Match reports

With the toss won and opposition inserted, Christie and Prasad opened the bowling. Prasad was the revelation with swing bowling moving the ball both ways in a hot and humid atmosphere.  He claimed 2 key wickets of the best of the opposing batters. Bovingdon found it difficult to get the ball away and Ivanhoe’s 8 bowlers all taxed the batsmen, even if in Loveday’s case it was where to deposit the boundary.

There can be no disputing the champagne over though. Conor began it with a no bowl and 1^st of only 2 warnings for beamers, and from that ball a dropped catch  too ….. there followed 2 more dropped catches , one catch taken and a run out. Hectic!

With one player passing 50 and the last pair holding on for some pair Bovingdon reached 104 all out.

Ives replied with 107-1, with Kenchington (39) and Dancer(54*) playing aggressively with plenty of four balls to delight in, and with Parnell R joining in (10*) we cantered to victory at over 5 an over.. with about 20 overs to spare.

Win !!!  and a great tea from Mrs Prasad.

R Collins

Fixture secretary arranged this game in Essex late but everything went swimmingly… lovely ground, very fair hard wicket, a very sporting opposition of equivalent standard to us.. and 330 runs for 20 wickets with Ives holding their nerves for a win.
Skipper Woodcock opted to bat after winning the toss.. a rare choice and a welcome one.

After Dancer left well caught hooking, Collins anchored the innings for Ives first half century of the season (60), sharing useful partnerships with S Parnell (18) and two of 46 with R Parnell (25) and Woodcock (24). The “keystone cops” moment arrived when Woodcock hooked uppishly and kept watching the ball whilst veering into the oncoming Collins, who described the impact “as if being hit by a freight train”. With Collins spiked and bleeding, Woodcock turned his ankle which left him limping severely. Neither batsman was run out because the catch had been held!
It was the over that everything was happening as Francique then played on first ball for a golden duck and put the incoming batsman on a hat trick.

The end of the innings was frantic and fewer runs were accumulated than had seemed likely with a run out ending Ives’ innings on the final ball and a total of 171.

After another enjoyable away tea Ives continued their impressive bowling a fielding record of 2018, and had Coopersale at 45 for 4 with an economical Christie trumped by 4 wicket Hausler. The game then seemed to disappear over the horizon as the next wicket put on 102 (though the stand included 3 batters as one had to retire hurt.)
Then champagne moment number one .. a outstanding, excellent catch by Prasad to complement another fine take by S Parnell. with 2 new batsmen at the crease the run rate slowed, though it was still less than 4 an over till the final 3 overs. A hobbling Hausler returned to claim his 5th wicket (5 for 25); Doughnut Dancer held his nerve after being hit for 2 enormous sixes, to take two vital wickets, and finally a keeper mistake saw a run being nicked but the Coopersale last pair (including a third- runner) reckoned without the match winning direct throw from Prasad to not only spare the keeper’s blushes but win the game by 6 runs with 8 balls left. Celebration swiftly followed.

All in all a good performance with some excellent fielding all round and tight bowling from Woodcock on a limping short run, Francique and Christie to complement Dancer and Hausler.

A good result and excellent afternoon and a fixture to repeat in the future.

R Collins

Ivanhoe was soundly beaten.

But I think we sort of enjoyed the Pitch, the tea, the social atmosphere etc.

Apparently Ivanhoe has had bad experiences with teams whose Name includes the word “Casual”!!

Nothing casual about these Chaps other than the casual way the ball repeatedly disappeared over the boundary.

Uxbridge Casuals batted first and scored 341 for the loss of 7 wickets, calling a halt to their innings with 7 overs left!!!

4 of their players got the runs – 1 century and 3 50’s.

Pick of the bowlers were Peter (3-53) and Andrew (3-62). Nice outfield catch by Ciaran and a constant stream of wise-cracks from
newbie John who also got his first wicket for the club!!

But no bowler, I believe, was spared from the constant barrage of 6’s. The dual carriageway, Bowls club and Tennis courts were
all recipients of some truly enormous smashes!

Ivanhoe then batted and was all out for 131; Nice innings from Richard (36), Phil (24), and Steven (18) who was unlucky to be given out to
a rather high full toss.

– Andrew Hausler

Our season began in what seemed to be the height of summer. Sun blazed in the sky and temperature soared throughout the morning. However, this is England and welcome cloud and refreshing but slight drizzle arrived in the second innings. After the rain and cold of recent weeks, South Loughton had worked miracles to get the ground ready for play with no loose grass on the outfield. 10 days before even the clubhouse was under water! Unsurprisingly this meant that there was little pace in the pitch and the ball travelled slowly across the outfield. Tea was first class and the range of beers catered for all tastes. We were made very welcome and the game was played in excellent spirit.

Oh and the cricket? Well Ivanhoe may have lost by 57 runs but there were some positives. On winning the toss and fielding Ivanhoe bowled tightly and accurately allowing the skipper to pack the offside effectively. New signing Peter Oakley bowled very well in two spells and was particularly unlucky not to claim a first wicket for Ivanhoe. At the other end the more experienced Andrew Hausler bowled through and used the track intelligently to claim 4 for 19 off his 8 overs. Skipper Ciaran Woodcock was welcomed with a first ball boundary, but thereafter bowled consistently and quicker than last year.
Matt Parnell bowled a useful spell at the death and there was a welcome return to medium pace from senior club official Phil Parnell… which with his skiddy pace, generated from his stature, brought two wickets in two spells… but will he recover for next weekend??? Good to see Saqib back bowling with his enthusiasm and confidence. Fielding was of a high standard with the rather rare sight of 3 Ivanhoe players chasing for the same ball… and not just once. Stephen Parnell, Matt, Phil K and Prasad turned back the years to rival young Peter in their athleticism. Saqib juggled a catch to dismiss a  key batsman .. and proved everyone, who had money on the ball, wrong. Phil K made a tough steepling catch look easy… like Pat Jennings (for younger readers he was an Irish goalkeeper, who had very large hands… and just taking of hands here), whilst keeper Bob Collins did his best to make an easy catch difficult… but it stuck in an outstretched glove… and took another more impressive catch down leg side off Woodcock’s bowling. At 122-8 South Loughton were in some trouble but an unbeaten 9th wicket stand of 35 proved crucial and brought a decent total of 157 -8 on a sticky but safe track.

Ivanhoe’s reply started slowly and then continued slowly.  South Loughton’s veteran opening bowler removed Hausler for a duck and completed 7 overs for just 4 runs. A second wicket stand of 43 gave useful time at the crease for Collins (26) and Woodcock (13), but despite positive intentions the ball rarely beat the inner field and overs raced away. The hoped for lesser bowlers never came on and all eight bowlers bowled good length and line.
All successive batsman struggled with pitch and rising run rate, though there were promising shots from S. Parnell, Oakley and Saqib. But who was not out at the end? Chris Parnell 1* to complement the most ground covered by any of the Ivanhoe fielders.

Final score was 100 all out with a couple of overs to go. Talk afterwards was largely positive with encouraging talk of Devon/ Cornwall in August for the annual tour.

Saturday 27th May saw a 10 man Ivanhoe CC play Bamville CC. Hot day, skipper wins the toss and chooses to bowl.

A bad opening spell of bowling, still resulted in our guests being 3 down, mainly in part to some good catches. Dancer took over the bowling and bowled a tight line and length, although the odd batsman fancied a wild swing still! Dancer picking up 5 wickets to help restrain the run rate a little! Bamville posted 239 all out, with 5 minutes remaining in the time game.

A good tea followed before Collins and Dancer opened the batting. Dancer fresh from his 1 run the week before went out with the wise words of “it can only get better from here” ringing in his ear. Unfortunately it can also stay the same, as shown by Dancer departing for 1, followed shortly after by Collins (4).

This brought Max out, who with his usual bravado, went out promising a 50. Unlike usual Max did deliver with a quick fire 64. Assisted by Woodcock, who took a bit longer than Max to make a 50 as well! The fall of Max’s wicket followed by Parnell P and Parnell S shortly after saw Ivanhoe restricted, and soon were left with no realistic chance of winning. Still the benefit of a time game is a draw can be played for, so Woodcock and Abrahamson batted through to ensure a respectable draw against a strong Bamville side.

It’s approaching the time of the season when Ivanhoe should be looking for some big scores from the batting line up who all need to start to deliver!

14-5-2017

A new team picked up at short notice – a mixture of Sunday friendly players with a few first teamers thrown in.

Ground was nice (but noisy near the A10)

Pitch was a good batting wicket. And the field was HUGE (pity those fielding on the boundary)

Ciaran won the toss and put the opposition into bat.

Their first 3 bats scored 59,34,45 and at one stage a large total was in the reckoning.

But some tight bowling from Andrew, Alasdair (newbie from the Vets college) and Prasad plus some
excellent Leg spin from Luke (another new face) restricted their innings to 178 for 6.

Pink cap went to Bob (Justice really after last weeks two Murders by runout)

After a great tea we set about chasing the runs down.

At this point reality departs and we find ourselves in a parallel Universe as normally totals of 178 are a challenge for Ivanhoe.

An opening partnership of 107 from Luke and Phil.K (23 including 1 magnificent 6) put the result beyond doubt. After Phil and Steve departed it was left
to Alasdair (13*) and Luke to win the match with 12 overs to spare.

Luke ended not out on 127 (22 Fours + 1 Eight!!) – a truly excellent knock.

We celebrated in good style at the oppo’s clubhouse.

Verdict – Lets play these guys again!!!

This was a replacement fixture for Bentley Heath who pulled out. The highlight obviously was Andrew’s Tea (Because I’m writing this).

Ives batted first and started slowly as we are prone to doing.Bob (30) and Richard (19) moved the score along nicely after some classic stonewalling from Chris (6).

Later on there was a 35 run partnership between Phil.K (35*) and Andrew (11*) which got the score to 189 which for Ives felt like 250!

It’s possible Extras was the Highest scorer – there was a serial Noballer, funny little tubby guy, who gifted us quite a few runs.

Perhaps the total could have been even larger if there had not been some silly runouts – Max & Richard (surely Bob earned the Pink cap)

We did have the Opposition on the ropes for a while when they came out to bat with Wickets from Andrew(2), Richard(1), Ciaran(1).

Also towards the end Saqib picked up 2 wickets before being most unfairly substituted by that cruel captain of ours. Some dropping of catches started creeping in.

But unfortunately a couple of lads from the opposition played themselves in, and in 20-20 style proceeded to hit an impressive (unless you were on the end it)
array of Sixes motivated I’m sure by getting back early to watch to the Boxing (or was it the Manchester derby). In the end winning with 8 overs to spare.

A mention is merited of Phil.K’s bravery in attempting to stop 200mph missiles heading his way to the boundary.

The Ivanhoe Pink Plonker cap was passed around several times between Prasad/Phil/and Steven.

Think we may vote to offer a fixture again (despite them being a bit stronger than us?)

Opposition batted first and got 182. At one stage they looked to be getting away but our bowling tightened up towards the end.

Ciaran was the pick of the bowlers – 1 wicket for 13 off 8 overs.

Some nice swing bowling from Matt earned himself 2 wickets. Andrew (2), Prasad(1), Richard(1) also chipped in.

We batted solidly but could not score at a fast enough rate ending up with 7 for 108 at the end.

Bob (18), Ciaran(14) and Phil.K (17) all occupied the crease for some valuable runs.

Opposition was a nice bunch and we would vote to return I’m sure

What a month September proved to be. First the game against Cross Arrows and then the Centenary Dinner. 11^th September dawned under a pure blue sky and stayed that way throughout the day. Lord’s could not have looked more picture perfect. The Cross Arrows team (drawn from MCC members) played the match in an excellent spirit and were excellent hosts off the field. Unsurprisingly they proved strong with the bat, ratcheting up 422 – 6 off their 50 overs (one six landing on the top of the roof of the Media Centre) but Ivanhoe was certainly not disgraced in responding with 172 all out. Stats for the game are on the website under ‘Averages’. Credit must also go to the two umpires, Charlie Puckett for Cross Arrows and Peter Hinstridge of the Hertfordshire Association of Cricket Officials for Ivanhoe, for entering into the spirit of the occasion. Not least, they and Cross Arrows permitted Ivanhoe to have a revolving 11^th man in the field, enabling an additional three of our members to experience the unique atmosphere.

Then, on the 24^th, the Centenary Dinner, attended by our guest speaker John Emburey, and Robbie Book, Chairman of the Club Cricket Conference. Robbie’s congratulatory message to Ivanhoe is on our website (the ‘100 Not Out’ page). It was rewarding to see so many eras represented – from the ‘50’s to the current day, tennis, football and cricket – and friendships renewed, as well also as the presence of members from Bamville, Arkley and Kidbrook, with whom we have enjoyed many encounters

Away  – WON by 2 wickets

A case of déjà vu on turning up at this Chandos Road ground, but this proved accurate on remembering that Whittingdon share their home ground with Arkley, where we narrowly lost earlier in the season, on what seems to have been a very different track.

Skipper won the toss (amazing) and set his team to field in the heat of an August day. This proved the right decision as batting was not productive, with uneven bounce and long boundaries.  Nevertheless Ivanhoe had to bowl well to keep the batting side’s run rate down. Woodcock had one of his best spells of the season with three maidens in his 1-17 off 8 overs and the eternally unlucky Christie conceded just 18 off his 7 overs with 2 maidens (and needless to say no wickets!). This pressure led to wickets but only after bowling changes, which skipper made mercilessly, not caring whether you had just taken a wicket or not. In all 8 players bowled, with Dancer and Hausler Senior taking 3 wickets each (Hausler Senior’s spin figures were the impressive 4-2-5-3). Fielding was impressive and some stunning catches were held by Ivison (caught and bowled), Ben Hausler and Hausler Senior taking a fantastic catch at 1^st slip to set a high standard, R Parnell and keeper Collins. However the most surprising moment was the dropping of the easiest chance of them all, with the usually safe hands of Francique failing to grasp a dolly with no sun in his eyes. Ben Hausler was the pick of the outfielders with his whippet like running suggesting he should have been in Rio instead of Whetstone. Eventually Whittingdon were prised out for the Nelson figure of 111, though the time saved was not granted to the side batting second. Still an early (and magnificent) tea was welcomed by all – not least for its traditional nature and low cost compared with some lesser menus of recent times.

Then Ivanhoe took to the field with an hour and 20 overs to score just the 112! Plenty of time and a strong batting line up, so no problems anticipated.  Skipper imaginatively mixed up the batting order and it must have been a proud day for Hausler (umlaut omitted) Senior to open the inning with Hausler (umlaut omitted) Junior. There was no danger of Hausler Sr (10) being caught for his swishes and swings rarely got anywhere near the ball. It was down to Hausler Jr (21) to lead the way with some excellent boundaries picked up off the hostile and rapid opening bowler. But as we all know 1 wicket brings 2 and in this case 3 and then 4.

Parnell P and Collins (25*) then took on the bowling and steadied things before the loss of the former for 12. With 2 more rapid departures Woodcock (10) took the initiative with an all run four – easy for him, but more of a struggle for his partner. Worse still the next ball generated an easy 3 for Woodcock but only 2 could be run with Collins struggling to breathe. With his departure the run machine that is Dancer (12*) arrived batting at lowly number 9 and proceeded to make things look easier than anyone before him. 8 needed off the last 2 overs led to 4 off the last and Dancer’s decision to strike the first ball for 4 .. which he did  effectively, to bring victory by just 2 wickets and extend the unbeaten run to 7 games.

MOM = Team effort with contributions from all