Sunbury and
Twickenham draw in entertaining second XI encounter
Sunbury II
209-7 (Richard Hall 101, R. Patel 30, Anu Agarval 3-30)
Twickenham II
199-5 (Richie Brewin 41, Tom Guy 38, D. Brady 27no)
Sunbury and Twickenham played out an
entertaining draw in their last pre-season warm-up games before
start of the league season. Sunbury’s innings was dominated
by opener Richard Hall’s 101, although R. Patel’s brutal 30 at the
end was useful in helping the hosts reach a competitive 209.
Twickenham got off to an excellent start in reply, with Tom Guy
and Eddie Paxton putting on 46 in the first eight overs.
However, the wily pairing of Chris Page and Nobby Clarke managed
to peg the run rate back for Sunbury, and not even a quickfire 52
partnership from Dave Brady (27no) and Dan Hough (24no) in 6 overs
at the end was enough to see the visitors home, as the Ts
ultimately closed 10 runs short.
The forecast wasn’t great, but, as the
Ts arrived in Middlesex’s most southerly outpost, everything
looked fair for a decent day’s cricket. The clouds were
high, blue sky made an occasional appearance, and Sunbury’s ground
was in immaculate condition. With rumours circulating about
a momentous tea in the offing (hot dogs, apparently, plus lots
more) the Ts started the day in good mood.
The highlight of the warm up was Dave
Brady’s revelation that he’d been doing plenty of pre-season
preparation work. Nope, not necessarily in the form of
playing with a straighter bat or sharpening up his fielding
reflexes (although they were in evidence later – see below), but
in developing a wide array of new sledges. Courtesy of
google, Brady was armed to the hilt and ready to go!
Middlesex Championship batsmen should beware …
The Ts had done a bit of re-juggling in
terms of team selection, with Stuart Amos and Ryan Combrinck
coming in for their first games of the season, and Pete Burke
stepping up from the threes. Burke and Combrinck took charge
of the new cherry, and Combrinck made an immediate impact, yorking
opener Matt Golding first ball for 0; a real candidate for
champagne moment of the day. Burke also did his part in
tying down the Sunbury top order, and his 0-31 off 9 was an
accomplished spell. With Combrinck (2-23 off 8) – bowling
with three slips and a couple of gulleys at one point – adding
number three Utting to his hit list, the Ts were making solid
progress.
Once Burke and Combrinck had done their
respective stints, Steve Kruger and Paul Johnson carried on their
good work, putting the ball there or thereabouts as Sunbury
struggled to get out of second gear. Pearce, batting at
four, played straight enough, and was just starting to look at
home when Brady swooped from mid on to run him out with a direct
hit; candidate number two for the champagne moment. Smith,
at five, knuckled down well to his main task, that of accompanying
opener Hall as he began to go through his range of shots.
Hall took his time between 30 and 50, but once he’d got past the
half-century mark he began to open his arms; sweetly timed drives
were mixed in with some bombastic straight hitting as he closed in
on a maiden century for Sunbury.
Well though Johnson (0-24 off 8) and
Kruger bowled (0-26 off 7), they couldn’t register anything in the
wickets column, and slowly Hall and Smith upped the run rate.
Smith’s (28) run out did little to stem the tide, as the
hard-hitting Patel came to the crease and together with Hall the
home ride really tried to up the ante. In the midst of all
this Anu Agarwal bowled a gem of a spell from the Pavilion End,
flighting his off breaks delightfully, causing all of the batters
problems. Indeed, it was Agarwal who eventually removed Hall
for 101, with Eddie Paxton taking an excellent catch at long on,
and Patel (30) soon followed, well caught behind by the impressive
Richie Brewin. Agarwal’s 3-30 off 7, bowling at the death,
was an excellent performance, and did much to ensure that Sunbury
ended much nearer 200 than 250. Both sides were subsequently
more or less pleased with 209.
The tea was, as rumoured, a sight to
behold. Lots of variety, just what the doctor ordered.
Definitely an A on the Hendo-tea-o-meter …
The Ts started their chase in positive
fashion, with Eddie Paxton in particular finding his feet quickly.
Paxton glanced nicely off his legs and drove with panache through
the covers. Tom Guy offered able support, nudging the ball
in to the gaps and putting the bad ball through the off side for
four. The Ts subsequently moved smoothly towards 50 in
double quick time.
However, things quickly began to change
when Sunbury skipper Colin Benthall brought his slow bowlers on.
The opening attack apparently had a combined age of around 35,
whereas the first change bowlers of Chris Page and Nobby Clarke
totted up 121 years between them! Page and Clarke used all
their experience to completely strangle the run rate, as the Ts
only eeked out 37 runs in the next 17 runs. Page and Clarke
took the pace off the ball, got it above the eye line and forced
the Ts’ top order into their shells. And, as the pressure
told, wickets started falling; Paxton (14) was the first to go
having mis-timed a drive, and Guy followed stumped for 38.
Amos (27) and Brewin (41) struggled gamely against the wily spin
twins, and although runs dribbled in (and Brewin in particular
played some nice shots), the Ts started to fall behind the rate.
Anu Agarval did his best to up the ante, but he when fell on his
sword for 13 it looked as if the Ts would have to settle for a
losing draw.
With Dave Brady and Dan Hough both new
at the crease, the Ts target of 58 off 6 overs was a tough one.
Brady indicated that they weren’t going to go down without a
fight, his second scoring shot vanishing over the mid-wicket
boundary for 6. Both batters ran quickly between the
wickets, and 58 off 6 became 44 needed off 4. Hough hit a
couple more boundaries, this time straight, as the Ts just about
kept themselves in the hunt. 30 required from 3 subsequently
became 23 off 2. Another boundary each from both batters
kept things alive, and as the game entered the last over the Ts
needed 14 to win and all three results (home win, away win and
draw) remained theoretically plausible outcomes.