27/07/24
MIMCC 291/9 (40 overs)
Hawarden 3s 32ao (23.2 overs)
Scorecard: https://nwcl.play-cricket.com/website/results/6272232
MIMCC win by….. a lot….
Article by Webster, W. Captain.
Our first encounter with Hawarden earlier this season was not exactly the most competitive of affairs. Sanath and Deepak put Hawarden’s bowlers to the sword with the bat before our bowlers shared wickets around in a 15-0 win by 136 runs. However, Saturday’s rematch at the Argoed made this first encounter look like a nail biter by comparison. A winning margin of 259 runs (!). This is the largest margin of victory in all divisions of the NWCL this season.
Pictured: NWCL Hall of Fame 2024
Hawarden turned up with an assortment of old timers and children, won the toss, and elected (somewhat curiously) to bat. The skipper returned from the middle and asked Abs and Apples to take their normal spots at the top of the order. Abs obliged, and promptly disappeared until 5 minutes after the scheduled start of play (as is his custom); but Apples turned a shade of green and muttered something about needing some time down the order to get back into form. Thankfully Aryaman was more than keen to step into the vacated opener’s spot and followed Abs’ lead in getting ready to go out to the middle by doing pretty much anything except putting his pads on.
Eventually both openers made their way to the middle and play commenced. The first over went for 12 and that rather set the tone for the day. The openers put on 41 before Abs was caught and bowled trying to show off to his fanclub. Aryaman and Umang then put on a 50 partnership with Umang making 39, and Aryaman registering his maiden 50 for the club. Umang departed with the score at 95-2, bringing former opener Applewhite to the crease.
What can I say about the innings that followed? Form is temporary, but class is permanent.[1] In the best traditions of Hall et al, Apples put everything Hawarden tried to the sword, racing past 50, while at the other end yours truly (13) and Prasad (1) came and went.
Hawarden’s largely inexperienced attack toiled away with the field changing almost every ball, which yielded an extremely slow over rate. Just before Prasad’s wicket fell, umpire Abs had not exactly endeared himself to the Hawarden skipper by reminding him of the requirements regarding over rates. Upon the fall of the wicket, Saboor, who was due in next, was reclining on the sidelines without a care in the world, seemingly oblivious of the need to actually be wearing pads and holding a bat. Cue a frantic scramble for equipment, at the end of which the returning Venkat was the first to find all the requisite items (pads, bat, gloves, sunglasses) and head across the boundary rope. The net result of this was a period of delay during which umpire Abs busied himself by looking intently at his shoes while trying to avoid the gaze of the opposition skipper……..
Venkat made 9 in his first innings of the season. And then Saboor, having finally located all of his equipment, smashed a quick 19. Niall and Naseer departed without troubling the scorers; which brought Jonty to the crease with the score well in excess of 250 and Apples closing in on a ton. What followed was an effort at sabotage of which the Beastie Boys would have been proud. It is generally accepted that if you arrive at the wicket with a few overs to go and your partner is approaching a hundred, your role is to get them on strike. However, the Hon Sec had apparently not got this memo and proceeded attempt to pinch the strike wherever possible. The crowd, and even the opposition, could not believe what they were seeing.
Despite the Hon Sec’s best efforts, Apples did manage to eventually register his ton in the final over of the innings, to finish on 102 not out in a total of 291/9.
After tea Naseer and Aryaman took the new ball, and it quickly became apparent that 292 might be a little beyond the opposition. Aryaman took the first wicket with a brutal inswinging yorker. For his next over, the skipper elected to bring in a second slip and attempted to entice the Hon Sec to field there. He responded with “I won’t catch it even if it comes to me” and was promptly banished to point with Venkat joining the cordon. Next ball, the batter edged the ball to…. second slip! Venkat took the catch as cool as a cucumber while the Hon Sec breathed a sigh of relief. Aryaman finished his spell with remarkable figures of 2-2 off 5.
At the other end, Naseer was hunting for wickets, picking up one caught behind by wicketkeeper Applewhite (who was just about still able to move), and two bowled. One of these was a remarkable inswinger to dismiss their skipper (the only Hawarden batter who got into double figures) which started well outside off stump and hit middle. As Hawarden’s younger batters came to the crease, the skipper turned to the slower bowlers (the spinners… and Jonty) to avoid any potential insurance claims. Prasad gave a few youngsters some valuable lessons in facing spin bowling which will doubtless stand them in good stead for their future careers, to finish with 2-10; and Jonty picked up 1-2 off 3 with Niall taking a good catch at square leg.
In a second demonstration of the permanence of class, Venkat came back to take the final 2 wickets, one to a sharp catch by Umang in close, and one bowled.
15-0 and a good opportunity for some players to find form. All that remained was to fix a broken cover (mostly accomplished with the help of some WD40 and a big hammer), and to decipher Haward’s scorecard (extract below).
A sterner test is likely to follow away at Abergele on Saturday. But good prospects for points on a ground where we have had a lot of success in the past.
Pictured: Extract from HPCC’s scorebook. No s**t, Sherlock.
[1] Or perhaps ‘form is temporary, but class is permanent (and easy to recapture against opposition made up of pensioners and children).