Concorde v Claygate CC

Match Report

So far, the Concorde 2019 cricket season is proving to be one full of exciting cricket and superb personal achievement which, combined together, make for an enjoyable season for all concerned. This weeks game against traditional opponents Claygate was no exception.

It is always a little intimidating when the Opposition Captain tells you at the toss that he has a very good side out and, having been delivered of that information, it is then a surprise to be asked to bat first but that is what happened. On balance, I felt our side for the day was a little stronger on batting than bowling so I was not too upset by this but we always felt that a total of 200 was the very minimum required.

With the comforting presence of Jordy at the top of the order together with Ed who has looked to be returning to good form over the last couple of weeks and a bang in form Brandon to follow at three, I had every confidence that this was not beyond our ability. Even the early loss of Edgar, perhaps a little unlucky to be adjudged LBW, did not seem too great a disaster as Jordy and Brandon tucked into the bowling with some relish, Jordy clipping nicely through midwicket off his toes and Brandon down the ground with lovely timing and fifty came and went without any alarms.

It was, then, something of a surprise when Jordy pulled loftily to mid wicket and was caught casually by the outfielder for 34 but the sight of Nikhil striding to the wicket was a comfort. However, Nikhil had not had the chance to settle in before he got a shooter and was bowled for 4 with the score on 96. Josh joined Brandon and together these two very good young players moved the score along until, out of the blue, Brandon was also bowled by a low delivery for a fine 63.

Now runs became very hard to come by and in spite of the occasional big shot from Josh and Rob Symondson the score mounted slowly and at this point a collapse set in with Josh being caught for 13, Rob for 18 quickly followed by Pat Wells and Jerry Wright for ducks and Nigel Wright for 4. Only some good blows by 13 year old Tom Griffith and a slightly older Jerry Stockbridge (8no) dragged the score to 178 before Tom was stumped for 15.

Being somewhat short of our target of 200, we were disappointed but not downhearted and our bowling was opened by Thomas Griffiths who bounded in and generated good pace but was a little wayward for three overs before settling down to bowl nicely. Brandon at the other end continued his recent good form with the ball, bowling straight and with pace and taking two early wickets in successive balls including that of Tom Sapsted who has in previous encounters shown himself to be a very dangerous batsman.

A minor stand then developed taking the score past 50 before Brandon again struck twice in two balls to put us back in the driving seat. Having then completed his statutory 7 overs he was replaced by Ed and at the other end Nikhil took over from Thomas. Ed, after a longish break from the game, is still struggling to regain his old consistency and whilst he bowled many fine deliveries, there were inevitably a few that were short and were despatched to the boundary. Nevertheless, he did induce a caught and bowled opportunity which required a gravity defying leap on Eds behalf which sadly did not quite get him there but he was successful with an amazing catch by the war horse that is Jerry Stockbridge, who standing at silly mid off, as is his wont, clung on to a firmly struck drive.

At 120 – 5, it was looking like the game could go either way and with Nikhil now settled into a very accurate spell which had dried up runs at one end and Jerry Wright now coming on to seal up the other end, the odds had tipped in Concorde’s favour, the more so when Nikhil induced a top edge from the obdurate no 3 and Jerry Wright clung on to the catch while back peddling from slip and then Jerry himself gaining an affirmative LBW decision followed by a clean bowled to leave Claygate tottering at 140 -8.

Successive overs passed yielding only the odd run here and there until with 14 overs to go Jerry summoned Brandon back to replace Nikhil in an effort to clean up the tail. Suddenly the no 10 batsman who had hitherto looked hesitant against spin looked completely at home against pace and began to bat like the top class batsman from the Claygate league team he was later revealed to be, clipping two lovely shots off his toes through mid wicket for 4.

A hasty return to spin slowed the scoring rate again but we were unable to make any further break through and Claygate coasted home to win by 2 wickets. An exciting game which featured a superb all round performance from Brandon with 63 runs and 4 – 33 off his 10 overs. Nikhil bowled 14 overs and took 1 – 37 and Jerry 10 overs for 2 – 22.