Scorecard

Radlett CC 4th XI v Potters Bar III on Sat 17 May 2014 at 1.00 p.m.
Radlett CC Won by 6 wickets

Match report Readers of a certain vintage will remember the time when the England touring team (or, to be precise, MCC) took with them (in place of the two dozen analysts, coaches, psychologists, dietricians, managers etc) just a vicar, usually in the form of the Rev Andrew Wingfield-Darby.

Radlett 4s had already tried that formula – indeed, they had gone one better by actually recruiting the Vicar of Christchurch to play for them. But, whilst Javaid’s performances had been excellent, his excellence had failed to rub off on his teammates. Moreover, he had now been snaffled by the 3s, together with two other former 4s stalwarts in the shape of Wellsie and Meeps. Time for a plan B.

So there is only one thing to do when you have lost your first two matches heavily and garnered just 4 points : double the number of women in your team. Making sure, of course, that one of them is an international. (Oh…. and while you’re at it, arrange for half the opposition to go on a stag weekend to Magaluf and the other half to go to Wembley for the Cup Final).

And so it came to pass that, on winning the toss, Potters Bar 3rd XI batted (after a fashion) and were all out for 27.

The collapse took some time to get started. Sian Ruck, soon adapting to the larger ball used in the men’s game, bowled a beautiful line and length, getting both swing through the air and movement off the wicket, whilst at the other end, Dominic Ingram was getting both movement and bounce. This was all to much for the opening pair, in particular the left-hander, who must have played and missed at least two dozen times, with the score only just keeping pace with the overs. Indeed, the ten runs that were scored off the first ten overs included two balls called as wide, based on a novel interpretation of the law that deemed a ball keeping low to be unreachable. Welcome to Division 7 Sian!

In the 13th over, at last, the dam broke, as the umpire raised his finger in dramatically slow fashion to signal LBW b Ingram for what was to be the top score – 5. From then on it was a procession, Ruck getting an LBW then, in her final over, cleaning up the number 4. At the other end, not to be outdone by his tenant, The Landlord was making hay, his accuracy rewarded by regularly hitting the stumps, pads or, at last, the edge of the bat (Sian Ruck showing she will be a useful asset in the field too with a lowish slip catch).

With Ruck needing to conserve some energy for her match on Sunday, she gave way to Anje Lague. This proved unfortunate for Katie Pankhurst, who damaged her finger making a good stop of a ball blasted at her, and nearly saw the untimely demise of Ruck, who showed good reactions to duck out of the way as a fierce hoick whistled over her helmeted head at short-leg.

Any further danger was averted when Ruck took a skier off Lague at silly mid-off, in a comedy moment that saw her catching the ball almost blind as the over-large helmet she had put on came down over her face. At other end, Ingram made short work of the tail, to wrap the innings up in just 24.3 overs.

Skipper Warne was keen to give to the newcomers and Jamie Sidlin the opportunitry to show what they could do, but at 6 for 4 was beginning to wonder if this was wise. Ben Farr had walked out, taken no guard and missed the first delivery. Ben Cox at least got off the mark, but also missed a straight one. Arunan Sriskanda followed suit, as did Sidlin, meaning that the bottom pitch had now seen more ducks than Springwatch.

Fortunately, Cath McNeil can play with a straight bat and, despite giving one chance, looked composed as she compiled her 16 not out. With Dom Ingram adding a few more at the other end, the 4s walzed home in just 12 overs, with the clock showing 3.25pm.

By 4.00 the team were witnessing another novelty – a jug of pims being bought by Ingram to celebrate his wicket haul. The times they are a changing.

Potters Bar III Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
2w 1b  
for 10 wickets
3
27 (20.3 overs)		     
  lbw  b Ingram 5
  b  Ingram 4
  lbw  b Ruck 3
  b  Ruck 2
  ct  Ruck b Ingram 5
  b  Ingram 0
  b  Ruck b Lague 0
  b  Ingram 0
  b  Ingram 5
  Not Out  0
  b  Ingram 0

Radlett CC 4th XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Dominic Ingram12.351071.430.80
Sian Ruck9.031226.001.33
Anje Lague3.02515.001.67

Radlett CC 4th XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
2w 1lb 
for 4 wickets
3
28		     
Benjamin Farr Bowled  0
Catherine McNeill Not Out  16
Benjamin Cox Bowled  2
Arunan Sriskanda Bowled  0
Jamie Sidlin Bowled  0
Dominic Ingram Not Out  7
Colin Warne  
Eddie Saunders  
Sian Ruck   2
Katie Pankhurst  
Anje Lague  

Potters Bar III Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Peter King