Match tied!
Highgate Wood, 5/2/2009
Match Tied
Strongroom Proctor: 157 [M.Talbot 60]
Strongroom Moore: 157 [M.Newkirk 46]
View the Scorecard
Our second match of the season was an internal affair celebrating the 25th year of Strongroom CC. The sun was beaming, the pitch was rolled, and all were ready to be picked by either Proctor or Olly. Once the teams were picked, Proctor won the toss and opted to bat on the patchy and at times uneven deck of Highgate Wood.
Our openers Andy Orme and Jon Gower strolled out to the middle with a view to getting the Proctologists off to a solid start. Andy (3) was first to go, undone by Ujjal finding a particular soft spot on the wicket, the ball keeping low and dismantling his timbers. It was not the ideal start, however it did reveal what the deck would hold for the rest of the days play. Paddy and Jon were looking comfortable, defending the good ball, and taking advantage of the occasional loose delivery. Paddy was next to go, well caught by Fiennes off the bowling of Olly for a 15. Ken was next in and had his usual conference with the departing batsmen before taking his place on the turf. Not long after Paddy, Jon (13) was undone by a ball from Gabbay, staying low and crashing into his pads. Mark Mellor was the next batsmen in, and astonishingly fell for a golden duck – to become Gabbay's second victim with another low ball this time carrying on to the stumps. All the while, Ken was playing a cautious innings, picking his shots, and wondering how he could lift the run rate. And lo and behold, in came Mark [Orme’s Aussie ringer] to save the innings for the Proctors. Ken fell embarrassingly for 9 to a ball from Dave Gower that almost took a second bounce before softly tapping the base of off stump. The Proctologists were not completely down and out just yet, teetering at 5 for 50. Captain courageous was in next, and played a second fiddle role to Mark going the tonk at every opportunity. Proctor (16) was brought undone by a Dave Gower special with the ball staying low again, and taking his timbers which introduced Hem Patel to the crease. A self-spoken "not as good as I would like to be" batsmen, Hem toiled under the London sun picking his shots with what appeared relative ease and kept the runs flowing. All the while, Mark was still carrying the Proctor total to something respectable when he was eventually bowled by Olly for a match high score of 60. Tom Higginson made his way to the crease and left Hem to keep the runs ticking over. Unfortunately for the Proctors, Hem (17) was out lbw next over to Ujjal and Mike Addicott came in as last batsmen. He saw off the last few balls of Ujjal's over, which included a moment of uncertainty where Mike was bowled to a delivery which after some conjecture was called a no-ball. Mike took a single off the last to maintain the strike. Only four more runs were added to score when Addicott (5) was last out, bowled by Olly, stranding Tom on 0, and six overs unused. In hindsight, the Proctors should have scored a few more at the death, but the total of 157 was still a competitive score.
After a delicious tea of sandwiches, pastries and fruits, the Proctors took the field in an attempt to keep the Moore's under pressure and away from the 157 total. Paddy Ell and Hem Patel opened the bowling with some solid line and length bowling. Neither had wicket success with the ball, but they did keep the run rate below what was required. Moore's openers of himself and Fiennes made a solid start, however at first change, Mark Mellor was handed the leather to get the breakthrough. And that he did, trapping Captain Moore lbw for 11. In fact, Mellor featured in the first three wickets of the innings bowling Murphy for 5 and catching Fiennes at mid-off off Proctors opening spell. Murphy's wicket came about largely due to a lack of shot selection, which the sledgers in arms, Park and Addicott behind the stumps, were right in his ear for his entire innings. The new batsmen at the crease were Marty Newkirk and Tim Francis. Francis(18) was next to go with the lbw featuring again in this game, off the bowling of regular team captain Jon Gower. The wicket of Newkirk proved to be elusive however, and made our bowlers pay for anything not on a length. Ujjal was run out in classic South Africa-esque mix up for 0. The brothers Gower battled out the next wicket, with Jon taking this year's bragging rights, trapping Dave lbw for 5. Newkirk was quickly running out of partners, and tried to bring the required run rate down. However, on 46, he moved down the pitch only to miss time and have his castle dismantled by the able bowling of Mark Mellor. Mackey and Gabbay were the new batsmen at the crease for the Moore's knew exactly what was required of them. The required rate was at more than a run a ball however some clever shot placements brought this to a run a ball in no time. Andy Orme chimed in with a good length delivery that was driven to the sure hands of the Strongroom fielding coach Hem Patel in the cover region. Damo Plumbridge was the last batsmen in for Moore and partnered well with Gabbay to set up a thrilling final over. Seven from the over was the winning total, and some clever shots from both batsmen had this reduced to one run from the last two deliveries. Proctor bowler Tom Higginson had bowled well without success, however all that changed with the second last delivery of the match. Beating the bat of Plumbridge, Higginson had closed out team Moore for 157, resulting in the 25th anniversary intra-club challenge as a TIE!!! Both teams had the chance for victory, and the Proctors certainly rued quite a few dropped catches which proved decisive in the result. However, the way both teams played, a tie seemed like the fairest result and it would safe to say Strongroom was the real winner on the day.
The next fixture sees Strongroom cc head to Crouch End to take on Washington, and hopefully continue the winning start to the season.
Written By: Mike Addicott
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