Scorecard

Rayleigh v Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I on Sat 06 May 2017 at 1pm
Springfield Cricket Club Won 121 runs

Match report Match 1 – The Portuguese Penis

There was a tense atmosphere around when I first arrived at the Corra for a quick warm-up net before the opening game of the season with Rayleigh, with no player certain of a place in next weeks team, it was some what understandable… However the tension was quickly broken when news broke out that senior batsman James Clark had less then ideal preparation for the game after running into the Portuguese authority whilst on a stag do that week, so it turns out (who knew?) that it is against the law in Portugal to dip your cock in someone else’s drink… fortunately he was let off by the Portuguese police as they felt sorry for poor old thin top when they found out his dagger didn’t even reach the bottom of the shot glass.

By the time we had all finished laughing, it was time to head off to Rayleigh with hopes of notching up the first win of the season in our first game, however this was not guaranteed given the stiff competition Rayleigh had provided in the 4 matches against them last season.

Most of us arrived at the ground in time for a good warm up prior to the game and, as is now expected, Mani arrived half an hour later just in time to get padded up… During this time the coin had been thrown in the air and some small, folically challenged child called correctly and we were to kick the season off by wielding the willow.

New opening partnership Prudence and Frost saw us off to a good start scoring rather comfortably at 5 an over whilst seeing of the new ball before Prudence fell in the 13th over for 19. By this point Frost had started to put the Rayleigh attack on the back foot, punishing any short deliveries with some glorious cut and pull shots. The eternally late Mani Singh joined Frost, requiring time in the middle himself after a rather scratchy pre-season and (for once) he knuckled down for a well made 23 supporting Frost in a useful partnership to see us most of the way through good spells from Rayleigh pair Gilmore and Bryant. The foundation was now set for senior slogger Symonds and, once Frost had eventually been dismissed for a classy 77, the Portuguese Penis himself. Knowing they had several wickets in hand and plenty of batting to come, the pair put the Rayleigh attack to the sword punishing bad balls to the boundary and making the most of every shot with some excellent running between the wickets. The thin tops saw us through to the end of our 45 overs and reaching the key total for max batting points off 225 in the final over, leaving us on 228-3 (Symonds 79* off 59 balls and Clark 27* off 26 balls).

A fine Rayleigh tea was enjoyed, all players whited up (in some mighty fine new kit) and we headed out with the aim of taking all 10 Rayleigh wickets. Our seam bowling attack of Ovel, Marrion and Attwell were all on edge knowing a poor performance with the ball may see them playing in Tillingham the following weekend for the 2s with us forcing through our transfer of R Wickham in time for the second game of the season. Emotions were already running high when tradition was broken as the first over was given to Ovel rather than Marrion to save bowling 23 overs with the batsman hitting with the wind however this did not effect either players performance, both bowling very tight opening spells with Ovel the pick of the 2 bowling 10 overs 4-14 (including the key wicket of Francis and securing his spot in next weeks team). It should be noted that competition was so fierce, in a desperate attempt to keep his place in the team Marrion caught Ovel’s fifth wicket of the game, then threw the ball on the floor in a rather comical attempt at a catch and subsequently took the wicket of this batsman in his next over…

Once the openers had run out of overs it was up to Attwell to bowl a ferocious spell from one end a skipper Brooks to bowl straight and make some northern shrieks from the other end. Both bowlers bowled nicely picking up a wicket a piece before Attwell was replaced by premier off-spinner Chalk who only needed 3 balls to take his first league wicket of the season and, in turn, bowling Rayleigh out for 107 giving us the full 26 points and a fantastic start to our bid for the 2017 Premier Division title.

Man of the match was a tough decision for the skipper (much like the selection decision to follow) and eventually took the easy option and offered up man of the match pints for both Frost and Ovel for superb batting and bowling performances. Well done everyone that played and roll on Canvey Island next week.

Charlie

Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 7w 2b 3lb 
for 3 wickets
13
228		        
Charlie Prudence b Abley 19 27 3 70.37 1
Chris Frost ct Gilmore b. Bryant 77 93 9 2 82.80 1
Manpreet Singh b Gilmore 23 49 3 46.94 3
Jim Symonds Not Out  79 59 4 1 133.90
James Clark Not Out  27 26 3 103.85
Bryn Powell   1
Matt Chalk  
Andy Ovel  
Lee Brooks   1
Josh Attwell   1 1
Ben Marrion  

Rayleigh Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Abley9.0039139.004.33
Turnball7.003300.004.71
Gilmore10.0236136.003.60
Bryant10.0040140.004.00
Sullivan5.003800.007.60
Barnet4.003700.009.25

Rayleigh Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
6w 4b 4lb 
for 10 wickets
14
107 (30.2 overs)		     
Francis ct Attwell b. Ovel 22
Impey run out (Brooks) 13
Nolde ct Singh b. Ovel 1
Barlett ct Singh b. Ovel 0
Ox ct Powell b. Ovel 4
Brown ct Frost b. Marrion 1
Gilmore ct Singh b. Chalk 24
Bryant ct Brooks b. Attwell 4
Turnball Not Out  20
Sullivan run out (Attwell) 0
Abley b Brooks 0

Springfield Cricket Club Saturday I Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Andy Ovel10.041443.501.40
Ben Marrion10.0329129.002.90
Lee Brooks5.2023123.004.31
Josh Attwell4.0025125.006.25
Matt Chalk1.00616.006.00