England League and Cup Discussion

[spark]

Snakey's Kent Stars Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 6,535 5,796
Batting - Middle Order 5,309 5,174
Batting - Tail 3,817 3,725
Bowling - Seam 7,226 (16) 6,978 (15)
Bowling - Spin 7,124 (4) 8,606 (5)
Fielding/Keeping 8,344 8,513
Overall 119,887 117,526

Match tied

Considering we had a couple of batters away for internationals, I'm happy enough with a tie. My bowlers did well to start with (I picked 7 bowlers!) but let them get away a bit at the end as they scored 136 on an uneven pitch. I then thought we were out of it with 6 overs to go at 90-5 with 47 runs needed at 7.83 an over. We had little chance until we were hit 12 from the penultimate over with 3 wickets left and 1 over left to get 9 runs. We managed 8 to get ourselves 2 points.

We're 6 points clear with 2 games to go.

[Atko]

The Raging Speed Horns vs YorkshireTykes
League Youth Twenty20 2.2

Weather Windy
Pitch Crumbling

Result: YorkshireTykes won by 14 runs

Entertained the top team today and had another of those "fizzled out" results I tend to complain about. They posted 134-6 (emminently gettable), and we fannied around getting to 120-7. A shame our demon RWS was away on Nat duty; along with our LWS (who took 3-15), he might have made the difference. Ah well, mustn't grumble - they are a considerably better team than us (done with Harry Enfield Brummie accent). -

Match Ratings
The Raging Speed Horns YorkshireTykes
Batting - Top Order 6,232 8,536
Batting - Middle Order 5,837 5,573
Batting - Tail 4,067 3,949
Bowling - Seam 6,263 (8) 7,894 (16)
Bowling - Spin 6,370 (12) 8,621 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 8,699 8,040
Overall 118,213 132,606

[spark]

Pedagogs Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 13,906 15,580
Batting - Middle Order 13,446 11,628
Batting - Tail 6,570 6,490
Bowling - Seam 13,650 (20) 11,868 (12)
Bowling - Spin 0 (0) 14,428 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 17,484 17,822
Overall 249,826 246,234

Ruff Royals won by 6 wickets

A good win, especially considering I picked a couple of players to give them much needed experience. Zondeki did well with 2-24 as we restricted them to 156 on an uneven pitch. House (43) and Dennehy (64 not out) held the innings together for us as we got the win with an over to spare.

It's not guaranteed but it's looking like we'll finish at least 3rd.

[Atko]

The Raging Speed Horns vs Two Star CC
League Twenty20 3.3

Weather Windy
Pitch Sticky

Result: Two Star CC won by 11 runs

Same as yesterday - put oppo in - they post a reasonable total - we pootle along and finish a few runs short with wickets in hand. Rinse and repeat week in week out. Think I'll try batting first in future ...

Match Ratings
The Raging Speed Horns Two Star CC
Batting - Top Order 9,859 13,299
Batting - Middle Order 9,969 7,759
Batting - Tail 6,114 4,629
Bowling - Seam 11,480 (16) 12,618 (8)
Bowling - Spin 11,192 (4) 12,065 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 15,481 14,502
Overall 201,214 203,057

[casperj]

Loddington CC Crestfallen Sidekicks
Batting - Top Order 13,087 14,240
Batting - Middle Order 9,203 12,079
Batting - Tail 6,069 6,363
Bowling - Seam 12,180 (16) 13,157 (16)
Bowling - Spin 12,579 (4) 14,415 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 14,535 16,457
Overall 212,275 240,783

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 5 wickets

Only playing for second now, but a good bounceback win. If we can win next week that guarantees second with a week to spare.

[Atko]

S London CC vs The Raging Speed Horns
League Youth 2.1

Weather Overcast
Pitch Slow

Back-end of the seasons sees us gunning for a 2nd/3rd spot finish. To that end we're visiting bottom team South London CC, hoping to bag the points and do a runner! One of our two best bowlers is away on national duty, and with our existing bowler shortage, we're playing two batsmen as bowlers today!

Anyway, we lost the toss and the oppo have put us in -

L. Duke (lfm) 7-1-28-2, L. Loveless 60 (75b), E. Krom 0 (5b)
End of over 29 (2 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(128-5) RR 4.41

Bit hit and miss by us so far, with players either posting a good score, or getting out for squat. Still, lack of bowlers means we pretty much bat down to number 10, so fingers crossed we get the lead out of our bums and push on...

[Atko]

That's nowhere near good enough -

End of over 40 (7 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(191-8) RR 4.78

Poor performance by my mob today. Loveless (81) and McSpank (32) were the pick of a worthless bunch. I can't see my toothless attack being able to limit, or remove the oppo batsmen. A lot rests on Delameter (RFM) and Copious (LWS), but as intimated, I think - barring outrageous fortune - it's too big an ask.

[wolfberries]

op Order 7,808 6,463
Batting - Middle Order 5,546 5,095
Batting - Tail 3,090 3,582
Bowling - Seam 6,546 (24) 6,472 (32)
Bowling - Spin 5,640 (16) 6,904 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 9,219 6,708
Overall 121,265 109,897

wolfberries won by 23 runs

Keeps us in second place on NRR, while we are away next week to third place.

[spark]

SLBenfica Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 6,769 5,343
Batting - Middle Order 5,745 5,753
Batting - Tail 4,580 3,785
Bowling - Seam 6,499 (32) 6,851 (32)
Bowling - Spin 5,724 (8) 9,561 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 7,537 8,567
Overall 118,134 118,410

Ruff Royals won by 1 run

I was fully expecting to lose today with 2 batters away so I picked a couple of players who need the experience. We actually got a decent score with Vinson (84) and Macrow (68) helping us to 216 on a green pitch.

We started the bowling quite well and had them at 84-4 before they got a 116 run partnership. When they needed 14 from the last over and hit the first ball for 6 it wasn't looking good but we managed to hold out.

Snakey's Kent Stars lost today so we're only 4 points behind them and we play them next week. It could be an interesting end to the season.

[Atko]

That's nowhere near good enough -

End of over 40 (7 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(191-8) RR 4.78

... and it wasn't.

S London CC won by 7 wickets

Match Ratings
S London CC The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 7,206 6,528
Batting - Middle Order 5,236 5,988
Batting - Tail 3,251 4,136
Bowling - Seam 6,848 (32) 6,274 (16)
Bowling - Spin 7,675 (8) 6,442 (24)
Fielding/Keeping 5,509 8,866
Overall 111,117 120,947

A wretched week so far with three losses.

[Atko]

Egham Town CC vs The Raging Speed Horns
League One Day 1.1

Weather Cloudy
Pitch Dry

It's been a bad week (see above), and our spotty form in recent weeks in Senior OD has seen us drop from top to third. I'm hoping we can redress the balance in the run-in. No more national matches and just two points seperating the top three mean there's still a good chance at the title.

Egham are a solid outfit, vying with ourselves and Relegation reprobates to bring home the silverware this season. The buggers won the toss and decided to bat (as would I). They got off to a flier, scoring at well over five an over, and not losing their first wicket until they'd racked up nearly a hundred. My heart was sinking fast. The complexion of the game changed after drinks, with two quick wickets for Speed (LF), a slightly less frenetic scoring pace, plus some tidy bowling from the two RFS's, which closed out the innings at -

R. Baldwin (rfs) 8.1-0-23-4, R. Kippins 0 (2b)
End of over 47 (maiden) - Egham Town CC(202-10) RR 4.30

Gotta say, that was totally unexpected! Let's just hope we can capitalize on the bowlers' good work.

[Atko]

No idea what happened there. Cruising along ahead of the runrate, no pressure whatsoever - 135-3, then inexplicably we just imploded to 157-9 . Cruse, our spin specialist, had too much to do with one bunny in tow, and we finally collapsed to 176 all out. Their RWS, Kippins did the damage with 6-28.

Thus endeth a really bad week. That's us out of the title race.

Result : Egham Town CC won by 26 runs

Match Ratings
Egham Town CC The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 15,248 15,107
Batting - Middle Order 12,842 10,923
Batting - Tail 5,103 4,598
Bowling - Seam 14,499 (20) 15,480 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,584 (30) 14,927 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 18,181 18,796
Overall 254,967 250,600

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks Sledgingshire
Batting - Top Order 14,159 13,661
Batting - Middle Order 12,175 12,262
Batting - Tail 6,323 5,528
Bowling - Seam 13,263 (40) 13,227 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,430 (10) 13,871 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 16,467 16,726
Overall 241,192 237,880

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 4 wickets
J. Donfeld (lfs) 9-0-46-1, V. Tampling 122 (138b), R. Minott 17 (12b)
End of over 47 (12 runs) - Crestfallen Sidekicks(253-6) RR 5.38

Strange innings. For the first half were 111-4, sruggling to keep up with the RRR while losing wickets. After drinks we suddenly exploded and put on 110 in 15 overs for the loss of just 1 wicket. That burst made all the difference and we ended up getting home reasonably comfortably!

Finally managed to get an innings out of Tampling. Before today his 37 senior one-day innings had produced a top score of 60 (if you count the T20 that's 66 senior innings without getting past 60). Doubled his top score today and pretty much carried the batting line up, mainly getting help from the all-rounders.

Need 1 win from the last two games to secure third place. Might even be able to sneak up into second, but will depend on the outcome of the top-of-the-table clash next week between Ruffs and Goondiwindi

[spark]

Ruff Royals The Spitfires
Batting - Top Order 15,283 12,414
Batting - Middle Order 12,399 10,331
Batting - Tail 5,059 5,200
Bowling - Seam 13,894 (20) 12,322 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,050 (30) 11,629 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 18,407 14,141
Overall 251,069 209,230

Ruff Royals won by 7 wickets

Dry pitch and we were made to bowl first. We were looking at a big win when we reduced them to 73-5 but they recovered slightly to 201 all out. 4-29 for Westerveld flattered him somewhat as it was largely tailenders that he got out.

We then didn't get off to a great start with the bat at 41-3. Dennehy (90 not out) and House (69 not out) saw us home comfortably in the end.

Still 2 points behind top spot and we play them next week so, just like the youth team, it's going to be an important week upcoming.

[Atko]

Bathaloner vs The Raging Speed Horns
League Youth Twenty20 2.2

Weather Overcast
Pitch Even

Another day of Bingo Cricket commences as we take on bottom placed club, Bathaloner. Last week saw us getting smashed left right and centre by all-comers as we recorded four straight losses, so any result this week will be a vast improvement. Well, we were put in to bat and managed to score 161-6. Loveless, as always, shone with 64 off 48, and the rest of the team didn't suck either, so yay!

I've no idea if that is a good score - I'll let you know at stumps