Match Report
CARIBBEAN FLAIR, RETURNING HEROES BUT ANOTHER DRAW!
As the annual President’s game was cancelled we procured a conference fixture against Christchurch CC, a West Indian side from the Croydon area. It turned out to be an extremely enjoyable game against a very friendly & sociable bunch but despite posting a very good score we ultimately just failed to force a result.
For once, our batting line up looked very strong bolstered by the return of Concorde stalwarts Ashley, for his 3rd game of the season and Justin Redfern for his first game in about 4-5 years. On losing the toss we batted first and skipper Jerry Wright accompanied Nikhil Kadyan to the middle. For some of us of a certain age bracket, there is still an expectation that a West Indian side are bound to have a battery of tall, hostile fast bowlers, so it was a pleasant surprise that they opened up with a medium fast bowler from the mansion end but with an off spinner from the pavilion end! However, the skipper was so relaxed that in the third over he aimed a mighty drive at the spinner and was comfortably caught at slip for 1. Nick Freeman joined Nikhil and both looked fairly comfortable against a tidy attack, with Nikhil striking 4 boundaries before going back to the off spinner and getting a slight ‘nick’ to the keeper to depart for 22. Ashley came in, had one early scare when a flashing drive just cleared mid off to get him off the mark with a boundary, but then the partnership began to build. A change to a young pace bowler at the Mansion end brought about Nick’s demise when he was good enough to get a ‘nick’ to a fast rising ball and was caught behind for 25. This brought in Justin, and it was briefly just like old times with him in the middle with Ash, but unfortunately it soon ended in tragedy when, having scored 10, he suddenly pulled up in agony going for a quick single and had to be helped from the pitch with what turned out to be a ruptured achilles! We understand he will be in a ‘boot’ for a few weeks and all wish him well for a rapid recovery. Despite having the three Camberley lads still in the hutch, Jerry decided to send in Simon Duke as a ‘pinch hitter’ and it turned out to be a master stroke as he crashed a quick-fire & entertaining 45, which along with Ash reaching 60 , tilted the match in our favour. When both departed, Brandon for once only lasted a few balls before skying one to deep mid off, but Adam & Josh continued to turn the screw with Adam making a stylish and composed 37 n.o. & Josh a rapid 19, so Jerry had the luxury of declaring slightly early on 228-6.
After tea, Jerry elected to open up with Brandon & Josh, and it was Brandon who struck first blow when the opener skied a drive to mid on where Nikhil calmly pouched the catch to make it 7-1. Christchurch team organiser & keeper Lennox Haynes joined the other opener and batted very steadily, never dominating but gradually accumulating, dealing solely in fours initially with 9 boundaries, with quite a few through the slip area. Although behind the clock, the score had reached 75 when George bowled the other opener for 14, and shortly after Adam induced a thin ‘snick’ taken behind by Nick F. and Lennox departed for a well made 48, to make it 87-3. Briefly Christchurch seized the initiative and the young number 4 struck out to make a stylish and quick scoring 50 with 8 boundaries, but when Ashley belatedly entered the attack from the pavilion end it suddenly changed as he snaffled 3 quick wickets starting by bowling the no.4 for 51, then taking 2 in 2, the first caught behind by Nick Freeman the next one bowled unluckily off an inside edge. From the other end Jerry gave himself a rare bowl and induced the circumspect left handed no.5 to chip a catch to mid on where Nikhil took the catch. That brought Jerry to 499 Concorde career wickets and reduced Christchurch to 143-7, having been 139-3 only 10mins before. With the overs ticking down, Jerry recalled Adam to try to blast out the tail! With the first ball of the final over he gained an lbw to make it 144-8 , but two wickets in 5 balls proved too big a task as the Christchurch tail played a straight bat to every ball. They finished on 146-8, certainly a moral victory for us finishing 82 runs up but as we have seen before, bowling teams out is not easy on that pitch in 75 mins plus 20 overs! Ash took 3-12, and Adam 2-16 in a generally good bowling display.
A fixture we could well repeat I suspect, particularly now we have established they don’t have a battery of fast bowlers or batting ‘destroyers’ of Sunday bowling!
ConcordeChristchurch