Scorecard

Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I v Great Baddow on Sat 06 Jun 2015 at 1pm
Springfield Cricket Club Won 81 runs

Match report A Yorkshire man in Essex. Season 4.
Episode 6: A life without Dance

The day was upon us. The one we all feared. Our first game since the legendary Simon Dance officially retired from Saturday cricket, bringing with it many unanswered questions; who is going to be our 5th bowler? Will Marrion still bat 11? But more importantly, who will the Chronicle now describe as ‘evergreen?’

However, preparations for Great Baddow’s visit to the Corra were going well; a lot of the first XI batsmen made it to nets on Friday night, although mostly to work on their leg spin bowling; Singh was pretending to be in Bollywood films, footwork looking as good as ever; and Ovel made it to Missoula to practice his pulling technique.

The bowling questions were momentarily put on hold as Brooks won the toss (I assume) and elected to bat, and Marrion quickly retained his number 11 spot. Latimir-Jones and Prudence briefly argued about who would be taking number 1, with Prudence, yet again electing to stand and watch the first over. After a couple of tight overs, boundaries were soon plundered as both batsmen settled into their groove.

Latimir-Jones quickly reached 50 (his 3rd in a row against Gt Baddow) and dominated in an opening partnership of 127 before being given out LBW for 77 off the bowling of T Smith (1-64 from 8). He instantly called for a review, but due to a technical fault, DRS was not available and he had to depart. The wicket brought the inform and dangerous Singh to the crease and there was no let up for the bowlers.

Prudence passed 50 and his fluency continued to increase. Then Singh reached another rapid half century; his 4th score of 50+ this year in 5 innings, and he has already scored more runs this season than in any other season previously. Prudence looked more and more assured, and after surviving a scare on 99, reached his 100 with a cut through the off side. Evans-Green (2-91 from 10) accounted for both batsmen as they looked to accelerate in the last 10 overs, Prudence finally falling for an excellent 107, and Singh 80. The partnership between the 2 worth 125.

Symonds (18) and Clarke (15) added some quick runs at the end, but some good bowling from Shanks mark II Gunalan (3-55 from 10) meant the innings did not end with the flourish the home crowd were hoping for. Finishing on 333-6, Springfield went to tea full of confidence. We then left tea stuffed full of confidence and mini eclairs (yes, it was another Mrs Clark tea).

It was then that we went out to field. Black armbands on. As we had the customary huddle it was clear someone was missing, a larger than life character, we all knew it but didn’t want to talk about it… but luckily Charles and his 10 stone arse soon joined us out in the middle.

Marrion and Ovel opened up, and although regular boundaries were hit, the run rate was increasing, building pressure on the batsmen. A wicket apiece left Gt Baddow further behind the 8-Ball and when R. Gunalan was bowled by a Marrion off-cutter (well he has been described as the best ‘thinking-man’s bowler’ in the league) for a well-made 51, Springfield were in the ascendancy. The visitors were clearly panicking and some quality fielding from Pollinger, and safe hands (off his own bowling at least) from Brooks reduced them to 130-5 at drinks.

The new look spin-twins of Khalid (3-48 off 10) and Brooks (1-34 from 10) kept things very tight after the break and continued to pick up wickets. When Khalid bowled D. Smith for a patient 42, Springfield required only 2 more wickets for maximum points. Ovel (2-68 from 9) returned to pick up the 9th wicket, and Marrion (2-64 from 10) was also brought back into the attack, however, some lower order resilience and clean hitting from J. Van Kruining (78*) halted the home team’s progress. At one point it was rumoured that skipper Brooks was so desperate, he asked if Latimir-Jones could throw down a few grenades. The final breakthrough could not be made, the innings closing on 252-9, 81 runs behind.

Would things have been different with a bowler of leg break; Dance? Would he have received less tap; Dance? Something about a river, Dance?

Overall, another confidence boosting win ahead of our next not-really-Mid-Essex league match at Burnham.

James Latimir-Jones

Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 12w 1b 2lb 
for 6 wickets
16
333		        
James Latimir-Jones Lbw  77 13 1
Charlie Prudence Caught  107 16 1 1
Manpreet Singh Bowled  80 12 1 1
Jim Symonds Caught  18 2
Chay Pollinger Caught  5 1
James Clark Caught  15 1
Mark Hudson Not Out  8 1
Wasim Khalid Not Out  4
Andy Ovel  
Lee Brooks   1
Ben Marrion  

Great Baddow Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Huertson3.002100.007.00
D. Smith4.001600.004.00
Sterling10.007100.007.10
Evans Green10.0181240.508.10
Smith8.0164164.008.00
Gundelan10.0055318.335.50

Great Baddow Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 8w 6b  
for 9 wickets
15
252 (45.0 overs)		     
Huertson ct Prudence b. Ovel 18
Gundelan b Marrion 51
Chandery b Khalid 12
D. Smith lbw Marrion 42
H Simmons run out (Pollinger) 0
P Tayler ct & b. Brooks 0
F Chatt st Singh b. Khalid 5
T Sterling ct Hudson b. Khalid 5
J V Kruining Not Out  78
T. Smith lbw Ovel 19
T Evans Green Not Out  5

Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Andy Ovel9.0068234.007.56
Ben Marrion10.0064232.006.40
Lee Brooks10.0234134.003.40
Wasim Khalid10.0148316.004.80
Charlie Prudence4.011000.002.50
Chay Pollinger2.002000.0010.00