Saturday 1st XI Match Reports - 2006

Sept 9 CCC 189 for 9 beat Waltham X Rosedale 188 all out by 1 wicket

The 2 points required for promotion took a long time to arrive! Waltham X won the toss and decided to bat and despite a slow opening they found themselves on 131 for 1 after 36 overs. In to the fray though stepped the Stead twins taking 8 wickets between them. Matt took 4 for 33 (including a wonderful hat trick) and James finished with 4 for 26 including taking 2 wickets in one over, as Waltham X finished on 188 all out.

In response things looked good for Fosters with Flat Track scoring another half century (58) and Fish and Chunky both getting into their 20s. The innings struggled somewhat through the middle and lower orders before Tim Haydon came out to join hat trick hero Matt Stead with 15 runs still to score. Matt became hero with bat and ball as he scored 23 not out and hit the winning runs.

This win earned the side the full 30 points and secured not only promotion to Div 2 next season but also assured them of runners up in the table. 


Sept 2 CCC 193 for 8 drew with Hatfield 254 for 6

Despite the relatively disappointing result, another 10 useful points were picked up and a look at the league tables shows that just another 2 points are required from the remaining game at home next week to secure a deserved promotion up to Division 2.

Hatfield chose to bat first and all of the Fosters bowlers struggled to make much impression as Hatfield racked up 254.

In response Fosters were always behind the rate with skipper Fisher batting down the order, with Flat Track O'Leary away not playing cricket at Headingley! Tom Woodbridge top scored with 43 and there were useful contributions from Sam Penny with 24 and Fish with 34. It was left to Matt Stead (19*) and Matt Sayers (12*) to ensure an extra couple of batting points
 

Aug 26 CCC 155 for 3 beat Wheathampstead 154 all out by 7 wickets

Another vital win and secured behind some excellent performances. Matt Stead with 5 for 44 ripped and Tim Haydon with 4 for 35 ripped through the Wheathampstead batting to leave an easily gettable 155.

In response Fish and Flat Track led the way with an excellent opening stand before Fish fell for 63. The momentum was kept up by Ben Wood and Danny Becker who both scored 12 and then the ever maturing James Stead weighed in with 11 not out to see the side home. Flat Track finished on 52 not out.


Aug 19 CCC 197 for 7 drew with Dunstable II 102 for 5

Despite another century from Flat Track O'Leary, Fosters had to settle for a draw in a crucial game at the top of Division 3 as rain came to the rescue for Dunstable. A look at the league table shows that these were useful points as 5th place side St Albans picked up just 2 points in their match against leaders Radlett.


Aug 12 CCC 218 for 5 beat Hertford II 214 all out by 5 wickets

The first team got back on track thanks to a fine knock from Sam Penny. Coming in second ball following the first ball dismissal of Flat Track he scored an unbeaten 136 and was given excellent support by newly promoted James Stead (37 not out) during an unbroken partnership of 115 for the 6 wicket, after the innings ad stood precariously on 103 for 5. In the end the required runs were knocked off with nearly 7 overs to spare, to secure an excellent victory.

Earlier Hertford had been restricted to 214, thanks to some economical bowling from openers Pumpkin (1 for 35) and Matt Stead (2 for 34), and the usual spell from Tim Haydon who finished with 4 for 44 from 15 overs.


Aug 5 CCC 231 all out lost to Stevenage II 278 for 8 by 47 runs - Matt Fisher

Different venue, same tactics - win the toss and field. Opposition duly inserted. Pumpkin and Stead begin bowling on lifeless wicket and get first breakthrough in the 9th over when score is on 32. Stevenage opener attempts expansive cover drive off Robinson and is caught Fisher at mid-off. What follows is a partnership of 225, two centuries and lots of leather chasing in the field. Chances at a premium. Cockfosters' bowlers toil away in hot conditions without reward - the batting was excellent. Give them both contracts for next season!

257-2 quickly became 278-8 as Robinson and Stead came back into the attack to end with four wickets each. A good comeback. The home captain declared. We had 50 overs to win the game.

Fisher and O'Leary set out their intentions early. 30 runs off the first 4 overs, 66 off 10. The run rate was fine. Then O'Leary fell, 70-1 from 11 overs. Penny continued the onslaught, his captain trying hard to ensure every available run was taken. Then Fisher chanced his luck once too many. Having been dropped twice, he holed out to deep square-leg (note to self: Stop doing that!). Still, with the score on 164-2, the chase was very much on.

Who else would come to the party with the bat??? Answer: Noone. The middle order surrendered tamely, eight wickets falling for 67 runs. People simply aren't getting well set at the crease and scoring the runs they are capable of. What started out looking like a realistic target ended well short and with a second successive defeat.

Credit to Stevenage's centurions for batting beautifully and to their bowlers for sticking to their line and length after the early onslaught. Credit too to Pumpkin, Stead and Haydon for their application on an unresponsive surface.

The champagne isn't on ice chaps, it's back in the cellar. We have lots of work to do!!!


July 29 CCC 93 all out lost to Harpenden II 110 all out by 17 runs


Not surprisingly I don't seem to be able to find anyone who wants to write the match report of this game!

 

The salient details are that Fosters snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, having bowled out Harpenden II's for just 110, including another 4 wickets for Pumpkin and a hat trick for Xav. They then followed this up to be 62 for 0 wicket after 12 overs with Fish and Flat Track cruising along, when the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion to finish on 93 all out.

 

The only good news to report was that Radlett failed to win and therefore the side find themselves still well placed in the league table just 2 points behind the leaders.

 


July 22 CCC 206 for 5 beat Botany Bay 203 for 8 by 5 wickets - Danny Becker


Top v close to bottom of Division 3 as Cockfosters travelled to their local rivals, Botany Bay. On a hot and humid day, the Bay won the toss and decided to make first use of a wicket and outfield that looked good for plenty of runs.

 

For the first time in recent memory the familiar opening partnership of Stead and Robinson failed to make an early breakthrough and after just 6 overs a rethink was required as Pumps' run up was looking a little tiring, uphill and into the wind!

 

The Bay opening partnership progressed steadily and the lightening fast outfield saw good deliveries reaching the boundary in some strange places! Eventually the younger of the two openers decided to stop trying to whip everything he faced (with one exception notable only to him) through the leg side and he proceeded to drive the ball to point where Becker took the catch off of the bowling of Robinson having just replaced Stead. The other opener soon followed for a fluent 39 after his partner took a suicidal single to point, only for Becker to smash the stumps at the Bowler's end with a direct hit. Haydon then got in on the act, toying with the new man, and bowling him with his marginally quicker ball.

 

At 63 for 3 off of 20 overs, things were looking under control for the Cockfosters bowlers, but a fourth wicket partnership started to develop, and a mixture of good hitting and despatching the odd bad delivery saw the run rate increase. A brief delay for rain and a renewed effort from the batting side saw the score move from 90 for 3 after 30 overs to 203 for 8 off of their full 50 overs. The pick of the bowlers was Xav, finishing with 4 for 64.

 

Our innings started full of confidence, having chased down every other total we have been set this year, although Declan and Sam got out within just a few balls of each other. With Fish getting dropped early on, things were looking decidedly uncomfortable on a wicket that got slower and lower during the day and was not starting to turn appreciably. Fish and Woody however took control and Matt was soon making the Bay fielders rue their Teflon fingers. He turned his drop into a 50 and then doubled it in quick time to bring up his third league ton of the season in good style, hitting one huge six further than Tim goes on his holidays! With Woody also getting to 50 the end looked in sight at 150 for 2 when Matt lobbed a catch up to point. Morgs carried on where Matt left off driving and cutting the ball with impunity before Ben was out for a well made 57.

 

Becks joined Morgs at the crease to the usual chat of, lets have a look first and pick up the singles, before Morgs holed out next ball to mid on! Xav then entered the fray and there were more than a few nerves from the spectators as this particular combination has hardly batted in recent months. Experience was however the winner as a combination of solid defence and the hitting of the bad ball saw the target reduce and when Becker hit back to back fours, the game was all but won.

 

A solid 5 wicket win against a team who played much better than their league position would suggest was a just reward for Cockfosters on the day.


July 15 CCC 204 for 2 beat Hoddesdon II 203 for 9 by 8 wickets

Skipper Fish again had no hesitation in inserting the opposition on winning the toss. Excellent early spells from the usual Stead and Robinson duo had 3 early wickets down but some middle order hitting soon took the score towards 150 at a rate of 5 an over thanks to a fast Cockfosters outfield.

The introduction of Tim Haydon had the usual effect of taking wickets and drying up the runs (4 for 44 from 18 overs) and in the end Hoddesdon barely made their full batting points from their full allocation of overs. General feeling was that the score was maybe 50 short given the speed of the outfield.

In response there was an early setback with the loss of Fish to a sharply rising delivery, just one ball after a similar ball had stayed low. Boris then failed to trouble the scorers.

This simply set up Flat Track and Ben Wood, who caned the bowling to all parts and saw the runs knocked off in just 27.1 overs. Declan finished unbeaten on 120 and Woody chipped in with 57. The Hoddesdon out cricket became more and more ragged and it was no surprise to see the game end with a misfield.

 


July 8 CCC 57 for 0 beat Wormley 55 all out by 10 wickets - Matt Fisher

After four long weeks chasing footballers' wives around Germany, the first team captain had the audacity to drop a man averaging 40 and select his team from a ferry terminal in Dunkerque. Any result other than a fifth win on the trot against the league's bottom team and he would have found himself drop-kicked back over the channel.

Winless Wormley arrived at Chalk Lane after a terrible start to the season to face the league leaders and were immediately inserted on what looked a good pitch for batting. Robinson and Stead are fast becoming the division's most talked about opening bowlers and for good reason. Pace and bounce undid Wormley's top order and after Stead's allotted overs the visitors were in trouble at 34-4.

Haydon replaced Stead and his first four overs went wicket-maiden, maiden, maiden, wicket-maiden. At the same time Robinson kept hitting the pitch and picked up two wickets caught at gully and one bowled at the top of off-stump. Classic fast bowling. Wormley's innings simply never got going, with the highest partnership just 19 runs. 45-7 at drinks soon became 55 all out.

Only four bowlers were used with Robinson continuing his good form with 4-29, ably assisted by Stead's 2-10. Haydon put the knife into the middle order with brilliant figures of 6.1-4-6-3 which included a caught and bowled and a stumping. Xavier's three miserly overs helped to keep the batsmen tied down and the pressure on.

When you consider the visitors hadn't bowled a team out in the previous eight matches, it looked a tall order and so it proved. The teams turned straight around and Cockfosters brutally reached their target in just eight overs, winning by ten wickets. Fisher scored six boundaries in his 37 not out, while O'Leary was never troubled in making 13 not out. Two and a half hours after the start the home team sat eating tea with another 30 points in the bag, knowing they were still top of the league. Five straight wins and a very relieved captain!!!


July 1 CCC 174 for 1 beat Southgate Adelaide 173 for 8 by 9 wickets - Danny Becker


It was second against fifth at Chalk Lane and everything to play for. It is 30 degrees in the shade and England are playing in the World Cup quarter final at 4pm. You win the toss. What do you do? Common sense says you bat, stand in skipper says you bowl!!!

 

And bowl we did. The usual opening combo of Robinson and Stead got us underway and in no time at all, Stead made the breakthrough, trapping the Adelaide opener bang in front. Their other opener was their overseas import from Oz and he set his stall out from the start. Missing his first delivery from Robbo, smashing a glorious cover drive straight to Declan second ball, and mistiming an attempted pull third ball. He soon decided that he couldn't score runs playing proper shots and he soon became very agricultural.

 

Robbo then removed numbers three and four in successive deliveries. The first dismissal removed the off bail, and the second was without doubt the ball of the season, a slower ball completely fooling the Adelaide Captain, pitching on his foot and the Adelaide umpire had no hesitation in despatching him back to watch the footy.

 

A partnership then developed and frustration started to set in for the fielding side. The Adelaide no 5 was dropped on 0 by Stead from a sharp caught and bowled chance and the score started to build. Few runs came from authentic shots and eventually something had to give. Mark Sayers struggled to find his line early on, but then induced the Aussie to mistime a straight drive for Declan to take a good running catch at Long On.

 

Xav started to turn the ball appreciably from the pavilion end, at times beating batsman and keeper, and the run rate slowed from 4 runs per over to 3. Stead was reintroduced to the attack and the rate slowed further. Cockfosters were now in control once more and Adelaide were reduced to quick singles and the odd slog. Both bowlers took a wicket before Tim Haydon was brought on to bowl a miserly spell at the death, producing another skier for Becker to pouch at mid off. A smart run out from Stead, the direct hit being good enough, as well as a couple of excellent overs at the end saw Adelaide restricted to 173 for 8 off of 53 overs. Big mentions have to go to Stead, 14 overs 2 - 30 and Haydon, 7 overs 1 - 16.

 

With Adelaide gaining 7 points and Cockfosters only 3 in the first half, a draw for either side was not in the game plan.

 

Sam Penny and Declan got us underway in some style. Declan driving through the on side on a regular basis and Sam playing shots all round the wicket, while riding his luck on a couple of occasions, particularly when the ball seemed to literally go through the slip fielder at one point!!!

 

Sam and Declan put on a steady 78 before Dec fell to the long hop sucker ball for 42. Adam Pigden joined Sam in the middle in a pressure situation. With plenty of wickets in hand, but overs starting to run short, runs were at a premium. We needed 5 runs per over at this point and a couple of maidens didn't help the watching batsmen's nerves. However Adam and Sam then set about taking the bowlers to task. 10 runs off one over from Adam and 13 from the next by Sam saw the balance of the game tip in our favour. With just 30 runs needed Adelaide appeared to give the game up and Sam and Adam reaped the reward of the early ground work to steer us to a very comfortable 9 Wicket win with plenty of time to spare. Sam in particular was brutal on the bad ball and hit back to back cover drives that he will not forget for a while, even if the rest of us are already really bored of hearing about them!

 

Sam ended 80 not out, Adam unbeaten on a well made 40. 120 points whilst Fish has been sunning himself in Germany shows a strength in depth that may have been doubted at the start of the season. With England out and Fish coming home, selection is going to be difficult this week......


June 24 CCC 174 for 5 beat Clarendon 170 all out by 5 wickets - Danny Becker
 

A familiar story! For the third week in a row, the all important toss was lost and Clarendon decided to have a bat on a wicket that did not inspire a great deal of confidence, despite the previous three league games on it each yielding close to 500 runs.

 

Normal service was resumed.........with Robinson and Stead opening up in customary fashion, the Clarendon openers were immediately under pressure. With a tiny boundary to the bottom end of the ground, one of the openers soon became overconfident after hitting two boundaries in quick succession and was good enough to nick a rising Robinson delivery to Adam Pigden behind the stumps to take a smart catch. The other opener soon followed, shouldering arms to a delivery that saw his off stump uprooted, just an over after being given a life by the recalled Ben Wood at point off of the excellent bowling of Stead.

 

Robinson continued to bowl with good pace and bounce, inducing two more wickets, whilst Mark Sayers was busy at the other end containing the flow of runs.

 

Sadly Declan couldn't hold onto a tough chance at mid off to give Pumps a five wicket haul and a well earned rest for Pumps saw the introduction of Xav. Unusually this led to an increase in run rate. With hindsight I should have bowled Xav from the other end as the batsmen took a liking to the short straight boundary, yet as ever, Xav responded by clean bowling one of the dangerous middle order with a peach of a delivery.

 

Mark Sayers toiled away but without luck, with an edge behind being given not out and a very confident appeal for lbw being turned down, and Tim Haydon replaced him from his favoured top end. Runs started to flow, but we remained on top. Haydon induced a skier to mid off, and the lower middle order started to wag. Some lusty blows from a couple of the younger members of the opposition saw Clarendon get to batting bonus points, before Pumps returned for his second spell to settle things down, clean bowling one and having another caught off a real steepler at mid off to return figures of 6 for 36, a fantastic effort. Haydon finished off the innings in the 50th over with Clarendon closing on 170. The total was really 50 runs more than they should have got, but at least 50 runs less than they needed.

 

Following an excellent tea, Declan and Sam opened up, secure in the knowledge that we batted a long way down. Both looked in good form, dispatching the ball to the boundary on regular occasions and at 60 without loss, matters were progressing well. Both openers were then dismissed within a matter of a few balls, for 39 and 25 respectively, and Adam and Ben Wood went about the task of rebuilding the innings. Adam was soon on his way, falling to a smart catch behind, and Dave Morgan produced his trademark cameo before returning to the pavilion. All the while, runs flowed, with Ben hitting a couple of mighty 6's and the target was always well within reach. Xav and Ben were looking comfortable before Xav was adjudged lbw. Clarendon's umpire decided that raising his finger was insufficient and proceeded to walk down the wicket and show Xav exactly where he thought the ball hit him in an attempt to justify his decision. For those of you who do not know, the phrase, "Methinks the lady doth protest too much" actually comes from Hamlet!! With just 20 runs needed, Xav's dismissal merely gave Clarendon an extra bonus point as Wood and Becker saw us home with plenty of overs and 5 wickets to spare. Wood finished with an excellent 72 not out, an innings that the colt at fine leg who dropped him early on would rather forget.

 

Another excellent win and the promise of Fisher to come back as soon as the woeful England football team finally get stuffed by someone half decent all bodes well for the rest of the season.


June 17 CCC 153 for 5 beat St Albans 152 all out by 5 wickets - Danny Becker


Yet another stinking hot day saw stand in skipper Becker lose the toss. The St Albans 2nd XI skipper thought long and hard before deciding that he would be lynched if he decided to bowl first and for the second week on the trot, Fosters were in the field.

 

An opening combination of Robinson and Stead produced the best new ball attack of the season. Robinson from the pavilion end extracted pace and bounce out of the pitch, while Stead from the other end bowled with excellent line and length. Robinson soon made the breakthrough and by the enforced end of Stead's spell, St Albans were 31 for 1.

 

After being warned by Letchworth the week before that the St Albans No3 was the key to their chances, he was clearly the man to return to the pavilion quickly. Sadly it wasn't to be as a tough caught and bowled chance was spilled by Matt Stead and the Pakistani Under 19 representative proceeded to drive the ball effortlessly through the covers. Excellent bowling from Mark Sayers and Tim Haydon kept scoring opportunities to a minimum and wickets started to fall at the other end, with Mark picking up 3 and Tim 2. At 88 for 6, it was clear that St Albans's overseas pro was indeed the key and his partnership with the No 8  started to take shape, and looked at one stage as though they were going to take the game away from us.

 

The introduction of Xav was once again vital. With Mark and Xav bowling good line and length it was left to the batsmen to take chances. After spending a couple of overs taking risky singles, frustrating the bowlers and fielders alike, Xav induced the overseas pro to dance down the wicket to the best ball of the day, only to see the ball rip past his outside edge and for Adam Pigden behind the stumps to execute an excellent stumping. Mark was then given a well earned rest and Tim did what he does best, bowling straight to mop up the tail and claim another 5 wicket haul.

 

All out for 152 in less than 49 overs was a fantastic effort from Fosters.

 

Our reply started brightly with O'Leary and Xavier getting us away to a good start against some lively opening bowling from the Overseas pro!!!! and the No8 batsmen!!!!!! Xavier, feeling slightly out of sorts was the first to go, but the foundation had been laid and Adam and Declan kept the good work going. Declan eventually fell to the loopy spin of the St Albans captain after doing all of the hard work and Becker fell immediately afterwards. Morgan's arrival signalled the end for St Albans as he proceeded to drive and cut the bowlers, including a memorable 6 which ended up closer to Compton than Fosters!

 

Dave perished to a disputed catch at first slip by their overseas pro, with 40 required, but Adam and Tony Pigden took us to within just a run of victory before Adam succumbed by skying the ball to mid off. Tony hit the winning run next ball and a well deserved 5 wicket victory was ours.

 

At the start of play we were in 4th position in the league and St Albans were 2nd. By the close of play we had changed places.


June 10 CCC 121 for 5 beat Letchworth II 119 all out by 5 wickets - Danny Becker

The hottest day of the year so far coincided with the opening game of England's World Cup campaign against Paraguay. With the football starting at 2pm and the temperature rising the toss was all important. With Matt Fisher out, up stepped stand in skipper Becker to brandish Ben Wood's 10p piece. Tails came the call from the Letchworth skipper and Cockfosters were resigned to an afternoon in the field listening to cheers all afternoon from the Letchworth players watching the footy.

 
After a brief discussion with Stead and Robinson as to choice of ends, it was soon established that they couldn't both bowl from the Church End so the revised opening combination of Stead and Sayers Snr got us underway. Stead soon cut the Letchworth opener in half, only to see the inside edge drop agonisingly short of the keeper, whilst Sayers finished the job off soon after as the opener checked his drive straight to Tom Woodbridge at Point who made made no mistake, getting the ball back to the umpire in record time as well.
 
A partnership of 50 then got underway and despite good line and length on the whole the openers failed to make further inroads. Robinson entered the fray but was unable to find the right line and Sayers was also struggling to consistently put the ball "on the spot". Up stepped Xav and Sam Penny for a bowling combination that was ultimately to prove decisive. Sam induced a false shot with his first delivery only to see the ball loop over Matt Stead at mid off, but managed to correct the problem 6 balls later by pushing the ball a touch wider to make sure that Tony Sayers took a comfortable catch at cover. Sam then proceeded to trap two batsmen LBW and the Letchworth started to crumble from a position of strength. Xav was in the middle of a miserly spell and the batsmen were forced to take risks. A good accurate throw from Robinson accounted for a run out and Xav followed it up with an LBW decision and a great catch from Mark Sayers at slip, one handed to his right. Matt Stead was then reintroduced and an inswinging yorker accounted for a further wicket, before Xav mopped up the tail, ably assisted by an excellent catch from Morgs in front of his adoring public in the pavilion.
 
A fantastic effort from us saw Letchworth bowled out for 119 in 48 overs.
 
O'Leary and Penny opened our reply getting us away to a quick start. Declan was in particularly aggressive form looping the ball at both mid on and point, only to see both fielders drop easy chances. He was eventually dismissed but an opening stand of almost 50 had done the damage. Becker joined Penny to push the score along before being undone by the Letchworth umpire (No bias in reporting? - Ed). Wood kept the momentum going and it looked like an 8 wicket win was on the cards. Inexplicably Penny thought he had been reincarnated as Linford Christie and after surviving a run out scare the ball before decided to run 2 when walking a single would have been more advisable. This was especially disappointing as he had just played the shot of the day off the back foot through the covers. Morgs and Xav made quick entrances and exits and it was left to the two Woody's to score the winning runs, pushing us to a comfortable 5 wicket win with plenty of overs to spare.
 
Generally an excellent performance by Cockfosters. The bowlers all put in a huge effort in the stinking heat, all of the fielders gave 100% and the batsmen did the easy work after the foundation had been set. Special mentions to Tony Sayers on his 1st XI league debut who put an energy into our fielding, to Lloyd for umpiring when he should have been watching the football, to Alex for scoring and to Dee for keeping us well fed and more importantly watered for the whole afternoon. For the record, the England was as usual a boring waste of time!!!
 
June 3 CCC 183 for 8 lost to Totteridge 184 for 9 by 1 wicket

Despite a 5 wicket haul for Pumpkin and a middle order collapse, Totteridge held on to record a one wicket win. Full match report to follow.......
 


May 20 CCC 158 for 1 beat Datchworth 157 for 8 by 9 wickets - Mark Sayers

 A Glorious Winter's Day

A miserable day was compounded by an injury to our resident Mr New Zealand (97-02) 6 minutes into his "warm up" managing firstly to find a muscle and then by sheer fluke, pulling it. This meant the bowling had to be opened by the "smiling" assassin downhill with the wind and volunteers (or was it mountaineers) from the other end. Hillier freshly jet-lagged from 2 weeks in Canada wisely kept his head down so the ball was thrown to (and caught by) Sayers, uphill into a tempest (I wont labour the point). Steady ripped out the top order per norm with a catch in the cordon by Mr NZ (97-02), an LBW and a bowled. The large bloke picked up one (set up nicely by the skip and vc) to leave the oppo 19-4. Then came a frustrating partnership between their skipper and no6 broken by a run out from Herschelle Wood 87-5. During this partnership our resident Aussie was roused into bowling another miserly but wicket less spell (albeit downhill with afore mentioned tempest) not forgetting Tim's short spell where even the batsman was surprised by the ball nearly reaching him before it stopped. Woodbridge bowled a quick 6 over spell 1-14 and Xav a mixed bag (one that didn't pitch on the strip). 2 run outs were all we could manage from the last 10 overs, and credit to their batsman they got to a creditable (or so you would think) 157-8. Fish mentioned something in the field complementing their 2 elderly? batsmen on their running between the wickets, to which we all gave a ripple of applause.

Where to start with our innings? For every full toss and half volley that Deco patted back to the bowler, Fish took effrontery to and despatched to all parts, including the bowlers foot when he was stupid enough to put it in the way. The first 2 spells of bowling up the west face of the Eiger (shouldn't that be North face? - Ed) returned 4 overs for 39 runs and 4 overs for 45 runs. 50 was reached in the 8th over and 100 in the 14th over, not that we were not without our fortunate moments - Fish being cut in half twice in the 2nd over and 2 possible caught and bowled, the 2nd one by their opening bat who all afternoon was questioning whether Fish had stepped in something on the way out to the crease (personally I think the smell was coming from Deco's far from pristine whites). Fish reached his ton in 68 balls and then proceeded to blot his copy book by trying to swipe the elderly gentleman (not for the first time ) out of the county. Cue Becker to the fore, words of wisdom were imparted to Pikey O'Leary (which went way over his head) suffice to say we needed to knock off the remaining 33 runs before it tipped down. Cue fosters no 4 upping his run rate from 1.26 per over to 1.34 per over, a 6 from Becker and some steady (!) batting from Pikey led us out winners by 9 wickets, Pikey 35 not out, Becker 12 not out.

Datchworth probably scored 20 more than they should have and we need to work on our ground fielding (I should talk) as well as our catching if we are going to make a big push for promotion, but 30 points and 100 points for all 4 teams is a great start. We need to aim for 120 points on a Saturday at least once this year!!


May 13 CCC 163 all out lost to Radlett II 164 for 8 by 2 wicktes - Scott Alexander

Catches win Matches

Lost the toss, put into bat. Late changes to the team - One round left hander replaced by another. Hutton for Penny. Penny apparently found an all day buffet that he just couldn’t resist, Hutton is expecting so we can give him a break.

To the game: Dec and Fish went off like a train as usual, fish the first to go. Just so everyone is aware for the rest of this report some of the facts (wells you smell), maybe incorrect as I don’t always concentrate 100%. Fish was bowled. Come in our Israel international superstar, Mr Becker. Bowled for didly squat, going back when he should be forward. Enter Ben T Wood. Ex Glocs youth he also got not many. Morgan aka mousetrap comes to the crease to join Dec who was looking good and in a selfish mood. The partnership started well with Dec playing some excellent strokes and Morgs looking like nets are a waste of time. Well possibly not. Morgs next to go with an uncharacteristic waft at a ball miles outside off stump, edge, back to the shed.

Enter our model pro. Pumpkin. Dec on around 60 at the time then gets triggered lbw. Close call. Enter myself to make it the two best looking players at the club in the middle. The Radlett attack to be honest wasn’t great but we found ourselves 90-5. Mr New Zealand 98, was looking good as always, with myself looking like I should be in the fours. We picked the run rate up again and moved to 130-5. I then missed a straight one. 130-6. Roughly the score.

Bring on the clubs new heavy roller Tom Mutton. I was taking my pads off so I don’t know quite what happened but the result was Pumps was run out by Mutton (Ed - wait, wait, wait, sorry!). Mutton and Stead into the fray, Mutton on 1 I think, then gives the oppo a dolly avec, goodbye. Stead, Sayers, Stead looking good, Sayers looking a force at the crease. They add a valuable few, Sayers departs I think, Mr Tim Glitter enters via the back door and gets bowled for his troubles. 163 all out with a few overs to spare.

Now time to come back to the title. Pumps, Stead bowling in tandem. Both bowling very well. 20-1. Enter a bloke with a huge nose. He is on 4 at the time. Edges to Dec (aka Monty Panaser) off Pumps bowling for the easiest slip catch you will see. I asked Dec what he was thinking of, he said absolutely nothing. Probably his next big night. He goes onto make fifty. Cheers Potato Farmer.

We battle back well to make the conclusion very close, but they just scrape home 8 down. At the time it was dark and the rain coming down heavy.

Summary: Not enough runs, poor fielding at times and catches win matches. I will add Dec then took a stunning catch, so did Woody.

We need to practice our fielding as this will win us games!

Fish skippered very well and the match was played in a competitive spirit. I pity the fool who had the balls to heckle Mark Sayers. The twat was 80 yards away. Big man.


May 6 CCC 192 for 6 v Sawbridgeworth II - Match Abandoned - Declan O'Leary

Skipper Matt Fisher opens the season with 112 before rain takes over at Sawbridgeworth - full match report to follow........