Roehampton Bats Cricket Club

2014 Season Review 

Wins (5): Sheen Park, The Whalers, Old Wimbledonians, Southbank, Team Mitcham (a)

Losses (6): Down Under Dragons, Team Mitcham (h), Battersea Badgers, Barnes Common, Elite, The Cricketers

Tour of Bath: 3 wins, 1 loss

Player of the Season: Sam Nelson

2013 Season Review 


The Bats enjoyed their most successful season to date, winning more games than in any previous year. The addition of a bucket of cold beers for after the games was particularly noteworthy. Special mention to newcomers such as Chris Hall, Sam Nelson, Joe Matthews, Jimmy Duncan and Sam Rippon for their contributions.

Harsha came, Harsha saw, Harsha conquered...He took lots of photos of Nick Williamson's "beautiful photogenic face" and a worrying number of small children. He almost got a hat-trick in the Cobham game. He was toooo good. 

A report of the game against Graces can be found here, courtesy of Graces CC.

Wins (8): Graces, Wimbledon Corinthians, Cobham Avorians, Broken Stumps, EPCC, Southbank, Battersea Badgers, Whittington CC

Losses (5): Sinjun Grammarians, Ploughmans, Hampstead CC, Team Mitcham, Morden CC

Draws (1): Roehampton CC

Broken Noses (1): Bryn Murphy

Player of the Season: Mark Evans

2012: The Season, in Words

First word to Mark. What a season. Sure, he may not be as dedicated as Adam, as accurate a bowler as Chris D, as good looking, talented or tactically astute as Sho, as well built as Phil, as witty as Nick, as good a person as Ben Brown, as technically proficient as Jim, as good at pool as Dixon, as fast through the air as Rich, as virile as Paul F, as good a catcher as Paul B, as powerful as KC, as ginger and racist as Sam, as charming as Luke, as swashbuckling as Brad, as good on the deck as Si, as popular as Dan, as well bred as Tim, as fun as Yves, as stylish as Matt Patt, as suave as Max, as good at bowling spin as Joe, as Australian as Bryn, as committed in the field as Justyn, as strong-wristed as Dave, as slick as Jonesy, as stylish as Conkey, as musical as Jonny E, as good a fielder as Ty, as good at getting knee injuries as Kev, as dashing as Jonny L, or as knowledgeable as Grinnell – but he’s a fairly good bloke. And ‘the Ego’ ended 2012 with an absolute shitload of runs and wickets. He also scored RBCC’s second ever century, somehow scraping his way to 100 not out in the final game against Morden, having been dropped at least six times. We still lost. It would be ungracious of me to use the phrase ‘playing for his average and not the team’, so I won’t.

Adam finished second top run scorer including a brilliant 35 not out to propel RBCC to a one-wicket win – at last – against Bloomberg. Adam bowls too and he doesn’t just call catches – he calls his own name when he’s ground-fielding too. Really loud. Chris Dashwood took 3-20 and hit 22 not out to help us to the win over Bloomberg. He picked up 11 wickets in the season, second only to the Ego. Although the Olympics limited the participation of the filth this season, Rich’s bowling when he was present was excellent and Dixon’s batting continued to improve, including a quick-fire 41 not out in a brilliant partnership with the Ego to see us to yet another win over Roehampton CC.

As always, Sho’s contribution was immense. He particularly excels in marshalling run chases that fall short, as in the close but lost games against Grace’s and Morden. He was also top wicket-taker on tour, leading many to accuse the Ego of under-using him at other times in order to hog the limelight. Jim bowled superbly in the early season but then left, which was pretty unacceptable. He also ran Sho out on tour with what was, even for him, a hare-brained piece of lunacy. Jordan scored an excellent 46 on tour and Jonesy looked back to his best with a flurry of late-season runs. Nick’s wicket-keeping is now as good as anything we see from regular opposition and often better.

Ben Brown rarely made himself available but showed greatly improved and positive batting when he did, Max was excellent in his few appearances and Paul Farthing showed us what we were missing with a brilliant all-round performance against Morden in his only appearance this year. We also appear to have uncovered a superstar to replace the ever-absent Dan Quarrell in the form of Steve Hughes. I haven’t met him though. It could just be all talk.

The season started badly with several regular players missing and losses against Ploughmans, South Bank – despite Jim’s 3-17 and Mark’s 50, Sheen Park, Fawe Park Road and Old Wimbledonians (this time we failed to back up Rich, who took 4-48 and hit 32) before we registered a win against Roehampton. Max and Joe’s excellent bowling performances kept us in the game and the Ego and Dixon finished the job. We lost fairly close games to Team Mitcham (who are lovely) and Grace’s, against whom the Ego smashed 75 and took 4-26, before sealing the sweet win against Bloomberg.

We won one and lost one on tour in two low-scoring games. We bowled well on tour, led by Sho (including 3-41 against Martinstown) and Ben. Littlehampton ringer Darren was unlucky to go wicketless. On Darren: Sam only seems to keep the company of racists. Sam also viciously smashed up the car of a young boy while we played a friendly amongst ourselves on a local pitch after he had broken down on his way to a match he had failed to arrange. Sam’s dad and the boy’s mother then became embroiled in a vicious altercation. Slick as ever, Jonesy intervened. This cost us all money. Thanks, Jonesy. Sam later verbally abused several RBCC players who he claimed ‘wouldn’t get in the firsts at Littlehampton’ and ‘weren’t fit to lace his boots’. Sam is a quality player but it should be pointed out that he averages 11 for Littlehampton firsts - I can't remember if this came up at the time.

The season ended with a whimper as we lost our last three games despite excellent performances from the Ego, Sho, Jonesy, Steve and Farthing. Still, with several new players coming on board in the latter part of the season and Rich and Dixon hopefully back in the frame to play regularly, we retain optimism for 2013.

2011 Match Reports

in reverse order...


Morden CC v Roehampton Bats, 17 September 2011


Dave Lovegrove

Paul Barclay

Ben Brown

Rich Tooth

Simon Kirkland

Phil Walters

Shoaban Nair

Andrew Dixon

Mark Evans

Jim Chapman


The Bats arrived for their last game of the season in varying styles. Mark ‘the ego’ Evans early, driven by Jim ‘efficiency’ Chapman, already looking a stone lighter for his vigorous football pre-season and relentless and sporadically successful pursuit of man of the match awards. Accompanying them was Si ‘snackpack’ Kirkland, who polished off his sandwiches grumpily as Dave ‘no left hand’ Lovegrove pulled up languidly in a car over-filled by the invasive personality of Sho ‘postage’ Nair and the growing head of hair of Phil ‘I want it’ Walters.


Paul ‘the deserter’ Barclay was also present, swaggering around the outfield with the skipper as he soaked up the warm, late summer rays and the waves of applause from the gathered masses,

assembled to watch him play for the Bats for the last time before his move north, to Newcastle. Ben ‘new haircut’ Brown and Andrew ‘the player’ Dixon were late; Brown had awoken in a Golf GTi

with his trousers in a ball on the floor, still smelling of alcopops and bubblegum after a euphoric night at Fabric (yes, Fabric), and Andrew had driven to the wrong ground. Perhaps if he had read and responded to the emails he was sent about the game (or indeed any emails) it would have helped him navigate more accurately.


The ego was sanguine about the fact that the opposing team did not immediately appear to know that they were required to play cricket and the Bats therefore went through a long and bruising warm-up during which only Rich ‘the filth’ Tooth, hungry even as he arrived to the ground, managed to look like he had caught a cricket ball before. When Morden did gather their players for the start, the Bats, professional as ever, discovered that the match ball was stuck firmly in the drink-holder of Jim’s car.


Crisis averted by the majestic fiddling fingers of Nair, the Bats took to the field of play and Rich

steamed in down the hill. The first ball was pushed square to point and the batsmen set off for a quick single. ‘A quick single? To point? Doesn’t Nair field at point?’ Yes, he does... The stumps thrown down, batsman number two returned, disconsolate, to the hutch, after the first ball of the innings and without having faced a ball. Nair repeated the direct hit a few overs later but unfortunately due to the speed of the throw the umpire had not assumed a position from which he felt he could give his colleague out. The reprieved batsman went on to score 40.


Rich and Andrew both bowled excellently in their opening spells and both were unlucky not to pick

up more than the wicket apiece they claimed. The ego dropped one at slip off Rich and berated

himself furiously. We suspect the fact that Rich is closing in on his skipper’s wicket total may have

been a contributing factor. The Morden batsmen were in all-out attack mode, presumably having

watched the coach-yourself batting DVD released by Ben Brown earlier in the summer. Lovegrove

replaced Tooth and was unfortunate to find himself bowling to two set and accomplished batsmen. There were some uncharacteristic errors in the field by the Bats that didn’t help his cause, nor that of Jim, who replaced Dixon at the other end and picked up a wicket before Nair fumbled a catch off his bowling. Rumour suggested Nair’s enduring bitterness at Jim being voted 2007 players’ player played a part. Ben Brown seemed slightly frightened of the ball.


The ego came on to bowl and after several leg-side deliveries he got his line back and picked up

two wickets which got us back into the game. Rich returned but then so did the rain, our favourite friend from August. The ensuing delay played into the Bats’ hands as Jim and Ben, always team men and eager to support their friends and team-mates, taught the rest of the Bats how to play ‘31s’.

Tooth defeated Nair in the cards final but what pleased everyone, except Si, who angrily and slowly ate during the entire two-hour break, was the spirit in which the card game was played. Dixon slumbered peacefully in his car throughout the interval, leading to some speculation as to what he had been during the night hours, when most of us had been sleeping.


We were invited to bat at around 5pm, the rain having cleared, and were set a generous target of

161 off 25 overs. Knowing that we needed quick runs, the ego sent out Dave to open his shoulders, which he did admirably, striking 15 off one over before being dismissed. This brought together Ben and Paul, not the Bats’ biggest hitters. Ben had looked solid in his short throw-down session before he marched out to join Paul but that form appeared to desert him as he and Paul played out a succession of dot balls. Paul struck a sweet four before being stumped, as he chose to bat out of his crease to a spinner, which brought Rich to the crease. Rich was in no mood to take prisoners and he raced to 25 off 19 balls including four fours before he, Si and Phil were all dismissed as they attempted to increase the run rate, which we were rapidly falling behind.


In times of strife, the Bats look to their leaders. Strong, courageous men, with broad shoulders and meaty bats. Men who look to grab victory from the jaws of defeat. Men who inspire and intimidate in equal measure. Such a man, Nair, took to the field determinedly and urged Ben to play some shots and run harder. Ben bowed graciously and took this advice on, flashing a four through mid on before being brilliantly caught trying to repeat the shot. Dixon joined Nair and was run out as he was urged to sprint for a second, which brought the towering, warped megalomaniac genius, the ego, to the crease.


As the ego walked slowly onto the field of play, sneering and snarling at the opposing fielders who cowered together like milkmaids fearing the whip (and worse), images of past heroics flashed up on the big screen. The ego and Nair finishing off the run chase against Southbank; the ego presenting Nair the Regenerate trophy. Both men stood firm in the face of the returning drizzle and let loose with a flurry of attacking strokes. The ego in particular was in savage mood; he frothed at the mouth as he slapped four fours, looking to get the Bats back with the required rate. Nair ran frenetically, feeding the ego the strike he craves and picking up several threes. With just two overs left, the ego struck a big six, but even these two stupendous athletes couldn’t quite get ahead of the eight-ball.


With two balls left, the bats needed 12 to win. The ego flashed hard at a full one but instead of

another six, he only got four. A single off the final ball meant we lost by six runs but the match was a fitting finale to the Bats’ best season yet. Thanks everyone!


Awards dinner in Borough on Saturday 8 October. Email shoaban@hotmail.com to confirm

attendance.


Roehampton Bats Official Sportswear


For Roehampton Bats cricket whites, cap and training wear visit the club shop at the web address below. When ordering a cap, get your squad number from Mark and put this in the details section when ordering/paying.

http://www.tylers-sportswear.co.uk/Webshops/products.asp?school=188


Roehampton Bats vs The Artificials


It rained on and off all day and we lost. The most memorable aspect of the day was Nicks awesome tea making skills.

Shoaban walked away with the MOM award for his first 4 wicket haul and 30 runs. Matt hit a confident 16 off of 18 balls and Paul Frith made his cricketting debut. 

Scorecard attached - scorecard (2)



Epsom Methodist Church vs Roehampton Bats


A list of things that happened...

The sun shone
Lovejuice got a little sunburned
The Bats recorded some awesome bowling stats, as follows,
Tooth - 8-0-33-4
Dixon 4-2-5-0
Lovegrove 8-1-20-2
Knight 8-2-14-2
Patterson 6-1-22-1
Mark 2-0-? -? (I can't remember, it wasn't very good, i remember that much).
Tooth took a sublime catch off of Lovergrovers 'wrong'un'.
Matt Patt fielded and batted with a pipe and straw hat, a first for the Bats.
We bowled EMC out for 121.
The Bats knew, deep down, that this was going to be a challenge.
The Bats started their innings.
The FOW went as such, 9-1, 12-2, 20-3.
Evans ran out Kirkland, and nearly Webb aswell. 
Bats then lost 2 wickets with the score on 52.
Everyone became quite concerned with the score on 52-5.
Tooth and Dixon took us to 86 for the fall of the 6th wicket.
Max and Dave edge us closer to the target with differing styles, Max playing conservatively, keen not to give his wicket away, Dave slogging, wanting to get to the target quickly.
Dave out.
110-9.
Nerves shredded, fingernails bitten.
Matt given a batting lesson before he heads out to bat.
Max trusts Matts batting and doesn't hog the strike, leaving Matt with 5 balls to face off the 32nd over.
Matt hits a single. Yehaaa.
Max, a quick 2 runs.
2 needed to win, field in, one ball of the 33rd over remaining.
Max. High in the air, fielder running for it, lands, goes over the ropes (the white line), 4 runs. 
A win for RBCC.
Well played all.
MOM - Mr Max Knight, excellent work with Bat and Ball.



London Fields vs Roehampton Bats


A gloriously sunny day greeted the Bats on their arrival at London Fields. Word of the Bats arrival had presumably got out as a large crowd greeted us. LFCC batted first and were quickly off to a flyer. Captn Ego's decision to open the bowling with some Kumar inspired medium paced bowling was at best a poor and ill-conceived decision, at worst, it was a travesty of epic proportions. The first two balls were wides, the second of which bounced twice before its arrival at the stumps. The LFCC opening pair set about dismantling Dixon and Evans and after 10 overs LFCC were on 85-0. 

Thankfully Tooth, Knight and Lovegrove were on hand to pin back the bowlers. Tooth finished with 3-27 from 8 and Knight with 3-20, also from 8. 

The Bats were set 240 odd to win. Shoaban and Evans took the crease to open with warm applause from the copious crowd. Unfortunately the crowd did not witness the Bats greatest start to an innings with Nair perishing first ball of the innings to one that kept decidedly low. Shoaban was quickly followed back to the 'pavilion' by Evans and Kirkland, both also being cleaned out by balls that kept low, with Kirklands ball not really bouncing at all.

Kev Webb and Tooth shored things up and Nick chipped in to make the Bats response respectable. On the whole the Bats were well beaten by a better team. Despite the disappointment of the result, we enjoyed some tinnies on the grass and relaxed into the late evening.


Swansea Tour.


This seasons tour can be best described in one word, Rain. But then thats probably what we should expect if we plan to tour Wales. We did play against a good natured and talented team on the Friday night, our standout performer was Phil Walters who finished on 47*. If only the skip hadn't retired him for 3 overs in the middle!


Regenerate tournament


This year 5 teams took part in the tournament, with newcomers The Bush Whackers finishing last. Broken Britain, Big Hammer and Providence House all came just behind a victorious Roehampton Bats team. 

A good day was had by all.

Vs Arun Wanderers


This year saw the first match up of the cousins as captains, Mark managed to win the first exchange, calling heads and predicting correctly. He promptly put Arun into bat and set about galvanising the troops.

The bats were greeted by a much changed, a younger and more mobile outfit than in previous years. It seems this new captain has had the team in a fitness boot camp all winter or he's found some new hired hands.

Out trotted Jonny and Atkinson to open up. In a sneaky twist, bats opened the bowling with the multi paced S Nair in an effort to unsettle the Arun batting. It worked a little, but not alot. After Jonny departed after a feint edge from an inform Dixon, Mellor and Jamie were united at the crease.

The Bats, knowing Mellor's hatred of slow bowling quickly sent for Matt Patt, who claims to bowl leg and off spin. Though Captn Sparks doesn't care which way it turns if he continues to finish with figures of 5-0-13-1 against batting quality of the likes of Mellor and Carter.

Bats bowled and fielded excellently but were unable to stop Arun scoring 229. Credit to Aruns skipper and Jamie who compiled a very impressive partnership.

After a delicious tea (thanks Brenda!), the Bats set about chasing down the total. Barclay and Walters opened up, with Phil scoring 7 off the first 3 balls but then holing out to short mid off. In came the skip, who promptly hit 12 off his first 4 balls but perished 3 overs later. No one knows why the Bats were in quite such a hurry to get the early runs, but with Mark and Phil back in the hutch, Barclay and Shoaban set about consolidating the innings. It must be mentioned that Barclay not only looks like a new man this year, he's also playing quite superbly. 

After some useful consolidation, Barclay (13), Shoaban (29) and Justyn (4) perished, and the game was looking up for the Bats. That is until the vastly underrated batting of Dixon came to the crease. 47 runs at more than a run a ball kept Bats well on course for a close finish. Helped by two huge sixes from Jamie and Tooth, and 3 from Dixon himself had the Bats hoping to grab victory from the claws of defeat.

Unfortunately the victory was not to be ours for the first time this season. Well played Arun. We look forward to meeting again next year.


NCCF Tournament


Bats enjoyed a glorious mini tour to Bristol. On Saturday we played against St Thomas on one of the grassier pitches we've ever played on. Lovejuice and Phil opened the batting on a slow, two paced and irregular track. Scoring was very slow due to the Augusta like rough that was disguised as an outfield. The bats laboured to make 119 off their 40 overs which initially looked a little light but proved to be a relatively par score. 

Runs came from Walters (32) and Farthing (29) who made his 2011 debut. 

IN reply St Thomas started equally slowly with their top 3 departing for 1, 2 & 4 respectively. Chapman and Nair opened the bowling with a lineup that must have had the St Thomas batters pulling their hair out as gradually Bats worked through their impressively strong bowling lineup, finishing opening bowler Tooth and regular 1st change, Jamie Baden. Everyone bowled 5 overs and everyone picked up a wicket, as if there was some kind of pre-arranged agreement. The only bowler without a wicket to his name was Tooth, who managed to walk away with figures of 5 overs, 4 maidens, 0 wickets for 3 runs. St Thomas finished 19 runs short and the Bats marched on.

Sunday - The NCCF Tournament.

A regular feature of the Bats fixture list is the NCCF 8-a-side tournament. This year two Bats teams were fielded.

Bats A: Shoaban, Tooth, Farthing, Mellor, Jamie, Phil, Morgan and Luke.

Bats B: Mark, Jim, Justyn, Nick, Lovejuice, Dixon, Ben. 

Bats B lost their first game against St Thomas and that proved costly as they ended up 2nd in the group and relegated to the Plate competition. The opposition in the plate competition was no match for a rampant B team. The Bats walked away with the pride of knowing that if there had been a plate trophy, they would have been the proud owner of that cup and it would be sitting on the Ego's mantle piece right now.

Bats A did not falter as the B team had, crushing their group opponents not once but twice, since the other team in their group forgot to turn up. They then set about taking St Thomas to pieces in the semi's to set up a re-run of last years final.

Unfortunately the Bats couldn't avenge last years defeat and the South African under 20's opening bowler had his way wicked way with the Bats. We had no trophy to take back to the smoke again this year, but the sun was out and everyone said they'd had a lovely time.




Roehampton Bats Cricket Club vs Roehampton Cricket Club.


Roehampton CC v Bats, 19 June

 

Simon Kirkland

Nick Williamson

Paul Barclay

Mark Evans

Shoaban Nair

Andrew Dixon

Jim Chapman

Phil Walters

Jamie Baden

Rich Tooth

David Lovegrove

 

Upon their return to the site of their glorious comeback win in 2010, the Bats were pleasantly surprised to find that Roehampton CC had spent £15,000 on re-laying their square, which was now flat and true. Different pitch, but would there be a different outcome...? In a timed game, Rich and Andrew opened up and while Rich pushed the ball through quickly in ‘the corridor of uncertainty’ down the hill, keeping runs to a minimum, Andrew picked up wickets with full, swinging deliveries at the other end. Inspired captaincy by Mark ‘the ego’ Evans, now relishing his nickname and growing into it like a man coming to terms with letters after his name, saw him instinctively give Rich a tenth over at the end of his spell. This over yielded two wickets, one from a genius slower ball that deceived Roehampton’s opening bowler into chipping a catch to mid-on. Dave and Jamie replaced the openers and continued to keep things tight, before Mark ‘the ego’ Evans, Rich and Jim bowled through to the end of the innings, which finished on 133-9 off 46. Once again, the Bats fielded well, effecting two run-outs and keeping the ball dry in occasional drizzle.

 

A Boycott-esque start to the Bats’ innings was punctuated by the early wickets of Simon and Nick, but Mark ‘the ego’ Evans continued his good form as he picked up the run rate with Paul and then Shoaban offering some support. After all three fell in slightly unlucky circumstances, Andrew and Jim, batting with a bruised hand after a valiant attempted caught and bowled, appeared centre stage and classily knocked off the required runs with lofted drives, ‘guided’ edges and excellent running featuring highly. Having become the first ever Bats player to reach 50 career RBCC wickets earlier in the day, Andrew sealed the win with two huge sixes to finish on 50* and set his sights on ‘the ego’’s batting average. It is a measure of how far we have come that this time the comeback did not come as a surprise.


Roehampton Bats Cricket Club vs Fawe Park Road

Fawe Park Road v Bats, 5 June

 

Simon Kirkland

Nick Williamson

Mark Evans

Rich Tooth

Jim Chapman

Shoaban Nair

Paul Barclay

Phil Walters

Jamie Baden

Andrew Dixon

David Lovegrove

 

Bats were given their sternest test yet as they fielded a strong team against a confident Fawe Park Road line-up. FPR got off to a good start and put away anything over-pitched on an uneven surface at Dover House Road. After 17 overs, they passed 100 and the Bats, particularly Rich, who took four wickets (three in his second spell) bowling accurately at excellent pace, showed strong character in drizzly gloom to fight back and bowl out FPR for just over 200 with a couple of overs to spare. Dave also bowled well and Jamie was unfortunate to see several edges fly safe.

 

Simon and Nick got the Bats off to a now-standard solid start, and Mark ‘the ego’ Evans followed up his superb 93 against Sanford with a quick-fire 44 not out. Wickets fell at the other end, however, and as the rain worsened after drinks, the game was called off and the Bats were reprieved, slightly behind the required rate but with wickets in hand. We look forward to maintaining our unbeaten record next weekend...

 

Roehampton Bats vs Sandford.


Simon Kirkland 

Paul Barclay

Mark Evans

Jim Chapman

Nick Williamson

David Lovegrove

Phil Walters

Ben Brown

Jamie Baden

Rich Tooth

Andrew Dixon


The Bats arrived in windy Guildford keen to continue their winning start to the season and relieved to have the Ego back in the cockpit. Due to a late appearance by the skip, Ben Brown took it upon himself to act as captain and managed to successfully negotiate the the coin toss without too much difficulty. The bats were put into bat by a Sandford side that had never experienced defeat against us.


Barclay opened up with some glorious forward defensive shots, admired from the other end by the master of defence, Simon Kirkland. Unfortunately Barclay perished to a talented and swift opening bowler which brought the skipper to the crease. Kirkland soon followed after chipping a nice lofted wedge into the covers. Jimmy didn't last long either, after playing a late drive into the the back of his leg and seeing the ball roll back onto the stumps. Thankfully Nick and The Ego steadied the ship and scored at a fair lick, both setting PBs in the process, Nick scoring a wonderful 45 and using the sweep shot to good effect. The bats went from 32-3 to 145-4 before Nick was run out. Eventually with the score at 156 and with only 4 overs remaining, the ego lifted his head on a cow corner slog for the final time and saw his leg stump wiped out, and his average decimated in the process. Phil came and upped the score to 177 whilst Ben made sure he improved his average with a steady 2.


With 177 off 35 overs on the board and a full quota of bowling options the bats were confident of making early inroads. Tooth created havoc on a lively pitch and his new ball partner Jamie also picked up an early wicket. This set the stage for Lovegrove to bowl his twirlers and he duly picked up 3-18 and left one batsman exclaiming that he was 'bloody brilliant'. With 4 overs to play and needing 60 to win, Sandford were probably not too over joyed to see Tooth return for his second spell. Sandford made a good run at the total, with their opening bowler hitting a quick fire 50, but the bats were always just a step too far ahead. Sandford finished with 148 and Bats remained unbeaten. 


Everyone was happy, some people went for a curry and others went for a drink, whilst one of the bats went to see his girlfriend. We were all happy. Roll on Fawe Park.



RBCC vs Big Hammer


Bats v Big Hammer, 21 May 2011

 

Tony Philcox

Phil Walters

Chris Jones

Shoaban Nair

Kevin Webb

Andrew Dixon

Paul Barclay

Max Knight

Jamie Baden

Dave Lovegrove

Matt Patterson

 

The Bats, led by the shining beige knight Shoaban in the absence of ‘the ego’, batted first against old rivals Big Hammer as they looked to take advantage of the glorious conditions. Looking to avenge last year’s late-season defeat, they started solidly with Tony and Phil looking comfortable. Phil was unluckily caught off one that rose off a length and Chris was then dismissed quickly. Shoaban soon also lost Tony for a positive 29 but Kev, making his debut, showed some excellent timing to increase the run rate after the 20thover. He was then bowled off his legs and Shoaban followed soon after in almost identical fashion. Andrew and Max then added several more in entertaining fashion before Max was bowled by the returning de Bruyn. Andrew continued to press hard for runs and finished with an excellent 32, and Dave struck the last ball of the innings for a huge six. Bats finished on a very defendable 183-8.

 

After a tasty, high-fat tea provided by the magnificent and modest Chris Jones, Andrew and Max (2-8 off six overs) started slowly but soon got into their strides, each in the wickets. After 12 overs, Hammer were three down but not far off the required rate. By drinks, however, Jamie had taken two wickets in an excellent seven-over spell, and the Bats, again fielding expertly, were firmly in control. Dave then came on and produced a brilliant 3-18, including the prized wicket of de Bruyn, to move Bats to the brink. Matt Patterson switched ends to clean up the last wicket and the Bats had again won, this time by over 60 runs.


The Season begins.


Southbank v Bats, 14 May 2011

 

Simon Kirkland

Nick Williamson

Mark Evans

Chris ‘JONESYY!’ Jones

Shoaban Nair

Rich Tooth

Jim Chapman

Phil Walters

Ben Brown

Andrew Dixon

Dave Lovegrove

 

‘Footbaall! Footbaall!’ echoed the cry, as Roehampton Bats took to the field ahead of their eagerly anticipated re-match with their conquerors of 2010, Southbank. Rich bowled tightly and held a sharp catch at fine leg as Andrew bounced out last year’s tormentor early on. Mark ‘the ego’ Evans appeared at first change and sent down three economical overs. Andrew went on to pick up a further three wickets after changing ends, none with particularly good balls, as pressure from the swooping, gliding and rampant Bats paid off. Superb catching from Chris and liquid ground-fielding from Phil and Shoaban saw Southbank seven wickets down just after halfway, and solid backup bowling from Jim, Dave and Ben, topped off nicely with a direct hit from Rich for a run out, finished the innings at just 106.

 

After an enjoyable tea, Nick and Simon got us off to a steady start with Simon in particular showing some excellent timing through the off-side, before Nick fell victim to a beautiful delivery that bowled him for 8. Mark ‘the ego’ Evans, also batting at first drop, joined Simon and these two tall, fair buccaneers treated the watching Bats to an epic display of forward defensive prowess. After Simon had called for drinks, he was dismissed shortly after them for a solid 35. Chris was then caught for a duck after misjudging a defensive shot to a short ball but Mark and Shoaban went on to see Bats to a seven-wicket victory, finishing on 38 and 16 not out respectively with several overs to spare. Thus the standard was set for 2011 and the Bats drank and drank, until they were ill.


report by Shoaban Nair. 

Make a free website with Yola