1st XI vs Shepherd's Bush
Saturday, 5th July 2003 - League
North London 1st XI suffered their first loss of the league season on Saturday at the hands of league leaders Shepherd’s Bush. This result leaves NLCC in 2nd place at the halfway stage of the season.
On an overcast, and sticky, day in West London skipper Alistair Hart elected to field having won the toss. The Bush openers enjoyed some early success, adding 60 for the first wicket before Tom Wakeford found his rhythm. The muggy conditions encouraged swing bowling, and there was some assistance from the two paced pitch as well. North London did not enjoy a great deal of luck in the first hour, regularly beating the bat, and failing to hold on to a couple of sharp catches. Tom Amedee bowled until the drinks break without any luck despite holding an immaculate line throughout his spell. He was replaced by Ben Wakeford who picked up a couple of wickets, but the real star of the show was Tom Wakeford who took 8 for 88 in an unbroken 27.3 over spell. The Wakeford brothers therefore took all 10 wickets, Ben now has 29, and Tom 27, league wickets this season.
With Bush scoring at 3 an over for the first 40 overs, but managing not to lose many wickets, there was the inevitable flurry of shots and wickets during the next 15 overs. NLCC fielded well, and eventually bowled the home side out for 196 in 55.3 overs. This appeared to set NLCC a reasonable target, on what the Bush groundsman had erroneously described as the best wicket we would play on all year.
NLCC then discovered what has taken Shepherds Bush to the top of the league, their bowling attack was by some distance the best we have encountered this season. The normally reliable Johns was dismissed without score, followed by Godfrey-Wood for 1, and, last week’s batting hero, Mills for 0. Mr Reliable, Mark Askew went LBW to the Bush skipper, Day, for his first single figure score for many weeks, and Jim Green was then harshly adjudged LBW as well. At 50-7 the writing was on the wall. Some late resistance from the Wakeford brothers was in vain as NLCC subsided to 91 all out. Tom Wakeford, batting at 7, was left not out on 13, completing an excellent all round effort on the day, he deserved better than to end on the losing side.
In truth, NLCC were outplayed by a Shepherds Bush side who knew exactly how to play on their own turf. The wicket did not encourage good stroke making, despite an excellent 40 from Richard Swann. A ridge on a length at one end made the bounce unpredictable, and the ball swung and seamed prolifically all day. The Bush batsmen employed a block or bash philosophy, and their bowlers consistently found the right length to make life difficult. 150 would probably have been a par score on this wicket.
Despite this first defeat of the season, NLCC remain 3 points clear of Harrow Town in second place in the league. We have played some excellent cricket throughout the first half of the season, which has given us a realistic chance of achieving promotion to Division 2.
Special mention on the batting front should be made of Richard Swann who has 2 tons already at an average of appx. 80, and Mark Askew, who has batted quite brilliantly in the middle order, regularly holding the innings together, he also averages over 50. The bowling honours are owned by the Wakeford brothers, both of whom have been regularly amongst the wickets all season, Tom Amedee has also been his usual consistent self.
I am sure that all of the aforementioned would agree however that this has been a team effort, and that many have made vital contributions. Players called into the side including Jamie Russell, Hal Godfrey-Wood, and Mahroof Anwar have all made important contributions. The fielding has been, generally excellent, Robie Tombs has taken 8 league catches and his bowling is improving all the time. Rian de Villiers has fielded brilliantly and made crucial contributions with both bat and ball, Jim Green has made important contributions in the middle order, most notably against Harrow Town.
The outlook for the second half of the season is very positive. We need to regain the winning habit quickly, hopefully this Saturday against Bessborough, as the next 6 weeks are going to be the most important of the season so far. In these next 6 weeks we play the 5 teams we have already beaten this season, and Barnet who we were on top of when rain forced a premature end to our first encounter.
I know that I can rely upon the support of all of you within the squad, and I thank you for making the first half of the season so enjoyable. I urge the entire club to get behind us as we go all out for promotion in the next 9 weeks.
Report filed by Alistair Hart, on July 9, 2003.