TWICKENHAM 4s vs. BIRKBECK COLLEGE 3s

Birkbeck College – 127 all out after 41 overs (S.Nimmakayala - 4 for 21; S.Burman -  3 for 36)

Twickenham – 130 for 2 after 26 overs (H.Kriess – 49; S.Hussain – 37*)

The Ts 4^th string recorded an emphatic 8 wicket victory on Saturday against a beleaguered Birkbeck College 3s outfit, who on this occasion were the actual home side at Broom Road. It was indeed a game with as much and if not more drama off the field as on it.

Birkbeck College 3s, who share their ground with another club (only for this season I believe!) had advised skipper Kriess on Wednesday, that this game was moved from its normal ground near Greenford to  a lovely place in Walthamstow called the Peter May Sports Ground. This is of course at the ends of the earth, and meant that a number of players (coming from afar or working in the morning) would not be able to make this fixture! Kriess all of sudden had to try and shuffle his pack, and along with the help of 5^th Team Skipper Dassani started to plan who can play where and what etc. etc.  This caused major disruptions and was indeed a very frustrating situation to have to be in!

 Kriess, after consulting club secretary Hough, eventually made the call to opposition number Hussain in order to offer Birkbeck the option to play the game at Broom Road instead. As the 5s were also away and the ground was available for use, exceptional negotiation skills and a persuasive manner eventually swayed Hussain and he agreed and was in the end grateful that they too didn’t have to make their way to Walthamstow. It was agreed that Tea would be provided by the Ts, and that Birkbeck would however still be classified as the home side.

Further to this Kriess made the call to groundsman Bendelow, requesting to please arrange a pitch for Saturday. Bendelow, kindly replied: “I wasn’t aware there wasn’t supposed to be a game at Broom Road, so was going to prepare one anyway!” Right, that was sorted then!

However, approval still had to come from the 1987 League Chairman, who is none other than our very own Club President Mr John Northey – that was easy then J and it also turned out that Birkbeck didn’t have permission from the 1987 League to move this fixture, alas all was good!

One would have thought that this would be the end of all the off-field drama, with the tea arranged and the track sorted and players advised accordingly; little did we know what was still to unfold come Friday. Dan Hough had kindly sent a text to the lady running the nursery at Broom Road on Friday morning, to advise that the facilities will now be used on Saturday. Lady Nursery was indeed not very happy about this and advised that she had not re-arranged or packed things away as she normally does; AND to top it all off, she had actually bolted the inside of the only door, that we would have a key to! This meant of course, that we would not be able to use the facilities such as change room, toilets and kitchen at all, as Lady Nursery was away and wouldn’t come down to play!

Plans were then set in motion by skipper Kriess and his ever so reliable team mate Phil Walker in order to have chairs, a table, a scoreboard, stumps, bails, loads of water and ice available. Thanks to Clive Dancey who kindly assisted in transporting the necessary equipment to and from the Green. Toilet facilities were arranged with the school opposite Broom Road, as Phil Walker felt that some of the bushes would not be suitable. The opposition were then also informed that changing rooms were provided in the public eye underneath the shade of a tree!  

Skipper Hussain had also contacted Kriess on the morning of the game, advising that 2 of his players had been delayed on business in Wales and would only be able to get to the game by 4pm. Permission was granted for the pair still to play once they got to Broom Road.

Evenutally, after all the hype, drama and organisation, play finally commenced. Birkbeck elected to bat first after winning the toss, but that seemed rather obvious with only 9 men at their disposal.  Opening the charge from the Road End was the Manc Sourav Burman, who looked very sharp right from the start and got a lot of movement and bounce in particular. The Yid JP Bowman running in from the River End struggled to get his line at first, but got better when shortening his run up. He too found good bounce and was the first to strike. Opener Quasim(12)edged one to Geordie Wilf behind the stumps, who was in an extremely combative mood!

Burman, soon followed suit, by taking a catch of his own bowling to dismiss the other opener Hashim(23). When Bowman (6.4-2-27-1) hurt his ankle in his 7^th over, Kriess replaced him to finish the over. The skipper decided to carry on but struggled to get any sort of rhythm or line and was at one stage told politely to stick to his batting. Shrikanth was brought into the action to replace Kriess (2.2-0-13-0) after his spell and he and Burman really started to put the pressure on Birkbeck.

Very few runs were had at this stage and soon Shrikanth struck for his first of 4 wickets, bowling   No.3 Faz with his score on 17. Burman took the 2^nd of his 3 wickets, trapping No.4 Booch lbw for 6. The Ts started to sense a collapse and knew that, as long as the Wales pair were not here, only 4 more wickets were needed to hopefully dismiss Birkbeck for a lowly total. Skipper Hussain held his own for a period and together with youngster Kamran consolidated their innings.

 Kamran indeed struck some lovely cut shots through the point and cover region, but he certainly also knew how to block a ball. Hussain (5) was eventually bowled by Shrikanth through the gap with Birkbeck now really struggling on a 110 for 5 and their Wales pair still not near the ground. Shri then bowled No.7 Jozza (4) and No.8 Bowerz (0) in consecutive balls, although Jozza’s dismissal was rather unfortunate. The ball had clipped leg stump with the slightest of touchest, enough to see the off-bail fall to the ground. Last man No.9 Raz (5) didn’t look to hang around, even though his side maybe needed him to stay there just in case the other 2 arrived in time to pad up. He hit an off-drive straight in to the hands of skipper Kriess, fielding in the cover region.

This brought to a close the innings of Birkbeck, with their total on 127 all out as the other 2 players had not made it in time. Tea was taken and there was indeed a good variety in the selection of sandwiches, salads and fruit etc. Only downfall was that one could not actually consume a nice cuppa! However, on the plus side Kriess’s girlfriend Laura had brought down some Ice Lollies she had made the night before, and these were very much welcomed by all in this heat.

The chase commenced for the Ts, with opening pair Phil Walker and Syed Hussain stepping to the crease. The Ts had about 52 overs left to face in order to haul in the total of 127 required for victory. It always looks like an easy task but never is when chasing a small total. Bowlers Rasim and Jolly certainly did not make things easy and runs were difficult to come by at the start. Still a lot of bounce left in the wicket and both bowlers generated decent pace with a lot of movement. The Ts had a relatively slow start therefore and Walker eventually got bowled by Rasim with a ball that swung in and not out. The score was on 18 after 5 overs. In stepped skipper Kriess, who felt that he just needed stay at the crease and get him and Hussain to just see of the opening bowlers. Rasim, indeed was difficult to play, especially when changing from over the wicket to round. He however did struggle with his run-up and helped the Ts with their total by bowling numerous no-balls. In fact, one no-ball was edged behind by Kriess, to the disappointment of the opposition; another Kriess dispatched with a perfectly timed cover drive to the boundary for 4. Rasim got so frustrated with events he eventually changed his style to spin, to no avail.

Jolly was replaced by Faz, who really bowled well and made life difficult especially for Hussain. He was struggling with the heavy in-swingers and survived a number of LBW appeals. Rasim was replaced by youngster Kamran, bowling leg-spin and never got any line. Kriess hit a number of boundaries of his bowling and slowly the score moved ever closer to the required target. 

Kamran was replaced by Hashim, who bowled a tidy a line, both Hussain and Kriess had to wait for the bad ball to come. Kriess now much more fluent and aggressive in his batting style reached the boundary with some well-timed cut-shots and it clearly looked like the Ts were strolling to victory now. The partnership between the batting pair was getting close to the hundred mark, however to the disappoint of the skipper he could not see it through to the end,.

One of the Wales pair, Asid was brought on to bowl, and with his first delivery had Kriess in two minds. Kriess lost concentration and the ball got through the gap and bowled him. Kriess departed on 49 – major major major jug avoidance from the skipper, especially as he is not drinking at present.  No.4 Ubale wasted no time and smashed the Ts to victory with 2 fours and a six, much to the delight of all. Hussain ended on 37 not out and the Ts recorded their first playing victory of the campaign.

Next weekend sees the Ts travel to Indian Gymkhana and another victory would certainly push the Ts further up the table and for possible promotion.

Holger Kriess

4^th Team Skipper