St Lukes V Battersea Ironsides – Saturday 9nd June 2007
St Lukes 1st XI
Tim Hazelhurst
Karl Quinn
Ed Hardwicke
Craig Streets
Charlie Hillman
Michael
Tim Craig
Steve
Richard Bent
Tim Blatt
Jason Custance
St Lukes were playing the division leaders who were currently unbeaten, but following last weeks victory Captain Ed’s team were in high spirits.
There was a different look to the team; the 2nd XI had a league game so their players were returned with their heads held high having done a great job the previous week, regular players were available and Charlie had defied medical science and returned to availability earlier than expected.
The author of this report wasn’t given any notice so apologies to those who I don’t mention or to the scores I get wrong.
Battersea won the toss and decided to field. Karl opened with Tim H and they both looked comfortable against the openers. Tim then played the wrong line and trudged back to the pavilion. Ed followed and his unlucky streak continued. Is the weight of captaincy getting to him, are the highs of Div 2 a step to far – surely not and the form of last years Mr Dependable should return soon (was he put off by spotting a St Lukes player with their hands on their hips – a sever crime in the current 1st XI.)
Craig came and went and Charlie entered the fray. Several shots of playing and missing outside off stump, inside edges and general scratching around followed. Most people put this down to it being his first game since last August – but no, this was Charlie’s usual game. A few decent shots followed before being out to a good catch low down. Michael was also at the crease now and looking comfortable. He started to up the pace and hit several boundaries finishing on 52.
Tim Craig came to the party and after the usual Boycott type start he moved the score along nicely. He used that powerful upper body of his and hit a 6 to cow corner. New boy Steve added useful runs and then Tim C ran Richard Bent out - must be losing your pace Richard! Tim B came in at the end and used the overs for St Lukes to finish on 201 – a decent score but we knew it was potentially within Battersea’s reach.
The St Lukes bowling attack started with Karl and Jason. Jason’s first ball was edged but missed and the Battersea openers started to look comfortable following that. They played good shots and were soon scoring above the required rate. Bowling changes couldn’t really make serious in roads and it wasn’t until Battersea were on about 160-4 that St Lukes started to think they might have a chance. In the end Battersea reached the target with about 5 overs to spare and for the loss of 5 wickets. I can’t recall the bowling figures but I think the wickets were spread around, a bit like some of the bowling!
Man of the Match – Michael Krishna
Points to Ponder.
The whole team must be confident and upbeat the whole game. If it looks like we won’t win then bonus points are still up for grabs and may make the difference. We got 7 bonus points out of a maximum 10 on Saturday which was a good effort but one more wicket would have made it 8 points.
Pressure the opposition to work for their runs, back up the bowlers and cover throws to avoid overthrows.
Remember that bowling changes may be made often and even if you think you are bowling well you may be taken off. The captain has to try and make things happen and simply changing a bowler can do this so don’t take it as a snub if you are taken off.
Lastly – the days of winning most weeks were left behind in Division 3. This is a higher standard of cricket and we will lose some games but we must remain positive and win and lose as a team.
PS. Don’t put your hands on your hips!