House of horrors

A tale must be told elsewhere of the logistical problems that beset The Gents, but suffice it to say at the outset that the chirpy West XI were the better side in every department here, skittling the visitors for their lowest total since 2003, their lowest against West XI and the fourth lowest against all opposition. On the back foot all day, The Gents fielded and bowled well enough but collapsed against accurate bowling with some poor shot selection. My how West XI enjoyed it - 'Careful guys, there might be one of them who can make a game of it' crowed Rawlings at six down. He need not have worried.

West XI batted skilfully against some lively bowling, Dane scoring an outstanding fifty. The fielding never wilted and Hemin Patel (Taylor) and Snelling (Wright) took two good caught and bowleds, Inkollu bowling Vine and Rawlings in his fiery second spell and Hemin breaking the opening stand by having Bapu lbw.

While not the strongest Gents' batting line up ever to take the field, it should have done a lot better. Just as middle order batsmen are inspired by long opening stands, the fall of early wickets can cause panic to set in. That is what happened here. The light was poor but to his credit Wright did not bowl his fastest two bowlers, himself and Vine. Nor did he complain when Inkollu was bowling his missiles towards the end of the first innings, also in indifferent light. Only Gilkes and Kalidinda batted well. Steve Bignell's report is fair:

"West XI retained the Bob Ashton Memorial Cup with a convincing victory at a gloomy Beckenham thanks to a solid batting effort in difficult conditions, followed by an exceptional performance in the field as The Gents disappointingly wilted to 57 all out, their lowest ever total in this competition.

The match nearly didn't take place at all: the groundsman had apparently called the game off without notifying anyone and gone on holiday to Greece! Fortunately, following some executive negotiation, it was agreed the match could take place. Luckily the rain held off for the second consecutive Sunday and the game went its full course. The covered wicket was damp but held up well, though the outfield was slow and boundaries were at a premium. In the circumstances the Beggars' score of 153-5 was a fine effort, built around yet another cultured innings from Chris Dane, who made a faultless 62 not out (his fourth half-century of the season and lifting his 2008 aggregate to 545 runs and counting) and steady contributions from Taylor, Bapu and Vine. Stewart batted 21 overs for his 24 runs until dismissed caught and bowled by Hemin Patel, who also outed Prab, lbw for 18. The openers had put up a solid 35 in 12 overs against some hostile bowling from Snelling and Inkollu. Vine was then dropped twice on the boundary and eventually bowled by the highly impressive Inkollu, who repeated the trick against Rawlings two balls later. The Gents bowled and fielded with some determination, allowing only eight boundaries.

Sadly, their batting reply never got out of the starting blocks as they were skittled for just 57 in under 26 overs, eight of which were maidens! Taylor's opening spell of 3-13, well supported by McGirr, put them on the back foot from the off, with only Gilkes and the young Kalidinda showing any real aggression. When Sanjay Patel holed out to Dave Laing's second top catch at mid-off the game was up. Phil Hill and Chris Dane filled their boots with a brace of wickets each as too many batsmen were dismissed playing across the line to straight deliveries. This series has followed a similar pattern in recent years; Gents getting off to a flier then failing to win the second game and being well beaten in the third, the dramatic finale to the second game at Old Tenisonians proving the turning point in 2008."