SUNDAY AUGUST 4TH 2019 VS GALACTICOS
So the young and fit Galacticos came to us again, but we felt prepared as we had a pretty decent side. Alas, with Tony winning the toss yet again, we batted first against some very decent bowling. Andy Dick again hung in there, but Parag, Sushil, Somnath, Chris Bradwell, Kishlay and Alan, all rather missed out. Andy managed 14 and Mark Marsan again batted really well to make 34 and with Kishore and Armitage adding 20 in the last 5 overs, we got up to a respectable 107, but nowhere near enough.
In reply we did take wickets, Kishore being the main man, with Mark also bowling really well, but they got home with plenty of overs to spare, albeit 6 wickets down.
Another really hot, but great day, even if my toe is still somewhat sore as I write today.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGEpe your paragraph here.
SUNDAY APRIL 28TH 2019 VS BOCC
So Amwell Valley CC took on their last “warm-up” game before the PICF and it was a highly pleasant affair. Boosted by two of our Australian guests who are joining us at the tournament, we put in a very fine display against a decent BOCC XI. Angus Palmer and Patrick Sinclair do have those eccentric Australian accents, but beneath all that they are very pleasant young men and indeed, fine cricketers. I think everyone could agree that their energy and enthusiasm lifted the whole team and we were rewarded with an impressive win by 4 wickets with over 2 overs to spare.
Losing the toss, stand-in Skipper Armitage was happy to be told by BOCC’s Chris that they wanted to bat first. We didn’t have the best of starts as their two openers got off to a good start, but with Kishore needing a break after a lively opening burst, Patrick immediately dropped into a lovely spell and with Roger cutting down his pace, we very much dragged ourselves into the match. Angus took a very fine catch on the deep cover boundary off Patrick and then Patrick took a terrific catch to remove Vishnu off Roger’s bowling. A firm drive to mid-on, had Patrick leaping to his left, palming the ball into the air and then diving full length to catch the rebound inches off the ground. After that, Angus replaced Roger and you could see his class right away. Keeper and first slip quickly realized they had to drop back a few paces and then admired his pace and accuracy for his four over onslaught. He only took one wicket, but it was the key one of Paraj getting him to whole out to Kishore at deep mid-off. From then on it was a procession of wickets down to fine bowling and wonderful fielding with each bowler taking a wicket and three to debutant Nipon Ragoowansi.
What a debut he had, indeed just part of the usual affair of arranging a cricket XI. Incredibly on Wednesday, we already had a firm XI and then by Friday, Mark from Philadelphia CC asked if he could join and then late that evening Udaya let us know he could join. So Saturday morning, I am driving to the ground wondering how to give everyone a game. Ten minutes out, I get a call from Nipon saying he is at Hillsborough wondering where the game was. After I told him he was in the wrong State, it was clear he was going to be late. Udaya decided to take it easy and rock up when his hangover wore off and Mark was asked to get there as soon as he could. Add in one of our original XI had a bad car accident the day before, we of course took the field with 9 and a BOCC fielder. Mark and Nipon both got on to the field before the ten over mark and then Nipon was asked to bowl. None of us had seen him play so did not know what to expect. His first delivery was rusty to say the least, but after an over or two, he dropped into a lovely gentle rhythm and started to take wickets. He cleaned up Nikhil; benefited from an amazing one handed catch low to the ground by Tariq from a line drive by Chris and then had the last man caught out on the boundary by Angus, 3-26 off 4.3 was some debut and we look forward to seeing him more through the season.
In reply chasing 126, we got off to our usual start losing both openers in the first thee overs. Mark was run out amid noise and confusion and Kishlay got a nick from a rather ugly shot. But Alan and Azam repaired the damage with an impressive patient partnership. Azam took no risks and worked the ball around for 1s and 2s while Alan hit the occasional bad ball away. Running was tough as Alan’s hamstring injury worsened, but after Azam finally perished LBW for 11, Tariq took the game to the oppo and put us in control. Alan eventually retired on 28 and Tariq was cleaned up for an excellent 24 but by then only 50 was needed from 15. Angus scored a nice 25 but a little wobble occurred with him going and then Patrick for 7, but Armitage and Udaya both were 7 not out at the end to bring us home. All in all, a very fine win indeed over fantastic hosts.
So, on to the PICF. We have tough games for sure, but with three talented Australians, Nikhil boosting our ranks and the rest with a bit of confidence, maybe we might bring a win or two home. We are already ahead of last year, as last year we were 0-6, but this year we only have five games, so we can’t be as bad, right..?
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SUMMARIZED MATCH STATISTICS
AVCC WON BY 4 WICKETS
BOCC 126 ALL OUT: NIPON 4.3 OVERS 3 FOR 26
AVCC 129 FOR 6: ALAN GEORGE 28 NO, ANGUS 25, TARIQ 24
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SUNDAY 6TH OCTOBER VS MAD DOGS AT AVCC
It was a beautiful Sunday and the ground looked amazing at Amwell Valley Cricket Club. Today marked the visit of the Mad Dogs, who
were eager to play a great game of cricket. Winning the toss, Captain Tony elected to field. What a correct decision with the visitors being skittled out for 63 inside their allotted 30 overs. Mark and Kishlay ripped through the Mad Dogs batting order, which offered very little on a great batting wicket. In came the openers from AVCC and they never went back. Alan (46 not out) and Parag (13 not out) reached the total with plenty of overs to spare. A great BBQ and drinks were enjoyed after the game. Made it home before sunset.
Tariq Ajazype your paragraph here.
SATURDAY JULY 6TH 2019 VS GALACTICOS
A tough day for us old’ens playing a young and fit Galacticos outfit. Tony was fortunate to win the toss and avoid us chasing leather in searing heat, instead we batted first and with steady efforts from Andy Dick, Kalim Ahmed (making a rare appearance before his nuptials and an outstanding knock of 37 from El Presidente George, but little else from the tail unable to accelerate, we managed to post a total of a little over 100, not embarrassing, but not nearly enough.
There was never much doubt in the reply and the game was wrapped up before the storms rolled in of such biblical proportions that we were all somewhat trapped under the marquis for a good hour or so. To contend with this, Tony moved the beer barrel under the tent with us.
Highlights were few, but I do think it a first that a group of the NY boys rocked up and departed in an Uber. Alas, they didn’t realise we were right at the bottom of the field so they had a long walk from the golf shop down to us with their bags. Also, another first was that they had an Argentinian in their ranks. Smashing lad but he did have to endure some gags at his country’s expense, especially from the pesky Brits in the AVCC team. All good fun and a great day, albeit not that great a game.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SUNDAY MAY 18TH 2019 VS MERION
It was a beautiful day at the MCC (not that one - Merion Cricket Club). The sun shone all day, the sweet potato fries were delicious and the beer was cold. Unfortunately those were the highlights of the day for Amwell, who lost by 4 wickets and three overs for the first post festival game of the Amwell Valley Season.SInce Merion was struggling to put a team together, this was a Gentlemen of Philadelphia team that Amwell faced. Craig Martin (the MCC captain) added two young guns from Haverford, Clarke Thomas and Andy Dicks from PCC, and (inevitably) Charu to their team. Amwell had 12 present, welcoming new players Pan and Joi. We were reduced to 11 as yours truly injured his groin, and was replaced by Kitu from Haverford - returning us to 12. Amwell batted first, posting 138/10 in 30 overs. We ground out the score as best we could, but the combination of the wicket (a shifting mat on flicx) and some tight bowling limited boundary opportunities. Top score came from Alan, who scored 38 runs to set a decent base for the team. Luckily we also had a substantial contribution from William Wide, to create a competitive score.
In reply, the GOP put young bearded Nate from Haverford at the top of the order, and he proceeded to strike boundaries to the longest parts of the ground in an impressive display of power hitting. He put the GOP well ahead of the scoring rate, and despite some tight bowling from Tony and three wickets for Raj in the second half of the their chase, the result was really never in doubt. The GOP reached 139/7 in the 26th over. The game was played in the best traditions of the game, and the post-game beers were gratefully downed as we all remembered what an 80 degree day felt like. Here's to the same weather, but better results as we go forward into the 2019 season.h h
MATCH REPORT BY NEIL KIMBERLY
SUMMARIZED MATCH STATISTICS
AVCC LOST BY 4 WICKETS
AVCC 138 FOR 8: ALAN GEORGE 42, SHANTANU 16
MERION 139 FOR 7: TONY THANDI 4 OVERS, 3 WICKETS FOR 16 RUNSere.
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PICF TOURNAMENT GAMES
Thursday May 2nd (weather – gloomy start, but glorious from then on)
So 13 men fine and true set off for Philadelphia for the infamous PICF. Well… most set off super early that Thursday morning for the first game, the early 9am start, the more wise of us, made their way up the night before and got a fill before the tournament even started. Amwell Valley CC is going through something of a ‘transition’ right now, player numbers dwindling, but new blood starting to creep in, certainly a new vamped committee is helping. We did manage to put together 10 men, with Neil Kimberly, Yogesh and Amar picking and choosing certain games, but we were certainly bolstered by the Kookaburras not being invited this year and we were able to sign up three of their finest players, Angus Fraser, Pat Sinclair and Matt Baden. Tony got a little confused on the first morning, so eventually referred to them as Aussie No. 1, 2 and 3, I think in order of meeting them, but rumor has it, in order of height.
Anyway, as most of us drove to Philadelphia CC in the most dreary, grey and drizzly weather, it did not bode well for a potentially spoiled weekend by the weather. Not so! Within an hour, the sun started to break through and by the end of our first game, it was positively glorious. As was our performance in the first game. Batting first, we chugged along at a good rate against Pittsburgh CC. Pittsburgh attended the tournament with a….er… mature side and their fielding wasn’t the best. Nikhil Manchada kinda missed out, but Baden (43 off 39) retired, George (26 off 17), Kimbo (14 off 18), Armitage (21 off 19) and Fraser (12 off 10) all made relative hay and we felt 148 was plenty. Plenty indeed, as there was really no resistance at all, Fraser (1-10 off 3); Sinclair (2-9 off 4); Thandi (2-8 off 2.4) and particularly Kishlay (2-8 off 4) ran through them like butter and they were all out for 48 in the 17th over, a handsome win by exactly 100 runs.
Instantly, the bulk of the team started dreaming of silverware, the wiser of us reminded everyone that there were tougher games to come and indeed next up was West Haven, former winners and regular finalists. We had a rest and a change in the hotel before the late game that day and on arrival we were duly stuck in and kept down to a meagre 85. Matt Baden again retired on 40 but it was hard going on a tricky wicket with variable bounce and tight bowling throughout. Especially notable was the difference in fielding to the morning’s game. Positively no freebie runs! Sinclair batted nicely and Alan (ALAN..!! ALAN..!! ALAN..!! … AL..!! AL..!! ALAN..!! …Oh wait… STEVE..!! STEVE..!!...) George scored a few at the end, but it was never going to be enough. Yogesh bowled beautifully at the start and did get their skipper and superstar Prassanna for 0 caught at cover by Baden and we did take another wicket, but then they put together a steady partnership and got home with 4 overs to spare.
So off to Dave & Busters for burgers and pool and whilst Alan continually complained about the TV being too loud (well it was the play-offs and we were in Philly), it was a very fine evening.
Friday May 3rd (weather – grey and cold, but the rain stayed away)
The next morning was another early start at BOCC’s ground. The wicket was in fine condition but it was cold, grey and the ground very wet, so Tony decided to bat first. It worked to an extent as you could see the Toronto boys were not keen in these conditions. Yogesh and Alan had a fine start with Yogesh especially making easy work of Toronto’s surprisingly rather ordinary bowling attack. Yogesh retired on 40 off just 25 balls and after Alan was bowled for 29 off 28, Baden joined Armitage for a fine partnership, Baden really taking a liking to the bowling (41 off 23 with 3 sixes). Armitage was eventually out for 34 off 37 in the last over with good support at the end from Owen Nurse and Angus and we came off pretty confident on 158, our highest score of the weekend. Alas, the batting first trick did only work to an extent. The ball was still wet and it did not swing, so Nikhil and Yogesh was not the potent forces we hoped for. Their openers were clearly a class act and they had batting in depth and whilst they were a little arrogant about it all, you could not begrudge them their win, as they wrapped it up with 9 balls to spare. The bowling figures were not pretty, but Yogesh capped a fine game with 3-26 off his 4 overs.
With a break between games, we stayed at BOCC for our 4th game against RAC. Armitage was granted the reins for this one and he decided to field first for the first time of the tournament. And what a game this one was! RAC are truly very British, very British indeed. The posher you spoke, the better player you were it seemed. Jones and Pilcher were very fine players indeed and to coincide with that, I think they may be related to Royalty. Add in ginger headed Magnus, there were lots of chuckles to be had. I was a little unhappy that Pilcher came out with a runner and proceeded to take the innings away for us somewhat (not sure he could have hit the ball so far if he had been as knackered as I was early in the day, should he have done his own running), “Yes Magnus run those two for me will you old boy, Pip Pip!”, but they finished on 152 and we felt after the way we batted on the same track in the morning, we were in with a shout. But things were different. The bowling was better, the ball dryer. Nevertheless, Yogesh again got off to a good start, hitting two mighty sixes before falling short of a third, caught in front of a jeering crowd by Magnus. Alan rather missed out, but Matty Baden once again batted superbly to get us back in the game, retiring again on 40 off just 22 balls this time, hitting 7 fours. Needing 7 an over, we ticked away, as Nikhil, Amar and Angus all fell around Azam who had batted throughout the innings. Azam had started well rotating the strike and swung and swung as best he could, but the big hits did not come and eventually he was caught for 30 off 50 balls in the 18th over. Kishlay so nearly brought us home, but Jones came back to bowl a fine last over with 8 needed and Kishlay was caught and Sinclair and Armitage could not find the boundary to win it, we fell just 3 runs short of what would have been an amazing victory.
An exhausting day of two fine games of cricket which so nearly brought glory, but it was washed away with a splendid meal in the Nirvana Indian restaurant that evening, where all but Neil attended. A lot of fun was had especially with the Galacticos on the next table.
Saturday May 4th (weather – glorious start, clouding over later)
And so to Saturday, with our final game. Fortunately, it was the late one, so we had a very relaxing morning before venturing over to Haverford. The good weather returned and it was again a glorious day. It did cloud over for our game, but the rain stayed away and it was a very pleasant temperature indeed. Armitage again kept the reins and bowled first. This game was played with a slight spice based on the thumping we took there at the start of the season. We didn’t quite have the bowling that day to expose their long tail. This day we did! With very first ball of the innings, Angus clanged one on to the helmet of the opening bat. It wasn’t particularly short but it leapt up and was too quick for him. He went off a little shocked more than dazed and you could see the trepidation in the following overs. We kept it very tight and held our catches. Patrick Sinclair bowled a terrific spell and Nikhil and especially Tony kept things tight toward the back end of the innings. Alas, the skipper got a little generous and gave Roger Woods (guesting for us in the absence of Yogesh) a bowl and he just couldn’t find his length and the over was a costly 16. Nevertheless, we felt 112 was eminently chasable. Amar and Alan got us off to a good start, Amar hitting some lusty blows, but their bowling is clearly vastly more superior to their batting (goodness knows how good Honolulu must be to rack up 188 in the game prior to ours!) and we were kept in check. Angus batted nicely, but he and Alan fell quickly and it was for one last time, down to Baden to bring us home. In the toughest of all his knocks, he was superbly supported by Neil Kimberly and they chugged along at a good rate, before Neil perished for an outstanding 18 and Matt retired in the penultimate over with just 6 needed. Kishlay and Roger took us to the brink, Roger hitting a couple of fine blows, before a “Lance Klusener” kind of run out had us on the edge, but Kishlay hit the winning runs with 3 balls to spare. A terrific win to wrap up our weekend.
So, quick showers were had and we attended the usual fine banquet with a fascinating speech from guest Ali Bacher. That was it for most of us. Some went home that evening, some early on Sunday.
A couple of links for you…
The Haverford game was televised. Not exactly Sky Sports coverage, but if you are really keen, check out https://youtu.be/byLuD5alwf0
And the PICF website has a couple of our scorecards should you wish to see the carnage… http://www.cricketfestival.com/past-festivals/festival-2019/
Sunday May 2nd (weather – rain, rain, oh, so much rain!)
I think just Al stayed for the brunch which was a damp ending to the tournament, as the whole day was sadly washed out. Buckeyes and West Haven shared the trophy.
But what a great weekend and special thanks to the Aussie boys who we take to our hearts for ever more. No one can deny they made us look a half decent cricket team and weren’t half bad blokes either. I hope we see them again. Also kudos to Nikhil Manchada who came all the way from Pittsburgh leaving behind a disgruntled wife and, finally, well done to Kishlay who put together this splendid affair for us. We were all lucky to be a part of it. Come and join us this season and next year!
Next year’s tournament is already on my calendar. Til then.
MATCH REPORTS BY NIGEL ARMITAGEyour paragraph here.
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SATURDAY JULY 13TH 2019 VS BOCCT
So another Saturday game due to a certain World Cup Final on the Sunday and this brought our friends from BOCC to us once again. Tony won the toss again and Andy Dick was especially happy to bat first as he made hay against a weary attack in sweltering temperatures yet again. Alan, Nigel and Azam missed outon a fairly tricky pitch, but Mark Marsan (12) kept him company through to his 50 and then Kishlay (12) and Udaya (5) saw it through to bring Andy back who finished with a magnificent 67 caught off the last ball of the innings, wrapping up a challenging target of 142.
In reply, Chris Lawrence and the young Hruday got them off to a fine but slow-ish start. Mark and Udaya bowled fine opening spells and whilst they had not lost a wicket, they only managed 26 off the first ten. At the break, Hruday did let loose a little, hitting three big 6s and at 64 for no loss, they were well in contention. The problem they had was that there was not too much depth to their batting. Andy had Chris LBW and then the big turning point was a fantastic catch by Kishlay off his own bowling to remove Hruday for 48. That was really about it. Mark, Tony, Udaya and Kishlay all picked up a wicket each, but Andy Dick, who had quite the game, had the impressive figures of 4-27 off his 6 overs, including a another terrific catch from Kishlay, this time out on the deep midwicket boundary. Not a huge win as they hung in there, but we were always comfortable and ended up 14 ahead.
Another fine day, this time with no storms and more lovingly made burgers from our Udaya.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SUNDAY 3RD NOVEMBER V PHILADELPHIA CC
As I sit here on a cold November evening, finally getting round to writing my match report from a game that occurred just a few weeks ago, I wonder how on earth we were able to play cricket at such a time of year. But every year we do and more often than not, it is quite palatable, something never possible back in my days in England. It was an early start and chilly for sure, but with multi layers, bright sunshine all day and the very thoughtful provision of hand warmers from our delightful hosts at the wonderful Philadelphia Golf Club (you can’t imagine how much they helped while in the field), the day was really quite a pleasant affair. It was the usual stuff in November, a shortened game; only changing ends once per innings; the opposition only having ten men; we really only had 6 but were bolstered by Anantha who we hope will be a new member next year and four young and spritely lads from Columbia CC who more than made us a half decent side on the day; and basically a pretty friendly game of cricket all round.
Unfortunately the game was a little one-sided. Skipper for the day, Armitage, was delighted to win the toss and bat first in the coldest part of the day and most of the lineup happily mad hay. Alan (6) and Kimbo (13) would be a little disappointed to miss out, but Manish then put on a fine partnership with Amaresh (one of our Columbia friends) and they both retired (35 & 38) shortly after the drinks break (well it was really more of a pee break as no one really wanted a drink and hot tea / coffee wasn’t on offer). There was a small flurry of wickets then including Kishlay’ s for 8 but skipper Armitage (30 not out) and Columbia fast bowler Ashwin (26 not out) saw us through to the break to push out total up to 178-5 in our 30 overs.
Plenty we thought while having delightful tiffin provided by our Philly friends and plenty it was! A hundred too plenty to be precise as wickets tumbled the moment Mark Marsan was cleaned up for 12 (the only score in double figures). Wickets went all round, with Kishlay taking 3-11, mostly with his seam stuff, with Anantha and even Tariq picking up a wicket late on, but the pick of the bowlers was our youngest Columbia medium pacer, Parik who really bowled beautifully, taking 4-9 off his 6 overs. The game was wrapped up in their 19th over, all out for just 71.
A few black and tans sitting in the tepid bright sunshine completed a truly lovely day. Thanks to everyone that made it happen. Til next time.
SUNDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER 2019 VS GALACTICOS AT AVCC
Fall almost always provides some of the best weather of the year, and this Sunday really lived up to the hype as the Galactico’s of Manhattan (assisted by some players from Columbia) made the trek to the Valley in glorious fall sun. Captain Thandi won the toss and elected to bat on a suspiciously damp used pitch. Amwell sent a combination of youth and experience in the form of Aya (?) (Raj’s 14 year old son) and the Alan George. The Galactico’s opening bowlers were profligate with wides, mainly due to substantial swing. And for the first four overs the Amwell openers defended stoutly. Finally a long hop was bowled to George, who assayed an extravagant pull only to be undone by lower than expected bounce and was bowled much to his horror. Aya continued to defend well as the middle order came and went with regularity until Mark Marsan joined him. Mark played in his normal aggressive manner. At the halfway point, Amwell were at around 80/3. Aya finally was bowled for 20, and Mark was out late for a well made 45. Amwell got to what we thought was a very respectable 158/7 from 30 overs.
However, first 15 overs of the Galacticos innings were dominated by a pitch that had dried out, poor bowling, big hitting and Tony getting angry with the openers for running on the wicket. Among the highlights was the 6’5” Usman putting the ball down the hill and straight into the forest for a 6. Quite a blow. At 90/1 at the break the game appeared to be already gone, but an amazing 4 wicket spell of aggressive spin from Tariq slowed the march to victory, but the Galactico’s arrived at the target in the 27th over, winning by 4 wickets. The BBQ was again delightful as the now regular Tandoori Chicken was enjoyed by all.
NEIL KIMBERLYType your paragraph here.
SATURDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER 2019 VS KOOKAS AT AVCC
On a rather pleasant cool and cloudy day, we entertained our fine Australian friends, the Kookas at our lovely Amwell Valley ground in Hillsborough. After an uncontested toss, the Australians put up a fine score of 168-6 in their 35 overs. The turning point of the innings was the ball after Vishnu cleaned up Campbell with the score on 29 and then the very next ball, with Armitage standing up, he was unable to cling on to a thick edge from the new bat, Darcy. Darcy then proceeded to smash the ball to all parts (of course) and finally retired on 50 (much to his chagrin as he was new to the fixture and indeed, the club). The Australians then chugged along nicely but Amwell held their own with Armitage redeeming himself slightly with a nice stumping off Kishlay and George taking a terrific catch at long on off Marsan and all bowlers sticking to their task bravely, specifically Kishlay (2-25) who bowled well at the death and the pick of the bowlers, Roger Woods who bowled beautifully for his 1-23 off 6.
In reply, we succumbed to the AVCC top order of old. No question the wicket got strangely more difficult as the day went on as it got rather damper than earlier and in a blink of an eye, we were 23-5 and the game was afoot. Skipper for the day, Armitage, battled it out for the rest of the innings, with good support from Kishlay (11), Raj Muniappa who batted nearly half an hour for his 3 and then Vishnu who made the rest of us look completely inept as he smashed a quick-fire 29 off just 23 balls. Armitage (21) and Nipun (3) remained unbeaten at the end as we finished with a creditable 124-9, defeat by 44 runs.
The Kookas had several new faces which, to begin with, gave hope that we might prevail, but of course most of these new faces were terrific cricketers. All that said, the pick of their bowling attack was our good friend Patrick Sinclair who ripped out the top order and came back to clean up Vishnu, finishing with 4-11, all four of his scalps clean bowled.
Another great day at Amwell Valley Cricket Club. Come down and see for yourself.
Til the next time.
Nige.Type your paragraph here.
Amwell Valley Cricket Club
SUNDAY MAY 26TH 2019 VS COLUMBIA
It was a beautiful Sunday. With rain expected later and warmer temperatures in the 80's, AVCC won the toss and elected to field first. Columbia scored 210 for 7 from their allotted 30 overs, giving AVCC 7 an over for the chase. Not much more to comment on. AVCC were all out for 72 with extras top scoring on 27 and no one else in double figures. Fatigue was a major element and some fine swing bowling from Columbia. On to the next fixture...one to forget.
MATCH REPORT BY TARIQ AJAZ
SUMMARIZED MATCH STATISTICS
AVCC LOST BY 138 RUNS
COLUMBIA 210 FOR 7
AVCC 72 ALL OUT: EXTRAS 27your paragraph here.
SUNDAY JUNE 24TH 2019 VS BOCC
And so we took the field to play BOCC once more. From a personal point of view, this was my third game against BOCC already this season and with the couple of games I was unfortunately unavailable for, this was my fourth regular season game! They are good friends for sure. There was a lot or rain about during the week so it was concerning that we were unable to switch to their ground, but as slow as the wicket was, it actually played pretty well and finely contested game of cricket took place.
So Tony finally managed to win the toss and we happy to bat in glorious weather. We were blessed to have a fine cricketer in our ranks for this one, Andy Dick. Andy pretty much dominated our scorecard, particularly after a fine opening partnership of 50 off the first 10 with Alan George. Alan eventually perished for 19 not managing to clear mid-off and then Andy took over the mantle of scoring runs. When he retired on a very fine 50 it then became a bit of a drudge and no one else was able to accelerate. Tariq and Tony struck a few nice blows and Sushil’s young son looked a fine player in the making, but only 33 runs came in the last ten overs, the innings rather limping to 120 from our 30 over allocation.
In reply, Kishore and Udaya bowled quite beautifully with the new ball on a wicket that was becoming harder to score freely on. BOCC’s openers were the key, Turner and Bart Patel are fine players and in Udaya’s second over, we managed to drop them both in successive balls. But not to worry, Kishore cleaned up Turner with a beauty and Udaya was second time lucky in getting Bart caught behind…..VERY lucky, as Armitage caught the ball with the knee-roll of his pad. A lesson for all those showy keepers who roll their trousers over the top of their pads (a la de Kock)..! After 10, they were 35-2 and struggling a little and then Tony and Kishlay came on to bowl and really put the squeeze on. Tony mixed up his pace really well, the slower the harder to hit and Kishlay reverted to full-time leg spin and found a perfect length. Tony took 2-18 off his 6 and Kishlay 1-18, getting the all-important wicket of Huudy who scored 26 and threatening to take the game away from us. From there we kept the squeeze on with a run-a-ball needed which was not easy on this wicket. Andy Dick, Andy Ramrekha and Sushil bowled nicely to bring us home winning by just 6 runs.
A great game, with fine company on a beautiful day topped off by Udaya’s usual lovingly cooked BBQ. Club cricket at its best. If you haven’t played yet this season, you should, you are missing out.
Til next time,
MATCH REPORT: NIGEL ARMITAGE
MATCH SUMMARY:
AVCC WON BY 6 RUNS
AVCC 120 FOR 7: ANDY D 50 NOT OUT
BOCC 114 ALL OUT
SUNDAY JUNE 2ND 2019 VS BOCC
So what a terrific day it turned out to be. The weather forecast did not bode well and with the game two thirds’ of the way through, it looked like a very one-sided game would be brought to a thankful premature end. Remarkably the storms rolled around Amwell Valley’s Hillsborough cricket field (both sides) and then Mark Marsdon and Tariq Ajaz literally turned the game on its head and whilst, sadly, we fell just short of our tough target, it was agreed by all that this was one heck of a game of cricket, just how friendlies should be. With the weather in mind, Tony was mortified to lose the toss and we were consigned to the field again in stifling humidity. BOCC openers Vishnu and Chris got to drinks unbeaten and a platform was set for an onslaught. That onslaught came to an extent, but a flurry of wickets, FIVE in the last two overs, did peg them back somewhat, but 186 was still a huge score for a weary bunch of hot and bothered (and in one case, starved) old men. Udaya and Mark both bowled pleasant and probing opening spells with no luck and Tony and Kishlay got through their allocation with respectable figures, but runs flowed steadily throughout, even with Nipun, Alan and Mark picking up late wickets along with a couple of run outs due to fine work from Tariq.
In reply, it was a tough start. Alan got ripped out by one keeping really low and then Sushil and Pankaj got a little stuck in the mud as Vishnu and Paraj bowled miserly spells. After the first ten overs, we were 19-1 with Udaya who was scoring, when asked the score, pointing out most of the runs came from wides, saying “we are on 17-1 and only 9 of them are honourable runs!”. Equally Kishlay who was umpiring asked the scoreboard to be updated and when it was, he noted it didn’t change. It was tough going. Sushil got caught one-handed at gully, Andy Biharacharya ran out Pan and then got cleaned up himself and at 30-4, we looked done and dusted and wondered when the rain would come. But then the rain never came and the bowling got a little friendlier and Mark and Tariq started to find their feet. Both batted beautifully, hitting the bad balls when they could. They had a little luck, Tariq especially who was dropped a couple of times, but they genuinely got us back into the game.
For those that don’t know, it is currently the holy month of Ramadan. Tariq did try to excuse himself from the game but with BOCC having a drop out, we loaned them Roger and Tariq kindly rocked up to play. Imagine fielding in that heat for 35 overs and then batting for an hour or so as well without even a sip of water all day..??!! He did try to conserve energy by running gently but he batted magnificently and eventually conceded defeat, retiring on 45, an immense effort. Mark was joined by Armitage and the rate continued in line with a victory. Sadly, Mark was eventually caught on the boundary for an equally impressive 45 and it was left to Armitage, Thandi and Kishlay to bring us home. Alas, Vishnu brought back all his experienced bowlers and whilst Armitage finished on a brave 30 not out, we just couldn’t find the boundaries needed and fell just five runs short. An incredible effort from where we were in the first half of the innings.
The day was wrapped up with fine burgers cooked lovingly by Udaya and a circle of key members of both teams drank through to when the storm finally did hit the ground leaving us all sprinting to our cars as it swept in from the usual corner of the ground. You could literally hear the rain coming. A great great day.
Til next week.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SUMMARIZED MATCH STATISTICS
AVCC LOST BY 4 RUNS
BOCC: 186 FOR 9
AVCC: 182 FOR 8: TARIQ 45 NOT OUT, MARK 46, NIGEL 30 NOT OUT
SUNDAY JULY 28TH 2019 VS PHILLADELPHIA CC
Another scorcher, another game against long-time friends, another toss won by Tony and yes, another win! This time, we batted quite impressively. Alan George was outstanding again with the bat, scoring 42 off 57 balls and he was well supported by Vishnu (19), Neil Kimberly (25), Somnath who definitely stepped up the rate with a quick-fire 19 and a delightful knock of 18 from debutant Chris Bradwell. Armitage and Tariq kept the pace on in the final overs, however, Tony was unfortunate that his lovely wife, who was testing out her new camera, managed to capture his first ball duck in glorious HD technicolour. Our good friend Roger rang the changes as best as he could, but Mark Marsan bowled out his 6 overs at the start for 1-20 and the others were unable to stem the tide. 80 came off the last ten overs and 172 off 30, our highest of the season, seemed plenty.
And plenty it was. After Udaya got an early wicket, Mark batted quite beautifully and with Charu keeping him company, they were in contention. But the turning point was Tony bringing on Vishnu. Tony and Kishlay had suffered somewhat at the hands of Mark who plundered three 6s in his 45, but after Vishnu cleaned up Charu, with the score on 80 off 20, he had Mark LBW to turn the game in our favour. Mark wasn’t happy, but I thought it really straight and from then on we turned the screw and the runs dried up as they managed only 41 runs in the last ten. The wickets were shared around, Udaya finished with 1-19 off 6, Kishlay 2-25 (6), Vishnu 2-15 off 4, Tony 2-32 with Somnath and Sushil bowing very tidy spells with no luck. We ended up winning by 52 runs.
What a great day, a long one for some of us as we played golf early morning with their guys and man was it hot. Great fun!
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
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SSUNDAY JUNE 9TH 2019 VS HOBOKEN
A perfect summers day greeted Hoboken on their visit to the GCC this Sunday. Their side looked like it had great balance of youth and experience against the Amwell Valley veterans in a 30 over game. The wicket appeared to be in good shape, but not with mid summer hardness. Captain Thandi lost the Toss and Anwell were inserted. The Hoboken attack proved to be very good, with medium pacers swinging the ball quite appreciably at good pace, if inaccurately. As a result the first 12 overs did yield 75 runs as Mark Marsan played some aggressive pulls and cuts to reach 36. After the Mid innings drinks break it time for spin, and Captain Thandi anchored the back half of the innings with an aggressive 26. But it was extras with a total of 57 that allowed AVCC to reach 164, a very competitive total.
The Hoboken innings started poorly with early wickets for Uday and Kishore, with Kishore’s wicket a memorable catch to Mark at first slip. From 0/2 in the third over, Hoboken lost regular wickets with Mark bowling first change, and taking three wickets in his spell, the pick of the attack.
At the twentieth over, Hoboken were 102/8, and on the brink of defeat. But BIP (yes BIP) strode to the wicket and proceeded to thump an unbeaten 50 from #9. And despite a close run out, he pushed Hoboken to victory by 1 wicket and three overs to spare. Cue the Anwell team shaking heads and wondering “how did that happen”?
Great day, lovely opposition, even game, cricket was the winner: etc.
But WTF???
MATCH REPORT BY NEIL KIMBERLY
SUNDAY AUGUST 25TH 2019 VS GERMANTOWN
Sunday August 25th brought Germantown to our ground, I believe, for the first time. We were unfortunately a little strong this week as not only did Manish, Somnath and Mark Marson make themselves available, but also, as we were short, Alan reached out to the Kookas and the guys that played for us in the PICF were all keen to escape New York for the day, so we were additionally boosted by Patrick Sinclair, Angus Palmer and Matt Baden. No disrespect to our delightful opposition who included two guys that had never played before, but had just one of those six mentioned above played, we still would have won rather easily. As it was, it was an utter landslide.
The hardest part of the game was winning the toss and fortunately Tony’s determination saw us through. The legendary South African Germantown skipper, Mike, is well known for not having the best eyesight, so when he called correctly, Tony went over to the coin and said “Bad luck, we’ll have a bat!” Thank the stars, everyone pretty much made hay as we racked up a quite remarkable 219 in just 30 overs. Angus opened with Neil and although Neil was unlucky to pick out one of the few players that could catch for just 5, Angus batted through to his 50 soon after the drinks break. In that time, Manish, who should have been caught on 0, hit a rapid 50 which included a couple of sixes over the short boundary and Somnath hit an entertaining 15. Mark rather missed out, stumped on 7, but then Matt joined Alan and the rate really picked up as Matt hit 49 off just 25 balls and Alan ended 21 not out just 16.
It was never going to be a contest and Tony was able to rotate the bowlers. Patrick bowled 5 overs getting Charu with a lifter caught at slip by Baden and Tony decided this was the day to come galloping in and bowl a very gentle medium pace, claiming 2 wickets, both clean bowled. There was some aggressive hitting by Usman, but Patrick cleaned him up and then it was just a procession of wickets for Baden, Marsan, Somnath and even one for Kimbo and good catching, particularly from Manish, Patrick and Matt. They ended up all out for 55, I’m guessing Amwell Valley’s largest ever win.
It was a lovely day, the weather was perfect, the company outstanding, the tandoori chicken kindly provide by Manish and lovingly cooked by Alan, delightful (although so I’m told as I never got any) and the oppo gracious and forgiving. We look forward to them returning when hopefully the sides will be a little more evenly matched. Til the next time.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SATURDAY APRIL 6TH 2019 VS HAVERFORD
So the Amwell Valley CC 2019 season kicked off in fine style. Not that we won the game, far from it, but the weather was spectacular, and the fine style came from a very impressive bunch of young American lads who are exceptionally well drilled and made us look something of a rag-tag bunch. Not that we were humiliated, indeed, It's fair to say, we put up a fine showing and not one of us couldn’t hold their head up high as there was plenty of endeavor, energy and no little skill. The fact is, we were beaten by the better side on the day.
Losing the toss, Captain Tony did manage to get the game up to a 30-over affair as opposed to the 25 that was originally planned. Considering the distance most of us travelled, it was the least they could do, albeit our two “guests” Roger and Andy live 5 minutes away. But losing the toss did consign us to a hard afternoon in the field. We did take two early wickets, courtesy of President George getting a catch snaffled by Roger at cover and cleaning up the No.3 bat first ball, but after that, it was a long afternoon of chasing leather and fearing life and limb with the, frankly, dangerous outfield. Their third wicket partnership put on 100 and after the break, they really accelerated. Young Syd (Anil’s son), a mere 13 years of age with more talent than most of us put together, bowled a delightful spell before the break, but went for a few after and then our change bowing really suffered as they looked to pile on. Tony finally brought himself on and got the breakthrough with a very fine one-handed catch by Kishlay at midwicket and Azam cleaned up another wicket within the carnage, but on they went and they finished 192-4 with their skipper still there unbeaten on 95. We left the field nursing sore bones and bruises, especially Roger and Alan who were most in the firing range.
In reply, like them, we lost two quick wickets, both openers, Syd and Kishlay nicking off. Tony and Andy hung around for a while, but Tony too got an edge and Andy also got caught soon after, having played a spritely knock. The best partnership of the innings then followed with Neil Kimberly and El Prez playing very fine innings’. Kimbo indeed had the shot of the day, a fine pull that went one bounce for four over on the far pavilion boundary, but after Kimbo got cleaned up with a quick yorker, wickets followed in a steady fashion around Alan who was last man out for a very fine 46, caught on the boundary when the deserved four would have brought him his 50. That catch summed up the difference between the two sides, as their fielding was exceptional. Add in their running between the wickets and that was the difference in scoreline, a loss of 60 runs.
It was a fine day though and we now look forward to visiting Merion, the finest ground in the region.
MATCH REPORT BY NIGEL ARMITAGE
SUMMARIZED MATCH STATISTICS:
AVCC LOST BY 59 RUNS
HAVERFORD 192 FOR 4 - ALAN GEORGE 5 OVERS 2 WICKETS FOR 29 RUNS
AVCC 133 ALL OUT - ALAN GEORGE 46, NEIL KINBERLY 15
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