Back Again For Some More Fun...
- - - 2007 MATCH REPORTS & STATS - - -
Sunday 1st July 2007, Bagshot h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
Notty played his first game of the summer, and without able support from DJ Wittzy, Manish and Spenza, rather unsuprisingly ended up on the losing team. He did however notch his first run of the season and his first-ever not out score (I've taken his word for it... so only he'll know if this information is true or not). He was also allowed to bowl a solitary over, usually very risky to let Notty on to bowl, but it was solid enough, conceding three runs (one was a no-ball). But Windlesham's 96 was insufficient, and Notty and co experienced the all too familiar feeling of defeat.
Score Summary:
Windlesham 96 for 8
Opponent 97 for 3
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 7 wickets
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1
How out: NOT OUT
Position: No 9
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 1-0-3-0 (1 nb)
Sunday 8th July 2007, Sonning h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
Yet again Windlesham had to do without the invaluable services of DJ Wittzy (who can't seem to get in to the team at the moment, although Notty somehow has priority over me in the side... yes it appears the world has gone completely nuts...), but they did welcome back Spenza, playing his first game of 2007. This wasn't the mighty Sonning of last year, who racked up nearly 400 and bowled us out for less than 100; infact Notty said that Windlesham had even defeated Sonning earlier on in the season - in Berkshire as well. And it was obvious the Sonning of side of '07 was much weaker when the home side restricted the visitors to just 97, with Spenza (2-21) taking a couple of wickets. But that rather feeble total seemed miles off when Notty - batting at number five after his defiant 1 not out last week - was one of six Windlesham batsmen to return to the pavillion early on. Oh dear, although Notty had enjoyed another marvellous day with the bat, making a single and showing a solid defence apparently (!), his team were sliding to defeat at 15 for 6. That looked like the case until a large partnership in the middle of the innings got the hosts back on track. But with 11 required, another couple of wickets fell, including that of Spenza, who lobbed a juicy full toss into the hands of a Sonning fielder and went for a golden duck. Fortunately, the Windlesham tail-enders managed to guide their team to a rare win, and both Notty and Spenza experienced the unusual feeling of victory. Yes Notty was actually on the winning side - hard to believe (unless him and Spenza are both lying to me...)
Score Summary:
Sonning 97 for 9
Windlesham 98 for 8
MATCH RESULT: WIN by 2 wickets (that is a rough estimate as Spenza couldn't give an accurate margin of victory when I asked him...)
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1
How out: caught
Position: No 5
Bowling:
Bowling figures: DID NOT BOWL
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 0
How out: caught
Position: No 9
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 7-1-21-2
Wickets: 2 caught
Sunday 15th July 2007, Oakley a) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
Finally DJ Wittzy was going to make his long-awaited comeback for Windlesham. Well, not quite. Having finally been recalled to the team, mainly due to the fact Spenza was on holiday, myself and Notty headed west to Hampshire on a cloudy but bright and rather humid Sunday afternoon. The ground was very remote, located in the countryside adjacent to some fields and the South-West trainline (which takes me to Exeter), but very picturesque at the same time. Unfortunately, only a few minutes before the scheduled 2pm start time, the heavens opened and the light drizzle soon turned to heavy rain and some thunder in the background. After a 30-minute downpour, the captains went out for a pitch inspection, but decided that because the outfield was very slippy and squelchy and contained several puddles, the game would have to be abandoned without a ball being bowled. I'm still not sure why the covers were not put on to cover the pitch, though. So the wait for me goes on, whilst incredibly for a second week running, Notty tops the batting averages with a mammoth... 2 runs. Next week we'll get a game hopefully...
Sunday 22nd July 2007, Pirbright h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
This was it - DJ Wittzy's eagerly-awaited first appearance of the season for Windlesham (eagerly-awaited by me that is). And no last minute showers or anything silly this time thankfully. But the Windlesham pitch had suffered a bit with all the recent heavy rain and was still fairly damp and very soft. Unfortunately we lost the toss and were sent in on the soggy strip, and rather unsurprisingly it was very hard going early on. The DJ had been promoted to open for the very first time, with Andy my partner at the other end. Notty was at 3. With the conditions against us, the accurate and quite nippy bowling from the Pirbright opening pair made it that much harder to accumulate runs at the beginning of the innings. Although overhead conditions were reasonably pleasant, the ball was swinging about all over the place. I managed to survive a scare early on when playing a late cut shot to a wide-ish delivery and getting the faintest of nicks to the keeper, who dropped it low down. Unfortunately mine and Andy's stern resistance was ended with the score on just nine when Andy was bowled playing across the line. In came Notty - things weren't going to get much better... And only a bye was added before the DJ was bowled middle stump by a full swinging delivery. 2 runs from 23 balls for me, and the score was 10-2 from about eight or nine overs; not a great start to a 35-over game. Notty, who to his credit had played a lovely straight defensive push in the previous over (much to my amazement) was next to fall when he was bowled off his pad to a delivery which would have otherwise missed the stumps. So off he went for another duck, continuing the collapse, and soon Windlesham were 18-5 off 18 overs. The painstakingly slow scoring rate continued, as did the tumble of wickets, and after 24 overs the score was a miserable 30-7. Finally the home side showed some resistance with captain Richard (19) and Jack (22 not out) putting together a stand of over thirty. Rich, who was dropped at midwicket, struck some lusty blows as the scoring rate accelerated to more than two an over (which really isn't quick by any means). Thanks to the lower order, Windlesham managed to survive the full allotted overs without being bowled out, but 81 for 9 was nothing special. The Ellison brothers opened the bowling for the hosts, but the Pirbright batsmen found scoring runs much easier as the sun came out and the pitch lost some of its moisture. However Richard bowled very well, taking a couple of wickets, as the visitors slid to 20-2 in the seventh over. The DJ was introduced into the bowling attack, and after bowling a five-ball over first up (six balls but one was a no-ball), I was struck for consecutive fours of the second and third balls of my second over. But I had my revenge with my next ball, bowling the batsman with my infamous "Mystery Ball" (so mysterious that I don't even know I'm bowling it), with a delivery which swung back in slightly and flicked the off stump. At 43-3 we still had a very small chance. Unfortunately their next batsman - a South-African guy who looked like Mark Viduka - hit Nick for three boundaries at the other end and then hit me for four and then a six over long-on. He went for another big hit next ball, but got underneath too much, skying it. Nick, coming off the long-on boundary, looked to have taken the catch comfortably but then spilled the chance when he had done all the hard work into getting to it. I thought I bowled pretty well, although my figures of 1-27 off 4 overs suggested otherwise. By the 15th over the game was finished, and Windlesham were comfortably beaten. Spenza popped by briefly to assist Notty with the scoring; both made rather a hash of it but fortunately Notty's figures added up correctly and he was very pleased with himself for that. Anyway that duck for Notty means the DJ tops the batting averages with a measly 2. So that's a rather abysmal four runs between myself, Notty and Spenza this season, from a total of five innings between us... oh dear...
Score Summary:
Windlesham 81-9 (35 overs)
Opponent 82-3 (15 overs)
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 7 wickets
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 2
Balls: 23
How out: Bowled
Position: No 2
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 4-0-27-1
Wickets: 1 bowled
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 0
How out: Bowled
Position: No 3
Bowling:
Bowling figures: DID NOT BOWL
Sunday 29th July 2007, Wisley a) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
After another poor run of form, Notty - who had the cheek to give my last match report a paltry 4/10 - was finally dropped from the Windlesham team (he claims he "had to go to Bristol" as his excuse for not making the team... whatever Notty) and Spenza made a return to the starting line-up. On a rare lovely day this miserable summer we were again put in to bat by the hosts on a very soft wicket. The DJ was demoted to number 8 in the batting order this week, with Spenza at 9. Windlesham made their now traditional very slow start, losing Andy for nought, but when Ajoy came to the crease the runs started to flow and the run-rate soared to 3 per over. That wasn't without major indecision in the running between the wickets (Ajoy is notorious for running his partner out apparently), but after 11 overs we were well placed at 33 for 1. The home side then made a couple of bowling changes at either end, and seven balls later it was 33 for 4. Oh dear. The ever-reliable top order had capitulated again, although they had been ousted by some fantastic cricket from the home team; one of the Wisley fielders took a sharp reaction catch at short leg off the spinner to claim the third wicket, and Ajoy was dismissed by another superb catch next over when he cut a short delivery straight to the point fielder, who took a difficult chance above his head. Jack and Sam then set about repairing the damage, taking the score to 49 before both batsman ended up at the same end in a suicidal run out. Sam (who was the only one who decided to run and ended up at Jack's end) went back to the pavillion for nine and shortly after Jack was adjudged lbw. DJ Wittzy joined his namesake captain Richard, but the partnership lasted about six balls as Ellison was bowled playing across the line. Spenza joined the crease and the DJ Wittzy-Spenza partnership was set to boost the Windlesham total. Until I decided to do something a bit silly. Having collected just a single against some reasonably friendly medium-paced left-arm swing bowling, I hit the first three balls of his next over to fielders - and then I lost my patience. Taking an attempted huge straight drive down the ground to an inswinger I was clean bowled. The shot was exactly the sort of stroke you would see Notty play every week - for that one ball I had turned into Notty and paid the price. Again I received a slice of luck early on, after appeals for a catch at short leg off my fifth ball were turned down after their wicket-keeper spotted it was a bump ball. Anyway, 49 for 4 was now 52 for 8, and we were heading for another well below-par total. Spenza remained, and struck a boundary on his way to 11, given good support by young Peter who made 6. Spenza was last man out when his attempted defensive block was beaten and one of his stumps was sent rocking back. Our final total was infact ten short of last week's mammoth struggle; 71 all out on this occasion. Even though we were defending another low total, opening bowlers Colin and captain Richard bowled very tidily, although they went unrewarded early on and the Wisley batsman took advantage by hitting a couple of boundaries off the rare bad ball. But Richard took the first wicket, and next ball Colin got in on the act to reduce the hosts to 20 for 2. Despite more impressive bowling from the opening pair, they couldn't make any further breakthrough and it was now up to DJ Wittzy and young Peter to try and make a game of it once more. Peter rounded off his excellent performance with a wicket, Sam taking a good sharp catch at silly mid-off, but the DJ struggled to find his line and length at the other end. Despite bowling (and batting) to a high standard whilst practicing, I found it difficult to find my rhythm bowling up the hill, although I didn't concede as many runs as last week - despite bowling much better last time out. I did however get one in the right area in my third over, picking up my first-ever lbw decision and reducing the home side to 59 for 4. Hawkeye certainly agreed with the umpire - it was knocking out middle stump according to the replay... Unfortunately Peter's next over was rather expensive, and only four were needed for victory when captain Richard decided to give Spenza an over, replacing the DJ who had respectable figures of 1-10 off 3 overs despite bowling cannonfodder most of the time. Well, Richard said to me that he wanted to give Spenza an over - what he actually gave him was a ball, as the Wisley batsman dispatched what turned out to be Spenza's only delivery into the bushes for a massive six, ending proceedings. What that did mean, though, is I was able to pick up the match ball and take it home with me. Brilliant. I also saw a small toad whilst practicing bowling to Colin after my silly dismissal - just thought you might like to know. Next up for Windlesham - Badshot Lea.
Score Summary:
Windlesham 71
Wisley 74-4
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 6 wickets
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1
Balls: 11
How out: Bowled
Position: No 8
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 3-0-10-1
Wickets: 1 lbw
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 11
How out: Bowled
Position: No 9
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 0.1-0-6-0
Sunday 5th August 2007, Badshot Lea a) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
For the first time this summer DJ Wittzy, Notty and Spenza all played together for Windlesham as we returned to Badshot Lea. It was a gorgeous, bright sunny afternoon - probably the hottest so far - but unfortunately we would suffer under the harsh sun as we again lost the toss and were made to field first. Captain Colin opened the bowling, with the DJ as the other opening bowler. My bowling began very poorly - in similar circumstances as Spenza's had done the previous week - when one of the Badshot Lea openers walloped my very first delivery over the long-on boundary for six. I gradually found my rhythm and although the same batsman hit me for another boundary, DJ Wittzy had the final say. Oh yes. Attempting a similar drive through mid-on, he miscued his shot and I safely took a return catch to capture the first wicket of the day. Despite this setback, the hosts progressed to 30-1 after five overs. But again DJ Wittzy was the thorn in their side as another mistimed drive went up in the air over midwicket - it looked like it would fall safely in between Spenza and Notty, but Spenza judged the catch to perfection with those safe pair of hands, and the formidable DJ Wittzy-Spenza partnership had struck yet again. Colin picked up the third wicket, before the tiring DJ was rested from the attack after returning analysis of 2-29 from six overs. Spenza replaced me, but failed to find his line and length. After some rather wayward bowling he did take a simple caught and bowled chance with the first ball of his third over, at which point we recieved some welcome drinks. Unfortunately later in the same over he took some more punishment, being hit for a six and a couple of fours; 1-29 off three overs was his final figures. The score at this point was around 70 for 4 (at about four runs per over) - we had given ourselves a good platform. Unfortunately the next two batsman set about destroying our early good work, putting on a quickfire stand of 65. It would have been less had I not dropped a chance at deep midwicket, but I atoned for my earlier fumble when I accepted a sharp chance at the same position later on. Sam then took another wicket and the Windlesham boys were back in contention. Notty, who up until now had contributed little to the game - being forced to chase the ball on the extremely short boundary and ususally being beaten, was called into the attack. We were all praying he wouldn't bugger up our good bowling effort. Although his bowling was similar to Spenza's - wayward at times - Notty only conceded 13 from his four overs; that also included a beamer which he was no-balled for. He was also no-balled for bowling a delivery which bounced twice, when infact he shouldn't have been. Unfortunately the young lad umpiring didn't realise this at first and had to reverse the decision. This wasn't the only decision he cocked up - he refused to give one of his teammates as run out when he was a good couple of feet outside his ground. Spenza's theory as to why Notty's inaccurate bowling wasn't given the same harsh treatment as his own inaccurate bowling was because Notty was ginger. No-one could argue that point. Anyway, the innings finished on 189 for 8 and we had given ourselves a sniff at victory. Unfortunately the Windlesham openers failed to fire again, and we were soon 3 for 2. But Ajoy (who had smacked several boundaries including a six) and Martin steadied the ship and took the score onto 70, before Ajoy was removed by another outstanding catch. Martin then departed for 19, and the score slid to 98 for six when number 8 bat DJ Wittzy joined the crease. I decided to bat more sensibly than last week as we aimed to salvage a draw - it took me about 24 balls to get off the mark, by which time Spenza had also joined the crease, replacing Andy who was bowled. Spenza took less time to get going. He picked up a couple of streaky twos flashing his bat at anything outside off stump - he was in no mood to hang around playing defensively all day. The DJ Wittzy-Spenza partnership was ticking along nicely and we had used up valuable overs for the home side in forming a stand of 30. Sadly, Spenza's resistance was broken when he was yorked by a good piece of medium-fast bowling. He departed for TEN (NOT twelve) which brought Notty to the crease with four overs left. Oh dear - everyone was now very concerned that our chance of a draw would disappear down the barrel. But Notty to his credit played some solid defensive blocks and even earned himself a run. I was finding runs easier to come by now, although I was rather fortunate to see an edge go past the keeper and slips for my only boundary. 39 overs gone: 139-8 - just one over remained. The pressure was on. All we had to do was play out the final six balls. The home side brought on a new bowler and packed everyone else into their slip cauldron. My god it was tense out there! With the DJ on strike, the first delivery was tossed up on a fairly full length. For some reason I decided to go back to it and was plumb lbw. Shit. Having lectured Notty to try and get him to stay out in the middle, I had undone all my earlier good work and we were now set for a grandstand finish. Last man Colin came in and managed to see off the next four deliveries without a problem. Final ball. Colin kept it out... but for some inexplicable reason Notty ignored his call for a run (claiming he couldn't hear him - you could have shouted NOOOO!! Notty... just a thought), and both batsman - to Windlesham's utter horror and dismay - ended up in the middle of the pitch hopelessly out of their ground. The Badshot Lea fielder removed the bails and Notty was run out in shambolic cirumstances, costing us a draw in the process. Notty later tried to claim he was infact not out, and that Colin was the man to have been run out - but unfortunately for him, Notty was closest to the end which had the bails removed so it was indeed him who was out. I'm still not sure why they felt they needed to run off the last ball - that wasn't going to win us the game with a further 48 still needed. For his major part in that ridiculous run out, Spenza gave Notty the coveted "Pleb of the match" award. Only Notty could get himself into a moronic situation like that and then try and deflect the blame onto someone else. Spenza later argued that he had scored 12 runs when infact he only scored ten. I should know - I bloody counted his score, hoping he didn't get more than me (which he didn't). I scored 13, although for some odd reason the scorebook read 11. What had happened is that two of my hard-earned runs were credited to Spenza - Notty even admitted that the scorers had become confused between the two of us when we were batting. Don't ever doubt my mathematical mind again, Spenza! I counted both our innings runs and can assure you 100% that my tally was 13 and yours 10. Notty also thought it would be fun to argue with me. Well if you two want to keep your own records then crate your own website with your own cricket section! Oh yes, sorry I forgot - Notty already did - it was crap (his website that is - it was so bad he didn't even have a cricket section). I should also mention last year Spenza was fortuitously awarded a leg bye as part of his run tally - not going to happen this year!
Score Summary:
Badshot Lea 189-8 (40 overs)
Windlesham 141 all out (40 overs)
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 48 runs
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 13 (NOT 11 - 2+2+2+2+4+1=13 = proof enough)
Balls: 50
How out: lbw
Position: No 8
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 6-0-29-2
Wickets: 1 caught & bowled, 1 caught (Spenza)
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1
How out: Run out (yes unfortunately Notty you, and not Colin, were run out)
Position: No 10
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 4-0-13-0
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 10 (NOT 12 - I don't care what the scorebook says, the scorebook is WRONG!)
How out: Bowled
Position: No 9
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 3-0-29-1
Wickets: 1 caught & bowled
Sunday 12th August 2007, Touring Theatres h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
Following his disgraceful run out which cost the Windlesham team dear last week, Notty was again dropped for his incompetence. His feeble excuse this week? "I'm off to the Oval to watch England v India test match 4th day". Yes of course you are Notty... he was fooling no-one, least of all Spenza who realised straight away that Notty had been axed from the side again. So onto this week's action. We fielded first (not sure who won the toss), with Colin and the DJ again the opening pair of bowlers. Despite my impressive spell last week, this time my six overs went for 36 and I was wicketless at the end after some dire leg-side deliveries. Absolutely pathetic, just lucky I wasn't punished further. Thankfully Peter, who replaced me, bowled a much tidier spell, and captain Alex took over from Colin at the other end. The visitors had brought up their fifty without loss and were looking assured and in control until a double strike from Alex brought us back into the game. Spenza took a good catch running forward for the first one, and Jack took another decent catch to make the score 76-2 after 18 overs. Now it was Spenza's time to bowl. Like last week he was again expensive, but did pick up a wicket as well, ending a deadly partnership which had seemingly put the game beyond any doubt. Spenza's wicket came when one of their batsmen skied an ambitious on-drive and was caught by Harry. He could have had another wicket, but unfortunately DJ Wittzy spilled a difficult chance moving forward towards the ball. In my defence I was on the run, and I had to avoid some poo on the pitch which was nearby to me - thankfully I missed the poo but the drop left my hand rather swollen. Spenza was also hit for a couple of sixes, one of which didn't actually go for six - it actually got caught in the tree on the tiny leg-side boundary before dropping down well short of the line. He was still awarded with a six, even though he should have been out 'caught tree bowled Spenza', or how did they know that DJ Wittzy (who was fielding close by at long-on) wasn't going to soar round, take a gigantic leap and pull off a belter of a catch? The batsman was obviously very lucky. Anyway after Spenza had broken the 3rd wicket stand of nearly 100, it was 166-3 off 33. After that wicket, the visitors' innings capitulated. The fearsome bowling partnership of Jack and Harry saw Touring Theatres slip from 185-3 to 187-8 in dramatic fashion. Harry's deadly, yet at the same time very gentle slow left-armers, tossed up with plenty of air at pedestrian pace, troubled their lower order bowling three of them. Our wicketkeeper Ray had to go off early to make the tea, rather strangely giving the DJ the gloves... yes this was DJ Wittzy's first-ever experience of wicketkeeping! I did a respectable job behind the stumps, only conceding one bye in the three overs, yet this moderate achievement drew harsh criticism from Spenza. The innings ended on 205 for 9, but any hope of Windlesham mounting a challenge was soon out of the window as the hosts stumbled to 17 for 3 off six overs. Ray was rather unlucky to be given lbw despite being a considerable way down the wicket, then Andy followed, before Jack left a seemingly harmless delivery outside off from one of their medium-pace bowlers, but was shocked to see it turn back sharply and crash into his off stump. He had infact been undone by a cleverly disguised piece of off-spin. Opener Richard, however, stood firm whilst wickets fell around him and made a top-scoring 45 before he perished because of exhaustion. Spenza had joined the fun coming in at number 5 and hit two boundaries on his way to nine - the third-top score of Windlesham's innings - before being defeated by a full 'swinging' delivery. In reality it probably didn't swing and that was a lame excuse for getting out. DJ Wittzy was soon at the crease and on my fifth ball I played a fairly sweetly hit on-drive, although a little aerial. Would have been a lovely shot had it not fallen straight into the hands of one of their fielders. In my defence I was suffering from a hypo (low blood sugars) at the time so I had an excuse to play that shot. Despite my nought I was given one (a bye) in the ever-unreliable scorebook - yet notice Spenza that I am NOT awarding myself that run. Anyway it was now 61 for 6, and despite an agressive assault by Alex, who hit a mega six over long-on, he was last man out for 16, the only other Windlesham batsman to make double figures. Our final score of 93 was 113 short of our target; not that we would have scored those runs off about 12 overs which remained anyway.
Score Summary:
Touring Theatres 205-9* (42 overs)
Windlesham 93 all out (31 overs)
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 11 runs
*One of their guys retired at 8 wickets down to give one of their extremely young guys a little bat at the end
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1 ...I'm only joking Spenza - it was a 0 really
Balls: 5
How out: Caught
Position: No 7
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 6-0-36-0
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 9
How out: Bowled
Position: No 5
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 5-0-46-1
Wickets: 1 caught
Sunday 19th August 2007, Richmond Nomads h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
Notty was rather oddly given a recall to the Windlesham XI for this week's game. Maybe he impressed the selectors in the midweek twenty20 clash which was rained off... or rather we were obviously short of players and he was the best we could hope for at short notice. Anyway despite the recent rain and soggy conditions underfoot we still managed to get a full day's play against the Nomads. We lost the toss but were asked to field first - somewhat surprisingly given the soft muddy, slippy pitch and the constant drizzle in the air. But opening bowlers Colin and DJ Wittzy set about making early inroads into the visitors' batting order. Colin bowled a miserly spell of 16 overs unchanged, whilst luckily the DJ had found some form since last week's debacle with the ball and was a tad unfortunate not to pick up a wicket in my seven-over spell which cost 24 - I had a plumb lbw shout rejected, one which sneaked through the gate but missed the off stump by centimetres, and young Peter spilled a difficult chance. However, what I did achieve was my first ever maiden over(s) for Windlesham! But Peter pulled off a super catch to give Colin his first wicket of the day, leaving the away side on 42 for 1 after 14 overs having endured tough early batting conditions. Just as it seemed they had wethered the early pressure, Colin took his second wicket, and Harry (my replacement) notched two in an over with his 'grenades' - tossed up high in the air and bloody lethal, although anything but explosive - much more on the gentle side. 75-4 in the 25th over then and we were right back in the game. Harry should have finished with a 5-fer but Notty set about ruining everyone's hard work with his sub-standard fielding. Having witnessed myself and Peter pull off two good catches, Notty then showed himself up by demonstrating how NOT to take a catch by flooring a relatively straightforward (but not 'easy', as in 'easy-as-pie') chance at mid-off having run too far forward and tried to take the catch behind his head and looking a bit silly. Now, one mistake is forgiveable. Two is just careless. But three... yes THREE identical dropped catches is purely stupid, moronic, incompetent, useless, pathetic, unforgiveable, disgraceful, abysmal, atriocious, shameful, humiliating, severly embarrassing, rubbish, idiotic, crapper than crap...... yes Notty even surpassed his own below-par fielding abilities with that horror-show which threatened to lose us the game already. I think by the time the batsmen had seen him drop the first one they must have strategically targeted the poor ginger fielder, purposely hitting it up high in the air just to taunt him. Fortunately Colin got his third wicket and captain Alex two as the visitors' innings faltered to 130 for 8 in about the 33rd over. Had Notty pouched two of those chances (it wasn't asking that much really, was it Notty?) we would have already bowled them out and would have stood an excellent chance of victory. Unfortunately some aggressive hitting late on off Jack - who went for several sixes in his spell of 0-30 off just two overs - dragged the score past 200, and they ended up on exactly the same score as the Touring Theatres managed last week. Any chance of chasing down the 206 needed for a win was gone after Ray (2) and Richard (5) departed early on. That brought Spenza to the crease. Having been relatively away from the spotlight, due to Notty's antics and as he was not required to bowl, this was his time to shine having recorded impressive (as in 'impressive by Windlesham standards') scores in his last three outings. But due to our precarious position he had to play a more cautious innings instead of his usual flambuoyant hitting. He managed to stick around for a while, using up valuable overs as we pushed for a draw, but was undone when playing across the line and was bowled for two. That brought Windlesham-hero-of-the-hour Notty to the crease. Thankfully his batting was more helpful and not a liability to the team, as he played a similarly gritty, stubborn innings which denied the Richmond bowlers the breakthrough they so desperately needed. But Notty - who I think it's fair to say redeemed himself slightly with that plausible batting effort - was also bowled for two meaning the DJ entered the crease with less than 50 on the board - the large majority of those were scored by Andy (top-scorer) who was the only one to reach double figures. In difficult conditions I managed to keep out the Richmond bowling - which in all truth wasn't anything special, it was just straight and flighted, but in the slow, low batting conditions needed extra care and attention. I had only managed one run off 40 balls before pulling a very full full toss to the boundary. Spenza, who was umpiring at the time, did me and the Windlesham team a big favour when he denied the visitiors a plumb lbw decision which would have sent me on my way. No doubt I'll have to make sure he gets away with a similar shout if I'm umpiring. In all fairness though, Spenza was just evening out the earlier injustice when we were denied a wicket off a blatant and clear nick behind. It didn't make a huge amount of difference as I added just a one more run before I was castled. Jack came in and survived the 4.3 remaining overs along with Andy (31 not out) and we managed a creditable draw, after crawling along to 72 for 5 in our 40 overs - that's a run-rate of just 1.8 for all those maths fans out there... that'll be me and no-one else then. Basically snails pace for a one-day game but to only lose 5 wickets in 40 overs was a very good effort. And for those of you who criticise the current match reports (Notty every single week sending me a demeaning text!) - I was up until 3am doing this one. Some appreciation needed for the commitment at least.
Score Summary:
Richmond Nomads 205-9 (42 overs)
Windlesham 72-5 (40 overs)
MATCH RESULT: Match DRAWN
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 6
Balls: 56
How out: Bowled
Position: No 6
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 7-2-24-0
Catches taken: 1
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 2
How out: Bowled
Position: No 5
Bowling:
Bowling figures: DID NOT BOWL
Catches dropped: 3 (how does he make the team every week???)
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 2
How out: Bowled
Position: No 5
Bowling:
Bowling figures: DID NOT BOWL
Sunday 9th September 2007, Lilly h) :
DJ Wittzy's match report:
This was to be DJ Wittzy, Notty and Spenza's final game of the 2007 season for Windlesham, and having achieved moderate success so far, it would have been nice to round off the season with a rare victory. Unfortunately as Notty was playing, that was never realistically going to happen. But Mr. Nott was in fine form with the willow having shattered his personal best highest score with an enormous knock of... wait for it... TEN runs in the previous midweek Twenty20 clash with Lilly. As he has been nagging me to put that stat up on here I thought I'd let him have his moment - well played Notty. To him, that is the equivalent of a treble century. And that superb innings of ten (which ultimately did nothing to influence the result - a loss) saw Notty promoted up the order to number three this week. It wasn't long before he was out in the middle as after Richard won the toss for us, Windlesham's traditional slow start saw them on the back foot - 14 for 1 off 9 overs. Notty couldn't quite match his exploits of the last game, but he hung around for a while looking relatively solid, before he was dismissed for 4. Our wicketkeeper at the other end had smashed 14 runs off his first three deliveries to help boost the slow start, but he was bowled attempting an ambitious sweep shot and the home side were back on the ropes once more. Nick came in at number five and top-scored with an excellent 41, but there was a little bit of controversy when DJ Wittzy (the umpire) gave Jack (6) out lbw to one of the spinners. Attempting a sweep stroke he was struck on the pad to a delivery which would have hit the leg stump, but Jack just gave me an interesting stare when I gave him out, indicating something wasn't quite right. Turns out it had brushed his glove before striking his pad - obviously had I seen that I wouldn't have sent him on his way - but I'm still a better umpire than Ian Gould. Probably. My apologies go to Jack. Spenza (who had been umpiring at the same time as me before I made the lbw decision) was, as always, extremely quick to highlight my error. Yet he failed to acknowledge his own mistake in calling a blatant five-ball over - just because the scorer had agreed with him that it was a six-ball over. Now we all know the scorebook contains a few glaring errors this year and in past years, so we cannot trust the scorebook. I was out in the middle counting that over with my counters so I know I wasn't wrong, and even one of our batsman admitted he thought it was a five-ball over. So there. Anyway, the score had now ticked past 100 for the loss of six wickets with Spenza (number 9) and DJ Wittzy (number 10) still to come. Both made short stays at the crease; Spenza was lbw for just a single, and the DJ a couple before playing a silly stroke across the line and getting bowled. Captain Richard struck a few lusty blows to lift the score up to 143 before he was last man out in the 41st over. Still, a respectable score nonetheless. Although it didn't prove to be competitive - Lilly got off to a much better start, putting on an opening stand of 50 at a rate of about 4.5 an over, before one of Harry's grenades did the trick and broke the partnership. Unfortunately Ajoy and their number three batsman both made unbeaten fifties to complete a resounding victory. That was even despite short spells from the DJ, Spenza and even Notty. All three bowled tidily, conceding an aggregate of 37 runs from 8 overs, but without success. Fortunately, Notty had a quieter day in the field, not even being given the chance to drop some catches this time.
So the 2007 season sees Spenza top both the batting and bowling charts, whilst Notty was bottom of both - no surprise there. The DJ had an average season, but was joint-leading wicket-taker (4) with Spenza, also making the highest individual score of the three of us (a paltry 13), and was the best fielder with three catches. Although Spenza's bowling average was the most impressive, his economy rate was the worst, but Notty's economy of just 3.88 is rather surprisingly the best out of the three of us, though he was wicketless in his 8 overs. He was, however, without doubt the worst fielder, dropping by far the most catches and not actually catching any of them. Notty's performance with the bat still leaves a lot to be desired, but he did show significant improvements in his defence this year and his ability to stay at the crease longer, only making one duck this year. Spenza's batting also improved, in particular his consistency to score useful runs - in three consecutive games he made scores of 11, 10 and 9. The DJ's batting was disappointing though, making double figures on just the one occasion, and frustratingly getting out at cruicial times all too often. Overall, a return of just 66 runs between us in a combined 18 innings including a not-out score (at an average of 3.88) and combined bowling figures of 8-281 from 54.1 overs (at an average of 35.13, economy of 5.19) means we're still not quite ready to make the England team just yet...
Look out for DJ Wittzy's famous match reports again this time next year for the 2008 season!!! Until then...
Score Summary:
Windlesham 143 all out (40.3 overs)
Lilly 144-1 (26 overs)
MATCH RESULT: LOSS by 9 wickets
DJ WITTZY'S STATS:
Batting:
Runs scored: 2
Balls: 8
How out: Bowled
Position: No 10
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 3-0-13-0
Notty's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 4
How out: Bowled
Position: No 3
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 3-0-15-0
Catches dropped: 0 (That makes a change, doesn't it?)
Spenza's stats:
Batting:
Runs scored: 1
How out: lbw
Position: No 9
Bowling:
Bowling figures: 2-0-9-0
- - - 2007 BATTING & BOWLING AVERAGES - - -
BATTING AVERAGES
Player Matches Innings Runs Highest Score 0's Not Outs Average
Spenza 6 6 33 11 1 0 5.50
DJ Wittzy 6 6 24 13 1 0 4.00
Notty 6 6 9 4 1 1 1.80
BOWLING AVERAGES
Player Overs Maidens Runs Wickets Economy Best Bowling Average Catches
Spenza 17.1 1 111 4 6.47 2-21 27.75 2
DJ Wittzy 29.0 2 139 4 4.79 2-29 34.75 3
Notty 8.0 0 31 0 3.88 0-3 n/a 0