Skipper Gavin Ward won the toss and immediately inserted the opposition (pun intended). The wicket was green and a touch damp after some overnight rain, but behaved in a reasonable manner bar the odd shooter. Ward opened the bowling with himself and Steve McCrum. The ball often beat the bat, however not for the first time penetration was a problem. The breakthrough came when the trademark McCrum leg-side long hop was snared by Ward at square leg. The next wicket came shortly after, an away swinger finding the edge and Shakeel “Shaky” Khan lived up to his nickname by holding onto the sharp chance at 2nd slip at the 16th opportunity.
Ward then picked up his first wicket of the season, having worked over the batsmen outside off stump, he trapped his man back for an absolutely plumpton LBW. Gary Smith was soon introduced to the attack, but as is normally the case with him Lady Luck came along and dealt him a swift blow to the groinal area. A slap through the covers found John Price (formally the safest pair of hands in the club) and the chance went begging. Smith was clearly bemoaning his luck, but still managed to compose himself and duly completed a tidy, yet luckless, spell.
Matt Leitch was firing away from the other end at this point, regularly beating the bat. He was finally rewarded with a wicket, getting one through the defences and hitting the stumps. At this stage Hampton Wick were starting to get a foothold in the match, but this wicket put the Saints back on top. A few more overs came and went, proceedings being just about even, with the Saints gamely plugging away and one Hampton batsman standing firm.
McCrum then replaced Leitch, and his usual flurry off cheese and onion soon accelerated the run rate. This annoyed McCrum immensely, so much so that a devilish yorker was unleashed at the off stump. Problem solved. A rank full bunger was then despatched to John “only drop ‘em off Smudger” Price at cover, before another loose delivery was not the only thing to go straight down Paul Kelly’s throat that afternoon. Gavin Ward was then caught napping and dropped a catch at mid off.
Khan stepped up to the plate when called upon, bowling medium pace with the occaisional leg break that comes down with snow on it. A tight, penetrative spell was rewarded by two important wickets, with Doug Newton dropping an outside edge behind the stumps. Smith was brought back on to replace the tiring McCrum, and guess what? Yes, the old favourite; dropped Price, bowled Smith. Fortunately Smith got his reward with the off stump knocked back to end the innings at 174 from 47 overs. The fielding was generally mediocre, catches were spilled, the throwing at the stumps was often wayward, and far too many balls were wasted. Other than that, a job well done.
After the tea break the Saints openers strolled out to knock off the eminently gettable 174 runs needed for victory. However, the script writer has a lot to answer for as Liam McLeod decided to defend a straight ball on the stumps with his pad and was promptly sent back in the first over. 0-1. John Price and Alan Chaplin then started where they left off in the reverse fixture last year, looking largely untroubled and set for a big partnership. As is too often the case with Westfield, this didn’t happen. Chaplin was dismissed, which brought Doug Newton to the crease. He played in his usual style, playing himself in and then smacking the ball all around the park.
When Price was out, the Saints were still looking in control as Gavin Ward’s self proclaimed “strongest batting line-up he’s ever seen” were only 3 down. Shakeel Khan then strolled to the crease. These two batsmen seem to enjoy the Hampton Wick bowling “attack” and swiftly disposed the bowling of a pregnant old man to all corners of the ground. Apologies, I meant the cow corner of the ground. A brutal partnership was in full flow, but a succession of wickets fell, Newton caught behind and Paul Kelly bowled first ball before Khan became another victim of some big old Aussie idiot. Gavin Ward and Matthew Cock then attempted to steady the ship, but Ward holed out to mid off, and Cock was trapped on the crease and refused to walk. A stern telling off was administered by Doug Newton.
Gary Smith was then responsible for marshalling the tail, but Steve McCrum again proved himself inept at batting, getting out for a cringeworthy duck. However, Matt Leitch entered the fray and he and Smith doggedly batted out the last 10 overs to seal a draw for the Saints.
A disappointing start to the season, however, things can only get better, and the return to the fold of Paul Chaplin, and the following week Paul Norris should help to iron out the mistakes and lead the Saints’ charge to promotion.
After the match, beers were drunk and merriment was enjoyed by all. Join us next week for another rollercoaster adventure