The Gentlemen of West London

Runs

West XI

Runs

Match Report - Beggars swoop in the mist

In sepulchral light, mist and rain The Gents played to below their potential in the deciding Bob Ashton Memorial Cup match. That might be enough to beat some teams on the circuit but certainly not this focused, talented Beggar outfit who romped to a deserved win with overs and wickets galore to spare. Though a disappointment to players and supporters, however, it is difficult to write a harsh match report. Atrocious conditions obtained, but they were the same for both sides and this was a grand occasion, greatly enlivened by the warm hospitality of the host club and the humour of Dave Laing, who, in the absence of Mr. Bender, held his hands up, manfully supplying quips and wisecracks. So, for the third successive year, the noble old trophy goes to West XI, equalling their 1990-1992 record, though still a few Gent batting collapses short of The Gents’ golden summers of 1993-1997.

The simple facts of the game are that once again, The Gents’ batsmen failed to build on a promising start or, perhaps more pertinently, were not allowed to. The Beggar all-seam attack was remorseless, though all credit to Jim and HP, who laid good foundations before the burly stumper holed out to square-leg Blackmore in Dane’s wild first over. Scibo edged to a juggling Hill at slip off Wright, who soon had his namesake caught behind by Robinson. Husain, Dhruv and the fawn bejacketed Sanjay shone all too briefly, though there were some sublime shots in this period of play, Dhruv lofting Wright for a straight sixer, the only one of the innings, before slicing to Walton at point. At 83/4 with 11 overs left, and Husain and

Dhruv plays his shots, shortly before being caught by Phil Walton in the deep

the skip at the crease, the foundations were there for a competitive if, truth be told, probably not match-winning 150 total, but West XI had other ideas, Bhatt bowling the both of them.

Dane then came back and the innings went into quick freefall. Buck did his best to shepherd the tail, but Justin fell bowled, Turpin caught and bowled, Hemin daftly run out by Taylor having been called to the danger end before Buck himself propped up another c & b to Dane, six wickets gone in 38 balls and only 33 added. It was bitterly disappointing but soon players and fans were tucking into tea in the warm clubhouse and hooray for that.

Blocking Bucky

In July The Gents had the edge in catching – now the roles were to be reversed. West XI put their best five all-rounders one to five in the order, with the result that four chaps neither batted nor bowled, though like invisible sitcom characters such as Miss Cathcart and Elizabeth Mainwaring, several were vital for plot development. This tough stance paid handsome dividends, hard though The Gents fought in the ninety brief minutes of the innings. Vyas was dropped several times before the game Hemin clung on at point but after that not one of six chances was taken, though all bar one was a toughie. Wright and Taylor went for their shots and limited what Sanjay could so tactically. He was further handicapped by Dhruv’s inability to grip the new ball (one was agreed per innings) and Husain’s inability to keep his feet. Be it here recorded that there were top spells for the skipper and Scibo, though runs came freely at the other end throughout. A margin of nine wickets would have been harsh so it is a pleasure to be able to record Graham Butt’s first wicket in this series – a pearler to see off Wright – though Taylor soon won the game, assisted by plentiful extras. Grim viewing for Gent fans it undoubtedly was, but at least the end came quickly as the rain intensified. Well played West XI. The Gents will be back.

So many times have these old rivals crossed bats that there are no original plots left. This game was a repeat of the deciding leg in 1990, the first year of the BAMC and fought for the original trophy, scandalously lost by then Beggar captain Charles Arthur some years after. The two sides pitched up in gale and rain at Warren Farm and West XI won by nine wickets.