St. James CC v Bank of England

9th June 2007

.

Bank of England 204 - 7        St James 200 - 10

Match Lost

 

 

E Dack            13

R Singh           40

F Karim           88

D Smith           5          5-1-19-0                      1 catch

G Kleinveldt     6          7-0-23-1

N Shiraz          0          9-1-16-3

A Khan            6          4-0-26-0

R Pierson        3          7-0-27-1

A Ahmad         8          5-1-13-0

M Ahmad         1          4-1-25-2

N Singh           0*

 

The hallowed turf of The Old Lady’s home ground on a sultry late spring afternoon greeted a hastily reshuffled St James team for their annual trip to Roehampton. Toss lost and the hosts in to bat, bolstered with the addition of Stan to their ranks, the sun beating down with only the merest whisper of a breeze for company.

 

Amir and Nabeel paired up to get things underway with good, tight lines keeping the openers quiet but fatigue crept in and after 10 runs in the first 5 overs the Bank recovered to 43 off 10, extras being the highest scorer. Robin replacing Amir,  David replacing Nabeel and the same story enfolding with the first wicket falling to Robin in the 18th. Gary, fresh from S.A taking up the baton with Adil  and even more of the same ensued with the 2nd wicket falling in the 32nd over. Mosin and a returning Nabeel took 4 wickets between them in 4 overs with the Bank middle order swinging and flashing and paying the price missing straight balls. 204 for 7 sounded good for the Bank, but with 43 extras given and, possibly, 30 gifted by the bowlers it was clear they hadn’t grafted as hard as they should have been made to. A dearth of wicket taking balls, some sloppy foot fielding and poor backing up had seemingly cooked the St James goose.

 

Spirits were high, though somewhat baked, during a fine tea in the refined atmosphere of the Bank of England  pavilion, but steps were sprung and St James padded up with a confident air, ready to make full advantage of the short boundaries they had tried so hard to defend. Ed and Rehal took to the crease and made hay cracking along for 7 overs but on 46 another opening pair run out mix up ensued and Ed returned to the hutch somewhat perturbed. Faisal in  and some mighty hitting ensued taking full advantage the afore mentioned boundaries. 11th over saw for Rehal with a popping ball affording a catch after scoring 40 with only 5 non boundary runs. David in with Faisal still firing to all parts, David departing dollying once again. Young Gary to the crease displaying fine technique and a perfect foil to the ever flashing Faisal, but he bought a low bounce and made way for Nabeel, still desperate for a good score, though sadly he was back on the bench, sweeping so early he could have been playing Old Whits, beveling a catch to the mystified keeper.

 

Adil in, keeping it going, Faisal still hammering away and with 21 overs gone at a perky 6 an over the game was balancing on a knife edge. Adil missing a straight one, Robin looking correct and missing a straight one but the score rattling along and the Shalford scenario raising its ugly head again. 

 

Amir in and looking good, pushing singles and giving the ever present Faisal his head to continue reeking havoc with the Banks bowlers. 10 overs left with 109 on the board – 15 to win – a cake walk – disaster strikes with Amir inside edging onto his stumps. Uncle Mosin to the party with the confident air of experience a comfort to the St James team almost down to their quick’s. Alas, alack Faisal’s luck ran out with 9 to win off 9 overs, a fantastic effort leaving Mosin and Niran to mop things up, or not as it transpired, Mosin unable to control the urge to hit over the top completely missed and a tangle of stumps was his reward, Niran disconsolate after a great day in the field walked off looking bemused as the rest of the team, just how had we lost after being in such a strong position for the entire match. Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.

 

The result apart, this was a fantastic days cricket which both sides enjoyed immensely, exciting and eventful and thoroughly absorbing – just the sort of cricket that both sides want to play. The bar afterwards was awash with talk of the match and the hosts were most complimentary on our conduct, spirit and of the standard of play by us all, including the youngsters who both did us proud. Stan, it has to be said, is the only member of St James to enjoy victory so far this year, something to be remedied at home to Shalford next week, and with memories of our earlier encounter still fresh in the mind, another rattling good game is on offer.