May 2014

A change in the weather, hopefully a change in results for Ives who going
into the game were 3 games into the season, with 3 losses. After two games
where good performances had not brought about the right results, AD
returned, and decided Ives would open the batting.
AD (25) and Den (21) opened the batting, and after a solid opening
partnership was ended by a good piece of bowling by the Rivetts seamer,
Bob (10) joined Den at the crease. A further decent partnership ensued
with Ives one down by the drinks break, leaving a 180 score a real
possibility. After drinks however the batting began to collapse, with only
a late flourish meaning Ives posted a 157, well short of what felt like a
good score.
In reply Rivetts got off to a great start, not keen on playing themselves
in, the opening Bat put the pressure back onto Lawrie (3-0-31-0) with 3
consecutive 6’s. Ciaran received a bit of luck (8-0-28-1) getting the
wicket of the opening bat, helped by a great catch by Richard (soon to
become the theme of the day). Wickets continued to collapse, but with such
a great start for Rivetts reducing the target run rate to less than 2.5 an
over, Rivetts were always in charge. Good bowling from Richard and Andrew
combined with some exceptional catching by Richard (4 Catches) made an
Ivanhoe victory a possibility. However by the end it was a lack of runs
which led to another Ivanhoe loss for the season. 4 from 4.
Despite 4 losses there are some positives this season. Ives have regularly
posted over 150 this season, and in general are bowling and fielding
better than previous seasons. Players are working on their weaknesses and
trying to help out and cover the obvious cracks in the team.

Deja Vu

A week on but same place and same result.
This week Ivanhoe were inserted during a time game. GWR’s opening bowlers were swift though a little erratic so the score kept moving. Nevertheless they induced a rare failure from Evans (6), followed by Glen (2), who had enjoyed a promising start. Opener Jaleel AL-DARRAGH, making his Ives debut soon settled in and with Collins put on 49. All Darragh was just in the process of taking apart the leg spinner when he pulled a ball to mid on, departing for a very valuable 44, leaving the feeling that Ives could have done with him batting for another 5-10 overs. With boundaries hard to come by on a pitch (reused from last week) the score moved on at c 4 an over. Useful contributions from Parnell (Malc) (20) and Woodcock (11) with Collins unbeaten on 41 brought up 170 –7 (4 more than last week).

Again the bowlers started very well with useful spells from Hausler, Woodcock, Evans and Parnell’s R and MA. Good catches from Parnell R, Woodcock and Collins gave hope but as always catches are the key and unlike last week the fielding was flawed with a missed stumping and too many chances going begging. With the GWR century maker from last year progressing to an aggressive half century the returning bowlers could not contain the batsmen and in the end GWR won with a couple of overs to spare.

Overall a good match with some promise but we must get the basics right (i.e. catches) if we are to turn near things to positive results.

To end on the positive.. the opposition were a great bunch to play against – absolutely the right spirit – and teas from Joe and Ciaran went down well.. with sandwiches left over .. a rare event.

Man of the Match : Jaleel AL-DARRAGH