Saturday 29th June 2019
AJ Fordham Surrey Championship – 2nd XI competition
Purley 2nd XI 280 for 9 (50 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 177 for 7 (50 overs)
Match Drawn – ‘Winning Draw’ to Purley 2nd XI
Stalemate at The Rec for the second week running as Stoke’s 2nd XI, missing a few players due to unavailability and 1st XI call ups, secured a draw after a lengthy stint in the field.
Excellent availability after last weekend’s sheets came in led to us investigating a second Sunday fixture. As appears to be the norm the pool of 25 available fell back to 18 once the fixtures had been booked(!) but planning ahead for this we booked in Battersea Eagles for the game at Stoke knowing that if we did have any availability issues, our good friend Khalid Harris would probably be able to bring a spare or two – after a ring around of our own for extra resources we sent an XI to Thames Ditton, (although the curse continued as only ten showed!), and gave Stoke debuts to two loan signings at the Rec.
So two medium strength teams fell back to XIs of lesser strength at the time the coins were tossed, but the sides were not without ability and despite losing both games, this was an overall success as had we not gone for the extra game half a dozen or so guys would not have got the chance to play and we got to meet a couple of newbies who should bolster player numbers.
So to the cricket…
Home Friendly
Battersea Eagles 194 all out (40 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 111 all out (33.5 overs)
Battersea Eagles won by 83 runs
Saturday 8th June 2019
AJ Fordham Surrey Championship – 2nd XI competition
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI 181 for 9 (55 overs)
Ripley 2nd XI 160 all out (42.1 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 2nd XI won by 21 runs
A sensational win for the 2nd XI who had the worst of the conditions and were behind in the game for long periods.
Stoke’s 2nd XI lost an important toss and were committed to 50 overs’ hard labour at Cheam on a hot afternoon.
An opening stand of 78 gave the hosts a nice platform; but it was soon 86 for 3; and Stoke continued to chip away; 120 for 5, then 155 for 7, and even 199 for 9 was a credible effort; wickets shared by Roddy Kelso, (3 for 43), Raja Singh, (3 for 45), Jack Townsend, (2 for 54), and Dan Gluckman, (10-1-32-1); but McManus repeated his party trick of late order runs against Stoke and made an unbeaten 62 to help post a final total of 237 for 9. Earlier in the piece Ben Townsend bowled well and was unlucky to see a difficult slip chance go to ground.
The winning post ultimately proved too far away after tea despite Roddy Kelso, (62), and Dan Gluckman, (31), setting things up after the loss of two early wickets. After that no other batsmen made it past 15 and Cheam only conceded half the extras Stoke did in completing a 67 run win.
Next week’s home game against Ripley is already looking like a must win.
Scorecard : https://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3753478
Kingstonian 2nd XI won by 2 wickets
Savaged by unanticipated non-availability and necessary call ups to the 1st XI for two others late in the week; the final Stoke 2nd XI picked itself but out of adversity put up a great fight.
Bowling first in helpful conditions, Adrian Mills and Duncan Elder took a wicket each in their opening spells courtesy of catches by Ralph Coleman in the covers and Andy Page behind the timbers.
Opener B.Lineker and No.4 Nash dug in as Mills bowled his allocation right through, conceding just 23; Jase Earl and Tom Dennis were effective first and second change options; well supported by some committed fielding.
Addiscombe were made to work hard for their runs, but wickets proved elusive until Dennis snicked off B.Lineker for 49 on the last ball before drinks with the total on 85. Earl took out D.Lineker for just 5 after he walked over a full ball to give the home umpire an easy leg-before decision; then skipper Peter Phipps was left with the difficult choice of bowling out his best bowlers whilst things were going well or save some of their overs for the death.
Neither decision was the wrong one but he opted for the former in the hope that lesser bowlers would then be able to have a crack at the tail. Earl, (10-1-46-1), bowled all his overs in one go; Elder returned and finished with 1 for 33 from ten – and Raja Singh bowled much better than his figures suggested. Sadly wickets proved elusive as the pitch started to play well.
This left Dennis and Coleman with the majority of the last ten overs. Dennis picked up Nash for 53, well caught on the circle by Earl; Wise obligingly dragged a rare full ball from Coleman on to his stumps; then Justin Jones judged a catch well in the deep to give Dennis, (9-1-30-3), the match’s best bowling figures.
In the closing overs Southwell, (19 not out), hit the ball in unusual areas to lift the total to 212 for 7.
Stoke made a fast start to the chase when 21 runs were taken from the first three overs; but by the end of the sixth it was 29 for 2 as Andy Berry and Moumer Khara were both back in the pavilion for just 6 and 8.
Phipps and Jones kept the board ticking and total moved to 68 in the 16th over when Jones, (20), picked out the one man in the deep targeting the change bowling.
Earl joined Phipps and the pair took Stoke to a decent position of 100 for 3 when drinks were taken.
Phipps set himself out to bat through and was doing a great job; unfortunately the one additional contribution to get Stoke over the line didn’t materialise. Earl, (25), skied a return catch; Page and Dennis were both leg-before, not before the latter had battled a migraine to delay his arrival at the crease and played nicely for his 24.
A plan to promote Elder to regain the initiative didn’t come off, and running out of partners Phipps was bowled in the 47th over for 66 from 115 balls faced, much less than half the strike.
With the asking rate now at tens the last three wickets fell in the pursuit of quick runs and Stoke fell 19 short.
This was a tough loss, but much should be taken into next week’s home game against Kingstonian where, hopefully, returning players will score and save enough runs either side of the ball to help secure a first win.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3753260
More late season fun and a triumph for patience. As the weeks go by and more players call time on their seasons, some having previously said available, there was still a Stoke side ready for a game if an opposition could be found.
The fixture we originally hoped we might get never materialised, so a advert placed late in the week was done so more in hope than expectation as clubs – including ourselves – switch their thoughts to square repair and other grounds are lost to other sports.
However there was a late development on Saturday afternoon. The Min CC, (who came to Stoke exactly six years ago), contacted us to say that they were on the lookout for a game as their original opposition thought that the game was on the Saturday. Keen for a game as a result of that issue their captain asked one of their Sunday oppositions if they might have a pitch free. Yes. Were we still looking and were we interested? Absolutely!
So off to Newdigate CC we went; lovely ground and now with a new pavilion and bar since we last played there. After a meet & greet, Jase Earl won the toss and chose to bat in a 35:35.
With fewer overs of batting available than normal, Justin Jones and a Geoff Vinall were tasked with giving it a biff early doors. The latter departed early targeting an inviting short square boundary; but Jones and Earl put together a punishing partnership of 157 in just over 18 overs before both fell on the same total.
Jones hit the bad ball, and a number of good ones, very hard. He reached his half-century off just the 23rd ball he faced, (hitting the opposition skipper for three sixes in one over), and 31 balls later he was lifting his bat having completed one of the fastest centuries in Club history. He was lbw 113 from 67 soon after, (10×4, 6×6), off the last ball of the 20th over; four balls later Earl, who had moved serenely to 48 and passed 3000 career runs for the Club in the process holed out in the deep.
This double-strike brought the Finch brothers together; and they put things back on track with a partnership of 46. Finch Jnr’s departure for 17 sparked a mini-collapse from 211 for 3 to 212 for 6 – short stays for Kevin Morgan and Aydin Huseyin – but the President and Raja Singh added 39 off the last 35 balls to close the innings on 251 for 6.
Finch Snr, (47 not out from 43), continued his excellent late season form and two straight sixes were a particular highlight. Singh made a run-a-ball 16.
After a 20 minute break, Stoke’s formidable total looked more so when the second ball of the innings, delivered by Rory Harris, was guided to slip and Huseyin did the rest. Back of a length worked here, but generally this wasn’t the way to go as No.2 and No.3 launched an excellent counter-attack, moving the total to 85 before ten overs had been completed.
Vinall got reward for a more fullish length when Huseyin held another good slip catch then Earl, who brought himself on earlier than planned, despatched the opposition’s Chris Gayle look-alike lbw for 47.
It was still very much game on, though, as the ‘home’ side continued to find the short boundary with regularity. No.4 Saif was tied down by Huseyin, but boundaries flowed at the other end as there were fewer 5th/6th bowler options than normal, Singh limiting choices further as he was only able to keep wicket.
Huseyin, (6-0-24-1), picked up the skipper courtesy of a good catch in the deep by Jones; but another half-century partnership left 78 needed off the last 11 overs and two batsmen well set.
Earl continued to read the game well, and another short burst from him gave Stoke the required breathing space. Asif was lbw for 50, Ishmael bowled for 34 in his next; (Earl 5-0-11-3); and a brace of wickets from Vinall in his last over, (7-1-44-3), one of them another catch for Huseyin, got the fat lady warming up.
The Finch brothers had a turn each, Mr.President winning the best player in the family debate by castling No.10; so this left the last pair needing 57 off the last four overs.
Thurston Selvakumar and Morgan were great in the field, and were both offered the chance of a bowl, but both declined so Ralphie handed his cap to the umpire and marked out a run up for only the second time this season. Rotator still not right, he managed to get his first delivery into the batsman’s half, triumph in itself, and it was obligingly scooped into Singh’s gloves to end the match that was played in a tremendous spirit.
Thanks to The Min for selecting us off the board for the fixture, and to Newdigate CC for preparing an excellent pitch. With an increased Sunday XI programme next season, hopefully we can play both clubs.
But that’s next year. Numbers look decent for one last hurrah next weekend and the prospect of a bit of history if a fixture that was discussed a few weeks ago comes to fruition. Stay tuned!
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3402709
A great all-round individual performance from Will Thomson that included a maiden century wasn’t quite enough to score a win at Ashford who kindly offered us the fixture in the week after their original opposition never confirmed the fixture.
Ashford advised that they were a mix of 1s/2s/3s and we had more of a 2s/Sunday feel, not that it was a side without ability, but the sensible decision for Stoke to field first was reached at the toss despite more than a few punctuality issues on the Stoke side that saw one player go to the Ashford CC in Kent despite being given the correct post code. Thanks to Ashford CC (Surrey) for lending us a couple of fielders for the first few overs to get the game going.
Duncan Elder made an early breakthrough when the jovial home umpire gave Evans out leg-before; but this was rare joy as League players I.Rao, Mahmood and Malik played their shots and made full use of the extra gaps caused by the shortage of a fielder.
Tom Dennis slowed things down a bit with some good overs; and Rory Harris showed continued growth in his early Stoke career when he got a ball to lift that Rao Snr, (34), who could only glove to keeper Raja Singh who did a great job. Unlike two Sundays ago where the same thing happened, this time he got the decision.
Mahmood looked set for a big score but checked out on 55 courtesy of a stinging catch at mid-wicket by Aydin Huseyin off debutant Mo Kashif. Despite the lack of appropriate footwear Kashif was an effective bowler either side of drinks, and a great effort for him to travel from Acton to play. Our reputation of providing a good experience continues to spread wider!
The wicket prompted early drinks with Ashford in a good position at 131 for 3; but Stoke kept going and got their reward when Thomson picked up four quick wickets that sandwiched a run-out by Harris who showed good awareness to get the ball in to the right end. 154 for 7 and Stoke, now at a full complement in the field after Khalid Harris jumped in the car and charged down from Battersea knowing the earlier mentioned player was more likely to go home rather than visit as many places called Ashford, were in the game.
Back to the cricket, Rory Harris earned a second spell that saw him castle Malik for 65, (he finished with commendable figures of 6-0-28-2); Ben Townsend and Elder bowled well at the death; Elder, (7.3-2-24-2), bent back the home skipper’s off stump to close the innings on 214 in the penultimate over.
After an excellent tea Stoke knocked off 17 of the required runs in the second over as a younger Rao struggled with his length, but he would return later and bowl well. Spelled after an over; League bowlers Wilson and Tilt slowed things down, and the latter picked up the wickets of Dennis, then Singh to a very sharp stumping, in a miserly opening spell of 5-3-2-2.
Thomson and Khalid Harris kept the board moving despite more good bowlers coming on; and just as things started to look good for Stoke Harris, (16), fell to a good slip catch, then Huseyin was castled in the first over after drinks for 10 having played a couple of nice shots.
With a couple of unknown quantities down the order, Kevin Morgan stayed with Thomson to take the game as deep as possible. Thomson scored most of a fifth wicket stand of 43; but the pair set the game up nicely with 75 needed off the last ten at the point of Morgan’s dismissal, held at short third man. Kashif was stumped going for it from the off.
At this point Ashford’s excellent facilities worked to Stoke’s disadvantage. With the individual scores on display on the board, Thomson, having passed a career best, seemed to be caught between personal and team glory. Had his score not been visible he might have carried on playing the way he had to reach 92, (off 79), but then another 31 balls were faced to reach the hundred, brought up with arguably his best shot, an imperious cover drive with the field up.
Elder, (16 from 13), kept Stoke in the hunt; and century bagged, Thomson then found his earlier gears and clubbed 30 off the next fourteen balls he faced to get the equation back to 22 off the last over. He and Ben Townsend ran unselfishly and often crazily in the closing overs to try and secure the win, that only became impossible with a couple of balls to go, the last of which saw Thomson caught on the line at cow for 133 off 124, (24×4, 2×6), with Stoke ten short of victory or nine for a tie.
A great game played in a tremendous spirit. Hopefully we can make this a permanent fixture going forward as there was a shared view on how the game should be played and lots of interesting stories to tell each other from our respective league and T20 Cup campaigns.
We’ll see where we are with numbers for next Saturday, but with two Sunday fixtures in the card for next weekend, please advise ASAP if you can help with an appearance to make both those games happen.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3709821
Jase Earl skippered the Whiteley Village match, our second trip there this year; Ralphie managed the re-match with Ks and here’s how we got on…
Friendly (1)
Kingstonian 142 all out (34.5 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 143 for 2 (32 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 8 wickets
Pessimism that we would be able to play a Saturday fixture as everyone seemed to be available on Sunday this week, (two Sunday friendlies for the first time in years), took a nice twist mid-week when one of our regular friendly oppositions was in the same boat as us and were looking to see if we had a fixture or spare players if we didn’t. Solution? See if resources could be pooled and source a fixture.
A speculative call to our friends at Old Ruts in response to their ad was met with a positive outcome, so for the second week running a Stoke team travelled Poplar Road; eleven happy players who were only available Saturday now having the chance to play.
The Stoke contingent were all on time, the remainder with one exception had a few traffic issues, so by default we got the outcome we wanted at the toss as we wouldn’t have had enough to take the field.
Thomas Dennis took strike with debutant Azam Ahmed, the latter hastily changing in the car before running out to the middle. Sadly he was back just as quickly as he steered the first ball he faced to slip.
Dennis invested good time getting himself in on a sluggish pitch; No.3 Ali Khan played some nice shots and Stoke were well placed at 62 for 1 despite Khan then falling for a nice 21. One Khan was replaced by another, Danish K hit the bad ball very hard and a 55 partnership of which he scored 44 kept the rate around four per over.
Stoke then had a bit of a wobble. Harris was well caught trying to hit over the top, Umair Anis was caught low down; then Dennis was bowled by home skipper Lambert, (9-1-27-3), for a well-constructed 47. Repair work needed at 134 for 6.
Debutant Saleem Mohammed and official captain Ralph Coleman calmed things down. The former struck the ball the ball the cleanly, the latter less so but a 47 partnership nine overs brought an early declaration back into play, time called after 42 overs on 198 for 7 a few minutes after Coleman’s dismissal with Mohammed unbeaten on 43 and debutant Michael Rossi hitting a nice four.
After an excellent tea Stoke had an hour and a half plus the mandatory last 20 overs to get the job done. Raja Singh and Richie Parrett gave Stoke control of the match with five early wickets.
Singh took out No.2 and No.3 courtesy of a great catch by keeper Mohammed and a nice in-ducker; Parrett took his 250th career wicket for the Club when he found the other opener’s edge; and given one last over before giving other bowlers a chance, Singh made full use of it and castled two more to finish with a Stoke career best of 5-2-10-4.
Harris and Rossi were an effective slow bowling combination. They took a wicket each to make it 52 for 7; and a wicket for Anis in the last over before drinks had the locals, including Ryan Patel who popped in to have a look at proceedings, mulling over what might have been.
However, this was a timed game so Stoke still needed to get the job done. 14-year-old Wyke showed a temperament way beyond his years. In partnership with veteran Mills they ticked off over by over. The pies were smashed to the boundary or blocked appropriately and the pair doubled the score as overs started to run out.
The atmosphere on the pitch was certainly different to the one before drinks; plenty of ‘advice’ on field placements and bowling options was put forward; but Stoke’s skipper had another ace up his sleeve. Dennis was thrown the ball and bowled very quickly.
He got one through Wyke for a fine 52 off the last ball of his second over, and off the first ball of his next he shattered Lambert’s stumps to complete an 86 run win with 5.5 overs to spare. Mills, (10 not out), had gutsed it out for 47 deliveries.
Thanks to Old Ruts for offering us the fixture, a great tea and supplying an umpire. Apologies for the punctuality issues. Players on both sides had fun and hopefully we can repeat this sort of fixture in the future.
As availability starts to thin out we will see how we go week to week. If you want to keep playing, please advise ASAP as fixtures are very difficult to secure this time of year.
Scorecard : https://sdacc.play-cricket.com/website/results/3708742
