CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR!
Cymru Gurgitaters' skipper, Strong/Resp Neale Patel, could barely hide his disappointment yesterday, after his side were found wanting in their Fifth Round Cup Match at Home to Div III side Dobcross.
"I'm not going to go in the dressingroom and chuck the crockery around, I'm not that type of guy, but everyone in there knows how I feel. I just don't think we gave a particularly good account of ourselves. In so many ways this club is ready to take the next step, we've got the ground, fantastic fans, the infrastructure, the talent, but when we finely get a chance to see how we match up against the kind'a opposition we want to face week-in-week-out, not enough players put their hands up to say, 'Yeah, I can play at this level, this is where I belong!' Only really the spinners, (Sup/Prof Bridges M and Strong/Prof Cash) with the ball and (Wond/Strong) Greening with the bat will have a sound night's sleep tonight…The rest of us need to have a long hard look in the mirror!"
Yet the Gurs seemed to have the upper hand when Patel called correctly and elected to field, and Rem/Strong LM Bewers trapped Nugent in front in just the sixth over. However, in batting friendly Hard and Fast conditions, none of the seamers could really exert much control, (Bewers 1/67, Sup/Comp Wilde 0/76, Sup/Resp Carlton 1/56), and not even a master class in quick, flat, run-saving spin bowling from Bridges M (0/42), and Cash (0/48), could shackle Dobcross for too long. Partnerships of 110 between Ausie Rem Awan, (163*), and Qual youngster Duggan, (47), and 142 unbroken between Awan and Rem/Rem all-rounder Harris, (65*), were the cornerstones of Dobcross's 299/2, a target which was always going to be tough, but was tantalisingly just within the Gurs' reach.
"Sure we thought we had a chance at tea! We'd kept them under three hundred - I know it's only one run, it's only a number, but you ask any batsman, psychologically that makes a massive difference. So yeah…It was always going to be tough, and yeah the bowlers didn't have their best day, but it's not right to dump all the blame on them. I mean, Dobcross put 299 on the board, the pitch was still like a billiard table, so there was no reason why we couldn't have done the same, we just needed a good start"
Which was exactly what they didn't get, when after three tentative overs, Rem/Sup Staveley misjudged an in-swinger from Qual SL quick Wijesignhe, to lose his Off stump for just three. But if there's one man for whom the situation was ready-made, it was Sup/Rem Noon, whose cool head and savage treatment of the bad ball have made the No.3 spot his own in recent times, after three or four seasons in the wilderness. He and Greening suddenly blossomed into a confident, adept pairing, unbowed by either the array of talent facing them or the formidable required run-rate. Perhaps this was a glimpse of the Gurs' future as the two looked absolutely at home on this stage, demonstrating excellent judgment of which balls to attack and which to leave alone, not to mention pure brutality in the execution of their shots. But alas it was just a glimpse, because just as a partnership of eighty in ten overs had restored the balance of the match, Noon, on 38, came down the pitch to Qual LFM Whittingham once too often, presenting Awan with the simplest of stumpings.
After that nobody else could live with the required rate. Greening continued to blaze away at better than a run a ball, and Patel gutsed it out for 19 in a 42 run stand for the third wicket, but in truth he looked out of his depth, as did the rest of the middle order. Patel's nick to the keeper from the off-spin of Glen Carlton, the younger Brother of Gurs' LFM Steven, set off a slump of three wickets in eight balls for just 1 run, to leave the home side dead in the water at 129/5 in the 30th over, with the required rate clambering over eight.
But Greening had other ideas. Determined to prove wrong accusations that he's a flat track bully, for him at least there was still plenty for which to play. His century came up from just 96 balls, and with able support from the much maligned Prof/Resp Qureshi, he took The Gurs to the brink of the impossible, on 201/5 after 40.
But what could have been a grand stand finish was totally defused in the 41st over, when Qureshi skyed a hook to Fine Leg for 30, only to be followed back to the pavilion by Feeb/Feeb bats Bewers and Wilde before the over was out. From that point on, the only remaining interest came from some short-lived sibling rivalry between the Carlton brothers - Big Bro Steven taking the long handle to baby bro Glen with a straight six, but the young pup having the last laugh when Steven holed out the following ball. Greening retreated into his shell, and who could blame him for thinking of his average after being let down by partner after partner, but it did mean that the final overs turned out to be a turgid funeral procession. No.11 Bridges M provided one or two moments of levity with some unorthodox hitting in his 7 run share of the final wicket stand of 19, but there weren't too many smiles on the Gurs' balcony when Bridges M ran himself out by half the length of the pitch, to bring matters to an unsatisfactory conclusion at 226 all out in the 47th - Greening carrying his bat for 131* (120)
Patel: "It's disappointing, and it's going to take a while for that hurt to go, not because we lost, but because, once again, when it came down to the big matches we didn't play as well as we know we can. But we've got to pick ourselves up, get back in the hunt for the league, and who knows, if we can get promoted, then perhaps days like today might actually prove to be valuable experiences in the long run."
Nice ratings though! Was a little disappointed with Rem top order, but pleasantly surprised that the middle stayed at Resp:
Cymru Gurgitaters Dobcross
Top Order: remarkable remarkable
Middle Order: respectable quality
Lower Order: abysmal abysmal
Seam Bowling: strong wonderful
Spin Bowling: proficient quality
Fielding: feeble mediocre
So count me in for the CW Cup whenever it's starting! On the bright side, two pops this morning, and Noon became my first player through the 40K BTR barrier.
Joe Noon (444923)
RH Batsman, RM Bowler, superb batting form, superb bowling form, energetic
A steady player with respectable leadership skills and feeble experience.
Plays For: Cymru Gurgitaters
Nationality: England
Age: 22 Years Old
Battrick Rating: 41,525 (+1583)
Wages: £6,709 p/w
*Stamina: respectable Wicket Keeping: superb
Batting: superb Concentration: remarkable
Bowling: worthless Consistency: competent
Fielding: worthless
Steven Carlton (809049)
LH Batsman, LFM Bowler, proficient batting form, superb bowling form, invigorated
A cautious player with abysmal leadership skills and feeble experience.
Plays For: Cymru Gurgitaters
Nationality: England
Age: 23 Years Old
Battrick Rating: 13,202 (+120)
Wages: £2,853 p/w
Stamina: feeble Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: *superb* Consistency: respectable
Fielding: woeful
Alton Staveley (374819)
LH Batsman, LM Bowler, proficient batting form, strong bowling form, sublime
A cautious player with mediocre leadership skills and mediocre experience.
Plays For: Cymru Gurgitaters
Nationality: England
Age: 23 Years Old
Battrick Rating: 25,508 (-281)
Wages: £7,714 p/w
Stamina: competent Wicket Keeping: abysmal
Batting: quality Concentration: *superb*
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: feeble
That's it for Carlton now, I was only training him at all because his wage was around £2.8K, and I thought I'd get a bit of equity in him if I gave him the final shove towards Sup. So his bowling net will go back to Wilde now, who's 19YO, Sup/Comp RM. Staveley should be Rem any week now, I was going to get him up to Wond, but he's starting to really drag, and it's looking as though Wond would take him the best part of next season, so I'm undecided.
Later, Trev
