Saturday 18th June 2016
Travelbag Surrey Championship
Frustration for Stoke’s League XIs as both games were lost to the weather.
Division 5 – 1st XI Competition
Stoke D’Abernon v Haslemere
Match Abandoned without a ball bowled
Despite a tremendous effort all week by groundsman Ian Hopton to get a playable surface and both sides keen to wait until the absolute latest to shake hands on an abandonment, the ultimately correct decision to call off the game was made at 2.45pm.
The sides now have to hope that they don’t lose ground with play in other games in the division potentially generating some positive results.
Table : http://surreychampionship.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=65135
Division 4 – 2nd XI Competition
Sinjungrammarians 2nd XI v Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI
Match Abandoned without a ball bowled
A slightly different sequence of events in Tooting where various Stoke officials other than captain Jase Earl received calls as early as Friday lunch-time to suggest the ground might not be playable.
On Friday evening Ralphie diverted to Tooting after work to inspect things and meet with the opposition. A puddle or two were in one corner, but a bit of willing to sweep them away and no more rain would suggest a late start might be possible with some drying time/no more rain forecast. The affected area could even have been roped off leading to a short cow corner boundary, (same for both sides); also, impressive roll-on covers kept the playing surface dry.
#getthegameon
On arrival on match day, both clubs found a different opponent to the weather in the form of the home groundsman who, despite only having this ground to look after and prepare, alleged he had no time to prepare a pitch in the week, refused to give a final cut and roll to the match strip under the cover, (one was prepared for a mid-week game and was not used), and despite alleging he was at the ground from 6am that morning, did not take the covers off or take any action to give both sides the chance to play.
Both sides were keen, (the home skipper also asking our guidance on what happens if they come across this situation – not sure – he reports to them!), but there was little that could be done after being cornered into a handshake and four points each.
As per the 1st XI, both sides potentially lose ground if there are other results in the division.
Table : http://surreychampionship.play-cricket.com/website/websites/view_division?id=65140
Stoke’s 1st and 2nd XI have their return fixtures against Chertsey next Saturday, the 1st XI match at the Rec.