Debutant Players Show Great Promise On A Nougat Textured Pitch

Saturday 1st XI vs Worplesdon & Burpham

Putney 1s traveled to Worplesdon and Burpham on the first sunny weekend since the start of the season. With the first game already rained off and wet weather being the staple of the week, hopes were high of actually getting out onto the field. However rain would not be the deciding factor for a timeous start, instead the arrival of the "Max Taylor pit crew" would have the final say. After much waiting for electrical wires to magically reconnect, everyone was at the ground and ready to kick off the season.

Putney lost the toss and were asked to bat on what could only be described as a nougat textured pitch. The now revised top order saw Carlo and Wibbs open up the innings. Vikrant Sehgal's umpiring debut saw to the end of Wibbs on 1 although Wibbs left him no choice. The deciding moment of the innings was to follow with Carlo being dropped at cover on 0. Debutant Anmol applied himself well but a few bad decisions saw the next 3 wickets fall for far too few runs. This included the wicket of Mitch "Boycott" Clark (1) after being absolutely dumbfounded by his first knock on one of the slowest English wickets he will ever encounter. At 88 for 4 Bam Bam joined Carlo at the crease. This sparked a run fest that rivaled anything the IPL could offer. A partnership of 112 in 12 overs saw Putney take the game away from the opposition. Bam Bam was eventually dismissed for a better than a run a ball 99 with 10 x 6's. Carlo then soon followed after trying to up the run rate even further for a very well played 100. At 239 for 5 the charge was on, but on a sticky wicket Putney were eventually all out for 279 off 43.5 overs.

After some sandwiches and a few sneaky banana's Putney took to the field in search of 10 wickets. With some very accurate and incisive new ball bowling Worplesdon were soon behind the 8 ball. Gary Peters (5-35) and another debutant Max Taylor (2-28) reduced the oppostion to 37 for 5 off 13 overs. Max Taylor was particularly impressive with accurate left arm away swing. Worplesdon never fully recovered and the rest of the bowlers all chipped in with a wicket a piece for almost no runs. Worplesdon were eventually dismissed for 120. There were 5 drop catches that luckily had no real impact on the game, but will need to be addressed for the rest of the season.

Man of the match was tight with great performances by Gary Peters (13-2-5-35), Bam Bam 99 and Carlo 100. In a game dominated by low scores, Carlo had to take it for a superb knock.

Debutants Max Taylor and Anmol Chadnan showed great promise with Anmol announcing himself as Putney's answer to the Energiser Bunny. A good start start to the season overall from a squad (Saturday 1s and 2s), let us just hope that the weather want's to come along for the ride.

Devon Ebersohn

May 15, 2012