Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

Washington CC vs.  Vishwa CC @ Home 17/08/2014. Luke Mitchell reporting.

On a day that started with threatening weather and a switch of opponents, a classic cricket match was played out at our home turf. We had arranged a fixture with Hackney Marsh CC, but following discussions during the week the opposition skipper felt that we sounded too strong and so he arranged another opponent through the CCC. It certainly was not the match manager’s intention to bring about this course of events. However it was a relatively strong Washington squad that assembled on Sunday with the return of our club skipper a very welcome enhancement to the overall quality of the team.

A heavy shower at lunchtime resulted in a moist wicket, but closer inspection showed that the wicket was hard. Warm sunshine and a gentle breeze quickly dissipated the moisture. Vishwa won the toss and elected to bat in a 35 over contest. Kloss & Mitchell opened, but despite some movement in the air and beating the bat numerous times, they could not make the breakthrough. A change in bowling brought immediate results, with Hill 4-1-16-2 trapping the opener in front and generally being nearly impossible to play.

After Kloss bowled his allocation Dugmore came on and bowled a fine spell with serious control mixed with guile, 7-0-33-3. This included a classic slow ball bowled, and a sky-high c&b which nearly involved a collision with the chairman. Meanwhile Walsh bowled a tight spell of 5-1-22-2. However the Vishwa CC batted well and took advantage of every loose ball, and a few good ones besides, to score a very challenging 214/9 – 50 by the skipper Samir and 43 by Monty being the standout performances.

After a tea consisting of squid rings and some chicken/fish nugget things, as well as sandwiches and cakes, the Washington set about its tall task. Walsh fell for 9 trying to force a shot through the off-side with the score on 29, bringing the cool-headed Pushpanath to the crease to join Hill. When the score reached 45, Hill was adjudged LBW starting a flurry of wickets. Lang & Naseem came and went in the same over from Asif without adding to the score. This brought Harper to the crease – a class batsman having a horror season with the bat up to that point.

What followed was pure cricket. Harper & Pushpanath set about building an innings with a mixture of discipline and aggression – taking quick singles, and smashing the loose balls when possible. From the 12^th to the 28^th overs they were imperious, slowly increasing the strength of their grasp on the game. First Harper the Pushpanath brought up their half-centuries. Alas their partnership came to an end having added 101 with Harper caught, and Pushpanath followed an over later bowled.

With the score on 158 we had Dugmore and Kloss at the crease, with 57 to win. There were only 6 overs left. And there was not a lot of batting to come. What followed was a mixture of class and determination. Just when it looked like we were getting bogged down, a boundary would come. Strike was turned over. The lumbering Peter Kloss turned into a greyhound. Guys held their breath. The final over came, 9 runs needed for victory. A tall order. The first ball from Samir (aka Paul Adams) went for 1. Kloss was now facing the next ball, SMACK! Six runs over mid-wicket! Then another full toss, and CRUNCH! 4 runs, victory!!

After the game the skipper summed it up thus: “It was great to be back playing cricket. What happened today makes me feel proud to be a part of the Washington. The guys worked hard in the field to bowl them out – Dugmore and Walsh were superb. But it was the extraordinary batting effort which really stands out, particularly the two partnerships. Today’s win was a real team effort. Man of the match for me would be Shyam, Tom and Clint, plus a special mention for Pete’s superb effort at the end scoring the winning runs”.