Club Statistics
Match Summary: vs. Royal Ascot, Sunday, 12 Jul 2009
Ground: Ascot
Captain: Amil Patel
Match type: Limited Time
Toss: Exiles elected to field
Weather: Sunny, hard pitch
Opposition: Royal Ascot scored: 177 all out (40 overs)
Exiles Score: 109 all out(34.2 overs)
Result: Lost by 69 runs
Man of the match: Phil Chamberlain 4 for 52
| Batsmen | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quentin Davies | retired - hurt | 36 | 68 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | Wil Scott | ct. | 4 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | Jon Parker-Jones | ct. | 17 | 32 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Mike Knight | ct. | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Amil Patel (C)(W) | b. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Phil Steers | b. | 13 | 27 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | Martin Kerrison | lbw | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Phil Chamberlain | ct. | 15 | 22 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | Phil Ling | not out | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Naren Patel | b. | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Extra(s) 6w 7b 4lb | 17 | |||||
| 109 | 182 | |||||
| Bowler | O | M | R | W | Avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Chamberlain | 12.0 | 1 | 52 | 4 | 13 |
| 2 | Mike Knight | 7.0 | 1 | 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Phil Ling | 6.0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 19 |
| 4 | Naren Patel | 8.0 | 2 | 27 | 3 | 9 |
| 5 | Jon Parker-Jones | 7.0 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 18 |
| Player | Catch | Run Out | Stumping | Penalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amil Patel (W) | 3 | |||
| Phil Chamberlain | 1 | |||
| Phil Ling | 1 | |||
| Phil Steers | 2 |
Exiles won the toss and elected to field on a surprisingly good wicket and outfield considering the heavy rainfall that had nearly led to the cancellation of the game. Chamberlain, unaccompanied by his family, was selected to open the bowling in line with his new found status as a "strike bowler". Aware of the heavy burden he was carrying, following in the footsteps of luminaries such as Bunton and Hilson, he delivered a ballooning full toss on leg stump that struggled to reach the batsman. The batsman, in palpable shock at the "antics" of Chamberlain (it has been alleged that he was giggling on his way into bowl), only managed to get a leaning edge that was smartly taken with a "diving" catch by wicketkeeper Amil. Following an over that gradually improved Chamberlain was banished to fine leg to graze and recover from his hangover. Knight from the other end started well and was causing the openers some difficulty with his swing and bounce. The openers continued to cause the batsmen some difficulties, with Chamberlain picking up as his hangover receded and Knight providing consistent menace. However, the batsmen took some chances and were scoring at six an over while keeping the bowlers interested. Chamberlain continued to pick up wickets while Knight was slightly unlucky not to do so at the other end. Ling came on and following Chamberlain's lead started off a little shakily but picked up as his spell went on and honeymoon rustiness tapered off. At the other end Patel snr bowled a tight and probing spell consistently putting pressure on the batsmen and taking wickets at regular intervals.
Exiles as is their wont in recent weeks continue to suffer from lastwicketitis which is mutated strand of the swine flu "pandemic". Lastwicketitis is not particularly life threatening but drives the Exiles captain and team slightly mad until the last wicket is taken. However, there are signs that its severity is on the wane as it only took the team 8 ish overs to dismiss the last pair. A Patel combination with senior inducing a cut stroke from a ball that bounced a bit and jnr taking a smart catch behind the stumps.
The frustrations at being unable to take the last wicket were compounded at tea when news filtered through to the Exiles camp that the batsman who had been particularly severe on the bowling hadn't actually scored "big runs" for a while. Why is it that this always seems to happen to the Exiles?
When the Exiles went out to bat they were tested by some probing, impressive bowling that fully exploited anything that was in the wicket. Everyone was impressed by the Ascot leg spin bowler who bowled with great control and variety. Q played a very traditional innings producing the odd lasso shot and rapier like drive in between some watchful defence. At the other end Wil was watchful until he received a nasty delivery to get caught behind. JPJ was batting steadily and pushing the score along with Q until he too perished, out in slightly disappointing fashion when he was looking to push on. Knight received a sharp, lifting delivery that he did well to glove behind and A. Patel received a ball that pitched on leg and hit the top of off to record his second duck in a row since returning to the side. Steers joined Q and played very steadily until disaster struck. Q, warming up for his cycling holiday by playing cricket, was hit by a short delivery flush on his elbow. Coming off he said that one of their players who was a consultant (or so Q thought) had told him it was an impact injury and shouldn't be too bad. Q was forced to retire being virtually unable to move his arm while showing off a Skinny-esque bruise on his elbow. Steers continued to hold things together for a while and the crowd were briefly entertained to a brief cameo by Chamberlain who rolled back the years to show the cricketing world how a number 8 used to bat before lower order hitters became competent technicians. Some wonderful "giving yourself a bit of room and time" shots were played in between the odd solid no-foot-movement defensive attempt - if only Hilson had been at the other end to complement such fine batsmanship with a few super-stretch and bully shots.
Chamberlain eventually perished to a mow and Steers was out bowled following a good effort. Ascot quickly wrapped up the innings to record a fairly comprehensive and well-deserved victory.
Many thanks to Royal Ascot C.C. for their hospitality and inviting us to play at their beautifully located ground on the racecourse site - hopefully, we can make this a regular fixture in the future following two good encounters in the last couple of years.
Report By: Amil Patel