Eltham CC

Match Report

Match report Eltham CC Vs LESSA Aquila CC

For 2pm start, everyone or (just about everyone) arrived before or around 1.30pm. Those who didn't would have already felt bad about it themselves so my approach would be, not to name and shame anyone! Moving on.... given the amount of rain in the week preceding this game, pitch was understandably green and it was not possible to make a distinction between the pitch and the rest of the square. After those several pitch inspections by some Eltham players one thing was clear (cricket is a simple game?) that we were in for a low scoring game (possibly a thriller!) but on the positive side the outfield looked in great condition and after all that rain, just to be playing could not be a bad thing at all.

Last year, Lessa required three Eltham players due to bereavement of a close relative of the players, just to acknowledge the favour - they had beaten Eltham in that fixture, this year while there was an improvement in numbers available, still Lessa were set to field only 10 players. After the skipper lost the toss Eltham were put in the field for a 40 overs per side game. It was however, not long before Eltham fast bowlers (even without the likes of Tan and Rich, our regular opening pacers) embarrassed the Lessa batting line-up, leaving Lessa players to question skipper's decision to bat first and setting the foundation for an easy win. They bowled aggressively and smartly, with Lessa batsmen struggling against the pace and guile of Eltham opening bowlers. Only two of the top seven Lessa batsmen managed to get into the double figures (viz., Imtiaz 12 and Holland 23).

Mr. Swain's captaincy and reading of the pitch & conditions stood out early on as he employed two slips and a gully for both the opening bowlers (one of whom he happened to be himself and the other one was not hugely surprising Mr Bisley). Will, for his first wicket in his first over, was superbly supported by Derek in the first slip when he bowled the perfect out swinger which was shaping in, pitching off, moving away, making the batsman play, and getting the edge through to the left of first slip. Indeed, Derek held on to an astonishingly sharp one handed catch, the ball had literally gone past him by the time Derek caught the ball in his left hand. It has to be said that given the nature of this grab, no one was amazed more than Derek himself.

Eltham could not have hoped for a better start. Pete from his end was also duly excited by extravagant swing available; it seemed as if he was trying to take a wicket with every ball he bowled. Which can not be bad thing, apart from causing what is now the usual discomfort (Hope a three week holiday in Greece would be enough for his elbows to recover completely) for Andy when he is floored regularly behind the stumps through occasional down the leg deliveries, Pete was keeping it tight, to help build the pressure all the time.

Will's second over was no different to his first, as he continued to get the ball to jump up from a good length. He had pushed the batsman back in his crease and just when Lessa no.3 (Riz) thought it can't get any worst, Will changed his pace and bowled a gentle off spinner that turned in and not only left Riz clueless it also knocked his middle stump back.

While all the razzmatazz at this stage was focused on Will, Pete was also bowling brilliantly and it was only a matter of time before it was his turn. And as it has been the case so often in the season, he didn't disappoint either and clean bowled the next two Lessa batsmen Gunnu and Paul with his sharp-ish (afraid, sharp would an exaggeration!) in swinging yorkers that Waqar Younis (without a doubt, WY was sharp!) would be proud of. After loosing four early wickets, there was potential for absolute disaster, so Imtiaz and Holland had no option but to somehow see off the opening bowlers. They almost succeeded in their quest but Pete wanted to further improve his figures to make the most wickets in the season spot his own (for now anyway), so he induced an edge from the bat of Imtiaz straight to Derek in first slip to end his vigil and to finish a brilliant spell of swing bowling that read as 8 1 18 3 in the book. Will's final figures were minus one wicket, but the rest was absolutely identical to the skipper's stats.

After losing those five cheap wickets it was always going to be difficult to set a decent target but Lessa gave it their all and in particular last years hero Ady kept the game alive with an innings of 42 which was packed with boundaries and was ably supported by Holland and Ahmed to take the Lessa score to 115 to give Lessa bowlers something to bowl at.

Since Lessa innings lasted only 30 overs rather than the scheduled 40, skippers mutually decided that Eltham batsmen could bat for 25 mins before the tea in ready. Your reporter (Asjad) and Jon Fisher scrambled to get ready for Eltham CC reply. Asjad scored two fours of the first two balls of the innings, both of them identical in that they went through his favourite point region off the full tosses. Jon also was off the mark confidently and got into his stride quickly and the run chase was well and truly underway, only to be stalled by the fact that it was tea time!

Tea along with ashes (Ooops! for those readers who have not yet been forced into paying for the privilege of watching skysports by BSKYB, just referring to cricket on the tele) was enjoyed by all and then it was time to resume the run chase. At 34 for no loss things started to look very easy but what followed was quite a superb fight back from Lessa bowlers. Their bowlers despite being young bowled really wisely. First, Asjad was clean bowled by Ahmad of a nicely disguised slower delivery. Then, Jon, Richard, and Colin didn't show any appreciation for the fact that there were close to 30 overs still to go and were out caught in quick succession owing to flashy shots and the scoreboard read a sorry 57 for 4 (compared to 34 for 0, not so long ago). At this point, Lessa bowlers must have fancied themselves. In comes Derek, I think it is fair to say, this was a situation tailor-made for Derek 'the coach' Seeds, named Derek 'the fighter' Seeds for the purposes of this fixture, coming in with plenty of overs remaining, still six wickets in hand and not a huge target to chase. It was not long before Derek restored some tranquillity to Eltham Innings along with Gary first and then with Andy. While all the batsmen seemed to be enjoying the batting in the middle, Derek, in particular was in command of proceedings and he finished with 20 not out taking Eltham home, Pete Fisher scoring some quick runs towards the end, with 4 wickets remaining and more than six overs to spare.

Not often Eltham would win a game of cricket despite having 20 as highest score in their innings but to be fair there was hardly much to worry about as Eltham big guns Will Bisley, Pete Swain and Henry Hicks were still waiting to come in if needed.

A win is always a nice result, this one tasted even more sweeter after the bitter draw the week before where Eltham dominated the game but could not take the last wicket against Farnborough CC.

Reporter: Asjad Mir