Roehampton
Sunday May 26 on Putney Heath Strollers won by 49 runs Strollers 220-7
(35 overs; Findlay 58, Mangham 57no, Wall 32, Rogers 16, Travis 16, Dela Rue 15no, Hartley 13)
Roehampton 171-9
(35 overs; Dela Rue 2-21, Mangham 2-29, Wills 1-11, Brodbeck 1-13, Findlay 1-13, Macaulay 1-18, Wall 1-23). Blue skies
met damp pitch as an eager bunch of Strollers congregated on the Putney Heath ground
for the match v Roehampton Cricket Club - the most central fixture on the
Strollers calendar.
Puddles in
the bowler's run-up meant Ben Mangham leapt into action with a towel and bags
of sawdust to quickly get the ground in a safer condition. Captain Blair Travis
won the toss and elected to bat in a 35-over match with a delayed start to
allow time for the pitch to dry.
Rob Wall
(playing his first game of the season) and Travis opened up with both
starting freely and finding the boundary regularly. Travis, having had a tough
chance dropped early, was dealing in boundaries only and flayed the ball again
through the covers but was spectacularly caught for 16 with the score 25-1.
Neil Hartley
joined Wall in the middle and lived dangerously but ticked the score over. Wall
was in a mood and produced three vicious pull shots out to the short leg-side
boundary. A fourth was a pull-shot too far, skying it to mid-on from outside
the off stump for 32. A solid start of 63-2 inside 10 overs was a great base to
build from.
Roehampton’s
first change bowler Zain Latif had different ideas, trapping Mike Pittams lbw
for three followed by a first-ball in-swinging yorker to the base of Gus Wills’
stumps. Steve Rogers was sent in to face the hat-trick ball with the Strollers
in a spot of bother at 70-4.
Rogers and
Hartley were able to stem the wicket-flow momentarily before both were bowled -
by Latif and Abi Ramesh. The Strollers found themselves in a hole at 96-6. A
saviour or several would be required…
Enter Mangham
(in recent form with the bat) and Scott Findlay, who both started carefully but
confidently put the bad balls away. In time, even good balls were being
dispatched as both men raced past 50 and put on a match-defining seventh-wicket
partnership of 108 to guide us towards safety. Special mention to Mangham (57*),
who scored his first 50 in any form of cricket. Ben had been vocal in his goal
of wanting to score a 50 this season. Now achieved, we eagerly await an update
to “Mangham’s goals for the season” - perhaps three figures (with the bat) is
the next target.
Findlay was run
out on the last ball of the penultimate over for 58. A final over onslaught
from James Dela Rue (15* off five balls) helped post a seemingly competitive
total of 220-7. The innings was not without controversy as it was noted that no
less than four Strollers went out to bat in black sneakers, a topic that may
well need further dissection at the next AGM.
It was a
pleasure to see the Strollers youth policy in action with Peter Wood (Sloane) and
Rob Wall (Siena) bringing their daughters along to watch some action-packed
Sunday cricket. Special mention to Wall, who swiftly identified that a massive
six from Mangham was heading uncomfortably close to the viewing families and
saved the day with an athletic leap to parry the ball away.
Following
tea, it was pace from one end (Dela Rue) and spin from the other (Rogers) with
Roehampton openers Monis Haris and Fozan Ahmad starting strongly. Monis in
particular, having faced two maidens in a row from Rogers, proceeded to
dispatch him for 24 in two overs. Dela
Rue quickly found rhythm and was duly rewarded, taking two wickets in the final
over of his spell for excellent figures of 7-0-21-2.
Wall returned
to the bowling crease for the first time since creating no less than 10 chances
at Pinkneys Green in the final game of last season. Straight into his work,
Wall was beating the batsman on both sides regularly with keeper Pittams collecting more than a few to the body. The pair combined to dismiss Awais Khan
caught behind as regular wickets with not many runs put the Strollers strongly
on top - Pittams was heard after the game telling everyone how much he loved
keeping. Wall with figures of 1-23 did his chances of opening the bowling at
Bray no harm.
Mangham, not
content with a match-turning 50, started loosely before honing in on the
“Mangham Channel” around off stump. Wickets in his third and fourth over meant
he returned very tidy figures of 2-29 from five - “You’re owning that No 7
spot” claimed skipper Travis in a clear indication that the “Strollers All-Rounders
Club” (which 95% of Strollers belong to) had a new leader.
Mangham’s
second wicket of Monis for 42 was particularly important as a successful chase
for Roehampton was still a possibility with him at the crease. The catch from
Travis rivalled his own dismissal - spectacularly held one-handed in mid-air at
mid-wicket.
Alastair
Macaulay, Findlay, Wills and Simon Brodbeck all combined for a wicket each in
the latter overs to see the Strollers home comfortably with a 49-run win. A
quick beer in the club rooms was followed by some longer beers at The Telegraph
pub. The general consensus was that a bank holiday Monday was a fitting reward
(and requirement) for some tired Stroller bodies.
Capt:
Blair Travis. Wkt: Mike Pittams.
Match fees: Simon Brodbeck. Match report: Steve Rogers.
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