Tricky Wicket Costs Carpe Dear

Carpe Vinum CC found themselves on the wrong end of a beating after their modest total of 86 all out was overhauled with more than ten overs to go. With the wind howling and buffeting on the outskirts of the Barnes Wetland Centre, Carpe were sent into bat by the Saracen Riffs CC 1^st XI. These winds caused havoc for those trying to read the Sunday papers on the boundary but, out in the middle, Carpe's batsmen were struggling with a wicket described afterwards as downright dangerous.

Balls that bounced on the same spot could dribble to one's ankles, swerve off in strange directions or career dangerously at the batsman's face. Almost every Carpe player forsook their bareheaded approach to batting, choosing instead to don a helmet. Even the captain, Jonathan Hilliard, who had bravely strode out without one soon returned to case his face in fibre glass.

With a wicket this difficult to predict, the runs came painfully slowly. Openers David Last and Nicholas Darlington dug in bravely, facing down the worst that Saracen Riff could throw at them but with little success. Darlington faced 19 dot balls in a row as he tried to cope with the terrifying bounce.

He departed for 9 off 35 and Carpe's hearts were in their mouths. Last grafted for a while longer with aplomb, his partnership with Tim Denny dragging Carpe forwards before he was clean bowled by another tricky ball. Though the remaining batsmen went out with the openers' warning ringing in their ears, few lasted long enough to get to grips with the turf. Riffs' bowlers were threatening with almost every ball and the slow outfield meant that boundaries were hard to come by.

Grove and Hilliard added a run apiece to Carpe's total before Dingwall halted the rot. Denny lofted a huge drive that just failed to clear mid on and as he strode back to the boundary for 20, Carpe's hopes of reaching three figures looked impossible.

Riffs dealt with the tail with ruthless efficiency. A golden duck for Hare, a duck for Hewitt and a silver duck for Thomson left Whitting on his own at the end, yet to score.

Carpe went into the field knowing that it would take some heroics to snatch this one from the bag. And almost immediately they got a breakthrough. A tricky ball from Hilliard bounced from the glove of Riffs' opener before a run had been scored and Grove was close enough to grab it from the air. His replacement didn't last much longer, adding only 4 before Hilliard struck again, Darlington taking the catch. Carpe's confidence was up. They had Riffs rattled.

The remaining opener and the fourth man, however, were disciplined and concise. They took singles wherever they found them and faced down a hail of balls with the steely determination and stoicism of tortoises. Over by over, they edged closer to Carpe's meagre total. Though Carpe struck late on through Hilliard to send the second opener back to the boundary for 23, the damage had been done. After 23 overs Riffs' fourth batsman sent a shot whistling down mid off and their win was secured.

The rematch will see a different result one hopes.

Hammond beats Hutton in Hangover Humdinger

While popular opinion would have it that the 17^th April’s big sporting event was the London Marathon, those select few who had the privilege to witness the pre-season Carpe Vinum C.C. friendly between Alex Malloy’s Hammond XI and Jonathan Hilliard’s Hutton XI know otherwise.

This match had it all: electric bowling, lusty batting, contentious catches, a church with a glass spire, shattered dreams and very nearly a shattered car window.

With Hutton electing to bowl, Hammond sent the imposing figures of Messrs Last and Denny out into the artificial wicket to face the fierce bowling of Mr Hilliard and company. It was a cagey start from both batsmen as they got to grips with the awkward bounce of the wicket and soaked up the early pressure from Hutton’s bowlers. The longer they stayed in, however, the more confident their shot-making became and as Hammond’s total neared 100 without loss, Hutton seemed on the ropes. Last reached the boundary six times but it was Denny that cleared it, smashing a ball out of the Alleyns ground and straight into an unfortunate bystander’s Prius.

The breakthrough for Hutton came in the form of the intelligent bowling of Saunders which sent Last’s stumps flying for 39, with Hammond just shy of 100. Denny powered on with new batsman Mason in tow but in heartbreaking fashion saw Hilliard clean bowl him for 48. This was Hilliard’s purple patch as he ruthlessly sent Stannard and Keith back to the ‘pavilion’ for 2 and 1 respectively.

When Mason and Malloy joined them having put in sterling efforts at the coalface with 31 and 16 respectively it was left to Bremakumar to rally the tail. He fought with aplomb, reaching 27 before he was stumped off a fine Strong delivery. With the tail now disintegrating the end of the innings came two balls early, Whitting losing his stumps to Strong in the only duck of the game, Westcott the last man standing on 6.

After a fine lunch Hutton’s Hewitt and Masojada strode out the middle, chasing 216 to win. They too discovered the artificial wicket treacherous and tried to dig in. But it was not to be. Mason’s bowling was fast and treacherous and it was not long before both openers and the third batsman Greene were watching nervously from the sidelines with single digit scores.

Elder and Saunders stuck it out in the middle for as long as they could but when Saunders went for 12, minutes after hitting a fine six, Hutton’s chances of victory seemed anorexically slim. After Elder left for 17 Messrs Hilliard and Dingwall settled down to attempt a salvage job with steely resolve and calm exteriors.

That calm exterior though would crack several overs later when Keith, diving forward with an athleticism that belied his belly, just grabbed hold of a scooped shot from Hilliard. Though the batsman protested that the ball had hit the ground before Keith’s fingers closed around it, umpire Alasdair Sheikh’s finger was raised and brooked no argument, giving Westcott his sole wicket of the match. With Hilliard gone for 13, only Hutton’s tail remained to chase down an increasingly insurmountable target.

Gordon, wearing his jockstrap outside his whites, played some extravagant shots but fell for 10 as Keith started to work through the remaining batsman. Dingwall, however, remained firm at one end, facing down the increasingly weary bowling of the Hammond XI and building towards a half century. Keith took Ayton’s wicket for 2 before Farley caught Glaseby LBW for 9 to leave Hutton far behind Hammond with only one wicket in hand.

Strong and Dingwall survived the final few overs and closed the gap, finishing on 8 and 44 respectively. Hutton’s final score stood at 179, 47 of which came from extras, which gave the victory to Hammond XI.

From there it was but a simple jaunt to The Crown and Greyhound for some well earned refreshments.