Gents Prosper on Pitch From Hell

London Saints are a proud club and would not ask for sympathy but it must in the spirit of sportsmanship be offered after this game, in which they were skittled for 35 on a fiery wicket, off which balls were leaping from a length, in sometimes poor light. Ahsan Iqbal was completely unplayable but all the bowlers got bounce, even Hemin Patel with his slow off-spin. The cheery good nature of London Saints after their innings spoke volumes for the ethos of their club, but it was no fun to watch such cricket and still less fun to play it, though it has to be said that none of the bowlers was irresponsible with his length. The wicket was not great when The Gents used it but even allowing for the extra pace of the hosts' bowlers, devils definitely infiltrated the pitch after four o'clock when Jones and Griffiths marched out to the middle.

The affable Wessexmen, in their first game of 2009, had shown no signs of ring-rustiness in The Gents' innings, for whom a superb counterattacking innings by Patrudu Lalam (six fours and a huge pulled six) was the highlight. There were steady contributions throughout the order, though this was not to be Iqbal's or Inkollu's (brilliantly caught at short mid-wicket) day. Poor Ashan cut a disconsolate figure after his plumb lbw, but soon livened up when Dhruv Patel and his family arrived for a net (more accurately a tree) and a kickabout. Sachin Desai batted responsibly for 16 overs, evoking comparisons for sheer guts and technique with Master Taylor from another place. Suman drove a six into the trees in his composed 25 and Sanjay blasted a quick 19, including three fours off his first four balls faced. Sciberras has a productive hook but top-edged one to mid-wicket here, leaving Kalidinidi, Shu Desai and Hemin Patel to support the aesthetically pleasing Lalam. Saints bowled steadily and caught some sharp catches.

The captain had hoped for 120, so Gents were north of that. The pitch, after heavy rain over two of the previous three days, had shown a few signs of excessive elasticicity, particularly when the sun began to dry it. But at this stage it seemed simply a typical wet wicket, with which county professionals would happily have contended before the arrival of covered wickets. The Gents, armed with a new ball (agreed by the captains), began their fielding routines.

With one ball of the fifth over left, Saints were a studious 9-0 but Andy Jones's dismissal bowled Inkollu opened the floodgates. The game was over 16 overs later. Hemin Patel and Kalidindi took neat catches in the gully, the captain a fine one running round from square leg, Shu Desai was comfortable with the gloves. So, a tidy bowling and fielding display can be set alongside a gutsy, resilient innings but it was nevertheless unsatisfactory for the wicket to have such a profound influence on the course of the game. It was also cold for May with a nasty wind. These factors restricted post-match cerebrations, though the teams had as ever got on well during the match.