Match vs Badshot Lea, 8 August 2010

The skipper mongs it up and is caught at short fine leg for 18...

No.5 Muttukumaru Junior has not had the best of times against NTMCC. Thinking “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”, he made his NTMCC debut. He quickly set about making his presence felt, battering some impressive boundaries off the first change bowlers. One giant six over long on will be remembered fondly by all.

Hamer was quietly accumulating at the other end, or at least as quietly as a man nicknamed “The Foghorn” can accumulate. But he fell victim, like numbers 3 and 4, to a slightly lackadaisical shot and was bowled for a very competent but slightly unfulfilled 47.

Mike Boot was promising big things with the bat (principally a ‘switch hit’ on his first ball). But after letting everyone down with a very conventional pull for 4 off his first ball, Micro Boot got his comeuppance 2nd ball, playing on to Bull.

Muttukumaru Junior dispatches the ball to the boundary!

As Muttukumaru Junior was out caught at long on for 27, wickets were tumbling at an alarming rate. This was compounded by Whiting getting himself in a muddle against the little off spinner and being bowled for a duck. 132 for 7.

Malcolm and Bilson are better known for their bowling exploits but we were assured that Malcolm was “actually a pretty good batsman” by renowned cricketing authority H Boot. We nodded hopefully. Fortunately, Olly responded to this with an innings of real quality. Picking and choosing his moments to attack or defend with great care, the fast bowler made his way to a most disciplined half century.

At the other end, Bilson showed early promise but ended up spooning a simple catch to Holloway. Leo played too early at the spinner and flipped up an easy return catch. Only Brian “The Terror” Tomlinson showed much resilience, sticking around manfully while Olly smashed some big boundaries around the ground. He did find time for some shots of his own, one straight drive for four being a particular highlight.

Olly gets everything in line to play this defensive stroke...

Anyway, Olly was bowled by Morris for 51 and NTMCC ended up with 208 off 30.3 overs. This being a 40 over game, it wasn’t really advisable to give away 10 overs, but we had at least scored briskly.

The opposition decided that they would have a quick bat before the tea interval, much to the delight of the NTMCC opening bowlers Malcolm and Bilson. After a brief hitch when it was discovered that we didn’t have a wicketkeeper, the captain volunteered himself and donned the gloves. He was soon into the action as Malcolm induced an edge from Goody to claim the first wicket.

A huge appeal for caught behind!!!

Bilson backed this up with two wickets in his first over. The first was a full, swinging yorker that saw off J Bull. The second was the result of a rather inelegant shot from Holloway that seemed to be looping over the onrushing bowler. But Dale leapt brilliantly to take a one handed catch high above his head.

Bilson rises like the proverbial salmon to take a catch...

So NTMCC happily scuttled off the pitch for a tea after four overs, expecting to clean up the rest of the Badshot boys and be home by 7. No such luck, as Morris and T Bull put together a skilfully resolute partnership. Bull even had the temerity to suggest that change bowlers Tomlinson and Whiting were “spinners with weird run ups”. Tomlinson looked especially affronted, before breaking down with one of his regular fits of laughter. The Dorking Demagogue was quickly back into his stride, producing a (generally) controlled spell from the Field End.

Frustration for Badshot Lea as another wicket goes down early on...

Whiting was slightly less consistent but did actually bowl some nice swinging deliveries. It was just that they weren’t that straight. “Oh for the virtues of line and length!” cried the Lyricist from Leeds. The final ball was zinged down legside, but Morris’ swipe served only to clip the ball skywards. Muttukumaru did a swift bit of backpedalling and gleefully bagged the catch.

Mike Boot came on and bowled with good pace down the hill. Tomlinson grunted like a rusty old Routemaster bus as he huffed and puffed up the hill, coughing and spluttering minor obscenities as he went. The fielders chimed in with their own contributions to raise his spirits. It was, truth be told, a critical spell from both bowlers as they restricted the scoring rate very effectively during the middle overs. Surprisingly, they only took one wicket, that of the slightly misleadingly-named Young.

Mike goes for some rare runs as Young places the ball through the offside...

Nick Muttukumaru took over from Mike at the Pavilion End and was unlucky not to grab a wicket. One ‘catch’ was cancelled out because of a no ball call. The second ‘catch’ didn’t count because it was, err, dropped. Meaning that it wasn’t really a catch at all. Mr Housden hung his head in shame and promised to do better next time.

Bulls Junior and Senior continued to bat well, the Senior version being fairly belligerent and the Junior version displaying confidence and ability impressive for his age. He’s probably sick of hearing that, but he did well all the same. Fortunately NTMCC were also performing well. The fielding was generally very competent and the atmosphere was excellent.

The Laser was brought on and bowled a superb spell. Though he only took one wicket, it was surely his best spell yet for the club. His control was admirable and he was unflappable in the face of some batsmen who were well set. Figures of 5-0-17-1 reflect a very good afternoon’s work for the Younger Mormon.

Olly Malcolm came on to bowl his last over in an effort to break the deadlock but was unsuccessful. The Laser proved to be The Man, tempting Bull Junior down the wicket, Muttukumaru powering the ball through the stumps for a slightly clumsy stumping. Out all the same I suppose.

And that's how to do a stumping (watch and learn, Jack Russell, Jeffrey Dujon, Godfrey Evans etc etc)

Graham came out swinging but to no great effect, scooping Housden tamely to Nick Muttukumaru at point, where he took a very sound catch. Jones was quickly hustled out by Boot Junior at the Field End. Micro Boot was again bowling with verve and energy, impressing a small army of Chile selectors on the boundary. I understand that the residency rules have been altered so as to allow cousins to qualify.

This left Badshot Lea requiring 32 off 5 overs, which was eminently gettable with T Bull still delighting the crowd with some powerful hitting. But NTMCC stuck to the task well, Mike continuing his excellent spell and Dale picking up where he had left off with some nice variations of pace at the Pavilion End. It wasn’t until the penultimate ball that the match was wrapped up though, Hamer taking one of his trademark boundary catches to dismiss Bull off Bilson for 92. Badshot Lea ended up just 10 runs shy of their target.

It was a great comeback after last week’s mixed performance. Particularly impressive was the fact that everyone contributed well (see the Fantasy League points below!). Hamer batted solidly at the top of the order, Nick M injected some real vigour into the innings and Olly played his best innings to date for NTMCC when it really mattered. On the bowling front, Olly and Dale bowled good spells at the top of the innings and made crucial early inroads. This was backed up by some tireless stuff from Brian and two outstanding spells from Mike – his best yet for us. Particular mention to the Laser, who made any concerns about the lack of a fifth bowler look slightly absurd. Generally, much better fielding than last week and some really positive chatter in the field too. It really does make a difference when everyone’s talking, though I understand that Whiting prefers a stony silence when he approaches the end of his run-up.

Well done on winning a tight game: let’s hope to get you all involved at least once before the end of the season.

Fantasy League Points

O Housden: 31

H Boot: 52

T Regis: 6

T Muttukumaru: 38

N Muttukumaru: 32

M Boot: 44

O Malcolm: 91

E Whiting: 10

D Bilson: 74

L Critchley: 10

B Tomlinson: 7

Club Man Points

O Housden: 1 (consolation for taking unfortunate dismissal with good grace)

H Boot: 2 (lifts, picking up The Terror)

T Regis: 4 (umpiring, lifts, taking the kit)

N Muttukumaru: 0

M Boot: 0

O Malcolm: 2 (scoring, exceptional banter dedication)

E Whiting: 1 (turning up early)

D Bilson: 3 (bringing kit, umpiring)

L Critchley: 1 (scoring)

B Tomlinson: 2 (umpiring Duracell)

And supporters points to A Muttukumaru, 4 of them in fact (attending an innings and a half!)