Ts batters enjoy fun in the sun as
Twickenham come and best in entertaining encounter on the Green
Twickenham
308-3 in 40 overs (D. Hough 130no, M. Vosloo 72, A. Donelan
64)
Alleyn Adhoc
217 all out (Ranson 65,
Cullen 37, M. Vosloo 3-18)
Twickenham’s batters enjoyed fun in the sun as
the Sunday XI cruised to a 91 run victory over Edward Alleyn and
Honour Oak CC on the Green. Club secretary Dan
Hough pitched in with 130not out, whilst Mike Vosloo notched a
brutal 72 in a mere 27 balls. Alleyn did their
best to chase down the target, with Ranson (65) in particular
batting with genuine intent. However, once Stuart
Amos contrived (somehow) to run the unlucky visiting number three
out, the Ts were always in command. So much so
that the Saturday first team’s opening bowler, Mike Vosloo, turned
his hand to off spin, claiming 3-18 in the process.
Thanks to a temporary lull in cup and league
fixtures, Twickenham, for the first time in 2008, found themselves
only needing to put one side out on Sunday 14th June.
And, in classical Sunday XI fashion, the side contained a
couple of Saturday first XI players, a couple of Saturday fifth XI
cricketers and a wide and varied mix that fitted somewhere inbetween.
All were, however, united in their belief that skipper Dan
Hough should be burned at the stake if he lost the toss.
They need not have feared. Hough’s trusty
two pound coin did the trick, and the Ts had a bat.
Nick Burgess, with on-looking fan club sitting on
the veranda, and the Wounded Giraffe, Andy Donelan, got things
underway. Both played cautiously at the
beginning, as Mann and Healey zipped the ball around.
And, it wasn’t long before the visitors made a breakthrough,
Burgess (perhaps harshly) adjudged caught behind by Neville off Mann
for 5. Hough came in at three to replace him.
Hough and Donelan took their time, seeing off the opening
bowlers and generally playing themselves in. As
time went on both batters looked to play a little more expansively,
Hough somehow directing a beamer over the slips to third man for
four and Donelan driving nicely down the ground.
Alleyn skipper Healey wrung the changes; the
skipper himself, who’d bowled nicely from the Staines Road End, was
replaced by Hogg, whilst Mann made way for Cullen.
Off spinner Hogg, in particular, caused Hough some problems,
as the Proud Salopian hacked and hoiked without any particular end
product. A (long overdue) realisation that
playing straight might actually be the way forward brought Hough
more joy as slowly the run rate increased.
By the half way stage Hough had moved nicely
passed 50 (49 balls) and Donelan was bordering on the unconscious
thanks to all the running he’d been forced into doing.
Donelan nonetheless kept the scoring rate going nicely,
driving with aplomb and picking his spots nicely on the leg side.
His 50 (72 balls) was well deserved. By
the time that the Wounded Giraffe finally succumbed, caught and
bowled, to Healey (1-46 off 8) for 64, the Ts were in a strong
position. 185-2 and 10 overs left to bat.
By the time Mike Vosloo, batting at four, had
come and gone, ‘strong’ and been transformed into ‘almost
unassailable’. Vosloo rarely hangs around when he
bats, and Sunday was no exception. The first ball
he received went for four and the third ball for six.
Balls 4, 7 and 8 also went for boundaries, while ball 11 went
down an alley and into the back garden of one of the residents of
First Cross Road. Vosloo was not in any mood to
hang about. His 50 came up off 18 balls and by
the time he perished – thanks to a truly stunning catch by Bentham
at the longest of long ons – he’d managed 72 off a mere 27 balls.
Hough, meanwhile, found himself watching
proceedings from the non-strikers end and it was only once the
whirling dervish had departed that he managed to notch his first
three figure score of the season (off 86 balls).
Ashley Gray came in to replace Vosloo, and, between them, Hough
(130no off 101 balls) and Gray (5no) saw the Twickenham ship ashore.
308, even on a good track with a decent outfield,
was always likely to be a big ask. The visitors
nonetheless set off intent on at least giving themselves a chance to
get near it. The departure of opener Mann (2)
brought Ranson to the crease, and he showed enough composure to make
it clear that he meant business. He played
through mid-wicket well, and drove with power and accuracy.
It wasn’t long before he’d registered a speedy half-century.
Dan Hough realised that it’d take a special bowler to get rid
of Alleyn’s dangerman – so he called for the only man likely to be
up to the job. On came Stuart Amos to bowl off
tweak from the Hampton Road End!
And, sure enough, Amos produced the goods.
The wily old campaigner – no doubt completely intentionally
(!) – decided that rather than take a caught and bowled chance that
was offered up by Cullen, he’d deflect the chance onto the stumps at
the bowler’s end. Ranson – as you’d expect – was
backing up and subsequently out of his ground by two yards.
The word went out from the Ts players that the visitors would
probably be wise to remove all rope and sharp objects from their
dressing room, as an unluckier man than Ranson it would be hard to
find …
Ranson’s departure signalled the beginning of the
end of any hopes that Alleyn might have had of launching a
successful run chase as wickets fell with increasing regularity.
Karl Rand (1-36 off 7), bowling deceptive off breaks from the
Staines Road End, claimed the scalp of Cullen (37) thanks to a nice
stumping by the impressive Richard Brewin behind the sticks, whilst
Bobby Freeman (1-39) joined the party removing the number five Hobbs
caught by Hough at mid-wicket. Hart-Welsh (24no),
batting at six, hung about nicely, but he steadily began to run out
of partners. Neville chanced his arm and
registered an entertaining 31 before Vosloo – bowling nice off
breaks from the Staines Road End – claimed his man, Dan Hough taking
his second catch of the day.
By now, the end was nigh.
192-6 became 200-7 as Nick Burgess – bowling little off cutters –
cleverly bowled Riddle for 1. Visiting
wicketkeeper Healey also hung around for a while, but, eventually,
he was spun into Vosloo’s web, departing bowled for 11.
And, Vosloo (3-18 off 3.4) it was who finished the innings
off, nicely removing the leg bail of Cope’s castle to round off the
Alleyn innings for 217.
A day of plenty of runs, a decent tea and good
spirit between the teams is what Sunday cricket is all about.
And this entertaining encounter had all of the above.
The Ts return to league action next week with a trip to