Cowley clobbers Ts to
victory at Spencer
Spencer
215-5 (P. Nielsen 66, B. Travers 31, C. McCabe 2-14,
Twickenham
219-3 (S. Cowley 68, D. Hough 65, C. McCabe 31no)
Twickenham cruised to a 7 wicket
triumph at Surrey Championship side Spencer on Sunday 22nd
August. Steve Cowley’s bombastic 59 ball 68 was the
highlight of a strong batting display, with Dan Hough (65 in 83
balls) and Clint McCabe 31no in just 10 balls also making solid
contributions. McCabe also shone with the ball, claiming a
miserly 2-14 off 8, although he was well supported by Nihal Tomar
(2-25) as the visitors won at a canter.
The Ts arrived for their third (!)
friendly encounter with Spencer this season with an eclectic mix
of cricketing talent on offer. All five Saturday sides had
some sort of representation, and the team sheet read like an old
school mixed-ability Sunday XI. Other points of note were
plentiful; Gaaaaaaarf Borain made his debut behind he stumps for
the Ts, and much discussion could be heard on whether the fact he
was wearing Jon Trippett’s kit would unduly affect his
performance. The Ts resident pop star, Joe Gordon (aka JLS),
was subjected to a barrage of one-lines from JLS songs courtesy of
Clint McCabe whilst a number of Ts players also noticed that their
was a ladies game taking place on the adjacent pitch.
Rumours that the smell of aftershave on one Twickenham player’s
kit as he walked out had anything to do with this were hotly
denied.
Once play began, the hosts made brisk
progress. Nielsen (P) hit the ball hard and was good value
for his 66, whilst fellow opener Travers made good use of the
nudge to fine leg and the delicate late cut to third man to
register 31. Solid contributions from Redmayne at three (29)
and Nielsen (L) at five (31no) also helped the visitors up to an
eminently respectable 215-5 off their 40 overs. It could,
however, have been much worse for the Ts, as when Spencer were
100-0 off 13 it looked like 250 plus was very much on the cards.
Sir Horsealot McCabe did much to reign the hosts in, although he
was ably assisted by Sanjay Rawal Reloaded (1-44, bowling darts
from the Earlsfield end) and Nihal Tomar, who bowled a nice tight
spell of off spin from the Pavilion End. JLS also stood up
to the challenge of bowling at well at the death, whilst Rohan
Kulkarni bowled without luck at the top of the innings. All
in all, a job pretty well done by the Ts.
The tea was rather an odd affair.
The sandwiches were the archetypal dockers’ butties (i.e. very
big, thick and chunky), and it would have been nice if they’d been
in quarters and not halves. The scones (and, oh yes, with
both jam AND cream) were, however, a delight. Quantity
certainly wasn’t an issue, but the whole thing somehow lacked that
certain je ne
Jawid Dadarkar and Ts’ skipper Dan
Hough opened up for the visitors, and it wasn’t long before the
scoreboard was ticking nicely. Dadarkar was driving nicely
and he raced to 20 before somewhat unexpectedly playing round a
straight one from Burns. Steve Cowley strode out at number
three, fresh not just from his maiden half century (two weeks ago)
but also his maiden century (one week ago, in the 4th
team). It soon became clear that he had no intention of
hanging about, and he hit the ball hard and with intent.
Although Cowley clearly preferred the leg side, he was not averse
to boshing the odd good length ball imperiously through the
covers. Cowley’s only young (17), but he has the tools to be
a real nuisance to better bowling attacks than Spencer’s in the
years to come.
Cowley and Hough both passed 50 in the
same over, Cowley’s being much the quicker (40 balls versus 71
balls). With the total moving serenely over and beyond 150,
the Ts were clearly in the box seat. Indeed, it came as
something of a surprise when both batters departed in quick
session; Cowley bowled by Brown for 68 and Hough stumped dancing
down the wicket for 64. Unperturbed, Nihal Tomar calmly
played himself in at four, whilst McCabe calmly tried to whack
everything that moved at the other end. And, to be fair,
both were successful in their respective aims. McCabe’s
bombastic 31no off 10 balls was enough to see the Ts over the
finishing line to victory with a good 10 overs to spare.
It looked like it was going to be a
long, tough afternoon for Twickenham when Spencer were 100-0 off
13 overs. But tight bowling and decent fielding kept the
hosts at bay. Steve Cowley’s ebullient 68 was the
cornerstone of the reply, but everyone applied themselves well.
Good stuff …