Saturday 5th June 2010 vs Surrey Lankians C.C.
 
Several Wash 'Firsts', but in a Losing Cause
 
Surrey Lankians C.C. 248 for 5 (35 overs)
Washington C.C. 213 for 7 (35 overs)
 

Peter Kloss reporting

Washington lost this game, but there were plenty of club and individual ‘firsts’ which made this an intriguing and successful day. Not that the Wash disgraced themselves; the team got within 1 run an over of the Lankians total, but ultimately had given away a few too many runs due to some indisciplined bowling and the total was just too stretching.

There were 3 ‘firsts’ right from the outset:

-          Washington’s first game at Wray Crescent in Finsbury Park as the Home team. This arose due to Pacific CC not being able to field a team and the Wash finding CCC opposition and taking over the pitch booking

-          Mark Cumming’s first outing as captain of the Wash, which featured pre-game fielding practice and regular team-talks

-          Mike Turner’s debut for the club, and willingly taking the wicketkeeper’s gloves

But other ‘firsts’ were achieved as the game unfolded – Nick Harthan’s bagged his first wicket for the club, and, a great achievement, Alistair McGregor carried his bat through the Wash innings to score the first ever 50 in his life. Well done Alistair!

Skipper Cumming lost the toss and the Surrey Lankians chose to bat on the artificial strip and in gloriously hot summer weather. Lauder Erasmus (0-42) and Stuart Marsh (1-54) started for Washington bowling medium pace.  The Lankians set off at a gallop scoring 90 in the first 12 overs, the solitary Wash success being a good catch by Elliott Bromley at point.

Peter Kloss (1-27) and Nick Harthan (1-26) took over, 2 wickets fell and the run rate slowed. Harthan bowled a fantastic ball to hit the top of off-stump and Mark Cumming produced a great piece of fielding to achieve a run out, Turner completing the job. But this brought batsman Murali to the wicket. He started off relatively quietly but grew in confidence as his innings progressed and in the final few overs let loose to achieve his century in the last of the 35 overs. The bowlers punished were Mcgregor (0-47), and Erasmus and Marsh returning to complete their allocations. Mark Cumming (1-32) held the run rate in relative check, and indeed took a wicket, but still went for 6 an over.

With 3 overs of the Lankians’s innings remaining a heavy rain shower came down forcing the players from the field and to take an early tea.

In the final analysis it did seem that the Washington bowlers had bowled too short too often, which suited the aggressive style of the Lankians. 248 for 5 looked like a strong total. Although the boundaries were relatively short, the run rate required was over 7 an over and the rain had now slowed the outfield significantly.

Washington opened up with Alistair McGregor and Lauder Erasmus. The score progressed well in the early overs with the batsmen playing aggressive strokes to the occasional bad balls. However crucially 3 wickets fell, Erasmus (8), Steve Brown (10) and Brian White (6) all departing cheaply. The Wash were 49 for 3 in the 8th over. Mark Cumming (34) came in and steadied the innings with McGregor. The rate slowed a little, but this was a solid 64 run partnership taking the Wash to 113 for 3 with 16 overs remaining; 136 more runs required. The game could have gone either way from this point, but then 3 further wickets fell in less than 2 overs, Cumming and Elliot Bromley (1) were fired LBW by umpire Steve Brown, and Pete Demetri (0) was bowled. To be fair on Brown reports were generally that both decisions were rather adjacent.

Washington’s task looked a lot more daunting now, but to their credit, McGregor and new batsman, debutant Mike Turner (31) put their heads down and ground out an excellent 84 run partnership against accurate Lankians bowling. They scored at a very commendable well over 6 an over but this unfortunately fell short of the almost 9 an over which was now required. McGregor reached his fifty, the first time ever he had achieved this mark – he normally plays as a bowler and rarely gets the opportunity to bat a long innings.

Turner was out caught in the 33rd over and Nick Harthan (2*) came in and faced only a couple of balls. McGregor (81*) had carried his bat through the 35 overs and was much of the reason why Wash’s total was over 200. However the scoring rate had proved just a little too much and Washington had lost by 35 runs.

Talking after the game skipper Cumming reflected on “the good, the bad and the ugly” of the game. In the ‘good’ column McGregor’s innings and Cumming’s captaincy got particular comments. Against ‘bad’ Wash bowling a bit too short of a length, giving away a few too many runs, and also dropping a couple of catches were noted. The ‘ugly’ was reserved for the heavy shower which brought the early tea and definitely adversely affected the outfield for Wash’s innings.

The conversation with the opposition was of a good, competitive game and a desire to fix up a return fixture in Raynes Park near Wimbledon later in 2010 or next season. A good summer’s day out had been had by all!

 

Man of the Match: Alistair McGregor for carrying his bat and achieving his first ever half century.

Packing the kit: the Wash bowlers who couldn’t seem to bowl a full enough length

 

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Batting
Player Runs How out
Alistair MacGregor 81* 
Lauder Erasmus 9 Bowled
Steve Brown 10 Caught
Brian White 6 Bowled
Mark Cumming 34 LBW
Pete Demetri 0 Bowled
Elliott Bromley 1 LBW
Mike Turner 31 Caught
Nick Harthan 2* 
Did Not Bat
Peter Kloss
Stuart Marsh
Partnerships
Wkt Runs Batsmen
1 26 Alistair MacGregor  &  Lauder Erasmus
2 16 Alistair MacGregor  &  Steve Brown
3 7 Alistair MacGregor  &  Brian White
4 64 Alistair MacGregor  &  Mark Cumming
5 2 Alistair MacGregor  &  Pete Demetri
6 4 Alistair MacGregor  &  Elliott Bromley
7 84 Alistair MacGregor  &  Mike Turner
8 10 * Alistair MacGregor  &  Nick Harthan



Fielding
Player Cts Wkt Cts Stmps
Elliott Bromley 1 - -
Steve Brown 1 - -
Bowling
Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
Peter Kloss 7.0 0 27 1
Stuart Marsh 6.0 0 54 1
Lauder Erasmus 7.0 0 42 0
Nick Harthan 3.0 0 26 1
Alistair MacGregor 7.0 0 47 0
Mark Cumming 5.0 0 32 1
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