Second XI Match Report 2005 | Cobham Avorians Cricket Club

Second XI Match Reports 2005

3rd September Pyrford (A) (Top of page)

27th August Cranleigh (A) (Top of page)

The Avorians travelled to the picturesque setting of Cranleigh knowing
that at least 4 points would go a long way to securing survival after a
frustrating and inconsistent season.

Andy shocked his team mates by calling correctly and elected to put the
opposition in to bat on what looked a true, but low and slow deck.

Baby Joe took the new nut, but due to his lack of seniority and caps in
the club got the uphill run in - Phil's argument and rightly so; was he
may not reach the stumps unless he came strolling in off the hill.
Undeterred by the slight incline Baby Joe started well with some good
pace when the breeze picked up sporadically. After several tight overs
from the opening pair - Joe got the breakthrough bringing one back
through the gate of "Captain Scrap" (see our skipper for a definition).
Phil bowled without much luck in his opening spell - but he must have
been delighted to just be playing never mind bowling after passing a
late fitness after a bout of midweek gout.

Foster replaced Huntley at the top end, and struggled to find any
rhythm whilst the ball was still hard but it was spinning quite nicely
(when it pitched). Joe went about his trade and kept picking up wickets
at regular intervals, with some assistance from the away umpire.
Finishing his first spell with four wickets. Well bowled mate! Ric
Coles - fresh from his excursion to Canada bowled quite tidily -
apparently getting some swing with a ball that had been caught between
the road and a hard place. This was surprising as his mind looked
elsewhere as he marshaled the short leg side boundary - although he
wasn't prepared to move 10 yards either side of a silver Peugeot 206
whilst Huntley was bowling.

Ric was surprisingly replaced by Phil at the pavilion end whilst Scoops
bowled a lengthy spell without much luck - the fielding coach Luke
Barrow was unavailable for pre-match drills this week and that really
looked apparent as 3 catches were spilt, but Norman took a smart catch
in gully off a heavily spinning slice. (Boxer please take note). Phil
failed to live up to the hopes of the skipper bowling straight into the
in-form batsmen slot as he greedily helped himself to 20 odd from his
returning over and was quickly replaced.

Cranleigh eventually declared on 228 - 8 from there 51.5 overs. Baby
Joe returning another 5-for and Scoops picking up a couple.

Andy and Arms opened up the batting and were progressing quite steadily
until they were both out leg before trying to pull short balls that
didn't really get up as much as they expected. Batsmen 3 and 4 were
both dismissed in almost identical fashion from the previous week. Ash
playing a limp wristed defensive shot to another adolescent spinner and
playing on whilst Phil launched a slow long hop straight down deep
square's throat after making a brisk twenty odd.

Pricey played the patience game (as Arms can testify too - regularly
nodding off from his boundary throne) - flicking stray balls down leg
side straight to the only man on that side of the field. After
re-adjusting his lens he began to find his feet and timing the ball on
both sides of the wicket finding the gaps in a very negative field and
finishing with a very good 48 not out. Ric played well, supporting
Pricey during the final 10 overs playing some authentic cricket strokes
through the offside - the win or winning draw never really looked
likely after we were left a miserly 49 overs back and "Captain Scrap"
setting a defensive field from the outset.

The Avorians finally realising 165-7 gaining a well earned point which
may prove vital as the season draws to a close next weekend.

Have a good week fellas - get your application for a free pass in now
for the end of season party and farewell to Daykes.

Scoops

20th August Farncombe (H) (Top of page)

Having overstayed his welcome at chez Bell this weekend - Scoops kindly
offered to write up this weeks match report.

In a must win game for the Avorians, the game began badly. Andy who is
not won an important call all season kept up his 100% record and we
were asked to bat against a youthful Farncombe.

Andy and Arms began solidly - each helping themselves to several
boundaries to the short fence off the inexperienced opening bowler. A
fine cover drive from Bell and all ran four (yes all ran) seemed to be
the unraveling of partner Liddington who, after successfully nicking a
couple of sprightly singles to a laboring "son of arms" at mid on,
overbalanced and was too slow on a straight one which hit middle.

Strong hitting by Huntley kept us going along at a fast pace, and Bell
was lamoating an early declaration giving his bowlers as many overs as
possible back at the opposition. Huntley was undone by getting
underneath one too many and a smart catch on the boundary was the end
of a top innings - 55, well batted son. Pearce (back at A's after two
weeks away on international duties) maintained the run rate after a
watchful start - hitting some dreamy cover drives in a fantastic 55 not
out - another masterclass from the youngster.

Other notable contributions with the bat came from Golder whose
impatience got the better of him as he was coaxed down the track by a 9
year old spinner for not very many. The Guinness Book of Records were
informed as a very sad Ash took 25 minutes to walk back to the
hysterical crowd in front of the pavillion - but we were informed a
bloke called Price holds the official record of 4 days, 6 hours and 18
minutes. Price who shouldered arms against the last ball of the innings
to record an impressive red inker which may even see him leapfrog
Scoops and Lawrence at the bottom of the batting averages.

After some further lamoating by Andy, the Avorians finally declared on
251 for 7 from 44 overs.

The Avorians truly deserved their lunch - which for the record was top
draw again. Well done Mrs Arksey, Vickey and Carol.

Having been asked to bat jack by the skipper, Scoops was boiling and
was fearful for the Farncombe batsmen. The skipper redeemed himself by
handing Scoops the old ball with clear instructions to attack and try
and sneak a couple of early scalps. Scoops didn't fail - his golden arm
removing the opener with his third ball. Huntley backed up claims as a
"true allrounder" with some tidy medium pace but was unfortunate to
come away wicketless - as the two senior batsmen bedded down with not
much of a repertoire which was a frustrating period of the game for the
Avorians and some of the younger members from the Farncomber ranks -
who were giving their skipper some stinky sledging n front of a
disapproving scorer. (well done young blokes - possibly some potential
Avorians in 10 years time)

Scoops nicked another wicket before the new ball was taken and Pearce
and Baby Joe bowled well but struggled to produce a breakthrough. After
15 overs Pearce was claiming some reverse swing and Bell had heard
enough and replaced him with rejuvenated Scoops who toiled away before
finally removing the other opener with one that skidded through and hit
his back leg right in front for 52. Golders nemesis came in next and
having looked most comfortable against Baby Joe - didn't pick Scoopie's
wrong un' which drifted down onto the leg and fizzed back to have the
plucky youngster plum in front - claims of the dazzled youngster
uttering "it was a mystery ball" to his young pals are strongly denied
by Daykin and Umpleby.

Youngster followed youngster in an inexperienced middle order - "son of
arms" had been watching the spinner closely from the tuck shop and had
seen enough - instantly depositing a well aired ball to the cow corner
boundary. A smart piece of glovework by Price was too quick as he was
well out of his ground trying to mimic his previous luck the very next
ball.

Buzzers lack of match practice really showed this weekend - having
spent 2 hours refining his catching with son Luke spilled a simple
chance at mid on and then left Baby Joe chase a ball down to the
boundary off his own bowling - twice.

Scoops kept on picking up wickets at on end and finished with 7-52 and
a couple of jugs of A for the boys, Joe picked up a couple before being
changed for Pearce who came back well and managed to get the last man
to rap up a convincing win for the Avorians.

Well played boys, but we still have much to do in the final two
fixtures after a shock win for Limpsfield maintains the pressure
lurking 8 points behind in the final relegation berth.

Huntley - 55
Pearce - 55*
Foster - 7-52 (man of the match)

Have a good week fella's see you at Cranleigh, Andy bring the scrabble
if it rains.

Scoops

One final word. Congratulations got to the Lanes who became
grandparents again at the weekend.

13th August Chessington (H) (Top of page)

6th August Purley (A) (Top of page)

A decent effort to pick up a winning draw against 4th placed Purley. The points are much needed to ensure a battle against relegation doesn't go to the wire.

Purley batted first and after a good start Scoops and Baby Joe bowled great spells to drag us back into it. A couple of well deserved wickets in Ric Coles first over reduced them to 120 for 5 and for a while there was a chance of keeping it well within reach. However a 6th wicket partnership of 50 got them to respectability before we finished strongly to bowl Purley out for 215 in 54.3 overs.

A couple of early set backs meant a slow start but Phil Huntley, well supported by Armsie, got things moving and a run a ball 54 from "The Fraud" left us needing 120 from the last 20 overs. That was really as good as it got with Arms unable to quicken it up and wickets falling in the chase. Steve "Boxer" Bell in his first knock for 3 years blazed 36 and clever batting from Ric Coles and Norman "never in doubt" Strickland got us up to 185 for the high scorer off the last ball.

Although the run chase was a bit naive it was a good all round performance for the second week on the trot. Thanks to all - well played. Just a shame there were no Aussies about!!

30th July Addiscombe (A) (Top of page)

This would have been a decent game to win but the weather eventually got the better of us. Top innings from in-form Russell Spicer and Ashley Golder got us into a position to try and get something out of the game with 30+ overs lost to rain.

After a lot of pushing we managed to negotiate Addiscombe back on the pitch and declared @ 158 for 4 after 34 overs. This left them 30 overs and despite some aggressive intent The A's (it's quite confusing when both teams are shouting "Come on the A's) were well on top, courtesy of an excellent spell of 4 - 30 from Baby Joe Burnett.

Unfortunately the heavens opened again leaving Addiscombe 58 for 4 after 12 overs. One point for an abandoned game.

This was the best effort from The A's for a while with a positive attitude throughout. We need to keep this going to the end of the season to avoid any last minute scrambling!!

23rd July Pyrford (H) (Top of page)

16th July Camberley (H) (Top of page)

9th July Limpsfield (H) (Top of page)

2nd July Maori Oxshott (A) (Top of page)

25th June Camberley (A) (Top of page)

18th June Addiscombe (H) (Top of page)

A scorcher of a day and a decent pitch meant stand in skipper Windows wasn’t exactly disappointed to lose the toss and be asked to bat. Having departed the field of play after a distinctly inappropriate captains innings of 14 from 7 balls, leaving a strong As batting list floundering at 22-5, the skipper was starting to think of a few excuses.

After a score of 56-9 had Carol laying out the tea at 2.10 things started to pick up as Groundo John Lane (35) finally got off the mark after a 66 minute master class and went on to record a match best stand of 48 with newcomer Richard Bailey. Sadly Lois was seen off by the oppo umpire, missing out on a(nother) richly deserved red inker.

Defending just 104 on the edge of the square with a lightning quick outfield, holding catches was always going to be key for the As, so a drop in the third over was not what the doctor ordered. However Gibbo and Nick Two Scoops taking the old ball and had reduced Addiscombe to 13-3 after 10 overs which soon became 4 down as bully boy Gib used the new ball to bowl aggressively, using the occasional good length surprise delivery.

All of the bowlers bowled excellently and, backed up with creative field placing, inspired ground fielding and tidy keeping from Pricey (managing simultaneously to avoid becoming suicidal until just over 2 hours into the innings, after earlier beating his own record for longest walk back to the pavvy by 7 minutes), the As were looking in pretty good shape at 80-8. A fighting 50 from one of Addiscombe’s younger contingent saw Addiscombe home in the 44th over- 5 more than it took the As to compile and despite attacking fields throughout. So no points, but a battling performance from all with special mention to Gib for 17 overs, 4-40 and Nick Foster 16 overs, 3-30.

Footnote. Highlight of the day occurred in the bar where an Addiscombe 17 year old was overheard chatting up Rich Bailey’s girlfriend using lines worthy of Stinky Chat Scump. According to an unnamed source, rumours that Fiona, a lecturer at Surrey University and Doctor in Bioscience responded to “I got this Escort, and I’ve jacked up the back end, put a loud exhaust on it, want to see it?” with “you had me at Escort” are unfounded.

11th June Cranleigh (H) (Top of page)
With mass unavailability to get within 10mins of a draw with a decent Cranleigh side was a great effort. Thanks go out to everyone who stepped up at the last minute to ensure we fielded a side of ten.

Things started poorly when the real Huggy pulled a hamstring after 10 mins and Cranleigh scored freely despite good opening spells from Ric Coles and Richard Bailey. The introduction of "Golden Arm" Nicky Fourstars (wicket with his first ball for the second week running ) and Rob Lomas got Cranleigh thinking a little more and they both bowled marathon spells. Rob - 4 for 62 and Fourstars 3 for 99. Three catches and two stumpings for Pricey who gets better week by week behind the sticks.

Cranleigh 268 for 7 off 47.5 overs.

A massive target to chase and losing Winni to the last ball of the first over made it look even more daunting. Rob Lomas rolled back the years and got stuck in as we would expect and decent contributions from Pricey, Fourstars and Richard Bailey got us to 120 but the loss of Captain Arms and Ric Coles meant survival was the target. Top efforts from Norm Strickland and Simon Wilson with 28 a piece got us to within sight of safety but even a hamstrung Hugh Bailey coming to the crease could not deny Cranleigh.
Well played but we will beat them in the return.

Avo's 180 all out in 51.5 overs

4th June Farncombe (A) (Top of page)
The Two's picked up thirteen points against the bottom side Farncombe who do look as if they will struggle all season. The writing was on the wall soon after a stuborn opening partnership was broken by a diving one handed catch by Ashley Golder!! - I'll repeat that - Ashley Golder!! A quality spell from Gibson Gib and five wickets for "Golden Arm" - Nicky Fourstars reduced Farncombe to 150 all out. Frankie and Winny put on 60 for the second wicket and a cameo from Gibson finished things emphatically. A decent all round performance. Well played lads.

Farncombe - 150 all out Nick Foster - 5-20
Avorians - 151 - 4 Jon Winslade 58 Cameron Pearce 51no

28th May Chessington (A) (Top of page)
A disappointing reversal that was decided completely by the skipper calling tails at the toss. We batted sweetly with everyone contributing and looking in decent nick. The return of Gibson Gib was marked with an initially streaky but eventually classy 85 (his early wagon wheel was embarrassing for the Chessington slip cordon!). Phil Huntley added momentum with a well struck 41 and Stevie Cheeks Munday signed off with a maximum.

A's 240 for 7 in 47.5 overs
Cameron Pearce 85
Phil Huntley 41

With comfortably our strongest bowling line up of the season and the poor bowling and fielding of Chessington in the first half an aggressive dec left 53 overs to attempt to bowl them out for victory!! Oh no!! The opener and no 3 were decent players, got stuck in and put us to the sword. Both got into the high eighties and we were beaten with 7 overs to spare. All the bowlers toiled hard but we were never able to exercise any control and build the pressure needed to take wickets on a good deck. Well batted Chessi!!

Chessington 243 for 3 in 44.1 overs. 13 points to Chessington.

21st May Purley (H) (Top of page)
After a sterling effort from the smiling Groundo to get the game on it's always pleasing if the efforts are well rewarded. A great finish and 4 points for a winning draw were what we deserved. The reason we didn't deserve to win was simply that the fielding was pathetic! Two players crocked and out there because there is no one else and too many old slow legs and no arms meant the sterling efforts of Greig Hilton, Phil Huntley and the returning Nicky Fourstars (five for) did not really get their just deserts.

Purley - 232 for 7 in 47 overs.

A good early partnership between Ashley Gold and Mark Barrow (63) got us moving and then an excellent knock from Phil Huntley (60) put us in with a half chance with 61 needed from the last 10 overs. Despite a great effort from Armsie and John Lane ( 3 needed off the last ball) we fell just short.

A's - 230 for 6 in 43 overs.

Due to other games being weathered off etc the 4 points actually takes us up to fourth just 4 points behind second place. All to play for - but we have got to sharpen up the fielding!

Congrats to DJ and the boys for getting their season under way.

14th May Limpsfield (A) (Top of page)

7th May Maori Oxshott (Top of page)
After DJ and I had spent our time running a cricket recruitment agency solidly for the week, a return of nil points was not what we were after. Availability has got to improve guys, and once you have committed that you're in, no changes of plan, Saturday is booked! Having said that - thanks to the guys who turned out and gave it their best shot. The seconds batted averagely. Five of the first 6 got to 25 but a top score of 33 sums it up. 225 would have been competitive. As it was, 181 was only enough to briefly frighten Maori Oxshott. An opening stand of 118 put a result out of reach but we fought well to get it to 185-5. Special mention to Ric Coles who ended up with 4-44 with his first bowl in the league, including a couple of unplayable ones! Good efforts Greig, Joel and Huggi. Frankie.

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