Hook, Line and Sinker: St Lukes march on

It was another warm balmy day at Colonel Deckers Sports Ground for the St Lukes versus Hook & Southborough clash in Kookaburra Fordham Surrey cricket league division 3.

St Lukes endured 45 minutes of fielding drills before the game and they didn’t have to wait long to put it into practice as Captain Hardwicke lost yet another toss. Unsurprisingly Hook decided to bat first, this may have had something to do with the fact that they only had 5 players at the ground!!

Despite Joneja and Heynes getting some prodigious swing and bounce the openers remained in tact. It would take something special to take a wicket and indeed it did. Joneja shaped one away from the right hander who got a thick edge, Haslehurst (should we now call him the cat?!) dived low to his right and held on to a belter. Hillman was heard to comment “that was a sharp catch”, high praise indeed from the mid-wicket fieldsman.

A couple overs later Heynes bowled a snorter of a delivery that lifted off a length, which the batsmen gloved behind where it was safely pouched by wicketkeeper Bent. Suddenly Hook were 2 down and looking vulnerable.

Hook consolidated with the opening batsman being joined by J. Amin whose batting style was not unlike a young Tendulkar. The pair moved the score into the mid-forties and looked fairly untroubled. It was at this point that Captain Hardwicke made a double bowling change and a shrewd move it proved to be. He introduced (Dr) Quinn (medicine woman) and Adeel Hassany into the attack, Hassany playing his first game of the season. Hassany announced his arrival with his first ball rapping the Hook skipper on the thumb, with another delivery that lifted off a length. Unfortunately the rest of the first over was littered with a couple of wides and a few no balls, but that would soon be forgotten.

Wickets were still proving hard to come by, until Quinn offered the batsmen a little width and the Blatt-man produced a remarkable catch in the gully. The ball going low and fast to his right, he instinctively put out a hand and it stuck.

The very next over Hassany tempted the little master to flick one to square leg where Cobb held a good catch. Suddenly St Lukes were on their way and they could sense it.

The wickets started to tumble at regular intervals now and Hook were finally skittled out for 67, not before one batsman was dismissed twice and Cobb had taken the third amazing catch of the day. Hassany bowled a straight-ish delivery that the batsmen tried to flick around the corner only for Cobb at square leg to swoop low to his right when the ball appeared to be behind him. The fielding practice proved to pay dividends.

A target of 67 was never going to prove too taxing for this St Lukes team to chase down and it proved thus. Haslehurst produced a cameo of an innings notching up 22, before he was drawn into playing at one by the leg spinner. Where as Hardwicke after an uncertain beginning produced the type of efficient innings that he should play more often, remaining unbeaten on 33.

In the end St Lukes won at a canter with 3 wickets down in the 13^th over, Cobb and Hillman also falling to the young leggie. It was a very disciplined performance in the field by St Lukes and if they perform in the same vein this weekend against the League leaders they should be very confident indeed.

St Lukes were: Hardwicke, Haslehurst, Cobb, Hillman, Joneja, Bent, Quinn, Craig, Heynes, Hassany, Blatt.

Man of the Match

It could only be one person really; Adeel Hassany a fantastic performance to take four wickets on his comeback. It’s good to have you back Adeel.

Catch of the Day

This week the standard was extremely high and the fairest thing would be to share the award* between Tim B, Tim H and Matthew. *there is no actual award

Thought of the Day

Lets finish early more often (especially this weekend) I enjoyed watching the second team play.