Monthly Archives: July 2017

Whale outfoxed by Quokka in Pitch D excursion

Whalers CC vs Quokkas CC; Sunday 16th July; King’s House Sports Ground

The rare sight of eleven Whalers was seen at King’s House on a cloudy Sunday full of expectations – a Wimbledon final, England to skittle South Africa and make the test an exciting one, and a Whalers mid-season game. When some of the Quokkas had made it to the ground, the toss was taken and the Whalers were sent out to bowl in what looked like favourable conditions.

Jack and Paul opened the bowling in great style, both starting with a wide. Movement was found early on which looked like it would trouble the batsmen, and Jack soon found the edge of the Quokkas’ opener Chas. Unfortunately Pete couldn’t quite hang on after diving to his right, but the Whalers were buoyed by the prospects of seam and swing. Paul produced a variety of deliveries – some on a good line, some giving Pete plenty to do behind the stumps. The breakthrough came after a few overs when Jack bowled the other opener for 8, and followed up with their number three, Tom, two balls later after he dragged on.

A tactical bowling change brought on Dan who started off excellently, bowling their left-handed Skip for a duck with his first ball. The rest of the over was tight, and he was backed up by Kamal at the other end who offered few chances. Quokkas’ number 5 and their opener began to build a partnership with some strong hitting and a couple of lofted drives that just evaded the Whalers in the field. The partnership was finally broken by Matt who enticed their opener into a loose shot that went high over long on. Calls from both Al and Dean went back and forwards until Dean recognised the authority of the president and the catch was safely taken, giving Matt a well-deserved wicket. Dan’s bowling had become somewhat wayward over time, so he swapped positions with Pete behind the stumps to bring in some fresh legs into the bowling attack. At the other end, Kamal was continuing his attack, luring their number 5 into a skip down the wicket, missing the ball and being sharply stumped by Dan. With their top-scoring batsmen back in the pavilion, the Whalers started to turn the screw. Jack and Paul returned to the attack in the hope of finishing things off quickly. Two wickets from Jack – a caught and bowled that Geoff was keen to be involved in, and an edge to the recently moved fielder – and two from Paul (both bowled, one off a full toss that was met with silence from the Whalers) ended their overs for the game. Matt was unlucky not to pick up another wicket after a few edges and near misses, but the game was finished off by Pete who drew their number 11 into a drive that sailed into the safe hands of Josh, leaving Quokkas all out for 118.

Expectations were high for a steady Whalers victory after tea as Dean and Geoff strode out to the middle to start things off. The Quokkas’ bowling attack wasn’t what you would call intimidating, but they were managing to find enough movement to cause some trouble and Geoff was soon given out LBW. This produced some prolonged chuntering about the Whalers’ understanding of the rules of the game, and brought Al into the crease to steady the ship. Unfortunately the ship kept wobbling as Al was soon out having guided a wide-ish delivery to point, leaving the Whalers struggling on 15 for 2. Mark marched in looking to continue his run of ever-increasing scores, but unfortunately missed a straight one and was back relatively soon, bringing in Pete. Hopes were high that shot selection would improve, and for a short while it looked like it might be the case, but Dean had other ideas and hit the ball high to mid-off, to much frustration all-round.

In came Dan, aware that he had to leave in about half an hour but keen not to follow his team-mates in their short-lived innings. He kept things going, supporting some good hitting (and very loud calling) by Pete, until his edge was found and their second slip took a sharp catch. Josh was unlucky to face, as his first ball, a very good delivery which seamed and swung to clip the top of off stump and the Whalers were left on a very precarious 54 for 7. Pete had made his way into the 20s and was looking set until he was caught, and hopes were rapidly diminishing of a Whalers victory. Paul succumbed to an LBW decision (one of many appeals throughout the innings), and Jack and Matt set about trying to keep the strike rotating. More poor shot selection saw Jack caught and bowled, bringing in Kamal for the last wicket stand. By this point Matt had begun to get his eye in, and there were a few good shots which brought 1s and 2s, but still the Whalers were yet to hit a boundary. Kamal kept their bowlers out, and brought out some strong pull shots which resulted in the first (and only) four of the innings, and took the Whalers to within 30 of the target. The final Whalers wicket was taken with another catch, meaning Matt fell for a valiant 22, and the Whalers lost by 24 runs.

All in all a good bowling and fielding performance, but some questionable decision making all round lead to a rare loss to the Quokkas and large fines all round.

Quokkas CC: 118ao (33.2)

Whalers CC: 94ao (30.3)

Man of the match went to Jack for his 4-14 off seven overs, and Kamal picked up the champagne moment for his (glorious) four – the only one of the innings. Muppet moment went to the whole team for a collective batting collapse.

 

Whalers left disappointed with draw against Salix despite valiant batting from Dario

Salix CC vs Whalers CC; Harlington Sports Ground; Sunday 9th July 2017

 

In balmy conditions on Sunday afternoon, the Whalers arrived with a full complement of eleven players ready to take on Salix. The oppo have had a season ravaged by injury and were therefore only able to field 9 players, so a timed format was agreed with the day limited to 70 overs in total. It did not help that a key oppo player had been left injured whilst making up the numbers for Whalers during a previous match, so to level up the numbers Rob volunteered to switch over to Salix for the day, making it a 10 a side game.

With the toss won, Whalers decided to bat. Dean and Dario entered the fray first. Dean hung around for a little while, before ultimately falling to Bala by being trapped LBW for 9. The decision seemed a potentially harsh one, but it was left to Marcos to come in at 3.

Marcos managed to survive one major scare, with the umpire flagging for caught behind. Eventually it was agreed that Marcos should continue. With a few boundaries under his belt, Marcos was given out in the exact same fashion a small amount of time later, caught by the wicketkeeper from Dillan’s bowling.

Skipper Stu came in at number 4 looking to steady the ship and forge a partnership with the well settled Dario. However, he picked up just 1 run before chipping up the ball perfectly to an opposition player who took the catch. Rob, the player loaned to Salix for the day, was the man who delivered the ball and took great delight in the dismissal and Whalers were left wobbling on 60-3.

Mark came in next at number 5. Despite a few plays and misses to spin bowling, he managed to add 29 to the total with some fairly unorthodox batting. He eventually limply chipped the ball straight back to the spin bowler Dillan who gobbled up the easy catch.

Dennis and Dario started to form a partnership before Dennis was dismissed LBW for 7 by Bala. Russell added 2 runs before being being bowled by the same bowler. Jack came in next.

Throughout all this, the man of the match Dario was quietly and effectively amassing runs. With some beautiful strokeplay, he got up to 85 runs including 14 boundaries, his record score for the Whalers. The innings was vital to the Whalers total. This was all the more impressive given that Dario was still suffering from illness that had put his appearance in doubt. He looked increasingly likely to carry his bat right through the innings, before sadly falling to Darling’s bowling.

With Dan still suffering a shoulder injury from a cycling crash in the previous week, Special K was promoted to number 9 in the batting. The pairing of Jack and Special then saw out the rest of the innings. Jack was the more aggressive of the two, adding 23 whilst Special added 5 runs. When the scoreboard ticked over to 200 and some 37 overs having been played, the captain decided it was time for the Whalers to have a bowl and called time on the innings. Whalers were 200-7.

The oppo required 201 in 33 overs to win. Jack and Russell opened up the bowling, but were stifled by the opening partnership of the opposition. Despite a few close moments, the Whalers were left struggling as the scoreboard went past 50. Special K was brought into the attack along with Dennis.

Dennis was bowling well and had limited the opposition to just 6 runs from his 3 overs, before he was chasing a hoist down to the fine leg boundary whilst fielding. Around 5 yards from the ball, he fell to the floor, with most people initially thinking that he had miscalculated a slide. When he didn’t then get back up, players began to jog over to show their concern. Unfortunately Dennis had a hamstring injury and had to depart the field.

With only 9 Whalers on the pitch, the oppo sent on Bala to bolster the fielding. On the very next ball, an ugly leg side full toss from Special was sent flying towards the boundary. Bala calmly took the catch, making an immediate impression on the game and getting the ball rolling for Whalers, the opening batsman dismissed for 52.

Stu replaced the injured Dennis in the bowling attack, and made his mark immediately, taking a wicket in his first over. In what some described as a slow full toss (perhaps the captain felt it was a stunning yorker), he had the batsman clean bowled. It was Stu’s only over of the day.

The next batsman to come in was Rob, who immediately began to plunder runs and boundaries. With the field sat well back, he suffered the same fate as the opening batsman. Special again picked up a wicket with not his best ball, another leg side full toss being caught on the boundary again by the substitute fielder Bala.

Soon after, a sharp piece of fielding from Dan and a little bit of juggling from Dean saw the next opposition batsman run out for just 1. The Whalers seemed to have the momentum at this stage, with seemingly enough overs left to dismiss the rest of the attack. When Jack took two quick wickets in an excellent spell of bowling, the Whalers were right on top of the game. One of the wickets was an excellent catch from Dan, who moved quickly forward to take a low catch. Dan was also bowling well at the other end and was unlucky to not take any wickets himself.

However, the next partnership navigated the remaining overs, leaving the match to disappointingly peter out to a draw, with the oppo 133-6 and having 3 wickets in hand when the time limit was reached.

 

Whalers 200-7 (37 overs)

Salix 133-6 (33 overs) 

Match Drawn

 

Man of the match – Dario was the standout performer of the day, his 85 runs pivotal to the Whalers.

Champagne moment – Dan’s low catch from Jack’s bowling.

Muppet moment – Dennis doing each hamstring in the two games against Salix this season.

Link to Salix report: HERE