Gray and the spin twins see the Ts home against MTSSC

MTSSC II   146 a/o Jigar Shah 49, Ashley Gray 4-29, Anu Agarwal 2-15, Stu Amos 2-18

Twickenham II   147-4   Ashley Gray 54, Ben Parer 41no

Twickenham’s second string cruised to a six wicket victory against MTSSC on 19 June.  Ashley Gray was the star of the show, bowling fast and straight to claim 4-29 off 10 before stroking his way to 54 to set up the Ts’ chase.  Anu Agarwal (2-15) and Stuy Amos (2-18) also did their bit, as the Middlesex Tamils dramatically collapsed from 145-5 to 146 all out.  

In the end, the Ts’ margin of victory looks comfortable, but for quite a while the Tamils’ top order put the visitors under significant pressure.  Openers Niro and Sivadharan were the type of opening batsmen who probably think that 20:20 is far too long and drawn out, and they immediately set to work in thrashing anything that moved.  Sivadharan, to be fair to him, at least played cricket shots (and notably lofted drives) whilst doing so, but Niro was clearly born in the wrong hemisphere as he looks a natural for Major League Baseball; stand, swing, sometimes miss, sometimes hit. 

Ryan Combrinck and Paul Cassidy subsequently had a fair old task on their hands, as keeping your nerve in times of all out onslaught is not easy.  Cassidy in particular came in for some stick, although he wasn’t helped when Dan Hough – now the only player who has had to don the ‘Hairy Hands of Shame’ twice in 2010 – put down a toughish chance at mid off from Sivadharan in his third over.  Combrinck faired a little better, making use of a pitch with worryingly variable bounce.  50-0 off 7 nonetheless wasn’t where the Ts planned to be, and Hough had little choice but to ring the bowling changes – although these weren’t the only changes going on, as by this time MTSSC had had three umpires (and official umpires too, not players standing in).  Quite what was going on there, who knows ..

Despite the rapid start, Hough opted to persevere with pace for a bit longer, swapping Combrinck to the other end and bringing on Ashley Gray.  Gray is very probably the oldest, most decrepit 21 year old in the UK, but when he puts his mind to it he is an imposing character.  And it didn’t take him too long to start bowling full, straight and quick.  Sivadharan (24) was the first to go, leg before, before the particularly eccentric Niro followed, bowled for 20.  Number 4 Kazhan Ahmed came and went quickly (caught behind by the returning Richie Brewin without scoring) and number 5 Beganathan fell to Combrinck, bowled pulling (even though the ball hit the stumps barely half way up) for 6.  78-4 looked much brighter than 51-0 and the Ts were back in the game.

Amongst the clatter of wickets Richie Brewin also took a fearsome blow on his keeping helmet/mask from a ball that bounced nastily.  If anyone ever questions why keepers wear helmets, this was living proof; Brewin would’ve had a nose that was flatter than a professional boxer’s if he hadn’t donned the Hannibal Lecter mask, something that the large dent in the mask itself gave testament to. 

MTSSC, meanwhile, were trying to rebuild their innings, and with the cool, calm and collected keeper/batsman Jigar Singh at three they had someone made for the job.  Singh wasn’t afflicted by the “I must try to smash at least three balls an over out of the ground” syndrome that appeared to have affected the openers, and he played pretty straight and clearly had a game plan; rebuild and give the hosts something from which to launch an attack at the end of the innings.  He found decent support in Rajeepan, and as the score passed 100 the Tamils appeared to be wrestling back the initiative.  Again though, Gray struck, as Ben Parer held on to a smart chance to remove the number 6 for 16. 

Number 7 Ismail Dilshan looked very much as if he wanted to bosh the ball to kingdom come, but, in truth, he batted pretty sensibly and it wasn’t long before the score was up above 140. Well, 145 to be precise.  At this point Dan Hough held an impromptu meeting in the middle, and the idea was hatched to squeeze the singles out of the game by bringing in the boundary fielders and forcing the batters to hit over the top.  Singh, in particular, had been farming the bowling well, and it was hoped that throttling his singles to long on and long off would force him to hit out and make a mistake.  And exactly this he duly did, with Stu Amos – on for the physically destroyed Gray – prompting him, by cleverly bowling what he himself described as his “well-disguised sh*tter ball” to chip one nicely to Matt Bendelow at mid on.

145-6 soon became 146-7 when Dilshan – who was looking perfectly at home – was sold completely and utterly down the river by the number 8 Perinapanathan, Anu Agarwal and Richie Brewin running him out by yards.  146-7 became 146-8 when Agarwal – who bowled a delightful spell of right arm tweak – bowled Perinapanathan for one solitary single, and the collapse was well and truly on when Amos did exactly the same to Tuvarageswara.  Number 11 Kugan didn’t take long to play around another Agarwal off break and that was that – MTSSC had gone from 145-5 to 146 all out in double quick time.

Given that the tea wasn’t ready to be taken, the skippers agreed that Twickenham would bat for 15 overs before everyone dined.  Openers Hough and Eddie Paxton attempted to be positive from the start, the skipper picking up a couple of early boundaries through the covers.  But, just as MTSSC were beginning to lose a little heart, Tuvarageswara nipped one back in to the Proud Salopian and bowled him for 17.  With Paxton (4) and Bendelow (unluckily adjudged caught behind for 2) soon following, the Ts’ sat down to eat what was left of the tea (D on the Hendo-teaometer) once the home side had devoured most of it in a slightly delicate position (54-3). 

However, once play had restarted, Ashley Gray again came to the party, getting that big stride out and hitting powerfully through the V.  Benny Parer – always a good nuggety player to have in a run chase – also sent out positive signals, hitting the ball nicely in to the gaps and forcing the 95 year old Gray in to running (reasonably) quickly between the wickets.  With Ryan Combrinck giving full support courtesy of one of Clint McCabe’s vuvuzelas (or “tat bloody ting!” as umpire Gerry Brennan described it on a number of occasions!) the Ts were beginning to move through the gears.  Gray soon began thumping short balls through the covers whilst Parer got out the lofted drive for its first appearance in a while.  The Ts were now well passed 100 and the summit was near.

With Gray now passed 50 and Parer approaching it fast, the game looked all but done until Gray managed to get himself (for 57) out with just 19 needed for victory.  But he’d done the job required, and all that was left was for Garth (“Gaaaaarrrrrfffff”) Borain to come in, despatch a lovely straight six and a couple of crisply hit fours and the game was up.  Benny Parer never quite made the half-century mark, but in the great scheme of things he’ll no doubt take the red-inker as a consolation prize.

This game is one that in previous years the Ts may well have slipped up in; difficult track, exuberant hitting from the opposition and a less than perfect all round cricket-setting.  Hence it was doubly satisfying to come out such clear victors.  The spin twins made important contributions, whilst Gray’s all round contribution was excellent.  With Osterley losing and North London and Wembley both failing to win, this victory may prove important in the end of season shake-up.  Next week sees the Ts back at Twickenham Green welcoming North London.  Two good cricket sides, two positive sets of players; it should be an entertaining day.