Hale seizure

The final game of 2008 proceeded to the satisfaction of The Gents, who bowled accurately and batted for the most part sensibly in chasing down a score of 120 with twelve overs and four wickets in hand, the same margin of victory as in 2006. Hale fought hard but were perhaps 30 runs short on a true wicket. There was all the fun of the fair in this beautiful setting: The Gents somehow bowled 42 overs in a 40 over game, Ken Toft gave himself run out when the umpire thought him in and a player loaned by The Gents batting No.11 took two sixes off Hemin Patel. As if that were not enough, there was a spirited post-match cabaret in and outside the Ball and Wicket by the Hale village idiot, who completely lost it after Dave Bender said hello to his dog. It was a deserved victory in a beautiful setting against a good bunch of guys who were keen to rearrange for 2009, possibly home and away. They made your match reporter and his assistant Mr. Bender most welcome, sharing entertaining tales of the not inconsiderable politics of Surrey village cricket.

Consistency of selection helped The Gents, nine of the Salix XI returning, expectant father Richard Gilkes and Daoud Shanvare being replaced by Mark Leeder and Himanshu Desai, who both had storming matches. Hale's batsmen had run riot on this ground in August, Spreadborough scoring 119 and famously taking out a pub window with a six in a winning total of 243. But talented though some of their batsmen clearly were, they were given little to hit. Leeder's analysis after six overs was 1-3 but all the seamers bowled parsimoniously, though Inkollu was troubled by overstepping. Of the slow men, Hemin Patel's figures were spoiled by Gents 13th. man Suman's mighty blows over long-on but Sciberras was tight. Indeed, The Gents' four most niggardly bowlers carded a combined 30-10-41-8 of which Leeder's return was a miserly 8-4-9-2.

Hale's top order made steady progress but boundaries were rare as the score ticked over at two and a half runs an over. Leeder struck in his first over and thereafter wickets fell regularly, though the top five all resisted for a while. Giles popped up the only catch of the innings off Sanjay Patel as the batsmen were worn down by the accuracy of the bowling. The end of the innings was bizarre. Hale were a man short, their twelve year-old Larby travelling down from his morning game with Farnham, so Ravi Inkollu's flatmate Suman, who with Murali Kalidinda had kindly turned up to support, donned the pads. He pulled two enormous sixes high into the trees off Hemin Patel to bring up a fair final score. In the confusion, The Gents were allowed to bowl 42 overs.

An excellent DIY tea in the village hall followed and the second innings began at a quarter to five with the shadows lengthening. 'No risky singles' said Naveed Khan to Ken Toft but soon poor High Street was trudging back after a simple throw from Suman into the 'keeper. Oddly, square leg umpire Sanjay Patel had not given him out, but High Street trudged forlornly to the boundary, technically Retired Out. Peter Denton swished for a few overs before propping one up to Suman, his third duck in four innings, but Khan was going well. Mark Sciberras brutally cut two fours and pulled another but holed out to young Larby and when Khan edged behind The Gents were 44-4.

The game was effectively won with a composed stand of 45 between Ravi Inkollu, an established star and Himanshu Desai, a star in the making and a very elegant left-handed batsman. Ones, twos and the occasional boundary came but though they both fell Mark Leeder, having bowled superbly, was also on blistering form with the bat and struck four quick fours to secure the win. Sanjay Patel, not out two at the end, batted low once more but he will attract no criticism from those who did get a chance to bat. An enjoyable season then ended with hosts, visitors and local characters in fine form in the Ball and Wicket.