1st XI Vs Byfleet CC

Away Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Yasir Ahmed +
2. Zohaak Tughral
3. Imran Rashid (c)
4. Matt Davies
5. Iain Tong
6. Graeme Tong
7. Fawad Anis
8. Mathew Goulborn
9. Moazam Ali Rashid
10. Zammak Tughral
11. Usman Janjua

Umpire: Keith Nicholls

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2nd XI Vs Ripley CC

Home Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Ed Charlton
2. Keerat Khaira +
3. Robbie Oliver
4. Matt Rudolph
5. Will Strange
6. Nick Browning
7. Alex Browning
8. Sunny Patel
9. Phil Linter (c)
10. Will Taylor
11. Mike Suggitt

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3rd XI Vs Purley CC

Away Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Graham Smith (c)
2. Alex Bilton +
3. Johnny Allen
4. Phil Miles
5. Richard Cole
6. Altaf Shahpurwala
7. Craig Daniel
8. Dillan Goss
9. Nabeel Shahpurwala
10. Charlie Higgins
11. Jack Le Feurve

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4th XI Vs Valley End CC

Home Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Hayoush Arora
2. Conor Hewitt
3. Tom Miller
4. Haseeb Abbassi
5. Joe Harrison
6. Rob Ritchie (c)
7. Joe Hennessy +
8. Jacob Povah
9. Chris Wakefield
10. Simon Boughey
11. James Hardy

Note: Teams will receive text message from captains for meet time.

Good Luck!

Wick

154*

 

Match Report – Wick 4s vs. Kempton July 15th 2017

Kempton Beaten by Strong All-round Display

The 4s won for only the 2nd time this season in an enjoyable fixture against Kempton. The return fixture against this opposition had been called-off by the Kempton groundsman earlier in the season, so the 4s had little idea of the strength of the Kempton side. It turned out that Kempton were fielding 3 father and son combinations, who were the basis of the side on a regular basis. Thus, the Kempton team looked like a normal Wick 4s team, with some over 40s and three U13 colts. But this week Kempton were facing a Wick 4s team which was the strongest of the season so far, on paper at least. Moazam Ali Rashid, Dillan Goss and Will Strange were all making their 4s debut for the season. The team also included Haseeb Abbasi and Christopher Cole, along with regular players Phil Miles, Ben Houghton, Tom Simcock, Nabeel Shahpurwala, Abdur Rehman and Nick Dunmore.

The skipper won the toss and despite the drizzle, inserted the opposition. The first 3 overs saw Kempton get off to a ‘flier’ as 30 runs were posted. Christopher Cole took heavy punishment from his first two overs from one Kempton opener but responded magnificently to this challenge; the remaining 3 overs of his spell conceded a mere 2 runs and he captured the wicket of the batsman who had initially smacked his bowling. At the other end Nabeel Shahpurwala settled into what has become his usual exemplary line and length. Neither batsman found it easy to score and he beat the back on several occasions. Christopher was replaced by Moazam Ali Rashid having his first bowl for the 4s. Moazam’s bowling appeared to be the ideal pace for the slightly damp surface as the ball moved a little and gripped which created continuous doubt in the batsman’s mind. At the other end Nabeel was replaced by Abdur Rehman, fresh from a knock of 75 the previous week. Abdur also bowled at the perfect pace for the conditions of the wicket and runs became a premium commodity. Having conceded 30 from the first 3 overs, the bowlers now had the squeeze on Kempton and as drinks were taken at 22 overs the scoreboard read a mere 75.

Moazam claimed his first wicket with a slower ball; becoming not only the first Wick player this season to play for all 4 teams, but the first to take a wicket for all 4! Abdur removed the Kempton bat who looked most threatening when Christopher held a steepling catch a mid-wicket. Nabeel returned for his second spell and continued to put pressure on the batsman. During this period of the game the 4s Achilles-heel was visible, as several catches (some rather straightforward) were put down. However, the ground fielding was tight and the bowling accurate and Kempton were unable to accelerate their run-rate. A tiring Moazam was replace after 10 overs by Dillan Goss who bowled a lively spell which was rewarded with a wicket. At this point the skipper could finally turn to the spin of Haseeb Abbasi, as the ball was dry enough for him to grip. Haseeb bamboozled the remaining Kempton batsman during a 4 over spell of leg-spin and claimed 2 wickets. Christopher returned to take the final 2 wickets in consecutive balls and leave himself on a hat-trick in his next fixture.

Kempton’s final score of 161 reflected an excellent display in the field by the 4s. The bowlers had squeezed the run-rate out of the Kempton innings; with Nabeel, Moazam and Abdur the primary contributors to this phase of the innings. Christopher and Haseeb had then been able to take the wickets to ensure that the opposition were bowled out. Importantly, the pitch was now playing well, as it had dried out after the earlier drizzle.

Will Strange and Phil Miles opened the 4s innings and were met with a very accurate spell of bowling. Both batsman took singles but were unable to find the boundary for the first 5 overs, before Will delivered a couple of meaty straight drives. With the score in the 30s the first wicket fell when Phil was held at slip. The catch fell into the category of ‘excellent’ as the fieldsman had

snaffled the ball just above the turf. For consecutive innings, Phil had fallen to this type of catch; the cricketing gods are sure to turn soon. Tom Simcock strode to the middle and immediately set about playing himself in. The 2nd wicket partnership was dominated by Will who played in a more and more fluent way before falling for 39 to an overly aggressive shot to one of the Kempton U13 bowlers. Haseeb joined Tom and the run-rate continued to accelerate as both batsman found the bowling to their liking. Haseeb fell for a well-made 19 when he picked out a fielder. Dillan was next in and arrived at the middle with instructions from the skipper to ‘get yourself a nice little not out’. Dillan (22* at the close) achieved this but in a rather more aggressive way than the skipper had envisaged, striking several powerful straight shots to the fence. At the other end, Tom was now fully set and took full toll on bowlers who seemed intent on feeding his favourite pull shot. When the winning line was reached, Tom was 60* and had shown again how important he is to the 4s batting line up. The fixtures when Tom is available for the 4s (as opposed to the 3s) are those when the batting looks far more solid. With quite a lot of batting unused the 4s had comfortably reached the 162 set by Kempton to win, with 8 overs remaining.

This victory took the 4s above Egham and off the foot of the table; only 20 points behind Kempton. With player availability hopefully improving it has to be realistic to think that more victories will be claimed this season and that a final league position 1 or 2 places higher can be achieved.

1st XI Vs Woking & Horsell CC

Home Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Yasir Ahmed
2. Adam O’Mahoney +
3. Matt Davies
4. Imran Rashid (c)
5. Zohaak Tughral
6. Iain Tong
7. Fawad Anis
8. Graeme Tong
9. Zammak Tughral
10. Usman Janjua
11. Sam Jones

Panel Umpires

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2nd XI Vs Kingstonian CC

Away Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Nick Maingot
2. Joe Hirsch
3. Robbie Oliver
4. Rory Blanchard
5. Ian Collier (c)
6. Harry Copeland +
7. Ed Charlton
8. Dom Jones
9. Nick Browning
10. Sunny Patel
11. Phil Linter

Umpire: Stephen Riley

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3rd XI Vs Battersea Ironside CC

Away Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Graham Smith (c)
2. Altaf Shahpurwala
3. Craig Daniel
4. Keerat Khaira +
5. Matt Rudolph
6. Dhvanil Karia
7. Mike Suggitt
8. Will Taylor
9. Ed Barney
10. Richard Cole
11. Peter Culham

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4th XI Vs Kempton CC

Home Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Phil Miles
2. Will Strange
3. Tom Simcock
4. Abdur Rehman
5. Dillan Goss
6. Haseeb Abbassi
7. Nick Dunmore (c)
8. Moazam Ali Rashid
9. Ben Houghton +
10. Dan Kemp
11. Nabeel Shahpurwala

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Note: Teams will receive text message for meet time.

Good Luck!

Wick

154*

Match Report – Wick 4s vs. Staines July 8th 2017

Loss to Staines

The somewhat fragile nature of the IV’s batting was once again exposed as they failed to score the required 190 in 55 overs against Staines, eventually falling some 42 runs short. That we got as close as we did was almost entirely due to a fine 75 from Abdur Rehman, which, combined with two good catches – one of them very good – and a smart bit of fielding for a run out, made him clear front runner for the man of the match award.

Things started brightly enough on another warm sunny afternoon at Kingsfield. Simon Boughey induced a false shot from opener Bonnick Jr in the first over and the catch was taken by Rehman at point. In the next over he trapped Bonnick Sr in front and Staines were two down for only nine runs.

Charlie Higgins opened the bowling from the bottom end and was a little more wayward but things were still entirely manageable. In the ninth over Das was LBW to Boughey and Staines were three down for 45, but it was at this point that matters began to run away from the Wick. Padi began hitting out, and was helped by some short bowling which, on the slow, baked pitch, fast outfield and short boundaries, was suicidal. A catastrophic last over from Boughey yielded 18 runs, nicely spoiling his figures, while Farhan’s two overs went for 29. A couple of half chances went begging too.

The onslaught was temporarily interrupted when Padi was run out, thanks to some smart fielding from Abdur and young Joe Hennessey behind the stumps. Nonetheless, the fifth wicket put on another 50 runs to take to total to 126. A superb diving catch at square leg from Abdur off Farhan’s bowling removed the dangerous Dasgupta for 41 and then a very tidy spell from Hayoush put a halt to the free scoring. He introduced an element of control which has been missing from the IV’s bowling this season.

A very useful, and lively, second spell from Jacob was rewarded by two wickets as the impetus of the Staines innings diminished. Still, there were some lusty blows struck down the order from Satya, before he was nicely caught in the covers by Hayoush. Charlie Higgins came back for a second spell and picked up two late order wickets by bowling straight and full.

But the 190 Staines ended up with after only 34 overs looked a little of a tall order for a IVs side that has struggled to get more than 170 this season, even if we had over 50 overs to do it. Phil and Ben got off to a watchful start against accurate opening bowling before Phil was caught at short backward point off Singh for one run.

Ben began to time the ball better than he has done all season and, with Hayoush at the other end, the score began to climb. But, in quick succession, Ben was adjudged LBW though he looked, from the boundary, quite a long way down the wicket while Hayoosh was bowled by Satya.

This bought Abdur and Farhan to the crease, and once again our hopes began to rise as Abdur was striking the ball well, and Farhan, though he was impeded by a groin strain and could not run quick singles – or even slow ones – found the middle of the bat.

However, when Farhan was out for 13 and the score was 113 for five wickets, the next 80 runs needed looked a very tall order. Ben, Rob, Jacob and Charlie all went cheaply and the score was only 121 for nine when Simon joined Abdur. He did what he did best and blocked resolutely, while Abdur continued to play some sumptuous shots, and, for a brief while, the frail candle of optimism flickered again.

We got to 130, 140, 145…There was still plenty of time left and if Abdur could continue to hit a four an over while Simon showed unworried phlegm and a straight bat, we could still get there, couldn’t we? Alas, it was not to be. Abdur, upon whom too much pressure rested, lifted the ball over the bowler’s head and was out to fine running catch.

Several highlights from the game

• First wickets in adult cricket for Jacob Povah
• First game in adult cricket for Ben Longhurst
• Best bowling of return of season for Simon Boughey
• Rob Ritchie captaining team for first time this season

1st XI Vs Churt CC

Away Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Adam O’Mahoney +
2. Yasir Ahmed
3. Matt Davies
4. Imran Rashid (c)
5. Fawad Anis
6. Angus Berry
7. Zohaak Tughral
8. Dom Jones
9. Graeme Tong
10. Usman Janjua
11. Sam Jones

Panel Umpires

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2nd XI Vs Ewell CC

Home Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Ian Collier (c)
2. Joe Hirsch
3. Robbie Oliver
4. Rory Blanchard
5. Ben Stephens
6. Harry Copeland +
7. Ed Charlton
8. Nick Browning
9. Will Taylor
10. Alex Dare
11. Phil Linter

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3rd XI Vs Old Wimbledonians CC

Away Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Graham Smith (c)
2. Alex Bilton +
3. Moazam Ali Rashid
4. Craig Daniel
5. Peter Culham
6. Rafi Ikram
7. Jonny Allen
8. Nabeel Shahpurwala
9. Dillan Goss
10. Altaf Shahpurwala
11. Sunny Patel

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4th XI Vs Staines & Laleham CC

Home Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Ben Houghton +
2. Phil Miles
3. Hayoush Arora
4. Abdur Rehman
5. Rob Ritchie (c)
6. Farhan Ayub
7. Ben Longhurst
8. Jacob Povah
9. Charlie Higgins
10. Simon Boughey
11. Joe Hennessy

Note: Teams will receive text message for meet time.

Good Luck!

Wick

154*

Match Report – Wick 4s vs. East Molesey July 1st 2017

What a Match; 4s Draw in Thrilling Finish

The final over of the day began just before 8pm, with all four results possible – Wick 4s could win, lose, draw or tie the match. The tension was visible in the faces of the 4s players and the small band of Moseley supports as they watched the final act of what had been a topsy-turvy match in the sunshine at Imber Court. At the crease were the last wicket pair of Jacob Povah and Richard Cole. This pair wonderfully represented the essence of the 4s this season; Povah playing his first adult fixture, Cole snr a talented and experienced cricketer who, though now an irregular performer, has played over 90 times for Wick 2s and 1s in years gone by. The 4s needed 7 runs to win, East Moseley needed 1 wicket. Malik bowled an excellent over, Povah and Cole tried to find the boundary and tried to take a run which wasn’t there; Povah defended the final ball and a draw was the result.

Upon arrival at Imber Court several hours earlier the 4s had assembled for their pre-game warm up. The team had a different feel to others this season, as the age breakdown of the players was more balanced than usual. Where previous 4s teams have been dominated by over-40s and colts, this one had three over-40s, one 30 something, two 20 somethings and five colts. U13 Christopher Cole was making his league debut for the club, U16 Jacob Povah making his debut in adult cricket and Jamie Carter (30 something) was playing his first competitive fixture for several years. The inclusion of the 20 somethings was rather exciting – Sam Blank is making his way back into cricket after a season or so away and Jack Le Feurve was making his first appearance of the season for the Wick after a successful University cricket season.

The Moseley skipper won the toss and elected to bat as he only had 9 players in attendance at 1pm. The 4s opening pair of Sam Blank and Nabeel Shahpurwala immediately settled into accurate spells which troubled successive batsman. Blank claimed 3 wickets and Shahpurwala was unlucky to only claim 1 wicket as Moseley were reduced to 30-4. Povah bowled his first overs in adult cricket and was unlucky not to claim a victim and then the skipper turned to the ‘spin twins’ – Richard Cole and James Adam. There have been occasions this season where the lack of a proper spinner has been a problem for the 4s; not this week when 19.3 overs were bowled. Cole settled into a super spell of tight off-spin; the only runs he conceded appeared to be from a mixture of hoiks and slogs. At the other end, Adam was slightly less accurate but equally threatening in terms of wicket-taking. Cole shared his thoughts about the correct speed to bowl given the nature of the playing surface, which helped his partner to claim four wickets. This return was well deserved by Adam, who had bowled with attacking intent throughout his 10 overs. The middle and lower order of Moseley slowly dug themselves out of trouble, whilst never looking like pushing the scoring rate above 3 per over. The last two wickets added 60 which meant that the 4s had to chase 145 to win.

The opening pair of Houghton and Le Feurve were face with two U15 Moseley bowlers. The young bowlers were excellent and it later transpired, were joined by another U15 bowler. The 4s innings stuttered with Houghton, Shahpurwala (promoted to number 3 as an experiment) and Cole jnr all falling cheaply. With the score a mere 12-3, Le Feurve was joined at the crease by Sam Blank. For 13 overs, the 20 somethings shared a stand of 35 which steadied the innings. Le Feurve was resolute in his defensive technique; showing the straightest of bats to anything on the stumps, leaving well and striking lose deliveries with authority. This occupation of the crease laid the foundation for what was to follow 90 minutes after his departure. Having Jack in the side was great for the 4s – along with his batting he provided much needed noise in the field and recording keeping of activities which deserve fines. He also provided something of a comedy moment, shouting to his teammates while batting that he needed sun-cream! The necessary cream was found, provided and applied to the

batsman. Sam Blank had his first meaningful bat for a couple of years. It took a while to find his timing, but once he did Blank displayed his batting ability with sound defensive shots and lovely attacking ones. It was a fine all-round display by Sam, with 3 wickets, 18 runs and lots of encouraging words for his colt teammates. Let’s hope that we continue to see this fine cricketer for the rest of the season.

Moseley broke the 4th wicket stand with the score at 47 and followed this up with more dismissals (Carter 0, Dunmore 0, Hennessy 4) to leave the 4s at a precarious 60-8. The 9th wicket saw a stand of 27 between Cole snr and Adam, before the latter fell. Cole had by now been at the crease for 20 minutes and was beginning to look comfortable after a shaky start; such a start was always likely as this was the first-time he had batted for 2 years! Jacob Povah was last man, having informed the skipper that he ‘didn’t bat very often’. Povah announced his arrival at the crease with a lovely square drive for 4 and proceeded to look comfortable for the next 17 overs. It was Cole who dominated the scoring during the unbroken stand of 52 for the final wicket, unfurling a series of straight drives against both slow and faster bowling. He reached a well-deserved fifty in the penultimate over and had guided the team to a draw.

All those involved had played in a fantastic game. Both teams had recovered from poor positions whilst batting. Both teams had been excellent with the ball and in the field. East Moseley are top of the league and have a fine group of U15 and U16 colts. The Moseley bowling line-up is by far the strongest the 4s have seen this season. The Moseley team was disappointed not to have won the match, but recognised the fight and determination shown by the Wick 4s. After 4 consecutive defeats, to get a draw against the team top of the league (and to have had a chance to win) was a great achievement.

1st XI Vs Old Hamptonians CC

home Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Yasir Ahmed
2. Matt Davies
3. Imran Rashid (c)
4. Iain Tong
5. Fawad Anis
6. Zohaak Tughral
7. Ed Charlton
8. Graeme Tong
9. Harry Copeland +
10. Usman Janjua
11. Sam Jones

Panel Umpires

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2nd XI Vs Alleyn CC

Away Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Dom Jones
2. Moazam Ali Rashid
3. Robbie Oliver
4. Mike Suggitt
5. Rory Blanchard
6. Altaf Shahpurwala
7. Ed Barney
8. Nick Browning
9. Phil Linter (c)
10. Alex Dare
11. Will Taylor

Umpire: Stephen Riley

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3rd XI Vs East Molsey CC

Home Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Zubair Ahmed (c)
2. Tom Simcock
3. Hayoush Arora
4. Dhvanil Karia
5. Haseeb Abbassi
6. Ejaz Aamir
7. Craig Daniel +
8. Abdur Rehman
9. Sunny Patel
10. Peter Culham
11. Charlie Higgins

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4th XI Vs East Molsey CC

Away Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Ben Houghten
2. Jack Le Feurve
3. Nabeel Shahpurwala
4. Christopher Cole
5. Sam Blank
6. Joe Hennessy +
7. Nick Dunmore (c)
8. James Adam
9. Richard Cole
10. Jacob Povah
11. TBA

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Note: Teams will receive text message for meet time.

Good Luck!

Wick

154*

Match Report – Wick 4s vs. Egham June 24th 2017

Hitters Win the Day for Egham

Those of us who are cricket lovers know that one of the great joys of the sport is that the result of a fixture is never certain. One team can appear likely to win, but the result is not a certainty, as the performance of one or two players can turn a contest on its’ head. This match was an example of the vagaries of cricket; the 8-man Egham side chased 173 to win in a mere 26.1 overs. Two batsman ‘hit’ their way to victory with a stand of 130 against the Wick 4s.

On the morning of the fixture the Egham captain had offered to concede the fixture, as he had been let down by 3 players overnight. This offer was rejected as the 4s had a team assembled and playing a game is the whole point of Saturdays. With only 8 batters in the opposition, the 4s opted to bat first thus reducing the risk of the game being over quickly. As a team the 4s produced their best batting display of the season. During the early overs, Ben Houghton and Phil Miles provided a solid start to the innings against an Egham attack with pace and decent control. A third wicket stand between Tom Simcock (30) and Abdur Rahmen (40) was the bedrock of the innings; with both batsman showing excellent shot selection. Keeper Joe Hennessy entered the fray at number 7 with 15 overs remaining in the innings. Joe played a mature and controlled knock; holding the innings together whilst over 50 runs were added, before being dismissed for an excellent 11 in the penultimate over whilst looking for a big shot. Extras were the second highest scorer of the innings – Egham has slowly unravelled in the field, especially their keeping and ground fielding.

Over tea the 4s felt confident of defending 172. An attack of Simon Boughey, Nabeel Shahpurwala, Ross Cathcart and Cameron Bose was likely to take wickets at regular intervals. The reality of the Egham innings was rather different. Opening bowler Boughey took an early wicket at which point the Egham batters started to swing. Some orthodox shots were included, but many blows were aimed between the fielding positions of mid-wicket and cow-corner. The swishing blades missed the ball repeatedly and the ball was hit in the air. The quartet of 4s seam bowlers all beat the bat on numerous occasions; five hard/difficult chances were spilled by the 4s. More occasional bowlers were tried, but to no avail. A second wicket fell to the returning Shahpurwala, but the game was quickly over.

The Egham team were full-some in their thanks to the 4s for playing the fixture which could have been cancelled. The 4s were down-hearted, frustrated, angry.

Reflecting on the fixture 48 later has provided some perspective. It is very rare that two batters who play in the manner of the Egham pair will both ‘come off’ at the same time. The 4s bowlers created enough chances to deserve wickets. Whilst the 4s dropped catches, the ground fielding held up well under pressure. The batting display was the best of the season – this is the part of the game where the 4s are weakest and improvement is most welcome. The over-riding emotion is hard to define, but reflects the joy of playing cricket even when the game is strange and not kind to the team. On balance the 4s had bowled, fielded and batted as a team better than Egham; but Egham had won the fixture due to the performance of two individuals.

1st XI vs Stoke D’Abernon CC

Away match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Adam O’Mahoney +
2. Yasir Ahmed
3. Matt Davies
4. Imran Rashid (c)
5. Fawad Anis
6. Iain Tong
7. Zohaak Tughral
8. Nick Browning
9. Moazam Ali Rashid
10. Zammak Tughral
11. Usman Janjua

Umpire: Keith Nicholls

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2nd XI vs Stoke D’Abernon CC

Home Match (Start @ 12:00)

1. Ian Collier (c)
2. Joe Hirsch
3. Robbie Oliver
4. Rory Blanchard
5. Matt Rudolph
6. Harry Copeland +
7. Dom Jones
8. Ed Charlton
9. Sunny Patel
10. Phil Linter
11. Dhvanil Karia

Umpire: Stephen Riley

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3rd XI vs Sanderstead CC

Away Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Zubair Ahmed (c)
2. Alex Bilton
3. Peter Culham
4. Joe Harrison
5. Altaf Shahpurwala
6. Mike Suggitt
7. Imam Ali
8. Craig Daniel
9. Ben Stephens +
10. Dillan Goss
11. Dan Kemp

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4th XI vs Egham CC

Home Match (Start @ 13:00)

1. Ben Houghton
2. Phil Miles
3. Tom Simcock
4. Abdur Rehman
5. Rob Ritchie
6. Nick Dunmore (c)
7. Joe Hennessy +
8. Cameron Bose
9. Nabeel Shahpurwala
10. Simon Boughey
11. Ross Cathcart

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Note: Teams will get text message for meet time.

Good Luck!

Wick

154*

Match Report – Wick 4s vs. Epsom June 17th 2017

Heavy Defeat, with Colt Positives

Upon arrival at Alexandra Rec in Epsom it was immediately clear that the 4s would have a tricky afternoon. The Epsom captain indicated that he had a strong side and the Wick captain recognised players from the very strong Viscount Sunday side that he had played before. Further discussion illustrated the difference in playing resources that the two clubs had possessed on this Saturday. On the adjacent pitch Epsom 5s were playing, whilst the Wick 4s had struggled to get 11 players onto the field – 7 of the previous weekends 4s team being unavailable. Thanks must be given to 3 members of the 4s team who were making their debuts to allow the side to field a team – James Hardy, Alex Kerr and John Ambrose – all ‘occasional’ cricketers without whom the fixture would not have taken place.

The Epsom skipper won the toss and confidently decided to bat. The 4s bowling attack had a youthful look but one that was full of promise. Over the course of the 45 overs of the Epsom innings this promise was illustrated in the full, despite Epsom scoring 231 including the number 3 scoring an excellent 130. Nabeel Shahpurwala opened the attack and bowled a beautiful spell of accurate away swing which claimed two victims. Nabeel is 16 and opens the bowling for the Wick U17 side. During his 11 overs, which book-ended the innings, he maintained superb control and accuracy and was rewarded with figures of 4-52. Charlie Higgins again displayed his skills with the ball. After a below par opening 3 overs, Charlie returned for a second spell which had the batsman in trouble and could easily have gained Charlie more than the one wicket he took. U17 James Adam, bowled 9 overs of left arm spin against well-set batsman who were looking to score. With a fast out-field and little help from the pitch he beat the bat with both flight and turn and was unlucky not to pick up a wicket. U13 Connor Hewitt, fresh from 50 for his school side, bowled 4 lively overs and took the 4th Epsom wicket which broke a partnership of 118. The Colts bowlers were joined by slightly older Ben Chapman and much older Chris Wakefield and U15 Colt wicket keeper Joe Hennessy. This was Joe’s first match in adult cricket and he gave a performance behind the stumps that offers great hope for the future; with one catch, a mere 3 byes and lots of difficult leg-side balls taken.

The Epsom score was big, the afternoon had been blazingly hot, but at tea the 4s were correctly pleased with the performance in the field. The team had not wilted under either scoreboard pressure or from the sun, with noise levels, ground-fielding and catching standards being maintained. Ben Chapman had taken a very sharp catch at slip and James Adam a swirling skier at square leg, both tricky chances well held.

With such a very inexperienced batting side, raising a competitive total was always going to be tricky for the 4s XI. This assessment proved correct as it took Epsom a mere 18 overs to dismiss the 4s for 60 and claim a well-deserved victory. The Epsom skipper did not need to use his full arsenal of bowling resources; the two Viscount fast bowlers were not asked to bowl.

After such a heavy defeat a moment must be taken for some perspective. The Epsom side is by far the strongest 4th XI side the writer has seen; including the promoted Battersea from last season. It would be a great surprise if they do not gain promotion from our league. From a Wick view-point the continued level of performance shown by our Colts is a massive plus. Gaining early positive experience in adult cricket is a big part of the development of young cricketers. Whilst the 4s are not winning matches, the team environment is very positive and supportive for our young players. With the support of all members of the 4s teams this season, our young cricketers are being the proper cricketing opportunity and education in our great game.