Scorecard

Chesham Cricket Club 2nd XI v Marlow 1st XI on Sat 28 May 2022 at 12:00
Chesham Cricket Club Won by 2 Wickets

Match report Round 4 dawned sunny and fine for a clash with Marlow. Marlow finished second last year and no doubt have ambitions to regain their Division 1 status after a 5/6 year hiatus.
So it was a big game and fortunately Al had assembled a Chesham side described as 'the best balance of talent and pinting you could ask for'. Both sides arrived at The Meadow for a 12 start (the correct time for a league match to start, not that I'm nibbling...) full of confidence after wins last week, and Al opted to repeat last week's chasing success upon winning the toss.

The Chesham bowling effort was pretty effective with the notable exception of Royler's 'just bowl full tosses lol' approach - an experiment that ought to have all documentation related to it dowsed in acid and dumped into the sea.
Jamie Anderson and Charlie Haines took early wickets and Marlow were in real trouble at 34-4. Regulars at the club bar may remember the 'iconic duos' social of 2020. If we have a repeat later this summer I'd strongly suggest someone goes as Chesham 2s and dropping catches. Five against Wraysbury, six against Tring, I lost count this week. This let Marlow back into the game and if you give proper bats a few chances, the chances are they will make you pay. This is exactly what happened as Will Bovill compiled a measured 60 and Kester Charlemagne hit a rapid 75.

Along the way of note was the side's constructive suggestions for field changes as Alfie Clifford came onto bowl. Before the over began, Royler asked:
"Al, do we need two slips? Could probably use a mid-wicket"
Much thought was clearly going on under that tiny cap before he opined that no, we did not need a mid-wicket.
After one ball, Pete declared this "pathetic" and yelled:
"Al - mid-wicket!"
A tinge of red appeared on the skipper's face before a firm "no" came from mid-off.
Later in the over Josh was heard to say:
"We probably need a mid-wicket"
Lacking the 2nd XI caps of the two previous advisors, Al did not dignify him with a response, his face instead transforming from a pleasant strawberry to a bright, and quite aggressive, crimson.
End of the over and Theo brushed past Al, remarking:
“We could probably take out second slip and put in a mid-wicket”
By now the sheer quantity of steam coming out of Al’s ears could only otherwise have been induced by a failed safety test on a Soviet-era RBMK nuclear reactor.
“I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF PEOPLE WOULD STOP YELLING CAPTAINCY ADVICE AT ME, THANK YOU”
We will never know what would have happened had we put in a mid-wicket.
With that said, it became a little academic as we finished strongly. Jamie (4-23) and Al (3-51) cleaned up the tail between them. 201-6 became 222 all out, not a bad effort all told on what was probably again a 275 wicket.

Then came the chase. Seemingly some in the league still haven’t got the memo that you DO NOT bowl short at Keshav. Well, if you’re reading this, DO NOT BOWL SHORT AT KESHAV. One of those warnings like ‘do not feed the bears’ that shouldn’t really need to be elaborated upon.
The truth is that had we swapped fielding performances with Marlow we’d have won by about 5pm. Stunning diving catches by Bovill and Spear removed Theo and Jamie, before a Sam North run out set up a close finish. It was not going to be an easy chase and with Jamie’s removal the good ship Chesham was listing dangerously, with a lot of reliance being placed on set bat Henry Moore (48).

Josh Tollerfield was sent to sea in the strike force role, surviving what it would be fair to say was a close call first ball to dispatch Marlow’s bowlers to all parts in a 29 ball 41 which wrested momentum away from the visitors. Next to the fray upon his dismissal was Chris Royals, playing more of the convoy escort role, shielding the Chesham convoy through the troubled waters that were good spells from Kester Charlemagne and Imran Nawaz.
Henry Moore finally fell for 48, well caught at first slip, and arrogantly declared the game over. Fortunately Charlie Haines had other ideas and began to replicate his Tring heroics. But there was one more twist to come. Chris was run out with the score on 202 (the Chairman heard to remark ‘that was a silly time to get run out’, insightful), and then Charlie nicked off with 10 still needed.

Tension descended on The Meadow. Heads were in hands, finger nails chewed down to the bone as Al and Matt Clifford set to work seeing Chesham safely into harbour. A couple of plays and misses and things got really nervy.
Greg helpfully appeared from the bar to suggest that we were sending bad vibes out to the middle, and we agreed to act on this advice. Gone was the lean forward, farewell the watching through hands. Instead the player’s area of the veranda now resembled the bridge of a Nelsonian Ship-of-the-Line. Ollie poured himself a fourth pint and babbled at some length about Glenn McGrath. Josh started cracking jokes. Henry stopped browsing through Hinge. Chris, having waited all day to raise it, started talking about the Lancaster bomber he spotted over Rickmansworth last Sunday. Theo, well he was chatting about something. Alfie continued to seethe that his brother was batting ahead of him.
The good vibes performed their magic. Matt unleashed an exquisite straight drive and shortly after Admiral Watson of Tiny Head flicked one behind square to complete the victory.

Next up is the short voyage to Amersham for the latest instalment of the Met Line Derby. On the evidence of the season so far it would really be useful if those who are local get down to training and take some catches, and for the uni boys I would recommend spending, for a change, the week attempting to catch something that doesn’t require a subsequent visit to the doctor.


Other notable moments:
- Keshav not telling his Mum he was playing cricket rather than revising, excellent stuff
- Discussion about the likelihood of tick bites at TVL grounds, stay vigilant
- 2s win the inter-club boat race, again
- Royals dropped catch tantrum continuing through to fines, grow up
- 'I sleep much better if I have 10 pints', seek medical attention
- First appearance of The Elephant this season, welcome back
- First ever 5s win, limbs
- Brendan ton as the 3s win, limbs x 2
- 1s beat Amersham, limbs x 3

Marlow 1st XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
13w 1lb 
for 10 wickets
14
222 (48.1 overs)		     
Imran Nawaz lbw  J Anderson 4 18 22.22
Will Bovill lbw  M Clifford 60 103 8 58.25
Dominic Spencer ct  Unsure b J Anderson 6 13 1 46.15
Taran Sohi b  C Haines 0 6 0
Graeme Paskins b  A Clifford 1 5 20.0
Kester Charlemagne lbw  A Watson 75 64 7 4 117.19
Sam North ct  C Haines b A Watson 35 37 4 94.59
James Martin ct  C Royals b A Watson 17 11 3 154.55
Harry Williams ct  A Watson b J Anderson 6 15 40.0
Harry Spear ct  T Weatherall b J Anderson 0 4 0
Jonathan Yarwood Not Out  4 12 33.33

Chesham Cricket Club 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Jamie Anderson9.112345.752.51
Charlie Haines10.0231131.003.10
Alex Watson9.0051317.005.67
Alfie Clifford4.0020120.005.00
Matt Clifford10.0147147.004.70
Chris Royals6.004900.008.17

Chesham Cricket Club 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
24w 8b 4lb 
for 8 wickets
36
224		        
Peter Clifford ct  J Martin b H Spear 4 9 1 44.44
Keshav Chandrasekar ct  K Charlemagne b H Williams 20 34 3 58.82
Theodore Weatherall ct  W Bovill b H Spear 14 18 2 77.78 1
Henry Moore ct  G Paskins b I Nawaz 48 64 6 75.00
Jamie Anderson ct  H Spear b K Charlemagne 10 28 1 35.71
Josh Tollerfield b  J Yarwood 41 29 5 2 141.38
Chris Royals run out  (S North) 18 39 1 46.15 1
Charlie Haines ct  J Martin b J Yarwood 18 29 2 62.07 1
Alex Watson Not Out  10 15 1 66.67 1
Matt Clifford Not Out  5 5 1 100
Alfie Clifford  

Marlow 1st XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Harry Williams10.0137137.003.70
Harry Spear9.0134217.003.78
Kester Charlemagne10.0046146.004.60
Imran Nawaz10.0236136.003.60
Jonathan Yarwood6.0059229.509.83

  • Umpire :
    Kevin Connaughton & Nigel Matthews
  • Scorer :
    James Newbury