Showing posts with label umpiring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label umpiring. Show all posts
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
HHCC vs Ivinghoe & Pitstone
A disappointing season in terms of personal achievement came to a close in fitting fashion on Sunday: after my fielding was horribly exposed and my bowling sadly overlooked, I was then invited to open the batting. Two balls later I was back in the pavilion having bottom edged a yorker onto my off stump. Screw you, cricket!
My personal travails rather mirrored those of the Heath, as we were winkled out for 105 to cap a season that never quite got going. With no less than five matches cancelled due to the weather, our stats at the end of the season – played 17, won 8, lost 6, drawn 3 – were hardly much to write home about, and certainly a far cry from the glory days of 2008-2011 when the mighty Heath carried all before them.
A distinct end-of-term feel pervaded our performance throughout. After getting off to a late start, we put in one of our worst fielding efforts of the year. My ground fielding was woeful, and we put down a good 5 or 6 catches (Shrimpy two, of which one was very tough, Liam a very sharp one, Ali and Sohail one each). There were misfields, the odd mini-strop, and overthrows galore – 8 runs gifted in two balls by myself and Jez, Chasey the unfortunate bowler.
As it was, we were saved from having to chase anything to large thanks to Ivinghoe and Pitstone’s traditional middle order recklessness and some excellent, crafty off-spin from Richard Austin, who varied his flight well, bowled very few bad balls, and relied mostly on drift and undercut away from the batsman rather than big spin off the surface to record career-best figures of 7-44. Not a single one of those was a ‘gimme’ – the classic spinner’s wicked caught on the boundary – all were genuine dismissals where the batsman was out-thought.
The other highlight was a magical slower ball from Ali to dismiss I&P's hard-hitting opener. After being driven down the ground for a spate of booming boundaries, Ali unfurled a perfectly disguised off-break, which completely deceived the batsman, sneaked under his bat, and bowled him in highly satisying fashion. Shades of Steven Harmison c2005: "Ali Richards! With a slower ball! One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman..." Oh shut up, Mark.
Unfortunately our batting couldn’t quite match Ritchie’s (or Ali's) craft. Nobody ever really got in and it was a pretty sorry innings from start to finish. There were two memorable bright spots on an otherwise grey day, however: firstly, Liam sealed his victory in the Duck Cup in resounding style, crowning the season with a goldie to underline his prowess in this area.
And secondly: the umpiring of a certain Paul Haddock, who, in a perhaps unrelated move, recently added your increasingly humble correspondent to his “professional network” via LinkedIn. (In parentheses: we’re aware of the strangely timed line break above, but, trust us, this little anecdote deserves a paragraph of its own). It’s difficult to explain exactly what went through his once-great legal mind (perhaps it was the rare sight of Charlie’s arrival at the crease?) but suffice it to say that never before has the Heath born witness to an over consisting of no less than ten legitimate deliveries. Umpiring serenely from the Plough End, Paul ignored repeated entreaties from his square-leg colleague (ahem, me) as well as increasingly urgent calls from the scorers. Ball after ball was ushered through, as the over mounted to near-mythical proportions. Eventually, to the bafflement of fielders and onlookers alike, Paul had enough and called it a day. Wisden is being notified as we speak.
Fare thee well, cricket. Till another year.
My personal travails rather mirrored those of the Heath, as we were winkled out for 105 to cap a season that never quite got going. With no less than five matches cancelled due to the weather, our stats at the end of the season – played 17, won 8, lost 6, drawn 3 – were hardly much to write home about, and certainly a far cry from the glory days of 2008-2011 when the mighty Heath carried all before them.
A distinct end-of-term feel pervaded our performance throughout. After getting off to a late start, we put in one of our worst fielding efforts of the year. My ground fielding was woeful, and we put down a good 5 or 6 catches (Shrimpy two, of which one was very tough, Liam a very sharp one, Ali and Sohail one each). There were misfields, the odd mini-strop, and overthrows galore – 8 runs gifted in two balls by myself and Jez, Chasey the unfortunate bowler.
As it was, we were saved from having to chase anything to large thanks to Ivinghoe and Pitstone’s traditional middle order recklessness and some excellent, crafty off-spin from Richard Austin, who varied his flight well, bowled very few bad balls, and relied mostly on drift and undercut away from the batsman rather than big spin off the surface to record career-best figures of 7-44. Not a single one of those was a ‘gimme’ – the classic spinner’s wicked caught on the boundary – all were genuine dismissals where the batsman was out-thought.
The other highlight was a magical slower ball from Ali to dismiss I&P's hard-hitting opener. After being driven down the ground for a spate of booming boundaries, Ali unfurled a perfectly disguised off-break, which completely deceived the batsman, sneaked under his bat, and bowled him in highly satisying fashion. Shades of Steven Harmison c2005: "Ali Richards! With a slower ball! One of the great balls! Given the moment, given the batsman..." Oh shut up, Mark.
Unfortunately our batting couldn’t quite match Ritchie’s (or Ali's) craft. Nobody ever really got in and it was a pretty sorry innings from start to finish. There were two memorable bright spots on an otherwise grey day, however: firstly, Liam sealed his victory in the Duck Cup in resounding style, crowning the season with a goldie to underline his prowess in this area.
And secondly: the umpiring of a certain Paul Haddock, who, in a perhaps unrelated move, recently added your increasingly humble correspondent to his “professional network” via LinkedIn. (In parentheses: we’re aware of the strangely timed line break above, but, trust us, this little anecdote deserves a paragraph of its own). It’s difficult to explain exactly what went through his once-great legal mind (perhaps it was the rare sight of Charlie’s arrival at the crease?) but suffice it to say that never before has the Heath born witness to an over consisting of no less than ten legitimate deliveries. Umpiring serenely from the Plough End, Paul ignored repeated entreaties from his square-leg colleague (ahem, me) as well as increasingly urgent calls from the scorers. Ball after ball was ushered through, as the over mounted to near-mythical proportions. Eventually, to the bafflement of fielders and onlookers alike, Paul had enough and called it a day. Wisden is being notified as we speak.
Fare thee well, cricket. Till another year.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
HHCC vs HHCC
And so it begins. The Hyde Heath 2011 cricket season sputters into life, with the traditional intra-club curtain raiser. In glorious sunshine, it’s decided that we play a ‘pairs’ match in order for everyone to get a little something out of the day in advance of things kicking off in earnest next Sunday. 8 overs per pair, -20 for every dismissal. Done.
In a slight change of format (to keep things interesting, and reflect the unusual nature of the match) the editorial team at Cricket Tragics have opted for a series of snazzy bullet points. Thus:
1. Fitness
The first outing of the season always makes one thing abundantly clear: I am horribly unfit. But I’m not the only one. Due to the format of the match we were all in the field for nearly 60 overs and, by the end, visibly wilting.
2. The Pitch
Once again, Mikey has excelled. Even with the mower mysteriously broken, the pitch played pretty true, although there was more in it for the bowlers than usual. Given that I managed to find occasionally lavish turn, I’m certainly not complaining.
3. Strategy
Cricket is about strategy. And it’s also about strategy going out the window at the first available opportunity. With the top-scoring pair only posting a total of 34, my batting partner, Richard Austin, and I decided to go for a safety-first approach. Aim for five an over, and keep wickets intact at all cost. Unfortunately Richard failed to receive his own memo and came out all guns blazing. Yes, he hit some sumptuous shots, but in between times he was dismissed three times, and our chance of victory soon evaporated.
4. Fielding
Fielding by and large was pretty poor (although not as poor as some of the umpiring – how long before the UDRS is seen at this level?) but there were two notable exceptions. Firstly, a blinding one-handed catch in the gulley by Henry Capper to dismiss the cavalier Austin and cost us 20 runs; and second, an excellent leaping snare by young Matt, who looks like he could be quite a cricketer.
5. Batting
Shrimpy and Henry both looked very good as ever, whilst Nick and Rich showcased some impressive strokeplay. I scored surprisingly quickly (for me) but the batsman of the day, unusually, was Spencer North, who carried his pair to a deserved victory. If he carries on the season with this new, sensible approach (combined with his natural ability to hit sixes with ease) I think this could be a good year for him, batting in the lower middle order.
6. Bowling
Jez was as steady as ever, I got some serious turn, but dropped too short too often, which is something I’m going to have to work on. Overall though we looked a bit short on seamers (with no Ali, Amala, Bradley, Airdy or Luke) but with the pitch taking turn this early in the season (and several spinners available) we needn’t get too worried.
7. Tea
Tea of course is Hyde Heath’s traditional strength, and the new season kicked off in fine style. Nick’s chicken tikka sandwiches were again the stand-outs, although some egg and mustard sandwiches were another highlight. The samosas were a nice touch too.
8. The Plough
The Plough thankfully remains unchanged. As does our conversation in it. Cricket? Cricket.
In a slight change of format (to keep things interesting, and reflect the unusual nature of the match) the editorial team at Cricket Tragics have opted for a series of snazzy bullet points. Thus:
1. Fitness
The first outing of the season always makes one thing abundantly clear: I am horribly unfit. But I’m not the only one. Due to the format of the match we were all in the field for nearly 60 overs and, by the end, visibly wilting.
2. The Pitch
Once again, Mikey has excelled. Even with the mower mysteriously broken, the pitch played pretty true, although there was more in it for the bowlers than usual. Given that I managed to find occasionally lavish turn, I’m certainly not complaining.
3. Strategy
Cricket is about strategy. And it’s also about strategy going out the window at the first available opportunity. With the top-scoring pair only posting a total of 34, my batting partner, Richard Austin, and I decided to go for a safety-first approach. Aim for five an over, and keep wickets intact at all cost. Unfortunately Richard failed to receive his own memo and came out all guns blazing. Yes, he hit some sumptuous shots, but in between times he was dismissed three times, and our chance of victory soon evaporated.
4. Fielding
Fielding by and large was pretty poor (although not as poor as some of the umpiring – how long before the UDRS is seen at this level?) but there were two notable exceptions. Firstly, a blinding one-handed catch in the gulley by Henry Capper to dismiss the cavalier Austin and cost us 20 runs; and second, an excellent leaping snare by young Matt, who looks like he could be quite a cricketer.
5. Batting
Shrimpy and Henry both looked very good as ever, whilst Nick and Rich showcased some impressive strokeplay. I scored surprisingly quickly (for me) but the batsman of the day, unusually, was Spencer North, who carried his pair to a deserved victory. If he carries on the season with this new, sensible approach (combined with his natural ability to hit sixes with ease) I think this could be a good year for him, batting in the lower middle order.
6. Bowling
Jez was as steady as ever, I got some serious turn, but dropped too short too often, which is something I’m going to have to work on. Overall though we looked a bit short on seamers (with no Ali, Amala, Bradley, Airdy or Luke) but with the pitch taking turn this early in the season (and several spinners available) we needn’t get too worried.
7. Tea
Tea of course is Hyde Heath’s traditional strength, and the new season kicked off in fine style. Nick’s chicken tikka sandwiches were again the stand-outs, although some egg and mustard sandwiches were another highlight. The samosas were a nice touch too.
8. The Plough
The Plough thankfully remains unchanged. As does our conversation in it. Cricket? Cricket.
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