Nothing hackneyed about latest Strongroom win
Hackney, 8/27/2005
Strongroom won by 51 runs
Strongroom: 182-7 (J.Morris 56)
London Fields: 131 all out
View the Scorecard
A day out for Strongroom in late August, with an away fixture at the rather pleasant London Fields ground in Hackney. Inexplicably, Rich Woolhouse dropped out at the last minute to go and watch England at Trent Bridge, and so Strongroom headed into battle with 10 men.
Stand-in skipper Dave Gower won the toss and chose to bat first, and promptly hit the first three balls of the match for four before leaving the fourth and getting caught behind off an ambitious drive off the fifth. James Morris came in to join John Baddeley, and this pair added a chirpy 53 off just nine overs – James punching down the ground and John (17) playing a series of wristy cuts and leg glances. Mark Pickering came into join Morris and they put on 44 in the next 10 overs. Morris by now had the measure of the slow, grassy pitch and purred to a classy fifty before being bowled by London Field’s (LF) slow bowler. Mark (29) was struggling to get any sort of timing together, but crucially he hung around as Guy (5) and Will Latham (8) helped add further runs. Mike Gabbay finally won promotion to no. 7 and more than justified this with a bristling 21, including five 4s, lifting Strongroom to what seemed like a defendable total.
Shock horror all round as it was then revealed that there was no tea. Strongroomers rushed to the pub to fuel up on nuts and crisps, supplemented by Guy and John’s inspired trip to the local kebabbery.
Mike and Bully bowled a probing opening spell but were unlucky as catches went down and balls lobbed into spaces. Mike finally got the breakthrough in the 7th over, by which time LF were at the required rate of just over 5 an over. Dave and James came on first change, and Dave’s slow bowling (3-24 off 7 overs) soon showed signs of gripping the pitch and proving hard to get away, picking up an lbw in his first over. James bowled his usual aggressive, bustling spell and picked up a further wicket. By now, LF were going along at near the required rate, but were having trouble building partnerships. Will replaced James and bowled a largely inspired (apart from six no-ball beamers) spell of 3-20 in 4 overs of sticky, line-and-length military medium – just what the captain ordered. By now LF were still only just behind the run rate, but found themselves in deep trouble through loss of wickets at steady intervals. Any remaining nerves among those Strongroom players involved in the painful defeat against Jesmond Jaguars the previous week were put to rest when Bully secured victory with a top second spell of 1-5 in his final 3 overs.
This was a great winning performance from a Strongroom team lacking several of its big names – highlighting the depth of talent in the club this year. The team held their nerve and stayed calm despite the healthy run rate and three spilled catches. Particularly satisfying were the good bowling performances from players who hadn’t turned their arms over much this year. The ground fielding was solid, and David Franks’ swift swooping across the square was always a threatening presence that often forced LF to look for bigger hits.
Both teams withdrew to the handily placed pub in the park. This was a hastily arranged bank holiday weekend fixture against a team that Strongroom hadn’t played for some six years – both teams were keen to play again before another six pass.
Written By: D Gower
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