2013

Batting first Phil P (15) and Den (37) with a 2nd wicket stand of 50 took the score to 62 for 2 after 14 overs and a 200+ score looked on the cards. However with 3 wickets then falling in quick succession it was a 6th wicket stand of 69 between Phil K (38) and Andy H (26) that rescued the innings albeit that following their departure the final 3 wickets fell in an over as Ives closed on 168 all out with 4 overs still left to bowl.

In reply Den bowled an excellent 8 over spell deserving of more than his 3 for 26 and Ciaran bowled tightly without any luck, taking 1 for 27. With Hatch End on 65 for 6 an easy victory seemed assured but as with the Ives innings a stand of 72 took Hatch End to within sniffing distance of victory before Lawrence (2 for 30) struck with Hatch End needing 37 for victory. Aided by 2 run outs in a tense finish Richard, having gone for 6 the ball before, and with only 6 needed for victory, bowled the Hatch End No 7 for 50 to win the game for the Ives.

Well it wasn’t quite blazing June, but the sun came out and the wind dropped .. and this brought out some of the Ivanhoe walking wounded (good to see Andy and his carer Adrian.. or is it the other way round).

Congratulations to Andy H for managing to get a fixture with all the changes mid week.. and what a lovely venue it is , with the best tea of the year so far, and friendly opponents who play the game in exactly the right spirit. This included lending us young Ben Drane to ensure we have had 11 players for all 11 aside games this year!

And so to the cricket.. following a narrow loss here last year, we again took on the 40 over format, and after winning the toss, conservatively put Hawridge in to bat.

Early success came with Ciaran knocking the stumps over to remove one opener. The next pair consolidated and whilst they did not get away they had a healthy 4+ an over after 10 overs. Ciaran bowled his 8 overs straight though, and bowling just short of a length, on a slow uneven track, proved to be an excellent tactic. Certainly Drane senior played too early and lofted a catch to no one, but it also prompted an unwise run and the chance for Drane Jr to calmly run his father out! Something for the Drane family to discuss for years to come. Bass and then Den at the other end also had the batsmen thinking. Along with the economical Den , Richard and Andy H (both 8 overs, 2 for 22), then strangled the middle order and run rate fell. After they completed their spells Earle bowled a maiden and Bass bowled 2 balls to finish their innings, a few overs short of 40 with 139 all out posted. Some excellent fielding supported the bowlers.. not least from Ben Drane and Joe with Earle, Chris P and Bass defending the boundaries effectively.

Tea could have been responsible for a slower paced game after the break.. best of the season so far.. next Ives tea person take note!

Ben opened with 3 hard hit boundaries but then perished at 16-1. Earle stayed a little while but also fell to swing bowling leaving Bob to join Den and consolidate and try to accumulate. Initially the accumulation was left to Den! After 20 overs Ives reached 72-2 , over half way and firmly on top. Unfortunately Den departed immediately afterwards – which could have been a crucial breakthrough for Hawridge. Luckily the in form Malcolm arrived determined to maintain momentum. He did this effectively and ensured that the gradually mounting run rate was reduced, so that when he was run out little more than 3 an over was required. Finally Bob was scoring more freely and with Ciaran they saw the game home with a few overs to spare.. a classic jug avoidance with the winning run taking Bob to exactly 49 (are you sure the scorers triple checked?????).

So a 6wkt win with everyone contributing in a friendly enjoyable match. All looks good for the skipper to take over in 2 weeks time!

After last week’s fine batting performance old frailties returned as Ives attempted to chase down a challenging score set by Battersea Badgers.

Bowling first Andy H bowled 2 excellent spells to finish with 3 for 17 in 9 overs and with Bass also bowling well for his 5 overs for 22 runs the early scoring was held in check. Wickets from Den, Ciaran and Earle and two from Richard with catches also from Matt, Den, Earle(2) and Richard plus an excellent run out from Phil P held what looked at one time being a 220/230 score to 202 for 9 at tea.

Unfortunately early wickets fell to the Battersea bowling attack to leave the Ives innings in disarray at 38 for 7 with only Andy H making double figures. Then Ciaran playing a resolute stone wall defence albeit for only 4 before he was out and then Earle and Malcolm 29no took the innings towards an unlikely draw with 6 overs remaining, but with the fall of Earle for 17 the last 2 wickets quickly fell to leave Ives 76 all out and an emphatic loss.

On another overcast day Ives were put into bat in a time game and made steady progress against nagging bowling from the Mathews openers. Helped by some missed catches Den (30) & Bob (26) put on 51 for the opening stand which was the starter before the main course as first Raj Shah in his debut game for the club and then Richard upped the pace putting on 70 for the 3rd wicket in quick time before Raj was bowled for a fine 52. Richard carried on to score an excellent 59 helped first by Matthew (21) and then Malcolm (22) as the runs piled up and Ives declared on 228 – 7 with 1 ball remaining.

In reply Tim took the first early wicket to a fine catch by Ciaran but Mathews accumulated runs at a quick rate as wickets failed to come. Andy H and Raj plugged away and Raj took the 2nd wicket but this failed to stem the flow entirely and 109 were required off the last 20 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Eventually Richard removed the dangerous Mathews No 3 for 91 to a catch by Tim and with Den, and then at the end of the innings, Andy H joining Richard the last over came with Mathews requiring 7 to win. Thanks to excellent fielding by Ciaran turning what looked like being a 4 into 2 and a run out by Malcolm only 5 were conceded by Richard for the tightest of draws as the game finished with Mathews on 227 for 5 and a memo to Bob not to declare with 1 ball remaining next time!

Whilst persistent heavy showers eventually caused the match to be abandoned, at that point with 10 overs to go in a time match all 3 results were still possible.

Having won the toss Bob elected to bat and against a good opening spell from the Arkley openers runs were hard to come by averaging only 2 an over in the first 12 overs. Den quickly departed and it was Phil P coming in at No 3 who was to hold the innings together firstly with a partnership with Bob (24) and then as wickets fell, leaving Ives on 68 for 5 and in danger of not posting a competitive score, with Malcolm (15). Phil finally departed for 58 and Earle then took up the challenge with a quick 21 not out at the end for the rain interrupted innings to close on 151 for 8.

Heavy rain showers continued after tea forcing the teams off on a number of occasions. Throughout this Ciaran bowled an excellent spell in difficult conditions taking 3 for 47 in 13 overs. Similarly Den with 0 for 47 in 11. Excellent fielding and two brilliant catches by Matt P and Den helped keep the scoring in check and with Richard taking 1 for 3 in 1.5 overs before the rain finally won the day the match was abandoned with Arkley 88 for 4 and 10 overs remaining.

After a sudden heavy hailstorm threatened to cancel the match before it started play eventual got underway 75 minutes late with Ives electing to bowl first in a reduced 35 over game.

Denis and Andy H lead the way with tight opening spells but without success on the wicket front and although Richard and Ciaran didn’t have initial success both finally were in the wickets with Ciaran taking 2 for 56 and Richard 4 for 39. Tim chipped in with 1 for 27 taking an excellent caught and bowled to follow up on an equally good catch in the deep earlier in the GWR innings. With a couple of run outs towards the end of the innings GWR closed on 183 for 9.

In reply Bob contributed 18 but it was a stand of 61 between Phil P (23) and Richard (36) that gave a the Ives hope of overhauling the opposition score but it was not to be with only a quick fire 14 by Andy H at the end of the innings helping to push the Ives score to 138 for 9 at the close.

Only ten men took the field for each team on this chilly Sunday at the end of April.  Ivanhoe fielded well with good bowling spells for Evans, Hausler and Parnell R taking the lion’s share of the wickets.  Chalfont put up some early resistance but folded after the openers went to finish on a total of 116 all out in just 27 overs.

116 looked like an easy target, but with a relatively weak batting side nothing could be left to chance.  Evans and Collins opened the batting and progressed steadily towards the target, enjoying a relatively benign bowling attack.  Evens fell for 25 while Collins was knocking on the door of a half century when he was caught for 48.  This was the last batting of note, with the remainder of the runs being mopped up amongst the rest of the team.  A good win and the first of many!

Limited highlights:
Ives 101 all out, with Bob playing a captains innings of 44 with not much help from anyone else, but mention of Daniel for his 8no at the end which at least pushed the score into three figures.
For the bowling all 3 wickets fell to Andy H with 3 for 12 in 7 overs aided by catches by Daniel and Malcolm as Ashford scored 105 for 3.
Need to score more runs. Nothing more to say!