1st XI vs Highgate
Saturday, 26th July 2003 - League
North London CC Vs Highgate CC
NLCC
A rain interrupted game at Shepherd's Cot saw the North London juggernaut all but grind to a halt. Despite arguably playing all the cricket the points share reads Highgate Four, NLCC One.
The day began with Highgate winning the toss & putting NLCC into bat on a wicket that, after a couple of days of heavy rain, looked certain to offer assistance. At 17 for no wicket after ten hard-fought overs, the decision looked justified. 17 overs later, however, North London's grim resistance had blossomed into blistering strokeplay as the top-order 'went large', adding a further 120 runs with the loss of only one wicket. Swann and Johns added another fifty partnership to their increasingly impressive-looking belt, and when Swann departed, Jamie Russell - whose form in the second XI had demanded his inclusion - hit a classy, quickfire 34 as Highgate wilted. Johns, meanwhile, was playing an innings to remember as ball after ball was dispatched elegantly to the boundary. After a couple of cheap wickets, 'ice-man' Jim Green arrived at the crease and after his customary slow start proceeded to show the sloggers waiting eagerly in the pavilion that he is more than capable of a bit of 'slap and tickle' when required. The resultant 251 off just forty-seven overs represented a formidable total. By the declaration Ian Johns had batted through the innings with style and panache, mixing aggression & invention with cool-headed experience to finish unbeaten on a magnificent 133 not out. This was his maiden century for North London in only his tenth innings, and it was a pleasure to watch.
The interval was a typically English affair - cucumber sandwiches, cups of tea and the sudden onslaught of rain. The game did begin, but lasted only eight overs which Highgate negotiated without loss. After a lengthy break the captains - calculators in hand - agreed playing conditions were acceptable and the game resumed again, the equation being a further 90 runs from 25 overs for Highgate to claim the four point winning draw. Having bowled them out for 65 in their only previous meeting in this league, North London weren't without hope of the outright win. The wet ball and four different batsmen all being given reprieves through some erratic fielding in admittedly testing conditions, allowed Highgate to achieve their target with two overs and six wickets to spare. NLCC were left to rue what might have been had Mother Nature not intervened. With the rest of the league having their games abandoned, all is certainly not lost, but come the close of the season NLCC may look back with regret to a day when they played all the cricket yet finished the day with a solitary point.
MoM: Ian Johns - Magnificent Maiden NLCC Century.
Carrying the Kit - P Mills - Annoyed at B Wakeford fielding in the slips, claimed during the rain interval, 'I haven't dropped and won't drop a catch for the first team this season - especially at slip'. Two overs into the resumed innings, he put one down at second slip.
Report by: T Wakeford