Rebbeck and Ray Dig In For Victory
Highgate Woods, 7/9/2005
Strongroom won by 2 wickets
Gardeners: 94 all out
Strongroom: 95-8
View the Scorecard
A muggy overcast day and a damp few days build up bought fears of a Highgate pudding to mind. First inspection of the pitch (after the heavy roller had been applied) allayed these fears slightly as it seemed a lot firmer than we had feared. Even so, when skipper Ray finally managed to win a toss, he had no hesitation in putting the Gardeners in especially with the promise of improved conditions later in the day and a stronger bowling than batting line up.
Strongroom were much changed from the away match of this double-header with only Jolyon, John Baddeley, Guy Wilson and Simon Ray surviving from that famous win. Missing the big guns of Gower D, Gower J, Proctor, Woolhouse, Morris, Mellor and Armit it could be said that this Strongroom side was, on paper, weaker than many of recent years. Not at all! What this team lacked in skill, it more than made up for in determination, iron will and never-say-die attitude in both fielding and batting.
One-minute silence was observed before the start of play following the terrorist attacks in London on Thursday.
Opening bowlers Shah and Ray bowled a tidy line and length, Shah in particular, getting the batsmen to play almost every ball. Ray managed to make the level of performance not normally seen until his second spell appear by the second over. The pitch was showing signs of variable bounce and movement both off the seam and in the air. Ray was rewarded for keeping the scoring rate down when opener Lloyd (3) chased a wide one. The fielding was sharp and the bowling tight. The first dismissal bought danger man Woodhouse to the crease. Famous for his knocks in the past, he surely must have wanted to score some runs after his relative failure the previous week. Shah and Ray kept the pressure on, but despite some playing and missing from both batsmen no more wickets fell.
Mike Gabbay replaced Simon from the scorebox end and he soon slipped into his familiar probing line and length. Perhaps he of all the Strongroom bowlers could exploit the vagaries of the Highgate pitch with his accuracy. Woodhouse played and missed but also was looking dangerous after unleashing a couple of powerful cuts, Shah was replaced by Joylon who was keen to return the form he showed at Highgate versus Corona and not the form shown at Gardeners last week. The first few balls were not promising, but opener Basset was showing his intentions by trying to smash everything. It was a battle of nerves, which Joylon immediately, although slightly fortuitously won, when Basset (9) slapped a low full-toss straight to Bully at Square leg who hung onto a very sharp chance.
Strongroom were right on their game now and were soon rewarded with the wicket of danger man Woodhouse. Surely these teams who play us regularly know that there is never 2 to Guy Wilson! The Gardeners had obviously forgotten this and when Woodhouse was called back for a second by Clayton (W), Wilson duly chased, slid, threw and ran out Woodhouse by a good metre! He scored only 13. The celebrations of the fielders showed what this wicket meant. Strongroom were beginning to believe that this might be their day. Mike and Jolyon were keeping it very tight and the nagging persistence bought the wicket of Clayton (W) well caught behind by Pete (who was having a blinder) for 6.
Richard replaced Jolyon after 5 overs and his variations of pace and spin quickly bought success when Thomas was bowled via his box for 5. Ray returned for his now famous second spell and was soon rewarded with the wicket of the Gardeners skipper Johnstone for 5 with a well directed Yorker, Aked came in and played a couple of nice shots but he was down by the pitch again of the bowling of Ray for 2 caught well by Shah.
Som replaced Mike after his excellent 7 over spell, and immediately found some nice away movement, although too many were starting too wide of off stump. At the other end Gardeners number 7 Crowther had decided that attack was the best form of defence and had gone after Richard. He had some success, but was lucky to survive after Bully dropped an easier chance than the earlier one he had taken. He also managed to split mid on and mid off with a leading edge. When Som found his line he immediately bowled Clayton ® for 1 with an absolute beauty Shah replaced Richard and quickly took the wicket of Merlin (4), again with a great delivery. Som finished off the innings, slightly lucky to bowl danger man Crowther for 28 with a long hop that did not bounce.
Strongroom had bowled out the powerful Gardeners batting line up for 94, with every bowler contributing. The fielding had been exemplary throughout typified by Guy’s athleticism and Pete’s dedication.
At tea, Strongroom felt justifiably proud of themselves, but knew that they still had their work cut out to achieve an unlikely victory. They knew that Gardeners had bowling options and the pitch would suit their nagging accuracy and safe hands. The Gardeners themselves were quietly confident that they could turn this game around. A lot depended on the opening exchanges. If Strongroom could see off the first few overs and score a few runs, they would be in the driving seat, on the other hand, a few wickets and the pressure would really be on.
John Baddeley and Pete strode out to face the opening bowling of Le Bon and Aked. For a while they looked comfortable, both batsman playing some nice looking shots and keeping out the straight ones. Pete (4) was a bit early on one and popped a catch back to the bowler. The first was wicket down for 14. Chats came in and again looked quite comfortable but having called for a runner (Guy) there was a mix up and he was run out for 2 (26 for 2). More wickets fell to some good bowling and we were 37 for 6 with Ray and Wilson at the crease, Guy swung across a straight one to leave Strongroom in dire straits at 43 for 7.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man and on Saturday July the 9th that man was Jolyon. With a defence straight out of the MCC handbook and the attacking finesse of a right-handed David Gower (Leicestershire, Hampshire and England variety, not StrongroomCC) he was trained for this situation. Never flustered always watching the ball intently, he defended stoutly whilst getting maximum from the bad balls. Ray and Jolyon know that time was on their side, if they could stay in the runs would come and the pressure would be back on the fielding side. They managed to do this with a little bit of luck, Ray surviving a caught and bowled off Clayton ® and Johnstone bowling a very probing line and length. The score was 80 when the first ball of Le Bon’s last over was chopped on by Ray (15). Strongroom had got so close but now had just 2 wickets left and still 15 runs needed for victory. This wicket had just opened the door to let the Gardeners back in, as they must have thought they were nearly out of it as Jolyon and Ray had headed toward the low target. Som came in and despite playing and missing a couple of times managed to swing a couple of lusty blows to win it for the Strongroom and ending 11 not out. Man of the match went to Jolyon for his 28 not out and 1-12 from 5.
Another great game versus the Gardeners was enjoyed by all who played. Lets see if the intensity shown in this match can be carried on to LBS away next week.
Written By: S Ray
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