NLCC 1XI v Richmond on Sat 17 May 2008 at 1pm
Match was Drawn NLCC 4 pts, RCC 1 pt
On a drizzling Saturday NLCC won the toss and asked last year’s relegated premier division side to bat first on a green Shepherd’s cot pitch. Play got underway half an hour late, meaning a few overs were shaved off.
Opening the bowling Maaz Haffiji generated pace and bowled a disciplined line, while Tom Wakeford from the top end bowled his usual off stump tempters with Askew standing up to the wicket for most of his spell. Richmond’s opening batsmen showed off their full repertoire of premier-division shots, but their execution was somewhat lacking as the ball more often than not ended up in Askew’s gloves. Despite the green tinge to the pitch, the new ball flew through for Maaz and he produced a beauty to castle Griffiths without scoring. Maaz continued his fine spell of Saturday-afternoon furniture removal with the wicket of Hewlet for six, before inducing a mis-timed drive into the safe hands of Green at Mid-Off. In seasons past Maaz may have struggled to get in the wickets on such a pitch, so extra credit must go to him for such a display in conditions more suited to the slower seamers. At 40-4, Richmond were shaken and the skipper looked to turn the screw with AK-47 replacing Maaz after his fiery five-over burst of 3-10.
AK steamed in off the long run and was extremely unlucky not to snare Balch LBW. In truth, this turned out to be a pivotal moment as NLCC were made to pay to the tune of 122 runs (50% of Richmond’s total!). Meanwhile, Wakeford threatened to settle in for the day, with a “slip cordon” of short cover-point, short cover and short extra cover, but his spell came to an end after some loose deliveries were dispatched by Richmond’s centurion. At the 18 over point Balch and the left-handed Alexander were looking increasingly comfortable, and as the ball began to sponge up water from the outfield the skipper turned first to Jon Scantlebury and then to Tom Noutch to make a breakthrough. The conditions by this time were more suited to batting with the wet ball skidding onto the bat, and although Noutch managed to bag a wicket and induce a caught & bowled chance from Balch, Richmond were steadily piling on the runs.
SKIPPER's NOTE: With just 26 overs bowled in the first 110 mins we were forced to bowl 12 overs of spin with a wet ball - hardly ideal. It worked to the extent that we bowled 19 overs in an hour...but given that those 12 overs of spin cost 85 runs all the seamers might like to think about having a plan B Sunday league style run up to fall back on. We don't want our tactics to be dictated by over rates.
The return of Maaz, however, had an immediate and devastating effect, as he cleaned up Balch with the first ball of his new spell. Two balls later, he snared his fifth wicket to complete a fine five-wicket haul. Richmond declared shortly afterwards leaving NLCC a target of 246. A rain delay after tea reduced the overs remaining to 36, meaning realistically the visitors were defending a 4-point target of 192.
Damp conditions and a greentop at Shepherd’s Cot mean only one thing: Askew opening. So, with the batting deck shuffled, Godfrey-Wood and Askew opened up with Ridley held back to the middle order. It hadn’t been the best of seasons for Askew so far, having been barred from North Mid last week and having his car break down on the morning of this match, but he cast all this aside with a fine aggressive innings of 44. Along with his usual busting energy at the wicket, he also unfurled a “first six” for NLCC by smashing a full-toss from Richmond’s change-bowler over point. Incredibly, he managed a further “first six” with a lofted straight-drive straight into the BBQ area. This brought his tally to ten “first-sixes” for NLCC since 1999.
Askew was ably supported by Godfrey-Wood and Mills, both of whom looked comfortable before falling. Richmond’s attack, meanwhile, bowled with discipline but lacked great penetration even with the new ball, so by the time Ridley arrived at the crease and the ball was damper, the runs began to flow freely. While last week Ridley gave a glimpse of his batting talent, here he treated NL to a lingering stare as he produced a well-paced innings of 40 including some sensational shots. In particular, his driving of good length balls was a class above all else seen on the day. He eventually had his off-stump rattled while attempting to work the ball to leg in search of quick runs.
An asking rate of over five-an-over was a tough ask on this pitch, and with the slow outfield preventing more conventional boundaries being scored, it was time for the skipper to call on AK-47 to up the ante. Most batsmen have their own personal routine and superstitions before batting, and so AK performed his. He moved his car from the NLCC car park and strode out with a coat hanger still in his shirt. AK proceeded to show he is far more than just a “plenty-of-room-in-the-air” man, picking off the singles as well as damaging cars. It has been a long time since someone cleared the willow tree at Shepherd’s Cot, and we witnessed it on Saturday as AK ignored wickets falling at the other end to nervelessly see NL home with a ball to spare (which, incidentally, was dispatched to the mid-wicket boundary!).
Overall a satisfactory display from NLCC who picked up their first points of the season against a stongly fancied side. Having reduced Richmond to 40-4 there was of course some disappointment at not claiming full points, but a combination of the wet ball and the need to fulfil our over-rate meant a win was out of the question this week. NL move on to Twickenham next week with hopes of notching up their first league win of the year.
Report: Fishmonger
Richmond Batting
245 for 8
| Hewlet |
6 |
Bowled |
| Griffiths |
0 |
Bowled |
| Price |
5 |
Caught |
| Balch |
122 |
Bowled |
| Bail |
8 |
Caught |
| Alexander |
47 |
Bowled |
| Bail |
40 |
Not Out |
| Hennessy |
0 |
Bowled |
| Nawab |
4 |
Lbw |
| Kushwala |
2 |
Not Out |
| Sikander |
|
|
NLCC 1XI Bowling
NLCC 1XI Batting
196 for 7
Richmond Bowling
| Kushwala |
16.0 |
2 |
76 |
4 |
19.00 |
4.75 |
| Sikandar |
18.0 |
0 |
86 |
3 |
28.67 |
4.78 |
| Hennessy |
2.0 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
0.00 |
10.00 |