Worthing Gentlemen Cricket Club

              Greetings and Salutations once again and welcome to my season ending croon :'(
   Life has a habit of getting in the way of such things as this and only at this post season (pre ceremonial one!) have i finally got down to tying up my final few reports. Many were but a click away from the public eye but i was overly optimistic in an up to date edition. And the games just kept coming!!  So here it is... 11 (Yes i know! E L E V E N!!!) brief (ish) reports to include now. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!

     Firstly the hugely awaited revenge trip to Storrington included first caps to Bradley {Nick names to note.. Wiggins or more amusingly LEONA!} Lewis and Harrison {Ford/Indy} Reed. And none other than the Coach Stuart Carter lining up against us!
       We gained 1st use of the conditions and used our time well amassing a more than decent 220-7 with Neil top scoring with a superb 79. Decent support from yours truly with 39 and Glenn (once more!) 24 sticking around on a tricky strip. Master Carter bowling 22 overs unchanged from the car park end!!!
               In reply Storringon never attempted to go for the runs which was a real shame. I have never been a fan of timed games (saturday cricket is there for fans of the draw!) and this game illustrated that fact perfectly. Despite a spirited effort from the Coach to vainly attack the target the openers had already dropped anchor and they crawled through nearly 100 runs behind to end at 122-7. Harrison bowled beautifully on debut but we ran out of the necessary puff needed to blow the last 3 little piggies house down.

    Back to the Manor for the visit of Ferring and a thoroughly team batting effort was required to post 181-9 on a more than decent bowling favoured strip which is rare to see in the height of summer! Big Mac, Will (on a rare gents outing) and the Reverend (Doug!) calmly chipping in with those vital 20s and 30s.
           Ferring found the hostile Gendarmes a bit too tasty and we fully defended our modest total in decimating them for 93! Lundy claiming the match ball for his richly deserved 5-25.  Young Jack Stuart supporting well up front with 2 for.

      We travelled to Slinfold for what usually promises to be a tight-low scoring affair with what must be the most youthfull gents side ever to grace the field! We welcomed aboard Sam Wookey & Josh England into the fray and alongside quickly establishing Bradley and Harrison we had 4 colts in the side! I even renamed us "The Worthing Coltlemen" for the day!
   Slinfold set about totalling 175 which was 50 or so more than our previous 2 yrs efforts first up and although we were disappointed with this we fielded well and all bowlers contributed.
Another 3 wickets for Harrison (he doesn't shy away from the spotlight easily this lad!) and joined there proudly by Greg. Lundy solid as usual with a brace for himself.
            We set off well and managed to chisel out some important partnerships when needed. Hats off to the Statcat (holed out on 49 but informs us he'd have pushed a single if he'd known!) Glenn (40) and The Mactopus (37) for knocking off the bulk of total required.
Things started to get a little twitchy (for me anyway!) when we went 6 down but newcomers Sam and Josh were not to be denied and calmly ticked off the remaining 20 or so runs to ease us to TRIUMPH! In particular a well assured batting display from Sam at 5 who was solid as a rock during his time in the middle.
          
       August began with Angmering making the short hop over to the manor to do what all visitors appear to have to do first up... FIELD!! A masterful batting display headlined by Tom's first gents 100 ending undefeated on 104 and greatly supported by the Captain logging on with 75 earth runs to beam us up to a dizzy 279-4! Another potential record with high score here (certainly in my 5 years in the side.. Now where's that Gerald?) 
             Angmerings effort ensured that not 1 bowler managed to get their name in lights (or at least my website text!) with 6 sharing a wicket a piece and 3 RUN OUTS! The plucky Anglers fighting through their overs in vain to reach 154-9 by the close.

A beautiful day was upon us as we welcomed the much awaited Ashes encounter (on a sunday scale of course!) between us and the DOWN UNDER DRAGONS! This happened to coincide with a crushing final day (of 3!!) between the international equivalents as Australia levelled things up at 1-1 in the series. It appeared as if the urn was about to be cruely snatched away once more!?!.. Or was it?...! Back to matters closer to home and it was the turn of the M.C.Gs east pitch to take to the sunday stage due to the chairmens v presidents game adjacent.
         If memory recalls Neil yet again accepted the opponents inability of calling coin tosses but this time put them in.. We quickly got stuck into the Scuzzwozzers and after an hour or so of play had them on the rack at 70 odd for 6!!        
         Unfortunately this proved to harden their resolve and the next pair put on a mammoth 150+ for the 7th wicket which made all the difference in them passing 250 in their 40 overs. Doug Greg and Glenn all bagging 2 fors in a spirited fielding effort.
            In reply 20s from Lundy and Bradley (the latter an extremely gutsy knock on only 1 good leg!) ensured we avoided complete embarrassment as the target and bowling proved to be a bridge too far to cross. A reprieve when the last wicket to fall saw Douggie given a 2nd crack of the whip and he didnt disappoint the crowd with a breezy 43!!! In the end we were bundled out for 137 and would hope to put on a much better showing if we ever locked horns again!!!
          
Preston Park were next up at the same venue (and same east pitch a la last week, this time due to a party/marquee in front of the clubhouse. (Very poor show i felt!!) and the question was could us Gents prove to be shaken but not stirred after last weeks gut wrenching defeat?..
    Could we ever!! THOMAS LUNDYCAT TAKE A BOW LAD TIK A BOO!!! (Andy Gray voice vital here! That's Scottish if you don't know of the chap) ANOTHER TON (103 to be precise this time) and in sharing a collossal opening stand with the mad scientist (Dave Mac of course! who notched up his 1st timely gents 50 of the season) lead the way for us to post 257 for merely the additional loss of Gleonard Nimoy! (My spock link which has to tweaked quite a bit to make it work!)  Due in at 6 i was stunned to not grace the field but with quickfire 30s from Neil (35 off a mere 17 balls!!) and Harrison (31 off only 16!) we finished the innings in a flurry of runs.
            It was always going to be a tough ask as 250 to chase may not have been climbed by an opposing side at the M.C.G in our illustrious history (This stat excludes the remarkable 2007 Gents v Worthing 3s/4s which saw over 550 match runs!! ) even 200 in my short experience has proved to be enough so no disgrace in Preston Park for falling by the wayside at 134 all out. It was left to the unsung bowling ilk of Bradley and myself (yes, you heard correct. I can bowl!.. ish) with tidy 2 fors to keep things decidedly out of reach for them.

Next up was (on paper) a much awaited return to Arundel after last years 3 run victory!! On a serene late August afternoon it was this time the home side who got first use of things as they looked to set our boys a challenging total... All i can say is that all our bowling CLICKED! AND HOW!! Master Leader returneth to grab the headlines with a superb 5-10 no less! His more than able allies Greg and myself taking 3-22 and 2-22 respectively and with a few irresponsible shots thrown in to the mix Arundel were  SHOT OUT FOR 79! 
Despite this woefull effort the home side had used up enough time to allow tea to be ready and we tucked in gleefully! In reply a breezy response (overly breezy to one particular female from the Arundel support!!) glided the gents hovercraft home within 13 overs or so. 
         On reflection we hope the home side realise that we werent quite as superior as our 7 wicket win hints at. Hopefully they will once again host a regular match up next year, hoping to avenge some pride with glorious victory! 
            It was on route to the local drinking well that we discovered that THE ASHES HAD BEEN SPECTACULARLY RECLAIMED!!! Our hearts,minds and glasses went to Andrew Strauss and his gallant troups for returning the urn to its rightfull resting place! AND LONG MAY IT STAY!!   WHAT A DAY......

We welcomed East Brighton to the Manor in the final home game of the year looking for revenge over last years defeat at the same venue in Karachi esque gloom! It was the opposition who were able to get the scoreboard running and so we get to the report...
The strike bowling of Harrison (3-31 )and able support from Bradley (2-30) enabled us to restrict East Brighton to 157 for the loss of 8 off their alloted overs. Fair play to them for this as many teams with modest totals end up not using their overs so professional work indeed!
In reply things were far from rosy for us when regular wickets saw us well behind the 8 ball. It was the unlikely heroes Bradley (expect this to change though!) and Greg (EXTREMELY UNLIKELY!) to amass 40s each (Bradley there at the end unbeaten on 43) and steer the ship home through the choppiest of seas!

A late change of plans saw Neil stumble upon Colemans Hatch as our next opponents. We were greeted with the quaintest of venues which proudly (or not so!) boasted what appeared to be an old rick saloon of a pavilion! A remarkably short boundary on the clubhouse side saw regular danger to anyone who took their eyes off the action despite several attempts of fielders to protect them throughout the afternoon! On with the summary.... Lost toss, sent out into the countryside ;) Both the Hatch openers looked very solid players and offered few (if any!) chances and punished any wayward bowling severely. It was only soon after reaching his century did the 1st opener perish attempting a huge six and gratefully accepted by yours truly! The precise figure escapes me but they were around 165 runs to the good at this stage :( However the old adage "1 brings 2"  came strongly to the fore as their number 3 departed without troubling the scorers soon after! It was left to the other opener to also bring up his 100 (Note: The 1st game i have played in with 2 centurions in the same innings!) and with some late flurries Colemans Hatch ended on 279-5 and thus setting us the daunting task of 280 to win! We started more than positively and some very early hitting from Lundy saw us fly off to 20odd in less than 2 overs! Alas this came at a huge price as Tom was clean bowled and this sent shockwaves through the order. We bravely fought to find the balance between keeping the run rate up to losing wickets but kept finding ways of doing the latter! It was only a final salvo from Nick with his maiden gents 50 (and in doing so sharing 66 in an all Hayton partnership for the 9th wkt!) and 26 from Clive that helped us amass a respectable 196 ALL OUT.
All in all a very decent outing which may be repeated in future seasons....


On to the idylic Amberley next for our penultimate game of the season :'(   Often our final game of the season but Barns Green extended our year by a week due a re-arranged early season change. Last season also saw us play there twice at the seasons end with vastly different experiences for those involved! This time though things were different!
Surprisingly our tightest finish of the season saw us amass 198-9 in the time allowed before tea and declaring there seemed the proper thing to do. In obtaining this it was once again the run machine of 2009 Mr Lund (who could easily have captured his 3rd gents 100, going down swinging on 91) and with excellent (and vital!) support from the evergreen Douggie Simmonds (a determined 28) who were the main contributors here. After the interval it was nip and tuck as both sides fought for control with Amberley looking favourites with ten overs to play. However with a match ball winning performance of 5-25 Tom swung things decidedly in our favour and almost won the thing in the final over with a double wicket maiden!! The 2 Harriis captured (contrasting yet important) 2 fors in assistance. Amberley went on to close a mere 25 runs short on 173-9. An excellent game of cricket with the home side to be commended for not shutting up shop unneccessarily with (just enough!) wickets in hand!!!


And here we are at long last! The season finale at Barns Green. Happy memories for all from the previous year both batting and bowling (the unforgettable 5-19 and 5-5! From Glenn and Gerald respectively!) wise. Once again we were able to bat 1st and the game got under way...
After my previous weeks ridiculous dismissal (caught behind down the legside to a ball AT LEAST 2 feet wide!) and most of the season runs wise i was in much need of a score to pass me happily through the darker months. Thankfully in the reliable Lundy i found a partnership of real substance and (similar in size to the Lund-Macaddam partnership v Preston Park ) and only in reaching my 1st gents 50 of the year did i attempt reckless shot and paid the price! Tom continued to accumulate greedily and in doing so sailed past 600 gents runs for the season. (and in doing so 1000 combined for the season, always a very happy total!) For the 2nd week in succession once again falling in the 90s! (I SENSE WEAKNESS HERE FOLKS!! hehe, 94 for the record this time out) Glenn Chopped some lusty blows in a breezy 29 and we were more than happy with our final total of 263-8 (beating last years corresponding effort by 7 runs!)
A surprisingly confident Barns Green then had their chance to knock off the small matter of 264 to win (30 odd runs short of tough in a few of their players opinions!!)
A talented opener aside we made steady in-roads. Doug a usual miserly spell but at last rewarded with a tidy 2 for. Gerald spinning his web for 2-30 and Greg breaking through thrice with 3-29 being the highlight bowling performance. Once the opener had gone for a gallant half century the Green fell away to end ALL OUT on 143. A beautiful late (late!) Summers eve as the light closed in ever earlier on which to draw things to a finish for the year......
 
                                                   AND THAT AS THEY SAY WAS THAT!                                                              A season of firsts for the Gents, Neil as skipper, Our Website unveiled, The 1st tour in many years and a real injection of youth to show the future of the side should be in safe hands...
         On a personal note as the year wore on i became a little disillusioned with my league cricket and only in the final throws finally recaptured my love for the game with my old 3rd XI boys (and unsurprisingly hit 113 runs in last 2 games as a result!) Unless things get shaken up further up the ladder i can see myself
shaping up for the start of 2010 there again. But i look even more expectantly towards it in a revamped league in which out of 9 sides we are (on paper at least!) expected to finish 9TH!!!               
      
 All that leaves me to say is with the A.G.M to come (staged once again at el casa de Mactopus!) i hope Stan will once again deliver us some juicy opponents to test our wit against as we enter the new decade!! Details on website soon after!               And of course.. ROLL ON THE BLACK HORSE!
Yours,   Lloydipus Crathernicus
         

PS.....    THE ALL IMPORTANT DAYS AND DATES FOR WHAT AWAITS ROUND THE CORNER!!   I HOPE YOUR (AND ESPECIALLY, MY!) BODYCLOCK HAS SUFFICIENT WARNING!!!)
2010-11 Ashes series
1st Test, November 25-29, Brisbane (draw?!?)
2nd Test, December 3-7, Adelaide (draw?!?)
3rd Test, December 16-20, Perth (Aus WIN?!?)
4th Test, December 26-30, Melbourne (draw?!?)
5th Test, January 3-7, Sydney (ENG WIN - DRAW SERIES AND SMUGGLE THE URN BACK TO BLIGHTY?!?)