‘’First game back for a lot of people, I give the boys credit for the effort they put in. We’ll learn from this & be stronger’’ Hinay Dassani

At 11.14am on Saturday amidst biblical levels of rain & grey skies, the 4XI’s season opener at Actonians CC looked incredibly unlikely to take place. So, to a joyous WhatsApp group, when Skipper Dassani (11.15am) surprisingly announced a delayed start & modified game on; a strong looking Twickenham side travelled to Ealing with hope & excitement at the season’s first league opener. On paper HD looked to have a nicely balanced team with depth in all departments, new faces to freshen things up plus a nice blend of experience & youth. Based on the preceding statement; valuable lessons will be learnt from Saturday’s defeat that will only make HD’s unit stronger as the season goes on.

HD won the toss & amidst gloomy weather, a wet track & the likelihood of swing, made the sensible call to bowl first- with a strong opening combination of Bowman and Sanas at the forefront of his mind. Both started well ; Bowman finding movement with Sanas quick, accurate & miserly for his entire spell ( 5-2-11-0). In fact Sanas will consider himself unfortunate to go wicketless, but he will get plenty of wickets over the summer if he maintains his rhythm & fitness. It was Bowman (6-0-38-1) that looked threatening based on early movement – trapping the dangerous opener Maben LBW. Bowman had nice variation; he’ll be threatening on the types of early-season pitches we are likely to see.

Price & Fernandes for Actionians then put on an aggressive 60 run partnership that formed the bedrock of the Actonians innings; without ever looking completely confident at the crease. Nonetheless; the Ts could perhaps have raised their intensity on the field to put more pressure on the batsmen at this stage. Fernandes 54 ultimately won Actonians the game; top scoring on a difficult pitch and anchoring the Actonians innings well.

The indefatigable Dassani ( 8-2-37-2) finally trapped opener Price LBW. 15-year-old Max Hunt (4-0-23-0), making his debut in league cricket, started nicely; as with his men’s Saturday debut last week, it’s refreshing to see a youngster have such good control over line & length. Unfortunately; he also bowled during a tough spell against two set batsmen looking to score.

HD also made a maverick call to bowl Dissanayake and take the pace off the ball – the right one. Dissanayake (4-0-15-0) bowled good lines & an occasionally heavy ball and his left arm variation will be an interesting option over the season. Saving the best till last….the best Ts' bowler on the day by some distance was Praween ‘Champagne Papi’ Siriwardena (8-0-43-4), as well as getting the prize scalp of top scoring Fernandes. Fresh from wickets and runs last week Papi bowled with brave flight, turn, variation & control. His game looks in good order in both depts and fully justifies his fan following, female attention & star IPL 2022 base auction price (* or 2021 Twickenham Fantasy league price). He’ll count himself unlucky to not have more wickets – with our fielders dropping a combination of tough & regulation chances in the circle & outfield 3 times.

Actonians' 176 felt gettable at the time; the Ts perhaps could have squeezed 25/30 or so runs from tighter fielding over the 35 overs. Opening with Colin Blunden and Jonty Hunt, the Ts' reply started badly against what was an undoubtedly good bowling attack. Hunt bowled by a lively but erratic left armer for 0 - his attacking instincts & positive strokeplay will no doubt win us many a run chase over the course of the season.

Dasgupta, batting at three, had notched a classy 50 on his return to club cricket last week, but his concentration let him down this week and he gave away his wicket cheaply. The Actonians all seam attack continued to bowl impressive tight, miserly lines; the Ts lack of game time perhaps showed our game/chase management - we didn’t tick the strike over with simple runs and smart cricket, allowing the opposition to settle too easily.

Oli George looked in good nick – middling some sumptuous drives that unfortunately found fielders. He was unlucky to get one that kept low and was given out LBW. Our strong middle order (Fairn, Dissanayake, Siriwardena) all then fell selflessly putting the team ahead of personal averages and trying to up the scoring rate to support the well-set Blunden.

While Blunden (44) remained at the crease their remained hope of a Twickenham victory; he never looked in any trouble against a good bowling unit but early season form probably meant that several shots that found fielders will be flying to or past the ropes over the course of the season. Dassani, Bowman & Sanas fought till the end; but the game petered out leaving the Ts 67 runs short.

So we move on to next week; defeated but not deflated and with positives to take into Saturday. Our attitude, camaraderie & spirit was excellent. Bowling-wise; we have good options in our attack, especially if we keep Sanas fit to open with someone offering a different threat, like Bowman on Saturday. HD’s customary control, Siriwardena’s early-season rhythm plus his flair for making things happen (with both bat & ball), Max Hunt’s introduction to men’s cricket, alongside many club peers/bowlers across the sides who will no doubt be in HD’s team at some stage this year.

Dasgupta has made a tidy return to cricket with bat and gloves, and will soon atone for Saturday cheap return/error. In the batting department, as well as the quality returning across the club sides to bolster depth, Blunden, Hunt, George, Fairn, Dissanayake are capable, experienced batsmen who will get runs this year and win Twickenham sides many games as the season progresses. Actonians' intensity and preparation in the field were impressive and definitely something we can learn from, and put right on Saturday.

On we go Ts!