Sunday 30th August 2015
Friendly
Stoke D’Abernon 203 for 6 (40 overs)
Old Ashfordians 128 all out (36 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 75 runs
Good Bank Holiday availability meant that an advert could be placed early for an extra fixture this weekend and pleasingly our friends from Old Ashfordians called to say they were also looking for a game.
So fixture booked in, teams sorted, now pray for the weather and the pitch holding up. Hoppy did a great job getting the square covered; and a collective drying, sweeping and rolling effort from the players between 1.30pm and 2pm resulted a consistent surface where nothing mis-behaved.
So the bowlers needed to do well. Old As’ openers O’Shea and E.Mills got the new nut swinging. O’Shea moved it late at good pace, but initially hooped a few down the leg-side to left-handed opening bats Nico Spreeth and Doug Gilbertson. When he found his range he had three decent shouts in successive balls against Gilbertson, the third of which resulted in a boot before decision.
Spreeth and Adam De Swardt dug in and saw off the rest of the opening spells. Some slightly more friendly change bowling was the reward for their application, and the score moved to 39 by the end of the 11th over when De Swardt pulled a short ball from visiting skipper Smith to square leg who took a good catch over his head.
This was the third of three wickets for the addition of just an extra as Rod Thomson was caught down the leg-side, then Neil Foster was leg before. Neither batsman allegedly troubled our pony-tailed scorer – Liam Cromar’s excellent article on Cricnfo that may be of interest to our readers and subscribers, (http://www.espncricinfo.com/blogs/content/story/908735.html), challenges this allegation.
40 for 4 and things could have been worse when Carel Ferreira took evasive action from a ball that dipped very late and landed on his stumps. Square leg-umpire Richie Parrett called a no-ball, the decision accepted by the fielding side, and the partnership was allowed to continue…and continue…and continue…
Spreeth ticked over nicely and Ferreira put away anything loose. The total was doubled by the drinks break; and the partnership eventually ended at 119 in the 34th over when Ferreira was well caught in the deep by Smith off Carr for 64 who brought his usual brand of accuracy and economy.
At one point Spreeth was going at a rate that suggested some late hitting might have got him close to a first century; but he tired after taking a blow into a delicate area and had to settle for a career best 88 not out.
The belligerence came from the other end from Will Thomson, (who unselfishly sacrificed his wicket trying to get Spreeth on strike), and Moumer Khara who clubbed all his 18 runs off the last over; including two big sixes, one that looked for all money to be landing on James Trower’s windscreen only for it to miss by inches…and we mean inches.
So Stoke had a total of 203 to defend; very similar to the one posted in the earlier friendly, (http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2464664), so it was a question of whether a better-on-paper looking attack than last time could do the business.
The opening overs suggested that this match would follow the pattern of the earlier game as Lunghusen and Richards dealt almost exclusively in boundaries. Lunghusen flashed hard at one from Will Thomson, who improved as his spell progressed, that nearly took Spreeth’s head off at slip, and Richards also looked to play positively.
The bowlers stayed patient, though, and Richie Parrett in-ducked the game in Stoke’s favour with three quick wickets. Richards played back when he should have played forward and was leg-before; then the dangerman Lunghusen served up a return chance which was very well taken diving forward. Parrett, (5-1-17-3), made the total 44 for 3 – in just the sixth over – when Day suffered a similar experience to Richards.
Things settled down and Stoke re-gained scoreboard control courtesy of Adrian Mills and Khara who shared the next ten overs and conceded just 21.
Mills, (one of two “A.Mills” to play in the match) – started with three maidens and a number of balls moved late and missed the off-stump; making it an enjoyable keeping experience from Foster who did well standing up. Khara also bowled straight and when they were both rested by the drinks break, each had a deserved wicket for their efforts; Mills hit the base of Carr’s off-stump, and Smith played back and around one from Khara that resulted in the bending back of his middle-stump. 67 for 5.
After drinks De Swardt and Rod Thomson had extended spells due to recent workloads, (remember that whilst we look to win, our Sunday cricket programme is all about involvement), and the pair traded runs for wickets at regular intervals to keep the game interesting.
As the asking rate approached sevens, No.7 O’Shea tried to up the rate, and hit De Swardt for three fours in one over; but after a chat with the captain ahead of his next set, the trajectory was altered and forced the batsman to chip to Spreeth at mid-wicket for 29.
Stoke were in the box seat from this point and duly completed the win. Thomson Snr mopped things up at the other end to increase the distance over his sons in the all-time Stoke wickets column, (we mention this as Alex Bond was on site to watch proceedings and was having a bit of a ‘session’ on our Play Cricket site!) Mills Snr was leg-before; McCallum was bowled; and after the predatory Spreeth effected the run out of Mills Jnr, No.11 Edwards was bowled to close out the match.
Thomson, (8-0-28-3), and De Swardt, (9-1-28-1 – note both sides agreed that one bowler could bowl nine overs after the visitors got their sums wrong with Carr’s spell…although Carr’s ninth over was good for Khara and the team!), were good value for their effort with the ball.
A good spirited match, (all the players had fun on the field), carried on in the bar afterwards where the visitors made a healthy contribution to the coffers and gobbled up the remains of an excellent tea made by Jo that included a new treat : Boost cake bars.
It was also good to see Honorary Stokers Gerry, Cathy and Harry Cott after the game. (http://www.gerrycott.com/)
Next week we have another “TBA” in the fixture card, but assuming the Saturday selection doesn’t place a strain on Sunday resources, we will advertise again and source a fixture.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/2464675