"A Great Game Even If the Outcome Was a Little Disappointing"

Putney Cricket Club Saturday 2nd XI vs Clapham Old Xaverians

Putney 2 XI took on Clapham Old Xaverians at Home and got off to a good start by losing the toss but being put in to bat!

On what appeared to be a batting track Lilja and Shaw opened the batting and got off a decent start, before Doug was dismissed on 4. In came Stu Brennan and the Aussies started to do the damage. Lilja showed his true potential by bringing out an array of what can only be described as exquisite shots! He had his eye in and was hitting the ball hard and finding those gaps. He raced onto his 50 in no time at all and Stu supported him until he was caught for a respectable score of 16.

In came another Australian by the name of Sir Trav Vincent. Whilst Trav got in on the act it was Lilja who was spraying the ball around the park and reached his century…much to the delight of the home crowd! Well done fella – great knock. As the batting continued I must give a special mention to the extremely popular team mascot who made his cameo appearance at the crease – Mr Max Vincent! This didn’t effect concentration and Lilja otherwise known as Rowdy reached a grand total of 112 before his luck came to an end and it was on with the middle order. Trav made a solid 28 before a little nick to the keeper and in came the skipper to accompany Woody.

With the Clapham spinners on the menu Racchitt couldn’t resist the pie chuckers and got to work scoring boundaries at an impressive rate. Some comical running saw Woody run out for 17 and in went the new kid on the block Mr Ian Short. With the scoreboard ticking over nicely and the 200 mark smashed it was on with the batting. Racch finished on a quick fire 46 and the tail-end was called on to finish the innings. After a great team batting performance Putney finished on 264.

After tea it was over to Clapham Old Xaverians to hunt down the target. JJ (42-0-10) and Brooksey (53-2-10) opened the bowling and started to apply the pressure before a break through was made. The two opening batsmen didn’t last long and Putney got off to a positive start.

However the scoreboard was ticking over and some lacklustre fielding including a couple of dropped catches saw the opponents start to put down a platform. On came the two R’s as the first change – Racchitt (61-2-10) and Rowan (36-1-6). A strong partnership between batsmen 3 and 4 saw the 100 mark and soon the 150 mark reached and things were looking tight but a useful spell of tight bowling and a couple of wickets before drinks started to bring the buzz back to the Putney boys. Clapham were playing sensible cricket and were continuing at the required run rate of 6 an over.

Brian Trollip (55-2-9) was brought into the attack and applied some pressure by bowling some consistent overs. Wickets and run outs soon came and Putney managed to dislodge their key batsmen who was run out on 98 (Chin up)! But it all happened slightly too late and despite a brave fight right until the death Clapham reached 265 with 2 balls to spare.

All in all a great game even if the outcome was a little disappointing. If only we had another chance to take them on this season at their gaff I’m sure we would make amends…but I guess there is always next year - I’m well up for it already…who’s in?!

July 6, 2009