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Saturday Second XI
Saturday 28th June
Ampthill Town II 229 - 6 (53 Overs), North Mymms II 202- 7 (47
Overs)
North Mymms returned to Home Farm determined to get back onto a
winning streak after last week's trip to Southgate.
On another Mymms 'road', the Southgate skipper won the toss and
was quick to decide to bat.
This initially looked like a bad move for a side who have been
struggling with the bat. After 5 overs with only 10 on the board
AJ Weerapulli snapped an overhead catch at point off the bowling
of Dave Searle to give Mymms a dream start. However, this
initial positivity turned somewhat to despair as during the
course of the next 48 overs, Mymms would spurn some key catch
and run out opportunities along with some sloppy fielding and
bowling to allow the visitors to amass 229 from 53 overs.
Ampthill skipper Haxell hitting a powerful and sometimes
improvised 104, after giving 2 or 3 early chances. Only Azam and
Searle really found their line and length, but both were
luckless and on another day may well have had 3 or 4 apiece.
One thing the 2's have not struggled with in 90% of games this
year is runs, and after tea all of the top 6 agreed that this
was gettable. Boucher and Mather opened up, but were both back
before the score reached 50. No 4 Shoaib Anwar also went early
and with the score on 54-3, Mymms were reeling. This however
paired the in form AJ Weerapulli and Jib Azam together, and both
continued their fine form until Azam lost concentration
and holed out to some "flighted" spin for 43 with the score on
130. His departure bought another in-form player to the crease,
Imran Malik. He and AJ attempted to keep the chase going, and
were on target before AJ was caught and bowled for 80 trying to
force a drive down the ground. A fine knock, but with fielders
deployed on the boundary keeping on at the required rate was
proving difficult. Wickets fell trying to chase, and with 46
overs gone the score was 195. It was left to Andrew Craig to get
the team to 200 to secure maximum batting points. He did so with
a cracking cut shot for 4, and Mymms crept to 202 - 7.
This could and should have been 30 points. Credit must go to the
opposition for taking the many chances we gave them, and getting
good points to lift them from the bottom 5, but this was a poor
performance, and everyone will need to raise their game again in
the coming weeks when we play some very tough sides.
Dan Boucher
Saturday 21st June NMCC 122 (44.3 overs) Southgate Adelaide 123-3. Stand in skipper Dan Nicol was left tearing what little hair his
has left out after a shocking performance against Southgate Adelaide
on Saturday. Mymms arrived at the ground to find a dry pitch and a
quickly drying outfield, credit to the opposition seeing it had
rained overnight and most of the morning. Nicol picked up Bouch's
fine form of losing tosses and Mymms were inserted. Usual opener
Mather was late for the start so Mymms opened with Nicol and S Patel
and but they were soon in the pavilion as Mymms got off to a
terrible start at 16 for 2. The late Mather was sent in to steady
things and he was soon undone by a full toss cleaning him up, plenty
more throw downs will be called for this Tuesday at nets as well as
a time management course. Weerappuli and Azam got the Mymms innings
back on track with some fine play and looked solid at 84-3 after 20
overs, but then disaster struck and a mix up meant Weerappuli was
left stranded and run out for 37. Mymms needed to consolidate with
plenty of overs to spare but they lost wickets regularly and
crumpled to 122 all out in 44.3 overs. In reflect it was a poor
batting display with only a couple of genuine dismissals on a decent
enough track. In reply Mymms took the old ball and Searle and Azam
kept things tight but the Southgate openers were rarely troubled,
the new ball brought Mymms and Searle the first wicket, well held by
Malik at slip. Aled Langley bowled well and was unlucky to finish
wicketless, Mather dropping a regulation catch in the slips and a
good leg before shout turned down. Another run out gave Mymms some
hope but Southgate only lost one more wicket in reaching the total
after 30 overs. Result North Mymms 122 All out Southgate Adelaide
123-3 Lost by 7 wickets. Saturday 14th June 2008 North Mymms 207-7 Redbourn 148-7 drawn On Saturday North Mymms entertained very strong and leaders Redbourn. Dan Boucher home captain won the toss and decided to have a bat on flat track wicket. Both openers found scoring very difficult and opposition had the best attack they have come across. Both opener battered well until 12th over when Jon Mather was out for 19. Ian Cheeseman carried on with good partnership with AJ Weerappuli until he was run out confusion between both batters. In came Howard Cornwell having a good season with bat and gloves. Smart glove work by Gary Sanford saw Howard back in the pavilion with Weerappuli. Score was not looking great until Jib Azam and in-form batsmen Imran Malik added 104 runs partnership. They played aggressively to any loose deliveries. Jib scoring 89 not out and Imran Malik scoring another well crafted 41 runs. Mymms closed their innings on 207 for 7 wickets. In reply Redbourn started positively and scored at four runs an over for the ten overs. Jon Mather is having awesome season with bat and ball soon removed both openers when they were looking dangerous. Jib Azam with his varied spin removed both middle order batsmen very quickly and Redbourn were staring at their first defeat at 100 for 7 wickets but lower order batsmen showed why they are still top of the league by not giving their wickets away. Redbourn closed their innings at 148 for 7. Dan Boucher's words to the team? Good performance long way to go? Jon Mather Saturday 7th June 2008
North Mymms 212 for 6 in 52 Overs, Radlett 182
all out in 46.5 Overs. North Mymms won by 30 runs Radlett won the toss and
inserted North Mymms on a warm but overcast day. The Mymms openers
got off to a steady start and with some good bowling from Radlett
runs were hard to come by. The 50 came up in the 19th
over. A Radlett bowling change didn’t give any respite for the
Mymms batsmen and their first wicket went down in the 27th
over with the score on 79, J Mather with a dogged 34. Soon after
the other Mymms opener was sent back to the pavilion, the impressive
Arumugam bowling Cheeseman for 20. With runs at a premium Radlett
looked to have the upper hand and when Weerappauli (25) and Cornwell
(7) fell the score was 113 for 4 in the 39th over.
Enter I Malik who took the Mymms innings by the scruff of the neck.
He shared a 67 run partnership with J Azam (30) and with good
support from Khan and Boucher took the Mymms total to 212 for 6 in
52 overs. It really was a marvellous effort from Malik whose 52 not
out came from 41 balls. In reply Radlett got off to
a bad start with a mix-up causing a run out in the third over to
give Mymms hope. A long stand for Radlett frustrated Mymms and the
game looked to be heading for a draw. Mymms never gave up hope and
some fine bowling from the Mather got Mymms the breakthrough.
Skipper Boucher then snared the wicket of the dangerous S Patel
(58), a good catch by Khan in the deep. Mymms had 23 overs to take
the remaining 7 wickets. Mather and Azam each snared a wicket and
with some lofty blows from the dangerous Fortis looked to be going
for the win. But Mather effectively ended Radlett's chances by
dismissing Fortis (26), Hassall taking a tremendous catch on the
boundary. Mymms pushed to victory with 3 wickets in 4 overs
eventually winning by 30 runs with an over to spare. Mather (3-48)
and Azam (4-63) being the pick of the Mymms bowlers. NM’s I Cheeseman 20 J Mather 34 A Weerapuli 25 H Cornwell 7 J Azam 30 I Malik
52* N Khan 4 D Boucher 8* 212 for 6 Radlett 182 All out J Azam 19.5
1 63 4 I Malik 3
0 19 0 J Mather 18 4
48 3 D Boucher 4 0 31 1 M Hassall 2 0
15 0
Saturday 24th May 2008 North Mymms II V West Herts II West Herts II 255 -4 (49 Overs) North Mymms II 200 - 6 (51 Overs) Match Drawn.
Saturday 17th May 2008 NMCC v Bushey NMCC won by 3 wkts North Mymms II made it
three wins in a row to maintain their perfect start to the
Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League Division 4 season. Bushey
won the toss and elected to bat on an overcast day with the
threat of rain in the air. The North Mymms opening bowlers kept
the Bushey batsmen quiet and a rain delay soon after the start
meant the pitch became hard to score on. The first wicket fell
in the 14th over when Mather was introduced into the
attack, Williams holding on to a decent catch. Mather soon had
another in his next over, but Bushey fought back well with N
Ilyas finding the boundary with regularity. A mix up led to the
next wicket as Thomas swooped from extra cover to run out opener
Rothwell with a direct hit. Mather was the inspiration for
Mymms and bowled unchanged for 18 overs as he picked up another
5 wickets, one being a good catch in the deep by Williams to
dismiss the dangerous N Ilyas. Bushey battled well on a tricky
pitch and made a respectable 181 - 8. Mather ended with figures
of 18-0-59-7, which was just reward for a superb effort. North
Mymms set to work on the total in a positive fashion and openers
Cornwell and Cheeseman reached 50 in the 11th over.
They batted impressively until Bettley hung on to a sharp chance
to dismiss Cheeseman for 51 just shy of the century stand. It
was another good knock from the North Mymms Opener. North Mymms
appeared to be cruising with Weerapully at the crease and
playing some fine shots. But a collapse caused Mymms some
discomfort first the fine innings of Cornwell ended and a clutch
of wickets tumbled. The game had a run out, some superb catches
and Mymms were left biting their nails at 170-7, but a dogged
knock from Mailk saw them home. Bushey 181 -8 from 48 overs,
North Mymms II 182 -7 from 40 overs. North Mymms II won by 3
Wickets.
Saturday 10th May 2008 North Mymms II - 270-3, Weerapalli 75, Mather 33, Khan 33
Hatfield Hyde - 190 A/O, Tobin 55, Rajput 43, Azam 5-39
North Mymms won by 40 Runs (30 Points)
On a
scorcher of a day more August than May, North Mymms 2nd XI welcomed
close neighbours Hatfield Hyde to Home Farm.
Skipper
Dan Boucher won the toss, and was quick to bat first on a very flat,
firm track.
Mymms
made a positive start, with openers Jon Mather and Ian Cheeseman
putting on 54 before Mather was bowled by Ben Tobin. Cheeseman fell
shortly after with the score on 56, and there was a danger that the
early hard work could be undone.
AJ
Weerapalli entered the fray at number 3, and he and Jibran Azam
steadied the ship with a partnership of 54 before Azam was undone by
a shorter delivery and caught try to hook by mid wicket for 22.
AJ
continued to build a patient innings, but at 110 -3 on a good
batting track needed support. Dan Boucher entered the fray, and
although he looked woefully short of form, he managed to support AJ
sufficiently for Mymms to build to 160 before he was caught and
bowled for 9.
With
overs running out, and a score of 220 an absolute minimum on another
cracking Mymms batting track, the order was given to hurry things
along. AJ continued to play his shots, and reached 75 before he was
sharply caught in the gully by Shujaat Rajput with the score on 169.
The
lower order of a strong batting line-up stepped up, and decent
contributions of 33 by debutant Najib Khan and 17 by Imran Malik
guided Mymms to a par score of 230-7 from 53 Overs.
The
Hatfield bowlers worked very hard to keep the runs down, bowling
with great accuracy throughout.
Having
seen what was required, Hatfield came out positively trying to force
a good start. Good tight bowling by Aled Langley and the luckless
Chris Edrupt made that difficult, and Langley picked up 2 early
wickets with his late swing to visitors struggling on 23-2.
Off
spinner Jibran Azam entered the fray, and as last week found his
line and length immediately. In a crazy spell the score went from
45-2 to 55-6, all falling to Azam.
This
bought Hatfield Number 8 Ben Tobin to the crease, who immediately
decided attack was the best form of defence. He and Shujaat Rajput
went about trying to rescue an unlikely victory, hitting some well
timed blows in a stand of 84 for the 7th Wicket before Rajput was
caught for 43 off the bowling of Mather.
With
the score on 169 and Tobin still at the crease, Hatfield had a
glimmer of hope. However Azam returned for a second spell, and had
Tobin caught by Mather at 1st slip (Via Anthony Langley!) for 55,
wrapping up the first 5 wicket haul for a 2's bowler of the season.
Despite
some big hitting by the Hatfield lower order Mymms wrapped up a 40
run victory, bowling Hatfield out for 190.
The
boys showed great character throughout to stay on task and finish
the job, so we go to Bushey next week looking to build on this very
encouraging start - Bouch
3rd May 2008 North Mymms 2nd XI beat Harpenden 3rd XI by 32 Runs
Mymms 207-7 Sarwar 90*, Mather 42, Boucher 31*, Peck
14-2-42-5
Harpenden 175 A/O Karunaratne 36, Arnold 30, Cooper 25, Azam
12-1-43-4, Mather 7-2-24-2
Report:
The 2nd XI
travelled to Harpenden to begin the new league campaign, keen to start
the season in a positive fashion. No 1st XI fixtures meant that both
sides were bolstered by higher level players coming into their teams, so
a good game was on the cards.
The wicket
was slightly moist and green, so it was no surprise when DB lost the
toss that Mymms were put into bat. New boy Suhaib Sarwar and Nick
Gilbert doing the honours.
An
impressive line and length by the Harpenden opening bowling attack,
particularly Joseph Peck, had restricted Mymms to 23 off the first 10
overs, before Nick Gilbert fell to one that seamed away. "Sometimes you
just have to hold your hands up and say it was a very good ball" was his
usual calm statement when he walked back in. What a gent, (Mather take
note!).
Another new
boy, AJ came in at number 3, but fell for just 2 when trying to drive
another seaming delivery. Jib followed soon after for 12, and Mymms were
looking shaky at 56-3 after nearly 20 overs.
This bought
JM to the crease, a man possessed in recent weeks and clearly the form
batsman in the club right now. He didn't disappoint, with a key 42 from
69 balls. JM and Suhaib put on 70 for the 5th wicket. During this time,
Suhaib had continued to bat patiently had nudged his way to a faultless
debut 50 - well batted.
With 15
overs to go, DB showed his tactical nous and sent in Thommo to up the
run rate. He didn't disappoint smashing 2 off 13 balls before being
bowled (cheeky dig, sorry Thommo!). He was quickly followed by Sush and
Howie for 0 and 1 and Mymms were on the ropes again at 154 - 7 with only
6 overs to go.
Having
predicted that 200 was the marker, this bought the skip to the crease at
the unusual position of 9, with a tiring Suhaib, who had moved onto 71.
Fireworks followed, and the next 6 overs yielded 53 runs for the 9th
wicket. Suhaib carried his bat with a well timed 90 from 156 balls, and
DB hit a slogfest 31 not out from 27 balls. Joseph Peck finished with
5-42, and 208 was the stiff winning target set for Harpenden.
Harpenden
found the going slow, with tight early bowling from Aled and Eddy and
committed fielding drying up the runs. Harpenden quickly grew frustrated
by the lack of boundaries, and when the change was made to the slow
bowling of Jib and Suhaib, wickets fell regularly. Karnunaratne and
Cooper briefly threatened to take the game with 36 and 25 respectively
until they were both trapped by Jib.
Jib
finished with 4-43, and the hosts were dismissed for 175 off 43 overs,
the last 5 wickets falling for just 32 runs.
All in all,
a great team effort, and 30 points. What more could you ask for?
Dan Boucher
Saturday "2nd XI" Away at Offley and Stopsley, Sat 26th April 2008.
From the outset
it was always going to be a tough game, as the opposition have achieved no
less than 3 straight promotions in 3 years, losing only 1 game in the
process to find themselves in Division 9 this coming season. However, with a
team heavily balanced on the colt side, and rotated lots on Saturday
morning, we headed out.
Offley won the
toss and elected to bat on what could only be described as an interesting
track. This initially looked like a bizarre decision, especially as the
hosts were restricted to 80-3 after the first 20 overs, due to wickets from
Boucher, Howell, Gregory, and some tight fielding. The ball during this time
rarely bounced higher than 3 inches off the track, making the half tracker a
very effective ball!
In their final
20 overs of their innings, Offley stepped up the pace. Despite 2 quick
wickets falling to the turn and burn of Jason Baldwin around the 100 mark,
the hosts utilised the short boundaries and the older ball to good effect,
to finish on 205-5, with 5 and 7 having made punchy 50's.
Undeterred
Mymms set about the task of trying to win the game. The brick wall
partnership of Tunnel and Simmons was dispatched to take the shine off the
ball, however both were undone by the toe height bounce in the track with
low scores. With a mixture of colts and adults, Boucher and Langley were the
only batsmen to make inroads into the Offley slow bowling attack with 38 and
24 respectively, and Mymms slumped to 99 All Out.
It was not all
doom and gloom, as especially in the field the young team showed lots of
promise. The bowling of Rathbone, Rodgers, Baldwin and Howell in particular
highlighted we have some quality coming through the ranks, and they all
caused problems to a stiff opposition. (Dan Boucher).
North Mymms II v Hockbridge III
On one of the coldest days I've
ever played on, two teams managed a good work out on Saturday. Having been
inserted, we had the very humbling experience of playing against a one
legged player, and I don't mean a false leg, just the one. What a player and
what an inspiration to us all, he opened the bowling and bowled with decent
pace and a fair degree of movement of the wicket. Not surprisingly he plays
for England and has represented Great Britain in the Para Olympics at
swimming.
Having lost Rory Craig in the
second over, Stuart Craig and Ian Bright then took the score past 50 before
Ultimate was caught for 20, Jack Lockyear reached double figures before
running himself out and from 86 for 4 we crashed to 89 for 9, Jason Baldwin
and the skipper took the score to 125 before Jason played on leaving the
skipper on 41 undefeated.
The one legged player opened the
innings and was soon smashing the bowling to all parts. We didn't bowl or
field particularly well, but it was really cold, steady drizzle made the
ball into a bar of soap, and the left hand right hand opening combination
made it difficult not to bring the short boundary into play. Both openers
made 50 and the game was well lost before Jason Baldwin got one to turn and
took the top of off stump for our only success. So a 9 wicket defeat but all
11 players had a bat and 7 had a bowl so some good early season practice.
Room for improvement in all departments before the league season starts in 2
weeks time. (Ian Lawless)
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Updated: June 11, 2008 - Chris Cook |