Harpenden Dolphins C.C.

Scorecard

Watton at Stone II v Harpenden Dolphins C.C. on Sat 14 May 2011 at 1pm
Match was Drawn

Match report Watton at Stone II versus Harpenden Dolphins

14 May 2011


Dolphins travelled to the village of Watton at Stone for their third game of this league campaign. Just outside the delightful village, lying in the centre of an imaginary triangle joining Ware, Stevenage and Hertford lies the magnificent Woodhall Estate. It was in the heart of this 7,000 acre estate that Dolphins had the pleasure of playing cricket in front of what was once the stately family home of the Abel Smith family. The Abel Smith’s held residence in the magnificent Georgian mansion from 1801, finally leasing it to the Heath Mount school in 1934. The school had outgrown its humble beginnings in Hampstead, north London (which it had been in since its inception in 1817) and it thrived in its new, very spacious surroundings, looking resplendent still to this day. Boy boarders were joined by girls in 1974 and on Saturday we all agreed it was the most wonderful place to be educated.

[Check out the photo in photo galleries - Ed]

Enough of the history……..

The toss was lost and on a good track with a hard outfield, Watton chose to bat. Tom opted for Schalk and Ron Giovanni to open the bowling, Schalk taking the end from which a stiff breeze was blowing straight down the track. Inside the first 11 overs Schalk had dismissed both openers cheaply, Watton then at 36-2. A fuller delivery had teased opener Bernell into scooping it straight back for a caught and bowled and the second clean bowling Waight.

It was when number 4 Nawaz joined Tipper, already in at number 3, that Dolphins lost the opportunity to turn a good start into a great one. Tipper batted well for 41 before being caught behind by Statto off the bowling of our newcomer Andy Fereday. (Andy had a sharp caught and bowled chance of his first ever Dolphins delivery - the ball smashing into his left hand during his follow through and going down.) This breakthrough came after drinks in the 29th over, Watton having advanced to 115-3. But the main damage was done by Nawaz, a man of few words and little footwork, but who certainly had an eye for a ball. He struck 13 fours and 1 six in an innings of 81, frequently beating the incoming fielders on an outfield that, once the ball was past you, very few were able to catch it before it won the race to the ropes.

When Amit came on to bowl, delivering a spell of 6 overs, 1 for 19, Nawaz found it hard to get the slower, spinning deliveries away. He then chose to introduce footwork to his innings, dancing down the track and missing the ball, giving Statto a sharp stumping opportunity which he took with gusto. Watton at this stage were 177-6, batsmen five and six falling cheaply to skipper Tom Roche (LBW) and Schalk (another catch behind the stumps from Statto who had an excellent day with the gloves).

Our fielding had some high points and not so high points. Andy Fereday approached a skyer shouting “Andy’s”, “Andy’s” whilst a colleague (who I can’t remember) was backing up for the same catch. The ball fell between them Andy getting his hands to it at knee height, but it wouldn’t stick. Zippy chased a few to the boundary and on one occasion he lunged at a ball with his foot, giving a cry of desperation as he thought it had beaten him to the line. However, his ankle stopped it just inches short, yet his cry of despair convinced the umpire it had gone and four was signalled. With Ron at long on and Schalk at long off another high ball was launched in their direction. Ron saw it as Schalk’s and put Schalk’s name on it for him – a kind and generous gesture – but this appeared to unsettle both men as the ball dropped between them. And finally, in probably the most comical moment of the afternoon, Tom Roche and Tom Jubb both laid claim to a skyward ball. Nine of us watched and smiled as calls of “Tom’s”, “Tom’s”, “Tom’s” rang out from both players, before they realised, went through a routine of “Your’s” and “Mine” before finishing with “Roche” and “Jubb”. Meanwhile, nature beat them both, the silent shout of gravity winning over the verbal sparring.

With a solid base set, and a maximum of 11 overs still to face, Watton could afford to be cavalier with the remaining overs. The tail wagged; Harvey, Keswick and Emsley scoring 16, 20 and 13 respectively to advance Watton to a score of 232 for 8, at which point they declared after 51 overs. Pick of the Dolphins bowlers would be Schalk van der Merwe, with 13-2-48-3 and Ron Giovanni with 15-3-48-2. Ron’s first spell, when he opened with Schalk, was metronomic in its accuracy, his opening spell delivering 11-3-27-0.

Tea was taken, right on schedule at 4pm, both teams enjoying the warmth of the sunshine by sheltering from the strong breeze in the lee of the pavilion. On a natural grassy bank in front of the pavilion one was able to lie down, prop ones head against ones kit bag and happily doze whilst keeping a lazy eye on the Dolphins innings.

Dolphins started brightly, with Ant Rayner and Mike Lacey looking confident and scoring regularly, but not at the required rate of almost five an over. Statto was very unlucky to be given out LBW when on 25, having taken guard way outside the popping crease and stepping forward to defend the ball. Such is the way of the game. Statto’s was the only wicket taken by Watton’s opener Hall, who bowled very tidily to return 10-3-20-1. Ant Rayner joined his teammates on the grassy bank just one over later, having been clean bowled by Burnell (13-1-46-3).

Chris Rayner was striking the ball beautifully and looked set for a graceful innings and with Tom Jubb at number four we felt both could score quickly if they kept their heads. Tom used all of his height and strength to play some fine shots, but then had a momentary rush of blood and offered a simple catch. Chris continued to look in good form, striking four graceful fours before attempting another through cover. This time the bottom of his bat was through the shot too quickly and the ball arced of the top of the blade to offer a catch to cover point. At this stage Dolphins were 62 for 4 off 21 overs, some 40 runs behind the rate and little chance of overhauling the large total posted by Watton.

Amit Mathur, Tom Roche and Andy Fereday tried to stoically defend their wickets, snatching runs where they could. Amit was struggling with cramps in his quads and succumbed for just 5 runs; Tom scored 19 including three boundaries before being bowled having held on for over 40 deliveries. Andy showed promise in his debut innings of 13 before he, like Statto, felt unlucky to have been shown the umpires finger for a leg before.

At 100 for 7, with just 12 overs left, the writing was on the wall for the Dolphins. Schalk and Ron were the at-crease batsmen and they accelerated the run rate with some fine shot-making, Schalk showing a particular favourite of his being a tickle-sweep behind leg which brought handsome reward and the applause of his team-mates reclining in front of the pavilion. When Schalk fell having scored 28, Dolphins could not win the game, yet had to survive 7.5 overs with just two wickets standing. Zippy joined Ron who between them followed their captain’s instructions, admirably defending the straight ones and dispatching looser deliveries for two’s or fours. With Ron having scored 16 and Zippy 14, they survived until the final over………….

Ron smote the first ball for 4, advancing the Dolphins to 168 for 8. The next ball beat Ron’s attempted strike and hit his off stump – 168-9. Enter Neil Bolt, who would be required to defend four deliveries to save the match. He approached the wicket with Zippy whispering sweet nothings through his ear. Neil let the first ball glace his left thigh outside leg stump and trundle off to short leg. Second delivery was legside to the keeper. Neil bat padded the third to desperate cries for an LBW which were denied and then offered a masterful leave to the last ball hence saving the game.

Dolphins finished on ten points and Watton on 19. We suffered cold showers and then enjoyed cold bud’s with Watton’s players to end an enjoyable afternoon in a marvellous setting.



Match reporter Zippy

Watton at Stone II Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
232 (0.0 overs)		     
D Waight b  Van Der Merwe 13
R Burnell ct  Van Der Merwe, Van Der Merwe 4
M Tipper ct  Lacey,Fereday 41
A Nawaz st  Mathur 81
B Taylor lbw  Roche 4
P Hall ct  Lacey, Van Der Merwe 4
C Harvey ct  Roche, Giovanni 16
M Keswick ct  Jubb, Giovanni 20
W Emsley Not Out  13
M Trahar Not Out  8
E Morgan  

Harpenden Dolphins C.C. 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Schalk Van Der Merwe13.0248316.003.69
Ron Giovanni15.0348224.003.20
Andrew Fereday11.0161161.005.55
Tom Roche6.0040140.006.67
Amit Mathur6.0019119.003.17

Harpenden Dolphins C.C. 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 9 wickets
0
168		        
Ant Rayner b  Burnell 12
Mike Lacey lbw  Hall 25 2 1
Chris Rayner ct  Harvey, Harvey 18
Thomas Jubb ct  Burnell 5 1
Amit Mathur ct  Trehar 5
Tom Roche b  Harvey 19 1
Andrew Fereday lbw  Harvey 13
Schalk Van Der Merwe ct  Harvey, Tipper 28 1
Ron Giovanni b  Burnell 21
Graham Downes Not Out  14
Neil Bolt Not Out  0

Watton at Stone II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
P Hall10.0320120.002.00
R Burnell13.0146315.333.54
C Harvey14.0449316.333.50
M Trehar5.0016116.003.20
A Nawaz4.002200.005.50
M Tipper3.0011111.003.67