SWAY CRICKET CLUB MAGAZINE - June 1994

Letter From The Sec. It was unfortunate to hear after several weeks physio at the Forest Heath, a late night visit to the school matrons office where he works, and a final, last ditch effort to "rebuild him" by travelling to Prague to see a specialist in bionics, that Dave Rees the Club Captain has had to call it a day and admit that he will not be playing again for the rest of the season, Dave, a keen May Pole Dancer and proud Fiat owner, was injured at the beginning of the season whilst training for another attempt at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships. Attempting a "Becker" style leap to intercept a perfectly placed top spin lob by his four year old opponent " Johnathon Seagull", Dave lost balance and all twenty stone of him landed awkwardly on his ankle. "The fact that I was down 6-0, 6-0, 5-0 at the time had no bearing on my decision to retire injured" Dave said later from his hospital bed. I felt I was just getting the better of him". Anyway the club wishes him well and a speedy recovery for next season, when he can resume his rightful place in the team as twelfth man and take stick like the rest of us have to. After several trials and a drawing of straws, Martin Wood was unfortunate enough to be chosen to take over the Captaincy for the rest of the season. Good Luck!

SWAY vs. NEWPORT INN

Once again after a good start our batting collapsed, jinx took effect and we set yet another opposing team an inadequate target. Wilkie and Wood had got the innings off to a flying start, putting on 45 for the first wicket at three runs an over, but, not for the first time, after Wilkie's dismissal Wood followed with no further runs added. The situation worsened in the next over with Randell - Turner carelessly run out without even having faced a ball, and from then on only Cooksey performed with the bat, scoring 23, including one six, before being caught at square leg. None of the remaining batsmen reached double figures and from a reasonably healthy 72 for three the innings ended with the score on 91. Our bowlers were made to suffer early on, Cooksey especially being punished by a brisk 36 by Newport's opener, which included one six and five fours in a sensible innings. Osborne was the only bowler to find a good line and length and he was desperately unlucky not to come out of his spell with at least a couple of wickets. With two wickets down and the score at 36 it still seemed possible to grab a result, but a third-wicket stand of 39 effectively lost us the game. Hopes were raised a little with the introduction of Randell - Turner into the attack, as he took two further wickets, but by the time Dale bowled the opener only six more runs were required and a final four saw us lose by five wickets.

SWAY vs. BRITISH RAIL

The scorecard says it all really!!! With a damp wicket as a hindrance to the batsmen of both teams the respective bowlers were well and tally in control throughout. It was Srurley and Randell - Turner who took advantage for Sway, the former taking the first four wickets and then the latter taking over and mopping up the remaining six for new club record figures of 6 for 24. Our opening pair defied the trend, however, and put on 34. Even at 46 for just one wicket the target of 90 looked well within our grasp, but following the run out of Wood everything went horribly wrong. The final seven wickets fell with the addition of just one run, and each of the bottom eight batsmen recorded ducks. At least Cooksey offered a little resistance, facing 20 balls for his nought in typical Cooksey- esque fashion, before getting out bowled for what he claims is only the second time in his life. Those who know his batting style wouldn't argue1 More seriously though, this match highlighted once again that our main weakness is with the bat.

SWAY vs. HORDLE

Without doubt the biggest win ever tor the club, and an excellent all-round performance. The start, however, suggested that we weren't going to be in for such a good day. The first wicket fell with just one run on the board, as Wood ran himself out needlessly. With the other opener following soon after, newcomer Alexander then cemented things a little, and once he was joined by Cooksey things began to move along. The latter picked up an injury, but this proved to be an asset as he registered far more quick singles than he would normally have had the energy for! He finally fell just one run short of his first half century for the club, but by then Harris, another new batting recruit, had entered the fray and the score raced along as he scored a frantic 67. In their response Hordle never really got going and the opening pair of bowlers took the first six wickets with only 26 runs on the score-card. Osborne's economical spell was most impressive. With Hordle only fielding ten men-.the innings finished with them having scored just 50, only two players having reached double figures.

SWAY vs. SANDRDDGE

At the end of the day two factors almost certainly swung this game away from us: having a player less and conceding far too many extras. Extras finished joint highest scorer for the visitors with 25, mostly byes (which inexplicably found their way onto the bowlers' figures). The visiting team, who had travelled down from Hertfordshire and were playing us as part of a three-game short tour, batted first and suffered early on at the hands of Harris1 pace and Randell - Turner's swing. The fifth wicket fell with the score at 33 (only 17 of these runs coming off the bat), but the final pair shared an unbeaten 53 stand to set us a reasonable (but by no means tricky) target. Our response was sluggish to say the least, just 17 runs coming off the first six overs. Once Alexander and (especially) Harris got the bit between their teeth however victory suddenly seemed possible. 54 runs had still been needed with just three overs remaining, but the two slogged away, Harris hitting two big sixes, one of which landed on Pitmore Lane in the process, and had Alexander not been run out on the third ball of the final over the target may just have been reached. In the end a ten-run defeat wasn't too bad a result.

SWAY vs. MELROSE

An interesting match against a team who had travelled down from Surrey just for this one game. Whether we won, lost or tied is very much open for discussion! Melrose batted first and yet again our lack of an eleventh man was exploited for several boundaries. No-one batted exceptionally, but four reached double figures and the score moved gradually along to the final total of 107. Good bowling particularly from Osborne and Randall - Turner limited the score. Our openers got off to a good start, but not for the first time this year the first two wickets fell at the same score. A sticky patch followed before Page and Keen put on 19 for the sixth wicket. Two more ducks were to follow and it was at this stage that the result got more than a little confused. One of Melrose's bowlers had by this time been taken to hospital after splitting his forehead, with our tenth (and last) batsman, Jim Sherring, having volunteered to take him and not yet returned. Jim himself wouldn't mind admitting that with him at the crease we would have been lucky in the extreme to score the 32 still required, so on that count we lost. The opposition nominated Osborne to bat in his place, and he duly followed his earlier duck with 17 not out as he and Page guided us to our target, and, technically, a win. We had decided, however, to declare with the scores level, feeling a little guilty about such a contrived victory, but with us two runs adrift they conceded four byes for us to pass them. Even so we opted for the tie, ignoring two of the runs! Most importantly, despite the rain late on in our innings, everyone enjoyed themselves.

SWAY vs. CAMELOT

After our emphatic defeat in the away match in May Camelot visited no doubt expecting to beat us for the fourth time in two seasons. It is presumably a sign of our continuing improvement that this time we avoided defeat with comfort. Camelot batted first, losing two wickets in the first ten overs with just 27 runs scored, but stands of 62 for the third and 47 for the fourth wickets, centering around the arrogant S. Lohse pushed the score along. The run-rate slowed after his dismissal, caught by Frow off the bowling of Osborne. The innings finally closed with the score on 191. Our reply started comfortably with Wilkie and Wood putting on 59 for the first wicket, a club record for an opening stand. Two further wickets fell within the following eight overs, but Alexander and Baker, playing his first game of the season, steadied the innings and though the final total was 58 less than that of Camelot, with only four wickets down the draw was comfortable.

SWAY vs. RINGWOOD

With only nine men available at the start time Ringwood batted first, eventually using our two subs anyway. Unfortunately their general attitude left a lot to be desired, even for a Sunday friendly. Concentrating on the task in hand was therefore harder for us, but we stuck to it pretty well and the opposition were dismissed for 88, without us having to resort to the potentially dangerous pace of Harris. Dale did the bulk of the damage with the ball, with good catching playing a part for a change. In order to make more of a game of it and to give lower order batsmen a chance at the crease the batting order was changed markedly. Keen took the opportunity well, putting on 32 for the first wicket with Frow before going on to make the bulk of the runs until he was caught behind just one run short of a half - century. But with only six more runs needed the victory was by that stage a formality.

REPLY TO ARTICLE IN LYMINGTON MATCH MAGAZINE
(25th JUNE vs HAMBLEDON)

Many players from nearby clubs are desperate to join the phenomenon happening down at the SCO. However to avoid disappointment please forward playing experience at your earliest convenience to the club Secretary. A small tip, do not apply unless you can improve on the combined performance of the last eight batsman at our recent encounter with British Rail, as rejection can cause offence.

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