Match reports

Another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.. it was going so well…..

After Chaseville’s travelling holdups we started very late with Chaseville batting. Excellent bowling with supportive fielding meant that they were 87 for 7 when rain brought an early tea. Whilst Woodcock had bowled with some venom and real hostility, his opening partner Naresh had picked up the wickets (4 for 34). Perhaps Ivanhoe ate too many Bakewell tarts, perhaps some players began thinking of an early night out or just tiredness and/or complacency set in but after tea both sides were very different. Chaseville ensured they used the full 40 overs (there went the early night out!) and reached 144 for 9 (there went the complacency!). Fielding lost its edge and chances were missed – despite Chaseville getting at least 20 more than they should have there were some fine moments for the slow bowlers (Dancer 2 for 19, L. Parnell 8-4-10-1) and a superb catch by Lawrie Parnell. It took the wily Australian experience of Hausler (4-1-5-2) to limit the damage at the end.

And then the reply. a new opening partnership was restricted by excellent bowling . Laney bowled 8 overs for 6 runs, so pressure mounted as the score stagnated. Kenchington (1) left early to the in swinging ball of the day, and debutant Jamie C found rolling back the years a slow process… but will be more confident after the way he was seeing the ball by his demise. At 3 Matt Parnell helped to see off the opening bowlers and his coaching showed real rewards with the classic forward defensive and the textbook cut for 4 (off Laney!).. .. he showed patience and the ability to build an innings.. from now on he can add the runs to make the hard work worthwhile. Slow, but after 20 overs Ivanhoe were still in the game, though still needing 100 at 5 an over. Useful contributions followed from many in the middle order, but no one achieved the match winning innings required—in fact top score for both sides was 30, and yet the pitch was fine and played as well as it ever has. P Parnell (25) at 4 and Dancer (also 25) looked as though they could take the game home but both fell when set (Dancer to an outstanding – match winning? catch). Later Collins (18) and Evans(16) took things closer but wickets fell and despite some lusty blows from the last pair of Hausler and L Parnell, they had been left far too much to do, and Ivanhoe reached 140 for 9, a defeat by just 4 runs… so many what ifs.. and the margins are so small – one fielding mistake, one overthrow, 1 dropped catch , 1 drive straight to a fielder.. so while it looks like Ivanhoe have mislaid the mental toughness to win these close games, it can be retrieved if we all concentrate for 80 overs rather than 63 and a half!

Man of the match: L Parnell

Cloudy with rain forecast, chances of completing a match seemed slim, especially during a rain break mid-1st innings. However the weather changed and the sun made a very late appearance to ensure a result.

Ivanhoe openers Evans and Collins began confidently in the opening few overs but the run rate slowed as the bowlers steadied and the high but slow bounce restricted cuts and pulls. After 20 overs the score was 72-0 and when Collins (70) was out it had reached 147 in about 34 overs. Evans (64) soon followed, leaving Naresh (13*) and Dancer (11*) to attack the final overs, which they did well, to take the score to 175- 2.

Chaseville batted positively throughout, despite the loss of 2 early wickets to Woodcock (2 for 48), finding the boundary regularly. Ivanhoe were not able to put sufficient pressure on the batsmen. Only Hausler (8 overs, 0 for 32) and Naresh (7-1-18-2) were able to stem the flow of runs. In the end they reached the total, 4 wickets down, with 7 overs to spare.

In hindsight 175 was too few, so the scoring rate too slow, but, in light of previous batting performances this season, it was good to see the highest opening stand, and only the 2nd and 3rd half centuries of 2014. In addition the Chaseville bowling should be credited – tight at times and knowingly using the local conditions of steep bounce.

Also we should take some other positives from the game – Dancer’s six off the last ball of the innings – powerful and defiant; the welcome return of Blackstaffe with his exceptional performance in the field; the very welcome return of Hausler’s slip catching (skipper now dropped from slip!); the fielding overall (with a good catch from Matt Parnell); Woodcock’s aggressive bowling which brought rewards this week and above all the all-round performance of Naresh – his medium paced bowling, moving the ball both ways really restricted Chaseville.

Afterwards we were able to join in with the Chaseville barbecue – as always generous hosts.

The winning run may be over but let’s start another one!

Man of the match – Naresh

At last the IVES record a WIN for the first time this season , something the English Cricket Team and Football Team cant do ?
Having won the toss , we decided to bat , on what was dry and firm wicket .
Opening the batting AD and Den put on a solid start of 59 , with the loss of AD for 31 , two more wickets are lost for with the score on 60 with Bob bagging his second GOLDEN of the season .
Richard was run out from one of them bowler , stop / catches at the bowlers end, at this point i thought here we go again. Max with a return to the side joins Phil k who Bats as previous weeks with some good blows to top score with 33 . With wickets still being lost ives are all out for 130 with 10 overs left . At this stage most i think thought not enough .
After a Bamville Tea , we take to the field .
Opening the bowling Ciaran and Andy H . with what turns out to be as good as ive seen Ciaran bowl this season . With tight bowling from the pair, Bamville lose wickets with Ciaran 2- 18 and AH 3-18 to leave Bamville with 5 down for 20 ish ? Fine second change bowling from Richard with 8 runs from his first over then ending up with 2-16 from his 8 overs . Max with a 4 over spell for 12 .
The Bamville batsmen keep chipping away to the ives total , with AD 2-27 and Den taking the wining wicket with 2 overs to go and 10 runs short to leave the oppo 120 all out . WIN.

MAN OF THE MATCH the TEAM . WELL DONE ALL .

First the positives: stands of 55 by Phil K (29) and Richard (31) and 81 by Ciaran (26) & Denis (45). All the bowlers bowled well with Andy H (1 for 31), Richard (1 for 30), Adrian (2 for 47) in their 8 over spells and Den and Matthew each taking a wicket in their 4 over stints. 2 catches for Matthew including a caught and bowled and 1 for Adrian also caught and bowled. And a special mention and well done to Jessica for her fielding prowess and assistance during the latter 20 overs of the Bamville innings. Probably the youngest ever debutant for the Ives.

Unfortunately aided by some missed catches two Bamville batsmen contributed 150 runs of their eventual 239 for 7 and with being players short and despite the stands above and keeping up with the run rate for most of the innings Ives closed on 156 for 8.

Put into bat on an unpredictable wicket Hatch End started well putting on 30 before 3 quick wickets put the Ives on top. But despite wickets continuing to fall Hatch End, with 63 from Lawrence, together with good support from the other batsmen, closed on 185 for 9 and a higher score than looked likely at one point and one that looked like it might be difficult to chase down. There were wickets for Ciaran, Andy H and Earle, and 3 each for Adrian and Richard with catches for Earle, Joe and Richard.

In reply Andy H went early before Ciaran and Den put on 48 for the 2nd wicket. A quick fire 22 from Richard gave hope of chasing down the Hatch End score but it was not to be with Ives finding themselves on 106 for 8, and with Chris P unable to bat a 9th wicket stand of 35 from Adrian (14no) and Malcolm (16) was not enough to win the game.

After a couple of seasons break from the Aldenham grinder we played them at their picturesque village ground on an ultimately sunny June day, after torrential downpours earlier in the morning.

The format was a timed match and Aldenham batted first and after an opening stand of 66 (Letts 31; Burrows 48), Ivanhoe bowled and fielded well to constrain the score to 185. The exceptional highlights were Phil K’s outfield catch from a stratospheric smash and Adrian’s 6 – 74. In addition there were good spells of support bowling from Ciaran (2 – 53) and Andrew (1-31) plus some fine outfield catches from Richard and Ciaran. Ivanhoe departed the field full of optimism.

If a thunderstorm had have swept in and terminated the Match then it would have been a far far better thing that what followed.

Ivanhoe batted and were out for 63.

Phil K batted well for 36, striking some mighty blows, but everyone else failed. C Munroe got a hat-trick to finish with 5- 15, D. Knight mopped up the tail with 3-13.

Oh Well, a resounding loss but some good beers had at Aldenhams pub after the match.

Can’t seem to buy a win at the moment. Another good batting performance on an unpredictable wicket, built round a fine 64no from Bob, 24 from Den and contributions from Andy H, Phil P, Richard & Matthew, was still not enough to see off Star CC.

Closing on 161 for 6 and then reducing Star to 87 for 7 a first win of the season looked odds on, but an 8th wicket stand took Star within 12 runs of victory (aided by a disputed run out that the umpired failed to give that might well have won the match for the Ives), and they eventually ran out winners by 2 wickets in the 37th over. Mention must be made however of 3 fine catches behind by Bob, one from Ciaran and good bowling performances by Richard (3 for 23), Adrian (4 for 44), Andy H (1 for 22), Den (0 for 23) and Ciaran (0 for 28).

Again despite the defeat another good performance by the Ives. A change of luck however would be welcome.

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

An excellent match played in good spirit but unfortunately lost with only 2 balls of the match to go.

On another cold blustery day Ives won the toss and elected to bat with Den and Andy H leading off. Andy went after a quick 9 but Den (30) batted on with Bob, who was to remain unbeaten on 46 at the close as they put on 37 for the 2nd wicket and then Bob and Phil P (21) put on 61 for the 3rd to take the score to 121 for 3 allowing Richard and Ciaran (9) to raise the Ives score to 166 for 5 at the close.

Ives took the field a bowler down after Richard was accidentally hit on the head by a stray throw whilst batting and was unable to field (no lasting damage and will be back next week!) and that was to prove the difference as despite a good start with Andy H taking 3 for 14 in his 8 overs and Ciaran bowling a tight opening spell, and fine catches from Matthew, Den, Ciaran, Phil P(2)and Bob behind the stumps, Uxbridge recovered thanks to 62 from Bader and 28 from Tinsley. Lawrence came back to take 2 for 19 in 7 overs and Den 1 for 25 in 6 with Matthew taking 2 wickets as Uxbridge were 8 down before the winning hit with 2 balls to go.