England League and Cup Discussion

[spark]

Egham Town CC won by 19 runs

Egham Town CC Ruff Royals
Batting - Top Order 6,948 6,962
Batting - Middle Order 5,862 5,302
Batting - Tail 4,245 3,899
Bowling - Seam 7,767 (16) 8,685 (24)
Bowling - Spin 6,671 (24) 6,953 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 7,874 8,761
Overall 123,145 127,000

I thought it was going to be a tough game and so it proved.

An even pitch but with the hot weather I picked a couple more spin bowlers. That was not a good choice and it looks as if I should have stuck with my normal team as they went for more than 10 an over. It also didn't help when we dropped their captain fairly early on. Wrist spinner Niazi did pick up 3-53 and he needs to start picking up more wickets as an average of 54 in this format is not really acceptable even if the conditions rarely favour him.

Needing 262 to win, we were always going to be up against it. We had a good go at it with 74 from Howe, 39 for Fuls, and 37 for Macrow but we lost crucial wickets towards the end when we were only slightly behind the run rate required and that slowed us right down.

I was expecting a relegation battle this season so two wins and two defeats so far isn't a surprise.

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Inchigeela Angels
Batting - Top Order 7,219 7,339
Batting - Middle Order 5,641 6,013
Batting - Tail 3,006 3,506
Bowling - Seam 7,648 (12) 6,665 (32)
Bowling - Spin 7,064 (28) 7,094 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 8,877 7,444
Overall 123,285 120,014

Result: Inchigeela Angels won by 2 runs

Hot and Dry conditions and we get beaten by a team with ONE spinner! I suppose the four run outs against their zero didn't help us!

[Atko]

Relegation reprobates vs The Raging Speed Horns
League One Day 1.1

Weather Hot
Pitch Hard

Away to the Reprobates today and it's hot and hard ( ).

My guys very seldom play on batsman-friendly pitches, so this will be an interesting one - particularly with hot conditions putting a crimp in the pace bowlers' performances. The oppo won the toss and decided to bowl - I would have too - so it's up to us to set the pace. I'm guessing I need 300+ minimum on this track - if anything, my main concern is that I haven't been too aggressive with orders - an approach I've adopted since being overly gung ho with the smash and grab last season. Anyhow, it's early days, but so far so good, as they say -

G. Jeffries (lfm) 4-0-23-0, J. Shalidor 17 (21b), P. Labyrinth 33 (29b)
End of over 8 (8 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(52-0) RR 6.50

[Atko]

Nice score at drinks -

E. Fagg (lf) 3-0-33-0, H. Charlton 56 (49b), P. Labyrinth 89 (77b)
End of over 25 (8 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(173-1) RR 6.92

I'll be very grumpy if we don't get close to, or preferably surpass, 400 after this start.

[Atko]

Okay, first part of the job done -

End of over 50 (17 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(404-5) RR 8.08

My only concern is that I'm carrying a couple of medium pacers; not sure they're gonna be up to scratch in these conditions...

[Atko]

Turned into a bit of a nailbiter!

Relegation reprobates made an almighty effort, losing a few wickets on the way, but key was the loss of Lette in the 48th over - after smashing our bowlers for 129 off 79 balls, 17 off the last couple of overs looked like a formality for him. Alas, for the oppo, after his departure, the tail was left with the task, and it proved too much -

End of over 50 (4 runs) - Relegation reprobates(397-8). 8 runs required from 0 overs. RR 7.94 RRR 0.00
D. Ridimahaliyadda 4 (4b), D. Harper 5 (7b), M. Calver (lm) 10-0-78-1
G. Jeffries is tired.

The Raging Speed Horns won by 7 runs

Exciting finish in the end - which I could have done without - fingernails down to the bloomin' bone.

That win keeps us top with four points of daylight.

The numbers -

Match Ratings
Relegation reprobates The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 14,117 14,953
Batting - Middle Order 13,022 10,971
Batting - Tail 5,275 4,508
Bowling - Seam 12,798 (40) 14,973 (30)
Bowling - Spin 14,372 (10) 15,200 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 16,833 18,514
Overall 240,451 248,083

[casperj]

Crestfallen Sidekicks Goondiwindi
Batting - Top Order 13,368 11,058
Batting - Middle Order 10,975 13,939
Batting - Tail 6,510 6,569
Bowling - Seam 12,770 (20) 14,359 (20)
Bowling - Spin 13,501 (30) 12,699 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 16,016 16,347
Overall 230,993 235,556

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 7 wickets

Finally got a win in the one day league, but still in the bottom 3. Match engine still makes no sense. Hot/Dry but my two seamers performed far better than my 3, better rated, spinners. Spinners went for 5.5+ an over, and only really took the wickets of the tailenders.

[wolfberries]

Match engine still makes no sense. Hot/Dry but my two seamers performed far better than my 3, better rated, spinners. Spinners went for 5.5+ an over, and only really took the wickets of the tailenders.

Tell me about it

"Hot and Dry conditions and we get beaten by a team with ONE spinner"

[wolfberries]

wolfberries C.C.DeVille CCC
Batting - Top Order 13,766 12,747
Batting - Middle Order 11,521 10,906
Batting - Tail 4,984 5,971
Bowling - Seam 11,847 (40) 11,201 (30)
Bowling - Spin 12,920 (10) 11,644 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 16,590 14,225
Overall 226,179 212,095

Result: wolfberries won by 78 runs

Easy enough win in the end.

[spark]

Ruff Royals Bathaloner
Batting - Top Order 14,420 13,860
Batting - Middle Order 11,747 11,820
Batting - Tail 4,766 7,800
Bowling - Seam 13,081 (20) 12,329 (20)
Bowling - Spin 13,229 (30) 13,082 (30)
Fielding/Keeping 17,322 15,951
Overall 236,789 237,884

Bathaloner won by 4 wickets

We were going quite well at 114-1 on a dry pitch after deciding to bat. However, we lost 3 or 4 wickets around the drinks break which really put us on the back foot and we could only battle our way to 237. Bullock got 71, House 47 and Delap a personal best of 45.

We struggled to pick up wickets early on and around the drinks break and the run rate was always under their control. We did pick up some wickets after 35 overs but it was too little too late.

The good news is that Goondiwindi also lost (thanks, casper) so we're still top albeit level on points with 2 other teams.

[Atko]

Sleeperbloke vs The Raging Speed Horns
Cup Matt Krevs Memorial Cup

Weather Windy
Pitch Hard

Round 4 of the Cup and it's starting to get a little more serious. Today we locked horns once more with Monsieurflibble - Friday it was his main in the league, today his affiliate in the cup, Sleeperbloke. They seemed to punch around the 225k mark, so after some umming and ahhing I decided to go with a full strength team. The fallout that fatigue was likely to be a niggling issue post match for a few of the team was mitigated somewhat by three of 'em being away for National duty anyway, and the others having reached the age that "Rest" is no longer a real issue for their training.

Monsieurflibble seems to like it hard (phnaar phnaar), and once again this was the pitch confronting us. The oppo won the toss, decided to bat (happy with that), and proceeded to score 361-6 off their 50 overs. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a fan of (or particularly au fait with) batsman-friendly tracks, so I had to guesss this was a reasonable but not too challenging total, especially after playing on hard Friday, and scoring 400+ with slightly more defensive orders. Annoyingly, my bowlers got tonked around, which doesn't help their form - although the two spinners picked up a couple of wickets each to keep their fantasy points in the black.

Cue our innings (which I missed 'cos ya gotta go to bed sometime ). Well, it was the usual (from what I could make out) featherbed snorefest of boundaries and very little danger of wicket action. Youngest bat, Harvey Charlton anchored it with 167 off 132 balls aided by a smattering of half centuries from among the rest of the recognised bats, to bring it home with an over to spare; final score 364-5.

As always, the cup is a vital revenue stream, and added to National player compensation, keeps us treading water financially, so resources are going to start to be stretched as the season progresses. But main focus will be the league (as always) - whether I'll need to pull the trigger on the Cup run - assuming I don't just get bundled out - will depend on fatigue and how it will impact the league effort.

Anyway, stats -

Result: The Raging Speed Horns won by 5 wickets

Match Ratings
Sleeperbloke The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 14,149 14,124
Batting - Middle Order 10,657 10,600
Batting - Tail 4,826 4,325
Bowling - Seam 12,268 (40) 14,360 (30)
Bowling - Spin 12,213 (10) 14,585 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 16,470 17,669
Overall 224,404 237,134

[wolfberries]

wolfberries Golden Lion
Batting - Top Order 7,587 8,350
Batting - Middle Order 5,343 5,096
Batting - Tail 2,994 3,486
Bowling - Seam 6,943 (6) 5,519 (20)
Bowling - Spin 7,111 (14) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 8,874 6,176
Overall 122,629 110,366

wolfberries won by 7 wickets

Humid and Dry conditions today, wasn't happy with the weather as this helped my opponent who doesn't normally play any spinners. Thankfully we got the victory while playing a few of the younger prospects.

[spark]

Ruff Royals Snakey's Kent Stars
Batting - Top Order 7,265 7,630
Batting - Middle Order 5,160 5,531
Batting - Tail 3,789 3,882
Bowling - Seam 7,782 (16) 6,896 (20)
Bowling - Spin 8,419 (4) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 8,736 9,211
Overall 126,827 126,410

Ruff Royals won by 33 runs

A decent effort with the bat on an uneven pitch. 16 runs off the final over, all thanks to Vasquez, was probably crucial. Pithey was once again the star with the ball as he took 4-13 in his final YT20 game for us. We bowled them out for 104 to pick up the win and are 4 points off the top and, more importantly, 8 points above the relegation places.

[Atko]

YorkshireTykes vs The Raging Speed Horns
League Youth Twenty20 2.2

Weather Humid
Pitch Slow

Result: YorkshireTykes won by 27 runs

Match Ratings
YorkshireTykes The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 7,422 5,796
Batting - Middle Order 5,608 5,984
Batting - Tail 3,885 3,968
Bowling - Seam 7,392 (16) 6,126 (6)
Bowling - Spin 8,103 (4) 6,962 (14)
Fielding/Keeping 7,432 8,110
Overall 123,743 116,914

Won toss, put 'em in, they scored 167-5, we scored 140-5. Same old story - every batsman on aggro, but incapable of hitting the ball off the square, and still 5 wickets in the shed at the end. They should add a hyper-aggro option, maybe the buggers would start swinging the bat then?

I'll put it down to tight bowling by The Tykes and the nature of the pitch.

[spark]

Ruff Royals Pedagogs
Batting - Top Order 12,291 13,790
Batting - Middle Order 10,850 10,965
Batting - Tail 4,750 5,790
Bowling - Seam 12,745 (8) 13,069 (8)
Bowling - Spin 13,125 (12) 12,927 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 15,963 16,780
Overall 219,569 231,647

Ruff Royals won by 4 wickets

With 2 batters and a keeper away with their national teams I am delighted with the result. We were put in to bowl first and it was looking dodgy at times. For a little while I was expecting to have to chase 200+ then it got a bit better to 180+ but some excellent bowling at the end by Westerveld meant it was only 165 to win. Westerveld finished with figures of 4-31 including 3 wickets for 1 run in the last over.

It still wasn't going to be an easy chase on an even pitch but Laurence excelled to hit his best T20 score of 82 and allrounder Delap also got a crucial 30 not out from 15 balls as we won with 5 balls to spare.

In a season that I was very much expecting to be in a relegation battle, I find my team top of the league; 4 points clear of 2nd place and 10 clear of the relegation zone!