Match Report

 
 
 
 

Andrew's great record when Captain continues

 
  Result: Skittled out for a 123 run defeat. I was going to say Collapsed but that would suggest we were at some point in a position from which to collapse, which we most certainly were not.  
 
  Bowling: Generally very good apart from a few too many wides and a couple of early season beamers, one of which nearly carried to Dan at third man. No one was quite sure how we didn't get a few more wickets and the opposition Batsmen were certainly very keen for Ken to finish his overs, with one of them calling out to the scorer several times to ask if he had bowled too many. We also managed to get through our 40 overs early for the first time ever which meant we wouldn't have to bat in the dark for a change, although as you will see further down that was never going to be an issue.  
 
  Fielding: As with the bowling, apart from two dropped catches (which fortunately only cost a few runs) the fielding was excellent with some very good stops, good backing up and a high standard of throwing. The catches that were taken were of course more difficult than the drops and the fact that they came shortly after the two drops meant Andrew didn't have to spend long moaning and mumbling to himself about dropping one.  
 
  Batting: After a dodgy first couple of overs where Andrew tried his best to get caught or run out, the run rate was slowly increasing to 2 per over when Harry tried to play his favourite shot and managed to hit the ball onto his pad and on to the stumps. Adam then came to the crease to being the Key family 'Who can hit the ball hardest' competition and took a couple of balls to get off the mark before taking a huge swing and one a getting clean bowled middle stump. Having scored all his runs with edges, Andrew managed to middle a few straight at fielders which didn't get any runs so he decided to go back to using the edge and was promptly caught by a fantastic one handed diving catch at slip. Then on the way off the field he completely confused Paul about what the ball was doing so much so that Paul was still trying to work out what the ball was going to after it had hit his pad followed by the stumps. This meant Hand went in to face the first hat-trick ball of the day that produced the same outcome as his next 23 deliveries which he also failed to get any bat on, before finally smashing his 25th ball straight up in the air to get caught. After playing a few nice shots and threatening to get to double figures Dan lost his way a bit a started stepping back and across to every straight ball and so after one plumb and one 50-50 appeal that were turned down he was then given out for a third appeal which was the most plumb of all of them. Next came Tim who intended to bat more like he does in nets rather than the very defensive approach he often takes in matches, which of course meant he tee-d off to a straight one and was clean bowled after a few deliveries. Calvin then came to the crease with the one aim of hitting the ball further than his Dad and proceeded to swing harder and harder at each ball with the results being 3 runs and then getting clean bowled. It would have been interesting to see how far the bat would have gone if he'd let go of it as there are some houses very close to the boundary at Nutley which were easily within range. Adam was shouting from the side for Calvin to calm down and take his time, but we all know he was secretly happy that Calvin didn't hit the ball any further than him, and that it wouldn't be long before he could go to the pub. Next Jordan was harshly caught first ball on his Trafalgar debut, which left Rhys to safely negotiate the second hat-trick ball of the day. After this Ken finally got to face his first ball which he despatched for the only boundary of the innings to take us into the forties. He was then out a few balls later when he edged to the wicket keeper who dived and parried the ball to first slip who took a good catch, leaving Rhys not out on 2.  
 
  Shot of the day: Dan's cover drive for 2 off just his second ball was one of the very few fully controlled shots in our innings and would have been four on a lot of other pitches. The only other real contender was Ken hitting a full toss for the only boundary of our innings.  
 
  Excuse of the day: Amazingly I can't actually remember anyone making an excuse for anything.  
 
  Sharrem Shenanigans: Having got a new Cricket Bag with wheels and a size more proportionate to the amount of kit he owns Rhys decide to get the train to the match. First he missed the train from Victoria and the next one would not get to Riegate until 2:20 so he decided to get the first train to Croydon and see if there was anything from there, however whilst his Zone 1 & 2 Oyster Pre-Pay let him through the barrier, it was not a valid ticket for the journey and so he was charged a penalty fare. From Croydon the best he could get was a train to Redhill followed by a cab to Riegate that took him to the wrong cricket ground at first. Despite all this, Rhys still seemed very happy at the end of the game having paid £17.50 per run.
So to some up his day: Penalty Fare £20, Train Ticket £5, Taxi £10, 2 Not Out, Priceless!