Wily Colonials survive Gents' fightback

Fixtures sourced from the internet have an element of risk They may turn out to be dire mismatches (Village XI) or be spoiled by diametrically opposed attitudes (Purley Arms) but this one was a resounding success. Although unable to defend 133, itself a score that, thanks to Ravi Inkollu and good tail-end support, had represented riches after a collapse to 48-5, The Gents scrapped hard and ran a talented side, with four extrovert Aussies, close.

The day started with the terrible news from the groundsman that Gary Privett, who as pitch bookings officer at RB Kingston had provided sound administrative support to GWLCC for many years, had died of a heart attack in his forties. May he rest in peace. As the news sunk in and Michael Vaughan resigned the England captaincy, there was eventual movement towards the cricket field. With rain still about the captains agreed a 30 over game, which did not start until 2 o'clock. This proved a wise decision, as the heavens opened soon after the last ball was bowled. The intervening four and a half hours produced some fascinating cricket, though West One had their noses in front most of the time. The aggressive Khan and composed Sciberras, who was dropped early at the wicket, posted 23 off the pacy Australian openers before the Pakistani tried to pull a short ball off the front foot and looped a catch behind off Williamson. Denton smashed two fours before being bowled a shooter the wicket was otherwise true) before the ubiquitous Australian Williamson ran out Sciberras with a superb throw. Things got worse for The Gents as Gilkes pulled a full-toss off part-time spinner Frank, also to Williamson and the skipper swept to the 'keeper.

Inkollu was largely untroubled among this mayhem and in Murali Kalidinda found some keen, youthful support before Zonneveld had him lbw, 70-6. Though Hemin Patel edged behind for a duck off the son of darts commentator Sid Waddell, Snelling, Toft and, especially Leader (a stand of 27 off the last 18 balls) supported Inkollu to the hilt as the young warehouseman struck 9 fours on his way to a sterling 61 not out. The total of 133 was not bad and The Gents had momentum going into the second innings.

Alas, this momentum was dissipated as opener Greig took fours fours off Snarler Snelling's first two overs, the great man suffering from a bad cold, though revenge would be his later. It was the tall, elegant Kiwi Mark Leader and Kalidinda who gave Sanjay Patel control, conceding only 29 from their 10 overs, Leader weighing in with two lbw's to see off the openers. Alas, Waddell took three successive boundaries off Inkollu's only completed over and with the immaculate Williamson playing shots all round the ground the match seemed to be slipping away. The score rose to 82-2 in only the 16th. over, at which point the game of French cricket being played by three of West One's children was providing the more competitive spectacle.

The persevering Sciberras then had Waddell smartly stumped but Zonneveld, after cautiously playing himself in, took a heavy toll of the Patels. At 108-3 West One were nearly home and hosed but strange things have happened in Gents games in 2008 and this clash was no exception. Swapping ends and coming in off a shortened run was one Stuart Alexander Snelling, who bowled Williamson with his second ball, Pulford with his third and Byrnes with his sixth, improving his figures from 2-0-19-0 to 3-1-19-3 in the process. However, Pate was yet another useful batsman and although Snelling got a fourth victim when Zonneveld was well held by fly slip Toft, that was as good as it got for The Gents, who suffered their fifth defeat in six games. In itself an alarming statistic, it should not be forgotten that in the record ten-match unbeaten that ended on 29 June, there were wins by 3 runs, 2 wickets and 1 wicket. Since then, games have been lost by 2 runs, 1 wicket and 3 wickets. Some close games then and with a little bit of blooming luck the wins will start again soon.