Royal Cricket

5-0 Thrashing - Scapegoat Needed...

2011-10-26T11:51:00.002+01:00

Graeme Swann's ill-timed biography is the real reason England lost 5-0 in India. After a summer where even the weather conspired against India to leave them without an International win, the hosts turned the tables on a hapless English side to leave them sorely embarrassed by their trip to the jewel in the crown.

The conditions in India are always difficult to navigate. Pitches which turn part-time twirlers into world beaters and fast bowlers into trundlers don't help. Evening dew, smog and rabid fans come together to make life uncomfortable for visiting teams. But how come this England team played with so little joie de vivre and elan? How did a team that won a game by 10 wickets in September lose 10 for forty something yesterday? Why are our players fighting each other and looking moodier than Stuart Broad after a trip to the match referee's hut?

Wickman's search for a scapegoat has stopped at Swanny's hotel door. In the week the boys left for the land of curry and abysmal musicals his auto-biography was serialised. In it he slags off the team's world class maverick bat, KP, saying that he couldn't captain his way out of a wet paper bag. He also laid into Fatty Patel for some ruck or other in the past. Wickman forgets the rest. But what a way to treat your teammates and your newish One Day skipper!

Swann then wasn't allowed anywhere near the media, was comprehensively out-performed by Patel and only managed two wickets in four games while folk like Tiwary - who bowls utter filth - filled their boots with English wickets. Without his chum de bum Jimmy A on tour, and probably having been bollocked half to death by the England management, Swann seemed subdued and cheerless in the field and was treated with scant respect by the oppo.

Those that follow English team members on Twitter will have observed the playground bully banter that Swann indulges in against teammates. His post match bravado filled interviews remind Wickman of the graceless offerings of rugby's Matt Dawson. Perhaps this time Swann's brand of braggadocio has had a far more profound affect on his own dressing room. Let's face it. India is probably THE hardest tour. You don't want to have to take it on with a divided team, many of them with knives in their backs either crticised outright by someone within the dressing room or damned with faint praise.

Wickman seriously worries about the upcoming 2020 international. Will the boys really want to play for a skipper that they can't trust?

Surrey Championship Dinner

2011-10-12T10:56:00.003+01:00

Older viewers of the blog may well remember a few years back the farrago of Henry Kelly's visit to Sandown. If not, search the blog and enjoy a report of a previous visit to the SC Dinner when an inebriated Kelly bored and insulted Surrey's finest club crickets and administrators before being booed off. Folk that were there that night made lofty promises never to return etc etc. But with the venue moved to the Oval and reports that Surrey had cleaned up its act, Mao, Clarky, Mr Bean, Alison, Nathan and various excited 3xi players decided to climb in to pick up the 3xi Div 2 Champions Trophy.

Ever so suprsingly we all had a cracking evening. The booze was drinkable and the evening's entertainment was... well... entertaining. The evening was well compered by a chap called Roger Makin who blended quick fire wit with hilarious tales of conceding an enormous number of goals against the Squareheads in a hockey international back in the day.

Tea received 6 out of ten. Cauliflower soup with some excellent croutons, some kind of beef and ale pie with veg and a pudding that evades the memory.

Theo Paphitis of Dragons Den and sponsor Rymans fame submitted to a Q&A and acquitted himself well despite the lateness of the hour and the imbibed nature of the audience.

The man that put the Wales into the England and Wales Cricket Board - offspinner Robert Croft - handed out the prizes and then told a number of amusing anecdotes about his time at Glamorgan. As this was towards the end of the evening, recollections are sparse but mostly involved Viv Richards smashing crap bowling into the Bristol Channel and the punchline "That's comin back wid seaweed on it". It was very amusing if you were there.

Pictured are the 3xi with Alison, brandishing the "trophy" [coming to a wall near you soon] and giving manly hugs to Crofty himself. Who was a legend and didn't mind having a bunch of well-oiled folk demanding photos of him with various bits of brass and silver.

1xi Season Report

2011-09-21T15:59:00.002+01:00

HWRCC 1XI 2011: Promoted. Unbeaten. Job done.

I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time in a Royal Park not far away a cricket team decided to pull their finger out and achieve something they had been threatening to do for 4 long years. Ever since a dark day in Godalming in 2007, when the same team (if not the same personnel) failed miserably to chase down 160 on the flattest track south of the Kennington Oval, the Wick 1xi had been caught in limbo - stuck in a standard of cricket that varies from the sublime to the ridiculous, and in a league designed to frustrate...

Or is it? If there is one lesson that we should take from this season, it's that cricket is even more than ever a game played in your head. It's about pressure and how you handle it. Forget the rules, forget the pitch. Forget the silly dibbly-dobbly who could get you caught at mid on. They don't matter - and this year they didn't as the boys produced a season full of verve and drive that put such pressure on opposition teams that not only did we turn up believing we were going to win, the opposition turned up expecting to lose.

The league season reads P17, W12, D4, A1. Bearing in mind there were two draws in the final two games, you can get a sense of how dominant we were. There are some well worn facts about this team that I will mention here - most of these are reported on a weekly basis so need not be repeated at length:

Nomaan Ali scored 719 league runs this year and over 900 including cup games. His last two scores were 2 and 0. Cricket is a strange game. That is quite a ridiculous return and he will win League batsman of the Year.

We chased large totals (220 against Shepperton off 35 overs for the loss of 3 wickets) and small totals (smiting Ripley away like a pesky fly). We defended large totals (240 against Old Paulines and then bowled them out for 170) and when we'd struggled invariably on difficult tracks we turned up the pressure-ometer and cleaned the opposition up (Wallington for example).

The fact that Zammack often batted number 11 gives a clue as to the strength of our batting - pretty much everyone could bat top 6 in almost all opponents' line ups. Adam O'Mahoney took the most catches in the league (in fact all 4 divisions of the Fullers setup I believe) - probably because we found more edges than anyone else. At times I had seven bowlers to choose from - all of whom were more than capable of cleaning up (and invariably took it in turns to do so - Zamm, Graham Tong, Alex, Nomaan all taking 5 wicket hauls)... and the ever reliable Kamm and Shri complemented by the incoming Iain Tong and Vish made our attack almost ridiculous. In fact it was ridiculous.

But these stats don't tell the story that needs to be told - and that's about cricket more generally. I remember remarking to The Lord (Pete Culham for the uninitiated) once in the bar perhaps 12 years ago after a tough game in the Thames Valley, that to win at cricket you had to be a C*NT. I think he was taken aback by my frankness. To be fair I was probably drunk as most 15 year olds would have been after a lager shandy (oh how lax standards were in those days - Ed), but I stand by this sentiment, even if the term used didn't, and still doesn't, accurately describe what I mean. You have to be ruthless. You can't hide. Forget looking stupid, you have to out yourself out there, but you also need to value your wicket. It's not easy, but winners have to earn the right to be such, and you don't get anything for coming third - not in the Fullers. And most importantly you have to be selfish. A selfish b*stard.

We won loads of games this year and many a turning point can be pointed at, but I'd like to tell a short tale of two contrasting fixtures that arguably gave me more pleasure than any of the fixtures than preceded them. They were the final two games - neither of which were won, but both of which showed everything that is great (and terrible) about cricket and provide a fitting conclusion to a successful season.

Chobham

We were promoted with 2 games to go. Mathematically guaranteed. But we were still in the hunt for the league title. Our arrival at a sunny Chobham was met with total indifference by an opposition who seemed to care more about the Daily Mirror than playing cricket. Not even a "Hello", or even an acknowledgement that it was wet - just total indifference. And I wouldn't have minded if it was indeed wet! It was bloody dry. I had to invade their precious clubhouse and invite them to take their covers off so that the wicket (covered for 2 days) could be viewed and allowed to dry (again... not that it was wet!). There were a few puddles that needed skewering (a 5 minute job that we as the opposing team did) and we should have been off. There were numerous other incidents that I need not go into here - suffice to say there is probably a reason that that club only has 16 registered adult players.

The game in effect became an absolute damp squib, with yours truly and Kam (under my instruction) opting to block out 15 overs out of principle to secure a draw, rather than gamble and go for a winning draw/win and risk a loss and give Chobham points they didn't deserve. The abuse received in the field (and to a certain extent in the dressing room) was perhaps understandable, but reasons for this approach will be explained shortly.

Battersea Ironsides

Battersea were an absolute pleasure to host. The weather was fine and the track looked a belter. As is tradition, Battersea have a few strong bats up top and then fade away. They also have a few decent bowlers and one who gives it more flight that Delboy. Battersea won the toss and batted. The track was lurvely and despite one eary breakthrough from Graham, the runs were coming freely. In Zamm's absense this necessitated a lengthly spell from Mr Relibale Kam Raza who bowled 15 overs of controlled off spin. The 3rd wicket fell with the score on 190 and Batterseas ended up on 210 off 51 overs. The fact it took so long is testament to the control of all bowlers on the day who kept their discipline. For the record, at the death if Kam had taken a catch at cow Alex would have had a hat trick. Heehee.

In response we were soon in trouble with Noman leaving the third ball of the day that hooped in and bowled him. Neither Alex nor Adam lasted much longer which left some rebuilding work for Raza and Davies. With an attacking brief, both moved things along, putting on about 120 for the 4th wicket. As both tired, the turning point may have actually been their lazy dismissals, bringing as it did some fresh legs to the crease. Iain Tong and JMJ set about the task of going at a run a ball for 12 overs with great gusto - some powerful heaves, intelligent running and classy drives kept the scores moving along beautifully. As the balconies filled and the sun began to set a great finish was in order. Iain fell, as did Matt Cronin, leaving Vish with JMJ. A few smites and he was gone, leaving about 18 off the last two, and 9 off the last, Wick 8 wickets down and all results still possible. 4 to win off the last ball, JMJ on strike - it's heaved to cow and JMJ is run out diving full stretch going for the 3rd. Wick get the winning draw and a fitting end to a great season.

Conclusions and lessons learnt

These last two games tell many stories. Firstly, the Wick had earned the right to play the game how we wanted it to be played. We'd secured promotion with 2 games to go and from a position of comfort we were able to dictate terms. Chobham? Screw them. We didn't lose and ended up being unbeaten for an entire season - they could only dream of winning cricket matches and the fact we were able to prevent them doing so when they had a real chance gives me great satisfaction and is in my view a 'win'. HWRCC were promoted and Chobham ened up relegated - you really do get what you deserve. Kam and I played like c*nts that final 12 overs, but we'd earnt the right to do so. That's cricket. And would it have been fair to the team that fought hard elsewhere to avoid relegation for us to play like idiots? No.

Secondly, in the Battersea game we were able to get within 2 runs of chasing 210 (off 43 overs remember), having been 20-3. Noman didn't get anything, nor Alex who was off the back of 40, 60 and 40 in his last three innings. Yet we still had the strength in character and depth of quality to get within a simdgen of winning, chasing over 200.

Thirdly, the Wick is a glorious place to be. Whilst Chobham is a great tour venue with the attractive spire and the lush english field feeling, it doesnt have the dramatic character of the Wick on a warm summer's evening with two full balconies. And JMJ running himself out off the last ball going for a third run made for a great season finale.

Fouthly Battersea continue to be a great club and we shall miss them next year. At least 8 of them hung around for drinks for a few hours. We shall investigate some pre-season friendlies next year.

Finally - the team went unbeaten for an entire league season. That is a remarkable achievement. To not let your guard down even once to lose, and when the guard was wavering someone propped up the side like a girder. Every team has stars but we've had at least 18, 20 including Keith and Alison, who are as much part of the scene as anyone.

We are now going places.....game on.

Tour Report - by Selvesy

2011-09-21T15:46:00.003+01:00

"Edmonds finds a crack early on, but is reportedly retired drunk later"

Touring X: Davies. Cronin. O'Mahoney. Tong, G. Tong, I. Fahad. Edmonds. Selves. Charlton. Mo Bal.(Denly, Joe Saturday only).

Saturday 17th September Hampton Wick Touring X vs the Bars of Canterbury and Faversham.

Sunday 18th September Hampton Wick Touring X vs The Phoenix Tavern CC

Hampton Wick Touring X won by 71 runs.

HWRCC: 260 for 5 from 36
Ian Tong (Ting) 50* retired
Bonny 45
Cronin 41
Matty D 37*
Tongy 31
Fahad 12
Charlton 4* (reverse sweep)
Selves 1 (gloved at that!)

The Phoenix Tavern CC 189 all out from 33
Mohit 2-45
Charlton 2-32
Bonny 2-20
Tongy 2-26
Selvesy 1-3
Cronin direct hit run out (got spanked bowling)
Edmonds spanked.
Fahad too quick.

As a fantastic season for the WICK came to a close a few of the lads jumped in their cars and headed down to Kent for a last swing and chuck. With Saturday’s game falling through Matty D filled the void with a tour of the Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham. Chedwood had spent the trip down drinking a slab of fizzy lager in the back of Matt Cronin's car and found the forty minute tour without booze, yet talking about nothing but booze, quite hard to deal with.

Fahad, however, was loving the history of how the English mix together lots of good healthy things and turn them into muddy water that induces more love from some men than most show to their wives. The tasting session and drinks after got the boys back in the flow and Fahad debated the relative merits of Coke and Pepsi while Chedwood ordered a lager at the bar in the oldest bitter brew house in the UK.

A quick sprucing up and the allocation of accommodation then off to Canterbury to look at the cathedral. In Canterbury there where a few firsts: Chedwood got served without ID and paid for a whole round by themselves (the boys are growing up so fast); Mo ordered so much Sambuca that they had to serve the fourth round of shots in ten minutes in sherry glasses; for five minutes the Wick had an international batsman on tour with them, Joe Denly, but he bottled it when Mo went back to the bar for the fifth round of bucas; Fahad went to a night club (the term night club is used as loosely as the term tour for a one match trip to Kent). Much hilarity took place in said establishment, including the wonders of Ian Tong (Read Ting) as a magnet for any lady in Kent and Chedwood announcing they love Canterbury while Selvesy and Matty D turn to each other and ask if they are getting too old for this shi....

Back in Faversham the decision to put Chedwood next to a bathroom paid off as they both brought up their kebabs in spectacular style (Ed needs a new sleeping bag). In the morning there was some percussive rugby watching and then we remembered why we were there.

Selvesy won toss and chose to bat. Deciding there was a chance for some runs Fahad (the only one sober at the time) and Selvesy opened up on a track that was as green as Chedwood after a night of Sambuca and vomming. Fahad blazed to 12 before missing one. Selvesy missed everything except the one that he gloved down the leg side for 1 before missing a straight one. Selvesy's father looked on wondering what his son actually did at those expensive boarding schools and where it all went wrong.

Cronin and Tongy G steadied the drunken ship, although with some interesting shots at times from Tongy, and a few dropped catches later had the WICK at 61 for 2 off 17. At this point it should be said that each incoming bat was told the shot they had to play off the first ball they faced and Tongy’s leg glance off one pitching outside off was a giggle. Then when Tongy got skittled (Fahad has the video footage from the umpire spot, link to you tube coming soon) Bonny went in needing a reverse sweep off the first ball. He survived, just.

Once the opening bowlers quotas were up Bonny and Cronin went on to punish the change bowlers. Cronin fell in the 40s and Ting strode out with his first shot to be a leave. The opposition had by now twigged what was going on and had realised that someone would be told to leave his first ball at some point. However with the openers done they lacked someone who could hit the stumps to order and Ting was safe fielding arms as the bowler ran up to the stumps. After his sighter Ting then gave it a good whack. The score went up like Mo's bar tab and the WICK were soon on 120 for 3 from 22 and Bonny was now having to bat while Selvesy, umpiring, was telling him with sign language what shot to play as the bowler ran in (stick cricket with real people). This time the reverse sweep was quality but Bonny eventually went for 45.

Out came Matty D as the bowler said, "the problem is every wicket we take the batting gets better". He then bowled a good ball and Matty D played a solid block. Matty D wasn't playing the “this is your first your shot” games like those pesky kids. Ting hit 50 and took a bow and out went Charlton, the one who puts the wood in Chedwood. First shot instructions: reverse sweep slog. Charlton will struggle to play a better shot ever again. It nearly went for six and the opposition was starting to dread what would happen when Mo and Charles got in. But the heavens opened and the WICK declared for an early tea on 260 for 5 from 36. Which is a shame, as Mo does like to Mohit. Although Charles was happy as he still looked as green as the wicket.

The rain did not last and the boys took to the wet pitch with a bar of soap that had swelled nicely over tea. Charlton and Mo (who likes to Mohit Mohit, sung to the tune of, I like to move it move it. Matty D comedy genius) opened up and both hit the sticks in their first over. Charlton picked up another with a one handed catch from Edmonds and Selves senior came to the crease.

All catching had to be one handed and the way Charles took a regulation sitter with one hand suggests a change of technique could be of benefit for the WICK'S most loveable chain smoker. Selvesy was not planning on bowling but when Charlton pulled up with a Sambuca related injury Selvesy, standing at mid off, was the closest to fill in. A couple of overs later, having trapped his old man lbw (so plumb the umpire, employed by Selves senior, had to give it) Selvesy took himself off for Edmonds with The Phoenix on 65 for 4 from 10 (45 of those from their gun bat).

Edmonds paid the price for his hangover and perhaps he should have tweaked the ball a bit more like the rather attractive lady's derrière outside of the kebab house that morning. Indeed the dexterity with which Charles held and ate a kebab in one hand whilst working his magic with the other shows great promise with the ball with a bit more practice. That said so could the derriere tweaking, after a few goes the young lady made it clear that enough was enough. Meanwhile Mo plugged away at the other end (we are back on the cricket now) and picked up another clean bowled.

The Phoenix were 75 for 5 and along with the opening bat who was close to 50 their number seven was settling in and as it would have been a shame to take Fahad all that way without a bowl he had a go with a ball that now look like a soap on a rope after a tough day in the wormwood scrub showers. Three slips, gully, fly slip and point, Mo drying the ball at midd off and Bonny, having given the gloves to Cronin, pacing the leg side warming up his bowling arm. Fahad bowled so well with the soap but was perhaps a bit too good (and quick) to find the edge. Charlton had another go at the other end and the Phoenix dug, edged and pulled their way to 128 for 5 from 26. With the Phoenixes gun bat in the 80s it needed something special and Bonny replaced Charlton. First ball gun bat caught and bowled. Half tracker would be unfair but their bat did well to hit it before it bounced again. But Bonny got a taste for it and finding a line just outside off picked up another with a great catch, one handed of course, at deep cover by Charlton.

Tongy replaced Fahad and gave us all a glimpse of the off spin he plans to bowl in his late thirties and Mo took a great, you guessed it, one handed catch at midd off. By now Cronin had had a go keeping and gave the gloves to Mo so Cronin could have a bowl. However before he could get on he picked up a drive at midd off and with a direct hit ran out the non striker. Cronin then came on for Bonny and perhaps wished he didn't. Luckily for him though Tongy wrapped things up at the other end next over but not before Mo had let one bye through, and with each bye resulting in a round of Sambuca Mo was also a happy man when the stumps got hit. The Phoenix all out for 189 from 33.

Other than perhaps the 2 run win in the 3s top of the table clash this year it was one of the best WICK games this writer has played in, genuine fun on all sides. Plans are in place for a three or four day tour to Kent again next season with games of varying standard but certainly taking on the Phoenix again. WICK.

Barbados Tour 2013

2011-09-14T14:23:00.004+01:00

With the proposed tour 18 months away, we are now looking to confirm with people who wish to come along.

At the moment we have 10 people signed up to the direct debit scheme. At this stage, we are wanting people who are looking to come on tour but not signed up to the direct debit scheme to commit £250 by October 31st so we can start looking towards booking flights in April 2012. We will need to book flights around this time to secure the best prices/deals in terms of luggage and flights. We are looking to get 20 people signed up.

Please can you reply to hwrcctour2013@hotmail.co.uk by September 20th to let us know:

a) yes I want to come on tour and will pay £250 by October 31st

b) No I dont want to come on tour

c) I am unsure at the moment. Details of the bank details will be sent over.

thanks

TEAMS - SAT 3RD SEPT

2011-09-02T09:26:00.002+01:00

SAT 3RD SEPT

1ST XI V BATTERSEA (H)

1 Ali 2 Day 3 O'Mahoney (+) 4 Raza 5 Davies © 6 Tong, I 7 Maddoc-Jones James 8 Cronin 9 Tong, G 10 Abeyrante, Vishva 11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:30 S: 13:30

2ND XI V GODALMING (A)

1 Rashid 2 Jackson © 3 Mackie (+) 4 High 5 Crowther 6 Soppitt 7 Tanveer, Fahad 8 McMullan 9 Charlton 10 Donnelly 11 Goodwin

U: S. Riley S: N/A

M: 10:30 S: 12:00

3RD XI V Old Rutlishians (H)

1 N. Singh © 2 Goulborn 3 Clements (+) 4 Byrne, Dan 5 Edmonds 6 Kamboh, Nav 7 Miles 8 Vijayakumar, Pradeep 9 Linter 10 Sadiq, Zeeshan 11 Ilyas, Aqeel

U: N/A S: N/A

M: 11:30 S: 12:00

Good Luck To everyone involved.

WICK

TEAMS - SAT 27TH AUG

2011-08-26T11:19:00.002+01:00

1ST XI V Chobham (A)

1 Ali 2 Rashid 3 O'Mahoney (+) 4 Raza 5 Davies © 6 High 7 Cronin 8 Tughral, Zo 9 Tughral, Zam 10 Tanveer, Fahad 11 Shinde

U: N/A S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:30 S: 13:00

2ND XI V Carshalton (H)

1 Jackson 2 Fudge © 3 Murray 4 McMullan 5 Oliver, Robbie 6 Soppitt 7 Copeland H (+) 8 Taylor, Will 9 Donnelly 10 Goodwin 11 Lown

U: S. Riley S: N/A

M: 11:15 S: 12:00

3RD XI V Guildford City (H)

1 Ratnage 2 Hirsch 3 Byrne, Dan 4 Clements (+) 5 TBC 6 Kamboh, Nav 7 Selves © 8 Nicholls 9 Ilyas, Aqeel 10 Linter 11 Smith

U: K. Bryan S: N/A

M: 12:00 S: 12:30

Good Luck to everyone involved!!

WICK

Match Report - 1s win promotion at Caterham - by Matty D

2011-08-22T14:19:00.001+01:00

HWRCC 1XI beat Caterham 1XI by 7 runs.

A season review will follow (at the end of the season), but this game proved to be decisive. Our target of 12 wins was achieved and promotion was secured, but only after confirmation of Guildford Citys draw at Shepperton. It would have been nice to secure promotion with a wicket, or a boundary, or something more dramatic than a text from the Chairman on your way to a Fish and Chip shop at 9pm in Kent. On the plus side the fish I procured was half-price at £2 on account of it being split. Saved me two bob and I was going to eat the thing even if it wasn’t split. And it was delish.

Anyway, back to the creekeet...

Caterham – lovely town. Has a Waitrose at the bottom of the hill. Always a good sign.

The ground is high up and part-funded by the famous Caterham School – Think Hogwarts without the wizard bit. Therefore they have some good facilities and the track was a belter. The best track we have played on all year – true carry and some pace if you bent your back, but also some grip if you hit the seam. Obviously I lost the toss and we were inserted. There was some rain in the air and whilst it wasn’t cold, it was slightly dank. The gazebo under which we were sat did receive a warm pattering for maybe an hour. This didn’t stop Nomaan and Alex though who attacked from the off – hitting cleanly through the line – Nomaan mostly off-side, Alex mostly on-side – but both with orthodox cricket play. They put on a round 100 in maybe 15 overs – continuing their great form of the previous few weeks.

However, 1 can bring 2. And in some cases a lot more. The ball started to grip, catches were being held, a few poor shots played and an ump with an itchy finger all left us ‘reeling’ at 167-7/ Raza made a few but others found ways to get out (as did Raza to be fair) and thoughts of 250 were some way off. MattyD and in-form Tong steadied somewhat – Davies fortunate at best but nevertheless effective for a while. His dismissal brought in Abeyratne, whose explosive hitting accelerated the score to 242 in no time with a declaration now possible off 45 overs, leaving us 50 to get them out on a flat deck and an outfield like the Oval.

Teas were pretty good – not much variety but I’ve said it before – if the bread is soft I won’t complain. And you didn’t need to ask for the cold drinks. 6 out of 10.

The sun had come out for our response. So much so in fact I decided to zinc up and I looked like the monkey out of Lion King. It seemed to do the job as I plucked an absolute beaut at gully to give the innings an early lift. Nevertheless Caterham approached their chase in the right frame – attack. Their run rate was consistently high at around 5 an over – which is probably a first for us this season. Attacking fields soon paid off, as well as runs on the board which forced agitation with some batsman. A few tight overs invariably led to a wicket in some form. Tongy – the pick of the seamers – took a great catch at point and Nomaan was successful with two run outs – one with the help of an energetic Zammy at mid wicket. With the exception of Vish – who didn’t threaten on a track that didn’t suit him – everyone looked like taking wickets. Day bowled with real verve on a batsman’s track and attacking fields. He didn’t get the rewards this week. Ali – on his return to bowling action, somehow got 4 wickets despite a glut on no-balls (don’t look at me Noman – they’re your feet). With wickets tumbling, the key one was a Kammy catch at long-on – plucking skier to remove the Caterham skip who had threatened to challenge for the full 20 points. Runs wern’t the problem, it was the losing of wickets that was going to do for them. Zammy cleaned up the final one and 20 points was ours.

MOM – Paper suggests it should be Nomaan, but he didn’t do much more than anyone else really. He was probably the worst of the bowlers aside from Vish, but still took 4 wickets. He top scored – but he Alex and Vish all played vital contributions with the willow. And Tongy put in a fine all round stint – unbeaten with bat, best bowler on day, a great catch and some outstanding standards in the field.

Special mention to young Robbie Oliver. He didn’t trouble the scorers this time around, but last time I got a duck (Frimley 1st league game) I followed it up with 135 the week after. Debut out the way – tick that box...plenty more opportunities to come.

In the field this had been a good effort – I think we forget how good we actually are at times. Caterham was a batting paradise, especially with the sun out. Some of our bowling was full of skill and poise and the catching this week was top drawer when it needed to be. Caterham’s fielding in contrast was lacklustre (no disrespect intended). 15 games and 12 wins is a great return and if we win the final two we have a real chance of going up as Champions – but we are now officially a Surrey Championship team – I will dine out on that for a while.

Go Wick.

TEAMS - SAT 20TH AUGUST

2011-08-17T09:40:00.004+01:00

1ST XI V Caterham (A)

1 Ali 2 Day 3 Raza 4 O'Mahoney (+) 5 Davies © 6 High 7 Cronin 8 Oliver, Robbie 9 Tong, G 10 Abeyrante, Vishva 11 Tughral, Zam

U: S. Riley S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:00 S: 13:00

2ND XI V SKR (H)

1 Rashid 2 Fudge © 3 Murray 4 Crowther 5 Jackson 6 Soppitt 7 Copeland H (+) 8 Tanveer, Fahad 9 McMullan 10 Shinde 11 Lown

U: N/A S: N/A

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

3RD XI V Streatham & M'Boro (H)

1 Lloyd 2 Hirsch 3 Collier 4 Clements (+) 5 Byrne, Dan 6 Ratnage 7 Kamboh, Nav 8 Selves © 9 Charlton 10 Ilyas, Aqeel 11 Linter

U: K. Bryan S: N. Singh

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

Good Luck to everyone involved...

WICK

Teams - Saturday 6 August 2011

2011-08-04T11:23:00.003+01:00

1ST XI V Weybridge Vandals (A)

1 Ali, 2 Davies ©, 3 Raza, 4 O'Mahoney (+), 5 Day, 6 High, 7 Cronin, 8 Tong, G, 9 Abeyrante, Vishva, 10 Tughral, Zam, 11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:30 S: 13:30

2ND XI V Dorking (H)

1 Rashid, 2 Tughral, Zo, 3 Collier, 4 Clements, 5 Jackson, 6 Crowther, 7 Soppitt, 8 Copeland H (+), 9 Tanveer, Fahad, 10 Webster ©, 11 Lown

U: S. Riley

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Kempton (A)

1 Singh ©, 2 Hirsch, 3 Mackie, 4 Rudolph, Matt (+), 5 Byrne, Dan, 6 Ratnage, 7 Kamboh, Nav, 8 Selves, 9 Charlton, E, 10 Ilyas, Aqeel, 11 Linter

M: 11:30
S: 13:00

CLUB DAY - 2011 SIXES SHIELD

2011-08-02T10:57:00.001+01:00

And there's more...

CLUB DAY - THE 2011 SIXES SHIELD

2011-08-02T10:38:00.004+01:00

Here are just a few reasons why you should support YOUR Club this Sunday!! Don't miss out on the best club social of the year!!

TEAMS - SAT 30TH JULY

2011-07-27T14:53:00.003+01:00

SAT 30TH JULY

1ST XI V Byfleet (H)

1 Ali 2 Davies © 3 Tong, I 4 Raza 5 O'Mahoney (+) 6 Maddoc-Jones James 7 Cronin 8 Tong, G 9 Abeyrante, Vishva 10 Tughral, Zam 11 Shinde

U: B. Sissen S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:30 S: 13:30

2ND XI V Old Paulines (A)

1 Cole 2 Tughral, Zo 3 Crowther 4 Clements 5 Jackson 6 Soppitt 7 Copeland H (+) 8 Charlton, E 9 Tanveer, Fahad 10 Webster © 11 Lown

U: S. Riley S: N/A

M: 11:30 S: 13:00

3RD XI V Thames Ditton (H)

1 Singh © 2 Hirsch 3 Lloyd 4 Haddock 5 Edmonds 6 Rudolph, Matt + 7 Breakwell 8 Unsworth 9 Selves 10 Ilyas, Aqeel 11 Linter

U: N/A S: N/A

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

Good luck to everyone involved...

WICK

England vs India - The Recriminations

2011-07-26T10:04:00.003+01:00

"India's fielding - about as mobile as an order of aloo gobi"

Indian supporters on Cricinfo are hurting today. A comprehensive roasting at Lords on a pretty blameless surface has rather dented the hype. No Sachin ton, India fielded like an order of aloo gobi and the stony faces on the oppo balcony spoke volumes of professional misery.

MSD in his post match interview with Athers claimed that India suffered some cruel misfortune. And he's probably right. But no-one wants The Little Master suffering from Camden Colon or Zaheer's hamstring to detract from a brilliant England win.

Pietersen, Trott, Prior and Broad all batted out of their skins at high pressure moments. The bowlers took 20 wickets on what was a good track without the help of DRS. We survived a terrible insertion on the first day when the ball was hooping round corners.

Interestingly you have to ask if Duncan Fletcher is relishing this challenge. He looked fairly inscrutable up there on the Indian balcony. But he looks like he's got a tough job to do to get India into the right frame of mind.

Zaheer looked anything but fit. In fact he looked like he'd had too many coories. Samit Patel must be kicking himself he's English because if Zaheer can get a game looking like a 42 year old Elvis while Jimmy Anderson has to slim down to Amy Winehouse size, he'd have played 100 Tests by now. (Oh - okay - he's not that good). And the rest of them didn't look in peak physical condition either. Contrast the look of the England lot - the bowlers all fresh no doubt from some shoot or other with a magazine with pink in its badge, the batsmen all looking like they've spent as much time as Tremmers on the rowing machine - and you begin to wonder whether India have some fundamental issues with team ethic and desire.

A couple of commentators have pointed to the lack of warms ups, the desultory netting, the wearing of sweaters while bowling and the general brainlessness of some of their match play at key moments (funny how Pietersen and Prior could score at will in a Test Match situation but Prior can't get it off the square in a 50 over game) and you wonder whether Dunc can turn it round or whether he's just a really clever babysitter that needs to wait for some of the egos to leave the team before he can create change.

"Whatever" Wickman says. Unless everyone is completely gone in the head (Dravid didn't look that way, and Suresh Raina looked class [if a little chubby of cheek]) there's no way that India will continue to obligingly fall over when batting and Wickman was never sure why Munaf Patel or that strange chipmunk like fellow Sreesanth weren't picked so he's expecting some sort of resurgence on Friday...

TEAMS - SAT 23RD JULY

2011-07-21T11:54:00.002+01:00

SAT 23RD JULY

1ST XI V Wallington (A)

1 Ali 2 Davies © 3 Day 4 Raza 5 O'Mahoney (+) 6 High 7 Maddoc-Jones James 8 Crowther 9 Tong, G 10 Abeyrante, Vishva 11 Tughral, Zam

U: K. Nicholls S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:30 S: 13:30

2ND XI V Woodmansterne (H)

1 Cole 2 Rashid 3 Fudge © 4 Tughral, Zo 5 Byrne, Dan 6 Soppitt 7 Copeland H (+) 8 Tanveer, Fahad 9 Shinde 10 Goodwin 11 Lown

U: S. Riley S: G. Unsworth

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

3RD XI V Ashford (A)

1 Risman 2 Jackson 3 Singh © 4 Lloyd 5 Ratnage S 6 Clements Tom (+) 7 Oliver, Robbie 8 Charlton, E 9 Ilyas, Aqeel 10 Donnelly 11 Linter

U: K. Bryan S: N/A

M: 11:30 S: 13:00

Good luck to everyone involved...

WICK

2011 HWRCC CLUB DAY...

2011-07-19T13:14:00.004+01:00

It's Coming... The Club Event of the Year is nearly here!!

2011 HWRCC CLUB DAY - THE SIXES SHIELD

This years Fancy Dress Theme; Pop Stars/Bands.

Club Day Includes;

Fancy Dress 6 aside competition - BBQ Lunch - Live DJ - Hot Tub* - Pimms Bar - Corona Bar - Slow Race - Man of the Tournament - Prat of the Tournament - & Much, Much More...

Don't miss out on the best social of the year!!

HWRCC 2011 CLUB DAY - TEAMS

SIMPLY RED

P. Hibberd © D. Fudge K. Raza M. Mackie J. Breakwell G. Unsworth D. Lown

KISS

G. Tong © A. Day F. Murray H. Copeland F. Tanveer P. Miles M. Bal

TBC

T. Crowther © M. Davies I. Tong V. Abeyrante P. Linter C. Powell S. Riley

TBC

J. Lloyd © N. Ali M. Cronin S. Ratnage R. Oliver E. Charlton A. Ilyas

TBC

C. High © I. Rashid Zo Tughral C. Edmonds D. Soppitt S. Shinde D. Bendall

TBC

A. Crane © A. O'Mahoney T. Clements J. Hirsch Zam Tughral N. Weerakoon C. Appleyard

WICK

* Please note that the Hot Tub may not be hot. It may not even be a tub.

Daddy Hundreds

2011-07-18T21:02:00.002+01:00

Wickman was watching a fantastic interview with Alastair Cook on Sky this evening - Charles Colville asking the questions - before suddenly being sent into a terrible rage by THE most irritating piece of cricket speak ever devised.

Now Wickman knows that cricket is no longer played by Gentlemen and Amateurs. He has been guilty down the years of some use of fruity urban language on the pitch, the balcony and in the bar. He realises that the correct response to a 19 wicket test match haul is no longer to hitch up your cream flannels and shake hands with your skipper. He knows that the England captain is no longer likely to have been to Eton or Harrow (although the current Test Captain did go to Radley which Wickman believes to be acceptable and the one day captain went to Bedford Modern [which sounds ghastly but dates back to the 16th century]) and probably won't have a Blue.

The fact that modern cricketers call a Bosie a Googly and that for some reason commentators now call the new ball in a Test Match the 2nd new ball when in the old days we all knew that the new ball was the one you got after 80 overs because you couldn't start a Test Match with anything other than a new ball occasionally causes Wickman to thrash around in his sleep. But he is seldom moved to abused the television.

However the "Daddy" hundred takes the biscuit, drops it on the kitchen floor in a pool of dog spittle, picks it up and eats it. Wickman was brought up on Graham Gooch. For much of Wickman's early cricketing education the moustachioed one was at one end with Boycs, Brearly, Broady or someone else at the other. He scored big runs. He smashed it. He muscled it. He had a big eff-off moustache that was the rival of any Australian soup strainer.

Goochy's had, as the modern parlance would have it, a shocker with the... Wickman can't write it again... oh... Daddy hundred. What in God's name does it mean? Why is a big hundred a Daddy? What hideousness in Essex can have caused Gooch to come up with this execrable piece of badinage and to feed it to his disciple Cook? Did Obi Wan Kenobi (say it quickly and the word wank is heard) come up with something similar? No - he talked of the force and managed to misdirect the weak minded to look for other droids. He did NOT talk of Daddy lightsabres and the like.

Wickman is lead to believe that the phrase originates from the common vernacular of saying "Who's Your Daddy?". Wickman has heard it said that this is not an enquiry to be asked of young Scrotes as one apprehends them scrumping in your orchard (obviously the correct usage would be "father" here), but is used by young men to display authority as they copulate with loose moralled young women. Although even in Essex it escapes Wickman as to why you would want to remind a young lady of her father in such delicate circumstances.

Wickman now imagines a chubby Goochie smashing Kapil Dev and the others around Lords in 1993 thinking "I really need something to say to them which will subdue them and remind them of their submissive situation" and being at a loss for words. Later, post retirement, he stumbles across the phraseology and passes it on to Cook and the other England players. Now they imagine themselves astride the Aussies, the Sri Lankans and others shouting "Who's your Daddy?" at the top of their voices, giving it the old Brokeback Mountain treatment to some poor bowler.

It's just wrong. It's even more wrong coming from the mouth of Cook, Strauss and Swann in interviews. You can tell they are trying to establish it as vernacular, as argot as part of the game. And it stinks. It stinks like fish left out in the midday sun infested with maggots. It sounds pathetic, juvenile... like a playground thing. If Sachin Tendulkar scores a double this Summer will he describe it as a "Daddyji"? Would Brian Lara ever call his 401 a Daddy score? Steve Waugh? Mark Taylor? Boony? Len Hutton? Bradman? Hayden? Anyone but a modern English cricketer?

It's an abomination. Do NOT use it.

1s Triumph to Open Up 44 Point Gap to 3rd Place - Match Report by Matty D

2011-07-18T10:03:00.002+01:00

1xi vs Guildford City
Guildford City 156 (32 Overs)
HWRCC 1xi 158-4 (22.5 Overs)

Scorecard

''Guildford Cricket'' was invented in 2006 in homage to the Wick's performance against Guildford City on the last game of that season. We needed to either get 4 points or stop GC winning to secure promotion for ourselves. Having got 184 (and therefore maximum batting points) they declared, leaving us a difficult chase. We were soon in the shyte at 28-6. Were we going to cock it up right at the last, having been unbeaten and top the league all year? No, thereafter ensued the most almighty block-session. The likes of Ewen and Tughral (one of only three surviving players in this fixture) fought their way to 76-8 off 45, meaning we didn't lose (and GC didn't win) - and we were promoted.

Last year our game against GC was abandoned due to the pitch being deemed unfit for play. Yours truly was playing in that game, and was going quite well, until one reared from a length and hit me in the face.

You could say this fixture has history.

2011 was no different. On the balcony Coley called it "the greatest win he'd ever seen down the Wick". Thats some statement.

The day started for me on the Number 4 bus heading from Highbury to Waterloo. Text from Fudgey suggesting I "get down the Wick and get the covers off".

'Since when do we have covers?'. Since Nomi spent 3 hours on Friday folding up the old ones (with holes in), in an apparently vain attempt to protect the pitch. A week of warm weather was to be replaced with heavy rain overnight on the Friday. This isn't surprising because statistically it does actually rain more at the weekend than during the week. Stephen Fry said so on QI once [Must be true - Ed].

Fudgey was convinced it was game on. Arrival at 1130 suggested otherwise. It was Duck weather. The cover however was still in place and if Nomi had applied it correctly, there was a fair chance that the track would be moist but more than playable. The outfield, as always, was fine. The square however was getting puddlier by the minute and it was almost getting stupid.

Firstly credit to Guildford City - they were keen to play. And despite Keith's best efforts at Square protection, he was convinced otherwise and it was game on at 1610 - the latest time we could start. We assumed (wrongly as it turned out) that most games would be off, and so the need to get a game in (and potentially win) could make or break the season, especially following a below par run-out fest last week which ended in a thoroughly depressing draw.

Secondly, credit to most of the boys who worked their t*ts off for over 2 hours trying to soak up and move the surface water away from the track. Groundsmanship is boring and tiring, but it can be very rewarding.

You must be getting bored now...

I won the toss and decided to bowl - unsurprisingly. The track was fine, the outfield a bit dank in places, and the skies looking evil. But it was dry for the moment. Daisy and Tongy started things off, the latter showing more control, and being rewarded with two important early wickets against some bats with good eyes. Nomaan had a go, as did Tongy jnr. Both showing control on a good surface. Wickets fell regularly, and the run rate slowed, but GC would have a total to defend. We nailed a few last on the keep the score to 156, which we would have 23 overs to get them in. No chance, or so I thought.

We decided to go for it. If we got rolled, we would still get 4 points (the same as if the match had been abandoned). After taking one look at the leggie from the Millennium Wood end I decided if I was to score it would be off the seamers. Or I would get bowled... I got bowled. This brought Tongy Jnr in with Ali - both of whom played good attacking but sensible cricket. It's hard to be bowled out off 23 overs, so whilst the run rate was building, wickets in hand meant that a late biff could mean 20 points.

They put on nearly a ton, Tong being replaced with Raza, who came in a hit a quickfire 10. Ali got a wonderful 74. Needing 9 an over for the last 10, and consistently getting it right to the last, I could barely watch. Then it became 30 off 24. 25 off 17. 18 off 12. 9 off the last....

5 off 3. They take out fine leg and Daisy plays a paddle and top edges it. Boney gallops like a hare and it's 3. 2 off 2. Boney misses and it flicks off the pads between slip and the keeper. The appeal goes up but the finger stays down. WICK WIN WICK WIN WICK WIN! The boys go radio rental.

The 4 teams below us in the league either lost or had their games abandoned. I couldn't have written the script any better. Keef loved it too... hee hee

TEAMS - SAT 16TH JULY

2011-07-14T12:49:00.003+01:00

SAT 16TH JULY

1ST XI V Guildford City (H)

1 Ali 2 Davies © 3 Day 4 Raza 5 O'Mahoney (+) 6 Tong, I 7 Maddoc-Jones James 8 Cronin 9 Tong, G 10 Abeyrante, Vishva 11 Tughral, Zam

U: K. Nicholls S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:00 S: 13:30

2ND XI V Cranleigh (A)

1 Cole 2 Rashid 3 Fudge © 4 Mackie (+) 5 Crowther 6 High 7 Byrne, Dan 8 Soppitt 9 Tanveer, Fahad 10 Shinde 11 Webster

U: S. Riley S: N/A

M: 11:00 S: 13:00

3RD XI V Pyrford (H)

1 Risman 2 Goulborn 3 Singh © 4 Jackson 5 Tughral, Zo 6 Lloyd 7 Ratnage S 8 Clements Tom (+) 9 Ilyas, Aqeel 10 Donnelly 11 Linter

U: K. Bryan S: N/A

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

4TH XI V Riverside CC (A)

1. Hirsch 2. Edmonds 3. Rudolph, Matt + 4. Oliver, Robbie 5. Miles 6. Charlton, Ed 7. Chaudhry, Sohail 8. Bendall © 9. Bal, Mohit 10. McNab 11. Sadiq, Zeesham

MEET 13:00

START 14:00

WICK

Team News - 4xi vs Turnham Green Poly

2011-07-08T10:49:00.002+01:00

4XI for Saturday 9th at Home to Chiswick. Meet 13:00.

1. Hirsch, 2. Edmond, 3. Rudolph+, 4. Miles, 5. Tanzeel, 6. Selves*, 7. Benndall, 8. Sohil, 9. Mohit, Bal, 10. Swain, 11. McNab

Historic Moment - 1st 4xi Match Report on the blog - By Selvesy

2011-07-08T10:44:00.000+01:00

Much time could be spent looking for a quote or coming up with something profound to say about the Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club 4XI taking to the kingsfield on Saturday 2nd July 2011. However, breaking from the strange feeling of writing a match report including yourself in the third person, a day like Saturday is not a day for soundbites, we can leave those to the home balcony, but I feel the hand of history upon our shoulder with respect to this.... (not the writer's poor grammar. Points for anyone under 25 who knows that quote.). Anyway, the 4s fielding 5 under 19s from the WICKS thriving colts set up and former colt Charles Edmonds took to the field against Teddington Town 3XI. There hadn't been a toss as such, but a lot like back in Stormont the decisions were made before the ceremony when Selvesy informed the opposition skipper that the batting was light today.

Sohail took the new ball and plugged away up the hill finding some good lines but with no luck. Alisdair McNab came down the hill and after a first over finding his lines bowled a tight spell with a very tidy clean bowled to take the first wicket for the 4s in their brave new world. Zeesham came on for McNab and also took an over to find his straps but then, like McNab, found his lines and picked up a nice clean bowled. Teddington 46 for 2 from 12 after hard running up the hill by Sohail and two great little spells from two of the WICKS promising youngsters. Selves, feeling all this young talent may have him needing to start a 5th XI next year to get a game, plodded up the hill and Rob Swain making his Saturday debut for the WICK came down. A neat catch from Will Taylor off Selves followed by a cheeky lbw had Teddington 4 down before Swain got in on the act forcing a chip to mid off.

Mohit came on up the hill and bowling some good lines picked up a couple of clean bowled. Charlie Pilcher came down the hill for Swain and after struggling to find his lines produced a peach of a ball and took an even better catch to pick up his first senior wicket. With the ball turning Will Taylor came on for Mohit and bowled a great little spell at the death halting what was becoming a quick scoring number 3 who had carried Teddington through their innings. Phil Miles then brought on his experience to wrap up the last few overs down the hill.

Teddington ended on 182 for 8. Held together by a great knock of 70 by their number 3 and with extras being their second highest scorer there is work to do in the wides, no ball and byes area. However the ground fielding would have put other sides in the club to shame and not one dropped catch for the bowlers to moan about. Tea. We may be the 4th XI but we eat like the 1st XI.

After tea Phil Miles stepped up for the boys and opened up with James Dann and both looked good seeing off the new ball before Phil had one sit up on a pitch that was starting to behave like a new born baby (topical reference for the writer. For the bulk of the players at the club that means erratic and not doing anything you expect or want). Charles Edmonds started well playing what is fast becoming his trademark clips off his pads until he missed a straight one. Selves joined Dann and together they saw off the rest of the opening bowlers until having done the hard work and looking set Dann edged the last ball of the openers spell to the keeper. Alisdair McNab came out and leaned the hard way about playing on the back foot on the kingsfield. At not many for 3 Sohail helped steady the ship till drinks when the decision was made to up the rate. Two overs at 8 plus an over had the 4s back on the run rate until Selves missed one. Rob Swain continued the fight but when he and Sohail fell Charlie Pil and Will Taylor could not stop Teddington with the bit between their teeth. Zeesham hung in there but ran out of people to hang about with. The loss was not as bad as it looks on paper and with such talented youngsters coming through the 4s have a prosperous future ahead. The commitment, skill and attitude of the colts, who for many were making their senior bow, was a credit to each individual and the system in the club that has brought on such a great bunch of young players who all look to have promising futures at the WICK. With several seniors back this week the side has a better looking balance between bat and ball. Although it is good for all players to know that there are keen talented colts pushing them for their places and making the step up to senior cricket.

Match Report - Shepperton vs 1xi - by Rowan Atkinson

2011-07-06T19:55:00.002+01:00

Shepperton 213-9 (52 Overs)
Wick 214-3 (30+ overs) Stallone 80, Atkinson 53
Wick 1s wick Shepperton 1s by 7 wkts.

Scorecard... you'll need it... Without googling, which two of these films was not filmed at the famous Shepperton Film Studios?

a. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
b. Ghandhi
c. The Guns of Navaronne
d. Shakespeare in Love

If Saturday was a film, this is how it would go:

Shepperton have gone well thus far, but we have good memories from last year, and are in great form, so were confident. Rowan Atkinson won the toss for the first time this season and was delighted to invite Shepperton to bat on an extremely flat track. Sylvester Stallone felt it might turn a bit but Atkinson wasn’t so sure. Either way we knew 10 wickets would be a tough ask, even with our bowling attack.

Jonny Depp, his brother The Fonz on debut and Vin Diesel turned up at 1320. Apparently they had left at 11am and the traffic was ‘bad’. Yeah no sh*t, Atkinson wasn’t happy, and The Kung Fu Panda was fuming, but these things happen. The start was all a bit of a rush, but Stallone and Diesel made an excellent start with the new ball – both finding admirable control on a pitch that wasn’t offering anything. The new ball was used well, and both were soon finding the edges, with Atkinson and Depp failing to hold onto chances. On the plus side, Stallone did hold one at 2nd slip for Diesel, who also sneaked one through the defences. Stallone himself then brilliantly cleaned up the aggressive #3 and at 50-3 we were going well. Depp replaced Diesel although by now nothing much was happening and batting was getting easier.

The Fonz had a go and was joined at the other end by Tom Cruise who set the field back to see if he could induce a false stroke. He did, caught on the boundary, much to the surprise of the catcher – Matt Damon. The ball before he had fumbled around like a teenage Keith (Justin Timberlake) having seen his first boobie, and it had gone between his legs much to his embarrassment. The Fonz also got one to nibble to Macourlay Culkin behind the sticks. His girlfriend (Sandra Bullock) was most impressed when he turned up with his mum (Jennifer Coolidge) to cheer the boys on.

5 down and more changes were needed – the track was still easy-peasy to bat on. In fact it seemed to be getting easier. Panda had a go, as did James Brown, whose reverse swing seemed to tie down the late order well. Hard work in the field for the boys, with the ever vocal and enthusiastic Taylor Lautner keeping the boys going. A few lusty blows from Shepperton at the end saw them to a below par but admirable 213-9 from the full allocation of 52. Wickets were shared around so no-one really stood out with the ball. Perhaps Diesel was the pick.

Teas – well... controversially I'm going to give them a 9. Not only was there variety and volume, you had napkins and the option of cordial drink as well as Tea – something often forgotten by many-a-tea creator. A great mix of staples and home made fare. Also, I do enjoy a good old fashioned tea lady (as opposed to Brian Blessed that we have) and for that they score very highly. Unfortunately Atkinson wasn’t able to eat much due to nerves.

Said nerves were however soon lost upon the start of the Wick innings. Stallone, surviving a chance 2nd ball, soon got into things. The tactic of the old ball wasn’t working. Especially as said ball was soon lost over cow and a new (but not new) ball was needed. Atkinson wasn’t far behind and when the new ball did come both were seeing it like a Pair of DDs and were in no mood to see off the shine. The partnership was over 130 off less than 20 overs before Stallone clipped one to midwicket for 80. Diesel joined in – the atmosphere being one of Sunday resignation. Robert De Nero behind the sticks got involved and nailed Diesel and Atkinson soon followed having brought up his 50. It was then left to the classy Panda and Culkin to see us home off 32 overs without any fuss. Bullock seemed very impressed. Special thanks again to Eliza Cuthbert whose pretty patterns in the scorebook continue to make a mockery of Chedwards attempts on Sundays.

And thats a wrap.

Oh – the answer is d.

T20 Side vs Kempton

2011-07-06T16:49:00.001+01:00

1. Mackie, 2. Jackson, 3. High, 4. Clements, 5. Crane, 6. Murray (TBC), 7. Edmunds, 8. McMullen (TBC), 9. Bendall, 10. Charlton, 11. Pradeep.

5.30 meet at Kempton for a 5.45 start.

Huge Weekend for the Club... Preview

2011-07-06T11:29:00.005+01:00

"A jaundiced club secretary looks forward to the weekend's fixtures" - Ed

So already we've reached the mid season point... or thereabouts... and this weekend represents a potential watershed for two teams.

Many clubs will find themselves ever so slightly stronger as the season enters its second half with returning University players up for selection and talented colts free of school commitments. With luck, holidays won't play a part. So this weekend could very well see a change in fortunes for many clubs and it's important to capitalise now.

The 1s are at home to Sanderstead. This match sees the two unbeaten teams in Fullers Division One 1st xi clash and though there are many challenges ahead, the bragging rights for the season are on offer right here, right now. The teams are currently separated by the difference between the points gained for a tie (Sanderstead) and an abandonement (The Wick).

With both teams more than two wins clear of the chasing pack, another win here would leave one club unbeaten and needing to score only 120 points from a possible 160 to secure promotion.

The 2s travel to group leaders Carshalton and after results didn't go quite their way last week, need a positive result to make sure that they stay in touch with what is a very tight promotion battle. With strong availability this week and some weather around, this could be a crucial weekend.

The 3xi are sitting pretty at the top of their table. With a sizeable gap opening up between them and the fourth placed team, they travel to bottom half club Farnham. A win would give them breathing space and allow them to approach a Uni and Colts rich second half of the season with some confidence.

Wickman is drooling Homer Simpson like at the prospect...

Teams - Saturday 2 July

2011-07-01T10:19:00.002+01:00

Shepperton vs 1xi

1 Ali, 2 Davies ©, 3 Day, 4 Raza, 5 O'Mahoney (+), 6 Mackie, 7 Tong, I, 8 Tughral, Zo, 9 Tong, G, 10 Abeyrante, Vishva, 11 Tughral, Zam

U: A. Moore
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:00, S: 13:30

2xi vs Old Hamptonians

1 Cole , 2 Rashid , 3 Fudge ©, 4 Jackson, 5 Clements, 6 Soppitt, 7 Weerakoon, Naveendra, 8 Copeland H (+), 9 Fahad, 10 Shinde, 11 Lown

U: S. Riley
S: G. Unsworth

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

Oxted & Limpsfield vs 3xi

1 Risman, 2 Goulborn, 3 Singh ©, 4 Byrne, 5 Ratnage S, 6 Lloyd, 7 Hirsch +, 8 Charlton E, 9 Donnelly, 10 Smith, G, 11 Linter

U: K. Bryan
S: N/A

M: 11:00
S: 13:00

4xi vs Teddington Town

Miles, Edmonds, McNab, Dann+, Selves*, Chaudhry, Chapman, Zeeshan, Mohit, Swaine, Taylor

M: 13:00
S: 13:30

Match Report - Dorking vs 2xi by Fudgey

2011-07-01T10:00:00.002+01:00

More positives than points…

HWRCC WINNING DRAW (4 POINTS)

Dorking 233/7 (55.0) Tanveer – 5/61
HWRCC 206/3 (45.0) Fudge 78, Rashid 67 (Winning draw target 191)

2 weeks without cricket is a looooooong time and unfortunately that is exactly what the 2nd XI faced after the disappointment of an abandoned game at home to Maori Oxshott last weekend. Saturdays in the summer without cricket are like gin without tonic or strawberries without cream, it just doesn’t feel right. So after an unsettled week and a downpour on Friday night we were relieved to arrive at Dorking on Saturday morning to find it was very much game on!

And it was game on, in every sense of the word as the top 6 teams in the league (now only separated by 11 points) did battle on a weekend where losing wasn’t an option.

Dorking C.C. is a proper club. Steeped in History, the ground itself is situated at the foot of Boxhill and provides fantastic views of the rolling Surrey Countryside. They have 4 teams that represent them on a Saturday, one on a Sunday, another midweek XI and thriving colts section. Most of those colts seemed to be representing their 3rd & 4th XI’s, just as it should be. Their 2’s are a solid team with no real weak links therefore it was a surprise to us all that they were relegated in 2010 after just on season in Division 4.

Their pitch had been covered yet it was still fairly soft and had a more than a tinge of green about it. On first inspection it promised to do a little early on, especially with the new ball, so winning the toss and bowling was the only option. We did exactly that and Unsworth & Lown opened up. Known to their team mates as Leggsy and Lownsy this can cause serious problems amongst the rest of the team as they set about encouraging the pair between deliveries. The skipper is easily confused and amongst trying to sort out his fields and stay one step ahead of the game he can often be heard to shout “Well bowled Leggsy boy” after Lownsy has beaten the outside edge and “Areas Lownsy” as Leggsy nips one away towards the slips. To their credit both Leggsy and Lownsy just pull the face and get on with their work, and it was only injury to Unsworth that stopped this charade from going on for over after over.

Unsworth is suffering from a “Pectoralis Muscle Rupture”. To you, me and everyone else he has tweaked his tit!! Not a common injury I hear you say, but it is a pain in the breast when it comes to trying to bowl right arm, medium-fast. He managed just 3 overs on Saturday and although he did grab the wicket of the opener caught at second slip by Tom Clements we were very quickly without the leader of our attack for the 2nd time in 3 weeks. Fahad Tanveer (not easily confused with Leggsy or Lownsy) replaced Unsworth and struck almost immediately, as the new ball was offering just enough assistance despite the pitch's apparent lack of pace. Tanveer would strike 2 more times in a devastating 1st spell and with the help of miserly overs from Lown at the other end Dorking were rocking at 49/4.

I mentioned that the pitch was slow, but in Tanveer we have a bowler who is quick through the air and he caused problems to a Dorking top order that all seemed to be in something of a hurry. None of them showed the application required of a top order batsman and their skipper’s team-talk, asking the batsman to be “selfish” had obviously fallen on deaf ears. It was left to the middle order to try and re-build a total.

With the ball now approaching 25 overs old, the pitch became very flat and offered very little in the way of sideways movement. It was left to Fudge (replacing Tanveer) and Breakwell to try and keep a lid on the scoring a restrict Dorking to anything under 200. Fudge returned 0/31 from his 11 overs and Breakwell 0/17 from the same number at the other end and although no.’s 5 & 6 were digging in, the WICK were well in control of the run rate. Neither of these batsmen was blessed with an immense amount of stroke making ability however they played the situation perfectly and towards the end of their 100+ partnership their follow throughs began to lengthen the boundaries were threatened. This was the perfect example of what “occupying the crease” does for you and proof that even batsman with limited ability can be difficult to dislodge.

Tanveer returned to eventually get rid of them both and ended up with career best figures of 5/61 from 14. Before no.’s 7 & 8 threw the bat at the end and damaged Breakwell’s figures with some lusty blows. The decision of Dorking’s captain (batting at the time) to bat the full 55 was an interesting one. If he knew anything about our first 6 games he would know that we haven’t had to chase anything more than 150 all season and historically we don’t do draws so he may have been tempted to leave us a more gettable target in an attempt to produce rash shots and collect early wickets. As it was he went the whole hog and left us with just 45 to chase down 233.

Tea – 2009 isn’t that long ago but I am pretty sure that the teas were of a slightly higher standard back in the day than they were on this occasion. Plenty to go round and all pleasant enough, but a bit like the home team's bowling attack, it lacked variation and any real sense of mystery. 6.5/10

The 2s welcomed Imran Rashid into the ranks for Saturday’s game, a selection that would hopefully benefit the team and more importantly the individual involved. Rashid is pure class!! You won’t see a higher elbow or a bigger stride in the whole of the Surrey league. He reminds me of Matthew Elliot (former Australian Test Batsman) who albeit was left handed, shares the same upright, fluent style and unquestionable desire when it comes to churning out big runs. At the halfway point skipper Fudge had set his and the team’s eye firmly on reaching the winning draw target of 191. And thoughts of winning the game outright were parked until we found ourselves in a position to do so. 191 from 45 is still 4.2 an over and a sensible target in a league where 4 points could become crucial.

Rashid opened with the dependable Cole and the two of them were joined in the middle by Unsworth as the umpire called play on the second innings. Despite some indifferent batting this year, this wasn’t a new tactic dreamt up to bamboozle the opposition by opening up with three batsmen, (although now you mention it…) but Unsworth was purely there to help facilitate Cole in the running between wickets after he had earlier picked up a hamstring injury when diving to stop a ball at short extra cover. Unsworth was ultimately chosen after a process of elimination that involved working out who was the least knackered. The skipper had initially picked keeper Copeland (youngest in the team, despite previous warning) but after being told where to go by his young keeper (no respect these days) it was decided that even a torn tit couldn’t get Unsworth out of this one. In a week where the ICC outlined plans to stop batsman from having runners, Unsworth was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but manfully took one for the team, donning pads, gloves, bats and even a helmet, to match Cole’s attire. It’s a good job it wasn’t too hot!!

Cole and Rashid looked a really solid opening partnership, playing straight and seeing off any problems the new ball may have caused. Both kept the scoreboard ticking and racked up a 50 partnership to dent Dorking’s early intent. The pair almost made it too drinks (25 overs) before Cole (and Unsworth, now puffing quite profusely) was dismissed for 28 trying to loft spinner Quinn over the infield. Fudge joined Rashid and pushed the score on to 98/1 from 30 overs. The WICK required another 93 from the last 15 overs to secure the winning draw and they were favourites to do so as Fudge and now Rashid were starting to hit the smaller of the two boundaries with more regularity. Fudge brutally greeted 2 bowling changes as Subesh & Rogers were hit out of the attack after just one over spells. He bought up his 50 with a lofted 6 over extra cover and more than little help from fielder, Lane. Rashid too had reached his 50 and was looking like really going on, before he dragged on the impressive Lane (2/52) for 67. The WICK reached the winning draw target with 2 overs to go and as Fudge fell going for another maximum on over the short offside thoughts of a win disappeared with him back to the pavilion. Weerakoon & Crowther were left to knock around the final few deliveries and the WICK went home with a well earned 4 points.

MOM – Rashid A near flawless opening display, Rashid provided the 2’s (and opening partner Cole) with exactly what we had been missing. Rashid displayed great technique, a sense of calm and a desire to turn a good start into a well made half century. The 2’s batting clicked this week as they made 206 in good time against a decent attack. This added to another near flawless fielding display and a bowling effort that did well to recover from Unsworth’s injury and restrict Dorking in a mammoth 55 overs provided us with plenty positives heading into this weeks re-match against table topping Old Hamptonians.

Match Report - 1xi vs Kempton - by Mat E Dee

2011-06-28T12:16:00.002+01:00

1xi 152-9 (52) beat
Kempton 1xi 65ao (c.30 overs)

Great toss to lose this one. Overnight rain had left the pitch dank and warm to touch. The weather was overcast and cloudy, with it expected to clear up through the day. I was of course delighted then to be strapping the pads at 1320.

Ali and Davies started watchfully against disciplined bowling from Kempers. A difficult pitch (albeit slow) meant patience was the key. After seeing off the shine, both fell caught behind leaving the Wick teetering at 16-2. Day joined Raza and found things equally difficult but ate up some time allowing the deck to improve and runs to be accumulated later. When O’M joined Raza Kempers were on top, but a classy partnership progressed the Wick score slowly. O’M in particular looking serene with some wonderful driving and manipulation of the crease. His wicket was a total surprise, but Raza’s innings continued. You make your luck.

Mackie came and went, having ran about 10 but only scoring 2. Neither Tughral nor Tong were able to add much to the score. Cronin, battling hard on a difficult track propelled the Wick to a defendable 152 off 52 overs. (Kempers would get 43 to get them). This was probably below par, but not by much. Sure conditions were improving, but the pitch was like a teenage boy's face and would dry in this state making the bounce unpredictable. The extra pace could also work in our favour given our attack.

Teas – some potato salad and I think some scone action. 8.5 Id say.

Ali and Tong opened up, in conditions that would lead to wickets....the question being how many. Both lacked something at the start, but found their range soon enough. The ball was swinging an Tong took out an off stump to start proceedings. Ali, being tight without repeating the heroics of last week, kept plugging and beating the edge with some regularity. Tong – fresh from his 3rd place in the Miss Ghana 2011 competition, was replaced by Vishva who also began to make the ball talk. The rate started well for Kempers, but the Wick reigned them in with some discipline and some athletic fielding from Day and others.

Day replaced Ali and with the aggression of a firework up his arse chuntered in like Hoggard used to. He seared one in first up, lbw and things went from good to excellent sooen thereafter. Vishva nailed the #3 with a ripper and then immediately took out another. Day at the other end was bowling like a man possessed. Caught point (great catch from Mackie), bowled, caught sq leg, ct 1st slip and ct 2nd completed a quite ridiculous return of 5.2-5-7. That’s 7 wickets. And 5 runs. Some real pace and venom in many of those balls and no less quality in the supporting fielding cast.

Great stuff.

MOM – Adam, Raza and Cronin did well with the bat, but Daisy’s spell would win any game. Wallop.

Caption Competition...

2011-06-23T13:08:00.001+01:00

SAT TEAMS - 25TH JUNE

2011-06-22T16:10:00.004+01:00

SAT 25TH JUNE

1ST XI V Kempton (H)

1 Ali 2 Davies © 3 Day 4 Raza 5 O'Mahoney (+) 6 Mackie 7 Cronin 8 Tughral, Zo 9 Tong 10 Abeyrante, Vishva 11 Tughral, Zam

U: B. Sissen S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:00 S: 13:30

2ND XI V Dorking (A)

1 Cole 2 Rashid 3 Fudge © 4 Weerakoon, Naveendra 5 Crowther 6 Clements Tom 7 Copeland H (+) 8 Tanveer, Fahad 9 Breakwell 10 Unsworth 11 Lown

U: S. Riley S: N/A

M: 11:00 S: 13:00

3RD XI V Walton on Thames (H)

1 Risman 2 Ratnage 3 Singh © 4 Byrne, Dan 5 Hirsch 6 Rudolph, Matt (+) 7 Oliver, Robbie 8 Charlton E 9 McMullan 10 Linter 11 Ilyas, Aqeel

U: N/A S: N/A

M: 12:00 S: 13:00

WICK

WED & SUN TEAM NEWS

2011-06-22T12:07:00.003+01:00

Wed XI vs. Hampton Hill C.C. (Away)

1) High (c)
2) Rashid
3) Cronin
4) Davies
5) Byrne
6) O'Mahoney
7) Clements +
8) Oliver
9) Abeyrante
10) Weerakoon
11) Vijayakumar

Meet @ Hampton Hill - 17:30
Start - 17:45

SUN XI vs. Sutton C.C. (Home)

1) Tong (c)
2) Jackson
3) Madoc-Jones J +
4) Miles
5) Dann
6) Madoc-Jones D
7) Vijayakumar
8) Nehru
9) Smith J
10) Bal
11) Smith G

Meet - 13:30
Start - 14:00

Saturday teams to follow.

WICK

India and DRS... Just Asking...

2011-06-21T09:33:00.003+01:00

The BCCI has vetoed the use of DRS in the forthcoming Test series and Wickman thinks he knows why. Two words. Graeme Peter Swann.

If you were sending a side over to play in English conditions and were already worried about fronting up to pace, swing and seam of the calibre of Anderson, Tremlett and Broad what would you do tactically to negate the threat of England?

There's little you can do about the quickies. But you might have a look at England's most potent weapon of recent years and decide that if you could knock out one of HIS major weapons you would. The LBW. It's widely accepted that Swanny is getting more wickets than folk such as John Emburey and even The Turbanator because umpires have been convinced to give more LBWs on the front foot to off spinners in particular.

Wickman hasn't got access to exact stats but Swann gets more LBs than anyone did in the past bowling offies. And that's because umpires started giving them following the introduction of Hawkeye - the technology telling them that more balls were hitting the stumps than was accepted before.

So it stands to reason then that if you take out DRS, Swann will get fewer decisions in his favour. Now here's where you would have to get really deep into the numbers. Does Swann get given a significant proportion of his LBs on DRS reviews? Wickman feels as if he does get another 25%. Just a feeling mind. So have India pulled a fast one?

It depends. I wonder how many Swann victims have got away with ones sliding past leg stump or being hit outside the line playing a shot due to DRS? It could be similar. And given that we think that umpires are more likely to give them on the front foot now - with, it stands to reason, more reason to doubt... taking out DRS might actually backfire on the Indians. Imagine MSD - apparently the most vocal opponent backed up by (surprise, surprise) other senior bats including Tendulkar (you wouldn't hear bowlers asking for it to be withdrawn) - being trapped just outside off stump (marginal but DRS wouldn't give it) and someone unimpeachable like Aleem Dar sending him on his way.

Poetic justice. So will Indian chickens come home to roost?

Just asking...

Thames Ditton vs 1xi - Match Report by our man with the snorkel, Matty D

2011-06-20T13:07:00.003+01:00

"Matty D believes toss will be important at Thames Ditton"

Thames Ditton 1xi vs HWRCC
HWRCC 92 Vishy 20*
Thames Ditton 80 Nomaan 7-40

Scorecard

Forget what you think you know about cricket, cos you aint seen nuffink yet. Saturday was an incredible game in a season that is fast becoming one for squeaky bums...

We played Thames Ditton in the cup earlier in the season and won well although not totally convincingly. The weather was however always going to be a leveller and the greenest of green tops welcomed us at the Village Green. They did however have covers, which actually meant the difference between a match and no match. At 1310, in dry but sunny conditions both teams were warming up, before the heavens opened and fleeing to the clubhouse I was reminded of Sanderstead from 2010. Nail biting stuff.

An hour later after the heavens had tired, we ventured out to find an outfield moist but drying, and a track dry but green and even softer than before. This would be a crucial toss, or so you would think.

The odds of losing the toss 6 times in a row is 1 in 64. This therefore makes me as clever as Paul the Octopus, who correctly predicted the path of Germany successfully through the recent World Cup, only to say they would lose in the final, which they did. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10567712. If we had as many arms as he does we may be able to catch a bit better and make our lives a lot easier.

Rather than describing the game, I will show you the Blackberry message narrative between two Wick members (who shall remain nameless) – one who watched the entire game, the other who was a keen observer. Their emotional rollercoaster mirrored those playing and provide the clearest description of the action:

Day off Wick: Keep me updated on the score.
Day off Wick: 4 balls into the 3's game and the heavens have opened and stopped play. Pissing it down.
Day off Wick: Are you playing?
Spectator Wick: Just about to toss up here & heavens open....chucking it down
Day off Wick: Forecast got it spot on. Heavy rain from 1pm to 4pm across Surrey. In the bookies. Best place to be on a day like this.
Day off Wick: Got covers?
Spectator Wick: Yes, I reckon we'll be on in a couple of hours.
Day off Wick: Always the optimist.
Spectator Wick: Covers coming off.
Day off Wick: Who won the toss?
Spectator Wick: Haven't tossed up yet. Won't be using the lucky coin ;)
Spectator Wick: Starting at 14.30.
Day off Wick: Who's bowling?
Spectator Wick: We're batting, Matty D lost the toss...
Day off Wick: ATS
Day off Wick: Playing?
Spectator Wick: 11-1 after 6. Can bat for 44
Day off Wick: Who is out?
Spectator Wick: Nomaan. Bowled by Curtley Ambrose. 19-1 off 9. Difficult track, green.
Spectator Wick: 23-2 Mattyd bowled
Spectator Wick: 23-3 Kam bowled duck.
Day off Wick: Start doing a rain dance!
Spectator Wick: 38-4. Day bowled. Bonay & High in
Day off Wick: All 4 wickets bowled? Raining now.
Spectator Wick: Yes! Spitting, clear behind
Spectator Wick: Sunny now!
Spectator Wick: 51-4. High has hit 2 boundaries.
Spectator Wick: 51-5 High holes out. Caught mid off
Spectator Wick: 53-6 Cronin yorked. Turning into a bit of a Jakki (Jakki Brambles – Shambles)
Day off Wick: Bonay still in?
Spectator Wick: Yes with Zohaak
Spectator Wick: Er......no. Just caught at mid wicket. 53-7
Day off Wick: I'm surprised Matty was so desperate to play. Always think in conditions like today, anything can happen?
Spectator Wick: 63-8 Zam gets under a slower ball, caught mid on
Spectator Wick: 68-9
Spectator Wick: Zohaak caught 1st slip.
Day off Wick: What did we end up with?
Spectator Wick: 92 all out 41.1
Day off Wick: Deary me.
Spectator Wick: Bad toss to lose
Spectator Wick: 2-1. Nomaan wkt with 1st ball
Spectator Wick: 2-2 another bowled!
Day off Wick: Game on.
Spectator Wick: 11-3 Nomaan c&b
Spectator Wick: Suddenly 92 looks a long way off.
Day off Wick: Fact. Should have declared on 80 and given themselves more time to bowl the oppo out.
Day off Wick: All gone quiet?
Spectator Wick: Kam has dropped 2, 2 lbw's not given 52-3 now
Spectator Wick: 59-4. Their top man run out
Day off Wick: Run out! Chasing only 90! Schoolboy.
Spectator Wick: 60-5 played on
Spectator Wick: Kam catches 1 at cow 68-6
Spectator Wick: 68-7 Nomaan bowled
Spectator Wick: 68-8 kam bowled
Spectator Wick: 75-8. Curtley hit a huge 6. Facing Nomaan now...
Day off Wick: Curtley the key.
Spectator Wick: Riley has just given him lbw b Kam, plum in front of middle 80-9.
Spectator Wick: WICK win 80 all out
Day off Wick: WICKWASH
Spectator Wick: More like WICKWASHout.... ;)

...and relax...

A few points that you may have not picked up from the above:

1. Vish and Shri put on 24 for the final wicket. Vital, vital, vital.
2. Their opener was excellent – decent pace and got 5-50 from 21 overs unchanged.
3. The track was lethal, so 92 was below par, but not by much
4. Teas were very good – the softest bread Ive had in a while, although as always lacked the variety of HWRCC
5. Cricket is a game played in the mind....92 was 1 more than they were gonna get.
6. Nomaan got 7 wickets, and had 2 cathces dropped off his bowling (Day had one drop as well)
7. The run out turned the game – MattyDs throw from the boundary, Tuggles Zam demolishing the stumps to get rid of the danger man #4.
8. Cheers to Ali for scoring, Riley for umpiring following the 2 s cancellation, Lloydy, Lown, Sissen and Bonay’s mum for watching.
9. Epic.

MOM - Vish. Diving around like a gazelle in the field and scoring 20 vital runs at #10. Shri was the same. Neither got a bowl (despite being bowlers), but with the bat they made the difference and turned 3 or 4 points into 20. Nomaan is Nomaan. Class.

3xi Match Report by Lownsy

2011-06-20T12:56:00.002+01:00

HWRCC 3xi vs Old Hamptonians (Friendly)
HWRCC 1
Old Hamptonians DID NOT BAT

Ratnage, Lloyd, Hirsch, Oliver, Soppitt, Rudolph +, Bendall, Charlton, Donnelly, Linter, Lown*

The 3rd XI were given a week off league cricket due to Old Tiffs falling out of the league. With 5 wins on the bounce, all were keen to keep up the standard of cricket, and a friendly against local rivals Old Hamptonians was just the way to do so.

With heavy rain on the Friday, the pitch inspection from Del did not sound promising (“we are playing on that? You have got to be joking. Let’s not be nonsensical about this.")

Having lost the toss, Wick were put into bat into what was now a 20/20 match. Ratnage opened up and left the first ball which pitched on middle and sort of tennis ball bounced to the keeper. The second ball was a bit straighter so Sam played a solid looking forward defence back to the bowler who fielded the ball. The third ball was a bit too straight and hit the thigh pad. But with height and going down leg, there was no appeal. The ball ran off towards fine leg and they ran a leg bye. Lloyd faced the next ball and again played a solid enough looking forward defence. 1-0 off 0.4 overs. Then the rain came. It was a bit like that scene in Forrest Gump when he is out in Vietnam:

“One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night..”

Everyone went back into the clubhouse for 45 minutes whilst we waited for the rain to stop. Once it did, the pitch was unplayable, and with it being a friendly, it was decided it was not worth chewing up the square. So we all got back in the cars and headed back to the Wick.

In terms of tea report, we didn’t stick around long enough to get a tea. However after a stop off in Sainsburys on the way back, I had a really nice southern fried chicken wrap and bag of Doritos, Lloydy went for a Moroccan chicken and cous cous dish and Linter had a BLT sandwich. 7/10

MOM went to Dave Bendall for his signaling of the leg bye – struggled with the balance after lifting his leg up and almost fell over, but composed himself enough to give a tap on the thigh which allowed Ed to note down correctly.

Blog Eases to 20,000

2011-06-16T16:45:00.003+01:00

The Blog has received more than 20,000 page impressions since its birth. Wickman is not entirely sure what this means for the future of Wick cricket but it seemed signficiant enough to mention. The magic number was reached during the team announcement for Saturday.

Post Match Beers - Saturday

2011-06-16T16:26:00.002+01:00

Gents and Alison. The clubhouse has been hired out on Saturday evening so we need to make ourselves scarce post match. Celebratory Lash is at The Forresters in Hampton Wick. Riley - mind the furniture...

It's all for the greater glory of the Wick...

Directions...

Teams - Saturday 18th June

2011-06-16T15:25:00.003+01:00

SAT 18TH JUNE

1xi vs Thames Ditton (a) Meet at 12.00
1 Ali, 2 Davies ©, 3 Day, 4 Raza, 5 O'Mahoney (+), 6 High, 7 Cronin, 8 Tughral Zo, 9 Tughral Zam, 10 Abeyrante, 11 Shinde

U: TBC
S: A. Whitcher

2xi vs Maori Oxshott (h) Meet at 12.00
1 Cole, 2 Rashid, 3 Fudge ©, 4 Singh, 5 Crowther, 6 Clements, 7 Weerakoon, 8 Copeland H (+), 9 Fahad, 10 Webster, 11 Goodwin

U: S. Riley

3xi vs Old Hamptonians (a) Meet at 12.00
1 Hirsch, 2 Ratnage, 3 Lloyd, 4 Rudolph (+), 5 Soppitt, 6 Oliver, 7 Charlton, 8 Donnelly, 9 Lown ©, 10 Linter, 11 Ilyas, Aqeel

Wick Folk in Cricket and Drink Shocker

2011-06-15T12:52:00.007+01:00

A select group of individuals headed out to Old Deer Park last night to drink beer and watch cricket. It was a T20 game between Middlesex and Glamorgan. Well. What did you expect? The best (read least blurry - Riley lad you need to see a doctor) pictures here...

"Kilner and Bonay wait to see who will buy the first drink"

"Matty D's Emma Freuds were acting up so he stood throughout"

"Fudgey turns on the charm with Mummy D while Amooray listens in to pick up tips"

"Fudgey fills his boots while Pinball looks as if he already has"

West End Esher vs 1xi - Match Abandoned

2011-06-15T12:23:00.002+01:00

But not before Kammy scored 82* out of 137...

Scorecard

1s still in the promotion spots... table

Match Report - 3xi vs Chertsey by Nate Dawg

2011-06-15T11:47:00.003+01:00

Wick Win Top of the Table Clash

Hampton Wick 3xi vs Chertsey (kingsfield)
HWRCC 121 all out Clements 47
Chertsey 101 all out Charlton 4-18
HWRCC win by 20 runs

Scorecard

Rather sexy looking table

On Saturday the 3s hosted league leaders Chertsey. With 1 point separating the two sides and third place Woking not having a league game it provided a perfect opportunity for the Wick to move to the top of the league.

Thankfully, after the downpour on Friday night, the sun was shining on Saturday morning and although the wicket was damp and spongy the forecast suggested that we would get the game in. The Chertsey skipper won the toss and elected to field first. It was a good toss to win as the ball was swinging around corners and the pitch was assisting with some variable bounce. Anthony took full advantage of these conditions, removing Ratnage and Singh with the first two balls of his first over. At this point I should mention that he was only 14 and could only bowl 6 overs. He returned figures of 2 for 6 from his spell so we were happy to see him taken out of the attack.

After the loss of the two early wickets it was an uphill struggle for the Wick. The main objective now was to bat for as long as possible, knowing that a score of 150 would be a good effort on this wicket. Byrne came in at 4 and lead the rebuilding effort. He was supported by Risman and Lloyd. Despite not getting many runs they hung around in difficult conditions seeing off the opening and first change bowlers. Things were beginning to look better for the Wick until Byrne was eventually given out LBW (although there was a lot of bat involved) by Ratnage.

With the score 70 for 5 Chertsey decided not to continue with their faster bowlers and brought on their spinners Pulling and Raeside. They continued to take wickets and slow our progress but Tom Clements managed to keep the scoreboard ticking by punishing anything short from the bowlers. He was the last man out but his important innings of 47 helped us to a total of 121.

At this stage Chertsey may be forgiven for coming off the field thinking that they had done enough to retain 1st place in the league. However, I felt that we were only 20 runs light of a very competitive total and after a quick tea we got back to Kingsfield to do some fielding drills and to be prepared to show them that we were not going to hand them the victory.

Tommy D and Aqeel opened the bowling. Chertsey moved onto 25 for no loss as Tommy struggled to find his usual length and Aqeel, who was getting some late in-swing, was unlucky not to get a wicket. This prompted a change in the bowling as Eddy Charlton replaced Tommy D. Ed made an instant impact keeping a good off stump line with the ball moving away off the seam and bowled Houghton with an excellent Yorker. He looked like their most dangerous batsman and with this wicket we were on our way as Ed soon claimed the other opener who edged to slip and the number 3 who chipped one up to Byrne at mid-wicket.

With the score on 80 for 6, rain interrupted play. Chertsey were on the ropes and they knew it. As the rain came down they were huddled together in the Kingsfield shed trying to come up with reasons not to come back. It seemed like they were ready to take a winning draw. Thankfully the rain lasted about half an hour and after another 15 minutes, in which Chertsey were making up rules to take as much time out of the game as possible, the match recommenced.

Chertsey came out positively hitting a few boundaries but their resistance all but ended when Aqeel bowled their captain with a full delivery that he was looking to smash away. Aqeel then made short work of Raeside and finshed the innings off by removing the middle stump of the number 11.

This was another good victory for the 3s. We have been used to posting big totals this season and closing the game out after the first innings. It was good to see that we have enough belief to handle the pressure of defending a low total. Clements (47) and Ed Charlton (4-18) were the outstanding performers in the game. The MoM goes to Ed Charlton for a magnificent spell of bowling, in which he cleaned up Chertsey’s top order batsmen.

That's Just Not Cricket - 2xi vs Godalming - A view from the Balcony

2011-06-14T14:56:00.007+01:00

"Green Top at Wick 'Not Cricket'" - Ed

HWRCC 2xi vs Godalming
Godalming 99 (Fahad 4-18)
HWRCC 100-4 (High 47*)
HWRCC wins by 6 wickets

Scoreboard

Godalming made the trip to the WICK on Saturday and in a tight league where the top 5are separated by just 10 points every game seems to have an added sense of importance attached to it. Godalming did the double over the 2s last year (gifted two wins by inadequate displays) and yet despite us finishing 30 points ahead of them in the league the Balcony felt that we really owed them one.

With the local area having seen its first real soaking of the spring/summer in the days leading up to Saturday's match, we were greeted with a green pitch and a lush outfield. Despite its greenness on top, it was firm below and promised to do plenty early on but with bright skies and drying wind this would be an important toss to win. Skipper Fudge did just that and had no hesitation in asking the oppo to bat.

If you have ever played at Godalming you will know that is the best batting track in the league. If you haven’t, think of an Oval net with short boundaries and a bare outfield. The bounce is true and the pace prefect enabling batsman to play through the line and get maximum reward for their shots. However Godalming is not the norm so you can understand Skipper Fudge's surprise when he saw the surprise on Godalming faces on being confronted by a green top. The pitch was already in their heads as the majority of the team stood looking over it, cursing. Fudgey for one doesn’t mind a sporty track and we all think that a fair contest between bat and ball always makes for a better game and invariably an early finish (hiccup). Runs scored in testing conditions or even good bowling to exploit a helpful pitch live longer in the memory than a boring run fest and a dull draw. That’s just not cricket.

So The Wick had the psychological advantage, now The Wick had to make the most of winning the toss by bowling well and taking its chances. Webster (legitimate excuse) arrived 20 mins after the start of play so Dom Lown and Fahad Tanveer (late with no legitimate excuse) took the new ball. Both made an excellent start, bowling tight lines and joining the dots before Tanveer made the breakthrough having the opener Stow caught behind. You often hear the saying “bowling in partnerships” and we saw real evidence of that on Saturday as Lown continued to bowl well and keep things tight whilst Fahad claimed the first three wickets of the innings. On another day Lown would have grabbed a couple himself however a return of 0/19 from 7 proved to be the perfect foil for his partner. Fahad bowled with pace and control, cart wheeling Dawson’s off peg before being too quick for skipper Tunna (normally caught fishing outside off stump according to legend) and bowling him too. Godalming were 21-3 and furthermore were still seemed distracted by a pitch that actually hadn’t contributed at all to any of their dismissals.

Skipper Fudge in his new role of a “batsman who bowls, but not quite enough to be considered an all-rounder for fantasy cricket purposes” replaced Lown and once again (to the continued amazement of his team and himself) found consistent lines and lengths at a quick enough pace. By this time the Godalming batsman Wright and ex-skipper Harms were digging in and although still struggling to time the ball, they were at least getting in behind the ball looking to build a total that would at give them a chance of returning home with some points. 21/3 became 51/3 before the skipper struck with a ball that pitched on middle stump and jagged away from the left handed Harms. Harms did well to get an outside edge on it and Harry did well to get to an excellent catch low down. 51/4!

Webster, who had now been on the pitch long enough to allow him to bowl, replaced the excellent Fahad and immediately caused the batsmen problems. Wright was caught (more groped, gathered and clutched) by Jackson at cover for 19 and Powell plucked at silly mid-off by Naveendra for 0. Godalming were on the rocks at 61/6. Enter Hale and Haine. Hale who was by far the most vocal of the Godalming players regarding the state of our pitch continued to mutter and shake his head during his brief and uneventful stay at the crease. Perhaps he should have put more energy into smashing short and wide balls from the tiring Fudge than bemoaning the surface however he neglected to take up these invitations and when Fudge finally relocated his radar he cleaned him up with a ball far too quick for this no.6.

So that brings us on to Haine. We don’t normally comment on oppo players except in passing but Haine is a strange chap and invited speculation in this particular instance. He too was apparently unhappy with the conditions and proceeded to what we can only describe as sulk for the length of his innings. Between balls he mainly spent his time with his arms crossed, looking to the ground, or on other occasions he would spit and phlegm on the track (that's just not cricket) making it even greener that it already was. One gets the impression he would have rather have been anywhere else but the WICK on Saturday and based on his behaviour we shared the same sentiment. He was eventually dismissed in uncertain circumstances. Given out for hitting the ball on to his boot and being caught again by Naveendra at silly mid-off there was confusion as to whether or not it had hit the boot, the ground or his spit? Either way, Nav took a great catch and he was back in the hutch. Wickets 9 & 10 followed shortly after and Godalming were dismissed for 99. Tanveer finished with WICK best figures of 4/18, Fudge 2/22, Webster (who has been excellent this year) 3/20 and Nav 1/14. Our old friend E X Tras top scored with 25 and the WICK required exactly 100 from exactly 60 overs to win.

Tea was Tea. A typically great home spread that always gets an 8 or a 9, but bagged the higher of those two marks this week for pre-Wimbledon strawberries. What more is there to say? Nothing! So we will briefly touch on teatime habits and two players in particular that caught this scribe's eye.

This is my 18th consecutive season playing at the WICK and your correspondent has worked out that in that time I must have averaged at least 15 DBW teas a year, it follows that I have eaten somewhere in the region of 800 cheese and tuna combination sandwiches in over 270 sittings. And in those years I have shared tables with some of the WICK greats including Flux, Mansfield, Kennedy, Culham & Bloom but this Saturday I had the pleasurable company of Risman and Lown. “Riso” is a legend in his own time, WICK through and through. He has played at the WICK for years but if anything he seems to be getting younger, not older!! And maybe I have discovered his secret? Sweet no Savory! A plate full of cakes, scones, muffins and biscuits were accompanied by a strong cup of tea, this is the diet of a man who has played cricket in three (maybe four) decades for the WICK. Is it the sugar that he thrives on or the reluctance to try and DBW egg sandwich? Whatever the answer it works for him and will dramatically effect the way that I “tea” from now on. Lown on the other hand goes for a balanced approach piling up a plate full of sandwiches and savoury items before making his way to the sweet end of the table where he carefully selects which biscuit or cake will be his pudding. These are carried separately to the savoury items (careful not to cross contaminate the two) back to his seat before being placed direct onto the table. This caught Riso’s eye in particular as he remarked about the cleanliness of the table, but Lown seemed satisfied in the knowledge that DBW had properly wiped down and with his job (bowling) done he tucked into his hearty meal.

So to the run chase! Another low total, with plenty of overs but in true WICK style there would be the odd hiccup and nervous moment before we could celebrate a well deserved 13 points. The biggest of those moments came at 25/4 with Cole, Fudge, Goulborn & Jackson all dismissed by the impressive Dominic Dawson but (as the balcony pointed out) with the batting order just about right it was concluded that we had all got out on purpose in order to let the men in form finish the job.

Mackie and High in particular were watchful early on and then clinical later on as they accelerated their innings perfectly to see the WICK home by 6 wickets. At this level High is the most talented batsman in the league and could (provided he stays with the 2s and doesn't get a well deserved call up to the 1s) win the league for us. His destructive style was too much for Haines who bowled shorter and shorter the further and further High despatched him. More foldy armed sulky poses would follow.

So we are now in the top 2, and with the unpredictable Maori in town next Saturday, we will be hoping for another green top and another home victory.

That is Cricket!

MOM - Fahad. It is one thing winning the toss in helpful conditions but it is another bowling brilliantly in them and taking 4 for not very many. He set up the match for High and Mackie to finish.

WICK

Getting Wick With... Adam Selves

2011-06-14T11:16:00.003+01:00

"Selvesy in preparation for his Best Wick Moment"

Committee member Selvsey is currently hors de combat owing to his other half producing a new Self. But what lies behind his obdurate batting and opposition tormenting slowies?

1. Nickname: Selvesy, (or Brittle Fat Head in the good old days - always injured when playing rugby)
2 Highest Score for HWRCC: 30 not out vs Old Wimbledonies (down as unsure on play cricket - as if the site itself could not believe it)
3 Best Bowling for HWRCC: 6-37 vs Esher
4 Favourite Away Ground: Streatham & Marlborough
5 Favourite Food: Iberico Ham
6 Favourite Singer/Band: The Verve
7 Favourite Movie: The Big Blue
8 Favourite Book: Anything by Hemingway or JG Ballard
9 Favourite Pub/Club: Sailers return, Weymouth, Dorset
10 Favourite Crisps: Sea Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
11 Favourite DBW Sandwich: Salami
12 Favourite Quote: "What is human life but a game of cricket" 3rd Duke of Dorchester.
13 Childhood Sports Hero: Neil Back
14 Best Wick Moment: Being carried home by Chedwood after cheese and wine night.
15 Worst Wick Moment: Breaking my wrist dropping a catch off my own bowling in my first game (trials match 2009) then not saying anything and playing on as not wanting to look soft at a new club. Missed the whole season as the wrist set out of place while having a good night out in Barcadia.
16 Invite 3 People to Dinner (Dead or Alive): Hemingway, Ballard and Dickens (all loved the sauce).

2011 CLUB CURRY NIGHT...

2011-06-13T09:29:00.005+01:00

A BIG thank you to everyone who attended the WICK curry night on Saturday and especially to our club sponors the Hampton Wick Tandoori for catering the event!!

The food was FANTASTIC!!

Don't forget that WICK, membbers, families and friends can get a 15% discount at the Hampron Wick Tandoori on the presentation of a 2011 Fixture Card.

WICK

Match Report - 1xi vs Roehampton by Matteee Deeee

2011-06-09T14:23:00.006+01:00

HWRCC 268 - 4 (Davies 84, Nomaan 58)
Roehampton 172 (Farrell 100) Tong 4-27
HWRCC won by 96 runs.

Scorecard

When people ask me what I do for a living the conversation normally goes something like this:
'I work in regeneration'
'Regenewhat? Is that to do with flowers?'
'No. Imagine a area is sh*t....no jobs, it's messy, no-one can count etc etc. Well we try and make things better'
'Ah......another Beer?'

The above isn't technically true. The whole regeneration thing is, but I'm actually a professional (unpaid) cricketer who has a side job in regeneration that happens to be 9-5 monday to Friday. And this is the reason why.....

Roes won the toss on what looked to be a bit of a green top. It was however hard as nails and was clearly a batting deck, again. Upon insertion (ahem) the Wick again started brightly with Ali and Davies being aggressive when given the opportunity. The duo again put on another great opening stand of about 80 odd before Ali snicked one behind. Day, living a life more charmed than Aladdin, then scored 44 (for 3) in another decent partnership with Davies who continued his good form looking untroubled. Raza's late (late for a number 4 at least) introduction immediately saw the injection of some violence into proceedings, with a some large hits and some lovley poses to boot. Bonay and the Rash mopped up at the death to ensure we posted an excellent 268 off 41.5 overs. In fairness Roes actually bowled pretty well, especially the Mr Fuchs who kept a tidy line and lengh throughout. I suppose when your confidence is high and you're playing well runs just come - which is what happened on Saturday.

Teas - as standard. There was a wedding the previous day and some of the potatoes had mischievously found their way into the spread. And there may have ben some cold onion bhajis (dunno where they came from). 7.5

I said earlier that Im a professional cricketer because I will not be remembered for my ability to 'regenerate', rather it will be my playing of the great game - successfully or otherwise. We knew our response in the second innings had to be patient and measured, yet aggressive. These days you have to work for your wickets, and Saturday was no different. Tuggles and Tongbola started off and despite an old ball, found errors with the bats. Unfortunately we also found errors, principally with our catching - one at cow and one inexplicably behind the wicket. Amends would be made later however.

A decent opening stand was finally broken by the star of the day with the ball - Tong. There followed a tightening of the screws as the run rate grew and wickets started to tumble. An early declaration had given us time to take 10 wickets and as the pressure built so did the wickets column with Ali and Tong making inroads. No-one bowled poorly all day, but it was the turn of Raza who sparked the run for the finish line, with some wiley stuff. At the other end the Roes opener was soon running out of partners. With 8 overs to go and only 2 in the hutch, Tughral returned and saw a few large hits out the ground, with Farrell reaching a well earned 100. Next ball however he holed out to deep square where JMJ took a fine running match-winning catch in front of the baiting crowd and the sun set over the Millennium Wood. The vocal chords of AJ and Unsworth keeping the game as animated off the field as on it. The very next ball Tughral twirled his magic and it was over in a flash, Wick win by 96 runs.

That was a real slog of a victory against a decent Roehampton team on a fine surface. Its not coming easlity but its 4 from 4 and to a man we're feeling strong. MOM - G. Tong with 14 - 27 - 4. Class

Getting Wick With... Sir Matthew of D

2011-06-09T13:59:00.002+01:00

Matty Bean Laden - Ed

Ah... Matty D. Wick man and boy, he rose up through the colts and sprang from the loins of a former Wick player. Now 1xi skipper it's a travesty that we haven't got Wick with Matty before. Here, in a nutshell, is Matty D in sixteen answers...

1 Nickname: MattyD, The Student, Skip
2 Highest Score for HWRCC: 127* away vs Ashstead
3 Best Bowling for HWRCC: I got 5 wickets on a Sunday 2XI fixture back in the day. The game was however abandoned - I was devastated.
4 Favourite Away Ground: West End Esher on the current circuit. Otherwise Eastbourne (139*)
5 Favourite Food: Andy Murray (Curry)
6 Favourite Singer/Band: Michael Jackson. End of.
7 Favourite Movie: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
8 Favourite Book: I do read but don't have a favourite
9 Favourite Pub/Club: Maybe the Teddy Arms on a midweek night?
10 Favourite Crisps: My head says McCoys, my waist says Snack a Jacks. McCoys it is.
11 Favourite DBW Sandwich: Tuna. Simplez.
12 Favourite Quote: BLOOMY
13 Childhood Sports Hero: Ian WRIGHT WRIGHT WRIGHT!
14 Best Wick Moment: It didn't involve cricket.... ;)
15 Worst Wick Moment: Godalming away 2008.
16 Invite 3 People to Dinner (Dead or Alive): Stephen Fry for facts, Jim Carrey for funnies and Cheryl Cole for Geordie banter. ahu

TEAMS - SAT 11TH JUNE

2011-06-09T09:27:00.003+01:00

SAT 11TH JUNE

1ST XI V West End Esher (A)

1 Ali, 2 Davies ©, 3 Day, 4 Raza, 5 O'Mahoney (+), 6 Rashid, 7 Cronin, 8 Tughral Zo, 9 Tughral Zam, 10 Abeyrante, Vishva, 11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:00
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Godalming (H)

1 Cole, 2 Goulborn, 3 Fudge ©, 4 Mackie, 5 Jackson, 6 High, 7 Weerakoon, Naveendra, 8 Copeland H (+), 9 Tanveer, Fahad, 10 Webster, 11 Lown

U: S. Riley
S: G. Unsworth

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Chertsey (H)

1 Risman, 2 Ratnage S, 3 Singh ©, 4 Byrne, Dan, 5 Lloyd, 6 Clements Tom (+), 7 Oliver, Robbie, 8 McMullan, 9 Charlton E, 10 Donnelly, 11 Ilyas, Aqeel

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 11:30
S: 13:00

WICK

Selection Committee - A New Play

2011-06-08T15:55:00.004+01:00

*All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.*

Dramatis Personae:
Wick Skipper (No actual Wick skipper, obviously)
Wickman aka Chairman of Forgetting to Register Overseas Players and Selectors (not THE Wickman, obviously)

Act One: A mobile phone is ringing. It plays the BBC's TMS theme tune (naturally).
Wickman: Hello Wickman?
WS: No it's Wick Skipper
Wickman: I didn't think it was Wickman, I am Wickman.
WS: Ahu. (The face).
Wickman: Yes, yes, yes. What do you want?
WS: Good news Wickman, a mate of a mate is friends with an international cricketer who is available to play for us this weekend.
Wickman: Erm. Brilliant. Who is it? Don't tell me it's Mohammad Amir or Salman Butt or anyone like that?
WS: No it's someone else. Like them, but this is a fictitious cricketer who has been banned from all cricket, not a real one. None of our characters in this bear any relation to real people.
Wickman: Oh good. But he has been banned from all international cricket, yes?
WS: All cricket full stop that's under the jurisdiction of the ICC
Wickman: Ah. Like the cricket that we play at our fictitious club?
WS: Perfect
Wickman: Ahu
WS: (The face)
Pause... Wickman: Sorry?
WS: I made The Face.
Wickman: Okay
WS: So shall we play him then? We'd probably win.
Wickman: Oh yes. Fantastic idea. What are our options? Is he overseas?
WS: Well tehnically he wasn't out of the country in the qualifying period because he was busy in court. And he's doing a couple of NVQs in groundsmanship at Kingsto... erm... Made Up University... to pass the 4 years 8 months he's got left on his ban
Wickman: Okay so he's student visa. Bishty bosh. Perfect. No problem there. But don't we have to tell them he's first class?
WS: He's not. He's been sacked by Pakist... I mean the fictitious country he played for and naturally none of the counties will touch him with a shitty stick.
Wickman: Perfect. So he's qualified. What does he think about playing?
WS: Hee hee hee. I told him it was a private game at a private ground.
Wickman: Genius! Lively! Good Turkish!
WS: I thought you'd like it.
Wickman: Shall we get him to pretend he's one of the lapsed members and sneak him in that way?
WS: Standard
Wickman: Actually let's get him to pretend he's Shaun Whin... someone who played for our fictitious team last year
WS: Acutally Wickman I guess a few of the lads will have seen him playing fictitious test cricket
Wickman: Good point. He should play under his own name. There are plenty of people who play cricket who share that name. We'll pretend he is called that, but he's not the cricketer who's actually called that. And then when people ask why he's called that, looks like the person who is called that and has an identical bowling action to the person that's called that, we'll say he just looks like him and models his game on him.
WS: This is GENIUS Cla... Wickman

Saturday... 1.31pm

Umpire: Left arm over
Oppo Opener: *takes guard, looks up* Fcuk me that looks like a fictitious Test Player! Slips: Correct, he looks like him but it's not him *sniggers all round*
Oppo Opener: (as ball flies past nose at 93mph)Fcukmethatwasquick! And it really looks like Fictitious Test Player!
Oppo Skipper: I'm ringing the league and the Daily Star
Wickman: NO. NO. NO. NO. NO
WS: Busted...
Chairman Mao (or some other fictitious chairman): Wickman... that's another fine mess you've got us into...

T20xi vs West End Esher

2011-06-07T17:25:00.003+01:00

M. Mackie*, C. High, M. Kilner, I. Rashid, A. Mahoney+, T. Goodwin, P. Vijayakumar, Naveendra, Fahad (tbc), P. Mcmullen, A. Crane [who he - Ed?]

Fixture details

Call Mmmmmackie for travel co-ordination, maps, rugs and general hand holding etc

Standards, Standards… Read all about them! - Match Report by Fudgey

2011-06-07T13:20:00.004+01:00

"Someone in the cordon shouted 'see'" - Ed

Southern Kenley & Railway vs 2xi
Southern Kenley & Railway 92 (Abeyrante 7/15)
HWRCC 94/3 (Mackie 44*)
HWRCC WON BY 7 WICKETS -

Scoreboard

Saturday saw the WICK 2xi travel to recently relegated Southern Kenley & Railway desperate to get back in the saddle and ride as quickly as they could away from the dramatic fall they suffered at Woodmansterne the week before.

Southern Kenley & Railway (SKR for the rest of the email) is a nice ground. A cricket haven, surrounded by a concrete jungle! Having never been to the West Indies before the skipper quickly claimed that he thought it had the look of a colonial West Indian ground and that he could imagine Jamaican club cricket being played in such surroundings. The outfield was parched and the strip bright yellow. With short boundaries and warm conditions this had runs written all over it!

As a captain who bats this is a nightmare scenario. Your heart is shouting BAT, BAT you fool! Fill your boots! Yet your head (the part of your body that can still picture last week’s fall) gently coughs and says, sorry mate, but you’re going to have to bowl. The lucky coin carried on its merry way and as a head came down, I looked down at my feet, shook hands and said “we will bowl”.

The WICK 2s are a good side; in fact they are the best bowling side in the league and pride themselves on high standards in the field. 2011 stats show that only Woodmansterne currently take their wickets at a lower run rate (thanks to us - last week) and NO team in the league thus far has managed to score more than 150 against us. Even on such a batting strip we would back ourselves to bowl well, hold our chances and restrict the opposition. This is exactly what we did.

Leader of our attack, Unsworth, was this week partnered with the new ball by Fahad Tanveer ("Fast Cars" for the rest of the email) but could only manage 2 overs before he was struck down with a shoulder injury. Webster took over at the clubhouse end and was immediately into a good rhythm. Webbo & Fast Cars ("Sleazy Wine Bars" for the rest of the email) caused the SKR openers some real difficulties however they were both showing some fight and aptitude that from the scorecards on Play Cricket had looked as though it had been missing from SKR’s first 4 games. This resistance would not last for long however and Sleazy Wine Bars ("Never been behind bars" for the rest of the email) made the breakthrough, clean bowling Griffin (not Peter) for 13. Webster had the other opener caught by Vish at backward point and no.3, behind by Mackie, and we were well on top.

After a hostile spell from Never been behind bars, Vish entered the fray and bowled what turned out to be a career best spell. Bowling in tandem with Webster who finished with 2 for 33, both bowlers mixed up their deliveries perfectly having great success with slower balls and cutters on what, remember, was still a belting deck. Vish in particular bowled with great variety, but kept the ball straight claiming two wickets clean bowled and 3 more LBW. Backed up superbly in the field by some very good ground fielding, SKR never got away and although they stuck around for nearly 40 overs (again testament to the pitch) the WICK had once again done a great job with the ball.

Tea was taken on the top floor of the two tiered clubhouse with access to a long balcony and great views over the playing area. Tea itself was adequate with plenty to go round, but an over reliance on shop bought sausage rolls and warmed through samosas meant that only a 6 could be awarded. Although the Rosie was very good! No budget bags being used here! I also have a problem with very long tea tables and the proximity of ours to the opposition's, but that’s just me.

As I mentioned at the start of this report we set ourselves very high standards in the field and quite rightly so as they are more often than not delivered but even the call that followed the first ball of Vish’s spell on Saturday might have been expecting a little too much. “Come on Vish, line and length” was the cry from the slip cordon as Vish sent down a loosener short and wide of off stump that went harmlessly through to the keeper. Apparently now we don’t allow our bowlers the luxury of a ball to get loose. But then again the cordon, in its wisdom, might have known something we didn’t as the next ball careered into the no. 4’s off stump and the offending slip fielder shrugged his shoulders and said “see”.

I mention our fielding as we perform very much as a team, in what is the only facet of cricket that is actually anywhere near a team game. The 2s are a close knit bunch and with the core of the side playing under the same skipper for 5 years now we know what makes each other tick. I think we like the security of relying on each other and backing each other up, celebrating other’s triumphs and sharing our disappointment.

You can do this in the field but when it comes to batting it is very much each man for him-self and personal standards are all that matters. A chase of 92 on that pitch with our team was never going to be a problem and despite the loss of Naveendra early on, contributions from Cole, Jackson & Crowther along with a classy 44* from Mackie meant we breezed home in just 20 overs.

Mackie is a great example of someone who has very high personal standards and like any true cricketer (especially a batsman) is obsessed with stats. He is determined to score runs on any given occasion and detests a Saturday afternoon given up where he doesn’t trouble the scorer. He would have looked at the score we required to chase on Saturday and immediately thought that there was enough time for him to improve his average with an unbeaten score. This is how every batsman should be. When it comes to batting, cricket is a team game, played by individuals and it is those individuals and their match winning performances that get you promoted.

So the 2nd xi moves into a big month of cricket mid table and still well in the promotion push. I have been telling anybody who can be bothered to listen that this is going to be a very strange season as I think there are 7 of the 10 teams in our league who on their day could beat anyone and get promoted. Ironically if we had beaten Woodmansterne last weekend we would be top of the pile. As it is we are 4th and have only beaten the bottom three sides that are yet to register a win between them. It’s a funny old game.

MOM – Vishva Abeyrante for an excellent spell of 11-4-15-7

WICK

Match Report Wednesday xi vs Linden Park - by Wickles

2011-06-06T10:02:00.003+01:00

"Someone bowled some left arm rubbish... guess who?" - Ed

Linden Park 239-8 (40 overs)
Hampton Wick 196-4 (40 overs)

Strange thing mid-week cricket. Unlike DBW teas you are never sure what you are going to get. The Wick X1 boasted 2 oldies (Lord Culham & The Chairman) a bunch of talented colts and the return of Dutchy behind the stumps. The oppo had 4 first teamers plus an assortment of older colts. The skipper (The Chairman) won the toss and elected to field. For the first 20 overs thing were relatively tight. Shri and Ed Charlton opened followed by the return of Pete Culham who bowled 5 accurate balls and a 4 baller per over. Robbie Oliver also bowled a tidy spell. The run rate increased with the return of Ed, who then proceeded to retire with an injured Achilles and the introduction of some left arm rubbish – guess who? James Madoc Jones and Joe Hirsch bought a few wickets. Towards the end of the innings the fielding sagged with The Chairman and Charles Edmonds doing very good Gary Sprake impersonations (Gary who?). Linden Park ended with 239- 8 from their allotted 40 overs.

Teas were the usual plus a bonus of scones with strawberries and cream 7/10.

Six an over was a tall order plus some of the Linden Park guys treated the game more like a test match rather than a Wednesday afternoon friendly. It turned out the Linden Park skipper was a Seagulls and Sussex fan. Apart from that the skippers had little in common. The oppositions skipper spent the next 40 overs either barking orders or taking the p*ss, particularly at the expense of a young colt known as “Milky”.

Back to the cricket. A solid start saw the Wick at about 40-1 after 10 overs with Joe Hirsch edging to gully. This was followed by the highlight of the afternoon. Harry Copeland and James Madoc Jones batted with a great deal of skill and determination, running numerous 3s and 4s on the large outfield. They put on over 100 for the second wicket and at around 160-1 with 8 overs left it was game on. The loss of Harry (56) and then James (75) saw the run-rate slow. Pete Culham went first ball whilst Matt Rudolph and Charles Edmonds struggled against a variety of left arm bowling. The Wick ended up 196-4 from 40 overs – a great effort against a more experienced team.

MOM – James Madoc Jones. The oppo stayed behind for a few drinks and listened to endless anecdotes from Brian Phillips about the strength of Kent cricket (perhaps that’s why Pete made a swift exit after the match).

Wickwash Count...

2011-06-06T09:00:00.000+01:00

THREE... mwa ha ha ha ha

What Else Happened on Monday...

2011-06-02T17:34:00.003+01:00

"Sri Lanka Bring In New Bowling Aid" - Ed

Bank Holidays. Don't you love them? Monday was a classic. Outside it was chucking it down in Wickman's new secret lair in Sunbury-on-Thames (gone are the closest to the Wick days). On telly the England vs Sri Lanka game didn't kick off until well after lunch and Wickman was only watching with half an eye as he attempted to wrestle with some work stuff.

Wearily he watched as England came out to bat to give Bellend a chance to get a ton and Morgs a few balls to ease it around waiting for Bellend to get there. In the decision to send him out Wickman sensed a bit of humanity which was missing when Atherton declared on Hick all those years ago and a tacit nod to the commentary box and those of us watching that the game had slipped beyond England.

Wickman vaguely registered there were 50 odd overs to bowl. With Jayawardene batting at 5 or 6 for them having assmebled a very competent ton in the first dig and the wicket looking a little bit less spicy than you would hope on the 5th day, he very nearly almost turned it off and got off his arse to finish massacreing a DIY job upstairs. But then lethargy set in and so Wickman settled down to watch his email and the Test out of the corner of his eye.

There were about a 1000 patient souls in the stands who were pleased to see some cricket after having to wait all day. Wickman guesses that they, like him, imagined Sri Lanka getting to 140 for three and with England only having three front line bowlers to rotate, endless dross from the commentators about make up for the side at Lords and acres of "do we really need six batsmen and Prior look what happens if a bowler gets injured" yawn yawn yawn.

And then this happened:

Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Paranavitana, 1.6 ov), 2-10 (Dilshan, 3.2 ov), 3-33 (DPMD Jayawardene, 12.5 ov), 4-36 (Samaraweera, 15.4 ov), 5-43 (Sangakkara, 17.2 ov), 6-43 (Maharoof, 17.5 ov), 7-43 (HAPW Jayawardene, 18.1 ov), 8-52 (Herath, 19.1 ov), 9-82 (Perera, 24.2 ov), 10-82 (Lakmal, 24.4 ov)

In less than two hours three England bowlers absolutely destroyed a Sri Lankan side that contains two of the world's best batsmen. It was unbelievable. And a little bit unreal. There were so few people in the ground and no Barmies that Wickman can remember that you could hear as clear as a Bellend, the fielders encouraging the bowlers. The guys in the commentary box couldn't believe it. The players couldn't. The viewers couldn't. The crowd wasn't big enough to create any atmosphere or tension. We just ran through them like an old school Middlesex League mismatch at some toilet in North London where we only brought 8 players.

No one could quite believe it. Even Bob Willis was unable to drone on about anything. None of the summarisers could explain it. All thoughts of selection issues were abandoned and we, and they, and England just bathed in it. Later Wickman was phoning a few people in a "Didyoufcukingseethatitwasunbelievable" kind of way. Many poeple hadn't bothered. And those that had were dazed and confused. Unlike everything in the winter it was just... weird.

And all of a sudden you have to ask yourself... how good is this England side in English conditions? Batting... Cooky... what can you say that wasn't said in the Winter other than now he's doing it in England? Well... Wales. Trott. Second in the averages to Bradman after 20 tests. Bellend. Wonderful to watch. 13 hundreds. Will outscore KP by the end of his career (but will be smashed by Cook who will play for another decade).

But the real revelation is the bowling. We now have a production line of fast and fast medium men who frankly have removed the hurt of watching 20 years of tripe, followed by that magic summer of 2005 and then a couple more years of mediocrity before this lot have spectacularly blossomed into... the World's best Test Attack. Yes Dale Steyn and Morkel are a handful. But has anyone else got the resources to outbowl us in these conditions? Four or five top class quickies and The World's Best Spinner? Wickman, gloriously, thinks not.

On this form Sri Lanka are not going to turn this series around. Their bowling is too weak without Murali, Vaas and The Slinger. Their entire strategy unravelled in Cardiff. Score 400+ and then bowl Murali all day from one end turned into "Ohsh1twe'vegotnothingbutpopguns" as we went past them for the loss of three wickets.

By the time India turn up with the World's best batting line up we should be in for a cracking series. Wickman is slavering at the thought...

Putney Rain on Wick Parade - 1xi Match News

2011-06-02T15:21:00.003+01:00

"HWRCC Bowlers Confused by New Pink Ball" - Ed

Fullers Cup Match
HWRCC 235-8 45 overs Shat Bonay 56
Putney 158 - 4 20.5 overs
Putney chase revised target with some ease

Scorecard

A re-jigged 1xi were powerless to prevent Putney from chasing a revised target of 157 in 30 overs following a rain interruption on Monday. Bright innings from Bonay and Nomaan set Putney 236 to get - but a rain interruption reduced the target to 157 from 30 in very different conditions to the Wick knock.

In the event Putney managed the revised target with plenty of overs to spare. The Wick bowlers were condemmed by the wet outfield to bowl on a good deck with a bar of soap and Putney took advantage with few upsets. The Wick's cup run was terminated leaving the 1xi "free to concentrate on the League".

TEAMS - SAT 4TH JUNE 2011

2011-06-02T12:01:00.003+01:00

SAT 4TH JUNE

1ST XI V Roehampton (H)

1 Ali
2 Davies ©
3 Day
4 Raza
5 Rashid
6 O'Mahoney (+)
7 Maddoc-Jones James
8 Tughral Zo
9 Tong
10 Tughral Zam
11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:30
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Southern Railway & Kenley (A)

1 Cole
2 Weerakoon, Naveendra
3 Jackson
4 Mackie (+)
5 High
6 Crowther
7 Fudge (c)
8 Abeyrante, Vishva
9 Unsworth
10 Tanveer, Fahad
11 Webster

U: S. Riley
S: N/A

M: 11:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Sinjungrammarians (A)

1 Risman
2 Goulborn
3 Singh ©
4 Byrne, Dan
5 Lloyd
6 Copeland H (+)
7 McMullan
8 Ilyas, Aqeel
9 Donnelly
10 Charlton E
11 Linter

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 11:30
S: 13:00

WICK

1xi vs Haslemere - Match Report by Matty D

2011-06-01T09:48:00.004+01:00

"Nomaan made hay while the Sun shone - lots of it" - Ed

Spirited Haslemere Run Wick Close

HWRCC 185 Nomaan 78, Davies 57
Haslemere 145 Raza 3-10, Nomaan 3-28, Day 3-36

Scorecard

Haslemere arrived just in time for the toss, duly won it, and inserted the Wick on what looked a decent deck. Pretty flat, some grass but firm.

Ali and Davies opened up and immediately set about the task. Ali in particular making hay in the sunshine with a ball that wasn't swinging. A straight six in the first over set the tone. Davies wasn't far behind, throwing his hands through the ball when given the opportunity to do so. 40 became 90, became 129 in 20 overs, with no slogging, just genuine shots. Ali fell getting ahead of himself, trying to be a bit too clever, which in hindsight was an error. A sluggish Davies upon 50 then fell to the same bowler, a lazy shot being caught at midwicket.

And then things changed. The Haslemere left arm Ford-a-like found his areas and his swing which, while early at the start of his spell, was getting later and later. He ended up with 5 excellent wickets, clearing a path of destruction at one end whilst at the other the proberbial tease bowler took out the pin but controlled the ball well in a stiff crosswind. 129-0 soon became 150-7, a quite frankly ridiculous series of events, but if it can happen to Sri Lanka then it can happen to us too. Only Tong and Tughral Snr put together a partnership towards the end - thus giving the Wick a respectable if below par score of 185. We knew 129-0 flattered the pitch. It wasn't that good, but Ali in particular should be given credit for another stunning display of clean hitting.

Tea - DBW should write a book. 7/10, but the oppo would score it at least 9.

The weather offered to play its part - the wind had been strong all day, but a few drops [of rain or Jackson-like spills? - Ed] came along and threatened to disrupt the Wick in their pursuit of 10 more wickets. A strong opening burst on an unresponsive track from Day and in particular Shinde was rewarded by only one wicket. Shuffling things around saw Ali join in the fun, finding some shape. Tughral Snr also snared the important wicket of the imposing Haslemere skip. With wickets falling at regular intervals, and the Wick bowlers showing excellent control, the game was in our favour but Halsmere were still showing fight. Raza's introduction saw the final few wickets fall at the Wick pick up their 3rd straight victory against a decent Haslemere side who will win a good amount of games following their promotion last year.

Getting Wick With... Tongy

2011-05-26T15:03:00.000+01:00

Tongy's been with the club for a couple of years now... but underneath the diffident, floppy haired exterior, what makes the Sunday skipper and 1xi stalwart tick? Royal Cricket asked Tongy to give it to us in his own words...

Nickname: Tongy, Baywatch, Hollyoaks (thanks Hibby)
Highest Score for HWRCC: 88 v Teddington town 2009
Best Bowling for HWRCC: 8-38 v Chobham 2009
Favourite Away Ground: In my short time playing in Surrey I’d go with Sandersted, but in Kent it has to be Little Chart near Ashford
Favourite Food: Mexican
Favourite Singer/Band: Radiohead/The Clash
Favourite Movie: Gladiator
Favourite Book: To Kill a Mockingbird
Favourite Pub/Club: New Slang at the works in Kingston, indie night with live music, Or The Cricketers pub on Fairfield park in Kingston after playing Saturday football league matches. Premiership game on the pirated sky box, decent beer, comfy seating and awesome Thai food
Favourite Crisps: Classic 10p Space raiders, do they still do those??
Favourite DBW Sandwich: Toss-up between the pate speciale or the salami….perfect diet for a fast bowler.
Favourite Quote: Any time Matty D does a Raza impression. Churchill’s famous, "We shall fight them on the beaches"
Childhood Sports Hero: Carl Fogerty (world superbike champ), Jason Gillespie, and Robbie Fowler
Best Wick Moment: The moment Matty D mentioned I was in the 1st XI for the following week after having taken 4-8 in ten overs for the 3’s….although 6-17 against Teddington in my first year was also very memorable
Worst Wick Moment:Making the mistake to try and run a third with Kam at Merrow in 2009. I could have made a 4th, he was miles out…..lost us the game
Invite 3 People to Dinner (Dead or Alive): Che Guevara, Jim Morrison, Claudia Winkleman

Match Report - Old Paulines vs 1xi - by Tongsy

2011-05-25T23:56:00.003+01:00

"Matty D Innings Inspires New Wick Groupies" - Ed

HWRCC 1st Xi V Old Pauline @ Colletts
HWRCC 277 for 4 dec (42.5), old Pauline 173 ao (42)
HWRCC wins by 104 runs

HWRCC M.Davies*, A. O’Mahoney+, A.Day, N.Ali, K.Raza, I.Rashid, N.Weerakoon, Zo Tughral, G.Tong, S.Shinde, Zam Tughral.

Scorecard

Given the new composition of the 1st team this year skipper Matty D felt that a bit of team bonding was in order, so we found ourselves meeting on the Friday eve to catch the premier of Fire in Babylon. West Indian cricket, West Indian music and footage of Aussies getting a pasting, this set against the back drop of the underdog struggle they faced at the time for serious recognition. It’s a must for the sports fan….

Matty had very kindly arranged the whole evening and covered the costs, he was hopeful of some good Karma in return and a bit more banter from the boys in the dressing room….

It seemed to do the trick on Saturday, spirits were high and given the fact we had won all 3 games so far this year we had huge confidence going into the fixture against a side we have failed to beat in the last 2 seasons. Winning draws sure, but victories are required if we want to be playing Surrey league cricket next year. Matty failed with the toss and we found ourselves put in on an absolute belter of a track, however always trickier to take full points if batting first. Slight reshuffle in the top order found skipper and the inform Noman opening up. Normy doesn’t like hanging about and seems to take the attack to the fielding side quicker and quicker each week. He was on 30 within the first 4 overs, no unorthodox hitting, just awesome textbook stroke play worth the match fee alone. In this flurry of boundaries it seemed that norm had forgotten how to run singles correctly however and found himself well short attempting a single even Usain Bolt would have struggled with. 40-1 after 4, not a bad start.

Daisy joined Matty in the Middle and after a bit of consolidating the score began to tick along very nicely. Boundaries flowed and Alex had soon passed Matty D with some impressive swept and driven maximums. Daisy brought up his 50 at better than a run a ball and we had reached 130 for 1 off 28ish overs. Chairman Nicholls was obviously so shocked by this however he decided to give Day caught behind of his glove whilst attempting a reverse paddle, debateable decision, Day not impressed. Kam joined Matty and looked in better nick than previous weeks although was bowled attempting a fairly ugly heave across the line for 4. Imran was next in, at that point a couple of quick breakthroughs and we been looking at 220. D upped the ante however and unleashed some serious blows both down the ground and over midwicket. Having reached a glorious 100 of 106 balls, he then stepped it up once again; the left arm spinner was particular to his liking. One over saw the first 3 balls go for consecutive 6’s, seeing Viv Richards in the film the night before had obviously done its trick, that good karma had definitely found its way back to him.

We ended on a magnificent 277 declaring in the 42nd over, allowing us to have 53 overs at them, more than enough surely…

Tea- filled a hole, but limited variation and poor alternatives to the sandwiches gives it a 7.

Remember the film was the shout after tea. Could us fast bowlers use the film and all those glorious scenes of the great West Indian attacks from the 70’s & 80’s as inspiration. Short answer, no. The track became flatter after tea and also lost a lot of its pace, Shri, Daisy and myself all had a crack but with no success. Not a hint of swing or seem and pace lacking from the track coupled with some confident stroke play saw the oppo reach 60 for 0 from 12. However, as well as a possessing the best fast bowling options in the league we do have the variation of our twin spin kings Raza and Tuggsy. Zammak had first go and after a few overs he did the trick. Holding one back a touch Zammak encouraged the bat to sky a sweep to midwicket where Zo held well to give his brother the breakthrough. A couple of overs later the other opener feathered one behind trying to cut, their captain and best bat then mistimed a drive which Zam held onto for a caught and bowled and we were making progress.

The danger was always going to be whether we could bowl them out however, as defending on that track looked fairly straight forward. I decided to start laying in with a bit of sledging (not to Keith’s liking) and shall we say encouraged one of their set bats to have a go at hitting Zam out the park. He failed, caught at mid-off, and we had chipped our way into their lower order, Zam taking all top 6 bats in an impressive spell. Definitely showing signs of being somewhere near his best. Norm and I came on to wrap up the tail with around 10 overs to go taking two apiece, the oppo making roughly 170 in the process. 40 points out of 40 so far and with 2 promoted teams to come in the next two weeks, there's an opportunity to push on before what looks like a crucial West End Esher fixture.

MOM-Matty D. The definition of a captain’s innings. I probably have never seen him play that well, I can’t remember him giving a single chance. A beautifully paced and constructed innings, moving from nudging it around early doors to some absolute devastating maximums against their whole attack later on. A Mention to Zam as well for providing that extra spark with the ball you need on tracks like that.

Wick Villain - BREAKING NEWS

2011-05-25T15:03:00.005+01:00

You may remember just last week that Royal Cricket sought views and opinions on whether or not Mr Alex Jackson's assertion to Pinball that he hadn't grassed a chance in League Cricket for five years could be worth the air it was uttered on. Wickman was browsing the Internet (ATS) and came upon this interesing little Match Report published by our friends at Stoke D'Abernon.

Wickman leaves you to consider the evidence at your leisure...

Match report – 3xi vs Addiscombe - by Natedawg

2011-05-25T13:37:00.006+01:00

"Lloydy's astute criticsim is commemorated by Addiscombe bat in leftover cheese sandwich" - Ed

HWRCC 229 all out (48.2 overs) – Goulbourn 59
Addiscombe 155 all out – Linter 5 for 29
HWRCC win by 74 runs

Scorecard

It is a fairly rare occurrence in league cricket that you have two consecutive away games against two different teams but at the same venue. However, returning to a ground where you had won the previous week and knew how the pitch would play is nevertheless reassuring when travelling to an away game. This week, back at the Queens Park ground in Caterham, the 3s were looking to record their second league victory of the season. The pitch still had a green top and was hard underneath. After winning the toss we decided to have a bat with a target of 200+ in mind showing how high our confidence is at the moment.

Goulborn and Ratnage opened up providing the perfect platform. Without taking too many risks they both batted sensibly pushing the score along at 4 an over until Sam (24) was bowled in the 17th over. Singh and Goldy took the total to 100 off 24 before the skipper kindly presented his outside edge to the opposing captain who gladly accepted it. Wick new boy Danny Byrne then joined Goldy in another 30 run partnership. Goldy continued to occupy the crease comfortably and brought up a beautifully crafted 50 before being caught trying to cut a ball that was too close and got a bit of extra bounce from the pitch.

In previous years the 3s have lacked consistency in the middle order. In one particular game last year against Old Emanuel we were in a similar position of 130 for 3 off 30 overs. In that game we were bowled out for 150 but this time we were able to push on to 229 thanks to Byrne (36), Clements (18) and Lloyd (24) who were unforgiving to any balls that pitched short from Addiscombe’s spinners. It was good to see everyone in the top 6 contributing for the second week in a row and hopefully this type of performance will be the norm and banish any memories of our opening day loss to Esher.

A long tea break followed due to late delivery of the food. The overall spread turned out to be okay with chicken nuggets, pizza and onion bhajis but with an unnecessary amount of cheese sandwiches, [sounds vile - Ed]the late service and the fact that everyone was already starting to look forward to some DBW specials next week I will have to give it a 6/10. [seems too generous - Ed]

Back out for the second half of the game Tommy D and Aqeel were given the new ball. Tommy didn’t play in the last game and after choosing to bowl downhill was presented with a wicket that had good pace and bounce. He took advantage of these conditions, removing the Addiscombe openers cheaply. At the other end Aqeel bowled an excellent 9 over uphill spell removing the leg stump of their number 3 with a great inswinging delivery. After the early wickets Hughes (31) and Narrine (55) put together Addiscombe’s only threatening partnership, involving a few good blows and a number of agricultural hacks that prompted the usually shy and retiring Lloydy to exclaim “what the f**k was that” louder than he had anticipated. Eventually Hughes was run out by some good work from Charlton and Linter and shortly afterwards Narrine’s off stump was removed by Linter to put the Wick firmly in control. Winter with an “L” went on to get another 4 wickets and Bendall 1 wicket as the 3s polished off the rest of the team for about 25 runs.

In summary it was another good team performance. With two consecutive scores above 200 and a strong bowling attack capable of taking 10 wickets we have gained some momentum that we can hopefully build on and keep looking up the table. MOM: This is a tough choice between Goldy and Linter but MoM goes to Goldy for a solid batting performance that set the tone for the game.

Teams - Saturday 28th May

2011-05-25T09:57:00.004+01:00

1xi vs Haslemere (H)
1. Nomaan 2. Davies © 3. Day 4. Kamran 5. Imran 6. O'Mahoney (+) 7. Weerakoon, Naveendra 8. Zohak 9. Tong 10. Zammak 11. Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:30
S: 13:30

2xi vs Woodmanstere (A)
1. Goulborn 2. Fudge © 3. High 4. Crowther 5. Jackson 6. Byrne 7. Copeland H (+) 8. Abeyrante, Vishva 9. Unsworth 10. Fahad 11. Lown

U: S. Riley

M: 11:00
S: 13:00

3xi vs Sanderstead (H)
1. Risman 2. Ratnage 3. Singh © 4. Hirsch 5. Clements Tom (+) 6. Lloyd 7. Ilyas, Aqeel 8. Donnelly 9. Breakwell 10. Charlton E 11. Linter

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

Good luck boys and Alison... another Wickwash???

Match Report - 2xi vs Old Paulines - by Joey B

2011-05-24T14:56:00.007+01:00

"Old Ps delighted by DBW's 'special filling'" - Ed

Who Do You Think You are KIDding?

HWRCC 2xi vs Old Paulines
Old Paulines 156 (Fudge 4-17)
HWRCC 157-3 (High 56)
HWRCC wins by 7 wickets

Scorecard

Saturday saw the 2nd XI “welcome” OLD Paulines to the Wick for what turned out to be another clinical display.

OLD Paulines are a strange team, in that the team that plays against us in the home leg is never the team that plays in the away game. Their better players seem to enjoy coming to the Wick, perhaps it’s the setting, perhaps the egg mayo. I guess we will never know.

The eleven that did turn up on Saturday were are heady mix of BBC stars from the past and Channel 5 stars of the present. I am fairly sure that 2 members from Dads Army were playing and at least a further 4 or 5 from Neighbours.

Anyway let’s get down to business.

Fudgey lost the toss and rather bizarrely we were asked to field, on a wicket which looked like it might be best to bowl on first. Maybe their skipper Grant (who will from now on will be called Tavare) knew something we didn’t.

Leggsy opened up and continued where he left off last week, probing outside off stump and being generally too good. Vishva making his 2nd xi debut opened up the other end and was also on the money. Bar a few lusty blows from O’Reilly the bowlers had the upper hand. The same theme continued for the first 12 overs with both Leggsy and Vish continually beating the bat and the odd random four from O‘Reilly being hit.

Joey B replaced Leggsy and Fahad ( another 2nd xi debutant) replaced Vish after 12 overs and not much changed . Fahad was too quick and accurate for the batters whilst JB just probed outside off stump. It took until the 21st over to make the breakthrough and it was Tavare (10) who fell, deciding that the predicted end of the world due to arrive that evening was punishment enough for everyone and he would spare them another 29 overs of his batting. 54/1 became 54/2 when Fahad trapped Baldock LBW, too fast, too straight and Riley was given the simple task of just raising the “Goldfinger”. OLD Paulines were 55/2 after 25 at drinks.

Leggsy came back after drinks and immediately struck getting Kokri caught behind by the immaculate Copeland 59/3 and the WICK were well on top. A small partnership followed with O’Reilly continuing to punish anything over pitched and Sen trying to put every ball into the car park. That didn’t last long and Leggsy soon had him caught in the covers by Mackie 84/4.

OLD P’s continued to slowly accumulate runs almost exclusively from the bat of O’Reilly who moved nicely onto his half century. This saw Fudgey decide now was the time for him to chance his arm. It took until his 3rd over to strike when Gardner was expertly caught by Pinball in the gully, then next ball he had Hamilton LBW. The hatrick was not to be though 117/6.

Fahad returned to pick up O’Reilly for a well constructed 87, the catch taken by Vish at mid-on and OLD P’s were well in the mire at 141/7. Fudgey claimed another two wickets in two balls bowling Eyre and Clive Dunn, finishing with 4/17. Leaving the score 141/9. JB was allowed to try and pick up the last wicket which he did but not until after he had opened the buffet car and allowed Toadfish to take the score to 156. Toadfish was out for 22 leaving Captain Mannering undefeated on 2 at the other end.

Tea. Yet another new combo from DBW was unveiled, hard boiled eggs with bacon sprinkles to accompany the usual suspects. This seemed to be well received along with the fresh pasta, so an award of 9 this week seems fair.

Run down to the run chase.

We knew that getting off a good start was crucial, and Coley and Fudgey did just that. Fudgey was particularly severe on Kokri who had a penchant for bowling half trackers on leg stump. Toadfish was bowling a very tidy line at the other end but clearly cricket on Ramsey Street is played differently to that in the Surrey Champ and incessant appealing failed to endear him to the watching crowd. Clearly he was working on the theory if you keep asking eventually you will get, and that turned out to be the case as Fudgey was adjudged LBW. 42/1

This brought Charlie High to the crease and he was immediately at his brutal best dispatching balls to the boundary at will. None of the bowlers were able to restrain him and he brought up his 50 in no time with a lovely straight maximum. By the time he was eventually out (56) bowled by Toady the game was over and the Wick were 128/2. Coley fell a few balls later with Toady picking up his third but Mackie and AJ saw it home with the minimum of fuss and 17 overs left. The Wick won by 7 wickets and continued their move up the table.

With Woodmansterne away this weekend the 2s know continuing the winning run is crucial.

MOM - Charlie High for a brilliant 56 and taking the game away from OLD P’s in a flash. Mention must also go to Fudgey for his 4/17 and also Tanveer for 2/21 from his 8 overs on 2nd xi debut.

Match Report - Sunday xi vs Hampton Hill

2011-05-23T16:50:00.005+01:00

"The team wondered why it took Zo so long to get the ball back" - Ed

HWRCC Sunday XI Vs Hampton Hill CC Sunday 1st XI
Hampton Hill 91 Tong G 3 for 4 Swaine 3 for 13
HWRCC 92-1 Zohaak 57 (Retired bored)
HWRCC won by 9 wickets

A Saturday Wick Wash had the wind in the Sunday XI’s sails as they blew onto the field for the first round of the Bushey Park League. Spirits were high and even the gale blowing could not stop Zo’s voice traveling to the Hampton Hill opener and requests for Zo to stop chatting long enough for a ball to be bowled, blew back. Graham Smith took an early wicket as the ball was flicked off the pads and Mo Bal leaped in the air at square leg, palmed the ball up then caught it one handed. It was a great catch and worth the match fee alone to watch at close hand. Hampton Hill’s No.3 came in and played a couple of nice shots and Smith and Vijayakumar plugged away keeping things tight. Graham Tong came on and off again having removed 3 for 4 including a hat trick chance. Rob Swaine then got in the action in his first over with Phil Miles taking a great catch at slip. 44 for 5 and Hampton Hill were getting blown over.

Everyone had a bowl (not Zo) and a big hitting No.10 helped pull Hampton Hill to 91 all out off 39.3 overs. Mo got a couple of good stumpings with some nice work from Matt Rudolph and Swaine picked up another couple. The game may have been over a bit quicker with a few held catches but special mention must go to Hampton Hill’s opener who batted 105 balls for 22 and carried his bat. Zo’s chat had clearly not worked on this batsman.

Tea was nice. [Lazy - Ed]

Zo opened: 57 off 32. Zo retired, leaving James Madoc-Jones and Matt Rudolph to see the boys home. It may have been over quicker but Zo put the ball in the Allotments and he had to go and ask for it back. Zo then lost £10 in a darts match to bring him back to earth. Wick League wash done.

Special thanks go to Riley and Alison for bringing a professional feel to the day. Riley’s T20 standard of wide calling on a Sunday making him Hampton Hill's fourth highest scorer.

Match Report - Frimley vs 1xi - by Matteeee Deeeee

2011-05-20T10:48:00.005+01:00

"Matty D hears that Dazzle fancies opening up" - Ed

HWRCC 168 Normy 67
Frimley 128 Day, Shri, Normy all 3 for
HWRCC 1xi beat Frimley 1xi by 40 runs
Davies, Razzle, Dazzle, Izzle, Zazzle, Zozzle, Nozzle, O'Mazzle, Navezzle, Tozzle, Shizzle

Scorecard

Ah yes. Frimley. That ol’ Chestnut. Placed alongside the idyllic Siemens UK HQ and Frimley Park Hospital roundabout, Frimley CC is a surprisingly friendly place (don’t know why I say surprisingly) with a lovely little clubhouse and a regular band of followers and incredibly biased but passionate nevertheless cheerleaders. Not all of them wear short skirts – which is a good thing – but they do provide a sense of occasion for what is as always the highlight of my week – Wick cricket.

This week a number of us decided to almost miss said occasion through a variety of laziness, confusion and lack of planning. Its not unusual and to be honest if everyone turned up on time (or even near to on time) It would be a first. And everyone does inform you when they are going to be late, which I suppose is a minor blessing. Gatesy once told me at 2pm that he was going to be late. He then arrived at about 2.45 having been driven back from a function he was working at in Devon. He was still in his work gear and reeked of alcohol. He nevertheless still managed to score 50 and from memory won us the game. It takes all sorts in cricket.

A young and youthful XI (From being the 2nd youngest 3 years ago Im now the 2nd oldest!) were confident of beating a Frimley side that have the players to cause upsets. Last year we got 260 and had them about 230-8 on one of the flattest tracks you will find. The ground is also small, fast and bumpy which means that it can rain boundaries. Think Taunton only with better telephone signal.

Tails always fails apparently so we batted. Adam feathered one early on before Rashid joined Ali for an innings building partnership. Taking the score calmly onto around 60 at 3s, Rashid was then caught at mid off for the 3rd week running having done all the hard work. Two opening bowlers with no place but just enough guile had managed to keep things steady, but with the score ticking on we were confident at this stage with plenty of batting in the hutch. But where were these change bowlers? Surely they must have at least a 3rd bowler somewhere....It took 30 overs to see someone else, which is a shame in many ways. However the plan was working – Ali thought he was playing baseball for one shot, Day skewed one to point, Raza was strangled down the leg side and Davies was clearly tired after getting up so early and missed one from the 1st change bowler who had a striking resemblance to Adam Selves in both appearance and cricketing style. The Asian ethnicity being the only obvious difference between the two.

Naveendra was joined by Zohaak making is competitive batting debut and moved things on from what was a hideous collapse. A bit of luck and few bludgeons ticked the score along, but the nagging straight stuff seemed too much for us and the wick was eventually bowled out for a patry 168. This was an improvement on last week, but at least 50, if not 100 sort of where we should have been. Everyone gets ducks, it’s when you get in and then get out that should keep you awake at night.

Teas are always a good at Frimley – theres something about mass produced baguettes that are almost white in colour and chewy.....with creamy tuna mayo.....oh yess! 8/10.

To be fair, 168 is probably a normal score for us, in fact it was arguably better than our average. We’ve done this before – in fact we do it most weeks.

‘Matty – can I open up today. I fancy a go.’
‘Yes Alex – you may’

Tong and Day were on the money straight up, but we were clearly still asleep. In all 4 catches were shelled (of varying difficulty) and one run out missed. In between all that, and a few meaty off drives by Mr Lion who after having bowled 17 overs opened up, the Wick bowlers were doing us proud. Joey was pretty sharp. Rupert could certainly crank it up. But Day is something else. 3 wickets accounted for 3 of the top 4 – invariably just done for pace – simple as that. Shri then came on and bowled a superb spell of controlled fast bowling – regularly hitting an awkward length and on a great line. 3 wickets also, all bowled (twice uprooting stumps). Ali again continued his improved bowling from 2010 with 3 more wickets and Tong returned to take the final one.

It wasn’t all plain sailing however. From 74-9, Frimley ended up on 128 thanks to some courageous if unorthodox hitting from #11 who should have batted top 6. True the ball was starting to get a bit wet and the pressure was completely off, but nevertheless his T20 knock made the game a lot closer than it was. Well played Sir.

MOM – it's got be Ali for his runs and wickets, but the key to victory was perhaps Day ripping out the heart of the Frimley batting line up and the support offered by Shri at the other end. Again, the team woefully underperformed, but it is 3 wins in 3and like Man U you don’t need to be any good to win things. Im an Arsenal fan btw.

Im all over this Saturday...

Match Report - Ashtead vs Sunday xi - by Selvsey

2011-05-18T17:26:00.006+01:00

"Another Bea the Sunday xi might want to get away from" - Ed

You wait for one Sunday Match Report to come along...

HWRCC 133
Ashtead Got them something like 6 down...

Remember back to the second four day bank holiday in one week: no rain, street parties, commoners marrying princes, mass gatherings in London without a kettle to do some kettling in sight and Hampton Wick Royal Cricket Club Sunday XI, away to Ashtead, looked to keep the Royal in the weekend a day longer following the Saturday Wick Wash?

Winning the toss Tong chose to bat and at 32 for 0 from 5 the only issues facing the Sunday XI was if Charlton would think the electric scoreboard was for texting his love interest or if he would pass out from the flatulence in the score box after a royal wedding and a captain’s night at the Wick. But just like Eugene and Beatrice what looks good with a glimpse can be misleading and before Charlton could write “I love you” on the scoreboard the Sunday XI were 67 for 5 from 16.

Out in the middle Rashid was the pick of the early batting looking like Gower till his Husain-like run out (Saddam? ie so slow he was dead? - Ed). Singh looked good until one got through and Miles was sublime, cover drive, then not so with a Strauss (Adelaide day two) leave. Byme hung about for a while and showed promise after a break from the game. Fahad showed promise but didn’t hang about.

Smith and Selves played a quick game of first to pad up goes in next then tested the others early season fitness with some ones and twos before both mistaking the pies to come with the change of bowling as an early sign of tea and holed out wondering when they would next be in the teens with 15 overs left to bat. Meanwhile Charlton’s love messages had worked and he had an audience. A quick 20, with Sadique chipping in a few, left the Sunday XI 133 All Out from 36. Despite Charlton’s girlfriend putting the G in the tail’s WAG the score looked more Duchess of York than Princess Diana and the Sunday XI pondered their chances over some coronation chicken (You're having me on - Ed).

Ashtead started well and at 37 for 0 from 5 the game took on a déjà vu feeling. Fahad had one put down at keeper and then at second slip but a third flew to the right of second slip and Tong caught well. Next ball went straight to second slip again but popped out. With only one option left to assure the wickets his bowling deserved Fahad decided hitting the top of off next ball would do the trick. With one catch, one drop and one bowled in three balls “just do the same again” was easy to say but Fahad did by yorking the next man and taking middle stump. The hat trick next over was not to be but another bowled left Fahad with 4 debut wickets for 38 and Ashtead on 58 for 4. Sadique came on for Fahad and got a good nic for a good catch from Rashid and the Sunday XI looked to be doing more than making a game of it.

As with most tight games there is one person who steps up to make the difference and although Fahad had put the Sunday XI in with a great chance Ashtead’s number 2 was pacing his innings well and sensing the need to up the tempo before running out of partners quickly took himself to 60 and Ashtead to over 100. The Sunday XI did have their chance after tight lines from Tong forced indecision in the Ashtead opener between a front and back foot pull and the ball ballooned between mid off and mid on. Two more royal star crossed lovers appeared as the resulting collision between mid off and mid on left two men on the floor and the Sunday XI’s chance gone. The usual half chances we all imagine could have been more came and went but even with a wicket a piece from Smith and Rashid Ashtead had the time and pushed the ones and twos to get them over the line without taking risks.

A reminder to us all that not all royal love stories end happily and the weekend wick wash was not to be. However, Fahad is clearly a great prospect with the ball for the season and everyone else looked to be getting back into the swing of the new season. 30 more may have been enough, but then Eugene and Beatrice could have picked other dresses and still been upstaged by Pippa Middleton.

Match Report 8th May - Claygate vs Sunday xi - by Tongy

2011-05-18T14:46:00.004+01:00

"Zo implores Tongy to move him from square at Claygate" - Ed

Claygate 128 ao in 30 overs
HWRCC 129 for 7 18 overs
G Tong, S Shinde, I Rashid, M Bal, Z Sadiq, F Tanveer, D Bendall, R Oliver, P Miles, P Vijay Kumar, Z Tughral

Despite the setback of the previous week's defeat to Ashtead putting an end to my dream of an unbeaten season for the Sunday xi, a confident Wick team travelled to not too distant Claygate, for, unbelievably, the second away game on the bounce. The fixture schedule of recent years had left the boys wondering what an oppo ground may look like and if such things actually existed. I concluded this was only my 5th away fixture on a Sunday in the 4 years of turning out for the wick (although Mr J. Breakwell, Fixture secretary will have to explain Mitcham away to me!!!).

The boys were joined on the trip by Riley, umpiring his first Sunday fixture. If you need an umpire on a Sunday; Riley’s your man, easily convinced during the previous evening’s casino night. Him being fairly pissed and up £30 through blackjack may have helped when convincing him however.

Unlike last week, the danger of the convoy getting lost on route (Graham Smith) came and went, despite a few minor scares. Imran led the way in his shiny toy car without the assistance of Sat Nav, and we managed to arrive with half an hour to spare, things were looking up.

Claygate will probably be one of the least spectacular but unique away grounds of the season. Firstly a leg side boundary of epic proportions, made that bit more interesting by the two trees placed in perfect leg glance and midwicket locations just off the square, made even more interesting by the bee’s nest located at the base of one. Zohak would find out later the penalty for drop catches. Dodgy clubhouse and even more dodgy 18th century hole in the ground for toilets complete the Claygate ground, a good reminder to us all of why we were glad to call the Wick home. To be fair, they are half way to fundraising for a new club house, which also meant you couldn’t grumble at £45 for teas….

The weather threatened for a while but held firm and I did the usual trick of managing to lose the toss (3 in a row now), but strangely also for the 3rd week running getting the desired outcome. A good amount of cloud cover, a lively green wicket, the threatening pace attack of Fahad, Bendall, and Pradeep and a Claygate team fielding 5 colts, still Claygate chose to bat first.

Sure enough, things went exactly to plan, Claygate soon reeling at 23 for 3, Fahad and Pradeep both claiming victims, the highlight being a spectacular leaping, diving effort at mid-off by Bendall to remove one of the openers off the bowling of Pradeep, this despite the sort of hangover you would expect from Casino night. Phil Miles even had chance for a nap as the outfielders were rarely troubled in the first 10 overs.

A little resistance from numbers 4 and 5 in the shape in some ugly mooing to cow got them up to 60 odd. Time for a change and the introduction of the now slightly more sober Bendall and colt Zeeshan making only his 2nd appearance for the Wick. The change bought more wickets and saw the oppo 70 for 7; we were in danger of a 4 o’clock lunch break.

I decided both Imran and myself could do with some runs to chase so decided to bring on new left armer Mohit and Robbie Oliver. Resembling Del in both stature and bowling style, he produced 4 overs of the most beautiful flighted left arm spin probably to be seen all year, encouraged by the calls of “pull out the pin” by Zohak. Mohit and Robbie Oliver got one each but allowed the score board to tick over, the Claygate tail end scrambled their way to 128 for 9 with 10 overs remaining. Getting slightly anxious, I decided that a bit of Bendall magic was required and sure enough he delivered, rattling the stumps for his 2nd wicket. 128 all out after 30 overs, just enough time for Imran and myself to go back out and face 6 overs of Claygate bowling.

Things looked like they could be over very quickly when I climbed into a juicy half volley 3rd ball of the game, however an over later I decided that I would make exactly the same mistake as I had on the Saturday and picked out Long on.

Time for tea, and it was worth the wait, the definite highlight being the bacon cheese and tomato croissant and fresh sausage+ketchup bap combo, great effort, 9 out of 10.

Back out after tea, Imran gets triggered to continue his run of bad luck. Miles followed shortly after, undone by a hint of swing. Shri was given the chance to impress with the bat but failed and soon at 4 down, only 40 on the board and the prospect of a long tail, the Wick were looking worried. However order was restored in the form of the quiet calm and confidence of Robbie Oliver (star in the making) and the brilliant hitting of Zohak. What was 40 for 4 became 100 for 4 in no time, Zohak getting to 50 off around 30 balls with overs 12-16 going for around 50. The poor colt who had bowled 2 overs for 11, found his next two went for 16 and then 23.

Robbie helped himself to a couple of textbook pulls for 4 through backward square leg to complement Zohak’s swatting. With Zohak peppering the straight boundaries and midwicket with regularity, clearing the sight screen with ease in the process, his only obstacle was the tree at cow which prevented him clearing the rope more often. However a couple of shots later, both Zohak and Robbie were gone, undone by not committing to the hitting that had proved so successful. 25 needed 4 wickets left, Fahad came and went within 3 deliveries, 20 needed 3 wickets left. However the worry was soon over as Bendall and Pradeep both slapped shots through midwicket to see us home. Game over, within 50 overs, Riley delighted. That left the Wick with 3 out of 4from the season so far. There was even talk of taking home the biggest prize of the Wick season, no not the 1st team getting promoted, but the Bushy park league… game on.

WEEKEND TEAMS - 21ST/22ND MAY

2011-05-18T14:29:00.002+01:00

SAT 21ST MAY

1ST XI V Old Paulines C.C. (A)

1 Ali
2 Rashid
3 Day
4 Raza
5 Davies ©
6 O'Mahoney (+)
7 Weerakoon, Naveendra
8 Tughral Zo
9 Tong
10 Tughral Zam
11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:00
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Old Paulines C.C. (H)

1 Cole
2 Fudge ©
3 Jackson
4 Mackie
5 High
6 Crowther
7 Copeland H (+)
8 Abeyrante, Vishva
9 Unsworth
10 Breakwell
11 Tanveer, Fahad

U: S. Riley
S: N/A

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Addiscombe C.C. (A)

1 Risman
2 Ratnage S
3 Singh ©
4 Goulborn
5 Byrne, Dan
6 Lloyd
7 Clements Tom (+)
8 Ilyas, Aqeel
9 Donnelly
10 Charlton E
11 Linter

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 11:00
S: 13:00

SUN 22ND MAY

SUN XI V Hampton Hill C.C. (H)

1 Tong ©
2 Bal, M
3 Smith
4 Maddoc-Jones James (+)
5 Rudolph
6 Swaine
7 Miles
8 Selves
9 Bendall
10 TBC
11 TBC

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 13:00
S: 14:00

WICK

Wick Villain... On Trial

2011-05-17T19:37:00.003+01:00

I just don't drop them in the league, Pinball

On Saturday, AJ grassed a straight in, straight out regulation slip chance before declaring it was his first drop in the League for five years. This is a magnificent achievement to go so long without spilling one.

Wickman offers up this opportunity for you to comment on AJ's fingers. Jam or Butter? Let us know if you recall AJ either plucking a strawberry or grassing a sitter in a League match during the last demi decade...

Getting Wick With... Coley

2011-05-17T13:24:00.005+01:00

We play together, we shower together, but what makes our teammates tick? Royal Cricket brings you Getting Wick With...

1 Nickname: Coley (The Hawk - Ed)
2 Highest Score for HWRCC: 90* vs Old Pauline (h)
3 Best Bowling for HWRCC: 5-24 vs Farncombe (h)
4 Favourite Away Ground: Cranleigh
5 Favourite Food: Cheese Burger
6 Favourite Singer/Band: Shaggy
7 Favourite Movie: The Longest Day
8 Favourite Book: Goldy's 2009 HWRCC season photo book
9 Favourite Pub/Club: Park Tavern
10 Favourite Crisps: Cheese & Onion
11 Favourite DBW Sandwich: Tuna mayo with cheese & onion on top - inspirational
12 Favourite Quote: "Yes.... no AJ, sorry". Actually It's "You reap what you sow"
13 Childhood Sports Hero: Mike Teague
14 Best Wick Moment: Winning league in first season
15 Worst Wick Moment: Missing a game due to wedding - Running out Mackie last season
16 Invite 3 People to Dinner (Dead or Alive): Denise Richards, Churchill, Captain Dick Winters (Band of Brothers)

Match Report - Merstham vs HWRCC 3xi - by Selvesy

2011-05-17T12:24:00.010+01:00

"Selvesey joins the rest of the team for tea on Merstham's outfield" - Ed

HWRCC 3xi 220 for 5 off 45. Clements 63, Byrne 57
Merstham CC 3rd XI 211 Aqeel Ilyas 3 for 27, Fahad Tanveer 3 for 54, Charlton E 3 for 36
HWRCC Wins by 9 runs
Singh, Risman, Ratnage, Selves, Aqeel, Fahad, Laight, Charlton, Byrne, Clements, Linter

Scorecard

As the 3rd XI surveyed the outfield of the first away league match of the season, the pleasures of playing on the main square at the WICK last week were a long way away. The opposition informed us that the game was moved to this ground because someone had in essence stolen their pavilion at the other ground. The fact there was also no pavilion at the new ground was something the boys pondered as they padded up after the invite to have a bat on the other side of the small hills between the boundary and the square.

The wicket had a nice grass cover that looked like it might do a bit, and it did in the bounce department. Ratnage got one and the catch was held. This turned out to be a bit unfortunate for Sam as the fielding then took on the consistency of the outfield (lumpy? - Ed). Risman and Singh took to building a healthy start with some good running against the poor ground fielding and some punishing hitting. Risman then got an assisted LBW from their umpire and then in the thirties Singh let one through.

Byrne and Clements set about building on the good work and kept the score ticking over. At 150 for 3 off 35 the 3s looked to have banished the demons of the batting collapse the week before and built an innings in the way Boycott would be telling them was perfect cricket if the TMS team had got lost while thinking they were walking on the south downs and found a cricket strip in amongst the hills. Byrne and Clements then opened up with some great hitting to finish off two composed and punchy performances and at 220 off 45 Captain Singh called the boys in and they had a picnic in the foothills.

The Wick took to the field and if the batting was a 100% improvement on last week the fielding went the other way. There were quite a few dropped catches throughout that would have put this game to bed, but then that would have ruined a nice story. Fahad and Aqeel opened up with lively spells getting good bounce and tickling the odd face guard. Neither bowler is however afraid to hit the furniture and both gave the stumps a whack and Merstham were 3 for about 15 after great opening spells for the two new Wick bowlers. It is about 15 because there was no scoreboard.

Selves came on up the hill for Aqeel, watched a catch go down then watched his line desert him and received some punishment. When their number five avoided being caught again Selves asked him for his lottery numbers and took a blow thinking of Jimmy C and a week being a long time in cricket. Then in the strange yin and yang relationship that has developed between Selves and Charlton’s bowling (never both take wickets in the same game) Charlton came on down the hill and looked the money. A few words with their lucky number five and a caught and bowled saw the Wick break the one partnership that looked like it could take the game from them. It was a great spell from Charlton that saw three fly past slip somehow not finding a pair of hands. Ratnage came on up the hill and Charlton continued his desire to be involved in every ball as Merstham’s opening bat swept every ball to him at square leg. Byrne offered to go stand in the openers face and when Singh said ok he realized he meant it. It is yet to be decided whether it was more impressive that Byrne nearly took a catch from a full pull about two meters away or the that he didn’t flinch when one hit him full on a few balls later.

Despite the wick proving they had the harder players Merstham were doing a sneaky ticking along of the score board, made all the more sneaky by there not being a scoreboard to tick along and their scorer taking about an over to work out the score when asked. Linter came on down the hill and continued the aggressive fast bowling of the others. Linter tucked up the batsmen and just as things were looking to be hitting a stale mate Linter forced an early shot with a quick ball and Aqeel took the catch running backwards with the ball flying over his head.

Singh didn’t let the new batsmen get comfortable as they started blocking out and rotated the bowling bringing Aqeel and Fahad back into the attack and both picked up wickets wrapping up great starts to their promising Wick carriers as Fahad caught low to his left off Aqeel.

With one wicket to get in 8 overs the Wick looked to be on for the win as Charlton and Linter came back for some more with Merstham needing 36 odd to win. A couple of top edges flying for 4, a dropped catch and a number eleven who did a quick Chris Gale impersonation and it was squeaky bum time for the Wick. But the boys held their nerve and with 9 runs left to win Merstham’s luck ran out and the top edge flew high down to Ratnage at fine leg. There was a long pause as that ball came down then a lot of shouting as the 3s recorded their first league win. Pleased to say Sam’s heartbeat is just returning to normal.

If the 3s field like they did week one and bat like they did week two anything is possible this year and the composure and support of each other in a game that somehow became a nail biter shows great team spirit for some tough games to come.

MOM this week was Fahad. Nathan says:

It is a tough call but I am going to go with Fahad for three wickets and a great catch. He would have picked up more wickets if catches were held.

Match Report - 2xi vs Cranleigh - by Joey B

2011-05-17T09:39:00.005+01:00

"Unsworth missed fiverfor as skipper puts clown at slip" - Ed

More Swinging Than A Night @ Hedonism!!

Cranleigh 2xi - 113 Unsworth 4-29 Kilner 4-20 HWRCC 114-2 Mackie 48* Cole 40* HWRCC 2xi win by 8 wickets Cole, Fudge*, Jackson, Mackie, Kilner, High, Copewell+, Crowther, Unsworth, Breakwell, Lown

Scorecard

“ A quick game, is a good game” has always been one of my favourite cricketing clichés. Meaning what transpired in the 2s game on Saturday must have made it a good game, although Cranleigh may beg to differ.

Upon arrival at the Wick we could see the wicket was one which would offer some assistance to the bowlers, if only we could manage to get first use of it. Cue Cranleigh losing the toss and Fudgey asking them to strap on the “mums and dads” and see what they could accumulate.

Leggsy was thrown the new ball and from the very first delivery had the ball on a piece of string. His meticulous pitching middle, clipping off line paid dividends in only his 2nd over when he had Denton snaffled in the cordon by AJ courtesy of groin and chest. I would have said caught by AJ, but I don’t like to use those words too closely together as you will read again in a moment. Leggsy struck again in the same over when he removed Coldman, bowled by a corker.

Leggsy took his tally to 3 when he had Jones trapped LBW and Cranleigh were in all sorts of trouble at around 15-3 (Riley you need to put in the fall of wickets score on play cricket). They should have been 4 down shortly after when Preece drove a swinging delivery from Leggsy straight into the hands of AJ in the slips only to see the (can’t use the word catch) shelled.

Preece was to get another life when he edged a delivery from Lownsy, who had been quietly going about his work, just wide of Harry who nudged it past Coley at first slip.

Joey B replaced Leggsy and unlike the week before managed to locate the right areas to hit on the pitch, resulting in Lane being caught behind and Beecroft being caught in the Gully. The latter was a particularly enjoyable wicket to get as it's always a pleasure to see a batsmen have more tattoos than runs. Joey finished his 10 overs 2/17 and Cranleigh were around 70/5.

Matty Kilner was bowling nicely from the Kingsfield end and it did not take him long to get amongst the wickets, removing Preece and Payne cleaned up with the minimum of fuss, leaving Cranleigh at approximately 100/7. What followed was Leggsy and Matty mopping up the tail with ease to finish with 4/29 & 4/20 respectively and leave the Wick chasing 114 to win.

I don’t need to mention Tea too much other than to say the cream cheese and onion was another welcome addition to DBW’s squad and took this week’s mark up to 8.5/9

Right - down to the run chase.

Coley saw off the first over from a very lively Beecroft who in my opinion is easily the fastest bowler we will face this year. Fudgey was left to face the first over from the other end and from the first ball his intentions were clear as he slapped Preece nicely through the covers. 2 more boundaries were to come from the over and the Wick were off to the start they needed.

Beecroft continued to ramp up the gas resulting in him removing Fudgey's middle pole, courtesy of a flick via the pads. AJ came to the wicket and was soon back in the changing room via the crowd favourite “Yessssss, no, sorry" from Coley and a direct hit from Albert Steptoe at midwicket. The wick were 20/2 and needed a partnership.

That is exactly what they got as Coley and Mackie put on 80 odd quite superbly. Punishing the bad balls and keeping out the good ones. Mackie was particularly brutal on anything pitched up as he drove nicely through square cover on numerous occasions, whilst Coley continued to accumulate quietly from the other end. They finished up Mackie 48* and Coley 40* as the Wick chased down 114 in 22 overs.

A great team performance with everyone doing their job and setting the standard for the forthcoming game against Old Paulines.

MOM: Unsworth for a quite brilliant spell of swing bowling which set the tone for the day, and were it not for Gomes at 2nd slip would have had 5 wickets.

TEAMS - SAT 14TH MAY

2011-05-12T11:23:00.001+01:00

1ST XI V Frimley C.C. (A)

1 Ali, 2 Rashid, 3 Day, 4 Raza, 5 Davies ©, 6 O'Mahoney (+), 7 Weerakoon, Naveendra, 8 Tughral Zo, 9 Tong, 10 Tughral Zam, 11 Shinde

S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:15
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Cranleigh C.C. (H)

1 Cole, 2 Fudge ©, 3 Jackson, 4 Mackie, 5 Kilner, 6 High, 7 Crowther, 8 Copeland H (+), 9 Unsworth, 10 Breakwell, 11 Lown

U: S. Riley

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Merstham C.C. (A)

1 Risman, 2 Ratnage S, 3 Singh ©, 4 Byrne, 5 Clements (+), 6 Edmonds, 7 Selves, 8 Ilyas, Aqeel, 9 Charlton E, 10 Tanveer, Fahad, 11 Linter

M: 11:15
S: 13:00

Good luck to everyone involved...

WICK

Match Report - Thames Ditton vs 1xi (Cup) - By M Dizzle

2011-05-10T17:08:00.007+01:00

Tea at Thames Ditton "Better than last year" - Ed

HWRCC 165 - Nomaan 51
Thames Ditton Nelson HWRCC 1xi wins by 54 runs

Fire In Babylon is a new film on general release in the coming weeks that charts the rise of the feared 1980s West Indian team. Led by the best batsman in the world (with a great name) and a bowling attack second only to The Wick 1XI from 2006 (Foddy Met, Webbo, Kam, Zam, Cole, Ewen and Barrell), they destroyed all before them with aggression, class and spirit. Therefore seeing a 6-4 West Indian overseas warming up his bowling arm isn’t my idea of fun – perhaps that’s why Shri and Vish swanned off to get some food when they should have been warming up before the match.

‘Hes our new overseas – that lad there’
‘Which one?’
‘The tall fella’
‘Ah yes.’
‘He landed yesterday, we’ve not seen him before. We’ll see how he goes’
‘Indeed......Tails!’
‘Heads it is, we’ll bat!’
‘Welcome to the Fullers mate’

Ali and Bonay against his old team started up with a flurry of boundaries and wides. Almost about 20 wides in fact, all in the first 4 overs! On this evidence, the Thames Ditton overseas will need to have a net to get some legs in him. No doubt he will come good, but not on Saturday. A rollicking (no, I didn’t say B*llocking) start left the Wick at about 70-1 from 10 overs, with Bonay ‘arming’ onto the stumps once the scoreboard had progressed nicely. Ali meanwhile had decided on attack - Sir Viv style. 51 runs later (He can’t have faced more than 35 balls) he was gone but not without a grin to challenge Greg Rusedski. ‘On that track, we’ve already got enough runs’. A bit generous I think, but if the track was playing up, then the loss of Rashid, Raza and Day in quick succession was in part to be expected (Raza missed a full toss – had to get that in there).

Davies emerged and immediately hit it off with the pitch. Sunday red ink ton in 2010 had left good memories, and 21 off 10 balls (all genuine shots) was a good return. Naveendra and Vish used up some time but the scoring stagnated and the run rate fell to a paultry run-a-ball (how times have changed). Enter the Tong. Ably supported by Shri’s deadbat and Zamm's swinging blade (they didn’t all bat together – it was two partnerships), the score moved on the 165 which we felt was a below par but winnable total on a difficult surface.

Tea was fine with a variety of sandwiches (better than last year according to Bonay) and sweet things to keep Imran’s tongue wagging. 7/10.

Shri and Tong opened up, with Shri a little wasteful whilst Tong hit his straps. Wickets started to fall after a few early boundaries and we were soon into a fragile middle order. Li’s introduction saw a sustained spell of top drawer swing bowling and at the other end Tong found some rhythm of old and was hooping it around like Woo Powell (check the stats), claiming 3 superb wickets in the process. Daisy (Laisy) fancied a trundle....and I wish I could trundle like that. His short spell got a wicket and when Vish removed the gritty opener with a classic nibbler, we were well in control – 165 looking way off. Zamm's introduction coincided with a shower which livened up proceedings and the run rate became in issue, both teams frantically trying to remember their numbers. The Wick was ahead, but there wasn’t much in it, and with a few hitters in the locker TD were threatening.

It wasn’t to be however as the decision to stick with Tughral paid off and a catch on the boundary saw the last hope of TD fall, with pace returning in gloomy light and a wicket you wouldn’t write home about, 110 was a fair reflection on both teams 2nd innings performance.

MOM – Tong. 3 excellent early wickets (bowled) and a match winning innings that gave the impetus to the Wick. Special mention to Nomaan also for runs and a quality spell with the ball. In conclusion, much to improve on but a good performance against a team relegated from the division above last year.

Match Report - Old Hamptonians vs 2xi - by Fudgey

2011-05-10T16:53:00.004+01:00

"Police track down Old Hamptonians' covers" - Ed

CLOSE BUT NO MONTECRISTO

HWRCC 2xi 110 Charlie High 44 Old Hamptonians 111-7 Webster 5 for 19 Kidson 48* Old Hamptonians win by 2 wickets Scorecard

The 2s kicked off their league campaign on Saturday against Old Hamptonians. Having beaten Old Hamps three times in the last year we were confident that a fourth victory would be heading the Wicks way.

Old Hamps is a funny place to go as you would assume that being in the grounds of Hampton School the facilities would be out of the top drawer. Unfortunately for the second week running the wicket looked to have seen better days, we were informed that the local Pikeys had ripped the covers and rain had got through. It appeared more that the local pikeys had cut pieces out, maybe to decorate their caravans or wedding dresses.

We knew it was going to be a day where the toss may prove to be crucial, and in a way it proved to be so. Unfortunately the toss was lost and we were asked to make first use of the wet wicket.

The first few overs were navigated successfully but not without the odd problem due to the bowl leaping off a length or going along the ground from the same spot. Scowen was bowling well from the shallow end with his opening partner Blair doing the same from the deep end. The score had progressed nicely onto 10 when Coley straight drove one back at the bowler, who somehow managed to deflect it onto the stumps only to see Fudgey not quite make his ground and walk off despite the oppo umpire giving not out.

Coley & AJ moved the score onto 32 before Coley tried to work one to leg which straightened and he was caught via the leading edge. AJ followed next over after being cleaned up courtesy of an inside edge off Kidson. The Wick were struggling at 32-3. Worse was to follow shortly after as birthday boy Mackie contrived to glove one behind in an effort to leave it.

This brought Charlie High to the crease who along with Matt Kilner took the score on to 66 with an array of attacking yet controlled stroke play. Kilner was unlucky to get a near unplayable ball from Scowen which he did well to edge through to the keeper. The Wick were 66-5 and soon 66-6 when Zohaak was caught of the same bowler. What followed was Charlie hitting some lovely boundaries and everyone else struggling to keep him company, resulting in the Wick being dismissed for 110 in 28 overs and Charlie top scoring with a nice 44.

It was decided we would go straight back out as tea was not quite ready.

We knew quick wickets would be key and Webbo opened up the bowling like a man possessed getting the ball to go both ways and had both batsmen in trouble. His first over resulted in an edge behind which Harry diving one handed could not quite grasp. It did not take long of him to get in the wickets though as he produced a peach to remove Carson’s bails and another to bowl Stone. Old Hamps were 15-2, maybe, just maybe. Joey B was the next to break through as Mahadkar tried to drive on the up only to pick out the bucket hands of Fudge at cover (20-3). Webbo continued to produce the kind of balls that gave Mr Mcvitie an idea for the name for his orange and chocolate covered cakes and picked up another wicket to reduce Old Hamps to 24-4.

Tea was taken and the game was nicely in the balance.

Upon resumption Webbo (Riley) picked up his fourth and fifth wickets to reduce Old Hamps to 35-6 and we knew the game was there to be won. Then the moment which changed the game, Kidson who the previous week had chanced his arm and got away with it skied one off Webbo to Harry behind the sticks, unfortunately the ball met with the grass and Webbo had to be satisfied with a quite brilliant 5-19.

Despite Leggsy coming back on to pick up Blair and reduce Old Hamps to 65-7 The Wick never really looked like winning and courtesy of some lovely batting from Kidson 48* and some variable lines from the other bowlers Old Hamps chased down the target eight down.

A disappointing start to the season but one which may do more good than harm and hopefully allow us to kick on this weekend at home to Cranleigh.

Match Report - 3xi vs Esher - by Krusty Lown

2011-05-10T16:35:00.010+01:00

"Splinter and Rizzo were quick to console Lownsy after the match" - Ed

HWRCC 3rd XI v Esher 3rd XI 7th May 2010
Esher 141 (Selves 6 for 37) HWRCC 86
Esher win by 55 runs
Scorecard

The wick won the toss and chose to bowl in the first 3rd XI league game to be played on the main square. Despite overnight rain, the outfield was dry and conditions good.

Donnelly and Lown opened up and bowled tight lines, restricting Esher to 19-1 off 13 overs. Both were replaced by Charlton and McMullum who also bowled well, but anything short was punished on this sticky wicket.

At Drinks the Wick had Esher at 59-2 off 20 overs, and a change in bowling saw Adam Selves come on from the Millennium Wood end. Having listened to the words of advice from Risso, Selves took the pace off the ball and bowled with great control; either tucking the batsman up or back of a length outside off. This bowling, backed up with some good catching from the wick brought Adam good reward, with figures of 14-3-37-6. Along with Phil Linter and Sam Ratnage at the other end, the Wick managed to bowl their last 32 overs in 1hr 50m and restrict Esher to 141 all out in 47 overs.

Tea – it never helps when the opposition wonder in and tell DBW the tea is a 10/10. Yes it was good – new combinations such as Chicken tikka with crispy onion and crème cheese had Goldie going back for 2nds, and the introduction of mini Cornish pasties is always pleasing. But tell someone they cant improve any more on the first league game is a recipe for disaster. So am giving the tea 7.5/10.

The Wick went out to bat needing 142 to win off 53 overs. With a strong top order this seemed very doable. However, Esher had other plans and opened up bowling very tightly outside off which resulted in wickets. Risman was caught at gully to a ball that stuck in the pitch, Goldie got a great ball which was feathered to their keeper and Ratnage was unlucky in playing onto his stumps. 12-3 off 5 was not the ideal start.

Clements and Edmonds tried to regain the initiative and both batted watchfully to see off their openers. However, Esher’s change bowler – bowling slooooow right arm around the wicket to right handers proved too tempting for some of the Wick, and wickets again began to fall quickly.

Donnelly and Selves came in and played some lovely looking shots and rotated the strike well, but ultimately the wick fell well short of their target and were bowled out for 86 off 31 overs – with 21 being the top score.

This was definitely a game of 2 halves – with the fielding and bowling being very good for the first game of the season. The bowlers worked well in pairs and stuck to their job, and were backed up by 7 catches. Its just a shame we couldn’t make the most of 53 overs and seen off the new ball to give ourselves a chance.

This week welcomes back skipper Singh from some pre season warm weather training in Mauritius where we hope to do a lot better with the bat.

TEAM NEWS - 7th & 8th MAY 2011

2011-05-04T16:38:00.003+01:00

SAT 7TH MAY

1ST XI V Thames Ditton C.C. (A)

1 Ali
2 Rashid
3 Day
4 Raza
5 Davies ©
6 O'Mahoney (+)
7 Weerakoon, Naveendra
8 Tong
9 Tughral Zam
10 Abeyrante, Vishva
11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: N/A

M: 12:00
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Old Hamptonians C.C. (A)

1 Cole
2 Fudge ©
3 Kilner
4 Mackie
5 Jackson
6 High
7 Tughral Zo
8 Copeland H (+)
9 Breakwell
10 Unsworth
11 Webster

U: S. Riley
S: N/A

M: 11:45
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Esher C.C. (H)

1 Risman
2 Ratnage S
3 Goulborn
4 Clements Tom (+)
5 Edmonds
6 Selves
7 McMullan
8 Donnelly
9 Charlton E
10 Lown ©
11 Linter

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

SUN 8TH MAY

SUN XI V Claygate C.C. (A)

1 Tong
2 Rashid
3 Miles
4 Oliver
5 Bendall
6 Tughral Zo
7 Shinde
8 Bal, Mohit
9 TBC
10 TBC
11 TBC

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 12:30
S: 14:00

Good luck to everyone involved!

WICK

WEEKEND TEAM NEWS - SAT 30TH & SUN 31ST APRIL

2011-04-27T16:04:00.004+01:00

TEAMS - SAT 30TH APRIL

1ST XI V Carlshalton C.C. (H)

1 Davies ©
2 Ali
3 O'Mahoney (+)
4 Day
5 Rashid
6 High
7 Weerakoon, Naveendra
8 Tughral Zo
9 Tughral Zam
10 Abeyrante, Vishva
11 Shinde

U: K. Nicholls
S: A. Whitcher

M: 12:30
S: 13:30

2ND XI V Old Hamptonians C.C. (A)

U: S. Riley
S: N/A

M: 11:45
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Old Wimbledonians C.C. (H)

1 Risman
2 Ratnage S
3 Singh ©
4 Clements Tom (+)
5 Lloyd
6 Malik, Rizwan
7 McMullan
8 Donnelly
9 Charlton E
10 Linter
11 Ilyas, Aqeel

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 12:30
S: 13:30

SUN XI V ASHTEAD C.C. (A)

1) Tong (c)
2) Singh
3) Byrne
4) Rashid
5) Miles
6) Selves
7) Charlton E
8) Smith
9) Farhan
10)
11)

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 13:30
S: 14:00

Good Luck to everyone involved...

WICK

Club Update...

2011-04-26T16:57:00.001+01:00

Club Update…

Saturday Season gets under way and Sun XI remain unbeaten!!

The 1st XI travelled to their old foes Addiscombe on Saturday where the home team found something other than the thunder and lightening very, very frightening!! Noman Ali ripped through the Addiscombe batting to finish with 5/35 as they were dismissed for 206 in the 44th over. The rain came in the interval and unfortunately the WICK was unable to even start their innings.

The 2’s also took on Addiscombe who currently sit two divisions above them in the Surrey Champ. Skipper Fudge surprised everyone by winning the toss and on a day hotter than a Turkish Bath, had no hesitation in batting. After a solid start and a well constructed 50 partnership between Fudge (40) & Jackson (24) the 2’s really should have pushed on from being 116/2 and posted 20 or 30 more than 145/6 they managed from their 40 overs. In reply Addiscombe showed greater fluency with the bat and despite some exceptional bowling from the luckless Unsworth and attacking lines from Lown (3/35) and McMullan runs flowed at a greater rate than wickets fell. Late spells from Goodwin (2/20) & Linter (1/24) almost got us back in the game but Addiscombe held on to win by 3 wickets with more than 4 overs to spare.

The 3rd XI under new skipper Nathan Singh took on a Banstead 3rd XI, a side fully 4 divisions above them. The 3rd XI gave debuts to no fewer than 7 players and despite the heavy defeat the skipper was buoyed by some of the performances. He singled out Ed Charlton (0/32 from 9) and Aqeel Ilyas (3/31 from 9) as two bowlers who did exceptionally well despite Banstead amassing 271/5 from their 45 overs. And in reply the skipper himself top scored with 33 in a total of 117 all out.

The Sunday XI was skippered by Matthew Davies this weekend and he wasted no time in scoring the 1st WICK century of the 2011 season. Mattyd bludgeoned his way to 103 and was ably assisted by Zohaak Tughral who scored 63 in a total of 250/9 in 40 overs. Never in trouble, the WICK easily defended the total restricting Hillingdon Manor to 125/9 in reply.

Road to Wembley

The 1st XI set off on the road to Wembley (more likely Godalming) in the preliminary round of the League Cup this weekend. The boys take on Carshalton C.C. at the WICK from 13:30.

Saturday 30th – Captains Night

Saturday League Captains, Matthew Davies, David Fudge & Nathan Singh invite you to join them on the home balcony this Saturday night as they will be shouting the first skipper’s jugs of the season. With the 1’s & 3’s at home and the 2’s just down the road at Old Hamptonians they though this would be the perfect opportunity to encourage people to stick around and sink a few beers on the balcony!!

Nets

Nets are this and every Tuesday from 18:00 – 20:00.

Don’t forget you can book 20 minutes batting coaching on the bowling machine with club coach Noman Ali. The next available slot is on the 17th May.

WICK

TEAMS - SAT 23RD APRIL

2011-04-21T10:03:00.002+01:00

SAT 23RD APRIL

1ST XI V Addiscombe C.C. (A)

1 Ali
2 Davies ©
3 Day
4 O'Mahoney (+)
5 Maddoc-Jones James
6 High
7 Naveendra
8 Tughral Zo
9 Tong
10 Abeyrante, Vishva
11 Shinde

U: N/A
S: A. Whitcher

M: 11:30
S: 13:00

2ND XI V Addiscombe C.C. (H)

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 12:00
S: 13:00

3RD XI V Banstead C.C. (A)

1 Risman
2 Singh ©
3 Zia, Ahmed
4 Oliver (U15)
5 Edmonds
6 Clements (+)
7 Mohit Bal
8 Chaudhry, Sohail Anwar
9 Ilyas, Aqeel
10 Charlton A
11 Charlton E

U: N/A
S: N/A

M: 11:30
S: 13:00

WICK

1st SATURDAY SOCIALS - CASINO NIGHT (7/05/11)

2011-04-15T15:56:00.003+01:00

The HWRCC Social Committee Presents - 1ST SATURDAY SOCIALS!!

Club Socials are what we do best and the "World Famous" WICK bar has long been the perfect scene for many a "Lively" tale.

2011 sees the introduction of "1st Saturday Socials". Quite simply this means that on the 1st Saturday night of any month between May & September there will be a WICK night happening! So now there is NO EXCUSE not to know when & what they are!!

These socials are a great occasions where friends and family can join in with the fun, but more importantly they are desperately important to the club financially and your attendance is greatly appreciated.

We kick off in style as WICK members Adam Selves and Dave Bendall bring LAS VEGAS to the WICK.

Experience the glamour and thrilling atmosphere of a casino, without the risk of losing your shirt!

Join Adam & Dave on Sat 7th May from 20:00 for a night at the Casino.

For an entry fee of just £10.00 all guests will be credited with WICK Dollars to spend at Black Jack & Roulette tables with professional croupiers. Gamble the night away and who knows you may become the 2011 WICK CASINO CHAMPION!!

Dress Code; Black & White… No Denim! Friends and Family are welcome. Tables open from 20:30 - 23:30.

There will be music from our resident DJ, Martini Drink Promotions, Bar Snacks and Much, Much More.

Invite 4 guests (non WICK members) and pay just £30.00 for your 4 guest’s entry!!

WICK

Below are more dates for your diary.

May

Sat 7th - 1st Saturday Social - Casino Night

Sat 28th - 2011 Poker Tournament

June

Sat 4th - 1st Saturday Social - Curry Night

Tue 14th - Middlesex C.C. v Glamorgan C.C. - 17:00 @ Richmond C.C.

July

Sat 2nd - 1st Saturday Social - Darts Tournament

Aug

Sun 7th - Club Day

Sat 27th - HWRCC Real Ale Festival

Sun 28th - HWRCC Real Ale Festival

Sept

Sat 3rd - 1st Saturday Social - Quiz Night & Beers of the World Evening

Dec

Sat 3rd - HWRCC Annual Dinner

For the latest news visit www.hwrcc.co.uk

Blog www.hwrcc.blogspot.com

WICK

HWRCC Barbados Tour Spring 2013

2011-03-03T09:43:00.001Z

Although it seems a long way off, in 2013 the Wick will have the great honour of celebrating it’s 150th anniversary. This marks a great achievement for the club and in order to start this season of celebrations, the idea is to go on tour to Barbados.

At the moment, the trip is very much in its infancy stage in terms of specific details. But this is what is planned so far:

1) Looking to travel for 9-10 days to Barbados

2) Depending on cost of flights, the ideal dates will be Friday 15th March – Monday 25th March (this period is over the Easter weekend), but with this being Easter holidays it may mean moving the trip to earlier in March if the costs/availability prove too much. Obviously with a few teachers/parents amongst us this will be the best time, but we cant get flight or accommodation quotes until 2012.

3) We are aiming for a tour party of 20-25 wick members, with the opportunity for family/older Wick members to book separately and join us out there.

4) Cricket schedule will be two 50 over games and 2 20-20 games against local opposition

5) Accommodation will be on a B&B basis

6) England are on tour in the Caribbean in Spring 2013 so there may be some overlap with watching them. All depends on dates/costs

Based on current prices, the trip is expected to cost £1000 for flights, transfers, accommodation (breakfast only) and some tour stash.

This is a large amount so what we would like at this stage is for people to sign up for a direct debit scheme set up by the committee. This will start on 1st April 2011 and be £40 per month. What this means is that come March 2013, each person signed up would have put £960 towards the cost of the trip. (£1.32 a day…)

There will also be other periods for people to join into the trip payment plan and pay a lump sum in September and next April, but at the moment we would like to get as many people signed up by 1st April. By signing up, it does not commit you to the tour (the deadline will be sometime in 2012) but it allows the tour committee to start planning, and for you to start saving for this once in a lifetime trip.

If you are interested in signing up to the direct debit scheme then please email hwrcctour2013@hotmail.co.uk

WORLD CUP - FANTASY CRICKET

2011-02-15T12:16:00.001Z

Join in all the thrills and spills of the 2011 CRICKET WORLD CUP by entering the WICK fantasy cricket league... It is FREE to enter!!

Simply visit; http://espncricinfo.fantasyleague.com/Index.aspx

Enter your details and join our very own WICK super league.

League Name: WICK WORLD CUP

League Pin: 10214

4 Free Corona's for the Winner!!

WICK

WINTER NETS - ESHER

2011-01-26T17:02:00.002Z

Esher College Nets

Net organiser;

David Fudge

Training Dates;

Sun 6th Feb - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 13th Feb - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 20th Feb - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 6th Mar - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 13th Mar - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 20th Mar - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 27th Mar - 10:30 - 12:00

Sun 3rd Apr - 10:30 - 12:00

Address;

Esher College Weston Green Road Thames Ditton Surrey KT7 0JB

http://www.esher.ac.uk/information/Pages/location.aspx

Please see www.hwrcc.co.uk & http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hwrcc.blogspot.com%2F&h=10826 for more information.

WICK

Team of the Series - to Date

2010-12-29T12:51:00.003Z

Always a good one this. From those currently fit to play (removing any debate about Broady or Harris).

Openers... Cook. Strauss (a moment's hesitation over Watson - he's got more runs than Strauss...) No, Strauss. Gets it for solidity and proven ability to convert a score.

At three... Trotty. No issue. The new David Boon. Limited but effective. If he gets in, will get you big runs. Ponting not fit to clean his boots in this series. At four... KP. Still the best bat in the England set up although weight of runs has not been quite there has looked very clam and authoratative. Knocks Clarke into a cocked hat. At five... Mr Cricket. You can't have Colly in the side on the form he's showing. Six. Bell vs Watson... and Watson loses out again. Just. Seven. Haddin. Better series than Prior although it's close. Haddin has come up with something almost every time he's batted. Prior's one knock of substance was flaky stuff. Haddin's keeping a micron better than Prior who has looked a little suspect standing up to Swann at times. Eight. Swanny. Only spinner in the series worthy of the term. Eleven. James Anderson. Brilliant this series in almost every innings.

So... two more bowlers. Siddle first. Should have been better backed up in Brisbane and bowled with real skill in Melbourne. Tries his bollocks off. Then... Tremlett. Has bowled beautifully in his two games and convinced any doubters. Sould have been better supported by all his colleagues in Perth otherwise might have seen a different result there.

No place for Bresnan. Bowled superbly in Melbourne but hasn't done enough to get the nod at this point.

Cook. Strauss. Trott. KP. Mr Cricket. Bell. Haddin. Swann. Siddle. Tremlett. Anderson. The funny thing is... it really doesn't look any better than the England XIs we have put out with the exception of Mr Cricket for Colly...

Hang on a Minute...

2010-12-29T12:20:00.003Z

As much as Wickman has enjoyed watching us browbeat and demoralise this Aussie XI and "retain the Ashes for the first time in 24 years" the job isn't finished. Not by a long stretch.

Any England cricket fan worth his or her salt will want to see us press for a series win in Sydney, no less. There will be a real sense of deflation in the Wickman camp if we come away from this at 2-2. While we will still have the urn, Aussie sides of the past 20 years made sure they won the thing outright and didn't retain it on a technicality.

This England side earned the right to come into this series with the advantage of having the Urn, compelling Australia to beat us to get it back. But who seriously thinks its enough to come away with a series draw and say "Well, we played them in their back yard and kept it - that's good enough for me?"

There was a sense last night in the early hours as the old guard who knew the feeling (Gower, Botham) and Hussain (who never did) failing to spot that the job isn't finished yet. Declaring England to be the better side and burnishing the pedestal was a failure to understand the real hurt of the last 20 years. That has been that we have been comprehensively dismantled in most of the intervening series. They have been pretty one sided and in most of them we have failed to take a lead at any point in them barring the miracle of Edgbaston when Nasser got a big score and the last two home series where we have largely come from behind to turn things around.

This is a good achievement no doubt. We've secured the Ashes until 2013 and no one can take them away. But the bragging rights will be much diminished if we don't put another convincing performance together with bat and ball in Sydney and at least shade the game.

There are five more days left in this series. The clamour for Australia to start rebuilding and pick the successes from this team (Hussey, Haddin, Siddle, Watson [ish]) and pick seven amoebas to prepare them for the next Australian Reich is somewhat premature.

Ponting MUST captain the side in Sydney. He has one last shot at redemption and must be offered the chance to take it. The only established batsman who could take the honour is Clarke and if anything he is in worse nick than Punter. Mr Cricket does not have captaincy credentials. Too quiet. Too nice. Haddin for some reason is never mentioned. Watson is a grade A nobber and never looks interested unless someone is giving him sh*t in the middle. There isn't anyone else in the Melbourne XI who is guaranteed a trot out in Sydney.

And Punter must bat at three. He might not be making runs right now but is Khawaja or Ferguson the answer in a crunch match with England on fire with the ball? Neither have done much to recommend them while England have been touring. Why set them up to fail now? Those guys need to come in at five and six and be given an opportunity to suss the game out. Hussey needs to come in at four but hopefully when the ball isn't new. Haddin has been batting a position too deep.

The selectors ought to dispense with Hughes right now and let him get some runs against a side that don't know how to bowl at him. And they should jettison Clarke as well for a Test. Let him get some runs in Shield stuff and prepare for the one dayers. Bring back Katich. Wickman hates watching him but he's a better bet than Hughes. Persist with Watson in the Hayden role. And blood one of the newbies. So: Katich, Watson, Punter, Hussey (step up man!), Khawaja / Fergusson, Haddin as a top six which should be able to make 350.

Then remodel the bowling attack. Now Wickman's knowledge of fringe members of the Aussie squad is not what it should be but let's face it with Harris on the gurney for two months it's time for some desperate action. Whatever reason that Hauritz has been left out needs to be addressed and he needs to play ahead of the spinner no one wants to play... Beer. Siddle is inked in. A real tryer with some passion. Wickman likes the cut of his gib. Johnson. Johnson. He needs someone to give him a rollicking and to stop fannying around.

There was a moment in Trotty's innings where he was scratching out his mark again. Johnson decided to come round the wicket. And there he was, captured on camera, re-gripping the ball like Sergio Garcia with the yips, and running through a little warm up "jump, rotate arm, let go of ball while rolling fingers down the seam" routine. He's been over coached, over tolerated. FFS! Get him in a room with Brett Lee and Merv Hughes after a few beers and get them to tell him how to let it rip again. He was the best cricketer in the World 18 months ago.

Hmm. So that's Hauritz, Siddle and Johnson. Is Bollinger fit? Don't rate him actually. Where's Tait? Yes. Bring back Tait. Get him to bowl at 97 mph for a bit. One match. NO pressure. Just knock some heads together. And then pick Smith. For the future. And find one other bowler from Shield cricket. Perhaps that chap who got some England wickets earlier in the tour. Katich. Watson. Punter. Hussey. Khawaja / Fergusson. Johnson. Smith. Hauritz. Siddle. Tait. A N Other.

It's not a world beater but it gives Australia a chance of getting something from the wreckage.

WIckman's View from Behind His Fingers

2010-12-20T15:37:00.002Z

So erm... there it was. The comprehensive Ashes winning performance that everyone expected from this England team. Not.

Wickman mentioned that this Australian side hadn't just become Bangladesh overnight and that there was no guarantee that we would win on a result wicket. But my oh my how we capitulated. In just about total control at 0-78 after getting Australia for a manageable 268 you would have thought that our much vaunted top six could have rattled up 400 and put the boot on the Aussie neck.

But Johnson suddenly found his range and Harris delivered and once again we'd thrown away a dominant position against the old enemy like we managed to in Headingly 2009. Immediately the English media have turned on the team - almost in some form of payback for the guys letting them down after they had written so much guff about how we were going to wipe the floor and keep the Urn in time for Christmas.

The title of this piece would suggest that Wickman actually watched some of this test. Well. He didn't. The lure of a lie-in on the Saturday and Sunday mornings (with no golf to drag him from his sack) was too much to resist. When he turned on the radio for an update it was clear that torturing himself by trying to get up and wrest the remote from Spongebob watching little Wickmen was going to be too much of a battle - especially if it was going to be to see various England tyros ducking bullets from Johnson and wetly steering Harris to the slip cordon.

That it was topped up by the thought of watching Watson finally get past 60 and us bowling full tosses at the middle of Hussey's bat was too much to bear. So rather like the England team after the second day, Wickman chalked this one up to the cricket Gods and set his alarm clock for Melbourne.

The MCG Test now takes on massive significance. There is already talk that the Aussies are preparing another result wicket (although one that won't take any turn). We are back to West coast time so it will be possible (if not desirable) to watch the first sessions rather than the evening ones which really didn't go England's way in Perth. And we are now back in a series - a good old fashioned dog fight the like of which we haven't seen in Australia for years. Two tests to go and the Ashes could reside with either country. But you get the feeling that both sides are pretty fragile right now. If one gets on top in Melbourne then the series is heading in that direction.

Right now it's too close to call. England have had one hand on the trophy and you wonder if at 78-0 they actually were imagining they had two on it. England took 20 wickets for the second successive test. We just failed to tough it out with the bat. That's three times we've capitulated in this series against two decent efforts. It's time the batsmen came back to the party and this time bought some booze and a couple of racy birds too.

Perth Hoodoo... Will it Help?

2010-12-14T10:50:00.002Z

What with the all the triumphalism about in the English media and the downright suicidal tone in the Australian media, you would be forgiven for thinking that England will destroy Australia for a decade this Thursday.

During an Ashes series abroad it's traditional for the Aussie media to be raising Shane Warne onto a pedestal. But things have got so grim for them that this time around it's because he's shtupping a middle aged lady with great cans who has appeared in some adverts, a dress held together with safety pins and was cast aside in favour of a skanky prostitute by floppy haired fop Hugh Grant. If you were English you might be asking why he has to fly round the world to score these days. But then that's probably because he already has every woman's telephone number in Australia on his mobile.

And actually things are pretty grim for Australia. So bad so that Greg Chappell has tried to post-rationalise dropping Johnson as a "rotation policy". They've picked someone called "Beer" to give the sub-editors on Aussie newspapers something else to pun with rather than simply variations on "Selectors are idiots, team is a disgrace". And one paper has called for the resignation of chief selector Andrew Hilditch. But only after the World Cup. Crikey. The press must be hoping he stuffs that up too so they can carry on writing this stuff until well into April.

So the question is... how bad actually IS it in the Aussie camp? Are they feeling the pressure? Well... there are very few of them claiming they are going to win the Ashes now. In fact all talk of targetting batsmen is out of the window. The press are hoping that Jimmy A has screwed himself by flying back to the UK. (Interestingly he claims to have stayed on Aussie time for his visit - very easy with the UK dark for 24 hours a day at the moment). They also seem to be hinting that the England players will be so exhausted from catching up with 44 days of no conjugals that they will be unable to stand on Thursday never mind bat, bowl or field. And there is some crowing about Cooky not batting for three consecutive millennia on a pudding in Melbourne.

This is STILL not a terrible cricket side even if the preparation and background work from the selectors and media people has been poor. Ponting, Clarke and Hussey are still good bats. Watson is a good number six who just happens to be opening. Haddin is as good as any keeper batsman, Gilchrist aside, that Australia have produced including Healey. There are runs in them there hills... even if the openers look a bit iffy.

The bowling does look a bit popgun at the moment but Perth is just the place (if the curator is to be believed) for a fast / seam attack to prosper. Especially if it's green to start with. That will be a good toss to lose. And England have already fallen over once in the series and haven't dominated in any of the State games in the way that did on the flat Test tracks we've all become used to.

You sense that the Aussies are desperate to have a result wicket here. They cannot afford to lose, but a draw simply puts more pressure on them to win two on the bounce on tracks that are not expected to be wicket fests. There is some debate as to what a four day wicket in Australia is like but that's what the curator has prepared he claims and monkeys to the hierarachy at the WACA who would prefer the game to go the distance.

So this has all the hallmarks of a shootout, here and now, for the urn. Win this and the Aussies only need to win one more game. Lose it and they have to win two to even draw the series, Ashes gone. The only fly in this particular ointment is that actually England have been better in seaming / quick conditions than Australia recently. Game well and truly on.

HWRCC 2011 COMMITTEE & CLUB CAPTAINS

2010-12-09T16:36:00.005Z

Captain of the Club and Chairman of Committee:

KEITH NICHOLLS

Hon. Secretary:

NICK CLARK

Hon. Fixture Secretary:

JOEY BREAKWELL

Hon. Treasurer:

KEITH NICHOLLS

Hon. Fundraiser:

MATTHEW DAVIES

Hon Colts Leader:

CHARLIE BROWNING

Welfare Officers :

M FLETCHER, JOE EWEN

CAPTAINS

1st XI Saturday:

MATTHEW DAVIES

2nd XI Saturday:

DAVID FUDGE

3rd XI Saturday:

NATHAN SINGH

Sunday XI:

GRAEME TONG

Wednesday XI:

ROBERT SISSEN

Twenty20 XI:

MARK MACKIE

Club Scorer:

ALSION WHITCHER

League Represntative:

TOM CROWTHER

Elected Committee Members

GREG UNSWORTH

STEPHEN RILEY

PHILIP LINTER

MATTHEW GOULBORN

Kit Manager:

RICHARD COLE

WICK

2010 CHAIRMANS AWARD WINNER - NICK CLARK

2010-12-08T15:00:00.004Z

The Chairman's Award is special!! By all means fill your boots with 500 runs or take 50 wickets, we won't mind that!! But what really makes a club tick, is it's members and one's devotion to the cause, devotion to the WICK!!

Lots of people up and down the country play cricket. But there are a few special people at every club that put in hideous amounts of effort to ensure that majority are able to just turn up and doe exactly that; play. It's the behind the scenes stuff that really makes a cricket club what it is and the WICK such a special place to be a member of.

We are fortunate to have a number of these special people at our club and they have once again given up their time to help improve the WICK in 2010.

So rightly so the following people received nominations for the 2010 Chairman's Award; Dominic Lown, David Fudge, Greg Unsowrth and Charlie Browning all made a real difference this year and their hard work will never go un-recognised, however this years recipient really stood out from the crowd.

Nick Clark was announced the winner of the Chairman's Award for 2010 and received his trophy to rapturous applause on Sat night.

Nick's persistent effort to move the club forward was rewarded with the WICK being awarded Club Mark in the Spring of 2010. This was a great achievement by Nick and the rest of the sub committee and provided a real feather in the clubs cap. Clarky wasn't done there. He excelled in his new role as Chief Selector, helping the league captains continuously get strong teams out on a Saturday and actually represented the WICK in League, Sunday and Wednesday cricket to show their is life in the old dog yet. Add this to being Hon. Club Sec and head of club communications (Who is WICKMAN?), Nick was also pivotal in helping persuade GRCP to become new Sponsors of the HWRCC Colts.

All that's left to say is, Thank You Nick, and you are totally and utterly WICK!!

WICK

2010 PLAYER OF THE YEAR - NOMAN ALI

2010-12-08T14:49:00.002Z

2010 PLAYER OF THE YEAR

– THE NOMINEES

• Noman Ali

• Graeme Tong

• Tom Donnelly

- THE WINNER

NOMAN ALI

2010 BOWLER OF THE YEAR - GRAEME TONG

2010-12-08T14:47:00.001Z

2010 BOWLER OF THE YEAR

– THE NOMINEES

• Graeme Tong

• Joey Breakwell

• Tom Donnelly

- THE WINNER

GRAEME TONG

2010 BATSMAN OF THE YEAR - NOMAN ALI

2010-12-08T14:44:00.002Z

2010 BATSMAN OF THE YEAR

– THE NOMINEES

• Noman Ali -

• Matthew Goulborn

• Kamran Raza

- THE WINNER

NOMAN ALI

2010 FIELDER OF THE YEAR - HARRY COPELAND

2010-12-08T14:40:00.003Z

2010 FIELDER OF THE YEAR

THE NOMINEES

• Kamran Raza

• Harry Copeland

• Imran Rashid

- THE WINNER

HARRY COPELAND

2010 - WICK XI

2010-12-08T14:18:00.005Z

1) Noman Ali

What a debut season from the WICKS new 1st XI Star. An ever present in the team, Noman amassed an impressive 66o runs in 16 league games at an average of 47 as well as taking 28 wickets at just over 20 a piece. This was Noman’s first season in England and he is already looking forward to even more success in 2011.

2) Matthew Goulborn

Matthew really benefited from a full season of cricket has he maintained fantastic form throughout the year. 440 league runs included a memorable hundred at home to Mitcham and he wasn’t done there. A regular member of the midweek side, he also notched three figures against the reliably strong, Wine Trade.

3) Nathan Singh

Nathan was the epitome of consistency in 2010 reaching double figures on all but two occasions in a total of 14 innings. With three scores in the 30’s and three others in the 40’s Nathan will be kicking himself that he didn’t manage a half century, but will be delighted with accruing 360 runs and his highest overall run total in a league season. Nathan is one of the most naturally destructive batsmen in the club and I am sure that the newly appointed 3rd XI skipper will build on last years efforts and lead from the front in 2011.

4) Kamran Raza

Kamran once again led from the front in the 1st XI year by contributing heavily with both bat and ball. Kammy scored a valuable 438 league runs, including 4 half centuries and reverting to off spin took 29 league wickets at under 20 a piece. Kamran’s bucket like hands also saw him take 11 catches and making him a nominee for the fielder of the year award.

5) Alex JacksonAJ represented a promotion pushing 2nd XI 14 times last year and contributed a healthy 364 runs from just 12 innings. AJ joined Goldy in a record stand of 178 against Mitcham by helping himself to a league hundred of his own. Batting at #5 AJ was not out 5 times as he often found himself taking apart the spinners and finishing off an innings. AJ finished 2010 with a healthy average of 45 and will be a key member of the team if the 2’s are to go at least one better and secure promotion in 2o11.

6) Joe Hirsch

This was the season the Joe really came of age and turned natural talent into regular runs. Joe amassed 275 in just 10 3rd appearances including two half centuries and contributed well to the 2nd XI when called up for duty. Joe will know doubt look to build on 2010‘s achievements and press on next year.

7) Harry Copeland +

Harry’s glove work improved out of sight in 2010 and a new found confidence saw him take a huge step forward. Harry plucked 12 important catches many of which that turned the game at vital times. Harry has the ability with both bat and ball to push for higher honours in 2011 and as he is already being touted as a 1st XI keeper of the future. Harry is a WICK star in the making and real asset to the club.

8) Graeme Tong

Graeme had the unenviable task of juggling opening the bowling for the 1st XI with being captain of the Sunday team yet he seemed to thrive under the pressure. A true club man Graeme finished a memorable 2010 with 46 wickets and over 250 runs for the club. Graeme led from the front in both teams but shone for the 1’s by taking 31 wickets at just 15 a piece. Graeme is the newly appointed 1st vice captain and will continue to steer the Sunday ship so 2011 promises to be equally as challenging.

9) Tom Donnelly

Tom broke the thirty league wicket barrier for the 1st time in 2010 as he led the 3rd XI attack with great pace and control. Tom finished in the leagues top 10 wicket takers and boasted three 5 wicket hauls in doing so. Tom’s 7/39 was the pick of the bunch as he tore through Oxted and Limpsfield’s top order.

10) Greg Unsworth

Greg was rewarded for a flying start to the season with a well deserved call up and new ball duties for the 1st XI by the end of the 2010 campaign. Greg bagged 9 wickets in his first 3 league games for the 2’s and continued to terrorize 1st and 2nd XI opening bats with late swing throughout the season. Greg finished with 26 league wickets at 19 a piece and signed off in style with 3 for 44 for the 1st XI against promotion pushing Battersea Ironsides.

11) Joey Breakwell

New signing Joey Breakwell joined the 2nd XI from promotion winning Brook and kicked on from where he left off with his former side by being bang amongst the wickets in 2010. Joey announced himself in just his 1st game by taking 4 for 24 against arch rivals Stoke D’Abernon and he followed that up with the seasons most remarkable figures of 10 over’s, 8 maidens 2 for 8 against Old Hamptonians. Only injury stopped Joey from taking league honours as his season was cut 4 games short. However 35 wickets at just over 11 was a great return in your first season for a new club.

WICK

Wickman Calls for New Ashes Venue

2010-12-08T12:52:00.002Z

It's never usually a good idea to watch the Perth test. Wickman can't remember the last time he tuned into one. He tried to tune into the 2006 test but left it until day 4 by which time it was all over and everyone had packed up and gone home.

Given that the first hour of every session (in fact in many cases the first OVER of each test) of this series has been so vitally important, what idiot decided to schedule an Ashes test in Perth of all places? It's bad enough having to wait until midnight our time to kick off a test on Australia's Eastern seaboard. But coverage won't start until 2am UK time for next week's test and the day's play probably won't get underway until 3am or something hideous.

Now there will be some workshy fops down at the Wick who will be saying "what's not to like Wickman my old buddy, my old chum?" because they will be planning to "get up really early" at about 8am and watch a bit of the final session in their fluffy slippers with Mumsy handing them tea and toast etc.

For the rest of us faced with commuting tasks there will be no joy to be had. Time your morning routine wrong and you'll be having breakfast during the tea break and spending the final session on the 07somethingorother to Waterloo or 300 feet underground in a reeking tube carriage quitely fuming as some Antipodean rams his backpack into your goolies on his way to take a pefectly good bar job somewhere.

By the time you've got into the office, ogled the work experience girl, made a coffee, had your morning constitutional and got to your desk, the whole thing will be over and you will be reduced to watching the ball by balls from India vs Bangladesh or whatever other third rate contest is going on during God's own series.

There's still time to move this test to Peru or Paraguay in a bold move reminiscent of Qatar's bid to host the 2022 Footer World Cup, both of which are four hours behind GMT. This would be perfect allowing for almost a whole evening's booze-filled contemplation of the cricket in a suitable drinking hole in London. Cricket travellers bored of Australia, The West Indies and Cape Town would be rewarded with a new venue to tick off and there would probably be unrestricted access to class A drugs at ridiculous prices. The Aussies would be slightly inconvenienced, granted, as this would make it slightly more difficult for them. But it's not the middle of winter in Australia obviously. Get up at 5.30am or 6.00am and they'd see the majority of a day's play which would be a better compromise.

2-0 TO THE ENGERLAND... 2-0 TO THE ENGERLAND...

2010-12-07T13:57:00.001Z

Botham and Chappell square up in car-park....

Ian Botham and Ian Chappell resumed their 30-year feud in spectacular fashion during the second Test in Adelaide, when they had to be pulled apart by their respective Sky and Channel Nine colleagues following a dust-up in the car-park at the close of the fourth day’s play.

Despite their regular stints in adjacent commentary boxes, neither man has spoken to the other in three decades, with the root of their feud lying in an incident at the Hilton Hotel during the Centenary Test in Melbourne in 1977, when the then-uncapped Botham claimed to have punched the recently retired Chappell off his bar-stool in response to his disparaging remarks about the English.

On Monday, the two came close to blows once again when, according to The Daily Mail, Chappell muttered something provocative in Botham’s direction, before both men dropped their bags and went for each other’s throats. “They might be aged 55 and 67, but neither of them are the type of people to give an inch in the face of conflict,” said a source at Channel Nine.

A Convenient Way to Win

2010-12-07T09:48:00.002Z

So in the end England beat the rain by 30 odd overs and Australia by an innings and 71. Those of us that watched it live will have seen something strangely familiar but not been quite able to put our fingers on why.

Here we were, watching the final day of an Ashes test match and seeing a side crumble into dust like a vampire exposed to the light at the denouement of one of those great 70s Christopher Lee classics that used to scare the bejasus out of us as kids (well, those of us of Wickman's *ahem* vintage). It felt good. But hell's teeth it was Australia doing the crumbling and not us!

Mike Hussey's pull shot from a Finn short ball that barely got above waist height was criminally badly executed and poorly thought through. It might have been prompted by him feathering an edge off Swanny that got too big on Matt Prior, but it was the wrong shot for the circumstances.

Brad Haddin - so good up until now in this series - played down the wrong line as he had so many times in Brisbane - but this time got an edge. The rest were simply execrable. A tail? Wickman has seen illustrations of Brontosauri with shorter ones. Harris was simply cleaned up and the rest fumbled and groped at Swann like men who had consumed a vat of strong whisky the night before and were blearily fumbling for the alarm clock.

For some reason the presentations seemed to take an age to organise and a stream of delighted Englishmen (some naturalised, naturally) spoke to Athers and the underlying emotion was one of, well, joy. This was a really excellent performance from the first over right the way through the game. 20 wickets vs 5. The first innings defeat in Australia for Australia since 1993 by any team. An imperious century from KP and another chanceless knock from Cook. And then some very disciplined bowling all round, topped off by Swann using a wearing deck to perfection.

Make no bones about it (and you won't even find Australians doing that) they were totally outplayed in every area of the game in a way that we didn't even manage in 2005 and 2009. They were put on the rack, stretched and then broken. The question everyone is going to be asking is can Australia come back from this?

And Athers asked it of everyone he interviewed including Ponting. The message coming from the England spinners (media handlers, not Swanny and KP) was that this is a funny game that will turn round and bite you. Australia didn't become a bad side overnight and we need to stay focussed and not get ahead of ourselves. It seems clear that no one in the England camp wants to give the Australians any reason to get motivated. The Australian rugby team used to say of Matt Dawson era England that we were "pricks to lose to". Our cricketers are leaving nothing to chance.

Australia do have quite a bit going for them. At some point Watson will score a ton. Ponting is due too. Hussey is clearly seeing it like a space hopper. Haddin is very handy. And Clarke too is showing signs that he is still the heir apparent to Ponting at 3. It's in the bowling department that they are struggling to find a combination and a strategy. Siddle was okay. And Harris was the most effective. But the rest at the moment look like so many English strugglers of the 1990s and that's where they need to really improve. Is there anything out there apart from Johnson and Hauritz? The team for the Perth test will tell us if Australia have anything left in the tank.

Wickman can ask nothing more right now. Not only are we winning, we are winning big. And best of all, we're doing it before lunch. Which means those of us watching on this side of the globe can stay up just long enough to spam up facebook and twitter with magnanimous "never minds" for our unusually quiet Australian friends. Now that's a convenient way to win.

Enjoy it now... Ashes Day 9

2010-12-06T15:13:00.001Z

With up one day remaining in the Adelaide Test, England look firm favourites to win it and go one up in the series, weather permitting.

Jubilant Barmy Army members in Australia and bleary eyed UK resident cricket fans will be willing them on when play begins early again after rain washed out part of today’s session.

In the meantime what should we be making of what’s going on down under? Two and three days into the series it looked like England were about to go down in flames again having contributed a limp batting performance and some less than incisive bowling to what was shaping up for an ominous Aussie win.

Since then Australia haven’t had a sniff. The public are staying away from Adelaide in their thousands largely leaving the BA to boss things in the supporting stakes. Last night in the first session when Australia batted every time Watson or Katich hit a boundary there was a very audible single scream of Australian joy from a person in the crowd. It was disturbing in tone – a sort of mini-orgasm – and in the fact that you could hear it at all in a venue where 20 odd thousand Aussies would usually be baying for blood.

That this Test started on a Friday partly explains the reason why there were so few Aussie fans there to see the day’s play. But mostly it’s because there’s a pall hanging over Australian cricket right now. If it wasn’t for Mr Cricket’s phoenix-like rise and Watson and Haddin’s sheer grit and in-your-face brashness you’d think we were playing an England side presided over by Ted Dexter.

That Ponting persevered with Doherty in this test undid all the good work the selectors undertook in jettisoning Hilfenhaus and Johnson. Harris is a good replacement with a bit of grunt but surely the England lads must be pissing themselves every time Doherty gets the ball. He looks like the duelling banjoist from Deliverance and the parallels between the central act of that movie and what KP has being doing to him recently are a painful reminder of when entertainment becomes too difficult to watch.

The Australian press have absolutely hammered their side for the last ten days. Some tabloids have taken to issuing guidelines as to how to do a rain dance. Others are trotting out (see what Wickman did there) the old canard about South Africans playing for England in desperation. Do they remember Kepler Wessels at all? The selectors and Ponting are said to be at loggerheads with Andrew Hilditch the one getting most of the abuse. Until Michael Clarke got runs last night the knives were out for him. Marcus North needs a bit innings it would seem. Nathan Hauritz’s standing as Australia’s best spinner increases every time Doherty sways past the wicket on his way to deliver another pie.

Wickman’s advice is simple. Sit back and enjoy it. Whatever happens tomorrow we're in the driving seat and it doesn't happen very often. And if you aren’t getting much in the way of banter from Australian chums who have gone worryingly silent get on to cricinfo. Right now its open season on the Ashes from our sub-continental chums who are up in arms about whether a series between the third and fifth ranked test nations is worth the candle… Wickman says it is. It’s been a long time since England played so positively and with such enjoyment. And a long time since Australia have had to overcome their own limitations, a panicking media and a home crowd as hostile as a Headingly Saturday. It might not happen again…

Poor Preparation Hampers First Day in Brisbane

2010-11-25T12:07:00.002Z

Poor preparation dogged the first day of England's Ashes challenge down under leaving Wickman reeling at the end of the first day.

How could it happen? During the traditional warm up session, while the guys were netting, Botham was rabbiting on about the pitch and Bob Willis was no doubt frothing away about something completely non-sensical in a studio in West Middlesex, Wickman was in complete disarray.

Preparing for the first Ashes session of an Australian series is never normally problematic. You need to think about nutrition and hydration. Wickman booked himself and a cricket loving client into a decent restaurant to set about those issues but soon found himself under the cosh from the start.

A confident attempt at getting off the mark with a cheeky Reisling was cut off straight away by the sommelier who solemnly announced that there was a shortage. An attempt to force away a request for a solid looking Rioja was also intercepted by the same guy. We had to settle for an inferior Sauvignon blanc and a Malbec. Good wines both but not perfect.

The food - something to take you through to lunch at 2.00am - needed to stand up the rigours of 2 hour session. First up there's going to be a bit of moisture around and you need something to absorb it if you are going to avoid trips to the loo at vital moments. Venison loin just wasn't up the job leaving Wickman hopping from butt cheek to butt cheek during the first session later. Bread and butter pudding didn't sort the issue out. And a complimentary bottle of Muscat with the pudding left Wickman and guests over-hydrated

Transport to the ground was also an issue leaving Wickman 10 minutes from home with 8minutes until the first ball after a snafu in Knighstbridge. And horror of horrors when Wickman reached the sofa, turned on the telly and sat down he realised that Mrs W had removed the cushions and put them in the wash. Expecting a soft track which Wickman was well prepared for, he was instead confronted by one of the hardest decks you can imagine with ridges on a length and no give whatsoever.

Which left him in absoltuley no state to spectate the first over from Hilfenhaus so it was no surprise that Straussy wafted at the third ball and contributed to his sense of utter befuddlement. Soon the Muscat came back to bite leaving him totally nonplussed at the score on returning from the traps and having to watch Trotty play that horrible shot to Tommy Trundle's fifth ball.

Things would only get worse as the session progressed as snacks were now necessary to get through to lunch. Ditto coffee. By 2.30am it was all over as the combined stresses of the evening prompted a hypglaecemic episode and Wickman was luckily spared much of the post-tea carnage, comatose as he was.

Wickman has picked up valuable lessons for his preparation tonight. Eating is obviously cheating so he's off for a few jars in Soho...

It's Here...

2010-11-24T11:05:00.002Z

So finally the most anticipated Ashes series since the last Ashes series begins today. In this correspondent's memory, no England team has ever been more fancied to take an overseas Ashes series since... well... Wickman can't actually remember.

Mike Gatting's side in 1986 weren't really favourites - although Australia were in the toilet it transpired. When we went back out in 1990, despite having been absolutely destroyed in 1989, England using 300 players in one series and finally being captained by a small Dutch boy who's only claim to fame until then was sticking his finger in a Dike and saving Holland - some people actually thought we had half a chance. But England only got close to a win in the 3rd Test and were two down by then.

This time around though there are signs that the Australians are not in great nick physically and more important, mentally. Ponting is not in vintage form and the Australian top six doesn't look to be much cop either. That said it's not as if England are either. What you can say is that with the England team on the psychologist's couch you'd have an easier set of conversations than you would if they were facing Langer, Hayden, Gilchrist, Warne and McGrath.

Going back four years your combined xi would be Langer, Hayden, Ponting, KP, Hussey, Clarke, Gilchrist, Flintoff, Warne, McGrath and Lee. One Englishman. Vaughan was injured and Tres didn't make the trip.

If you had to pick a combined top six today you'd probably go with Strauss, Watson, Ponting, Pietersen, Clarke, Bell. Well, Wickman would. Nothing in it between Prior and Haddin for the glovework.

It gets interesting bowling wise as you would have to pick Johnson. Or rather the one that could find the cut strip. But you'd also have to pick Broad and Swann. And then there's not a fag paper between all the rest of Australia's bowlers and Steve Finn. So, on atmospherics alone, you'd go with Anderson surely? Although Wickman guesses that no one in the Green and Gold would buy that argument.

Wickman thinks that despite the hype in the build up - at least for once England decided to turn up and play some proper cricket and didn't get dicked on by a bunch of contemptuous State sides - this is going to be as tight as 2005 and 2009. There's not going to be much in it. The Australian top six is as good as ours. The bowling conditions will not give us much of an advantage.

And the killer factor. Swanny is a very good bowler. No question of that. But when did an offspinner - or any finger spinner - last take a series defining bag of wickets in Australia? Now this is a difficult question... because with Warney around for so long, the Aussies didn't have to play one for a decade so we've not much to compare. But very few visiting offies have done the business over there in the last decade... so perhaps the one bowler who offers something truly different, truly world class might not be the difference as much of the UK media has been saying for the last month.

Which is all good. While the red, white and blue bit of Wickman would settle for a brutal, clinical destruction of Australia in 11 days of Test cricket it's not going to happen and a tight series with everything to play for on Boxing Day would make for a far merrier Christmas than the last time we showed up, Ashes in our back pockets looking for a fight and were down and out, gasping for air, half way through December.

Where will you be at midnight? Client ents allowing, Wickman will be on Clarky's sofa, tuned in to Sky HD. Probably full of red wine, carefully shutting one eye to try to focus on what he is hoping will be best Australian series since 1986...

HWRCC 2011 - Internal Opportunities

2010-11-22T14:26:00.002Z

Internal Opportunities

Please take time to read the following internal opportunities and see where you can help the club in 2011.

With the AGM fast approaching we would like to have people in place on the night so that decisions can be made and new committee members elected.

If you are interested in any of the role's below or have an opinion on somebody else who maybe please reply to this email in complete confidence. Please reply no later than Fri 26th November with your nominations.

Thank you in-advance and the committee look forward to seeing all of the clubs members at the AGM on Thursday 2nd Dec.

Hon. Fixture Sec.

Role;

HWRCC requires a new Hon. Fixture Sec to arrange all Pre-Season, Sunday and Midweek Fixtures. (Including Bushy Park League & 20/20 Group Games)

The new Hon. Fixture Sec will be passed a list of contact details for the current clubs/fixtures in place and will benefit from a full handover and guidance where required from the current position holder.

The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank Dominic Lown for all his efforts over the past three years.

League Representative.

Role;

The HWRCC League Representative is not an onerous job and will be reduced even further if and when 1st XI get promoted.

The League Rep will be the recipient of numerous emails from the leagues both Fullers and Surrey Championship and will be updated with all the news relating to the competition themselves.

This role would ideally suit somebody who is regular Saturday player/scorer and is in touch with what is going on in each of the 3 teams each weekend.

Regular use & knowledge of Play Cricket would be greatly beneficial.

The committee would like to take this opportunity to thank Julian Ratnage for all his efforts over the past five years.

Social Sec.

Role;

The social side of any cricket club is vitally important as well organised social events can provide much needed revenue. The WICK is no different and with a willing and able membership when it comes to attending and supporting such events, this is an exciting opportunity for somebody to go down in WICK history.

Under 10's - Colts Coach.

Role; The candidate will be required to assist with the management and coaching of the 2011 Under 10's (and then follow the team through the age groups) at HWRCC.

This role involves 2 hour coaching duty on Sundays between 10:00-12:00 during Apr - July 2011 and the occasional involvement in midweek matches. (arranging teams and umpiring etc)

WICK

Aussie Selection Lessons from Tasmania - Day One

2010-11-17T11:00:00.002Z

Wickman was absolutely delighted to discover that the final warm up game was on Sky last night. In HD. From Hobart. In his living room. Where his bottle of Laphroig was.

And as luck would have it England won the toss, stuck Australia A in, and we got to have a look at some of the 17 that the Aussie selectors have "picked" for Brisbane. And even some that just missed out.

Admittedly in almost perfect English conditions, Chris Tremlett absolutely destroyed Phil Hughes early on with one that climbed a bit and left him. Nicked it to slip where Strauss pouched it. Selectors get a tick there. They left Hughes out and he looked out of touch.

That was very good news because it allowed us to look at the much hyped Usman Khawaja. This guy is probably Mike Hussey's long term replacement. Left handed. Tall. Touch of the David Gower about him perhaps. He looked classy. Well. He blocked it well. Got in behind a probing off stump line from Shezad and looked comfortable with ball dug in shortish. But then nicked a full one behind. Selectors get a cross. Too early for the guy surely to be put under pressure by picking him in the squad and telling him if he gets runs he might get a debut?

The good thing was that got us a look at Ferguson. Ferguson has already had two looks at the Test attack with modest returns so it was probably only fair to give him a go against our net bowlers. He also nicked one, this time off Bresnan who must have thought he was back in Yorkshire so awful were the conditions. Another cross.

There was time before lunch to watch One Day stalwart Cameron White cleaned up completely by Tremlett and to hear Ian Healey and a couple of other Aussie commentators talking up Smith's batting as if that might get him the nod next Thursday. That he made 59 on a day when none of the Aussie likely top 6 made it past 17 suggests it might not be a bad call... but another cross as he won't play next week as a bat.

Not much to suggest that picking 17 was worth the media coverage. Wickman will be back tonight to see if Smith can bowl. Evidence so far from his one day career suggests we aren't about to see a ball of the century from him at Brisbane...