Twickenham 5’s kick started the campaign with a comprehensive win against newly promoted Edmonton 5’s. This was the ideal start to bolster up the confidence levels for the rest of the season. The side contained the usual suspects in Hinay Dassani, Ben Crouchy Aldworth, Shibu Tamil Fury Paul, Taufeeq Mumbai Prince Sheikh and the young guns Gilbert Mexican Sanchez Nick the villain Walder and Brian the telephone bill Thorne. The T’s also welcomed 3 debutants in Majid cream cake Abbasi, Vishal the people champ Kapoor and Nihal harry potter Tomar to add steel to the team.

Skipper Dassani won the toss and elected to field first and test Edmonton’s batting quality in their first game after promotion from the division below. T’s opening bowling pair of the new season started of with in-form Taufeeq Sheikh and debutant Majid Abbasi.

Edmonton could not have had a poorer start as wickets instantly started to tumble with debutant Abassi destructive with his lethal seam up away swinger deliveries. It was Majid who took the first wicket of the season with an edge behind which was successfully snaffled by the deputy keeper Ben Aldworth. The same batsmen previously edged behind from Sheikh’s bowling but the catch was not taken by Aldworth but this time he never failed and gladly took the opportunity in his hands. This is a moment Crouchy will always cherish.

Taufeeq sheikh also opened his account with a well deserved wicket by bowling R. Hawkins with a delivery which hit the pads and then carried its way onto the stumps. With the skipper prompting Abbasi that he will be rewarded with cream cakes and chocolate sprinkle doughnuts this brought the eagerness back for Majid to acclaim more wickets and he did with two clean bowled deliveries which brought him onto 3 wickets.

Taufeeq’s bowling spell came to an end with a suspected muscle pull which lead him to walking of the field and relying on Nick Walder’s pain killer tablets to ease the pain off. Majid’s 7 over spell also came to an end with high flying figures of 7 overs 2 maidens and 3 wickets. He definitely deserves a chocolate sprinkle doughnut for that destructive spell.

The skipper replaced Taufeeq with young bowler Brian Thorne and he instantly started to make an impact with deliveries which were close to claiming a wicket. The young colts for Edmonton were feeling the pressure and the smell of another wicket was due shortly as batsmen was caught by debutant V. Kapoor for a decent innings off 14. The skipper shortly followed with a plumb LBW for 15 bowled by BT. Both batsmen really started to frustrated T’s by putting Edmonton into a more promising position but the experience BT never lets anyone get away that easily!

The next batsmen got out on a golden duck bowled by Thorne and the T’s encountered their first hat trick delivery of the season but the new batsman kept his nerve and blocked Thorne’s delivery off.

T’s skipper Dassani also joined the attack but had no luck in terms of wickets. Batsmen just kept constantly blocking and with the rain starting to emerge the skipper sacrificed his spell and took a risk by bringing on kiwi rookie Sanjay I better be batting number 5 again Rawal. The skipper ended his figures on 5 overs 1 maiden 5 runs 0 wickets. Sanjay was relishing revealing his new bowling style which is slightly similar to Pakistan international Shahid Afridi. That was put on hold as the rain started to come down and the umpires took the bails off.

T’s came back on and with Edmonton predominantly relying on their young colts to regain Edmonton’s momentum but that was always going to be a difficult task with the fielders all close in and BT just not allowing any room for the young batsmen to get away that easily.

It took a while to get the next wicket but it was Sanjay who bowled out D. Edwards with a hit and miss delivery which stayed very low. With a bit of fast spin deliveries it was not a bad start for Sanjay. The innings then came to a close with Edmonton’s last batsmen Bill was trapped for LBW by BT. BT ended his spell with a well deserved 4fer haul and unlucky not to be rewarded with a 5fer.

Edmonton were 77- All out. The T’s opened the batting with young guns Gilbert Sanchez and Nick Walder. Edmonton started of positively with the wicket of Nick Walder who was caught behind. Nick departed on 4 despite hitting a crisp boundary. Sanchez was now accompanied with Ben Aldworth who was fresh from a shocking 2fer haul. Has Crouchy got more surprises on this occasion with the bat?

Both batsmen started to play very positively in their own specific way. Gilbert Sanchez was just literally dispatching every delivery to the boundary whilst Crouchy was just supporting Sanchez by hitting singles and doubles. Gilbert was also playing sensibly by respecting the good balls but anything which was short and any given width he was straight to pounce on it with some exquisite cuts, pulls and drives.

The next wicket came and the culprit was Gilbert Sanchez who was caught by a slightly deep mid wicket. He ended his entertaining innings on 30 which ideally damaged Edmonton and set the platform towards victory.  Good to see Gilbert hitting form and a fantastic start to the season for him. Let us hope to see him carry on that momentum. 

Aldworth was now accompanied by in form Nihal Tomar who was fresh from a half century last week against Spencer CC. Edmonton introduced Bill to the attack as Aldworth did well to see off and frustrated the opening bowlers. Bill made an instant impact by dismissing Aldworth with a delivery which stayed very low and came off the pads which carried its way to the wicket. Those deliveries can always be deceiving just how Tiger Woods was on his wife.

Sanjay I better be batting number 5 again Rawal came to the crease looking to flash of his potential. Sanjay almost paid the ultimate price by placing the ball into the hands of extra which was taken but then shockingly dropped. Bill was almost rewarded with a second cheap wicket due to a silly shot. Rawal also pledged if that catch was taken then he would individually apologize to everyone in the team. That would’ve been a laugh to see! (Only messing fella, I don’t want to see by batsmen get out at all).

Nihal Tomar kept his nerve and played maturely as Edmonton bowlers were bowling some really good wicket taking deliveries which was controlled well by Tomar. He also ran well between the wickets which got us some easy runs. Eventually the win was secured by Sanjay by dispatching Bill to the boundary straight behind him. It was a nice way to end the game. Nihal ended on a well deserved 13* and Sanjay 9* who hit two clean hits to the boundary. 

Overall it was a fantastic win and a perfect confident boost for the up and coming fixture against a willing Brentham away. There are a lot of positive perspectives that could be taken into account with this win. Gilbert Sanchez and Ben Allworth hitting form is a promising factor, the debutants making a significant impact which will definitely add steel for the season, the experience of Nick, Shibu and BT will always be an integral weapon for the side and also Uzzie Khan and Hendo due back soon.

The team spirit was commendable, batting, bowling and fielding display was solid from everyone and these are all promising aspects that could lead to a very successful season. However there is still a lot of hard work to be done and its essential the team stay focused. Everything has to be done one step at a time.

Credit goes to Edmonton who put on a good fight and showed the correct attitude with constant pressure and domination from the T’s. They never looked to give up.

Skippers Top 5 Players

This was very difficult to decide because everyone put in a committed performance but it goes to the following players:

1. Gilbert Sanchez- 5 player points
2. Brian Thorne- 4 player points
3. Majid Abbasi- 3 player points
4. Ben Aldworth- 2 player Points
5. Nihal Tomar- 1 player point

Man of the match- Gilbert Sanchez

Thanks for coming award- This is between Vishal and Shibu. This will be decided next week when they will both have a who downs the pint first competition or if not then a bra and panties wrestling match!

Jonty Moment- the skipper has elected himself for this with a good stop at the start of the match 

Monty Moment- Sanjay Rawal for a misfiled and a drop catch again 

Quotes of the match: “I tell you one player we don’t need and that is Hendo.”- Ben Aldworth

“No, Hendo you are selected and here is your 1987 league handbook and the umpires jacket.”- Brian Thorne.