England League and Cup Discussion

[spark]

E. Mwai (rm) 4-0-38-0, N. Boyle 47 (50b), G. Smyth 91 (83b)
End of over 22 (10 runs) - Relegation reprobates(145-0) RR 6.59

So far bringing in Mwai to play has been a big mistake. He's bowling very badly and he dropped the only chance we created. I'd have liked the run rate to have stayed below 6 at least until the 40th over. I don't really want to be chasing more than 350.

[Atko]

Ffoh played solidly until the 20th over, which saw them sitting pretty at 71-0. They then began to up the pace, which seemed to trigger a few wickets.

Currently -

D. Diablo (rm) 10-3-22-3, R. John 2 (8b), O. Crewdson 0 (1b)
End of over 36 (2 runs) - Ffoh(145-6) RR 4.03

I'd like to polish off the tail quickly with an eye to pumping up our League NRR (assuming a win here! )

[Atko]

...

I'd like to polish off the tail quickly with an eye to pumping up our League NRR (assuming a win here! )

...and so it came to pass -

End of over 42 (3 runs) - Ffoh(162-10) RR 3.86

Right lads, no dramatics - just get the bloomin' runs.

[spark]

J. Westerveld (rfs) 10-0-73-3, M. McCoombe 18 (11b), A. Kabir 2 (3b)
End of over 50 (10 runs) - Relegation reprobates(354-8) RR 7.08

A bit more than I'd have liked to have been chasing but it's within the realms of possibilty. Or, at least, it would if my batsmen don't do their usual thing of getting out far too early. We won't win this but I guess it's an interesting experiment. I suppose I should give a modicum of praise for Schneider who finished with respectable figures of 2-45. Westerveld also took 3 wickets but was much more expensive (3-73).

[Atko]

H. Bramble (lfm) 4-0-25-0, C. Gatehouse 14 (10b), W. Fadington 35 (40b)
End of over 18 (5 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(96-4). 67 runs required from 32 overs. RR 5.33 RRR 2.09

Eeesh - no problem with the runrate, but my mob are just chucking their wickets away - calm down lads...

[spark]

M. McCoombe (rfs) 2-0-15-1, J. House 1 (2b), F. Bullock 43 (41b)
End of over 13 (5 runs) - Ruff Royals(68-2). 287 runs required from 37 overs. RR 5.23 RRR 7.76

We're losing too many wickets and the run rate is a bit low.

[Atko]

Aargh!


R. John (rfm) 6-0-26-2, S. Ravana 12 (29b), R. Baldwin 0 (1b)
End of over 34 (1 run) - The Raging Speed Horns(146-6). 17 runs required from 16 overs. RR 4.29 RRR 1.06

33.5 W John to Fadington : [catch] Wonderful delivery from John which moves away after pitching. Fadington looking to drive through the off side, not fully in position to drive, gets the edge through to Fischer.
W. Fadington c J. Fischer b. R. John 55 (77b 2x4 3x6) SR:71.43

Fadington couldn't stick around to see us home. Let's hope nothing happens to make me grumpy...

[Atko]

All's well that end well -

The Raging Speed Horns won by 4 wickets

Match Ratings
Ffoh The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 14,632 14,946
Batting - Middle Order 13,265 11,026
Batting - Tail 4,718 4,468
Bowling - Seam 13,948 (50) 14,735 (30)
Bowling - Spin 0 (0) 15,405 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 17,802 18,478
Overall 248,895 247,745

Fairly much a team effort with all the bowlers in the wickets and the bats splitting the runs. Special mention for Fadington's 55, which stabilised our reply after some reckless batting (I didn't have 'em on aggro - honest!), and Diablo keeping it tight with 3-22.

Interesting developments with 2nd placed Inchigeela Angels pressurising league leaders Egham Town in their match; I'd prefer Egham to take it so I can get a shot at 2nd spot , but it's looking like 3rd place for me right now...

[Ffoh]

Well done Atko for fending off our last ditch attempt to steal bronze. With the NRR deficit it was win big or go home, so our batting orders were less defensive than usual, which I guess helps to explain the collapse. We'll be back next season...

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks Vivi
Batting - Top Order 14,078 12,100
Batting - Middle Order 11,759 8,783
Batting - Tail 5,843 5,362
Bowling - Seam 14,186 (30) 10,391 (40)
Bowling - Spin 14,189 (20) 12,686 (10)
Fielding/Keeping 17,076 13,322
Overall 243,045 193,839

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 179 runs


Needed a big win for NRR. All my batsmen, apart from terminal failure Bunworth, made 50+. We are 0.34 ahead on NRR so may finally be getting out of Div 3, although the second placed team is at home to the bottom club who only rate 170k next week, so it could still turn around even if we win the last game!

[spark]

Ruff Royals Relegation reprobates
Batting - Top Order 14,535 14,515
Batting - Middle Order 13,740 13,197
Batting - Tail 5,048 5,698
Bowling - Seam 14,466 (40) 12,807 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,741 (10) 14,929 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 18,038 17,506
Overall 254,968 248,740

Relegation reprobates won by 5 runs

A disappointing ending. We pretty much got level on run rate with 8 overs to go and needing about 7 an over with 6 wickets remaining. But then we just started scoring slowly and losing wickets.

On the plus side, there was an excellent 144 from Bullock and a nice 83 from Schmidt. Also we've still got a chance to remain in division 2 for next season although we need to win and Gully Boys need to do us a favour and beat All Leeds Aren't We.

[wolfberries]

Home wolfberries
Away Spingleberry
Ground wolfberries CG
League Youth Twenty20 3.2
Date 22 Jul 24 10:00
Crowd 7,934
Weather Cloudy
Pitch Dry

Toss: Spingleberry won the toss and elected to bat.

A few more prospects picked as we are already promoted.

[spark]

Home Ruff Royals
Away Camberwell Carrots
Ground Ruff Royals CG
League Youth Twenty20 1.1
Date 22 Jul 24 10:00
Crowd 9,630
Weather Cloudy
Pitch Uneven

We're not completely safe but we have the better net run rate. I'd like to finish off a tough season with a win.

After winning the toss and deciding to bowl first, I think we're doing alright. We need to make sure we don't let them off the hook and then we've got to bat well as it could be tricky batting conditions.

M. Niazi (lws) 3-0-20-1, N. Malik 34 (33b), B. Carolan 0 (2b)
End of over 15 (3 runs) - Camberwell Carrots(78-4) RR 5.20

[casperj]

F. Miller (lm) 4-0-39-1, S. Sikander 0 (0b), D. Schade 59 (42b)
End of over 20 (16 runs) - Crestfallen Sidekicks(126-6) RR 6.30

Late flurry of runs got us over a run a ball on a cloudy/crumbling. Probably won't be enough but at least makes it a competitive match. At 80-5 with 3 overs left it was looking like we were getting hammered.

[spark]

Ruff Royals won by 8 wickets

Ruff Royals Camberwell Carrots
Batting - Top Order 7,073 6,967
Batting - Middle Order 5,639 5,243
Batting - Tail 3,696 4,162
Bowling - Seam 7,127 (16) 6,057 (12)
Bowling - Spin 7,762 (4) 6,047 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 8,455 7,867
Overall 123,575 115,192

Pithey was great with 2-13 and Vinson hit a nice 51 not out.

I'm declaring it a successful youth season as we stayed up when I thought we were going to struggle. I'd like to think it will be a bit better next season but I am losing a couple of key players next season so we'll have to see how it goes.

Edit: Forgot to mention that Relegation reprobates confirmed themselves as champions so a big congratulations to them. By far the best side all season and only lost 1 game so deserved to be title winners.