Scorecard

Harold Wood v Radlett CC Women & Girls on Sun 22 Apr 2012 at 13.00
Radlett CC Won by 48 runs

Match report On a cold and windy April morning, preceded by a week of heavy rain, the talk amongst the assembled players at Radlett HQ was whether it was possible to play a competitive game of cricket in such conditions. The consensus was that it would be a wasted trip. However, our opponents were adamant that the match go ahead. Harold Wood wanted a game, and a game they got. In spite of the weather Radlett had a strong XI to send around the M25, featuring a mix of youth and experience.

On arrival at the Essex ground club captain Hayley Arrol led an impromptu pitch inspection. What she saw was a reasonably flat, but damp wicket and a slow outfield. The chief concern was the likely lack of bounce and a batting surface that would cut up badly as the game progressed. With the last remnants of sunshine also creeping through Arrol decided that batting first would be preferable should the toss go Radlett's way. Fortunately, although the toss was lost, the Harold Wood skipper placed faith in her own bowling attack and put Radlett into bat.

Radlett's openers Katie Pankhurst and Adrienne McCrae felt their way through the opening overs, but sadly neither managed to go on and make a meaningful contribution to the team total. Pankhurst played over a low bouncing half tracker (bowled for 5), while McCrae fell victim to some miscommunication at the crease (run out for 4). Laura Gurney also perished without runs to her name, and Radlett found themselves three wickets down with barely a dozen runs on the board.

It was now down to the middle order to steady the ship and get the innings back on track. Anje Lague and Hayley Arrol did precisely that. This pitch required, above all, concentration and good technique - getting on the front foot and defending solidly against the accurate deliveries while looking to score off anything loose. Lague demonstrated this admirably, taking apart the poor balls with a flurry of boundaries, and looking very solid in defense of her wicket. Arrol too was playing superbly, and the pair put on a fifty partnership for the 4th wicket.

The partnership was only broken by a highly controversial decision. Lague played forward to a good ball, knocking the ball back into the hands of the bowler off the turf. From the sidelines everyone could see it was a bump ball. However, both the bowler and more importantly the umpire saw things differently. The appeal went up, and so did the finger. Lague, despite her consternation, had to walk (caught for 34). The innings was now in a precarious position. A collapse would see Radlett post a very modest score and swing the match firmly in the oppositions favor. New bat, Michele Verroken, needed to hold an end up allowing Arrol to score freely. She took to this task with aplomb, playing a watchful innings and also adding vital runs to the total in a partnership worth another 30 runs. At this stage a total approaching 130+ seemed well within Radlett's grasp.

Arrol, who had surely put in a captain's performance, was bowled finally for 31. Sadly, Verroken's departure four overs after for 12, bowled in very similar fashion to Pankhurst earlier in the innings somewhat curtailed the run rate.. Radlett were now spluttering toward a three figure total, but the tail hung in and was helped by some wasteful Harold Wood bowling - wides contributing a double figure score to the cause. As such the team saw out the full 45 overs, finishing 114 for 9.

While this was clearly not a pitch for heavy run scoring the total did still feel at least twenty runs short of par. If the top order had played with the same amount of application and concentration as Lague, Arrol and Verroken then a score approaching 150 would certainly have been on the cards. That said the total gave Radlett's strong bowling attack something to work with. If they could bowl line and length the wickets would come and give Harold Wood little to score off.

After tea the weather had taken a turn of the worse. The temperature had dropped noticeably, the wind had picked up, and the rain had started to come down. With a wicket now starting to cut up quite badly this was not going to be an easy place to bat. Nor was it a comfortable place to be in the field, but Radlett came out with a high level of energy and intensity which warmed the spirits, if not the hands. The opening bowlers knew the task at hand - to take wickets and to keep Harold Wood to less than 2.5 runs per over. No easy task, but Lague and Pankhurst were up for it.

Lague's wily off spin was first to claim a victim - the Harold Wood opener lifting a high looping chance to Alex Hampton. Hampton stayed calm and pouched the catch. Radlett were off and running. Lague was causing problems as the opposition struggled to work out her technique. It wasn't long before she had her second wicket, this time taking a catch off her own bowling. Not to be outdone Pankhurst, bowling military medium pace, claimed her first wicket for Radlett, clean bowling Wood's number 3.

Harold Wood were reeling now, trying to force runs where no runs existed. A low full toss from Pankhurst was clipped behind the stumps. Lague dived for an impossible catch, but Radlett were alert in the field, delivering the ball back to McCrae who whipped off the bails with the opposition batsman just short of safety. Four down now. Pankhurst was also finding her range with the ball, beating the bat on a number of occasions, finding the edge, but unable to add to her wicket haul. That was until the last ball of her 8 over spell - trapping the opposition batsman plum in front of the stumps and a successful lbw appeal ensued.

Tiring now, Arrol deemed it time for a change in the attack, but the opening pair had done the job asked of them, taking two wickets apiece and with the additional run out leaving Harold Wood 48 for 5 off 16 overs. The change attack of Laura Sandy and Arrol herself now had the job of polishing off the remaining five wickets. They were helped by an excellent contribution from everyone in the field. Despite a treacherous outfield the Radlett team demonstrated all the qualities of a solid fielding unit. Alert and energetic, they gave Harold Wood no respite. Arrol also showed astute captaincy in her field placements - keeping the pressure on those newly arrived at the crease whilst restricting the scoring opportunities of the few batsmen that showed any attacking intent. The fielding performance was personified by Lague's superb pick up and throw, and McCrae's deft hands with the bat short by inches. Another run out on the board and six wickets down on a rather miserable looking Harold Wood scorecard.

Laura Sandy didn't take long to get her eye in and was soon up to speed, and finding a deadly line and length. The Harold Wood tail had no answer for bowling of this quality. Sandy found bounce in the pitch that nobody deemed possible at the start of the match on such a damp wicket, and on the few occasions when the opposition were able to get bat on ball it popped up to Arrol standing at silly mid off. Twice in one over this combination sent another disconsolate player back to the pavilion.

At this stage Arrol was still wicket less, but the game plan was starting to play out. Harold Wood had just one threat left at the crease, so the key was to target her partner. A tight field was putting intense pressure on the newly arrived batsmen, and Radlett's fielding remained vigilant. Arrol eventually picked up her deserved wicket in what turned out to be her fifth and final over - Lucy Willson making no mistake under a tricky catch straight into the sun (yes, for the sun had started to shine on an imminent Radlett victory!). The tenth and final wicket came just 3 balls later - another unplayable Laura Sandy delivery was lofted up and Willson was under it once again to put the final nail into Harold Wood's coffin. Their final total a mere 66 all out - Radlett victorious by 48 runs.

This had been a true team performance in the field, with contributions from all 11 players. Tight bowling and tighter fielding restricted Harold Wood to scoring shots off only the occasional loose ball, and when chances were presented, more often than not they were taken. Only a couple of sharp catching chances went down, but on a warmer day (and with warmer hands) they too would most likely have been held. More encouragingly the intensity was maintained throughout despite some pretty miserable conditions overhead. The new players had gelled with the old, the calls were quick and the encouragement loud. To the uninitiated this would have looked like a team that had played together for years, not one containing a handful of debutantes playing with each other for the first time. All this bodes well for a good season for Radlett. Long may it continue.

Radlett CC Women & Girls Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
6nb 11w 7b 2lb 
for 9 wickets
26
114
(45.0 overs)		    
Katie Pankhurst b  L Tigg 5
Adrienne McCrea Run out  4
Laura Gurney b  L Tigg 0
Anje Lague ct  L Mair 34 1 1
Hayley Arrol b  Z Quested 31 2
Laura Sandy b  L Mair 1
Michele Verroken b  N Samaranayake 12
Hannah Sandy Not Out  0
Alex Hampton st  N Samaranayake 0 1
Lucy Willson b  N Samaranayake 1 2
Louise Penny  

Harold Wood Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
L Tigg6.011527.502.50
K Castle5.001900.003.80
K Hawkings4.001800.004.50
L Mair9.041829.002.00
D Armes8.031000.001.25
Z Quested6.03717.001.17
E Swan5.001700.003.40
N Samaranyake2.01130.330.50

Harold Wood Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
3w 2b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
6
66 (26.3 overs)		     
N Samaranayake ct  Hammond Bowled Lague 3
D Armes b  Pankhurst 8
L Tigg ct  & Bowled Lague 0
K Castle Not Out  27
Z Quested Run out  4
S Bysouth lbw  Pankhurst 12
P Beaumont Run out  0
K Hawkins ct  Arrol Bowled L Sandy 5
L Mair ct  Arrol Bowled L Sandy 0
E Swan ct  Willson Bowled Arrol 1
H Jones ct  Willson Bowled L Sandy 0

Radlett CC Women & Girls Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Anje Lague8.001929.502.37
Katie Pankhurst8.0221210.502.63
Laura Sandy5.311133.672.00
Hayley Arrol5.0212112.002.40