Washington Cricket Club - 40th Anniversary Year

Shawn Hill reporting

A bit of a late report here but those of you that know my history at the Wash would not be surprised, although my timekeeping has improved remarkably.

The scheduled match for this date was to be St Johns Fisher CC but with the opposition unable to field a team the Wash went to the CCC and got paired up for a fixture against Limers CC. Upon arriving at the ground it turned out that this was a team we had spent many a post net session at Lords on a Sunday afternoon putting the cricketing world to rights. A decent bunch of guys made up primarily of West Indians with a fair few hailing from Tags’ neck of the woods.

The weather wasn’t too good with a cold wind and overcast so it was sweaters all round when the Wash won the toss and took to the field to have first use of the cherry. It wasn’t too long before a panther like figure cut off a stinging drive in the covers and returned the ball to the bowler for a lightning run-out! For all you non-believers out there, I told you Russell Pendry was hiding his arm! So the opposition lost their first wicket with 4 on the board and this soon became 2 for 6 when the skipper produced a pearler to bowl the number 3 bat as he shaped for a forward defensive and saw the ball clip the top of his off stump. Ian Relf standing at second slip was so in awe of the delivery that he couldn’t take his eye off it, so much so that he left the field with blood streaming from his eyebrow and saw him make a trip to A&E for so stitches.

Rory Guy, the other opening bowler, was frugal bowling his opening 3 overs for 6 runs whereas the skipper’s figures were 1 for 19 in 4. Mitchell (2-48) and Clarke (3-42) took over and soon Clarke had his first for the day with a good caught and bowled, leaving the oppo on 3-34. This was followed by a good 110 run partnership by our opponents which saw them losing their 4^th wicket for 144. Once the breakthrough had been achieved it was about 10 runs for each wicket thereafter with a number of good catches in the field. There was also some good work behind the stumps by the evergreen Demetri.Ahir Pushpanath (1-52 in 8) and Clinton Dugmore (2-11 in 6) combined with Sam Clarke’s excellent 2^nd spell to saw the opposition all out for 209. 7 catches were taken on the day in what was a good performance by the lads in the field with only 10 players.

After a hearty tea the Wash opening pair of Demetri and Guy took to the field and although Guy went for 2 with the score on 9, there was some good batting to come. Dave Bywater went for 9, with the total on 37, but by that stage the Wash was getting some momentum into their innings. Guru and an inspired Chad Bhaskar put on 59 for the 3^rd wicket (Demetri being bowled for 39) in good time before the dreaded 111 struck, seeing Bhaskar bowled for a well played 38 with some cracking boundaries. Fogarty played his part at no. 5, keeping the momentum going by getting off the mark with a boundary and a 59 run stand with the skipper. Unfortunately he was not able to see the innings out and edged one to the keeper for a well played 22. This left the Wash on 170 for 5 with another 37 to get for victory. It was a sweet victory, the second of the weekend for the Wash, as Clinton Dugmore (12 n.o.) and skipper Hill (68 n.o.) - who’s last 5 scoring shots were 6 (for his fifty),4,1,6,6 – steered, or bludgeoned, the Wash past the target in the cold gloom for a well deserved team victory with 6 overs to spare.

Man of the Match: Shawn Hill for his match winning 68 not out.