Old Ruts vs Twickenham 28/04/07

There are those who claim global warming is a bad thing. Increasing temperatures, they claim, will have catastrophic effects on the earth and sooner or later we will all perish! Unless we do something about it…NOW! But, without wanting to fly in the face of popular opinion, I can’t see a problem. If the result of global warming is a beautiful, warm, sunny day in April allowing for perfect cricketing conditions then I’m all for it.

And so it was that the sun shone upon the T’s second string visit to Old Ruts in this pre season friendly. Unfortunately the journey to Merton Park was not ever so enjoyable for Mr J Trippett, who paid the price for a dodgy pizza the night before and redecorated the inside of his car, thus creating quite a mess and a horrendous odour. However, the day would improve for Trippers.

Twickenham won the toss and elected to bat on a hard, flat surface. Messrs Hough and Paxton strode to the wicket confident of starting the season in fine style. Runs off the bat were difficult to come by in the early exchanges but a number of wides kept the board ticking over. The first wicket fell in the 8^th over when Hough drove the ball firmly to mid off and set off at a pace for the single. Paxo was a little hesitant shall we say and was yards short of his ground when the throw came into the keepers’ end. Al Storey entered the fray but didn’t last long, undone by a perfectly executed slower ball from Wentzel. The T’s were limping along at this stage with the scoreboard reading 48-2 from 16 overs.

The third wicket partnership between Hough and Srinjoy De proved to be the most important of the match and turned the game in Twickenham’s favour. The two players batted sensibly to begin with, working the ball into gaps and running well between the wickets. Although Hough struggled to find his timing on a wicket with extra bounce he remained unmoved until the 31^st over when he was dismissed for a patient 34. Srinjoy was now beginning to open his shoulders and struck a number of attractive boundaries over long on off the spin Barnicott. He brought up his half century with a six over square leg and despite the run out of Colin Blunden the Twickenham run rate was now starting to flourish. Srinjoy continued to find the boundary while his partner, Jon Trippett nudged and nurdled to great effect. Srinjoy’s excellent innings came to an end in the 37^th over and his 73 was the stand out innings of the day. Trippers and Van Aswegan batted well at the end and took the final score up to a respectable 186-5 from the allotted 40 overs. Possibly twenty or thirty runs short of the par score but the batting in the final 15 overs was of the highest order.

Two boundaries in the first over for Old Ruts was probably the highlight of their innings as the Twickenham opening bowlers (Paul Cassidy and Phil Biggs) quickly found their line and length and made life increasingly difficult for the batsmen. With the wicket offering bounce and movement Cassidy repeatedly beat the outside edge and soon had the breakthrough he deserved, clipping off stump with a beautiful delivery that beat Hewitt’s defensive lunge. In the same over he struck again, this time Smith edging to Storey at first slip. At the other end Biggs bowled with great control and was unfortunate not to claim a wicket in his seven overs. Cassidy finished his spell with a wicket from his final ball, leaving Old Ruts teetering at 59-3. Some resistance came from Wentzel who combined an effective forward prod with the occasional big hit over the bowlers’ head. His innings of 34 was brought to close thanks to a near unplayable delivery from Srinjoy, whose day was getting better and better. At the other end Peter Burke bowled impressively with his out swingers and was rewarded with the wicket of Lindo.

All the bowlers performed well but the champagne moment in the field came from Daniel Hough. Few could have expected what was to follow as Trippett ambled in to bowl. The ball was worked into the leg side and everyone present suspected an easy single was to be had. However, no one had counted on Hough’s speed and agility. He covered the ground swiftly and with no shortage of grace, and following his one handed pick up he took aim. De Leon, the Old Ruts batsman, was depending his runner to make the ground but Hough’s deadly throw was unerringly accurate. A sensational piece of fielding from Dan which was representative of an excellent display in the field from all the Twickenham players. Throughout the innings we played with energy and enthusiasm, attributes we will need to maintain at all times this season.

Old Ruts finished their innings on 176-9. Special mention should be made of Srinjoy, Paul Cassidy, Peter Burke and James Jordan behind the stumps. All performed fantastically well and will no doubt contribute much to the 2^nd XI in 2007.