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Saturday Third X1 Match Reports
Dulwich Cricket Club - Saturday 3rd XI Match Report
Versus Old Wimbledonians (H) – Surrey Championship 5th August 2006
Old Wimbledonians 278 for 7 wickets declared (Adam Willis 3-62) in 49.5 overs Dulwich 230 for 7 wickets (Paul Smith 99, Arun Mahey 31*) in 51 overs Result: Losing Draw
Three winning tosses in a row saw Dulwich take to the field in this crucial fixture against Old Wimbledonians. Bruce, returning after a week on the sidelines with injury, took the new ball with Dallas. Another good start by the team as Deb picked up a wicket and Bruce chipped in with two - before coming off with a view to switching ends. More positive stuff followed as Bruce’s replacement S4B grabbed a victim in his first over, and the visitors found themselves at 32 for 4.
At this point, Dallas had to leave the field through illness and Dulwich found themselves hampered by being both a man down and a key bowler down. The fifth wicket partnership began to show what a tame wicket this was once the hardness of the ball had disappeared, and efforts by the remaining bowlers to keep the scoring in check were hampered as the batsmen kept finding the spot where the eleventh man should have been. A partnership of 175 was eventually broken through the perseverance of Serious who, despite his figures, had bowled better than he had in his previous two appearances at the Trevor Bailey ground. Shmuck grabbed his first Championship wicket late in the innings, and with Dallas remaining AWOL, Bruce returned for a third spell and picked up a third victim for himself. Old Wimbledonians closed on 278 for 7.
Amer Saeed (returning to the side after vacation) opened the batting with Versace (returning to the side after some success in the fourth team. It was Saeed who looked confident initially, scoring a quick 26 before succumbing to the leg spinner’s googly. This brought Shmuck to the crease at number 3, who once again played with a straight bat supporting Versace at the other end, whose own fluency was building. Together, they put on 73 before Shmuck misjudged a quick single and was run out for 26.
Meanwhile Versace seemed to be going from strength to strength. Having started out a little scratchily, he raised his bat for a half century for the third time in as many weeks. After this, it must have been very difficult to bowl at him as the ball was disappearing to all parts of the ground. Ted, who had arrived at the crease upon Shmuck’s departure, had also helped increase the scoring rate. Ted, however, holed out on the boundary, and unfortunately Versace followed soon afterwards just one short of what would have been a wonderful century. The ball was drilled straight, but the bowler clung on to it brilliantly despite coming from the meat of the bat.
Jose coming in at six was so distraught at Versace’s demise for 99, he was bowled first ball, and with BP and Shok (whose brief innings included a well struck 6 over mid-on) following soon afterwards Dulwich shut up shop to ensure Old Wimbledonians did not depart with all 13 points. There was enough time, though, for Serious (31 not out) and S4B (16 not out) to take advantage of the close fielders to build an unbeaten partnership of 46.
This was the second week where Dulwich had played the better cricket than the opposition but had only come away with a point. There were mitigating circumstances, though, and undoubtedly with a full compliment in the field the score would have been kept to a much more manageable level and the chase would not have seemed such a monumental task. Full credit must go to the remaining ten players on the park whose team spirit and efforts were exemplary despite being a man down. The same positive attitude must be taken to Weybridge next week, where we also look to come away with an overdue victory.
THIS WEEK’S STAR CAST: Adam ‘Bruce’ Willis Deb ‘Dallas’ Biswas Seamus ‘S4B’ Betts Andrew ‘Shmuck’ Corbin Arun ‘Serious’ Mahey Paul ‘Versace’ Smith Stephen ‘Ted’ Heath Alistair ‘BP’ Sykes Jeff ‘Jose Maskers’ Mascarenhas Obafemi ‘Shok’ Shokoya
Champagne moment: When Seamus Betts considered a nickname that had been suggested for him, his response was ‘No, I definitely prefer to be called ‘S41t for Brains’
Pickled egg moment: Versace’s downfall for 99.
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