1st XI vs North Middlesex

Saturday, 30th August 2003 - League

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES!

NLCC – JOHNS, SWANN, J.GODFREY-WOOD, MILLS, ASKEW(wk), GREEN, T.WAKEFORD, HART(*), deVILLIERS, B.WAKEFORD, AMEDEE.

NMCC 69 ALL OUT

NLCC  59 ALL OUT

It is hard to imagine how feelings of euphoria following last weeks win at Harrow Town, could turn to despondency so rapidly. But this NLCC side showed once again that nothing should be taken for granted.

On a damp wicket Alistair Hart was delighted to win the toss and invite local rivals North Midd to bat first. As expected, there was plenty of assistance for the bowlers from the first ball of the match. The Wakeford brothers shared the new ball, and in their personal battle to be the first to reach 50 league wickets for the season, they did not allow any other bowler the opportunity to have a bowl on the helpful wicket. However it was a piece of excellent fielding that earned NLCC their first wicket, that of in form North Midd captain, Steve Horne. Jack Godfrey-Wood and Riaan deVilliers chased a ball to the boundary, Jack knocked it back and Riaan sent in a bullet of a throw to have Horne run out. The Wakefords then set about their business, and were always a difficult proposition for the home batsmen due to plenty of swing and seem movement coupled with erratic bounce. None of the batsmen were at any stage comfortable, and a steady procession of wickets fell, leaving North Midd all out for 69 in 33 overs. The NLCC fielding was excellent throughout, with Patrick Mills taking 2 slip catches, including 1 superb one handed effort low to his right. Tom Wakeford took his tally for the season to 47 wickets with excellent figures of 7-25, and Ben now has 48 wickets after his 2-40.

Tea was taken, with the visitors understandably feeling confident of 10 points. That confidence was however shattered soon after the restart when both NLCC’s prolific openers, Johns, and Swann were dismissed, having each scored a single. Patrick Mills soon followed, LBW without playing a shot to the 2^nd ball he received, and NLCC were 2-3. Jack Godfrey-Wood was unlucky to lob a catch to mid-on after a yorker hit him full on the toe, and when Jim Green went LBW to a ball that stayed very low, NLCC were 12-5. That soon became 16-6 when Tom Wakeford was caught behind, leaving the skipper to join Mark Askew in the middle. An excellent spell from Ansari was brought to an end by the ECB bowling restrictions on young fast bowlers rather than any NLCC batting. Tom Fagg was still bowling with aggression from the pavilion end as the score hobbled past 25, and the 45 required for victory seemed miles away. The 1^st change bowler persuaded Askew to cut a long hop to gully, and Hart to drive a half volley to mid-on. 30-7!! The only resistance from NLCC came in the form of a brave partnership between Riaan deVilliers and Ben Wakeford, which got the visitors to within 15 of the target. Fagg swapped ends, and soon bowled deVilliers with a very useful delivery to snuff out NLCC’s new found hope. Soon after he had Tom Amedee LBW, and NLCC had lost by 10 runs in a remarkable match.    

Full credit to North Midd, not many teams would have approached the 2^nd innings with such spirit after being bowled out for 69, and Tom Fagg fully deserved his excellent figures of 6-23. The wicket was poor, but it certainly wasn’t so poor that both teams should fail to score 100, a par score should have been about 150 had either team batted more sensibly. Undoubtedly NLCC were guilty of over-confidence having dismissed North Midd for such a low score, and did not bat with sufficient diligence on such a difficult pitch. We then panicked when losing early wickets, and failed to show sufficient mental toughness in the face of adversity.

There are simple lessons to be learnt from this match, and they are fairly obvious to all involved. Our worst performance of the season followed our best, last week at Harrow Town. We have learnt a lot as a side this year and have grown as a team, we know there is more learning to be done. We are, and should be very proud, of what we have achieved so far this season, and I do not think many of us expected in May that we would be approaching the last game of the season in 2^nd place knowing that a win on our own ground would seal promotion. I, for one, would have bitten off the hand of anyone offering that scenario, and I do not intend to let promotion slip through our fingers 2 weeks in succession. Heads up guys. What has happened has happened bring on next Saturday, and 10 points.

Report by: Skipper