A young St James side played Sheen Park on a warm but cloudy Sunday in a 40 overs a side game a la crikquet de la France. St James bowled first and debutant James Boyle bowled a very effective opening spell, getting good bounce and bowling a decent off stump line. He had Ashbury dropped at slip by Ali, but fortunately Benson (the other Sheen opener) gave Ali another chance next ball and he took it. Robin bowled a good quick spell at the other end and Nabil Muneer took over to pick up Ashbury with a nice swinging delivery. A few overs later Creedon played on to Nabil and it looked like St James was well on top. However Ward, the Sheen number three, made a century and built a good partnership with Sheen’s lower middle order. Jack and Nabs came on and struggled to make another break through as Ward hit hard into the off side. Too many wides were bowled by St James and catches were dropped at crucial moments, allowing Sheen to build a big score. Sheen began hitting out in the last ten overs and Ryan, Ali and Robin were all hit for boundaries. Robin and Ali picked up some wickets but Sheen’s score of 217 looked a very good one. Dave and Ousman headed out after tea and got things off to a decent start. However Ousman played one drive too many on 7 and next ball Ali chipped one to mid off and St James were in trouble. Sheen’s first change was Deakin who tossed the ball up in the manner St James batsmen hate the most. Jack soon succumbed for 2 and despite hitting him for two boundaries, Kerman got a top edge and was caught soon after. However Dave played a very good captains innings and kept the runs coming and was joined by Nabs our form batsmen. Dave fell to Cunningham’s off breaks and sadly the run rate required had now crept up toward ten an over. Nabil played some cracking shots before holing out and Nabs kept the boundaries and singles coming. James played a couple of nice shots and Robin struggled before both falling to Ashbury’s off breaks. Nabs now needed runs wherever he could find them and sadly both Ryan and Stan were run out. Throughout the game the absent fixture secretary was in communication and as the game proceeded the telephonic comments became more apoplectic. A disappointing result for St James but valuable experience for the young side. |