More bad batting as Twickenham crash out of the Middlesex Cup at Richmond

Richmond        218-8 (Matt Balch 39, Dhruv Tahil 39, Grant Hughes 2-20)

Twickenham    168 all out (Grant Hughes 67, Ahmed Nawab 3-19)

Twickenham crashed out of the Middlesex Cup at Old Deer Park on Sunday 29^th June thanks to (yet) more dysfunctional batting.  Grant Hughes scored a bright and breezy 67 at the top of the order but once he was dismissed wickets fell regularly and the Ts collapsed to a disappointing 50 run defeat. 

Richmond’s Old Deer Park ground looked a picture as the hosts’ stand-in skipper Matt Balch won the toss and elected to bat.  Despite Dimi Nicolaides conceding just seven runs from his first five overs, Richmond made a confident start.  Dhruv Tahil drove nicely whilst Nick Cole swished with vigour, as the Richmond score cruised on up towards the 50 mark.  Ts’ skipper Carlos Nunes again proved that he’s not scared to switch his bowlers around, bringing  Scott Perry on from the town end – and it wasn’t long before he bowled Cole for 32.  A messy run out saw number three Asmok (12) come and go quickly, as Richmond’s innings began to lose momentum.  90-1 was soon 97-5 as Grant Hughes’s leg spin did for Singh (0) and the hapless Hennessey (3), whilst the ever-reliable J-P Cronje (9 overs 1 for 26) lulled the impressive Tahil (37) into a false drive that went straight to Hughes at mid off. 

Skipper Matt Balch – doing something that the Ts middle order has been incapable of of late – came in and steadied the ship.  He was solid in defence, harsh on the short ball and quick between the wickets.  His 39 set Richmond up well for a score in excess of 200.  A good late spell (2-43 off 7) by Mark Ryan stopped the hosts’ run-charge from getting out of control, and a score of 218 from 45 overs on a pristine(ish) surface seemed acceptable enough for both sides.

The Richmond tea didn’t resemble the more than decent effort that greeted the sides during their last encounter in May.  Not great on variety (although the quiche was nice) and massively lacking on quantity (the poor old Richmond scorer seeing a table of empty plates when she entered the room).  A performance almost as dismal as Twickenham’s batting in recent weeks.  ‘D’ on the tea-o-meter.  And we’re being generous …

Twickenham’s innings got off to another poor start, J-P Cronje departing for 1 trying to pull a ball way outside off stump.  Hennessy took an easy catch at mid on.  Al Storey, however, came in and tried to take the bull by the horns.  He drove with real panache and was soon outscoring Grant Hughes as the Ts moved rapidly towards 50.  Hughes soon took up the challenge of being outpaced in the run-rate stakes and it wasn’t long before he too was wheeling out the booming cover and straight drives.  80-1 off 11 and the Ts were set fair.

Until, again, the wheels came off.  Storey (27) succumbed to Abdul Sheik, and even though Hughes raced to a 34 ball half century it wasn’t long before he too was off back to the pavilion (67 in 47 balls).  Normally, a position of 114-3 chasing 218 with overs to spare would still be seen as a strong one, but the Ts middle order has been struggling so much of late that it was absolutely vital no more wickets fell.  Dan Hough’s dismissal unfortunate leg before (first ball) didn’t help matters, and when skipper Nunes (23) – having played a restrained and composed innings up to that point – drove to backward point the Ts knew they were up against it.

Mark Ryan stubbornly battened down the hatches at seven, adopting a ‘thou shall not pass’ attitude, but the departure of Dimi Nicolaides further heightened the sense of impending doom.  Steadily the wickets tumbled and by the time last man Perry strode out to the middle the Ts were 148-9 and the game was almost lost.  Perry and Ashley Gray showed how runs could be accumulated, running smartly and sensibly as the score edged up past 160.  Ultimately, this was to be Richmond’s day though and when Gray skied a half tracker for 17 the Ts’ innings closed on 168 all out.

The collapse the preceding day at Wembley had a bit to do with good bowling and a bit to do with a deteriorating wicket.  No such excuses at Richmond.  Decent cricketers got out in sloppy ways.  Three leg befores didn’t help, but if the Ts want to win games of cricket they’ve got to start toughing it out more.  And there’s no better team to do it against than top of the table North Middlesex on the Green next Saturday …