Cuddington Casuals vs MCCC 3rd XI
Saturday 31st May 2008
CCCC won the toss and decided to bat
MCCC won by 5 wickets


I'll be honest, this game was a long time ago. And to compound my misery, we didn't copy up the scorebook properly, so according to my records every single one of their batsmen was dismissed for a duck, but they reached a respectable total of 144 thanks to the worst keeping display in history by Vivek Sarohia, conceding every single one of their total in byes.

Let's try and piece this together, with thanks in part to the excellent Cuddington website. Bugger. They've not done a match report either, but I do now know that two of their batsmen scored 23 and 22 respectively. This brings byes back to a maximum of 99.

From memory, we arrived at the game with a mix of hope and trepidation. Last year one of their players took 150 off of us, on the way to a resounding thrashing. However, we'd started okay with three wins, a draw and a defeat from our opening five games. Having inspected the pitch, two things were apparent. 1) The tram line was well within slogging distance 2) The pitch was covered in seagull poo.

Toss lost and they chose to bat on what I think was quite a warm day. The usual opening pair started up and Raj took an early breakthrough thanks to a smart catch at backward point by Lumboo jnr. Lumboo himself was struggling with a back injury and took himself off after an opening spell of inexpensive garbage.

I think Richard replaced him and he bowled far better for far less reward. They had two very, very useful middle order batsmen. One had apparently scored 1,000 runs this season. This wasn't their exact words, but you get the jist. The other was a big West Indian man, who hit the ball a long way. Thankfully we kept him away from the tram tracks, so instead he mowed us through the covers into the biggest offside region I've ever seen.

Rich made the second breakthrough (probably) with another outstanding catch taken by David at backward point.

Andy A was introduced at some point and he bowled beautifully. Picking up figures of 4-13 from his 8 overs. I'm sure he had 4 slips and a backward point, plus a fly slip. Lumboo took a catch at second slip, having just moved himself there, but undid his good work by then swapping himself with Vikram who dropped one. Both of their good batsman were nailed by Andy, this left a prolonged spell where David and Girish tied down the tail (Girish picking up 3 more).

Eventually Brian returned from the other end and picked up the final wicket, to close them on 144.

After CURRY! for tea, we set about the run chase.

Raj was allowed to open the batting, because it's his birthday. Theo was his partner (so to speak). The pair were sent in to pinch hit! Hit out or get out! That's what they were told...

Theo was first to go, nailed stone dead by your correspondent. Theo remains the only person I've given out lbw in the last two years. If he keeps getting hit in front of middle stump by moon balls, that record will continue. 5 off 14 balls is not exactly pinch-hitting material, although it did include an awesome strike over long off for four. Raj departed soon after, caught by a small boy for ONE OFF SEVENTEEN BALLS. Sehwag was not quaking in his boots.

Hemant and Amit then took to the crease. Hemant had clearly settled in for the long haul, pushing singles here and there. My favourite moment was a late cut wide of the slips, after which Hemant ran the first run clearly shouting "Oh, that is a GLORIOUS shot". Hemant also managed to embroil himself in a running battle with one of their opening bowlers, not quite sure what started it, but Hemant's habits of hitting the ball to a fielder and calling "Only three there" or deliberately standing outside his ground and trying to goad the fielder into a throw didn't help matters!

Amit at the other end had decided to go for the train tracks. Watching Amit bat is incredibly stressful for a captain (or a cricket fan in general). It's like watching Flintoff or Pietersen. He's such a good batsman, capable of destroying bowling attacks and hitting any delivery for six. He's also capable of getting out at any moment, because he'll try and hit both good balls and bad balls for six. It's brilliant to watch. We saw both sides of him in this innings, losing two balls overs the tram tracks, sadly he fell immediately after the second six trying to repeat the dose and being caught plum in front by a dibbly-dobbly bowler.

Vikram came and went cheaply, leaving Girish and Hemant to bring us home. Hemant fell with 50 required and was given a hearty send off by the bowler he'd annoyed earlier in the day. Andy Allan brought us home with Girish, both players scoring at around a run a ball and Andy bringing up his own massive six. Girish registered his second fifty of the season just before the total was reached. We actually brought up the winning runs twice, due to a minor cock up with the scoring/scoreboard!

An excellent win and good to gain a small measure of revenge after a hearty pasting last year! Cuddington are a really nice bunch of guys and it was a pleasure to play against them.

Man of the match

Andy A for four vital wickets and a nice little cameo at the end. Girish is a close runner up and a mention for David's two excellent catches in the cordon.

Monty moment

Vik dropping a catch at slip. I think Vivek dropped one too, but can't quite remember.

Jonty moment

David's catches wouldn't have been out of place in a county game.

MCCC 1st team versus London Welsh
Hot and sunny
Rock Hard pitch
MCCC batted first- 356-8 from 45 overs
MCCC won by 210 runs


The league crew descended upon the London Welsh ground to try and seal the league title. The author was immediately attacked by a troupe of vervet monkeys. The boys were determined knowing that 8 points would see us to the title. This would mean scoring 185 runs and taking 6 wickets should we lose the game. The skip lost the toss as is normal but was surprised to be put into bat first. The pitch was a cracker with even bounce and pace. The skip was so taken a back that we were to bat first for just the third time this season that he took the decision to open the batting with Matt Reed and AJ. This shock decision resulted in a quiet sideline as the boys took bets on how long AJ would last. AJ struggled to locate which end of the bat to hold but ambled into the middle with Matt.

LW opened with a very decent left arm bowler and the score was zero after the first over. LW then decided to open with a spinner from the other end. This threw AJ as he plays spin as well as a monkey playing Mozart’s 5th sympathy on an electronic keyboard. Anyway the spinner disappeared for 14 runs from his first over and the boys were off. Matt and AJ went along at 6 an over as they blocked the left armer and fed off the others. There were a few scares as AJ nearly ran Matt out with Matt trying to run AJ into an early grave. Matt got six happy and smashed two (including hitting Tiaans windscreen) in the over but then fell with the score on 70 odd as he tried to go for the third. Steve Cummings arrived at the crease and he and AJ began t push on. Steve was in great form hitting some powerful shots as AJ just tried to not have a heart attack at the other end after all of the running. Steve and AJ pushed the score onto 160 at the 22nd over mark. AJ notching up his second fifty in two opening appearances (officially a batsman now). AJ got the finest edge first ball after drinks and was given not out by umpire Matt. However AJ had lost feeling in his arms and legs so decided to walk and resuscitate himself on the boundary. The sportsmanship was not to be reciprocated later however. This brought in Jason “middle stump is leg stump to me” Howarth. Jason began well and he and Steve accelerated the score even more. LW were getting nervous as the ball disappeared to all corners and we passed 200 with 15 overs left. Steve was stumped for a superb 87. This brought Corrie in. Corrie then ran himself out and departed. NK arrived and watched Jason get bowled trying to play his whip to leg from middle. NK was joined by the Skip Roy. The two set about resuming the onslaught. NK missed a slow cutter and was gunned by AJ at ump. This brought Gerry “go large or go home” to the crease. The boys started to hit out with Gerry hitting some enormous shots. Roy was looking in great touch until he tried to pull a ball that was 3 cms off the ground and bound for middle pin. Tiaan arrived in time to give Gerry the strike for the last 4 balls. Gerry hitting some large shots and nearly killing the bowler. The Hersham spectator had arrived to see if we had been bowled out for 99. However the 356 left him feeling deflated.

After a relaxing tea we resumed battle. The muppets reappeared for this fielding performance but the bowlers did a great job. The skip opened with Ryan “Beamer “ lang and the spin king Tiaan “the spin king”. Ryan had a great first over and then it was over to Tiaan. The look on the oppos openers face was worth any admission price when Tiaan produced 5 great leg breaks. The oppo opener decide to leave the 6 th ball which landed outside off only to watch in horror as the googlie bit and spun back in taking his middle stick. He trundled off shaking his head in disbelief. Tiaan was now bamboozling the batsmen and picked up 4 more sticks with some fantastic bowling. Ryan was bowling well and picked up 2 wickets as well. He was backed up by Tush and NK. Gerry was brought on and picked up two more wickets. The skip came on to end the innings and the oppo were 140 all out.

Some notable muppet moments in the filed were as follows

Tushs first drop followed by a catch followed by his running in a different direction to another catch and falling on the ground
Matt Reed running off the boundary then jumping half a foot in the air when the ball was only 2 feet above him.
AJ’S one armed bandit attempt at a catch.
Tiaans running in from the boundary followed by a fast backpedal only to completely miss the ball and fall on his ass.
Jasons throw at the stumps for an easy run out but only managing to get it 1 cm off the ground and missing the chance
General malaise
NK’s beamer


Overall the boys have done an outstanding job and congrats to all and thanks to MCCC and Jim Patel for his organisation.

MOM- Gerry for his 49* (you should of taken that 2nd run) and 2 sticks
Bat- Steve for his great 87
Bowler- Tiaan for his superb spell
Thanks for Coming- No one

MCCC 3rd XI vs Richmond 5th XI
Saturday 30th August
Raynes Park Sports Ground, pitch 1
Weather - sunny and humid
Richmond 5th XI won toss and chose to bat
MCCC 3rd XI won by 4 wickets


The Mighty Thirds rocked up to pitch one in bright sunshine, quite a novelty for this summer, to see if Raj could continue his 100% record as captain. Old Ruts had been unable to provide an opposition, so Richmond 5th XI had filled the gap at short notice. With a mix of senior pros and colts, they looks set to give us a good game, especially as they were on a high having just finished a successful league season.

Raj lost the toss and was invited to field in the heat. He'd already decided he wanted to inflict this displeasure on his team anyway (!!), so the toss was a formallity..With a low key set of warm ups completed, the boys took to the field. Amit had just about arrived at this stage, with a massive inflatable fish balloon. Words to describe our boys fail me.

Anyway, Raj and Rich opened with the new ball. Raj was just coming back from his hamstring injury and was clearly not 100%. He opened with a wide then a no ball. Rich had similar struggles at the other end, but did pick up a slightly fortuitous wicket with a full toss being mistimed to mid on where Girish took a comfortable catch. For the next 20 minutes or so Richmond consoildated, mixing solid defence with well timed drives which raced away over the lightening quick outfield. One semi chance came by, with the remaining opening batsman nicking just wide of Fergal at first slip.

At 31-1 off 6 overs it was time for a double change with Australian superstar Andy Allan coming into the attack, along with Gopal Patel at the other end. Both bowlers gave nothing away in their opening over and the pressure told in Andy's second over where they took a suicidal single to Girish at mid on, a direct hit saw the batsman well short, but as the umpire hadn't bothered to move from his position behind the stumps, he was unable/unwilling to give the decision and the batsman received an unwarranted reprieve. This riled everyone, including Andy A, which was unlucky for the faultless batsman at the striker's end whose next delivery rose from back of a length towards his nose and he feathered a defensive fend to Vivek behind the stumps. Andy A's following over brought another wicket, with the remaining set batsman finally departing, dragging Andy's first loose delivery back onto his stumps.

This brought their skipper to the crease with the score on 47-3, he took at look at his first delivery from Andy, then decided to deposit the second ball over the clubhouse and into the garden. His third ball disappeared for four and in the space of an over the momentum had changed direction twice. Game on! We kept him away from strike for a little while, as a young lefthanded colt tried to build an innings at the other end. However this couldn't last forever, and when he did get the strike back the skipper found the boundary with alarming power and accuracy off of both Andy and Gopal. Just as he was starting to take the game away from MCCC he tried one blow too many and picked out Girish at mid on again. Your correspondent mentioned from the boundary that the colt had been scoring very slowly and perhaps it wouldn't be too bad to keep him out there. His next three balls went 3, 2, 4. I shut up for a while after that. In between the colt's sweetly timed strokes, Gopal should have picked up another wicket as his partner chipped a simple chance to short cover which Vivek ran around, got underneath and then "Viv'd" with the ball dropping to the turf with alarming predictability.

Again, a period of rebuilding followed with runs not coming particularly quickly. There was a huge appeal for a catch at the wicket, with a ball gloved down the leg side by the youngster. However, again the secision did not go our way, to the clear frustration of everyone on the field. This game was going to have to be won the hard way. Raj decided to introduce golden arm Amit Khare and the partnership breaking spin of Hemant Patel in the hope of finding a breakthrough. Eventually Amit obliged with a smart catch being taken by Andy A off of the left handed colt. The score was 97-5 and with a series of youngsters to come, hopes were high that heads would drop and we could run through them now.

That didn't happen. Yet another solid partnership was built and Amit and Hemant's respective spells did not bring further success. Gopal and Richard were brought back and this turned out to be a master stroke as Gopal struck with his second ball. A young lad took a wild swing across the line and lost middle and off stumps. What a great captain that Raj is... Out came yet another young kid and in an admirable display of confidence, he walked down the wicket to his first ball, missed it and Vivek threw the stumps down as he tried halfheartedly to get back. Two wickets in two balls and RIchmond were tottering on 128-7. The hattrick ball was safely negotiated but Gopal struck again in his next over, picking up his fourth wicket as the well set number 7 (who looked a very solid and well orgainsed batsman) chipped an easy catch to cover where Andy called but Amit overruled him and nearly killed him as he pouched the catch instead. 134-8 and surely we'd roll them over for less than 150? Would we buggery.

Their number 10 (the umpire from the run out debacle) came out with one thing on his mind, hitting the ball back to Richmond. He mowed a lusty 17 off 14 balls, finally falling to a tidy return catch off Girish. This did not give us a respite though, as the number 11 then came out and smashed his first ball for four, finally finishing on 16 off 13. THe youngster at 9 made a tidy 27* as well, carrying Richmond to a creditable 195-9 off 40 overs. Having had them 97-5 and 134-8, perhaps we'd have hoped to bowl them out for less, but given the conditions and the quality of the batting, we could be very happy with keeping them below 200. Gopal finished with the outstanding figures of 8-0-36-4, his best for the club.

After a swift tea, MCCC readied themselves to start the run chase. Thankfully the sun remained out, so the conditions were at least reasonably similar to their innings! Amit and Vivek opened the batting, with Raj having tried unsuccessfully to convince Andy A to open the batting. Amit started in trademark fashion hammering his 3rd legal delivery for four. Vivek continued the fast paced start taking 6 off of his first, included a nicely guided boundary through midwicket. Amit then went again, with an astounding run of 6 balls which were smashed as follows - 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4. Sadly this was punctuated midway through with Vivek throwing his wicket away, popping a catch to mid on. This brought Hemant to the crease and a partnership of Hemant's cautious defensive play, mixed with Amit trying to lace the cover off of anything in his half of the wicket. Amit had hit their opening bowler out of the attack, so on came one of the lower order biffers (and he of the non run out fame) to bowl. His run up began from somewhere near the 5-aside pitches and his first delivery was a seriously quick beamer aimed at Amit's head. This was, obviously, no balled and he returned back to the start of his run up (somewhere in Wimbledon) and duly repeated the dose! Again, a no ball and the standing umpire had a not-so-quiet word with the opposition captain, who assured us it was not deliberate. He finally bowled a legal delivery which was pounded away for four by Amit (taking him to 35 off 22 balls). The rest of the over passed without incident, bar a legside wide which was predictably questioned by the bowler. The partnership continued in this vein with Hemant holding up one end while Amit unleashed the most sensation display of hitting I've seen by a MCCC player (since his last 50 anyway!). He brought up his fifty off of his beaming buddy with a beautifully timed stroke through the leg side, sadly his next ball was inside eged onto leg stump to bring a crucial breakthrough. The bowler followed through the entire length of the pitch to celebrate, which included a screaming send off in Amit's face which was as unsporting as it was unsurprising. MCCC at 64-2 from 9 overs.

With Ewan now joining Hemant at the crease the pace of the game inevitably changed. Hemant cautiously guarding his wicket to allow us a platform to accelerate later on and Ewan looking to build an innings. Both players coped admirably in the face of some high quality pace bowling, the stand out moment being a glorious cover drive from Ewan off of their left arm quick bowling "up the hill". He drove it on the up through the covers towards a disbelieving MCCC bench! Unfortunately his golden touch couldn't continue and having lobbed Mr Angry tantalisingly over point for a fortunate two, he lost his leg stump to the same bowler moments later, who predictably followed through the length of the pitch to scream in Ewan's face. A quick reminder, this is a batsman who has scored 35 runs all season. Definitely a prize wicket to celebrate, superstar.

Andy A came in next with a crowd waiting with baited breath. He unfurled a series of solid defensive shots, the 6th of which was the pick of the bunch, high elbow position, feet to the pitch of the ball, unfortunately the ball went straight through and pinged middle stump. Not to be deterred, he held the pose for a full 5 seconds while the opposition celebrated. Hmmm, 79-4 off 14 overs. 117 needed needed off of 26 with burly all rounder Theo joining Hemant at the crease. Theo had a pep talk from the injured captain, who told him the importance of sticking around for a bit to set us up to have a tilt at the end. As with everything you tell Theo, he nodded and smiled as it went through one ear and out of the other. He stuck around for a resolute 10 including a couple of nicely spanked strikes before falling victim to an excellent caught and bowled from their young opening bowler.

This united the Patel brothers, with Girish alarming all of us by offering an extremely tough chance first ball which thankfully their keeper (who looked excellent behind the stumps) could not hold on to. Girish had asked to come in lower in the order so that he could pace the run chase, it was time for him to come good on his promise! MCCC needed 94 from 18 overs. Hemant was clearly struggling with the heat and after every single he had to compose himself with a lot of deep breathing and sweating. A young off spinner was bowling at this point and Hemant decided that he couldn't last much longer so took him on. Every ball he shuffled outside off stump and tried to loft him behind square. The intent was admirable, but the approach had mixed success, he finally connected with one and Girish called for two immediately. Hemant never had a hope of getting back as his legs seized up and he gave up halfway and started running towards the dressing room instead!

Right, so the brother/brother combination didn't work, so would father/son? Gopal trotted out to the middle and his first act was to tell his dad off and politely ask him not to run him out. This time last week Gopal had stolen victory from the jaws of defeat with some glorious late hitting against Badgers. Could he replicate it here? The two senior bowlers had bowled out, which left a series of colts to bowl out the death overs. Could they hold their nerve? The game was well set with 81 needed from 78 balls, but the momentum was definitely with Richmond and they were clear favourites.

Gopal started nervously, they brought on their young lefthanded batsman who had impressed earlier, by this stage we had found out he plays for Middlesex at his age group and this showed in his bowling which was quick and accurate, powered by a very nice action. He beat Gopal around off stump several times in his first over and the tension continued to mount. This eased somewhat in the next over as Gopal took a liking to the offspinner at the other end and deposited him for two boundaries through the legside as the counter attack began. As was the case throughout this innings, every mini-swing in momentum was quickly countered as the Middlesex colt produced another tight over to repair any damage we had caused in the previous six balls.

Punch and counter punch followed for the next few overs. Girish started to find his groove, pushing singles and regaining his timing, while Gopal mixed lusty misses with sweetly timed shots through the leg side. The pair brought us to the mini-target of 60 from the last 10 overs. The momentum had shifted in our direction, but would this be the final swing? The fielding which had been so solid (and chirpy) earlier in the day, was starting to slide badly. Overthrows and misfields were starting to occur every over and tempers were getting frayed. The offspinner was then hit out of the attack, thanks to a textbook lofted drive from Girish, which followed up by some stolen byes and overthrows. Again, the young seamer at the other end produced an excellent over to bring us back to needing a run a ball. However the next two overs saw the momentum shift finally to MCCC. First a bowling change in place of the offspiner saw 8 taken from the over as the new bowler struggled badly with his line and run up, then Gopal decided the time was right to attach the medium pacer as he tired in the 5th and final over of his spell. 14 were taken from it. This brought the equation to 26 needed off 36, which still seems like a reasonable chase but heads had dropped and the father/son combo were well in control.

There was still time for further incident though... Gopal likes to use Girish's bat. So whenever they swapped strike, they also wandered down and swapped bats. On one notable occasion, Gopal marked his ground then wandered to exchange bats. However the throw from the boundary hit the stumps. Confusion reigned as an appeal was sort of made, but turned down by Amit at the non-striker's end. My thoughts were broadly - by the letter of the law, it's out - in the sprit of the game he was clearly not trying to take a run - and talking about the spirit of the game we had already had opposition players not walking for catches behind, not giving clear run outs and a bowler screaming in the outgoing batsmen's faces when they're dismissed - oh and the beamers. I think on balance it was fair enough not to give him out. The opposition didn't concur.

The final few runs were knocked off with comparative ease. Gopal finding the boundary through midwicket nicely, the pair of them continuing to run the opposition ragged by dropping and running or pushing into the gaps and forcing a midfield by calling early to take two. Gopal was later warned for the most absent minded display of backing up I've ever seen. In the next over the same bowler tried to run him out, despite actually being in his delivery stride when he did it (if you're going to play silly sods, at least know the rules).

Anyway, Girish eventually scored the match winning runs to bring us home with 9 balls and 4 wickets in hand. An excellent win.


Man of the match

Gopal Patel. 4 wickets and 38 runs. An outstanding display.

Monty moment

Hello Vivek! Dropping his second absolute dolly of the season.

Jonty moment

Girish's catch off of their captain. Not an outstanding catch, but a very, very important one.

Burgh Heath v MCCC 3rd XI
Saturday 16th August 2008
MCCC lost the toss
MCCC lost by 4 wickets

With the late cancellation of the Morden Parish match, a visit to Burgh Heath was hastily arranged for the Mighty Thirds. Having been dealt a stinging 8 wicket defeat there last season, it looked like a tough ask for a side missing mainstays of the batting order Girish, Amit and late emerging candidate for all-rounder of the season Hemant, as well as Raj being reduced to a role as specialist vice captain. The weakened side placed great faith in the old adage ‘proper preparation prevents poor performance’, and almost all arrived on this cold, breezy afternoon hungover. Perhaps the most notable, having been led astray by captain Cliffo, was Ewan who has apparently awoken in the bathroom doorway.

Brian continued his stunning late season form, and again failed to win the toss; it betrays odds to the extent that one can only assume that he’s going out there and calling “side”. The Thirds were duly inserted, and Ewan and Boycott made their way out to the middle. Theo looked to have overcome his recent lull in form and proceeded to mix steady defence with powerful drives against the bad balls, rare from an impressive new ball pairing. Ewan defended stoutly until getting a good ball that bounced and left him off the pitch, gloving the ball to the keeper; drops and edges falling tantalisingly short of fielders meant this was the only reward for the openers.

The skipper went out to join Theo, and they set about building a significant partnership. One stinging blow on the foot for Brian aside the batsmen looked to be finding things easier as they moved Morden beyond 50. A calamitous run-out followed; Brian pushed the ball to the offside and calling for a sharp single, Theo failed to react quick enough to the call and was run out for 23 thanks to a decent pick up and throw. The second string bowlers kept the scoring under decent control, and unfortunately Brian perished soon after, bowled for 26. Michael, on debut, struggled with the bowling, collecting 3 before pushing a comfortable catch to short mid-off.

Andy and David pieced together a recovery of sorts, sharing a partnership of 25 to push the side on towards 100, with a blend of Andy’s powerful stroke play, including a stunning whip through mid-wicket for four and huge swishes (misses) outside off-stump from your faithful reporter were helped by the generosity of the opposition, conceding a number of byes. David finally played and missed at a straight one and was quickly followed back to the pavilion by Andy and Raj added a useful 10 before becoming another victim as Majeed produced an impressive spell of 4-16.

Fergal once again fell on his unlucky 13th ball, charging down the wicket with little success but admirable intent to the slow bowler. Geoff, promoted up the order after much begging, ruined his perfect batting record this season as he was bowled for a duck before Richard and Graham batted out the remaining overs – two big hits from Richard pushing the total to 129.

The teams regrouped with an unusual tea on the padded floor of a Kung-fu room, surrounded by punch bags, followed. The teams took the field after the interval and Captain Cliffo, unperturbed by the suspected broken foot, and took the new ball with Andy A to some success. The early wickets only succeeded in bringing the gun batsman to the crease, and he wasted little time in chasing the total almost single-handedly. The leg-side field quickly dropped to the boundary ropes, but were little use when the ball began clearing the ropes with disconcerting ease. Brian broke down early in his spell, troubled by his injured foot, and Richard took over and continued chipping away at the other end, including one that brushed off-stump and yet dislodged the leg stump bail. Geoff bowled tightly at the other end, and was unlucky not to get a wicket when a cut was hit straight at David at backward point, unfortunately the ball went straight in to the setting sun, and the catch was dropped.

Having reached his 50 with the team’s total on just 70 Ummer went on to produce the first of two huge sixes, dispatching a full delivery from Richard in to the top of the Leylandii at the straight boundary. The replacement ball was used to impressive effect by Graham Pinkney, bowling Wood with the first ball of his spell, before being the latest bowler to take some heavy treatment, with Ummer this time clearing the hedges completely. Cue another Morden injury as Fergal collapsed with a dodgy leg yet again, reducing him to a role at first slip. A mishit high over square leg brought another chance, but David dropped another (difficult) chance, sprinting around the boundary from cow corner. He quickly made amends, picking up a wicket first ball as he relied on the “You miss, I hit” approach.

The damage had already been done however, and Burgh Heath completed the run chase with 4 wickets in hand – a reasonable improvement on last year’s result considering the injury hit side!

MCCC 1st team Versus Hersham CC
Sunny and very windy
Pitch soft and slow
MCCC lost toss and batted first
MCCC 176 all out
Mccc won by 50 runs

The crunch time that seems to happen every season arrived for the league crew on Saturday. The boys arrived and found AJ kitted out in new shoes. Was this a bad omen as AJ had thrown his lucky shoes complete with 12 year old laces away. The air was filled with nervous tension. Was this to be the day where heroes were to be made from the men and Craig? The clash of the two unbeaten teams was to be played out in front of impartial umpires. The skip kept to tradition and lost the toss. Hersham decided to make use of the new ball on a slow pitch. Corrie and Matt strode out to do battle. Hersham opened with there professional player. Corrie lashed the first ball for 4 and we were off. The lads made a good start and we were soon on 17. Matt fell to a ball that kept low and the lbw decision was still debatable. This brought the batting version of obi one Kenobi to the crease. Steve decided to play solid. Corrie was soon out after and Hefner Hughes strode in. The crowd held it’s breathe as we were unsure which Hefner was to show up. Steve and Hef began to build a partnership against the excellent bowling of the hersham pro. Nick was dropped by moved on and started to show the world his lofted cover drive. The boys took us to 78-2 from 30 over’s. Nick was pinged lbw even though his was halfway down the track. This caused a lot of mutterings. NK strode out to join Steve and played some great shots before falling. Craig “ They call me Bradman” Harper strode in and our hopes of a big score rested on him blasting the bowling. Craig smashed some big ones (his favourite hobby off and on the field) before being caught. Gerry strode in and showed the world what a proper cow corner shot looked like. He fell for a quick fire 20 odd. This brought the skip in with the score on 160- 7. Steve was out next for a fantastic 57. Tiaan replaced him and left very shortly after. AJ was instructed to stick around for the last 5 over’s but managed to last 1 ball. Ryan received the same instructions but decided that six or sticks was the name of the game. He departed for a duck as well. Morden's mighty last 3 contributing zero. The boys all out for 176. Hersham and the hersham crowd were very happy and confident of knocking off the runs.

The boys had tea and were a bit subdued as we felt we should of posted 200 plus to have a real chance. The task was up to the bowlers and the fielders and we prayed that the muppet show would not return to the field.

Ryan got things off to a nervy start as he went for 9 in the first over. AJ “ ice ice baby” running into the force 10 gale from the other end. AJ had some traction for once and the radar was on. AJ bowling three maidens on the trot followed by singles in the next 4 overs. Ryan got his radar back on and besides the one customary beamer began to get things right, this resulted in the first wicket. Roy taking a good catch at square leg. The pressure was being applied with very restrictive bowling and great fielding. AJ dropped (or failed to get a hand to) a rocket fired straight back at him. The ball removing half of his hip in the process. This was followed by another controversial moment as a catch at 3rd slip was denied as the umpire thought the ball hitting the top of the bat was a bump ball. Ryan was pulled after 7 great over’s and replaced by Craig. Craig’s banana fan club applauding loudly for the sidelines. Craig picked up on a tight line from the start and the pressure was maintained. AJ was yanked by the skip after 8 over’s (which equates to the equivalent of 45 over’s due to bowling into the wind) as the skip noticed that AJ was getting blown backwards by the wind. He replaced AJ (who a=wandered off muttering about the injustice of it all) by Matt. Matt began well and the pressure was maintained. The oppo were only 1 down but were on 58 runs from 22 overs. The skip juggled the field more often than an obsessive compulsive and changed matt for tiaan. Tiaan began to exert his magic and the skip switched Craig into the wind which brought great dividends. With the oppo on 78-1 from 30 overs Craig struck. Bowling the number three followed by taking a caught and bowled to remove the dangerous professional. The pressure was on and hersham started to take risky runs. This resulted in a great run out as the deadly fielding assassin NK struck with a beautiful return. Tiaan doing the rest. The oppo’s opener called for a runner. Craig then removed the Hersham batsman who has apparently scored a shed load of runs. The ball pitching halfway down the track and looping up as slow as you like. The batsmen’s eyes lit up and he swung hard. Unfortunately he missed and the ball was all ready on a downward arc. All we heard were the words oh Sh$%$t as Craig was distraught with the crap he had just bowled. This was followed by the soft ping as the ball landed on top of the bail. The boys mobbed Craig as we knew we were in control. Craig finishing with 4 sticks in a superb bowling display. Tiaan continued to mesmerize the batsmen and the run rate remained at under 3 whilst the required rate shot to around 8. Matt came back and was soon picking up the rest of the sticks. Hersham knew the game was up as they were 120-9 and needed 50 runs from 3 over’s. Matt wrapped it up for us and the boys were jubilant. A great team effort where everyone played a part and no one let the side down. Hersham were shocked but we did out bat, out field and out bowl them.
Bat of the match – Steve and Nick
Bowlers- All did a great job but Craig and Matt for the 4 sticks
Catch- Gerry’s fantastic one handed diving catch at slip.
Man of the match- Everyone but on the whole Steve for the valuable 57.
Thanks for coming award- No one

Well done boys..

Saturday 2nd XI vs West Byfleet (Away) 9th August 2008

Saturday the 9th of August proved to be a special day for the powerhouse that is the mighty M.C.C.C. Team work and togetherness were at an all time high and as a result we were able to conquer a solid warm up, strong opposition and conditions that had even the local ducks asking, WHY?

In heavy rain captain Watson won the toss and looked after the lads by batting first, returning to the sheds justifiying his decision stating that “at least we’d get a bat if the game gets called off.”

The Byfleet opening bowler relished on the bowler friendly wicket, coming in of a run up similar to that of the new airbus A380, but did prove to be a handful taking the first 3 wickets, ending up with figures of 3/ 37. However that was were success was to end for the home side… enter Nads, our swashbuckling no. 4 was a picture of poise, technical brilliance and hungry for runs. Nads 87 runs dispatched the attack to all ends of the ground effective both along the carpet and taking the aerial route. As mentioned earlier this was a team effort and Nads was well supported by ASDA, Tush and Saqib who all made scores in the teens. At the completion of our 35 over’s everyone had clearly done their job as we still had wickets in hand and reached 200.

After a well earned lunch break the MCCC took to the field full of confidence and ready for the job at hand despite the conditions becoming wetter by the delivery. However as the conditions became less productive the MCCC jug-a-naught strengthened lead by both opening bowlers AJ and Tush. They bowled brilliantly in tandem and were well supported by golden hands Cuan, who proved he can cleanly take the high ball and the smashed pull shot giving truth to the old adage ‘catches win matches!’ And from then on winning the match was what it was all about, despite the home team suggesting it may nearly be time to call it quits we fought on and the rain held so we could clean them up for around 100. the ‘Star Cheam restaurant’ bowlers of the day were AJ -2/26, Tush- 3/31 and spin sensation Saqib rattling the opposition with figures of 3/9. Well done everyone it was a great team effort and everyone contributed from Steve with the gloves to our fill in Gary.

Man of the match: Nads

Crowd: 3.

Old Whitgiftians IVth XI vs MCCC 3rd XI
Saturday 9th August 2008
Croham Road, 2nd pitch
Rain reduced T20 game
MCCC 3rd XI win by 21 runs

What a beautiful summer´s day - not - as Morden Corinthians 3rds arrived in heavy drizzle at Old Whitgiftians (OW) home ground in South Croydon. There was a real chance that we would see no play at all, but fortunately the oppo decided to face the wrath of their groundsman and it was agreed that we would play a 2020 game instead. Brian Clifford lost the toss and MCCC were inserted into bat.



Barney Clargo (making his debut for the club) and Vivek Sarohia opened the innings on a pitch that was to play really well for the whole match, and fours were a plenty on a ground with a very short leg side boundary. The openers put on 28 and 17 respectively both at greater than a run a ball, and with Gopal Patel scoring 31 off 26 it looked like a big score was on the cards. Enter Srinivasan NK "Dons", who really showed how to do it with 3 sixes and 8 fours to score 67 off only 32 balls. Brian scored 18 and Ewan Cotter got 2 and at the end of the 20, MCCC had put on 181 runs at the loss of five wickets. A mammoth total in the conditions and I think both teams thought the game was over.



How wrong we all were. The OWs opened with an "old" chap and a 14 year old, and Geoff Balasoglou was told by the skipper to "tone down the pace" as he opened the bowling. The openers however showed how good they were with and amazingly after 4 overs they had scored 46 with some huge hits - one which stands out was the 14 year old moving to off stump and flicking a ball off middle to the square leg boundary for 6! Desperate measures were required and Barney came on to show what he could do with his left arm chinamen. He started off with a rank log hop down leg which the "old" chap mistimed and it went high down to the square leg boundary to Theo. Unfortunately "the wet ball" was too hard to handle and it was dropped. Things were not looking good. Barney however was to get the last laugh for both openers - combining with his regularly Barcap keeper Sarohia to get them both stumped (From a personal point of view, good stumpings too and much needed as at 8 overs the score was 82-2). MCCC hoped this would be end to the big hitting but it was not to be.

Their number 3 batsman started off slowly but was soon in his stride hitting fours and sixes a plenty. A number of different bowling options were tried, with NK, Girish Patel and Graham Pinkney all trying to get the better off the batsman. Girish was able to get the number 4 and 5 batsman out with some good bowling but the number 3 showed no signs of stopping and 150 runs with 5 overs remaining it was just too tight to call.

You might be wondering...where was the last Patel to complete the triumvirate - just where was Hemant Patel?? Mr Dependable was not to be denied and in MCCC's hour of need he came on with his offspin and bamboozled the number 3 with his flight to get him bowled. It was to be the nail in the coffin as the other batsman were unable to get the required runs, and OW finished on 160 losing by 21 runs.



In the end a good win for MCCC, but to say hearts were in mouths for most of the 2nd innings was an understatement. Many thanks go to OW for agreeing to play the game and making a game of it in what was really appalling conditions for cricket.



Man of the Match: NK for his 67 was at the end the vital knock which one the game. Great debut however for Barney and again great contributions from the Patels.



Jonty Moment: As mentioned I was quite proud of my stumpings, but for overall commitment in the field and showing everyone how much he has improved in the field, I give Ewan Cotter the Jonty award. He was diving around like a cat and stopped vital runs. Great stuff Ewan.

Also, the skipper deserves a mention for his steepling catch off of Hemant just 7 days after his horrific hand injury against Epsom Methodists. He took the catch even though the game was already won at this stage. Great commitment.



Monty Moment: Sorry Theo - the dropped catch wins it, and also the grounded whale impression trying to stop a four on the boundary!