2011 Final Table and Results
Match Reports - Sunday League 2011
OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI v Mostyn away - 10th July 2011
Playing at Catford Cyphers against Mostyn, Captain Smedley won the toss and elected to bat. We didn’t bat too well and got bowled out for 100 in 33.5 overs, our runs were largely thank to Colonel Laurence (who hit a watchful 23) and Haydog (who hit an aggressive 31). Mostyn bowled well on a slow, low wicket. But we batted pretty badly and from 71-2 and then 91-5, we collapsed pretty badly.
Still, chicken and rice was on the menu so it wasn’t all bad. This definitely woke Sammy Stu up a bit as he tore in down the hill and castled Mostyn’s #1 first ball with a rapid deliv!! Their #3 began striding out to the wicket but soon saw sense and turned back for a much needed lid. Captain Smedley shared the new ball from the bottom end and bagged a wicket in his first over with a massive in swinger. Game on! Sammy Stu then took another in his next over with one that seamed back off the pitch, another in his 4th over and another in his 5th (all bowled)! By this time the West Indian crowd had turned on their own players as the wild panic ensued. Captain Smedley then snagged another courtesy of a catch by The Runway who found himself injured and keeping wicket. Mostyn’s #3 was still at the crease and having been dropped, may have been the man to get Mostyn over line. But no, after all the wild swings and misses he’d played, it was ironic that he got out leaving the ball; another big inswinger from Captain Smedley that brought back memories of Simon Katich in the 2005 Ashes!
Then came the turning point, the momentum was now very much on our side with Mostyn in tatters at 67-7; a huge LBW shout was turned down after another seemingly dead straight delivery from Sammy Stu that Mostyn’s #9 managed to pad away. With both bowlers now tiring, in hindsight it may have been a good move to mix up the bowling but with no recognised spin bowler available, it would have to have been seam for seam.
Sticking to the Calypso cricket culture, Mostyn went for their shots, played and missed, nicked and smashed their way over the line with over 21 overs remaining. So well played Mostyn, but good effort from all OD’s players in the 2nd half, how unlucky we were not to get that 8th wicket. Even so, another 40 runs would have been enough on a tricky wicket. In particular, well played Sammy Stu whose name will now be echoed around the league, so please play more often mate!
Thanks go to umpire Andy Parker who filled in for an ‘injured’ Bobalar on short notice. Thanks also to all the Mostyn supporters who created a great atmosphere.
OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI v Kingfisher - 3rd July 2011
Skipper won the toss again and opted to bat on Saturday’s wicket. The Tank got out early and The Runway (12) didn’t last much longer so Tom Churcher and Ainger began to rebuild the innings. Ainger (35) played a loose shot and was out with the score on 80. Tommo batted all the way through and although he rode his luck he actually timed his (and the teams) innings really well and allowed others such as Kiwi #1 (25), Johnny Mac (14) and Ben Webster (16 n.o.) to bat around him. A target of 212 from 40 overs was set – a good target but it was disappointing how long it took KF to bowl their overs (in excess of 3 hours).
After yet another top tea, Captain Smedley and Ainger shared the new ball only to see it disappearing to all parts and in all directions as KF swung hard and certainly had the luck on their side as they skipped to 50 in about 5 overs for the loss of no wickets! Ainger and Captain Smedley then combined for the first wicket and after a good start by KF the momentum swung OD’s way. Ainger added two more wickets and a cracking spell from The Runway left KF in tatters at 85-5. Then came the most entertaining over of the match. Having brought himself back on, Captain Smedley bowled KF’s no.5, had their no.8 LBW two balls later, a mix up from the next ball led to a run out. The next ball fell out Captain Smedley’s hand as he attempted to bowl it and was so wide it almost reached gully and made Steve Harmison’s Ashes opener look pretty tidy.
The captain then enquired as to how many overs The Runway had bowled and although he thought it was 9, the answer he got back was 10 – and therefore he had none remaining. So on came Kiwi #2 who soon bagged a wicket courtesy of a good catch from Bruce Gobbelar. He then should have had another but Brucey somehow found a way to drop a regulation one. 9 wickets down, KF had a fight back and the momentum swung their way again. This was until Captain Smedley got one in the right place, KF’s no.10 nicked it and diving full length to his left, Kiwi #1, the lone man in the slip cordon, took the best catch you will see all season. What a way to finish the game!
In jubilant mood, the Chairman suggested that this could the real 1st XI and he nearly bought a Chairman’s jug (probably would have done had it not been for cricket week!). Having later checked the scorecard, Captain Smedley noticed that The Runway had only bowled 9 overs after all! So maybe KF didn’t want to face him too much! Let's just say it's a good thing we won.
Great team effort lads, was very much needed against a strong side. Thanks go to Bobbelar for umpiring , Willis’ Angels for the tea and everyone who came down to show their support during the day.
OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI away to Old Colfeians A Sunday 26th June
On a scorching day winning the toss was all important and to the relief of all of our team members that is what the captain managed to do. After another nail biting OD CUACO Sunday 1st XI batting order weekly super draw, Laurence and J Mac happened to be opening up again – always worth a watch, however neither hung around too long (although neither were run out this week) so Tommo and Ben set about a recovery. Although green, the wicket was pretty good and neither batsman looked in much trouble against some pretty accurate OC’s bowling. Having said that, after 25 overs it didn’t appear that we were going to get anywhere near 200 and although we managed in excess of 70 off the last 10, the consensus was that we batted a tad slowly in the middle overs. Ben and Tommo did both spend some much needed time in the middle which is one of the benefits of playing on a Sunday, hopefully they can take this form into next Saturday!
So a target of 169 was set and after an extended tea, ex Fernando and The Runway started well. The Runway picked up a couple of good wickets and ex Fernando kept it pretty tight - on another day he would have bagged a couple of early wickets himself. The captain came on and nicked two wickets and the match was in the balance. Then in came Jacky Govindani who played a pretty fortunate innings full of high slaps into gaps and massive swings and misses that had follow-throughs so big that his backside must have been purple. So courtesy of a bit of luck and some bad fielding (including one bad dropped catch and a far-cry from last Sunday) OC’s got over the line with 3 wickets remaining.
Well played OC’s, quite how they performed so well in the field during the heat of the day I don’t know. Thanks go to Boblar for umpiring and Scott Williams for making himself available on short notice. Please make yourselves available this Sunday!
OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI home to Dulwich Kingston Sunday 19th June
To spice things up this week, it was agreed that the majority of our batting order would be picked out of a hat. This draw was something to behold and able to rival the drama and tension of the Champions League quarter final draw. Our start was delayed by rain and the overs were reduced to 35 per side. John McLaughlin, who found himself in an unlikely opening batsman berth, was unfortunately run out early on, Colonel Laurence the criminal on this occasion. A top/middle order collapse then ensued either side of a rain delay and we found ourselves 22/3. Our innings was then somewhat revived as we reached 59/3 before another runout, the Colonel himself this time and we soon found ourselves 73/8 and maybe hoping the rain would come to our rescue! Still, 8 wickets down and guess who strode out to bat? Old man Yogi Bear of course! (Funnily enough he wasn’t actually involved in the batting order draw.) Anyway, looking every part not a no.10 he built a quick partnership with Hayden, putting on 61 for the 9th wicket until we were bowled out in the last over for 134. Not a great score for a team loaded with batsmen but DK did bowl well and the rain interruptions made building partnerships more difficult, a target was set anyhow.
Having already taken tea during our innings, we strode out onto the field feeling a little bit more optimistic in the knowledge that early wickets would make all the difference. Early wickets is exactly what we got with a wicket in The Runway’s first over and then another shortly after courtesy of a good catch from Smedley J. Another for The Runway and a couple for the Captain (one slower ball that was definitely affected by a grunt Venus Williams would have been proud of) and DK were 51/5 and staring down the barrel. Then Fernando Torres came on to bowl and showed exactly why he should not be called Fernando Torres as he bowled a menacing spell of off spin that basically bamboozled DK (Fernando Torres – a reference to his fantasy cricket performance up until now). Old man Yogi bowled a solid spell from the other end giving little run scoring chances to DK, but it was ex Fernando that stole the limelight with 5-17 in 7.1 overs to gain this week’s MOTM award.
Well played to everyone, particularly in the field since I don’t think we missed a single chance and the fielding was top notch, probably the best this league will see! Thanks go to Bob for umpiring, Chris Webster for scoring (and also playing a leading role in our 147 at tea), the ladies for sorting the teas and Fat Boy Lakey, Foxy, Graeme White, Graham Smedley and anyone else who may have shown their support during the day.
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OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI away at Ezat Sunday 12th June
After the oppo skipper gave Tim a 100% assurance that the pitch was 'perfect' we all trooped over to Battersea park.
Continuous rain all the way and we arrived to an uncovered strip! They seemed to think that as soon as it stopped raining the game would start. Not with this anal umpire!!
So at 12:15 (Tim had arranged a 12 start) their skipper agreed with Tim and I and the game was cancelled. Bob
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OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI v Kidbrooke Sunday 5th June
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OD CUACO CC Sunday 1st XI v Pasan Weeratne - 29th May 2011
Sunday 29th May was the start of the South London Sunday Cricket League and we found ourselves competing against Pasan Weeratne at Bromley Common. Pasan Weeratne won the toss and elected to bat first on the second pitch at the ground. This particular pitch had relatively short and quick boundaries not to mention a wood on one side which the OD CUACO fielders had to rescue the ball from numerously only to have to go and fetch it again after another Pasan Weeratne “DLF Maximum”. To be fair to Pasan, he played a sensational innings that would have looked well out of place in the Sri Lankan second innings at Cardiff. He retired on 120 not out despite the best efforts of Henley, Sanders C., Smedley T., Ainger, McLauglin and Webster D. After his retirement the game became far less farcical but a score of 292 was always likely to be too good for us.
After a steady tea we started our innings at a rapid pace, we were well over the asking rate of 7.325 (calculated by Colonel Sanders and Dan Webster) for a massive 8 overs. A steady tumble of wickets meant that the asking rate became higher and we eventually fell 130 runs short.
So on a less negative note there were some good individual moments that showed that we will be really competitive in this league – such as Hayden’s aggressive innings that was ended by a catch from......guess who? Normally 11 players are better that 1, but on this occasion it proved not to be the case. We play Kidbrooke next week and this should be a winnable game, unless Kumar Sangakarra is suddenly dropped from the Sri Lankan test squad.
Many thanks go to all players involved, Graham for umpiring and Dawn Williamson, David Fox and Mr Emblen for their support.
