Saturday 1s vs Whiteley Village
Author: Lewis 'Gerald' Hill
Match Report |
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The start of the cricket season brings some familiar sights. A new bat here, a new pair of gloves there, Piers vaping at gully. However, for the Putney 1st XI, there are some new sights to behold this season (and that is not a reference to the post-match showers). For instance, there is a new skipper at the helm, but with Saad still in Cancun (who goes to Cancun with their wife?!), his coronation was put on hold. Instead, for the opening match at Whiteley Village, club stalwart Andy Hyland stepped into Saad’s size six shoes and captained us to victory in a rain affected game. Putney won the toss and elected to bowl first. The opening 10 overs had the hallmarks of a classic Putney display. An angry GP, a sassy Surrey and Furber creating a trench at mid-off in a successful attempt to save a boundary. After a couple of GP wickets, the heavens opened and so began an afternoon of watching the opposition skipper beg his players to help him wheel the covers onto the wicket. A brief respite allowed us to squeeze in a couple of overs before the next downpour and the inevitable early tea break. Upon returning to the pitch, the quality worsened significantly. The bowling was below par, the fielding sub-standard and the noise levels had dropped. Piers contributed a formidable spell of swing bowling and was unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket before his knee gave in – “must be the extra weight” was his brutally honest assessment of the injury. Scott bowled well at the other end and deservedly picked up three wickets, including that of Whiteley Village’s talismanic left handed batsman. Myself and Surrey were both admittedly off the pace (no real change there then) but picked up a couple of wickets apiece. With the opposition all out for 238, we were set a revised target of 143 runs from 21 overs. A tough task, but at 6.8 runs an over, not an impossible one. The start was not ideal though – Rich copped a golden duck and debutant George Penfold nicked off with just two runs to his name. However, Stockport’s Jason Statham (our very own Alex Hope in case you needed help making that connection) steadied the ship with a robust 23. Yet he departed the field of play in controversial circumstances. Given out LBW by Surrey and clearly incensed by his childhood friend’s decision, Hopey tossed his bat across the square in a clear sign of dissent. His walk to collect his bat was the closest human embodiment to shame this author has witnessed in amateur cricketing circles. Following the controversy, the Mean Aussie quickly departed the field with just four runs, which left Bam Bam with some work to do. Thankfully, he duly obliged, swatting the ball to all corners of the pitch. Not only did he deal in boundaries, but his running between the wickets was especially sharp. His partnership with Piers was the highlight of the innings, with Furber stepping into run on Piers’ behalf. Despite his heroics, Bam Bam fell to the catch of the game, with the opposition’s short cover plucking a ferocious drive out of the sky at lightning pace. But it was too little, too late. Our work was done and GP, Scott and Andy helped us across the line to register our first victory of the season. Key takeaways: • Whiteley Village’s left handed batsman may not have been well versed in technique, but he could definitely hit the ball a long way. A few of us were hit for six, but one of us was reserved the distinct honour of watching one of their deliveries land on the pavilion roof. Answers on a postcard please! • The opening match of the season was a cold affair, with many of the team wearing an extra layer or two. One member of the team had the ingenious idea to wear his finest Jack Wills gilet under his knitted jumper. You know what they say, you can take the boy out of Richmond… |
Date | Time | Team | Opposition | Location | Putney | Opposition | Result | Scores | Points | Toss |
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04/05/2019 | 1pm | Saturday 1st | Whiteley Village | A | 145/6 | 238/10 | W | 0 |