Saturday 5th August 2006 vs Arkley C.C.
 
Too Easy for Hope
 
Arkley C.C. 231-6 (41.4 overs)
Washington C.C. 233-3 (24 overs)
 

Washington scored an easy victory in this long-standing fixture on Saturday thanks to the firepower which George Hope brings to every side he plays in. Hope scored 118 unbeaten runs in only 70 balls including his usual quota of 8 sixes and 9 fours. He found able partners in Sandeep Kuckreja (58) and Paul Irons (36). Sandeep played particularly well, hitting the ball to the boundary with confidence, and being unlucky to be caught in the deep. Hope and Sandeep shared an opening partnership of 126 – indeed Sandeep did well to match Hope run for run.

Irons was fired plumb LBW, missing a straight one and Aff Naseem (3) tried to force the pace like the openers and soon perished caught. It was left to John Roche (6*) to accompany Hope through to victory.

Earlier Arkley had won the toss and after some significant consideration, elected to bat. Washington toiled in the field to a certain extent against Arkley's solid batting line up. Bowling well, Dominic Butcher (3-28) took wickets in his 5th and 6th overs, but Arkley had an excellent start reaching 69 for 2 after 14 overs. They then consolidated this and accelerated as Washington bowlers could only find occaisional breakthroughs. Dave Mutton (0-51) was unlucky not to get a wicket, and Kloss (1-28 from 9 overs) bowled a tidy spell passing the outside edge frequently. By this time batsman Myers (93*) was building an excellent innings, and scoring fours at will. Sandeep (0-36) and Andy Burns (0-24) couldn't really find their line and length, nor muster a wicket, but then towards the end Taran Persaud (1-30) and Paul Irons (1-16) picked up a couple of wickets, but Myers remained resolute till the end.

Arkley declared just before 5pm on 231, leaving Washington to score at a challenging 6.5 runs per over to win. Wash captain Peter Kloss decided to put his strongest batsmen forward first in an attempt to go for the runs. As it turned out the task was an easy one, but this was largely down to Hope's and Sandeep's firepower. Not to do the Washington players a dis-service, there was not a lot of batting in the mid to late order. Had Arkey got a couple of wickets early on, and particularly dismissed Hope (he was dropped in the deep on 20), it would probably have been a very different game. As it was though Arkley were thoroughly disheartened by their experience, and this showed in their bowling and fielding later on.

Commenting on the match Kloss said “An easy win for us, but had Arkley taken that Hope catch I think it would have been rather different. I could see us having to hold on for a draw. After the first 3 batsmen we didn't have much sustained hitting capability”.

Man of the Match: George Hope

Packing the kit: George Hope, for volunteering to retire once he got his 100, but not to get himself out – averages still count for something then...

Washington: George Hope, Sandeep Kuckreja, Paul Irons, Aff Naseem, John Roche (+), David Gluckman, Andy Burns, Taran Persaud, Peter Kloss (c), Dave Mutton, Dominic Butcher

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Batting
Player Runs How out
George Hope 118* 
Sandeep Kuckreja 58 Caught
Paul Irons 36 LBW
Aff Naseem 3 Caught
John Roche 6* 
Did Not Bat
David Gluckman
Andrew Burns
Taran Persaud
Peter Kloss
David Mutton
Dominic Butcher
Partnerships
Wkt Runs Batsmen
1 126 George Hope  &  Sandeep Kuckreja
2 80 George Hope  &  Paul Irons
3 14 George Hope  &  Aff Naseem
4 13 * George Hope  &  John Roche



Fielding
Player Cts Wkt Cts Stmps
Bowling
Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
Taran Persaud 4.0 0 30 1
Sandeep Kuckreja 5.0 0 36 0
Peter Kloss 9.0 3 28 1
Paul Irons 3.4 1 16 1
Andrew Burns 3.0 0 24 0
David Mutton 8.0 1 51 0
Dominic Butcher 9.0 1 28 3
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