England League and Cup Discussion

[spark]

Ruff Royals Trevor Francis Tracksuit
Batting - Top Order 14,828 14,623
Batting - Middle Order 12,487 11,692
Batting - Tail 4,892 5,180
Bowling - Seam 13,400 (12) 13,721 (20)
Bowling - Spin 14,067 (8) 0 (0)
Fielding/Keeping 17,876 16,334
Overall 245,907 238,411

Trevor Francis Tracksuit won by 12 runs

Despite a magnificent 101 not out from 67 balls for Laurence and a good 52 from Schmidt we didn't get the big run-scoring overs in early enough and gave ourselves too much to do at the end.

I think I have to take most of the blame for this one though; playing 2 spinners on this pitch wasn't a good call (or perhaps the pitch choice wasn't correct).

Egham Town push ahead of us in the league with a massive run rate advantage. We play them next week.

[casperj]

Sledgingshire Crestfallen Sidekicks
Batting - Top Order 13,152 13,648
Batting - Middle Order 11,028 11,654
Batting - Tail 5,475 6,387
Bowling - Seam 12,836 (16) 12,362 (12)
Bowling - Spin 14,471 (4) 14,134 (8)
Fielding/Keeping 16,089 15,866
Overall 227,228 233,326

Crestfallen Sidekicks won by 33 runs

Move up to second with this win. Visit to leaders Bathaloner next week will probably determine whether we have a chance of the title.

[wolfberries]

wolfberries gRhyllidae
Batting - Top Order 12,503 13,884
Batting - Middle Order 10,326 12,179
Batting - Tail 4,649 6,195
Bowling - Seam 12,745 (12) 9,909 (8)
Bowling - Spin 13,367 (8) 13,334 (12)
Fielding/Keeping 15,333 16,384
Overall 216,236 231,813

Result: wolfberries won by 28 runs

I'll take the win.

[Atko]

Camberwell Carrots vs The Raging Speed Horns
League Youth 2.1

Weather Sunny
Pitch Even

Away match for us this week as we take on Camberwell Carrots. The Carrots sit bottom of the league on 4 points; we're 5th on 12, but there's not much between the teams, They won the toss and decided to bat, which would have been my choice too

As I type, we've just bagged another wicket -

M. Straphmurta (rws) 4-0-21-3, B. Carolan 8 (12b), R. Winder 0 (0b)
End of over 23 (3 runs) - Camberwell Carrots(113-4) RR 4.91

I've got my two wristies on aggro today, and it's sort of paying off wicket-wise, although the scoring rate is a wee bit higher than I'd like. One or two more wickets, and I'll feel vindicated.

[Atko]

End of over 40 (8 runs) - Camberwell Carrots(209-7) RR 5.22

I think I'm happy with that. Even is still a tough one to guesstimate for me.

Anyway, thusfar -

End of over 10 (3 runs) - The Raging Speed Horns(48-0). 162 runs required from 30 overs. RR 4.80 RRR 5.40

Ugh! - as I type, we lose our first wicket ...

[spark]

D. Buck (rfm) 8-0-36-2, A. McLean 6 (6b), L. Weare 37 (23b)
End of over 40 (4 runs) - Ffoh(199-4) RR 4.97

Uneven pitch so it's an okay effort by my bowlers but I still think it's a bit too much. Buck was our best with 2-36.

G. Gunn (rfs) 1-0-8-0, C. Macrow 27 (36b), J. Vasquez 23 (35b)
End of over 14 (8 runs) - Ruff Royals(63-1). 137 runs required from 26 overs. RR 4.50 RRR 5.27

Also an okay start but we're a little behind the run rate required.

[spark]

Ruff Royals Ffoh
Batting - Top Order 7,017 7,442
Batting - Middle Order 5,920 6,438
Batting - Tail 3,663 4,179
Bowling - Seam 6,390 (32) 8,104 (24)
Bowling - Spin 8,747 (8) 8,103 (16)
Fielding/Keeping 8,681 8,376
Overall 123,091 133,701

Ruff Royals won by 5 wickets

A very pleasing win. Allrounder Vasquez did well as an opening bat but, sadly, got out just short of getting his half century (48 from 79 balls). Howe was our top scorer with 58.

If my maths are correct that win puts us 8 points clear of the relegation zone. We'll probably need at least another couple of wins to be safe this season.

[Atko]

Result: Match tied

Oh well ... looking at the over comparison we were neck and neck all the way; I'd have thought late acceleration would've got us over the line, but alas, 8 off the last over proved too much - we even finished on the exact same score as the oppo 209-7 and we both got 9 extras!

Match Ratings
Camberwell Carrots The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 7,296 6,121
Batting - Middle Order 5,497 6,291
Batting - Tail 4,468 4,045
Bowling - Seam 6,089 (24) 6,260 (12)
Bowling - Spin 6,616 (16) 7,281 (28)
Fielding/Keeping 8,545 8,555
Overall 121,716 122,327

... and nothing's changed - we're still 5th and they're still bottom.

[Chezza]

A couple of consolation wickets towards the end, but the result was never in doubt as the oppo cruised to victory with overs and wickets to spare. Oddly enough, of my guys, it was the medium pacers who were the better bowlers, taking the four wickets that fell; what can ya do?

Final result -

Chesney Champions won by 6 wickets

The numbers -

Match Ratings
Chesney Champions The Raging Speed Horns
Batting - Top Order 15,046 14,506
Batting - Middle Order 14,356 10,570
Batting - Tail 7,996 4,262
Bowling - Seam 13,869 (20) 14,186 (30)
Bowling - Spin 15,362 (30) 14,630 (20)
Fielding/Keeping 17,960 17,716
Overall 269,301 238,058

Good luck to Chezza and his crew for the rest of the competition - that's a frighteningly strong team he's got there.

Now we need to focus on bagging a league title ...

I hadn’t actually seen this to now. Gg Atko. I had to find a pitch that negated Speed. In reliable form and elite summary he had the potential to win the game for you individually.

In the end worked out a bit too well and Speed got 0/50 odd and dropped his form back to capable

[Chezza]

You’re also unlucky Atko because since the ME changes Zeneca has gone from a complete world beater to a pie chucker, so just random he got a few wickets in the cup against you.

[Atko]

.....

I hadn’t actually seen this to now. Gg Atko. I had to find a pitch that negated Speed. In reliable form and elite summary he had the potential to win the game for you individually.

In the end worked out a bit too well and Speed got 0/50 odd and dropped his form back to capable

Yeah I noticed that! I'm also complicit in that I had him on aggro every over - he was either gonna get lucky or get spanked. Don't worry, he only dropped 17 points - a wicket or two today should haul him back to reliable

[Atko]

Trevor Francis Tracksuit vs The Raging Speed Horns
League One Day 1.1

Weather Sunny
Pitch Even

Away to Trevor Francis Tracksuit today, on another of those pesky even pitches. Sunny weather adds another level of blandness, so perhaps a more circumspect approach is required? Not sure about this one.

After Saxon (RF)'s two three-fers in his last two 1st team outings, I've decided to give him another game. Ravana (RFS) sits this one out, and once more we have a fully varied attack, although lose a bit of batting down the order. Conditions aren't exactly ideal for him, but it'll be useful to see what Saxon can do with the "all things equal" nature of an even pitch, plus I need to start giving the 2nd XI more OD game time.

Anyhow, we won the toss and inserted the opposition - after 10 overs -

D. Diablo (rm) 5-0-20-1, G. Bula 25 (28b), B. Hopper 4 (11b)
End of over 10 (5 runs) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(38-1) RR 3.80

Honours even, I imagine ...

[spark]

E. Mwai (rm) 5-0-18-1, T. Beacham 8 (13b), C. Richards 0 (3b)
End of over 25 (1 run) - Sledgingshire(95-5) RR 3.80

Slow pitch and we've picked up a good few wickets. We can't afford to let them off the hook.

[Atko]

At Drinks -

R. Baldwin (rfs) 5-0-23-1, M. Richardson 21 (31b), M. Tekere 4 (1b)
End of over 25 (8 runs) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(109-3) RR 4.36

I'd say it's evenly balanced - a couple of wickets would change everything (as always! ), or they might push on. Glad to have dislodged Bula (48), he was beginning to worry me. Interesting contest.

[Atko]

Hmmm -

R. Baldwin (rfs) 7-1-24-3, N. van Riebeeck 25 (51b)
End of over 43 (1 run) - Trevor Francis Tracksuit(170-10) RR 3.95

Barring a catastrophic batting display, I imagine we can knock those runs off without too much fuss.

Good bowling and fielding all round, with wickets for everyone and a couple of runouts. Speed nabbed a couple, so should be back to reliable form for next weeks tour, and Saxon nabbed 1-23 off eight overs to prove our most economical bowler. Baldwin (RFS) polished off the tail to finish on 3-24.

Let the chase begin!