Ealing V - 160 AO in 49.3 overs (Ali 3 for 26, Saini 3 for 38, Turish 3 for 46)
Twickenham V - 69 AO in 37.2 overs (Turish 20)

Ealing V win by 92 runs

Venue: Broom Road , Teddington
Date: Saturday August 5'th 2017
Type of match: 1987 League division 3 , Timed game, 92 Overs minimum
Toss Won By Tcc

An observer of the BBC weather website would have believed the apocalypse was imminent at 13:00 on match day 14 with thunder and lightning forecast for the first 2 hours of play. If you had checked out the Met Office you would have got a more upbeat assessment, albeit one involving heavy rain at 16:00'ish. Second eleven skipper , Berger (soft G pronounciation fans; think Bergerac, not Hamburglar) posted an even more positive forecast with his personal prediction that all games would beat the weather although with a little disruption to play.

And so , for the third week running, the summer sport of cricket was beset by weather issues with skippers looking to the skies and checking out the old strip of seaweed hanging by their sheds before deciding on a strategy for their games. The fives, unbeaten since the second saturday in June, welcomed unbeaten league leaders Ealing Fives to Broom Rd and gave them something to think about following a good bowling performance before capitulating with the bat to lose with less than 5 overs remaining.

The day began with skipper Walker receiving regular toilet paper updates from Donelan, travelling down from the midlands having watched a T20 at Edgbaston the previous evening, so anybody worried about the state of the nations motorway network can be rest assured that at least a fully stocked loo roll experience can be had on the M40. Whilst we were similarly stocked at the Green it was noticed the gents loo was comprehensively blocked which would have caused trouble later in the day. Having discovered this we made our excuses and scarpered off to Broom Rd.

The overnight rain had left the outfield a little damp but the track itself was pretty hard considering the weeks weather and with all participants on site and the sun out, and blazing brightly, the toss was conducted and Ealing were inserted following a Ts victory. Play started on time with filthy looking clouds looming on the horizon heading in our direction. Maybe the BBC were right after all?

Saini and Ali took the new ball and with debutant keeper Wheeler behind the stumps we were off. On the subject of keepers I believe we have had more players take to the gloves this season than Spinal Tap had drummers, although I do not believe any of them either spontaneously combusted or injured themselves as a result of a bizarre gardening accident.

The early period of play was characterised by tight bowling, rejected appeals and slow scoring underpinned by the looming menace overhead. Saini kept the batsmen in check with a tight line and Ali with swing. Runs were hard to come by , the score advancing at 2 an over,and wickets began to fall with both bowlers claiming scalps. A little light rain ensued but the bulk of the clouds slid past without unloading on us, which is not the first time this has happened at Broom Rd which genuinely does seem to have it's own micro-climate. I think National Geographic should come and do a documentary.

With the bowlers really hitting their stride the Ealing batting lineup was being made to look quite ordinary and it was a good tussle with field placements being adjusted to accomodate different styles of play. Donelan took another trademark catch at mid-off and with 4 down the away side looked in trouble. The middle order settled things down and pushed the rate up a notch as Siriwardena's off spin and Turish's wicket-to-wicket medium pace took over. Committed fielding from Turish, Shidlagatta and Sanchez but especially Joyce who was chasing , diving and cajoling as though his life depended on it pegged the away side down as 100 was reached in the 42'nd over.

One batsman arrived at the crease with his thigh-pad outside his trousers and was immediately castigated by Walker for crimes of decency if not against the Laws Of Cricket. He seemed most put-out and surprised at his reception as apparently he has been doing it all season. He did not last long.

Some middle order slogging pushed the score along a shade faster as yet another batch of dark clouds scudded past with some lightning flashes illuminating the sky in the direction of Richmond Park and Wimbledon. Saini came back into the attack as the bats started to go after the spin of Siriwardena and the Ts finished strongly to wrap up the last few wickets. Turish, getting full value for his match fee, took an absolute skier at short mid-wicket which he initially appeared to have misjudged but held on to the ball just under his jaw, before ending the innings with a run out as Ealing finished on 161 as the rain became heavier.

By the time we had removed our boots and got into the tea room the light had all but disappeared as there was now torrential rain so we finished just in time. With Mrs Tomar away, this weeks tea was solely down to Mr Tomar and he produced another fine spread with a slightly more spicy vegetarian noodles than normal proving a particular favourite.

The Ts batting order was drawn up and with a modest total to chase for victory , and 141 for a winning draw, it was felt this was very much within the Ts compass even though the Ealing side boasted some very decent bowling. The downpour curtailed the start of play as the captains agreed a 15 minute delay to allow the sun, by now out and shining strongly with no sign of any clouds at all, to dry the bowlers run ups. We had a visit from two itinerant sawdust monitors from the Third team game at St Mary's who had come to 'borrow' some of our , it has to be said huge stock, as they had none. In between filling his sack Amos partook of his second tea of the day and after sampling the noodles Masterchef style, adjudged them to be most tasty.

With the track now deemed playable the Twickenham side settled down to watch what we hoped would be a successful chase. Unfortunately it did not go to plan owing to good bowling and the immediate effects of the rain. Scoring was very hard and we crept forward in very small increments. Once wickets began to tumble the chase really began to unravel with the victory target receding further away with every over that passed. Turish (20) offered some game resistance in the middle order but nobody else was able to get a grip on proceedings and very rapidly all we had to play for was a losing draw.

The final wicket pair of Walker (12) and Sanchez (4no) held the Ealing charge up for 10 overs, with the pitch basking in glorious late afternoon sun and no hope of rain rescuing the Ts, but the skipper played one attacking shot too many in an attempt to force the close fielders back and was bowled with just over 4 overs to safety.

We gave a very good account of ourselves in the first innings , with 3 wickets apiece for Ali, Saini and Turish , but failed badly in the second but as we rationialised in the dressing room afterwards Ealing are top of the table for a reason. They have now beaten us comprehensively in both games but it did feel today that we stood a chance.

We headed back to the Green to drown our sorrows and move on. I paid for a round of drinks using a FIFTY pound note I had been given by a Ts player for his match fees. This is the first time this has happened to me (getting given a note of this denomination, not buying a round of drinks!) and I thought it best to palm it off behind the bar in case it was not genuine. I can provide a name if there is an issue Bar Manager.

Despite the loss the Ts assembled in the bar had an enjoyable evening in the company of a victorious second eleven , Peter Crouch lookalike and ex-Ts stalwart Ben Aldworth and James Joyce's dog, Russel, who does tricks for pork scratchings.

The fives will now regroup and get ready for the final 4 weeks of the season which sees a return to the limited overs format and the opportunity to take on the 3 bottom sides in the league in a fight to avoid relegation. Next week sees us begin this run with an away trip to high-flying Acton with Edmonton, Stanmore and Lohana to finish.

Phil Walker