Chris

Nice to see you, to see you, nice! A familiar catch phrase in honour of our beloved skipper for this match.

A beautiful setting would inspire any cricketer to perform at his best. The wicket looked well used with pot holes at each crease, however this was indeed a bats runway. With the weather threatening from the outset, Ives walked out with an unspoken expectation that this would be one hell of a work out in the field, it was.

Southills openers spared no time to dig in with putting us to the test straight away and ‘having a go’ at every ball.

Christie opened in his usual casual manner taking 1 for 58 with JB and Andy H contributing with 2 for 77 and 2 for 47 respectively. Richard ‘Lionel’ Parnel although not taking any wickets had a good spell by minimising the runs to 35 off  8 overs with 1 maiden.

As the points racked up higher, higher and injury upon injury was being inflicted on us, the ‘Duke’ took two great catches at long stop and in doing so, almost cracking his chest cavity from one! Malcolm picked up a further two with one being a superb stretch from deep mid on after ‘stump smasher’ Baddeley administered some revenge. JB collecting another great catch sweeping.

As we walked in for tea after what I’m sure was an enjoyable session for all, we cast our eyes up to those three white numbers on the scoreboard, 281, which somehow seemed a lot bigger when framed by the darkening clouds behind.

After tea and a dousing of rain, the Duke and Foxy strolled out to open our account. Had the Duke remember his spikes, he might not have ended up flat on his…..bottom. Spikes aside, it was a short, fruitless innings this time for the Duke. Foxy seemed to be settling down but alas, 2 was the total for the Fox. A promising start from Skip was interrupted by a smash on the chin after the ball popped up from the bat. The Duke was quick to react, peeling himself from the score hut and straight out to the Skippers assistance. I’m sure I heard a siren! Skipper off the field having his Brucey prosthetics attached, Malcolm was in achieving 11.

Skipper back to the crease and didn’t he do well! It was certainly nice to see him back out there, to see him back out there, nice! Pulling off some very nice cover drives and a fantastic, albeit questionable six. It looked like Skip would reach a very respectable fifty but alas, another one bites the dust at 47. Also a contribution to note was Collins on 22 and Christie held up the rear, as he likes to, for a respectable 20 not out.

All said and done, we were positively thrashed but this game provided an enjoyable work out for all, eh brucey?!

Summer’s here at last. Pity it’s arrived just in time for the last game of the season, played under a blue sky and with the sun shining.

Away to Hillingdon Manor and having won the toss Ady, knowing our sometime’s batting frailties, bravely elected to bat.  As it turned out it was very nearly an inspired decision as after Lawrence and Den fell fairly early with only 19 on the board followed by Phil P at 47, Bob and in particular Max, making a late, late, substitute appearance for Andy H, put the Hillingdon bowling to the sword with a stand of 109 in only 16 overs ,Max scoring 80, and with a ton and possibly the club  record of 131 in his sights only falling to a farcical run out when backing up at the bowlers end he was run out by a quick thinking fielder as he sauntered back into his ground failing to get there in time.  However his innings, with Bob taking the back seat during it, allowed Ady, Earle,Malcolm  and Badders to throw the bat as the innings closing on 204 for 7 with Bob unbeaten on 70 not out.

In reply Hillingdon scored steadily but with Adrian taking the first of two fine catches off Richard (2 for 33) early on and Andy C ( 1 for 48), Max ( 2 for 27), Lawrence (1 for 36), Adrian (1 for 27)  and particularly Den (3 for 33) all chipping in the 10^th  wicket fell with Hillingdon still a few runs short of the target.  Unfortunately this was by agreement, and much to Badder’s (who was already celebrating) surprise, a 12 a side match so one wicket was still required and with 3 balls to go Hillingdon crept over the line to win by one wicket.  Disappointing, but an excellent way to finish the 2011 season.

Little would anyone have thought, on arriving at an overcast, windy and distinctly cool Cavendish Sports Ground what an enthralling match was to unfold. Apart from the weather, the omens did not look good with a wicket as unkempt as Bob’s beard and as green as Andy looked on his first morning all those years ago in Malta. This was only to be accentuated by a lost toss – courtesy of our Treasurer (standing in for our waylaid skipper) who must have forgotten that the royal mint doesn’t typically produce double-headed coins ! Ivanhoe promptly found themselves being asked to bat.

Our opening pair was an experienced one – offering up over a century of cricket-playing years between them ! The new ball on the green top did its worst as Lawrence departed early, but Den dug in and along with Aidy started to steer the score northwards – ably assisted by a fair smattering of gifted extras. Just as Aidy looked likely to get going he fell for 20, bringing Bob to the crease. Unfortunately a seaming ball meant his stay was a relatively short one – albeit the score had been guided into the 70s off approaching 25 overs. As Phil P arrived at the centre, Skip spoke with his opposite number and agreed to foreshorten the game to a 35 over affair – due to a combination of slow over-rate and gathering clouds. This sparked Ives into action, with PP quickly posting 25 (including a rare six over long-on) and Den picking up the pace and ultimately falling for 37. A couple of quick wickets saw Malcolm and Andy *preserving their averages/*scampering quick singles (or sevens !) (* delete as appropriate) and the Ives posting a Skipper-pleasing 146 for 5.

Ives took to the field in good spirits and were quickly rewarded as ‘Lionel’ Ritchie made a mess of the opening batsmen’s stumps. A further wicket for Richard and one for Andy H heightened the team’s optimism. But a succession of non-sticking catches and Wealdstone’s annoying ability to keep at or ahead of the required run-rate became an increasing concern. Still, Ives kept to the task and were rewarded as Aidy tinkered with the bowling line-up. As the final overs ticked down the run-rate suddenly started to look testing for Wealdstone and with Aidy (1) and Lawrence (3) snaring victims at crucial times to leave the opposition teetering, nine wickets down, the tension mounted and an Ives win suddenly looked back on the cards. Alas it was not to be as a boundary snuck its way through to tie the game with four balls to go. Two balls later and a frantically scampered single secured the win for Wealdstone.

It was a game that hurt to lose. The chances were there to win it – another single here, a catch there etc etc. But that’s what we all play cricket for – a match that proved you should never assume the die is cast on a game and one played in the true spirit of ‘friendly cricket’.