Twickenham V - 184 for 8 in 45 overs (Fairn 62, Supple 24)
Shepherds Bush IV - 185 for 4 in 38.2 overs (Singh J 74)

Shepherds Bush IV win by 6 wickets

Venue: Broom Road , Teddington
Date: Saturday May 27'th 2017
Type of match: 1987 League division 3 , 45 overs per side

The T's gathered at Broom Rd for another attempt to get off the mark but sadly this proved beyond them despite better weather than in previous weeks, an improved batting performance from the last outing, the first individual half-century of the season and an impressive debut from one of u-14 colts.

Once again it was a minor miracle to get 11 players on the pitch and this shows the strength of depth in the club and the commitment of a number of people to ensure these small adversities can be overcome.

Well I say 11 players but we actually had 10 at start time as the opening bowler, Saini, was caught in a motorway snarl-up en-route from a 7 hour journey down from Leeds, not arriving until 13:00. Fortunately this did not matter as the home skipper, winning his 4'th toss on the trot (thinks: I really must get down the casino to indulge in a spot of 'heads or tails'), elected to bat first, under sunny skies, on a dry track which had a smattering of goose poo (sorry, no scatalogical warning this week - I figure you are all hardened and accustomed to it by now) on the edges. I suspect this is a new council initiative to save on manure.

On the subject of all things scatalogical I am sure you will rejoice with me when I report that there is no 'toilet-paper-gate' incident to write about this week. We had a full complement of 4 fresh rolls, with spares in each cubicle no less. Sadly the showers later in the day were a disappointment due to an almost complete lack of pressure. Plenty of hot water but delivered at a rate which could best be described as a dribble. Facilities index mark not yet awarded but leaning towards a B- all things considered.

And to complete the facilities round-up there was a marked, excuse the pun, improvement this week on the pitch as we actually had foot-holds filled in , from last weeks game, and a boundary line marked out the whole way around. However I think the council must have sourced their line marking material from Trotters Independent Traders as it was a fetching powder blue colour rather than the traditional brilliant white you would expect to see at Lords. Never mind as it is a step in the right direction.

Making his seasonal debut Supple (24) opened up with Donelan (0) and the former raced off the blocks with an expertly clipped boundary of the third ball of the innings. Unfortunately the latter perished, courtesy of a ball that pitched and rolled at pace onto the stumps, in the third over. Shidlagatta (6) came and went and then the ship was steadied with Fairn (62) joining the obdurate Supple.

The visitors opening pair proved quite a handful, bowling very tight lines and giving very few scoring opportunities. The experienced Twickenham bats played the long game however and saw them off as they bowled their full complement in one go. As the change bowlers came on the scoring rate increased as Fairn took the lead. Supple fell for a well crafted 24 bringing young Ankit Singh (1) to the crease. The u-14 colt looked assured but an awkward run-out saw his innings end earlier than expected.

Mirwais Mohammed blasted a quickfire , and entertaining, 15 and Owais Ahmed (2) tried but failed to emulate previous big knocks on this ground. The home side entered the final part of the innings with Davies looking immediately at home and Fairn passed his fifty by taking 14 runs off an over from a young leg-spinner. It was in this period of play that the visitors lost a player to the hospital. Following a failed attempt at a catch (the ball was fizzing) the fielder came off for attention and revealed a very nasty looking webbing injury. The deep cut was more than we could deal with so he took himself off to get looked at professionally.

Some (cliche alert) lusty blows from both bats saw the score accelerate upwards before Fairn was bowled, to end the partnership, and Davies ended on 27 not out as Saini (5) fell to the last ball of the innings as the T's closed on a respectable 184.

A Mrs Tomar tea was then happily consumed by all those not observing the Ramadan fast and it was well received with one of the visitors commenting on how he always looked forward to a Twickenham tea. We seem to have accumulated a lot of sugar in clear plastic sachets and when these are placed on the counter it looks like a scene from Scarface. Rumours that Al Pacino is a club member need to be investigated. I won't be asking him for his subs however.

Refreshed by spicy pasta, peanut butter sandwiches and flapjack (well , some of us) the T's took to the field with Saini and Davies taking the new cherry and Supple in residence (our third different keeper in 4 games) behind the stumps. Saini , bowling with a fair bit of pace, could not find the edge but he kept the bats tied down as did Davies with his more genteel , yet accurate, slow-medium from the other end. The first wicket went on 39 with Davies inducing a top edge that Supple pounced on gratefully.

This brought the hard-hitting skipper, Kiran Singh, to the crease and a half-century stand was the result. The remaining opener , Jay Singh (74) , had now found his range and the boundaries started to increase in frequency. The bowling was rotated with Donelan and Owais Ahmed doing their best to contain but the visitors gave few chances whilst the total increased. Young Ankit Singh, who fielded magnificently, was also given a chance with the ball and after a nervous first over produced a couple of beauties. Definitely one for the future who I am sure we will see in action again this season.

The home side managed to claim 3 more wickets but the final Bush pair saw the victory target passed in the 38'th over as Shepherds Bush claimed the 10 points.

It was a good game of cricket, again played in a great spirit which has been the mark of the season so far, and the T's are not far away from producing a victorious performance.

The next game is an away match against the only other Fifth Eleven in our division, in the shape of Ealing. Nonetheless we will need to be firing on all cylinders for this one.

Phil Walker