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Kings CC V Warwick Castle CC 15-Jul-07 |
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On a muggy afternoon in Kempton, Kings welcomed Warwick Castle CC and hoped we could at least get a game in after so many weeks being washed out. With the threat of rain later in the day our skipper, Smut, opted for a 35 over limited game. Kings opened the batting and without our regular pair of DP and Windy, we went for Mince and Bliss. Both started well against some tight bowling although the pitch was slow and low. Bliss opted for the more aggressive role and took on the bowlers at every opportunity scoring freely and quickly. Mince was happy to support and contributed well and with the score moving quickly we reached 100 off just 13 overs. Bliss was out for 66 and Mince was joined by Laces. The pace slowed a little with more running between the wickets than the pair anticipated as the ball was not rolling due to a light shower we had and which seemed to affect both batsman who looked short of fitness. I am sure the weather was to blame ! The score went past the 200 mark around 25 overs and we were looking for the club record of 274 all be it off only 35 overs. With Pipey and Chucky getting pad rash and looking forward to moving the score along a little faster, Mince and Laces continued to grind out the runs. Two drop catches off no balls had Pipey up ready to bat before having to sit back down again looking disappointed. At the end of our 25 overs, Mince reached a very solid 101 not out and Laces made 66 not out. Our total of 273 for 1 was a great score but not the record, unfortunately. After tea, the skip opted for Melli and Chuky to open the bowling. Chucky looked sharp and Melli bowled a tight line. The batting looked suspect and it was not long before the first wicket went with Melli forcing the batsman to play across the line and Sones to take a good catch at mid off. After this wicket Kings seemed to lose their way for a while in the field. Knowing Warwick Castle were never going to reach our target we opted for the plan of poor fielding and drop catches which allowed the next pair to settle and score some runs. Jamie and Oz replaced the opening bowlers and Oz took the bowling line of 3rd slip which helped contribute to Warwicks biggest score in extra's. There was some shocking umpiring decisions giving wides for anything down leg and the best of the day; a wide for hitting the pads and then the umpire insisting that as umpire his decision was final, although wrong. (Even his team mates could not understand the decision) Jamie was unlucky with the ball and should have had more than the 1 wicket. He was clearly still upset at being called for wide when hitting the batsman's pad so Smut took the brunt of his aggression as the next ball came down at pace, incidentally down the leg side, and hit Smut on the chest which surprisingly was not called a wide. After which, Pipey and Julc were called to action. Pipey playing with years of experience realized that the best way to take a wicket was to bowl a full toss and was rewarded with a C&B. Julc at the other end bowled tight and bowled the no. 4 bat who once too often swung across the line. A few words were exchanged, probably out of frustration, but restored the status quo. The remaining wickets fell quickly and cheaply as Warwick finally gave up all hope. Pipey returned with 3 for 16 and Tighe 4 for 11. Two notable performances in the field was the simple run out by Mince who only need to pass the ball to Smut from 10 yards for the batsman to be out by 4-5 yards, however, he only managed to direct the throw to mid wicket, perhaps still tired for scoring all those runs. On the other hand Chucky, who only had pad rash to show for his batting performance, took an excellent stop and throw behind point to run a new bat out who was some 3-4 yards out. We would expect nothing less !! The
game finished in sunshine with the threat of rain well and truly
gone. 35 overs was probably a good call as we were yet again presented
with a weak opposition who only managed to lower our performance
in the field as we have this tendency to switch off when not faced
with a difficult challenge. I take nothing away from our batsman,
who were not really threatened by a poor bowling attack, but still
had to keep their minds on the job and score runs. They did this
well and I am sure DP and Windy, when reading this, will be disappointed
at not playing. Our overall performance in the field needs to
improve as one day we will face a better side than Kings and we
will need to adapt and up our game when it really matters. Nick Tighe
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