England League and Cup Discussion

[spark]

Ffoh Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 14,448 13,896
Batting - Middle Order 12,133 11,254
Batting - Tail 6,736 4,406
Bowling - Seam 14,172 (12) 13,630 (16)
Bowling - Spin 12,983 (8) 12,769 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 17,423 16,862
Overall 247,291 231,702

Ruff Royals won by 5 runs

Ffoh's poor season in the T20s continues as I think they are now 8 points from safety with 3 games to go. It was a very tight game but, despite not getting many wickets early on, we kept the pressure on them with our economy and picked up all the points.

A 3 wicket burst towards the end helped Rush to figures of 4-23 and Whitehead's 43 not out from 33 balls was the pick of our batsmen.

It's going to be an interesting end to the season as somehow we're not out of a title race with us level on points with Trevor Francis Tracksuit (who we play next week). We're on 28 points now and, whilst we're not technically safe, I think that should be enough for survival.

[spark]

Q. Fattah (rfs) 3-0-8-3, R. Masimela 1 (1b), A. Jabbar 12 (23b)
End of over 22 (4 runs) - Castle Rock CC(99-4) RR 4.50

That's some great figures for a spinner on a hard pitch.

[spark]

Q. Fattah (rfs) 6.4-0-29-5, C. Roberston 8 (9b)
End of over 38 (2 runs) - Castle Rock CC(167-10) RR 4.39

That's a great bowling performance from us albeit we're likely to rate a fair amount higher than them. I was a bit surprised that it was Fattah who picked up the bulk of the wickets but, unusually, all 6 of my bowlers did get a wicket.

[spark]

Castle Rock CC Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 7,372 7,155
Batting - Middle Order 4,860 7,389
Batting - Tail 4,026 5,215
Bowling - Seam 6,027 (32) 6,968 (24)
Bowling - Spin 8,844 (8) 8,719 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 7,534 8,897
Overall 116,563 138,856

Ruff Royals won by 9 wickets

85 not out for Mitchell and 67 not out for Durham saw us to the victory.

[wolfberries]

St. Marks Hill Strollers wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 7,309 4,282
Batting - Middle Order 5,335 4,616
Batting - Tail 3,391 3,071
Bowling - Seam 5,916 (25) 5,023 (24)
Bowling - Spin 7,391 (15) 3,602 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 7,981 7,616
Overall 117,039 89,933

Result: St. Marks Hill Strollers won by 96 runs

Well, that went as expected!

[spark]

Home Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Away Ruff Royals
Ground Nags Head
League One Day 1.1
Date 25 Aug 23 10:00
Crowd 16,743
Weather Windy
Pitch Uneven

I wasn't expecting it to go well today and so far I've been proved right.

J. Spaan (rfm) 9-0-40-1, J. Westerveld 9 (25b), R. Schneider 29 (40b)
End of over 29 (3 runs) - Ruff Royals(122-6) RR 4.21

An allrounder and a bowler needs to save the day for us. It looks like it's just going to be an operation in trying to do as little damage to our NRR as possible.

[spark]

H. Ford (rf) 6.3-1-12-5, M. Roberson 1 (2b)
End of over 38 (maiden) - Ruff Royals(146-10) RR 3.84

A hattrick at the end didn't help. A nice 39 from my allrounder Schneider shame my batters didn't do anywhere near as well.

M. Roberson (lf) 2-0-15-0, A. Fellows 11 (10b), N. De Blaauw 14 (9b)
End of over 3 (12 runs) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(27-0). 120 runs required from 47 overs. RR 9.00 RRR 2.55

If they keep going at this rate it really isn't going to help my NRR.

[spark]

Trevor Francis Tracksuit Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 15,420 13,827
Batting - Middle Order 12,047 11,422
Batting - Tail 5,846 4,400
Bowling - Seam 14,808 (50) 13,717 (40)
Bowling - Spin 0 (0) 12,779 (10)
Fielding/Keeping 18,294 16,886
Overall 256,332 232,509

Trevor Francis Tracksuit won by 8 wickets

A big defeat but at least I got some experience into a younger fast bowler. Also it looks like I'll still be 8 points clear with 2 games to go.

[eagles123]

lost again away on slow the batting was okay but we were never going to chase 270 on slow/windy. 3 runouts was a bit frustrating especially when we had better fielding, but c'est la vie. Last chance saloon next week against Sledginshire, win and we're right back in the survival fight, lose and it's all over. Will be captain Dann's record breaking 151st OD game for us, maybe for once he can actually play like the world class summary bat he's meant to be

[spark]

Ffoh Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 7,677 7,061
Batting - Middle Order 5,664 6,560
Batting - Tail 3,682 4,500
Bowling - Seam 6,470 (16) 6,830 (16)
Bowling - Spin 5,456 (4) 7,443 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 9,191 8,392
Overall 123,321 127,930

Ruff Royals won by 6 wickets

It was a bit of a struggle to take wickets but we only let them get 137 on an uneven pitch. Ames took 3-33.

We lost a couple of early wickets but a near 100 run partnership got us the bulk of the runs with Bennett scoring 64 (a personal best) and Durham 45 not out.

Results elsewhere were interesting with top of the table Oxhey Players suffering their 2nd defeat in a row. That means were level on points with 2 to play although they have a big NRR advantage.

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Fiery's XI
Batting - Top Order 4,523 6,669
Batting - Middle Order 4,196 5,173
Batting - Tail 2,912 4,521
Bowling - Seam 4,926 (12) 6,337 (8)
Bowling - Spin 3,438 (8) 6,262 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 7,612 7,187
Overall 88,108 113,955

Result: Fiery's XI won by 9 wickets

Another loss as expected.

[spark]

Home Ruff Royals
Away Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Ground Ruff Royals CG
League Twenty20 1.1
Date 29 Aug 23 10:00
Crowd 21,168
Weather Sunny
Pitch Slow

Surprisingly, this is a top of the table clash. I've taken the bold move to rest my captain and best allrounder so that they're fresh for Friday's game. I think winning the T20 league is so unlikely that I'm better off trying to ensure we cement our place in SOD 1.1 for another season.

[spark]

L. Verwayen (rm) 4-1-13-2, C. Rush 1 (1b), M. Roberson 8 (14b)
End of over 20 (8 runs) - Ruff Royals(105-9) RR 5.25

A great innings by Schmidt as we were made to bat first and he scored 63 from 60 balls. The rest of the batters didn't do so well!

M. Roberson (lf) 2.3-0-22-2, E. Caulton 3 (6b), A. Kamal 52 (45b)
End of over 17 (8 runs) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(106-4) RR 6.24

We had no chance of defending that total and it's a deserved and unsurprising loss.

Ruff Royals Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Batting - Top Order 14,999 14,709
Batting - Middle Order 9,153 14,131
Batting - Tail 4,363 5,673
Bowling - Seam 14,889 (8) 14,661 (8)
Bowling - Spin 13,111 (12) 14,257 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 17,582 18,414
Overall 231,559 259,721

Trevor Francis Tracksuit won by 6 wickets

Trevor Francis Tracksuit open up a 4 point lead at the top and are a step closer to what I predict will become a dominant period for them. The only things that might be problematic for them are international call-ups or concentrating on the MKMC.

[aarong]

L. Verwayen (rm) 4-1-13-2, C. Rush 1 (1b), M. Roberson 8 (14b)
End of over 20 (8 runs) - Ruff Royals(105-9) RR 5.25

A great innings by Schmidt as we were made to bat first and he scored 63 from 60 balls. The rest of the batters didn't do so well!

M. Roberson (lf) 2.3-0-22-2, E. Caulton 3 (6b), A. Kamal 52 (45b)
End of over 17 (8 runs) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(106-4) RR 6.24

We had no chance of defending that total and it's a deserved and unsurprising loss.

Ruff Royals Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Batting - Top Order 14,999 14,709
Batting - Middle Order 9,153 14,131
Batting - Tail 4,363 5,673
Bowling - Seam 14,889 (8) 14,661 (8)
Bowling - Spin 13,111 (12) 14,257 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 17,582 18,414
Overall 231,559 259,721

Trevor Francis Tracksuit won by 6 wickets

Trevor Francis Tracksuit open up a 4 point lead at the top and are a step closer to what I predict will become a dominant period for them. The only things that might be problematic for them are international call-ups or concentrating on the MKMC.

The international part will start to smash me, I had 1 away for the first couple of tours this season, then 3 last week.
I need to get a few replacements in for next season, I may have a run in the cup too but the league is priority.
One more win in OD games and you’ll be fine, best of luck mate.

[wolfberries]

YorkshireTykes wolfberries
Batting - Top Order 14,004 14,227
Batting - Middle Order 11,481 11,610
Batting - Tail 5,222 5,157
Bowling - Seam 14,074 (16) 13,303 (16)
Bowling - Spin 12,805 (4) 15,550 (4)
Fielding/Keeping 16,521 17,345
Overall 236,275 239,620

Result: wolfberries won by 27 runs

Eight points ahead of second place now, NRR is looking good as well.