Match reports

Having won the toss Bob elected to bat on another hot afternoon but after 2 overs with the score 6 for 2 he must have wondered whether that was a good decision.  However 3^rd and 5^th wicket stands of 85 each firstly by Phil P (28) and Richard (40) and then Phil K (33) and the skipper himself(46no), together with a generous helping of extras allowed Ives close on 187 for 6 at tea.

The Mayfield reply opened in a similar way and 3 wickets for Ciaran with only 17 on the board looked likely to give Ives the edge but some big hitting by Patel with 78 aided by Morara with 45 eventually saw Mayfield home with overs to spare with only a returning Andy H with 2 late wickets and a run out by Ciaran disturbing their march to victory.

Ham is a long way to go for a game of cricket but it was definitely worth it.  Ivanhoe had a bat first while we waited for the stragglers to negotiate the M25. Traffic delays meant a 35 over game. Openers Chris B and Dennis worked hard to stave off a quality Sheen bowling attack.  Once the hard work was done it was time for the run makers.  Step up Bob with a steady 47 and Richard P with a solid 63 not out and Ivanhoe posted a fairly achievable 151.

Post tea Sheen started impressively and 151 was looking woefully inadequate. Ivanhoe weren’t daunted though despite a bowling shortage.  Ciaran (27-2) took the Sheen skippers wicket while Lawrence P (49-4) took the lion’s share.  Sheen advanced ever closer with wickets in hand, but a valiant all round effort in the field meant they needed 7 to win in the final over.  Step up Lawrence P.  Ball 1 was a fumbled stumping by keeper Phil K. Dot ball. Ball 2 was another swing and miss. Dot ball. Ball 3 was the stumping ball 1 was meant to be. Two more runs left Sheen needing 4 to tie from the final ball but it was not to be. Another win for Ivanhoe in a game which could easily have gone the other way.

After Saturdays emphatic win down to earth with a bump as Bourne End racked up 250 for 5 in a time game.  With wickets hard to come by after the first wicket fell to Ciaran with 11 on the board an excellent opening spells by him and Andy C the floodgates opened later in the innings as Bourne End put their foot down with all but their captain, caught behind for on by Bob  for 0 in Ciaran’s second spell, scoring heavily and apart from an excellent run out by Kabir the only other wicket falling to Den assisted by a catch from Malcolm at deep mid on.

Bourne End showed they also have an excellent bowling attack and after Den (19) & Malcolm (24) put on 38 for the first wicket it was really a rear guard action all the way as Andy (18) and completing 100 runs for the weekend,  Kabir (11) and Daniel (8) playing his first game, it was left to Lawrence (13no) and Ciaran (1no) to see the game home for very much a ‘losing’ draw.

With thunder rumbling and lightning in the distance the threat of this match being abandoned was never far away but despite this for the 2^nd week running, and after seeing off a good opening spell from Crouch End, a maiden half century was scored for the Ives, this time a fine 82 by Andy H around which the rest of the team put together a  score of 180 for 7 in 40 overs . There were good contributions from Den (23) and Richard (21) with Andy H in stands of 80  and 54 Richard respectively.

Having taken tea during an earlier rain break their was an immediate turn round and the story then is one of Andy C and Richard matching each other ball for ball as Crouch End collapsed against excellent spells as they shared the first 8 wickets for only 15 runs finishing respectively with Andy 4 for 14 in 8 overs and Richard 4 for 5, aided by 3 catches for Bob, 2 for Malcolm and a superb low one at short cover  for guest player Paul Barnes.  With Crouch end’s last man absent through injury it was left to Ciaran to finish the innings in with the 4^th ball of his first over as Crouch End were bowled out for only 22.

With the temperature in the 30’s not a day to find yourself in the field with only 5 bowlers at skipper Bob’s disposal  first but that was the situation that Ive’s faced after losing the toss.

Bob took the view correctly to bowl all the bowlers in short bursts with Richard opening with Denis.  On a wicket offering very little to the bowlers Denis struggled with his line in this spell but came back well later in the innings to finish with 3 for 39 from 8 overs aided by catches by Andy C, Malcolm and a caught and bowled. Richard bowled tightly in both his spells without any luck, conceding only 22 runs in his 8 overs as wickets early on were hard to come by with the first not falling until 49 were on the board and the second at 124 at which point a score well in excess of 200 looked likely for Old Citizens. However following Den’s intervention the scoring rate dropped and aided by a wicket for Lawrence (1 for 32 in 8 overs), Andy C (1 for 56) and Ciaran (0 for 36) and with two run outs Old Citizens declared at tea on 189 for 7.

The effects of fielding in the hot conditions quickly showed as Ives reply got off to the worse possible start with Earle and Andy H departing early with only 2 on the board followed by Malcolm (9) at 23. Three further quick wickets fell to leave Ives on 36 for 6 and facing a heavy defeat.  However Phil K (8) and Richard put on 57 for the seventh wicket and with Richard scoring his first 50 for the club before departing with one ball of the innings to go, Ives achieved a draw as Lawrence (5no) and Ciaran (1no) saw the innings home on 114 for 7.

Not a result to improve the skipper’s knee.

Having won the toss and elected to bat the Ives innings looked to be off to a good start as Denis (10) and Phil P (19) put on 29 for the 1^st wicket.  Unfortunately from there the score quickly took a turn for the worse and after 17 overs 5 wickets had fallen with only 46 on the board and time for a rescue mission.  Malcolm (17) & Richard (19) started the recovery with a stand of 30 with Earle then joining Malcolm for a further stand of 18.  Malcolm departed with 8 overs to go and with 92 on the board it was left to Earle (24no) and playing possibly his best innings to date and Andy C (34no) to add 50 to the score in only 8 overs to post 144 for 7 at the close.  Probably 30 short of what was  a par score but at least one that gave Ives a chance of victory.

Unfortunately apart from Andy C early on and in particular Denis (8 overs 1 for 21) the other bowlers continually fed the Corinthians opener  Shah with short balls which he took delight in pulling for boundaries to square leg as he scored 94 before being well caught by Earle in the deep but by then the game all but over as the match was lost in only 27 overs as Corinthians recorded 145 -3.  The only other high points were another wicket for Badders in the closing overs and one for Ciaran well caught in the gulley by Den.

A lesson to be learned to pitch the ball up and not feed the batsman’s best shot on a hard wicket!

In the absence of injured skipper Adrian and vice captain Bob, backpacking somewhere in Australia, Ciaran took the helm for the first time and having won the toss inserted the opposition on a very damp track for a timed match .

With Andy C (8 overs for only 24 runs) and Lawrence bowling tight opening spells runs were restricted in the first half of the Chaseville’s innings and although no wickets fell everything was going well.  After the drinks break however the Chaseville innings took off and despite sterling efforts from all the bowlers and Lawrence coming back to finish with 1 for 45 a century from Barrel for Chaseville in the last over left allowed them to finish on 201 for 2 with Ciaran being the only other wicket taker.

In reply Ives inning got off to a good start with Den(20) and Phil P (44) putting on 51 for the first wicket and with the final 20 overs coming up the score was 88 for 2 with an unlikely win still on the cards. Phil and Malcolm (25) kept the score going aided by Andy H (11) but as Chaseville tightened up their bowling runs became harder to come by. However Kabir playing his first match showed a good eye for the ball to finish on 25no and with Ciaran’s brother, Dominic (14) also scoring well followed by Richard (15no) the innings closed on 170 for 5 for an honourable draw, the thought of what might have been, and a well done to Ciaran in his match as skipper.

Well what a day for records.  First and foremost the highest score for the club of 131 held by Dave Howard for five decades or more has finally fallen.

Many have tried and been close over the years but it has finally fallen thanks to Denis and an unbeaten 135 not out. Added to that was a 3rd wicket stand of 157 with Bob to which Den contributed exactly 100 as Bob playing the supporting role scored 43.  Then there was Andy H’s top score for the club with 27 and when the Ives took to the field Richard recording his best return for the club of 5 for 13 in 8 overs as a 200 run win was recorded which must again be a record.

To tell the story in more detail after losing the last 3  games to bad weather it was somewhat of a surprise to everyone that there was no email on the morning of the match to say that the game was called off on what turned out to be the best day of the summer so far.

Ilford Catholics recognising they were understrength offered  an agreed toss and so it was that the Ives batted first in a 40 over game.

The innings started with Chris B and Denis opening .They put only 10 on the board before Badders (2) was caught by the wicket keeper bringing Andrew H to the wicket. Together with Den the pair proceeded to put on 60 in 12 overs before Andy (27) was dismissed. This brought in  Bob “The Batsman” Collins who with Denis put together a record stand for the third wicket  of157  in only 21 overs  with Denis contributing 100 of these before Bob was caught on 43. Laird Christopher “2 Plates” Parnell came next and as Denis continued to accumulate runs at the other end they added 5 runs to the score before Chris was bowled to be followed shortly after by Ciaran “The Beast” Woodcock . Malcolm added 4 runs in the final over to leave Denis unbeaten and with a new club record score of 135 not out and a total Ives score of 238 for 5 in 40 overs.

After tea Ives took to the field with the bowling attack of The Beast and ’Lionel’ Richard Parnell. They were quickly among the wickets as Ilford Catholics collapsed with Ciaran taking 2 for 19 in his 8 overs and Richard 5 for 13 in his assisted by catches by Adrian, Andy C, Andy H, and one each for Ciaran & Richard..  With Andy C taking over from Ciaran and taking 1 for no runs in his 1 over it was left to Badders making his annual bowling appearance to finish the game off in the only way he knows how.  On a hat trick from his only spell last year Chris failed to achieve this feat with his first bal lthis time only to again dismiss the last two Ilford batsmen in 2 balls to again be on a hat trick next season when the annual call from the skipper comes.  So Ilford Catholics were dismissed for 38 to end a day of sun and club records.

Cut the noose we have another win!