Match vs Bagshot CC, 1 May 2011

Set of bails: please return to Hamer Boot

With two dangerously hungover Malaysians at the crease, anything and everything was on the cards. Piyush received a full toss and walloped it straight into the hands of short cover. Fortunately for him, the ball came straight out again. He wasn't so lucky in the 12th over when Passfield produced a beauty to castle the bionic man.

Muttukumaru came to the crease at 37-3 with Regis scoring at a somewhat pedestrian rate (2 off 24 balls). Despite sharing a first language, the Malays showed a quite staggering inability to agree on what constituted a single. The captain decided that singles were off the menu and made 4 scoring shots before getting a good outswinger from Sutherland to be out for 15. Whether or not the skipper actually edged the ball was a matter of some debate, but Quickdraw McBeacham produced the finger and we were 64-4.

Ah yes, the Beacham finger of death. How we remember it...

Duncan failed to learn the same lessons as his predecessor and didn't respond quickly enough to Regis' kamikaze call of "YEEEESSSSSS!" 64-5 and Ed's luckless run with the bat continues.

A competitive total was looking not-at-all-on-the-cards at this stage. However, Seaton settled quickly and set about repairing the damage further up the order. Mixing careful defence with brutal aggression, he plundered 12 fours and a six in a quite superb innings. It was all fairly chanceless and seems to be an excellent advert for winter net sessions with WG Grace. Note for the statisticians: Seaton has top-scored in his last two innings for NTMCC.

Fresh from a romantic stroll on the Rose Walk, Regis was taking things rather more steadily at the other end. This seemed entirely appropriate in the circumstances, although, on reflection, it was something of a departure from his pre-match boast that "I'm so hungover, I think I'm just gonna go for it today..." Not that it mattered, the partnership of 129 was the bedrock of our total of 195. Seaton was only dismissed in the final over - the same over in which Tim notched up a deserved half century.

Regis and Beckman trudge back at the end of the innings...

Bagshot laid on a great tea (note to self: sausage and egg sandwiches...). Beacham ate most of it.

The Bagshot response started well for us, with Beacham picking up the wicket of Broome in the 3rd over, caught at the wicket by Duncan. Sheldon too fell victim to the Wolverhampton man, playing all round another nippy delivery.

The Beckmanator was taking a bit of punishment at the Pub End and swapped to the Pavilion End (or as Beacham prefers to call it, the Teas End). Jon was replaced by James Balcombe, bowling some very nifty left arm over the wicket. Rowle took a liking to this and started hitting aggressively through the leg side. The skipper posted himself and Boot on the leg side boundary in anticipation of some catches. His first action was to wish he was about 3 feet taller as the ball arced its way gently over his head for six. Boot had no such problems a few balls later as the Bagshot opener slammed one straight to him at deep midwicket. Another excellent boundary catch to add to Hamer's collection.

Broad and Packer briefly steadied the ship as the game swung towards the home side. The Beckmanator chipped away with two wickets though, both bowled from the Teas End. The celebrations usually exuberance was only slightly muted by the Spring chill in the air as the evening closed in. Muttukumaru brought himself on to add a little variety to the attack. Bowling a crafty array of wides outside the off stump, at very unpredictable pace, the skipper's return to "medium pace bowling" initially looked rather ill-judged. However, the Bromley man's ability to induce stupid shots remains intact. After a few false shots, Pasfield slashed one to Regis' left at point. Regis took a very good catch, diving to the floor.

Knowle took a no-nonsense approach to batting, as number 5 Packer bided his time. Atkinson and Muttukumaru both suffered, the latter being clattered onto the road over midwicket foir a majestic six. However, Knowle's innings was soon over as he skied a catch to Seaton at gully: 138-7. Bagshot seemed to still be in the game at this point, but Atkinson was putting in a good spell and bagged the redboubtable Packer for 18 in the next over.

Another artistic shot from our new cameraman, Poosh...

Williams was brought on to bowl his flighted off breaks and the field closed in on the batsmen. But it was Atkinson who had the last laugh, trapping both Lewis and Sutherland on the crease for 3 apiece. A total of 146 left Bagshot 49 shy of NTMCC's total.

Summarising, it was a good start for us. I had thought we had a strong batting line-up beforehand, and this was demonstrated by the way in which we recovered from a patchy start. Three of the top 5 got very good balls (the one to Hamer in particular was a cracker) and James was doubtless frustrated by one of those dismissals that owed relatively little to bowler or batsman. Ed's bad run carries on but I am confident that a change of fortune is just around the corner. The bowlers all did a decent job: Beacham was straight on the mark and Jon's second spell was accurate and controlled. It was also good to see us hold our catches - this is often the difference between sides at this level.

Clearly, the day belonged to Seaton and Tim though. Their innnings complemented each other wonderfully well: Tim was studied and unruffled (even when the ball trickled onto his stumps but failed to dislodge the bails) while Seaton realy took the initiative away from Bagshot when they had looked in a very strong position. A very promising start for the season for both players.

Special mention and thanks to both Jane and Claire on the supporters front. Note to all supporters for next year: I think Bagshot wins the award for "Most conveniently situated pub" of the places we have played at so far. Although I think Pluckley (the next match) will run it fairly close.

Man of the Match ***NEW THIS YEAR***

(most MoM performances will receive the Jobling Plate, a near-priceless Renaissance-era trophy, at the end of year dinner)

Seaton Gordon

Fantasy League Points

J Williams: 4

H Boot: 9

P Mahapatra: 14

T Regis: 58

T Muttukumaru: 55

E Duncan: -5

S Gordon: 71

J Beckman: 41

D Beacham: 40

Club Man Points

J Williams: 2 (umpiring, scoring)

H Boot: 3 (marathon scoring stint)

P Mahapatra: 3 (lifts, umpiring, photos)

T Regis: 2 (lifts, taking kit bag)

E Duncan: 1 (scoring)

S Gordon: 0 (but largely because of heroic batting)

J Beckman: 2 (umpiring Duracell)

D Beacham: 1 (umpiring and banterous at tea, minus points for triggering the captain and excessive teas consumption causing him to bowl a wide first ball)

Supporters Points

C Hemings: 7 (outstanding, bonus point for lifts)

J Gilbert: 3 (very solid start)