Club Statistics
Match Summary: vs. Merton, Sunday, 27 Jul 2008
Ground: John Innes Rec.
Captain: Andrew Wingfield
Match type: 40 overs
Toss: Exiles elected to bat
Weather: Humid
Opposition: Merton scored: 52 all out (19.3 overs)
Exiles Score: 235 for 4 (40 overs)
Result: Won by 183 runs
Man of the match: Amil Patel 85 runs
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keith Roberts | ct. | 33 | 66 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | Jasper Searle | b. | 28 | 30 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | Amil Patel (W) | st. | 85 | 92 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | Jon Parker-Jones | ct. | 25 | 35 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Mike Phillips | not out | 18 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | David Stiffell | not out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Simon Gundry | dnb | ||||
| 8 | Andrew Wingfield (C) | dnb | ||||
| 9 | Marcin Zieleniewski | dnb | ||||
| 10 | Naren Patel | dnb | ||||
| 11 | Gwyn Thomas | dnb | ||||
| Extra(s) 11w 23b 11lb | 45 | |||||
| 235 | 240 | |||||
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | Avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Wingfield | 8.0 | 1 | 24 | 3 | 8 |
| 2 | Naren Patel | 8.0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 3.8 |
| 3 | Gwyn Thomas | 2.0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Marcin Zieleniewski | 1.3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.5 |
| Player | Catch | Run Out | Stumping | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amil Patel (W) | 1 | |||
| Simon Gundry | 2 | |||
| Jon Parker-Jones | 1 |
Exiles turned up at the pretty John Innes recreation ground expecting a long hard game in hot humid conditions but after posting a competitive total on a good batting pitch blew the opposition away in under 20 overs.
Opening the batting Keith and Jasper were quickly into their stride, scoring briskly off the strike bowlers. Jasper looked in particularly good touch playing the ball Caribbean style on the up and finding the boundary regularly before falling to the good leg spinner.
After surviving a close LBW shout first ball, Amil finally made a welcome return to form with the bat by scoring a classy 85 of 92 balls. With the Merton bowlers perhaps bowling a bit short Amil played some delightful lofted carves into the third man region amongst his more traditional front foot play.
The excellent run rate continued throughout the innings with excellent placement from John and some powerful hitting from Mike – his fiercely struck four through mid on being particularly memorable.
At the interval Exiles were treated to an excellent tea, perhaps in the hope that it might weigh down the opening bowlers.
However, any fears that the Exiles were in for a long afternoon quickly evaporated as Andy blew apart the top order with some mighty fine in-swing bowling. Amil took a good catch behind the stumps to remove the left hander but the in-swinging delivery to hit the top of off to remove the big hitting opener was a rare gem indeed. Not to be outdone Naren was soon in the act obliterating the middle order, one wicket with the help of a sharp catch by John at slip. After bowling through Andy and Naren had taken 8 wickets between them.
With Merton now in total disarray Andy brought on the Thomas’ to finish the job. Thomas M soon took the final two wickets to seal a surprisingly easy victory. That said we batted intelligently, paced our innings superbly; made the most of the pitch conditions and fielded well.
Report By: Simon Gundry
Captains log: Andrew Wingfield
A good toss to win, no doubts about batting first in the stifling heat?
Absolutely none - the weather was sweltering and although the pitch looked a bit scruffy, I was still sure it would play pretty well. In fact, I'd describe the pitch at John Innes as similar to Nursery Road - i.e. it doesn't look as nice as those at Chiswick, but it normally plays at least as well - regardless of what it looks like. The fact that the opposition captain said to me he'd be in trouble with his team-mates for losing the toss when we walked back from the pitch spoke volumes!
The way you and Naren bowled, showed it was perhaps a fair pitch to bowl on?
Possibly - we certainly found some swing and some seam. I'm not really sure how it happened that we found movement and they didn't - perhaps there was more cloud cover after tea - that said, I thought the Merton attack looked a little raw - the leg-spinner apart; their quicker bowlers seemed to generate reasonable pace, but lacked control and nous - so many deliveries were short and wide of off stump and were relatively easy pickings...
Have you noticed a change in the attitude to the batting in some of the last few matches, no longer settling for a score of 170 for example when getting a good start?
It’s certainly true that we've got past 200 on 3 occasions in recent matches - but I do feel that its more that the opportunity to do this has presented itself more readily in the last few games than earlier in the season - the attacks we've faced haven't quite been as good and the pitches have been better. For example, when we batted first against a disciplined Agricola attack on a tricky Chiswick pitch D a few weeks ago, we still struggled to only 159. I do believe that the intention is always there to get the big scores, but sometimes the belief, as well as the opportunity, is not. This is what I think has changed - the increased confidence of the team - which is only achieved by winning matches. Long may it continue!
Watching Amil scratching around for runs this season has been painful for all to see, but you must be relieved he finally showed what he could do?
Absolutely! He's had a tough season to date and the fact that he's been building up a pretty large carbon footprint for work is surely not just a coincidence. In fact, as I understand it, he's now had the last 2 or 3 weeks all based back in London - and suddenly the runs start flowing again. And as Ryan Sidebottom might say, there's considerable benefit of not sleeping in hotel beds all the time! Another side to cricket fitness perhaps?
A quick word on JPJ's all round contribution since he came into the side
Has not gone without notice; I think his calm and authoritative presence has had a massive influence on the upturn in fortune of the side - particular the top-order batting - which seems like it's had the shackles released - Q has belted 3 50's recently and now Amil has got one. Further to this, John has got plenty of runs himself, has taken at least 2 slip catches - which are often all too seldom in Exiles games - as well as providing a useful off-spin bowling option. You can't really ask for a lot more than that!
Naren has been unlucky this season, but his bowling on Sunday rolled back the years
Absolutely, 5 for 19 are certainly impressive figures. However, I think he has bowled way better on many occasions in the past, including this season, and not got anything like as good figures. As his slightly muted wicket celebrations bore witness to, almost guilty in fact! But as many an opposition batter will tell you, when the ball is doing a bit, Naren becomes an extremely awkward bowler to try to play.
After some upheaval earlier in the season, the team really seems to have settled down in the last few weeks, with great results, must be a joy to captain?
Yeah - winning is a nice habit to have. As I've stated in these bulletins previously, the ideal for the Exiles every Sunday - bearing in mind we're only playing friendlies - is to win games of cricket with everyone contributing. And I will take my satisfaction and feel as it I'm doing my job as captain correctly if this is being achieved. And it certainly feels like most players have scored a few runs or taken a few wickets in the recent weeks. I think the upheaval of earlier in the season shook the club significantly and I know I for one questioned whether I was doing things the right way. I certainly feel that the last few weeks have reassured me and if we can continue to the end of the season in a similar vein it will round of an excellent season.
Interviewed By: Jasper Searle