Scorecard

Hatfield Hyde v Radlett CC 3rd XI on Sat 05 Aug 2006 at 13:30
Radlett CC Won 52 runs

Match report Radlett players are thoroughly spoilt. Our clubhouse is pleasant, smart and well-appointed. The ground has wonderful facilities; nets, coaching , bowling machine, not to mention a great social ethos, all couched in an area that is green, quiet, and bucolic, with central London 20 minutes away by train. We play on excellent wickets, tended by a good bloke who knows what he's doing. Our playing area is is usually devoid of dog excrement, fresh or historic, and we enjoy our cricket at Cobden Hill.

We are very lucky. But not all cricket clubs have what we have.

Today this fact was brought home to us forcefully. We played a cricket match against a very decent bunch of blokes at a ground and wicket that could be euphemistically described as "challenging". I do not dispute this team's right to play cricket, quite the opposite, but I just don't want to play there. I want to play on wickets that aren't dangerous, and don't have kids riding their bloody bikes through cover point, and people walking in front of the sightscreens just because they can.

Call me old-fashioned, yes, but the answer is to beat these sides, and get yourself promoted to a division where this is less likely to happen. This Radlett's 3rd XI did today.

Tim Smithers won the toss and decided to bat. Radlett batted their 53 overs, making 175 for 9. The highest score, by Teddy Edwards, was 28. The wicket was appalling, with the bounce, if not dangerous, certainly laterally unpredictable.

In fairness, Hatfield Hyde bowled tidily for the first 20 overs, during which wickets fell, but often without fault from the batsman. But 175 constituted a very good team effort, with every single batsman contributing, and captain Smithers felt it was a winning total. He was right, but not quite in the way he thought.

Opening with the old ball proved to be Smithers' only mistake of the game. At 44 for no wicket after just 10 overs, it appeared that a trick had been missed, and all those hard-earned runs had been wasted.

But the new ball, in the hands of Josh Rose (5-33), Brian Dümmer and Ollie Robertson totally changed the game, with the next ten wickets adding just another 78 runs.

The other major contributing factor was the fielding. Luca Guerrini, a Colt player keeping wicket, was outstanding to the quicks, pouching a neat catch, and looking sharp and composed. Skipper Smithers caught two excellent catches at first slip, and Radlett's ground fielding was and is the envy of the division. Yet even in this excellent display in the field, one player stood out as a symbol and talisman. Ollie Robertson probably saved 20 runs in the field with his tireless chasing and fabulous throw. He caught two good catches, and epitomised Radlett's effort in one magic moment:

A new top-order batsman had just come in when Hatfield were still favourites to win the game. Rose had a big lbw shout which was, correctly, turned down. The ball bounced off the pad, and while ten of the Radlett side were appealling, the eleventh, Ollie Robertson, raced to the ball and threw down the stumps at the batsman's end, running him out without even the need to ask the umpire. This breathtaking piece of fielding was a vital wicket from nowhere, and a turning point in the match. It encapsulated Radlett's fulminating desire to win.

Good team batting, good bowling, excellent fielding, brought together with imaginative and aggressive captaincy rightly won this match today, a truly excellent team performance. There are some very testing games to come, and it my belief that this side is capable of coming through them with enough steam to be in the shake-up for promotion.

Radlett CC 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
175		        
Dominic Ingram Bowled  17
Mark Gray Caught  11
Mike Yeabsley Bowled  11
Paul Windmill Bowled  17
Iain Edwards Lbw  28
Prabhu Arumugam Caught  16
Brian Dümmer Caught  13
Oliver Robertson Caught  23 2
Luca Guerrini Run out  7 1
Josh Rose Not Out  3
Tim Smithers Not Out  1 2

Hatfield Hyde Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

Hatfield Hyde Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 10 wickets
0
123 (0.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Radlett CC 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Prabhu Arumugam3.001800.006.00
Oliver Robertson9.0128128.003.11
Brian Dümmer10.3037312.333.52
Josh Rose16.063356.602.06

  • Umpire :
    G Bird
  • Scorer :