Author Archives: AndyWingfield

Exiles in first win furlong time at Royal Ascot…

Exiles beat Royal Ascot by 40 runs to finally pick up their first win of the 2014 season, inspired by Bernard Leuvennink.

On winning the toss, Exiles batted and Chris Plume (33) and Will Kent (58) put on a solid 68 for the first wicket to set a good platform, but quick wickets saw the Exiles slip to 139 for 5 before a fine partnership of 65 between Leuvennink (69*) and Simon Gundry (19*) saw the Exiles finish well – scoring exactly 100 off the last 10 overs, Leuvennink hitting 4 sixes in a 37 ball maiden Exiles half-century.

Andy Wingfield (2 for 14) and Gundry (2 for 25) put pressure on the Royal Ascot batters from the off, but a partnership of 95 for the 3rd wicket put the home side right back in the game. But once the returning Wingfield broke the partnership, Exiles regularly picked up wickets, with golden-arm Leuvennink picking up 3 quick wickets at the death as Ascot were strangled, finishing on 164 for 8.

A morale-boosting win. Surbiton are next up at DunDonald Rec.

Andy Wingfield maiden Exiles 50 interview

On 4th May, 2014 Andy Wingfield finally (finally) got his maiden Exiles fifty – at the 143rd time of asking, it turns out! The Exiles caught up with Andy to talk about the achievement:

Andy, first Exiles game of the season against Spencer, how were you feeling?

Pretty good before the game to be honest – I’d had a game for OMT the previous week where I’d had a bit of a bat and a bowl, so I was hopeful I’d perform okay.

Exiles were really struggling when you came to the wicket, what were your thoughts?

Well I’d got thoroughly frustrated with my bowling earlier in the game – so I think there was some latent aggression still in my mind! I hadn’t bowled terribly, but conditions were good for batting and I hadn’t got my yorkers right at the death. My initial intent was to just consolidate and stay in for a while, but I was fortunate that a depth-charge bowler was introduced to the attack pretty quickly, and with a short leg-side boundary, it was red rag to a bull.

You were striking the ball really well and hit 4 sixes, their captain thought he should have put the boundary back another 20 yards. Did all the sixes hit the middle or were you in such good form you were mis-hitting sixes?

At the risk of sounding a bit blase, I don’t remember really getting hold of any of them – but I guess I got enough bat on the shots to clear the ropes a few times! Good bat & good pitch – it was fun. Just a bit annoying to get out, when there was potential for an even bigger score and the chance of Exiles pulling off a highly unlikely victory…

Most regular Exiles have seen you reach many scores between 45 and 49 did you always believe the maiden 50 would come?

Yes I guess so, but it was starting to get annoying. I’ve always fancied I can bat properly, but I’ve not demonstrated that anywhere near regularly enough – in any cricket – for my own liking. Yet.

Inevitably from me I’ve got a few stats on the subject – this was the 12th time I’ve gotten into the 40’s for the Exiles and was my 143rd innings for the club in my 194th game. And I’d scored 1,813 runs for the club without a 50 – comfortably more runs than anyone else who hadn’t got one!

You have moved on from being mainly a bowler to a genuine Exiles all-rounder but was the elusive 50 starting to play on your mind?

It didn’t bother me for ages – for a time I was just pleased to start contributing more and more with the bat, but as time went on and I didn’t get a 50 it started to get annoying. Particularly with frequent reminders from the likes of Simon! And a couple of extremely near misses added to things – for example, getting out for 48 against Dodgers with a ball that bounced at least twice and finishing 49 not out against OMT when I hit the last ball of the match for what I felt was a six, but it was so dark that no-one was really sure and only a four was given!

One of my biggest targets for the Exiles – and something I believe is a reliable mark of an all-rounder is to get my career batting average higher than my bowling average and I’ve made it difficult for myself – after my first 5 years at the club, I’d got about 400 runs at about 10 and 87 wickets at barely much under 30! They’re now much closer – 18 vs 21 or so, so hopefully I can get that sorted in the next few seasons…

Finally many congratulations on you maiden Exiles 50, how did feel, any shots you’d like to mention or stages of your innings, although on getting 50 in 27 balls it must have passed by in a flash? Hopefully there will be more to come.

Thanks, it was definitely a very satisfying moment – especially after all the dramas – some of which I’ve mentioned above. It was also important that I got through the 40s in very quick time – I reckon about 4 balls – so I didn’t have a lot of time to think about getting close to the landmark! I guess it was all pretty agricultural, but after all my golfing as a kid, that style of batting comes naturally!

I definitely hope to score plenty more 50s for the Exiles – though time will tell I guess. But I feel there’s a lot more unfulfilled potential in my batting than my bowling and it’s one of the things I really enjoy about cricket – the fact that even after over 350 club games in the last 12 years, I’m still learning and (hopefully) improving.

Andy, many thanks for your time and here’s hoping the next fifty comes round more frequently!

Chris Plume maiden 50 interview

On 4 May 2014, Chris Plume scored his maiden Exiles 50 – in an innings of 63 not out, carrying his bat against his former club Spencer. The Exiles website caught up with Chris to find out his thoughts on this achievement:

First Exiles game of the season against Spencer, how were you feeling?

I was a little nervous! I was keen that we gave Spencer a good game so we could look at making it a regular fixture for the Exiles. In the end, although we fell short, I think it was a pretty competitive game and hopefully we can get to play them again.

After 40 overs of keeping wicket how did it feel to opening the batting aginst your former club?

When I went out to bat I was a bundle of nerves, partly because of the chase and partly because I was playing against some guys I’ve known for nearly 15 years. But I settled down eventually. Tiredness set in after about 30 overs!!

You looked pretty comfortable against their bowlers and at various stages Exiles were really in the game chasing down their score, was there added enjoyment scoring runs at a familiar ground?

Yeah there was a nice symmetry to score my highest ever total at Spencer, where I learnt the game and played all my colts cricket. Batting with Andy was great because I knew I wasn’t under any pressure, I was just rotating the strike, picking the singles and watching him send it to all parts (but mostly cow corner) from the non strikers end!

There is a lot of talk about multi-dimentional cricketers but I think you are now taking this to extremes, i) spin bowler ii) batsmen iii) wicket keeper iv) excellent in the field v) you also bring the average age of Exiles down by at least 10 years when you play

..talks us through this and is there anything you can’t do?

I just want to contribute. I kept wicket a bit as a kid but gave it up and became a spinner instead. I did it three or four times last season and it felt good; my batting has come on massively since my colts days too, when I was a proper number 11! I like being involved and, as long as I’m adding value, I’m happy to fill any role that the team needs on a given day.

Finally many congratulations on you maiden Exiles 50, how did feel, any shots you’d like to mention or stages of you innings? Hopefully there will be more to come.

Cheers. I got to drop anchor and take my time which suits my style really. I led a bit of a charmed life – I think I was dropped twice – but there was no movement through the air or off the pitch so I felt reasonably comfortable. The only memorable shot from my recollection is a cover drive I hit off one of the slower bowlers, which I timed really nicely.

Chris, many thanks for your time and here’s hoping for many more Exiles fifties in future. 

Exiles out of Joynt

Exiles suffered their 3rd straight loss at the start of the 2014 season following an 87 run defeat against Agricola.

After a couple of new ball strikes from Andy Wingfield (2 for 11), a superb partnership of 123 from Agricola’s Mike Almond (46) and Russell Joynt (a hard hit 82) put their team in a very strong position before 4 fine strikes on debut from Al Shelley (4 for 49) got the Exiles back in the game, and some excellent spin from Chris Plume (3 for 8) finished off the Agricola innings for 173, with over 4 overs unused, the last 8 wickets falling for 30 runs.

The Exiles reply started off disastrously and barely got any better. Captain John Tither fell second ball as 3 quick strikes from Dan Gauntlett and an important one from Andy Dugdale quickly saw the Exiles 4 for 4. Jasper Searle (20) and Wingfield (17) then worked hard adding 41 runs in 15 overs as the Exiles looked to get back in the chase, but once they both fell in quick succession, only some late hitting saw the Exiles get within a hundred.

Exiles are off to the races at Ascot next week looking to kick-start their season.