Energy Exiles Cricket Club

Match Summary: vs. Beddington, Sunday, 07 Aug 2016

Ground: Dundonald Rec Ground
Captain: Will Kent
Match type: 40 overs
Toss: Exiles elected to bat
Weather: Mainly sunny, breezy
Opposition: Beddington scored: 155 for 7 (37.5 overs)
Exiles Score: 154 all out (34.3 overs)
Result: Lost by 3 wickets
Man of the match: Marcin Zieleniewski 37 runs

Exiles returned to Dundonald Road for the second time in two weeks on Sunday for a home game against Beddington, the Sunday team of a Surrey Premier Division side. By some sort of miracle, Exiles had managed to turn up with twelve men, which handed Steve an opportunity to play for the opposition as he so often seems to enjoy doing, given that they turned up with ten.

Having won the toss and opted to bat on a warm and sunny day, stand in skipper Will Kent struggled to find a willing opening partner, and so it was him and unlikely companion Marcin who strode out together to open the batting. For the first couple of overs, it mattered very little who the batsmen were, as a string of wides and no balls flew down, as extras got off to a very quick start.

The bowlers soon found their range, but Exiles had made a solid start, and were handily positioned on 32/0 off 7 overs with both batsmen seemingly solid at the crease. This changed in the space of the next over, as Will managed to turn a seemingly innocuous ball into a wicket just as he was beginning to find his scoring shots, before Craig (eager to make up for calling in sick the week before) edged into the slips for a duck. 39/2.

Marcin then began to take it upon himself to launch a counter attack, which he did with aplomb, going through the gears as new middle order partner Andy Poole found his feet. The partnership was ticking along nicely, before Marcin, going along nicely on 37 ‘couldn’t keep his head down any longer’ and decided to hoick a straight one, with his Exiles top score in his sights. Meanwhile, Andy was accumulating runs sensibly, although George soon followed Marcin back to the sidelines, no doubt eager to see how Aston Villa were faring in their first foray into the Championship (badly). Exiles were a slightly shaky 88/4 at drinks.

Matters were soon to get worse as Exiles crumbled to 108/7, with the top 7 all gone, only Andy Poole remotely troubling the scorer further with 17. Terence (25) and Ammar provided some resistance in the lower order, but by the time Turncoat Steve had taken his second catch of the afternoon, Exiles were 145/9 and in the hands of a Phil Ling batting lesson. Phil brought up his hundredth Exiles run by hooking a beamer to great applause from the boundary, although seemed keener to berate some umpiring rather than celebrate this highly improbable feat. Returning to the norm, Phil then ran himself out, and Exiles were 154 all out.

After tea, which mostly seemed to involve stopping Simon’s dog or the wind carrying it all away, Exiles started quickly in making amends for a fairly shoddy batting performance. Early wickets fell thanks to some very tight and penetrative bowling from Wingers and Ammar, but some dogged resilience from former Exile Sri, meant that Beddington continued to amass runs, albeit at a slow pace.

Ammar bowled out immediately with a very good 2/20 off his eight, including finally taking the caught and bowled chance which had evaded him in previous months. Into the attack were Phil and Jibs, and another quick wicket brought in Turncoat Steve at 6, with Beddington in a spot of bother at 51/4 of 17 overs. Steve performed a Geoffrey Boycott masterclass, seemingly trying to bore the Exiles into losing concentration. After eventually hitting the ball off the square with a well struck cover drive, Phil was in no mood to let this betrayal continue and produced a fierce ball, short of a length which swung and jagged back at Steve, who gloved it to Will for his second catch of the game. Phil also removed opener Sri for 30, leaving Beddington 86/6 off 25, and in a spot of bother.

This was no trouble for the Beddington 7 and 8 however, and fresh from their Surrey Premier Division match the previous day, they began to knock off the runs and bring an air of inevitability to the result of the game. Terence, Jibs and Wingers toiled away, but the class of the opposition told, and a swift 50 from the number 7 took Beddington over the line with 3 wickets and thirteen balls to spare to consign miserable Exiles to their 6^thconsecutive defeat.

Up next the Nomads – can Exiles turn their season round in the face of old rivals?

Report By: Craig Wiliams

Interview with Man of the Match: Marcin Zieleniewski

Man-of-the-match Marcin Zieleniewski wasn't prepared to speak to the press, but another of the Exiles batting stars of the day was available for comment...

On 7 August 2016, in his 97th Exiles match and 39th innings, Phil Ling finally scored his hundredth run for the Exiles. The Exiles website caught up with Phil to congratulate him on this momentous achievement:

Phil very well batted, you must be delighted with this landmark?

It was certainly one of my main aims when I started my Exiles career

Where does it rank in your lifetime of achievements?

Right up there, especially as I join a band of only 8 other players to have scored more than 100 runs for the club and taken more than 100 wickets

You actually scored 5 runs in this innings, what do you think caused this sudden up-turn in run-scoring volume?

Being allowed to bat

What's been your favourite innings over the years?

Probably WICC at Nursery Road last year, they don't have rubbish bowlers and managed to get a good bat. In fact I've scored more runs against WICC than any other club, although this may be because they've become so good I normally get an innings.

Although you've obviously dominated most bowlers, are there any you've felt might occasionally trouble you?

I hate depth charge like all true Exiles batsmen. In the nets I've found Phil Chamberlain a difficult person to bat against, he bowls a great length swings it away, and has one that comes back.

A lot of Exiles batsmen have recently been involved in run-outs with you - do you put this down to their non-understanding of the intelligence required to bat at your level?

What are you trying to say about Terence?!

What is your favourite shot?

Growing up it was the cut shot, but I think at present it's the leave.

Do you now consider yourself established amongst the elite of Exiles batting with the likes of Jon Taylor?

I never got to play with Jon Taylor, even though he introduced me to the club. I think our batting and bowling are inversely proportional to each other. Although our throwing abilities are apparently very similar.

With the likes of Hales, Balance and Vince currently struggling, I bet England would love to be able to call on a player with your repertoire of shots. Would you be available if the call came?

Alistair Cook only has 4 shots (cut, nudge drive, clip off legs and swivel pull), hasn't done him any harm!

Bradman, Sobers, Lara, Tendulkar, Ling. Has a nice ring to it. Do you think the others consider themselves worthy of being on such a list?

I'm always happy to endorse any cricket computer game.

The Phil Ling Masterclass seems to have become a more frequent topic of conversation post match - is this a deliberate attempt to pass on your knowledge to assist your teammates to match your ambition?

I believe since the masterclasses have started we've had record innings, scores and partnerships. Like a doting father, seeing his child succeed, I live my batting through teammates.

Any tips for youngsters out there, looking to find their way in the game as a batsman?

Take your time to build an innings. Even in T20.

You've also taken 112 wickets for the club. Do you consider your bowling to just be a sideshow to your batting, or do you have genuine hopes of being an all-rounder?

I've opened the batting at school so I have no qualms with taking on more responsibility.

Now you've scored a hundred runs for the club, what possible future batting achievements are there for you to aim for ahead?

Well even Glenn McGrath scored a career 50 despite an average of 7.75 (first class)...

Phil very well batted. I'm sure all Exiles members in attendance on the day will always remember that moment. Here's to another hundred runs over the next decade.

Interviewed By: Exiles Website

Last modified: 11 March 2018 14:31:46. Top of the page