Some exciting matches this weekend for all three teams - thanks to Phil and SAK for the mach reports for the 1s and Cavs. A another big weekend of cricket next weekend with the 1s away at Thames Ditton and 2s at home to Farncombe. Get your availability down on the website - http://www.roehamptoncricketclub.com

1st XI vs. Shepperton 1 XI (home) - Match Report by Phil Dorsett

Roehampton 157 - 10 Shepperton 158 – 8
Scorecard http://roehampton.play-cricket.com/website/results/3005469

Handbags at dusk

For the second week running, we came so very close. Last week the oppo just hung on for a losing draw. Ironically, this week I felt we were actually closer to winning, but ended up losing.I lost the toss and after exchanging pleasantries with Dr Jekyll, he asked us to bat. I don’t blame him, on balance this season our batting has had the propensity to be a little fragile, and it was very overcast and rainy.

In fact the rain then started to come down a little stronger and we all huddled in the container. Bonding.

With the drizzle settling in and us needing more from the day than an abandonment, I expedited the commencement of the game 30 minutes after the scheduled start. We soon found ourselves 18-3 as George (still reminiscing about last week), Mods and Fahad all were bowled by some very decent Shepperton deliveries. I then joined Mo (who was magnificent all day) and we steadied the ship to 115-4 before I missed a straight one. I’d love to say that it was the ball of the century. But it wasn’t. Mo continued to play beautifully before he fell to a good catch in the deep for 59. I think the most enjoyable part of our partnership was the beautifully crafted sledging aimed at Mo which I’m almost certain didn’t register fully!!

We struggled a bit thereafter – they were 3rd in the league and bowling well – until Dharmesh walked in. Elevated to the lofty heights of 10, he ramped and pulled his way to a glorious 18 not out which saw us reach 157. And for the second week we had largely played percentage cricket, batted our overs and not been overwhelmed by the odd flurry of wickets.
Defendable.

We all walked in for tea to catch George pouring over last week’s scorecard and wondering what went wrong this time.

Curious lack of beetroot sandwiches I thought this week; perhaps SAK had sent his apologies in advance. Continued presence of red onion in the tuna sandwiches duly noted and fully appreciated.

It was our turn to take the field now and all season I had been longing to get both Max and Ryan opening the bowling in the same match. Alas, neither were playing this week. My frustration was shortlived as Umer and Will Turner took the new ball and bowled with great control and made it incredibly hard for the Shepperton openers. It wasn’t long before Matt Evans leapt to his left and held an amazing catch to remove their number 2. Umer so deserved this, and it was a tremendous catch. Red Bull really does give you wings. Before long they were about 30-3. My lack of certainty mostly being due to very poor scorebook discipline on the opposition’s behalf – what is for sure is that Umer had got all three and was bowling us into a great position. Dharmesh had also taken a great catch – diving down the leg side – which unfortunately I have incorrectly accredited to George on play-cricket.

Good catch George!

I should add that Will more than deserved a wicket by this stage, and if he hadn’t been born when I was leaving university then I’m sure a longer spell would have brought him a couple. On came Mighty Mo. And he picked up with the ball where he had left off with the bat! We’d started late and by now it was getting dark. We were starting to believe. And Dr Jekyll was in the bushes taking his injection.

Mo soon saw him off – nicked off behind to Dharmesh. Oh, not given. And didn’t walk?! It’s fair to say we made him aware that we felt it had been out. I wasn’t angry. Just disappointed…
But Mo was bowling so well that an over or so later and Mr Hyde wafted his Prada outside off stump again and Dharms pouched it in his Mulberry.

Handbags at dusk.

After the leather settled, Mo continued bowling well, picking up another 3. When Fahad, who had quietly and beautifully gone about his business from the top end finally bowled their number 1 for 32 at something like 120-6 our tails were up. My lack of certainty mostly being due to very poor scorebook discipline on the opposition’s behalf

Alas it wasn’t to be, again. Shepperton’s number 7 tried his luck and reached 29 - then a 9th wicket partnership of about 25 saw them home with 2 balls to spare. They rubbed our noses in it as they hit the winning runs – quite rightly - we would have done the same.

Maybe wrongly, I took the opportunity to see if Mr Hyde had turned back into Dr Jekyll.
He hadn’t.

Many highlights:

- Mo’s batting
- Mo’s bowling
- Dharms’ ramp shot
- Catching George photographing last week’s score (I don’t blame you). Strange Tinder profile picture though.
- Tuna and Red Onion
- Matt’s catch – set the tone actually and helped us believe
- Will’s bowling
- Umer’s bowling
- Fahad’s bowling

Handbags at dusk, and we bowled tremendously.
Surely 20 points next week
We deserve it.

2XI v Shepperton 2 XI (away) - Match Report by Tom Parker
Roehampton 95 - 10 Shepperton 96 – 7
Scorecard - http://roehampton.play-cricket.com/website/results/3005484

The 2s arrived at a damp Shepperton knowing that something special would be needed to get anything out of a game against a Shepperton side that had won every game they have played this season. The start was delayed due to persistent drizzle and the removal of the covers displayed a leak in the covers had left a tricky damp patch on a length from one end – after some ineffective towelling of the pitch we agreed to get on with it. Shepperton’s success this season has been mainly built on an excellent bowling attack and with the damp pitch this was looking like a good toss to win. I lost the toss and the Shepperton skipper had no hesitation in inserting us into bat.

The Shepperton opening bowlers immediately settled in on a good line and length and gave very little away. Both openers found some nibble to snare Yatin Sampat and Dave Allen to leave us 8-2. Tom Conway making his league debut battled hard alongside Stuart Allen but Shepperton kept it tight and the scoreboard was a race between overs and runs. Tom Conway’s patience eventfully running out. Tom Parker and Stuart Allen steered RCC through to drinks at 40-3. Stuart fell shortly after drinks and after I ran out Yasir with a terrible call the momentum shifted back to Shepperton. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and RCC were bowled out for 95 of 36 overs.

A superb tea lifted our spirits the 90 ice creams a particular favourite and Shepperton were busy planning their route on tour. We took the field knowing a couple of early wickets would put the cat amongst the pigeons. Prior to taking the field we presented Rahil Patel his RCC cap for graduating from the colts to league cricket. Well Done Rahil.

Excellent opening bursts from Will Paul and Zak Khan reduced Shepperton to 36-4, picking up 2 wickets. They were backed up by tight bowling by Yasir and Ron and excellent fielding lead by Rahil kept the pressure Shepperton. Some big hits from the Shepperton number 6 took the game away slightly although a late flurry of wickets for Zak and Yasir produced panic in the Shepperton ranks – but ultimately 95 was not enough runs to defend.
Despite the result and the lack of runs some positives to take into next week:
- A superb fielding and bowling performance pushed best side in the league as hard as they have been pushed all season.

- Promising league debuts for Tom Conway, Ed Flint and under 15 Rahil Patel

- Zak Khan and Will Paul bowled fast and accurately

- The Allen brothers played together for first time in 8 years

Last two weeks we have played some excellent cricket against the top two sides in the league. I am confident if we maintain that level of performance and improve our batting as team we will get some wins over the next couple of weeks.

Cavaliers v Willesden Green - Match Report by Stephen Kent

RCC Cavaliers 127 all out versus Willesden Green CC 128/1

This was a tale of two innings. It started well, with Captain Stokes winning the toss and, on an overcast day with a green pitch, decided to bat.
Debutant Saqib Mehmood (U16) and grizzled Cavs stalwart Pukar Patel were sent out to open (with Saqib volunteering for the duties) and made a promising start against some fairly fast and accurate opening bowling. Saqib batted patiently and played some classy cover drives whilst Pukar held up the other end admirably until - disaster! - a pull shot goes awry and Patel has played on. Nitin Chawla, fresh as a daisy despite his flight from Hong Kong landing this morning, takes guard.

And indeed the good batting continues with Saqib and Nitin playing patiently and attacking the loose balls with some fine shots. And then a bowling change. A chap called Mason comes on and starts bowling his right arm slow. He's good, this bloke Mason, so good that the ball flitted, dipped and swooped like a round, orange butterfly. So good that his name is written by the name of seven Cavaliers' batsmen. For five runs conceded. There is a silver lining to all this. The Cavs saw the return to form of Mark 'Boagie' Boag and Nick Jenkins who revelled in keeping their upper lips remarkably stiff, and their bats straight, and put on 45 runs for the last wicket. We almost batted the full 35 overs, however a quick single too many saw the Cavs post a defensible 127.

Following a delightful tea (despite the notable lack of hummous and beetroot sarnies) the Cavaliers strode purposefully and Canute-esque into the field. What followed was a particularly tasty display of aggressive flair batting liberally sprinkled with excellent timing with a big dollop of aggressive running between wickets. No bowler was spared, as the scoreboard ticked along at about 10 / over. We are grateful for the RCC committee deciding to use fluoro cricket balls for the Cavs matches.

All in all it was a fun day out despite the one-sided outcome. We are delighted that we fielded three colts: Saqib Mehmood, Anshu Ramaiya (who was looking settled until Mason nabbed his wicket) and Rahil Patel (whose punishing off-drive found mid-off). Excellent efforts one and all, and the team!