Match reports

With the threat of rain ever present Rivets won the toss, batted, and found themselves 20 for 2 thanks to 2 quick wickets from Saqib (3 for 39 in 8 overs).  After that however it took to the drinks break at the 20^th over and ‘Nelson’ (111) to bring the next wicket which arrived with the introduction of an under the weather Richard who quickly perked up after taking 2 wickets with his first 2 ball and finished with 4 for 28 from his 8 overs. With Adrian also chipping in with a wicket Rivets were reduced to 140 for 8 with more than 10 overs left but an unbroken  9^th wicket stand saw them to 195 at tea.  Mention should be made of the catching with 7 of the 8 wickets falling in that way to Matthew (2), Denis, Earle and Bob with 3 the wicket.

In reply despite knocks of 20 or more from Richard (20), Bob (24), Ciaran (24 )and Adrian (38) no one went on to get the bigger score required and with Chris P ending  on 3 not out Ives fell 40 runs short to finish 155 all out.

Footnote:  Congratulations to Ciaran, Adrian, Andy H, Matthew, Chris P and Richard who won the Hatch End CC 6 A Side competition on Sunday, being unbeaten on the day and with Chris P scoring the winning run in the final.

In a match restricted after only 4 overs by heavy rain to 25 overs a side Ickleford having been 41 for 1 at the break were reduced on an strip made unpredictable by the rain to 120 for 8 with 6 overs to go before a 8^th wicket stand saw them to 150 for 5 at the close.  Chief wicket taker was Richard with 4 or 56 with Andy H chipping in with 2 wickets, one to a fine gully catch by Phil K, and 1 each for Adrian and Matthew.

After another excellent tea Richard and Bob got the Ives innings under way and at 50 for 1 after 10 over the run rate was exactly on target, However from there wickets fell regularly and despite a cameo innings  from Jeff Hausler of 11 making his first appearance from the Ives from down under the Ives innings closed on 105 for 7 with Bob remaining resolute to the end on 55 not out.

Colonials Conquer Citizens

The fortunes of Ivanhoe fluctuated – down up down down up.. so definitely a game of many more than two halves!

Skipper Dancer actually won the toss on a rain affected pitch. After 2 days of heavy rain, there was much in the pitch for bowlers, with uneven bounce and a steamy, cloudy atmosphere to induce swing. So with Citizens racing along at 58-0 what had gone wrong? Well Ivanhoe opened encouragingly with 2 maidens but the openers played very sensibly and selectively and the ball raced to the boundary when hit. But one wicket brings 2, and the middle order fell away, to give Ivanhoe every hope of an early finish. However the tail wagged well, catches were dropped in the deep, 2 by the keeper and another at slip and only a sharp catch by Parnell R  at slip and a calm take in the deep by Woodcock, from an enormous hit, showed the Ives the way.

Woodcocks 2 spells brought 1-21 and Hausler’s economical spell 1-22. Meanwhile Parnell M quietly picked up 5 for 46, with his slower ball (well even slower) causing some difficulties). Dancer finished things off, with little luck and 2-11. Old Citizens reached 164 All Out, at least 30 more than they should or could have attained – which was a talking point at (a very good) tea.

At 4 an over on a tricky pitch this was a possible win if Ives kept focus and wickets. At very few for 4 things seemed to be on the way to defeat. With the top 3 contributing nothing – Parnell R receiving a grubber of the worst order and Collins ran himself out albeit to an excellent direct hit.  Caras then began the recovery and reached the 20s before departing. At 20 overs over half the total had been achieved but 6 wickets were down.. Indeed the 7^th wicket but on 35 with Woodcock and Dancer looking strong.  However with Woodcock departing lbw straight after drinks, and Dancer bowled by a full toss for 25, things looked bleak (the score 100 for 8). But cometh the hour cometh the colonials. South African Abrahamson and Aussie Hausler looked increasingly confident and Citizens finally realised that defeat was possible .. and indeed it was.. with 6 overs to spare Hausler deposited the ball over the midwicket boundary for 6 and his 51* and victory for Ives by 2 wickets.

Man of Match: Andrew Hausler

On a day when only 5 wickets fell (and one fielder, namely Den who intercepted a throw by Jonathan with his head and had to be taken temporarily to hospital where thankfully no lasting damage was found), Richard made no mistake this week in making his maiden ton for the club when in reply to Mayfield’s 197 for 3 he batted through the innings for an unbeaten 132 not out and with Phil P (60no) saw the Ives to a magnificent win by 8 wickets  with 6 overs to spare in an unbroken 3^rd wicket stand of 176 in 24 over.

Earlier having been reduced to 9 men in the field as Andy H chauffeured Den to hospital, Ciaran took 2 for 32 aided by catches by Phil K and Jonathan and Saqib took the only wicket to fall, but that was only the hors d’oeuvre to the main course that followed.

On a hard, fast track Adelaide Southgate quickly got into their stride with 50 on the board in 8 overs and a score of 300 looking on the cards at one point as their openers put on nearly 150 in quick time before the first wicket fell to Richard, caught behind by Bob.  From there some semblance of order was restored, albeit the innings closed on 247 for 6 in 40 overs, with 2 wickets for Adrian and 1 each for Richard, Andy H and Ciaran with a well taken one handed gulley catch by Den and another by Adrian. Mention must also be made of Earle;s fielding at deep mid off throughout the innings.

After an excellent tea Adrian and Richard opened the Ives reply and after a first over maiden Richard took the game to the bowlers with 50 coming up in only 5 overs of which Adrian’s contribution was 3.  However with the score on 92 and Richard on 73 a misjudged call lead to Richard running himself out when  a ton looked definitely on.  Andy H kept the score ticking along with a quick 19 and Adrian likewise to keep a win in sight. However the increasing run rate eventually became to much despite 26 from Earle and 16 from Den and once Adrian departed for 43 the innings fell away to close on 209.

Despite the defeat an enjoyable game all round.

Different captain, same result at the toss as Bob lost and Ives were asked to field.

After a couple of economic overs from Earle it was Saqib (6 overs 0 for 25) and Andy H (8 overs 1 for 21) who managed to keep the Arkley batting in reasonable check early on with Andy taking the first wicket with 40 on the board. However in a time game Arkley pressed on and looked at one point as if they would post 200 plus at tea. But with Richard bowling an excellent marathon spell of 13 overs and Matthew being brought end at the end the two of them vied for the first 5 wicket haul of the season as the last 6 wickets fell for only 24 runs, with Matthew coming out the winner thanks to taking the last 2 wickets to fall in consecutive balls as he closed on 5 for 13 in 5 overs, leaving Richard with 4 for 37 from his long spell. Both were aided by 2 good catches from Phil P, 1 from Andy H and 1 behind for Bob

In reply Ives quickly found themselves 4 for 2 but with middle order scores of Richard 24, Phil P 28, Denis 27 and Bob seeing the innings home with 38no, the winning hit was left to ‘Superstar’ Saqib who finished on 15no. and  a good 4 wicket win.

A very hot day; Surprisingly our Skipper was drowning his sorrows with a
beer before the game even started.
The beer worked and Adrian won the toss and elected to bat.
Great second wicket partnership of 126 between Bob (68) and Phil.P(59) got
the first 20 overs to a flying start.
The giddy heights of 250+ looked possible but Ives slowed down. Good knock
of 19 by J.Concur toward the end helped the
cause.
So a total of 185 for the loss of 6 wickets was set.

Chaseville started quickly and got the runs in less than 30 overs. Best by
far of the bowlers was Superstar who finished with
2-23 off 8 with 2 maidens. The rest of the bowlers pretty much got tonked
all over the field.
Matt bowled a few good overs but then saw the ball (and the replacement
other 2 balls) elevated towards Thames narrowly missing a few 747s on their
landing pattern.
3 grommets wandered across the field giving it the typical lip – Bob had to
be restrained – the youngsters so frightened that they ended up stealing a
boundary marker.  Classy!!

After an unpromising morning of rain and cloud, the forecast proved accurate and the game was on, with a surprisingly dry and hard track.

Skipper Dancer lost the toss (nothing new there) and Ivanhoe were batting in a 40 over encounter.

Suddenly with Evan and Parnell P departing for ducks Ivanhoe were 5-2 after 3 overs. Unplayable opening bowlers? Not according to new man in, Parnell R, who hit the next few balls straight to the boundary destroying figures and confidence of the bowlers. With 67 scored for the 3^rd wicket, Parnell R was caught for 43 and Bamville breathed a sigh of relief. The 4^th wicket also brought up 67 runs with Raj negotiating some early difficulties to score 42, in an increasingly dominating innings. Again relief for Bamville, at 139 -4 with a high run rate chalked up. As Collins dried up in the 40s the pace of the innings slowed but progress was maintained with everyone contributing. Collins scored a lucky 5 to bring up his 50 and, to the surprise of some, scored a maximum, finishing on 67. Dancer raised the rate at the end with some well struck boundaries, reaching 22*.

218 all out with a few balls unused – enough?

The usual excellent Bamville tea followed and Ives rolled out ready to win. Bamville had other ideas and had obviously been watching the recent internationals. They set off at 8+ an over rivalling R Parnell’s rate. Rarely has Hausler been so expensive and treated with such contempt! He was not alone. The 1^st wicket was a long time – too long- coming. Dropped catches and missed half chances were the story, and eventually the result was dictated by the Bamville opener from Stoke on Trent. He liked to chat and hit boundaries even more, scoring well over 100—if caught earlier????

Nevertheless the wickets began, and tumbled regularly , helped by an amazing catch from Kenchington and a spectacular direct hit run out from Parnell R- pity the regulation catches went down! Entering the last 3 overs, ahead of the run rate, Bamville lost their 9^th wicket.. but, unlike a Thai massage,  it was not to be a happy ending, despite some excellent bowling at the death  by Parnell Matt 5-0-20-0 and Evans reliving the more supple times with 3.1-1-8-1.

So a 1 wicket defeat , but a great game, as always with Bamville – what a fantastic setting and hospitable club.

Man of the Match – Bamville opener– sorry guys.. he dictated the result and we should have won this one!

Despite  a valiant effort by the bowlers the lack of depth of the Ives bowling on the day was exposed in this time game as after reducing Golden Age to 92 for 6 at one point the runs flowed in the latter part of the innings as the oppo chalked up 240 for 9 at tea, Mention must go to Matthew who opened with Andy H and took the first 2 wickets, ending up with 3 for 57 in his 10 overs, Andy H taking 2 for 41, Adrian 1 for 48, Saqib 1 for 53 and, in the latter part of the innings, Earle 1 for 28.

Not much to be said about the batting except for Richard who scored  a rapid 67 and looked very much on  or three figures before getting out, Of the rest only Matthew (18) and Earle (13no) made double figures as Ives succumbed to 136 all out.

Following an excellent but windy Friday night at Bath Races where one or two came out in front, the story of the two matches that followed was one of not scoring enough runs to put the opposition under any real pressure.

Playing what he says was his last game Lawrence (19) opened against Western Flyers on Saturday with Phil P (18) and after an opening stand of 33 and 23 from Richard, at 67 for 3 a competitive total looked achievable. Unfortunately from there wickets fell regularly with only Phil K (17) putting up any real resistance as the innings closed at a disappointing 125.

In reply despite 3 early wickets and Lawrence bowling 8.2 overs,1 for 38, and Adrian taking 2 for 26, the opposition easily made their target for the loss of only 3 wickets.

The story repeated itself on Sunday against Shirehampton at a lovely ground close to the Avon Gorge. Lacking depth in bowling due to a shoulder problem for Richard, Ives batted first and quickly found themselves 3 for 2 with Bob & Den back in the pavilion.  Richard with the help of guest player Ian started to steady the ship but after Ian’s departure and Richard going for a patient 29 again the batting, apart from Matthews cameo innings of 17 at the end, folded as the innings closed on 118.

Wickets were hard to come by in the Shirehampton innings with only Andy H and Den having any success as they easily achieved the win for the loss of only two wickets.

Tour highlight – Adrian’s emergency comfort break stop in a field on the way to the races on Friday evening,

So despite the results an excellent tour and thanks go to Phil P for all the hard work that went into arranging it.