At last!

Sunday 24th April, Victoria Recreation Ground, Surbiton. Gentlemen of West London (114) lost to St Anne's Allstars (153-8) by 39 runs.

By James Terrett

Ever since the Allstars were founded, we have always lost to the Gentlemen of West London. It has been a constant source of frustration, as we feel we can certainly compete, but in the past we have capitulated and handed them victory on a plate, served with humiliation pie and embarrassment gravy. It was with a feeling of dread therefore, that Maxie and Andy Burman (his Gents counterpart) had decided to celebrate this fixture with a cup, known as the ‘42 – 11 Trophy’ (our total with 12 players against the Gents last year). The last thing I wanted to do was to embarrass ourselves once more on the cricket field and then applaud the Gents team as they collected the trophy for the 17th time in succession. My feelings were unfounded, as we finally put in a strong performance that brought the first silverware in our history home to Allstars HQ.

The game started as normal. We elected to bat and the pitch assisted the bowlers extremely well. Tristan was bowled by one that kept very low and Maxie decided we had lost. Adam played well before being caught at deep-ish square leg to leave us 10 for 2. Felix was then bowled some overs later to leave us 19 for 3, and thoughts of a sub-50 total were on the cards. There then followed a magnificent innings by Scratch, taking us to 55 for 4 before being joined by Paul Nicol. These two dominated the bowling and took us into the hundreds before Paul was very well caught on the long on boundary for 28.

We then faltered, with the other batsmen falling quickly, but no-one had forgotten Scratch at the other end. In the last 10 overs he really cut loose, his unbeaten 89 guiding us to an eventual 35-over total of 153-8, ably assisted by Devers putting together a vital 9th wicket partnership and with it a very strong target. It was difficult to pick out a highlight in the innings. Some people felt it was Scratch’s straight six back over the bowlers head but I feel it was the 28 run partnership between him and me from which my running of three wides simply took the spectators’ breath away. My eleven ball duck will certainly bring the crowds back to cricket.

After a very satisfying tea, we took to the field knowing we were in the driving seat. Tight bowling from Tristan meant the Gents, in just the first over of the innings, took on a suicidal second run to the athletic fielding of Chadders. The Hove-based demon bowler dived to half-stop a certain boundary before firing in to Tristan to whip the bails off. Devers followed up with a sinister line, encouraging the pitch to offer something to his controlled deliveries. One kept a little low to dismiss Justin Northcott and then a copycat delivery to James Lewis an over later ensured the Gents were in trouble at 15-3. Paul Nicol also bowled one which wouldn’t have looked out of place at a crown green bowling tournament and Chadders bowled an excellent delivery to have the number five batsman caught behind. All this time the Gents danger man Kiwi Wayne played some aggressive shots and kept the scoreboard moving but he too succumbed to the tight bowling from Paul Nicol, ensuring we effectively had the Gents in a half-nelson with the crowd baying for blood.

The next partnership between Mark “Scibbo” Sciberras and “HP” Denton was a dangerous one. Both batsman played themselves in before being bowled some waist high full tosses which were smashed to the boundary on a regular basis. Difficult and unpredictable bounces also cost us byes and missed run-outs and mis-fields started to creep into our game. Suddenly we’d taken their foot of the Gents’ throat, and they'd moved on from 45 for 6 to 100 for 6. With Kieran bowling well from the pavilion end, Maxie turned to Scratch to mix things up and his leg-spin had the desired effect. Falling to a wide, short, looping ball that offered no turn, Scibbo launched the delivery high to deep extra xover. Adam, fielding at long off, set-off like a greyhound and took a superb running catch to rid the Allstars of the big hitting Scibbo. We all breathed a sigh of relief and “Chainsaw” Clem vowed to make someone redundant to celebrate.

Once Scibbo was gone it was all about taking our chances. With the run-rate creeping higher, the Gents had to throw caution to the wind and after surviving some close run-out attempts, we made the breakthrough with Paul Nicol combining with Chris behind the stumps to run-out the number 7 batsman and we were into the tail-enders. Chadders returned, having Tony Buck caught by Clem in the gully, before “One Dart” Devers also returned to mop up the tail, clean bowling both to finish with four wickets. The elusive win and the new trophy were ours. In the pub afterwards it was widely accepted that Clem’s catch was the highlight of the fielding performance, although I’m pretty sure they overlooked the way I backed up some of the long throws and my excellent throwing of the ball back to the bowler had the press box exchanging appreciative nods. Man of the match plaudits go to Simon Begley for his heroic, imperious, 89*, and who batted unbeaten through 35 overs - including our amazing partnership. Played 1 won 1 – I sense an “Arsenal” season.

The Gents' perspective: match report from edition 98 of The Gent, May 2005. By Andy Burman.

On a day when the threatened heavy rain held off, St. Anne's broke their duck to beat The Gents for the first time at the sixth attempt. Perhaps the awarding of a trophy (the inaugural 42-11 Cup, which unlike the Ashes will physically stay with the victors until won back) inspired the visitors, perhaps the lack of one or two Gents' stars was significant, but there could be no doubt about the justice of the outcome, for St. Anne's, inspired by Ulsterman Simon "Scratch" Begley, batted with more panache on a difficult wicket and held their catches. It is a tribute to them that they achieved this win without a significant contribution from the masterful Tristan Haddow-Allen, who had a quiet game.

Buck opened with début boy Graham Butt, who soon castled Tristan and had Clements well held high by square-leg Turpin. From the Ditton Road end, Mr. Hill, described, perhaps unfairly, by one Gent as a "nihilist" after dusting off the mustard sandwiches stand-up routine, was on the money, bowling Felix Haddow-Allen. Scibo opened with a wide but still bowled Terrett in his first over, though that was the last success for a while as Begley and Nicol turned round the innings, watchfully seeing off Thompson. Ruthless with the full-toss and anything short, Begley went to a punishing fifty (the first by St. Anne's against The Gents, it contained a six and 8 fours), though he was dropped several times. Scibo had Nicol well caught at long-on (Turpin again) and Buck got three wickets, including Mr. Rose, a real character with black face paint, Harlequins cap and giant comedy pads and all, second ball. He usually plays for Rain Men and we also had the pleasure of seeing him August last.

153-8 was a fair total but one that The Gents had reasonable hopes of overhauling. The wicket had been two-paced but the outfield was fast and the batting had looked good in the nets. Alas, 38-6 was not quite the start Buck had in mind. You could imagine his saying, in another time: "You know Wilson, sometimes I think I am running a platoon of fools." He watched aghast and spluttering as poor Ken Toft ran himself out without facing a ball in the very first over, trying to complete a second to mid-on Chadwick, who parried the ball a few yards behind him, recovered well and speared in an excellent throw to Tristan. Poor Ken.

Buck rightly opted to give several who had not bowled a bat up the order, the result being a classy caught-behind nought from Paul Turpin, who can obviously bat and will in our opinion score a fifty this season, and a stylish 6 from James Lewis, who was bowled by a grubber. Justin had gone the same way (the Ditton Road end wicket was dying and not a game gone yet) and Buck edged to slip. Thompson shone for a brisk 25.

Some very good cricket then ensued. Scibo and HP played out three maidens before Mark in particular started going for his shots, being absolutely brutal on the leg-side. The two ran well and saw up a rapid 52 stand that was only broken by a scintillating piece of cricket, Adam Clements pouching Scibo high over on the deep-extra cover boundary for a career-best 42. Such a piece of fielding deserved to win the match and it did, despite a few runs for Mr. Hill. So confident were they that St. Anne's used seven bowlers, all worth the name. Devlin's perseverance brought him a four-wicket haul but Chadwick, a left-arm over quick, was also eye-catching.

So it was not a disaster then with so many players missing but the fact remains that simultaneous appearances from the Patels, Husain and Wright will be the exception not the norm in 2005, so others must be prepared to take responsibility. The early signs of this were encouraging and it was good to be back.

St. Anne's (won toss); T Haddow-Allen 1, Begley 89 not out, Clements 2, F Haddow-Allen 0, Terrett 0, Nicol 23, Toohey 4, Rose 0, †Gould 5, Devlin 8 not out, Chadwick and *M Haddow-Allen dnb, Extras 24, 153-8 (35 overs)
FoW; 1, 10, 23, 50, 103, 107, 107, 126
Bowling; Hill 1-19, Butt 2-32, Thompson 0-16, Sciberras 2-35, Buck 3-41
Catches; Turpin 2

Gents; Thompson 25, Toft 0, Norcott 5, Lewis 5, Turpin 0, Buck 0, Sciberras 42, †Denton 10, Hill 8, Butt 1, Burman 1 not out, Extras 21, 114 all out (33.2 overs)
FoW; 1, 7, 23, 24, 38, 38, 90, 110, 110, 114
Bowling; T Haddow-Allen 0-4, Devlin 4-13, Chadwick 3-7, Nicol 0-27, Clements 0-11, Toohey 0-26, Begley 1-10
Catches; Clements 2, Gould

Lost by 39 runs