The 'A' team retained their Havering Indoor League title with a game to
spare after a crushing victory over nearest rivals Seven Kings.
Batting first Green got away to a quick start scoring at better than 10 an
over with Potter, Chris Cook and Smudger all quickly retired in the hutch.
Alex Cason, Martin Cason & Matt Simmons only managed a single between them
as a couple of unlucky run outs and a "ceiling catch" threatened to let
Kings back into the game. This however proved to be a false dawn as despite
Smudger failing to add to his tally, some lusty blows from Potter (30+) and
Cookie (40+) saw the innings go the distance. Aided by a plethora of extras
the final total of 137 was an indoor best for the Green.
Any hope SK had of challenging were quickly extinguished as a smart run out
by Alex Cason off the third ball of the innings put them on the back foot.
Cookie followed up his batting heroics by clean bowling the other opener as
the run rate mounted. Matt Simmons came into the attack and despite being
targeted kept his nerve to pull off 2 sharp caught and bowleds. Another run
out left Cookie to clean up as the innings subsided to 55 and the title was
Green's.
Despite a narrow defeat to GP & R in their final game, the 5 bonus points
accrued gave the B team the division 2 title. Any hope that the 'C' team
would join the 'A's and the 'B's in the top division were dashed by defeat
at the hands of Upminster 'B'.
The "D's" are now a point clear in Division 4 with a game to go after a 5
wicket win over Noak Hill Taverners 'A'. Unbeaten 25's from The Pig & Matt
Simmons ensured no alarms in chasing down 67 with 4 overs to spare.
Baddow side who emerged as
worthy winners.
Without skipper Toast, the bowling
attack was depleted but they produced an excellent performance with both
The Pig and
Cookie tying the batsmen down after
Clouseau and
Bones had taken early wickets.
Baddow scampered to good effect with Dave Byford holding them together to
reach 95 in the 12 overs allowed. Cookie and
The Pig seemed to be making light
of the task in racing to 40 without loss.
Sir Harold got the faintest of
nicks but Green reached 76 for 2 to leave them requiring just 20 from the
final 4 overs. Byford, having claimed the wickets of
The Pig and Sir H, then
bowled The Inspector. With
Cookie in the hutch it should have
been plain sailing but Bones,
playing in a becalmed manner, felt the pressure and left
Fat Cas with no chance of
completing a run when the ball was played to the fielder standing next to
him. On his re-appearance, Graham Cook
decided to try and smash every ball out of sight (i.e. played as normal) and
was bowled and then Bones was the
last man out when Cookie was run out
at the non-striker's end with 13 still required.
Grant Flower presented the trophies to the players from both sides and to
the umpires, who played their part in making it such an enjoyable
tournament.
Ardleigh Green reached the final of the over 40s indoor tournament with a
comprehensive 6 wicket victory against Hornchurch. The Hornchuch innings got
off to a bad start with The Pig producing an excellent slower ball at the
end of the first over to bamboozle Hornchuch's opener. There was some good
fortune when Nightingale was run out after a mix up with Rowe. The latter
made some amends for his part in the confusion by striking some fine blows
in his 45 before being last out off the final ball of the innings. However,
he received little support at the other end as Hornchurch posted a total of
66.
The Hornchuch opening attack bowled well but The Pig and Cookie scored
fairly freely (despite the former playing out a maiden).It was the Pig who
retired on 25 and the end was not far away. Thos watching may not have
recognised Cookie who must have batted for about 5 overs nurdling the ball
around before his first attempted launch.
The Final is on Friday 8th January at 9:00 pm.
Cookie managed to lose the toss, having been delegated the task by The
Pig, and Green were inserted (again).
A brand new partnership of H and The Pig struggled against the extra bounce
and swing of the new ball but still managed to compile an opening stand of
41 before H was dismissed for 16. The Pig followed shortly for 23 but that
was to be the last wicket to fall as the Coggeshall change bowlers failed to
master the swinging ball gifting Green plenty of wides and byes. The
Inspector (19no) and Cookie (16no) "could have been more aggressive with
their running" (quote from The Pig) between the wickets because, even though
we managed 91 runs - it still looked to be 10-12 runs short of a par score.
With two unused batsmen and with Coggeshall's strength in batting, these
could have proved costly.
It was important to put pressure on their opening pair - especially so as
both had impressed and retired against Basildon in the previous game.First
ballers seemed the order of the day as The Pig clean bowled the prolific
Packer with his first ball (after Bones had completed a tidy first over) and
then the Inspector had the other opener caught off a leading edge that
seemed to stay in the air for ever before The Pig managed to reel it in
against the back wall. After Jumbo bowled a tidy first over, Bones returned
and mopped up the number three with his first ball to virtually end the game
even at that early stage. A smart run-out and another scalp for Bones, this
time clean bowling Blackwell left Coggeshall well short of our target,
despite some resistance from their left armer Bailey.
The Rampant Griffons were handed an unexpected lifeline as Green slumped
to a surprising defeat against Basildon & Pitsea. Sir Harold was not 100%
following lunchtime activities but comfortably out-scored Fat Cas who
laboured into the 8th over before being out for 23. The efforts of the later
batsmen proved futile and Green posted and a total of 65 always looked
inadequate. The bowling tried to redeem the situation and managed to take
the game to the final ball before Basildon sneaked home by 2 wickets thanks
to Tooke (18) and waterman (22 n.o.)
The Rampant Griffons moved to the top of the Friday Over 40's League
following victory against Coggeshall. However, they made hard work of
beating 5-man opponents who played in their customary competitive and
friendly manner. Coggeshall elected to bat but were set back early by The
Doc who took a fine catch off his own bowling. Packer was in excellent form,
scoring off every ball but wickets continued to fall at the other end as The
Point, Suggs and Andy Cook bowled with good straightforward with one fielder missing and Kevin Brailey began with a six and a four but played on at the end of the first
over. Suggs showed surprising dexterity in some little dabs to the corner
and the Griffons looked well in control at 40 for 1 after 5 overs. It was
then that the wheels came off as Gibbo went LBW followed shortly by The Doc
who was run out after a mix up with Suggs. Worse was to follow as Cockinson
called Suggs for a run - he should have known better. Andy Cook and
Cockinson scuttled a few but were left with 21 required from the last two
overs. Coggeshall became favourites with 12 required off the last. A couple
of 3s brought the score within range but Cookie was run out putting the game
back in the balance. With 5 required off 3 balls the last thing that was
needed was for Cockinson to hit the ball against his foot. The field closed
in to prevent runs before Cockinson amazingly drove the last two balls for 4
to win the game.
The Griffons have now completed their matches and must wait and see if
results go their way to get one of the semi-final places. After losing their
first two games, the absence of The Hanger does not seem to have hindered
them in the last 4 games.
The Rampant Griffons upset the progress of Ardleigh Green with a surprise
1 wicket win in the indoor game at Chelmsford. Having been put in, Green
suffered an early loss when Graham Cook was bowled by The Fox in the first
over. The Inspector and Fat Cas seemed to be making steady if unspectacular
progress when Suggs pulled off an unexpected catch after Martin had hit the
ceiling and then the back wall. Bones, with the pressure of batting at 4,
was more subdued that in recent games until he ran down the wicket once too
often and was stumped. Kevin Hewitt, playing his first game, quite
reasonably expected that playing the ball directly at John Coxall merited a
run but The Fox showed unusual dexterity to flick the ball backwards to the
bowler's end and Kevin was short of his ground. With Green in serious
trouble, The Inspector returned to partner Toast and the pair took the final
score to 79 without further loss with Clouseau not working out how to get
the ball past John Coxall's foot. This was a much better bowling and
fielding performance by the Griffons but it was by no means assured that
they would get the runs. The Point and Suggs gave them a good start putting
39 on the board by the end of the 5th over. Suggs and Cockinson went to
Graham Cook in the space of 3 balls and then Muddy did a Kevin Hewitt with
Bones being the fielder in question this time. Cookie was mesmerised by The
Inspector and holed out to Toast. Coxy and Brails edged The Griffons towards
the total until The Point was LBW with 2 balls to go and 2 required. With
The Fox at the crease it was never in doubt and The Griffons sneaked home.
Green will qualify if they win their remaining games but it is still
mathematically possible for The Griffons to edge them out. Both sides could
miss out if results go against us.
Green were given a lesson on how to play indoor cricket by Fives &
Heronians in the area final at Chelmsford. The bowling had neither variety
nor discipline as Fives rattled up 150 in their 12 overs, mixing up some big
hits with good placement and running. By contrast, the Fives' bowlers were
able to set a 3-1 field and contain Green's batsmen. With Green well behind
the rate, Smudger retired with 25 and Fat Cas hit a few lusty blows to take
the score to 100 but the result was never in doubt.
Good luck to Fives & Heronians in the national finals. The chance will come
again for Green's young side if they learn the lesson from this game.
It is with some surprise that we can report that the Rampant Griffons
find themselves in 3rd place in the over 40s league after 4 matches have
been played. They began with a reasonable performance against the current
leraders, Great Baddow. kevin Brailey (26 n.o.) and Ian Gibbs (25 n.o.) both
batted well and retired but the Griffons were unable to capitalise on the
good start and their total of 88 looked a few short of a decent score. And
so it proved as Baddow got home albeit with a few late alarms in their two
wicket win. In the 2nd game, The Griffons hardly had the rub of the green
against a youthful looking Raphael. set to score 100, they capitulated to 49
all out in a pathetic performance in which only Muddy could be excused with
his 23. For the 3rd game, the introduction of The Doc gave the fielding a
much needed boost. The Whale produced a fine bowling performance enabling
the Griffons to restrict Basildon & Pitsea to 71 for 5. With the exception
Of Cockinson who is challenging fat Cas for the worst indoor performance,
the batsmen looked assured with The Point, The Doc and Muddy all making
runs. The Fox made his seasonal debut against Old Brentwoods and was on the
spot straight away. Wickets fell quite regularly and The point proved
strangely difficult to play. Wood batted very well for Old Brentwoods with
his undefeated 57 enabling them to reach 94 for 5. Kevin Brailey was, once
again, in good form with the bat scoring an undefeated 30 after which the
first significant contribution from Cockinson (19 n.o.) was sufficient to
see the Griffons home.
The Ardleigh Green side have been lagging behind due to the uneven
distribution of the fixtures but are currently in 2nd place. The Pig was
able to exorcise last year's horror against Old Brentwoods as he along with
Sir Harold (26 n.o.), Clouseau (23 n.o.) and Cookie made light work of
passing the target. Their second victory was almost entirely due to the
all-round efforts of Keith Mitchell. With 9 overs gone, Green were
struggling at 71 for 5 with just Bones to go. However, his unique style
upset the rhythm of Parry and the last over went for 25 with a healthy
contribution of wides. Baddow were short of Byford but their batting is
still strong. Pulham batted well and retired after which Green looked to
have the game won as wickets fell quickly. However Parry excated some
revenge and with Pulham returning Baddow seemed back in the contest. A smart
stumping from Martin Cason tipped the scales in Green's favour whereupon
Parry laid into the Inspector. He had the game at his mercy but perished in
the final over as he continued to swing the bat and a narrow 5 run victory
resulted for the Green. A fine all-round performance saw Green home against
Raphael. Having lost the toss, Green found themselves batting. Cookie was
first to go bowled, followed by Sir Harold who hit some lovely rasping
drives in his 19. At 24-2 the game could have gone either way but the
Inspector and Bones both batted magnificently retiring on 25 in the 8th
over. Cas kept up the good work until he aimed one big drive too many and
was bowled. The returning Inspector was immediately run out by a country
mile thanks to an over-ambitious call by Pig leaving Bones to shepherd the
Green to 102-4. The procession that followed the break was worthy of the
Lord Mayors Show. 1st Over - A tidy over from Pig was spoilt by 9 runs from
the last two balls with Surrey murdering the last ball for six! 2nd Over -
The Inspector, still seething from his run out was thrown the ball and
served up five jaffas that young Mr Osborne couldn't lay a bat on - the
sixth ball was flayed into the roof netting whereupon Clouseau took a
comfortable return catch.3rd Over - MVP stepped up to the plate and promptly
removed Surrey thanks to a smart catch behind from Cas. 4th Over - Cookie
finding some prodigious in-swing accounted for the dangerous Castell pinned
back on his stumps LBW. 5th Over - Pig had the suspiciously young-looking
Raphael debutant well caught by Cookie at mid-on. 6th Over - Robson
overbalanced trying to locate a Clouseau leg-break and Cas completed a fine
stumping. 7th Over - Robson was out again straight away as Cookie made a
smart pick-up and throw to end the game.
There has been a lot of concern that the last two fixtures of 2009 have
gone unreported on the website. Most of this concern (100%) came from The
Pig who enjoyed a rare outing as opener in blustery conditions at Rankins.
He and Cockinson enjoyed the lightning fast outfield until the latter was
well held in the gulley for23.The Pig made most of his opportunity and
rattled up a score at a fair old rate until bowled for 89. Muddy Waters (64)
continued in his own consistent way and was joined for a little cameo from
Chris Haylett (40).The Hanger, having been assured that it was unlikely that
Potter was anywhere near 2,000 (by Potter himself) allowed him a brief
appearance at the end in which he blasted 26 from 8 balls. Potter has had a
remarkable season but, sadly, his mathematical skills did not match his
batting prowess and he ended up 12 short of the landmark. The Whale (2-30)
made early inroads by bowling a commendably tight spell in batsman friendly
conditions. Sutherby batted well for a half century but the game turned in
Green's favour courtesy of an inspired spell from Ted Patel (2-30). The home
side held on comfortably for the draw with most players more than content to
adjourn to the bar at the end. It is not known whether John Hunt has quite
recovered from spending a day umpiring in the wind and then a lift down the
A127 from The Pig.
The other game was the final midweek game against Old Victorians. With a
late switch of venue from Noak Hill to Old Camdenians, Green were struggling
to get a side together for the early start. Nine players were eventually
assembled (with 4 of them having played a total of 20 games between them in
the year) and the Old boys were determined to make their advantage
count. Such was the threat of the explosive batting of Cockinson and The
Onion that Green were set a mere 309 to win after Salter (105) and Barker
(120) had completed centuries for the home side. Although this might have
been a significant chase even with 11 men, Green hardly covered themselves
in glory as they capitulated from 75 for 0 to 144 all out showing no
application whatsoever. The prospect of a similar trip around the North
Circular next year look remote.