Sunday 20th August 2006 vs Grimsdyke C.C.
 
Wash make it a Grim day for the Dykes
 
Grimsdyke C.C. 152 (32 overs)
Washington C.C. 278-5 (40 overs)
 

Matthew Cragoe reporting

A polished all-round performance gave Washington victory against Grymsdyke on Sunday.  Half centuries from Paul Irons (84) and Shawn Hill (66), three-wicket hauls for spinners Justin Gurney (3-34) and Dale Bracegirdle (3-13), together with a fielding performance embellished by a gem of a catch at slip by Hill, allowed Wash to boss the match from start to finish. 

 

As skipper Gurney put it afterwards: ‘It all worked like clockwork today, mate’.

 

The skipper’s afternoon began well when he won the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch betraying a greenish bloom – the result of the recent rainy weather.  However, any hopes Grymsdyke may have harboured of a juicy, seaming wicket were quickly disabused: beyond a tendency for the ball to stay a little low, the pitch behaved well throughout.

 

Washington’s batters proceeded accordingly.  Bracegirdle (42) and John Roche (9) added 29 uncomplicated runs for the first wicket before the latter was well picked up at slip.  His departure brought in Shawn Hill, and the big South African wasted no time, laying into the bowling with relish, sixes and fours pouring from his bat as he exploited the short legside boundary.  He and the stylish Bracegirdle added 65 for the second wicket in quick time, and the tempo increased another notch when Irons entered the fray. 

 

Irons enjoyed some luck, surviving two dropped catches, but in between he hit some glorious shots all round the wicket. His eventual departure for 83, bowled by a slow, straight ball which clipped his off stump, came as a shock to everyone, the bowler included. ‘I must have caught him in two minds’, he said afterwards: ‘it crept through while he was deciding whether to hit it for four or six!’

 

Irons’s wicket, which followed close on the dismissals of Hill and the luckless Aff Naseem (9), leg before to a ball which kept low, saw Wash stutter from 183-2 to 230-5; however, an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 48 between the boisterous Lee Foggarty (30 not) and Matthew Cragoe (20 not) took Washington to a very respectable 278-5 after 40 overs.

 

Grymsdyke were up for the challenge. Washington opening pair David Mutton and Dave Monger were greeted with unexpected aggression:  67 runs came from the first ten overs as the visitors kept up with the demanding run-rate. The introduction of spin, however, turned the game decisively in Washington’s favour.  Gurney removed Grimsdyke skipper Beckman (19) and then had Peter Kloss (0) smartly stumped by Roche; at the other end, Bracegirdle snaffled a trio with his slow left-armers including the free-scoring Hasnie (60).

 

With him went Grymsdyke’s last chance. Washington’s opening bowlers returned to mop up the tail, Mutton ending with 1-45, and Monger 1-28.  The last wicket was a run out fittingly perpetrated by Foggerty, the star of an excellent fielding performance by Washington. It all added up to victory by a margin of 126 runs.

 

 

Man of the Match:  Dale Bracegirdle for bravura one off performances with bat and ball

 

Kit: Peter Kloss – volunteered to play for the Oppo who were short, dropped Irons twice and then scored 0, st Roche b Gurney. Ouch!

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Batting
Player Runs How out
Dale Bracegirdle 42 Bowled
John Roche 9 Caught
Shawn Hill 66 Bowled
Paul Irons 84 Bowled
Aff Naseem 7 LBW
Matthew Cragoe 20* 
Lee Fogarty 30* 
Did Not Bat
Justin Gurney
Nick Tidey
Dave Monger
David Mutton
Partnerships
Wkt Runs Batsmen
1 26 Dale Bracegirdle  &  John Roche
2 65 Dale Bracegirdle  &  Shawn Hill
3 92 Shawn Hill  &  Paul Irons
4 19 Paul Irons  &  Aff Naseem
5 28 Paul Irons  &  Matthew Cragoe
6 48 * Matthew Cragoe  &  Lee Fogarty



Fielding
Player Cts Wkt Cts Stmps
Dale Bracegirdle 1 - -
Shawn Hill 1 - -
Aff Naseem 1 - -
John Roche - 2 1
Bowling
Player Overs Mdns Runs Wkts
Justin Gurney 8.0 1 37 3
Nick Tidey 4.0 0 27 0
Dale Bracegirdle 4.0 1 13 3
Dave Monger 6.1 0 28 1
David Mutton 8.0 2 45 1
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