TCC 3’s v.South Hampstead CC 3’s (Away)– Saturday 10th May
T’s first league encounter this season saw us matched against the opposition which gave us the most entertaining game on the last day of the previous season. New surroundings for South Hampstead at the Birkbeck College grounds in Greenford meant that the home team players had further to travel than the away! T’s were eager to revenge the damaging defeat of the previous year and were well stocked with the ammunition to do just that. Winning the toss Phil Parker figured the way to control the course of this match would be in having a bat – the surface was perfect and the heat of the day was enough to persuade the skipper that three hours in the field were not to be recommended. We were also heartened by the knowledge that SH’s talented OSP from last year was nowhere to be seen, his eight wickets had seriously hindered our chances of a win. Our batting line-up looked extremely strong (on paper) but now was the time to prove it.
Opening up with the reliable pair of Colin Blunden and “the Don” Campbell , the innings began cautiously in the face of the lively SH openers. T’s survived a number of early LBW appeals which grew in strength and frustration as they were successively turned down. Colin and Don unsurprisingly looked a little “match-rusty” early doors but the occasional flashing drive or lofted shot to the boundary reminded us all that these boys were unlikely to give their wickets away lightly. After 11 fairly accurate overs Blunden fell caught at point off the SH skipper Patel and suddenly we knew were in a game (32 for 1 off 12). However, T’s then played their “trump card” for the day. Championship Registration delays dictated that we were enjoying the services of Jimmy Liebenberg (2’s Player of the Year in 2007) in our top order maybe for today only. Jimmy took to the wicket at number three, and after a watchful first couple of deliveries it was not long before we started to see the reasons why he is a very valuable addition to any T’s eleven.
Jimmy proceeded to “hit” the SH openers out of the attack with great timing and accuracy in particular with some stunning offside driving down the ground to the short boundary where his colleagues looked on in admiration. This lad’s ability belies his years and his arrival at the crease bolstered a “flagging” Don Campbell whose resolve to stick around strengthened until a clip to point led to a suicidal run out with his score on 29 (91 for 2 off 25). By this stage Jimmy had already mustered 45, including 9 boundaries, and sauntered past 50 with another sweetly struck four. Joined at the wicket by another of last year’s consistent stroke makers, Travis Birtwhistle, T’s took a real stranglehold on the game as the lads matched each other shot for shot and the scoreboard clicked past 150 without further loss. Then the first hiccup of the day as both Jimmy and Travis fell in quick succession with the SH opening bowler Fahad Mehboob in his second spell, now bowling accurate legspin (159 for 4 off 36). Jimmy finished with a masterful 72 and Travis with 3 sixes and 3 fours contributed 32. This brought new recruit Dan Leney and skipper Parker to the crease needing to build another partnership from scratch to stem the re-emergent enthusiasm of the opposition. Ever mindful that the overs were also ticking away Leney and Parker nudged and nurdled themselves into form assisted by what was becoming a very poor fielding performance by the home team. At 193 for 4 in the 45th over, suddenly the gathering cloud and thunder yielded a heavy and prolonged thunderstorm which drove the players from the field and prompted an early tea to be taken.
At the resumption the match was reduced to 97 overs. Parker resolved to instruct all remaining batsmen that we were now in a “go for it” situation because he did not intend to bat beyond 52 overs which would leave the oppo 45 to chase their target. Dan Leney (16) and Phil Parker (36) fell in the 46th and 49th overs both bowled by the crafty Mehboob whilst trying to push the score along(227 for 6 off 49). But it was up to Howard McCann(10 N.O.) and Pete Burke(40 N.O) to finish the batting job. Pete in particular, was responsible for a great flourish at the end of the innings, slamming eight fours as 57 runs were added in the last six overs – T’s closing on 268 for 6 after 52 overs.
The sides turned round as quickly as possible and the all round ability of Jimmy Liebenberg was further demonstrated as he grabbed the new ball down the hill with Pete Burke’s trundling off cutters coming back up the hill. The SH openers (as we guessed), were not going to give the game up without a serious chase and from “ball one” Arguna and Nazzar looked for their big shots. Unfortunately, the quality of the oppo’s scorebook-keeping was at about the same standard as their fielding so the fine detail of their innings can only be summoned from memory. SH powered away at between 6 and 7 per over and maintained this run rate for about 10 overs but the openers’ impatience to force the game was their downfall as both Pete and Jimmy took early wickets from loose shots by the oppo. The first wicket had brought the very good all-rounder Mehboob to the crease and he soon demonstrated why (at number 8 last year) he had contrived to pinch the game away from us with an 80-odd not out. He remained rock solid and played some big forcing shots, keeping his head whilst all around him lost theirs. At 95 for 6 with Mehboob unbeaten in the 40’s there appeared to be only one likely winner until he was joined by the 15 year old G Patel who was obviously under “team orders” to shore up the innings and stay around with Mehboob at all costs. Technically sound, the youngster stuck to his task manfully, even after Mehboob fell to a catch in the deep with the score at about 120 just short of his 50 (shame!). A very frustrating partnership then ensued between G Patel(29) and the SH keeper(26) before the keeper succumbed to another “new face” in the TCC line-up. Fernando Jardim’s first league wicket in his fourth over was well-deserved and the oppo were impressed by his big inswinging deliveries which eventually yielded the eigth wicket to fall clean bowled. We will look forward to Fernando taking more league wickets as the season progresses. The chap he bowled reckons Fernando cheats though because all the time he was batting he had this “Abba” tune running through his head which led to a lack of concentration causing his dismissal! No idea what he was talking about. We were now in “squeaky bum” territory with the oppo eight down in the 170’s and threatening to achieve a draw (of either variety) as Raj Patel,SH capatain and number 10 bat refused to give up the ghost and set about bludgeoning his team to an unlikely result. Then a stroke of luck as the youngster fell to a smart slip catch by Travis as the overs were running out (190 for 9 off 40 overs) off Jimmy’s second spell (bowling spin at this time – no end to the lad’s talent!). Pete Burke completed the win with a “caught and bowled” with two overs to spare to the great relief of the fielding side for whom special mention should be made of the irrepressible enthusiasm of firstly Dan Leney in the covers who kept the boys on their toes throughout with some lively chirp. Secondly, Jon Trippett for me, had one of his best days behind the sticks with some seemingly impossible legside takes whilst standing up. He richly deserved his stumpings and run-outs (none of which were given by some decidedly “dodgy” umpiring from the oppo at the end of SH’s innings – hopefully we will get him into bat one of these days so he can stop boring the skipper with just how good he is with the bat. Fernando’s general fielding and two catches also deserving mention in what was an all-round top performance in the first league game of the season. Say it quietly but the Three’s are going for promotion this season and this was a great start. Twickenham 10 points – South Hampstead 0 points.
Phil Parker.
(Very stiff).