Penelope Pitstop) and PC finished a respectable 3rd and 4th. This is all far more exciting than the match report so I hope you’ve read thoroughly.
A first toss won this season and Ashford were inserted. Not a happy hunting ground for yours truly. Regular wickets fell and at 9-3 Saif could be heard to shout at the captain “an easy 10 points here Skip”. 77 all out. Fine bowling by everyone; Walker was excellent and Corns again proved he is “the best bowler in the division”!! Ilbers flight and guile proved too much for the oppo as did a fine first spell of spin bowling from JR – to be honest, the run up and and pace of delivery look exactly the same as when he was a quickie!!!
78-3 was achieved with relative ease. Helped by a “gutsy” one legged 40 not out from Ginge. It’s always been a dream of his to have someone run for him – now if someone could hit some boundaries for him we’d have a decent player. (M Eldridge)
2nd XI League position – 4th / 10
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Lost – After weeks of anticipation, league cricket finally arrived for the 3s. Worcester Park were the opponents and we looked forward to a good game on a pitch and outfield that looked unaffected by the deluge the day before. Again, the skipper lost the toss and we were put in. After a decent start by Knapp (21) and the visibly unwell Sowton (18), we got bogged down as Worcester Park’s bowlers discovered some swing and both openers fell to Hewage. Hayward (43) and Bartolo (42) revived the innings and there was good support from Hughes (11) and Willmott (16) but we got bogged down again by the slower than slow bowling of the WP spinners (including Big Dave, who’d halted the 4s dash for victory the week before). Bartolo sacrificed his wicket as we pushed for quick runs, the skipper (19), Culley (5) and Chaudhury (1) all had a dart as we were bowled out for 193 in the 50th over.
We felt pretty good about defending our total but as the sun came out, the wicket gave a more than passable impression of the M25. The openers couldn’t make a breakthrough but first change Willmott did, clean bowling their opening bat with an absolute beauty. Sadly there wasn’t a double breakthrough, the other opener racing to an unbeaten 117, and we only managed to create a couple more chances, which we didn’t take. A tough day but we’ll certainly bounce back, hopefully starting this Saturday away to Ashford. (M Begg)
3rd XI League position – Joint 9th / 16
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Lost – On a cold and windy day, the 4s travelled to Old Ruts still searching for their first win of the campaign. Losing the toss and being put into bat on a damp pitch wasn’t the best start. The chairman being run out early on and a run rate that hardly crept over 2 an over meant a late innings dash for runs got us up to 143, a total that looked short on an ever drting wicket.
A tea rich on quality cake was followed by a bowling performance rich in aggression, swing and quality to match. Henderson (3 for 36 from 12 overs) and Hardy (1 for 31 from 10 overs) troubling all batsmen Old Ruts falling to 34 for 4 and thats about as good as it got. They reached the target without losing another wicket and what looked like a good position turned into a big defeat. (A Henderson)
4th XI League Position – 9th / 10
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Won – A rare sunny day saw the skipper take his long sleeve off 20 overs in to Chislehurst’s innings. Even more pleasing was the way we saw off a talented and determined Chislehurst side who were in this game for long periods. I lost the toss on a wet Mayow track that would dry out as the day progressed. Chislehurst put us in and after sending Shiraz off to get the milk we watched as tight bowling from Tim Massey (10-2-30-3) and Matthew Carter (10-0-43-2) accounted for young Ben Church (5) who chased a wide one and got a top edge to point and less young Newton Moss (10) who got a good one. Matt Clark (6) thumped one glorious shot and then got a leading edge back to the bowler. Justin Sbresni (51) and Ed Lawrence (49 not out) then put on 102 for the fourth wicket. Batting with great patience and skill on a slow track both played some glorious shots. Sbresni was deft and classy behind square on the off side and Lawrence fluent in front of the wicket. These two got us to a total of 160 off our 40, possibly a little short of where we wanted to be but put that down to tight bowling and the lower order not getting the rub of the green.
After a pleasant tea in the opulence of the Bowling Club’s converted shipping container we emerged to bowl. Barrington Wilks (7-1-31-1) is still trying to find the rhythm and luck of last year but still managed to claim one of the openers to a good catch by young Ben Church. Something of a raity for Barrington to have a catch held (6 dropped this season off the genial Mancunian’s bowling. Shiraz Sheikh (10-2-27-3) bowled beautifully and claimed 2,3 and 4 in the order including the all important wicket of Louis Sharp (31) who had batted very well for his side. It was tough for his father to have to give him out but it is a testament to the way Chislehurst play their cricket that Sharp senior raised his finger to dismiss the youngster LBW. Mark Davis (7-2-18-3) now bowled a spell of hostility, accuracy and intelligence that took the game away from Chislehurst. The powerful seamer bowled Tim Massey (24) just as he looked to be getting Chislehurst close to our total. With Paul Henly taking 2 wickets in 3 balls for no runs that was it – victory by 57 runs and top of the league. Paul had earlier taken a good catch at point. Ben Church took two good catches and Ed Lawrence again kept well conceding no byes. Mayow looked at its most picturesque as the game drew to a close, as we left the pair of thrushes reclaimed the square. A lovely day in good company, a cracking Hobbit joke by Roddie and a new teapot to brew up with. Life is almost worth living sometimes. Dartfordians away next week. (L Johnston)
5th XI League position – 1st / 10
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Won – Guildford conceded (unable to get a side)
Ladies 1st XI League Position – joint 1st / 8
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp
This weekend’s games:
Saturday
1st XI away to Churt
2nd XI home to Thames Ditton
3rd XI away to Ashford
4th XI home to Malden Wanderers
5th XI away to Dartfordians
6th XI away to Horsmonden
Sunday
Trust XI away to Old Whitgiftians
Wednesday 5th June
Midweek XI home to Locksbottom
http://stmcc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/fixtures.asp
Best of luck to all the sides.
Dan
ps. Keep up to date with news from the club on Twitter feed (@SMCricketClub) or via our Facebook page (Streatham & Marlborough Cricket Club)
pps. Our local restaurant sponsors (Dulwich Tandoori & Mirash Tandoori) are very important to us and provide valuable financial assistance. Please make an effort to visit them and, if you do, mention that you are a member of SMCC and are grateful to them for their support!