Theale & Tilehurst 1st  XI vs Chiswick and Latymer 1st XI

15th May 2010

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Report by Wiggy.

Our second league game of the season was away to Chiswick and Latymer. We arrived to find what looked like a bowler friendly pitch which had plenty of grass on it, and when I lost the toss I was relieved to hear the opposition skipper declare that they would have a bat. We were soon to find out exactly how wrong this assumption was as we played on probably the flattest pitch we will encounter all season.

Chris and Chris started well with the new ball, keeping things relatively tight, and were again unlucky not to pick up wickets early on. Lemmy bowled an impressive first spell considering he had not played for a few weeks and eventually made the breakthrough, picking up the first two wickets in quick succession. Once the shine had worn off the ball it however became clear that this was a great track to bat on. The margin of error for all of our bowlers was miniscule as there was very little life in the pitch, the outfield was fast and bumpy, and there was a very short straight boundary at one end. The Chiswick batsmen went into all out attack mode from about the 20^th over as they racked up 309 for 6 before declaring after 49 overs, during which time we were the victim of some very clean hitting.

Chiswick opened up with the old ball which provided us with plenty of opportunities to score early on. James and I looked to be positive and put on 60 for the first wicket by which time it was clear that the run chase was potentially on. I know that every week I swear that my dismissal was some kind of a freak and can in no way be attributed to be my fault, but when the first wicket fell I was the victim of an outrageous catch at Long Off. The fielder had no right to be taking the ball which was clearly on its way for six, plucking the ball one handed out of the air above his head centimetres inside the rope . James was in very nice form scoring all round the wicket as he looked to anchor the chase and him and Jamil batted well together as we moved to 176 for 2 before they were both dismissed in quick succession. At this point we were up with the rate but knew that everyone would have to bat well right through to the end if we were to chase down the 310 needed for victory. Sunil and Osman both came in and tried to keep us up with the rate, but when Osman departed for 35 with 6 overs and 70 runs still needed we knew that we were probably going to have to settle for the draw.

Harry on 1^st team debut had been batting well with Osman up to this point, looking to be positive and give Os as much of the strike as possible. In the end he batted for 14 overs for his 16 which was instrumental in securing the draw and ensuring that Chiswick did not end up with 25 points. He looked very much at home in division 3 and was impressive how he changed his mindset from attack to sensible defense when we were looking for the draw at the end.

The day felt quite long especially after conceding so many in the field, (on a pitch which was probably too much in favour of the batting side to be described as good for cricket, but if you want my thoughts on the negative effect of flat pitches on the modern game it is probably a conversation for another time and place), but in the end we can again be proud of our performance, and if we show as much fight as we have in the first two weeks all season I am sure we will have a successful year.

Note to the scorecard: The scorecard provided for the opposition innings by Chiswick on the day did not add up. The T&T bowling analysis shown below shows the corrected figures.