Scorecard

Radlett CC 3rd XI v North Enfield on Sat 31 Jul 2010 at 1.00
Radlett CC Lost by 5 wickets

Match report Radlett 3rd XI v North Enfield 31st July 2010
We were outplayed today, and the spectre of relegation has appeared in the doorway of the Third XI changing room.
This is nothing new for the 3rds, but in previous seasons by now we have built up some momentum, but two deflating defeats in a row have put us in the unthinkable trapdoor zone. It’s easy enough to get relegated, but to get promoted you have be not just good enough, but a bit lucky as well.
We will need luck and determination to get out of this.
Regarding the match, we batted first on a very good home wicket, and Dom Ingram together with the young Ben Lewis put on an assured and faultless 64 before they both perished trying (wrongly) to force the pace. Ingram looked more like his old grizzled self, and Ben Lewis hit the ball hard, and made the leg side his own.
But we wasted this good start, and our notoriously brittle middle order reduced us to 120 for 6, from 65 for nothing. We ended up on 171 all out thanks to a beefy 21 from the talented Ben Chirkas, which included two sixes, and a cultured 19 not out from Hemel Malde, who surely is capable of batting up the order.
It is indicative of this batting performance that one of our teenage players asked me how we could have lost ten wickets on wicket like that. The answer must be, unfortunately, poor batting.
Our total of 171 was never enough, and we even gave them 49 overs to get them, as an extra act of charity.
But after Ben Chirkas had the opener nicely pouched first ball by Colin Warne in front of first slip, we dared to hope. But our next success came 100 runs later, and North Enfield won with 5 wickets, and 4 overs to spare.
In fairness, the fielding was excellent, apart from a straightforward catch spilled by your author, and the team never gave up. Another 40 runs would have been a stern challenge for the opposition, not to mention better bowling and batting points for us, and the possibility of a maximum haul.
It is perhaps unfair to blame our bowlers, because they were certainly not worse than our adversaries. We simply didn’t bat well enough, and yes we should never have been bowled out on a wicket that was a batsman’s dream.
What happens now is that we “big up the positives”.
1. The spirit of the side never flagged, which by itself makes me believe that we will stay in this division.
2. Colin Warne was just excellent behind the stumps, taking two catches, one of which would have been four runs to most keepers.
3. Our fielding was spirited and skilful, the match of any side in the division.
4. We do actually have the batting talent to chase runs, or bat the opposition out of the game. The talent, but not yet the confidence.

When we have narrowly avoided relegation this September, we will have a side that in 2 or 3 year’s time will be needing that bit of luck, not for survival, but for promotion.

Radlett CC 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
172
(0.0 overs)		    
Dominic Ingram Caught  34
Ben Lewis Stumped  37
Robin Willis Caught  19 1
Simon Jackson Caught  1
Iain Edwards Bowled  15
Shameel Ahmed Lbw  0
Shamit Nathwani Caught  6
Ben Cherkas Caught  21 1
Colin Warne Caught  9 2
Hemal Malde Not Out  16
Daniel Cohen Bowled  2

North Enfield Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

North Enfield Batting
Player name Runs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 5 wickets
0
174 (0.0 overs)
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Radlett CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Ben Cherkas9.3138219.004.00
Daniel Cohen5.02900.001.80
Hemal Malde7.013500.005.00
Simon Jackson3.001400.004.67
Shameel Ahmed4.001500.003.75
Robin Willis10.0135217.503.50
Shamit Nathwani6.0215115.002.50