Old Blog

Son of “Website In Update Shock!”

Date: April 13, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Ok, I’ve finally done it. No, not given the groundsman his Christmas 2001 bottle of single malt – I’ve been quaffing that into the wee small hours while updating our website! It’s all here – fixtures, ground locations, even a handy Outlook calendar so you’ll never forget where you’re playing next weekend. Please enjoy. From now on though, Rob Orange will be sharing his thoughts about the season’s progress here on ‘Captain’s Blog’. Be seeing you…

Byfleet CC Ends Chigwell’s Unbeaten Run (Byfleet 25/4/04)

Date: April 29, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

What happened to Wells? Sadly the local fixture was cancelled with indecent lateness by our local rivals, citing some old tosh about not being able to prepare a pitch for the Sunday game…. both pitches in use on Saturday however….hmmm. Still I’m sure they had their reasons. The lateness of the cancellation left us having to arrange a fixture through the conference, and ending up on the opposite side of the M25 at Byfleet. We fielded first and recovered well from a rapid start by Byfleet. They ended on 205 for 7, three wickets to Rob Allum, 2 to Nick Allum and generally good bowling from Dom, Tim M and Joe. Owen swung the ball well, but was smashed mercilessly around the ground in the period immediately prior to the declaration. Chigwell found their opening batting innings of the season difficult and couldn’t score at any sort of rate. Most perished trying to play shots, hardly anyone managed to get away with even the slightest aggressive intent. All out for 95 and a heavy defeat, but not without some positive aspects; after all we did play pretty much a first XI team. Greater glory will be ours!!!

Hapless Wood Green

Date: May 04, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Hadley Wood Green 179 all out Chigwell 181 for 4 Chigwell won by 6 wickets Rob won the toss and put the opposition in to bat on a damp and slow pitch, writes Vice Captain Brad Davis . Nigel and Phil opened the bowling and both bowled good tight spells restricting the opposition to little over 20 in the 1st 16 overs. Phil took 1 wicket and Nigel deserved more but his efforts went unrewarded. Rob Allum came on as 1st change and bowled extremely well deservedly finishing with a 5-wicket haul, which could easily have been more including the dangerous number 3 who hit the ball straight to Harvey who had been perfectly positioned at deep backward square. Joe managed to spin the ball quite a bit on the damp surface and was also unlucky not to take a wicket. Nick came on to bowl but was unable to find any rhythm and was hit for a few lusty blows in an unusual wicketless spell. Brad came on to bowl and was paying severely for lack of net practice and whilst trying too hard not to bowl short resulted only in a succession of full tosses with 22 coming off 2 overs helping the opposition towards a respectable score! In a show of early season generosity the skipper allowed him to continue being rewarded with 2 wickets for a further cost of 14 runs in another 3 overs. Captain replaced vice captain at the end polishing off the innings by bowling the last batsman. Ritchie kept superbly throughout the innings conceding only 3 byes capping his performance with a brilliant run out throwing down the stumps from about 10 yards whilst still wearing his glove with only 1 stump to aim at! This was a crucial wicket of a big hitter who had just started to get his eye in! Although 2 catches went down a very solid bowling and fielding display by the Chigs. Chigwell needed a solid start and received it with Harvey and Mark putting on over 100 for the 1st wicket. Harvey entertained the crowd Freddie style with some glorious shots, taking a particular liking to Jim’s wayward deliveries and reaching his 50 with an enormous straight 6! At one stage Harvey had outscored Mark by 23 to 1! Harvey finally holed out for 60 with Mark going on to a well-deserved 50 before being triggered reluctantly by the skipper. Jo was bowled 1st ball by one that kept low and Rob Allum was also bowled by a ball that swung in violently on the 2nd bounce, hitting the base of the stumps just before the 3rd bounce, leaving Rob with a face like Mike Gatting after that famous Shane Warne delivery. However, fears of a Chigwell collapse never materialised with Graham and Nick seeing us home with plenty to spare as Nick finally timed one to see us to victory. Overall, an excellent performance, with every player making their contribution. As ever Chigwell triumphed in the bar ably led by Nigel and the skipper although both were surpassed in The Nightingale later by Oliver Reed (alias Owen! (http://www.ravenblond.com/pgloeckner/images/oliver.jpg) )

Drying Pitch, Damp Finish

Date: May 15, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Chaseville 200 for 6 declared Chigwell 177 for 9 Match drawn After the excitement of moving the roller and towel drying the pitch, I won the toss and inserted the opposition in very damp conditions last Sunday, 9th May, writes Brad Davis . Dom and Phil opened the bowling, Phil going unrewarded but Dom returning excellent figures of 2-31 off 12 overs. Tim M bowled a very good tight spell, also taking 2 wickets. There was also a wicket for Joe; Rob Allum bowled tidily at the end taking a wicket as Chaseville reached 200 for 6 at around ten to five. On a drying pitch we always had a chance but the loss of early wickets slowed the scoring, increasing the run rate and the pressure on the middle order. Nigel batting at four played superbly for 41 in even time, his highest score for the club, but the dismissals of Tim M and Rob A, both to brilliant catches as they were starting to get going, left us chasing more than eight an over coming into the final ten overs, with only three wickets left. A stand of 42 for the 8th wicket between Joe and Ritchie kept us in the hunt but it was left to the skipper bringing up the rear to watch one delivery go harmlessly wide of his leg stump as Joe went on to complete a super fifty leaving us 23 short at stumps.

More Chig Woe

Date: May 19, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell 104 all out Coopersale 105 for 2 Lost by 8 wickets In a match that was almost cancelled on Wednesday due to us being unable to raise a team we were always going to be up against it on Sunday, writes ‘Scoop’ Davis . We ended up fielding a weak side, particularly on the batting front, where we had only 3 or 4 recognised batsmen. We started half an hour late and the toss took place at 2.20. In a scenario where we could surely only field first Rob O found himself winning the toss with 3 of our team still not on the ground including, his 2 opening bowlers so felt he had no choice but to bat. We struggled to score any runs against a very tight opening attack, one of their bowlers producing figures of 10 8 3 2. After about 20 overs we had 20 odd for 3. Harvey batted very patiently and responsibly for an hour and a half seeing off the opening bowlers but hit virtually the 1st loose ball he received straight to a fielder and our hopes of any sort of competitive score disappeared with him. We struggled to 60 for 7 with Owen scoring 15 at which point they brought on their fifth string bowling attack, coinciding with the entrance of Dom who smashed them all over the place, including a huge six which almost took out two cars in its wake and seeing us through to 100. We actually bowled pretty well, Dom taking one wicket but no joy for Tim on this occasion. Guy bowled fast and accurately with no luck and Sarj could also have had a wicket. Charlie and Brad finished things off, Charlie bowling some very nice off spin and Brad trapping their opener plumb in front just before the inevitable with nine overs to spare.

One Two Remember As Chigwell Have Fives At Sixes and Sevens, But Not Four Long As They Fail To Break Three, Thus Not Ending On Cloud Nine

Date: May 27, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Ahem. Chigwell displayed a real sense of purpose last Sunday, and hinted at even better to come, as they were reluctantly forced to settle for a draw against a strong Fives team. The skipper inconveniently won the toss, thereby forcing him to make a decision that he’d rather have avoided. The stinging criticisms of his decision to bat first the week before were ignored, as the team this week looked really quite strong: the decision to field first was this time due to the one they call “Norman”, the Fives skipper, who seems destined always to score a ton at a run a ball or better. In the field Chigwell’s focus was particularly pleasing and even two slip catches being spilled in the first over didn’t dampen spirits. Dom, the unlucky bowler, maintained his high standard of pace and direction and Rob Allum bowled with panache and guile. It was Rob who claimed the first wicket when eventually Charlton reminded the team of how to execute a catch. The horses douvres was followed by the dog’s bollocks when a plan hatched by bowler and wicket keeper forced Norman, the linchpin of the Fives batting order, into a loose shot and the swerving spinning ball was expertly pouched by Brad at point. All the bowlers contributed to a fine innings in the field; Tim Mitzman 1-25, Brad 2-32, and Nick producing excellent figures of 7 overs 3 maidens 2 wickets for 8. Rob O brought himself on, although many felt a rapier thrust with a quick bowler might have been a better choice. Many were proved correct, not least Dom who, after watching the skipper’s second over go for 21, was returned to the attack and took the last two wickets in one over. Fives all out for 184. I’m sure we will win many matches this season if we continue to shine in the field as we did on Sunday. Dom, Rob A, Tim M and Nick form the core of a very useful attack, with many able candidates to supplement their talents. Sadly our batting, as often seems to be the way when we bat second, did not quite come up to scratch. Nigel was the biggest exception to this, top scoring with 31. The team continued to chase the modest total until victory was impossible, whereupon Brad and Ritchie further enhanced their performances by batting out the last four overs with no real scares. So now the tour beckons…… and, if the “Beamers” happen to be monitoring this site, be warned: Chigwell are ready. Wear body armour. (Report by Rob Orange)

Ingatestone Survive Thrilling Chigwell Fightback (Ingatestone 6/6/04)

Date: June 08, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

The Chigwell skipper skillfully lost the toss, thus avoiding having to justify fielding first on a warm summer’s day. Ingatestone looked the part, and the top order played shots with gay abandon, some stylish stroke play mixed with the occasional loose shot. Tim and Dom bowled well, as we have come to expect, but Ingatestone still prospered with only a solitary loss to the Mitzman. Chigwell’s own Bros entered the fray, and despite suffering a few choice hits slowly dragged Chigwell back into the game. From the boundary proud father and president Doug saw Rob Allum taking three wickets, with Nick removing the stubborn opener. The lower echelons of the Ingatestone batting were not of the same high pedigree as the top three and the scoring rate tailed off somewhat. Owen had a couple of overs, but was hit for a few lusty blows. Orange replaced him, and showed the perverse nature of cricket by finishing with 2 for 0 off two overs; 2 weeks ago it was he who went for 26 in 2 overs! The innings closed on 244 for 7, a pretty good performance by Chigwell given the rapid start Ingatestone had to their innings. Now, or after tea at any rate, Chigwell faced the task of scoring 245 in 45 overs or so, an asking rate of 5.44. Hall and Orange opened, but both were out in their teens, Nigel flashed the blade but holed out in single figures, and Paul had a look but was caught trying to move things on. Sir Loin of Tonkington Village (aka Graham) was in prime form and steadied the ship before girding his loins and making an assault on the distant winning score. The last twenty was entered with Chigwell needing 8.4 per over, but in this never say die club no task is too daunting. Graham scored a fine 58, Rob and Dom had entertaining cameos, before Tim Mitzman and Nick put together a mouthwatering 72 run partnership for the eighth wicket. Towards the end of this partnership disaster struck when Nick felt something go ping, and was made lame by a calf muscle pull. He batted on bravely but the momentum was lost. Eventually he fell to the sort of run out that so often happens with a runner. Owen did all he could to keep us on target but it ended with Hannah facing 3 balls to secure a draw. She followed the skippers instructions to get into line, but was unfortunate to glove the last ball of the match to the keeper. A great match decided on the last ball – how bad is that? There is a great spirit about the side this year, more confidence and a calmness under pressure. In the immortal words of old Mr. Grace, you’ve all done very well!!!

Chigwell Let Game Slip Through Their Fingers (South Loughton 13/6/04)

Date: June 15, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

South Loughton once again gave Chigwell a thumping, aided and abetted by a generally poor display in the field from Chigwell, and a deteriorating pitch, which frankly was poor, even for our level of cricket. As skipper I have mastered the art of toss-losing, and South Loughton duly obliged and batted first. Their Afrikaans connection was still in evidence, but fortunately not the Boer who clubbed 170 odd runs last year. Dom put his heart and soul into another hostile spell, but had no luck whatsoever, and saw two chances spilled. Tim M got the ball swinging early, and trapped two South Loughtonians in front LBW. The scoring rate was kept under control; Rob replaced Dom and took a wicket in his first over, this a catch behind by substitute wicket-keeper yours truly, the only catch held by Chigwell all day. Two other reasonable chances went down off Brad’s bowling and Chigwell sagged as the opposition reached 210 before declaring. I don’t know what Chigwell had on their hands when in the field, but I can’t believe that it wasn’t “I Can’t Believe it’s Not Butter”. Ritchie had started behind the stumps, but his mind and body went on a strange “jet-lag” induced journey to the land where the bong tree grows, his gloves became table tennis bats, and the ball transmogrified into a soapy sphere encased in banana-skin oil. On the positive side Olly played for the first time for the club, turning the ball nicely in his bowling spell and instantly becoming the best arm in the club. Tom Wiskin bowled only 7 balls, but put each one on the spot, his improvement over the last year, and his potential for the future clear to everyone. In the absence of any recognised openers Phil and myself elected to start things off. Phil fell to his first ball, chipping it gently back to the bowler, which could have happened to anyone on that wicket. I cashed in on some delightfully slow bowling to score 37 before edging poorly to slip. After that the main hope was for Graham and our all-rounders to score well, but the pitch did for Wiskin Snr, with undue haste and some tight South African bowling accounting for the rest of the middle order. Dom scored an attractive 37, but in the end Chigwell limped their way to 133 all out. We sped off early, little suspecting the horror that was awaiting us in the England vs. France match at Euro 2004. AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!

Return of Prodigal Sees Chigwell Take a Stroll in the Park, by carbohydrate correspondent Harvey Brown(Ditchling Strollers 29/5/04)

Date: June 17, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell welcomed back ‘Prodigal Son’ Paul Newman from a six-year sabbatical along with daughter Hannah, who was making her debut for the ‘Daisies’, as the first game of the tour got under way. After winning the toss (I think) Chigwell openers Brown and McTaggart, fuelled on potato wedges and chips, got the touring side off to a good start with a stand of 97 for the first wicket. The Ditchling openers served up an array of full tosses, beamers and wides before being replaced by Hinge and Bracket who were given the treatment before McTaggart was bowled as he dozed off waiting for the ball to arrive for 43. Brown was then joined at the bizarre ‘double crease’ by Rob Allum who made sure Brown had burnt off every chip calorie before departing for 67. Nigel then kept the momentum going by dispatching one of his first few balls for four, before hearing the call of ‘Wild Swing’ in his ears and succumbing. Enter Paul Newman, who after a shaky start started to find the middle of the bat with some flowing cover drives. The pair started to build a solid partnership as Allum set his sights on a half century. As time was running out, Allum’s eyes lit up with the introduction of the youngest member of Hanson to the bowling attack, who he promptly dispatched down the ground for a series of fours to bring up his 50. The innings closed on 246 with Allum unbeaten on 57 and Newman also undefeated on 29. After a tea of homemade cakes and Radish, Chigwell set about trying to bowl the opposition out. Captain Davis paired his strike bowler Addison with very occasional bowler Newman, a move that raised a few eyebrows. However, Davis had it spot on as Newman struck the first blow. Not to be outdone Addison then ripped out the next three batsman, removing the heart of the Ditchling batting with a hostile spell, before Newman added another scalp to go top of the bowling averages! Ditchling now realised that a draw was their only hope of a result and set about frustrating the Chigwell bowlers with a rendition of the ‘Lolly Stick Challenge’. Their attempt to save the game was getting closer before Hannah had the batsman chip one to short midwicket, where Dad Paul pouched the catch to round off a memorable day for the Newmans. Nick took time to find his rhythm but responded to some gentle berating from younger brother Rob as he winkled out the last three wickets, aided by a brace of excellent catches from Rob O. The touring party then set off on a 150-mile journey to find hot showers and cold beer before assembling at the now legendary Golden Grill. Result: Chigwell win by 150 runs Man of Match: Paul Newman Hotel Barman: Professor Yaffel (Woodpecker from Bagpuss) H J Brown

Chigwell Bat Like Drips After the Rain (South Woodford 20/6/04)

Date: June 21, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Not for the first time Chigwell competed well in the field against a strong batting side, but were unable to bat to the same standard. It must be said that the conditions turned against us when a cloudburst turned the normally even Old Chigs wicket into a evil beast full of “tennis ball bounce”. After an arranged toss the opening batsmen for South Woodford’s Sunday A team padded up and strode purposefully to the crease. Dom had the ball swinging early on particularly troubling the left hander who eventually had to be given out LBW, seemingly a cumulative decision based on four very good appeals. Tim M bowled well and beat the bat on occasion, but all the bowlers suffered from a generally aggressive approach from South Woodford. The fielders stayed focused and after a period under the cosh rallied to restrict the score to 220, par on an Old Chigs wicket. The problem, as it turned out was a period of fifteen minutes or so when the players were forced to leave the field due to a very intense rain shower. This soaked the pitch and made batting an altogether more onerous task. After tea the home side collapsed like a house of cards in a wind tunnel. Dom showed his all round credentials with a score of 25 not out, but in fairness to most of the rest of the batting the pitch had become unplayable and their wickets fell as much to the conditions as to the excited C. Brown, who finished with 8 for 39, Chigwell finishing 69 all out with a mere 20 overs to go. Rob Allum struck a positive note with his e-mail sent the day after the game. I quote “Oh My! Golly gosh! Not the lowest total ever…………………but frikkin’ close! Damn those weather gods, but take heart Chigwellians, we’ll be back soon enough with a little luck and a freshly picked bunch of application. We were good in the field with commitment and courage and some lovely tidy bowling too. I think we’ve got good raw talent in our crazy band of merry men and if we can show the same strengths in our application to batting we could have got a lot further down the road to at least securing a difficult draw in what were (for the Old Chigs) very challenging conditions. Here’s to keeping our heads high and learning from every setback in a positive way!” Of course he is right, we are getting stronger both individually and as a team, and we are having a bloody good time too, which is a large proportion of the point of turning up!

Ritch Pickings as Charlton Strikes Maiden Half-Century (North Park 27/6/04)

Date: June 28, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

On the occasion of Fredly Westvis’s fortieth birthday Chigwell revisited the scene of last years record scoring defeat, the postage stamp at Woodford Wells, with good humoured vengeance in their minds. Notwithstanding last year’s events the consensus was to bat first, and with the skipper correctly nominating tails that’s what we did. As if having tiny boundaries isn’t enough The postage stamp now boasts a shirt-front like square, and it was soon obvious that wickets would be hard to come by. The first wicket put on 68 before Harvey went onto the back foot, missed the ball and was shown the finger by the birthday boy. No complaints from Brown. Enter the cobbler. Ritchie played a superb innings, sensibly notching singles to give first Ross (88) and then Rob Allum (62) the strike. This saw him off strike for the larger part of his knock, although he still blasted 7 fours when the ball was there for it. A great knock, crowned by the rapturous acclaim he received after completing his first 50 in cricket – ever! He finished on 55 not out, Chigwell on 288, Dom having hit the last 3 balls for 14. Sadly, while we were enjoying the magnificently iced birthday cake presented to Brad by Steve and Sue the rain clouds began leaking. Chigwell took to the field in the hope that they would benefit from the damp conditions, but sadly the rain persisted, and North Park cashed in with a sturdy opening partnership which was still unbroken on 190 when the rain gods finally saved Chigwell from what the experienced players recognised as inevitable defeat. Plan for next year – lose the toss!!

Memories…

Date: July 05, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Here’s a belated match report for our tour game against the Brighton Beamers back in May. Luckily, Beamers skipper Niall Chafey saved me the bother of writing one by publishing his version of events on their website (http://www.beamers.org.uk) . Here it is, reproduced on our own Captain’s Blog. Thanks Niall! snip It’s hard to win a game of cricket when you drop seven catches and nine of your eleven batsmen don’t score more than five runs. Harder still when your opponents have an opening pace bowler with more venom than a boxful of Tasmanian tiger snakes. Chigwell nickname their paceman, Dom, The Dominator, but he might just as well have been The Dominatrix so submissively did the Beamers top order surrender to his will. Jeremy even batted in a corset for goodness’ sake! Not since 9/11 has there been such an aggressive attack and when the Twin Towers of Bailey and Arthur had collapsed the Beamers were reeling on 5 for 2. Time, if ever there was, for a captain’s knock. Well, the captain suffered several knocks from some hostile stuff and then a fatal dent as Siddo forgot the First Law of cricket and gave his skipper out LBW. When J and Ritchie the Chigwell Ringer departed the Beamers found themselves in a hole bigger than that left by the Tunguska asteroid at 37 for 5 and needing 150 to win. But the Beast was still there, his beastly torso a patchwork of bruises. He was so in the zone that 13 minutes later as his team-mates cheered his half century he could no more acknowledge it than Steve McQueen in Papillon can believe the sun when he comes out of three years in blacked-out solitary. By this time, with Siddens making amends for his umpiring with a quickfire 32, the Beamers were just 48 short of their target with 11 overs to go and five wickets left. The Chiggers were getting panicky and the green shoots of a Beamers recovery were poking through the earth. These shoots were scythed down as Siddo and the Beast fell in quick succession, like an old couple where one cannot survive without the other. But they’d added 64 for the sixth wicket and restored Beamer pride and hope. As Steve took guard the skipper was heard to mutter “Whatever you do, Esso, don’t play a big wafty wendy heave-ho across the line”. No prizes for guessing what happened next. Marlon batted bravely with a broken leg but was undone by a snorter and it was left to Musso and Jonners to see out the last four overs as our chances of winning evaporated. Inevitably, the scent of victory meant the return of the Dominatrix and there was no gainsaying her as Mussett fell leg before with the Beamers 30 runs short. Things had started rosily enough for the Beamers earlier that afternoon as Marlon achieved a double breakthrough and the Chiggers limped to 8 for 2 off the first eight overs. Then the dropsy set in as chance after chance went begging. More catches were dropped than aitches in an episode of EastEnders. You’d normally bet your paisley-clad bottom dollar that Dave would cling on to at least one of three chances at slip, but, alas, the catching gods had gone to Margate for the Bank Holiday. Surely Siddo would take that skier – oh, no, he’s mounting a buttery unicycle and is pedalling backwards and oh dear. Others were culpable too and only the Beast and the skipper with three catches apiece came out with any glory. Siddens clawed back some pride with 3 for 14 with the ball but by then Chiggers had raced to 149-8 and the Dominatrix was just pulling on her thigh-high boots. The bitterness of defeat at the hands of the Chiggers was sweetened by jugs galore and enjoyable banter in the Battle afterwards. No doubt Ritchie’s inside information about the Chiggers’ batting foibles, offered up with zealous candour almost as if he hates the lot of them, will prove invaluable next year. ends

Cricket the Winner as Chigwell and Hadley Wood Green Slug out a Draw (4/7/2004)

Date: July 05, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Imagine how I felt. Lost the toss; promoted myself to opener; watched Harvey fall for 3 runs; saw last weekend’s batting hero Ritchie expose his leg stump and depart first ball; edged one to the keeper for 4; witnessed last weekends icing hero Steve fall for a duck; wondered where we might go from 8 for 4! I need not have worried because this was only the first act of an intriguing game, where both sides held the initiative and tossed it back and forth like twin brides practising bouquet throwing. In what seemed like the blink of an eye Dom and Tim M had produced a partnership for the fifth wicket of some 137 runs; indeed if there hadn’t been so much time spent searching for the various balls which were lost somewhere in or around Hadley Wood Station, it might actually have been the blink of an eye. The four batsmen who had perished, and had been commiserating with each other in a huddle on the boundary, puffed excitedly on their Malboro Lights as the boys laid waste to the attack. Dom passed the fifty mark for the first, (but assuredly not the last), time for Chigwell. Tim was so graceful yet brutal with the bat at least one of the opposition was heard to mutter “ringer” as the advantage began to tip towards Chigwell. Bad news for them: Tim is no ringer, they’ll be seeing a lot more of him! Eventually Dom fell for 55, and shortly afterwards Tim went for 77. We were 149 for 6 and we had only been batting for an hour and twenty minutes! We needed to bat out some time as well as accumulate runs and Rob A stayed steady while Olly and Nige blasted quick fire runs – Nigel hit his first three balls for 4, and scored an entertaining 30 in 17 balls. Enter Nick who scored 7 all in singles as Rob began to accelerate, hitting their best bowler for a massive straight six before being superbly caught at point for 34. Brad collected 5 runs, including a powerful 4 through extra-cover, before the declaration came on 255 for 9, in 39 overs and just over 2 and a half hours. Quite a relief after 8 for 4!! We enjoyed a fabulous tea, surely the best so far this year, and set about the task of trying to win the match with four pounds of egg sarnies, a pork pie, two pieces of quiche, a bramley apple-pie, a dozen kettle crisps, and a mini “time out” weighing each of the fielders down. Dom, still high from his willow wielding, charged in as usual, although Mr. Carter, one of the openers, looked to be profiting from an aggressive approach, including a shot smashed at me standing at silly mid off, which some might consider a chance, but which I consider an escaped death sentence. No worry though as Dom zipped one through his defences, bowling him for 17. The dangerous Davey appeared at 3 but was soon on his way, snapped up at slip by Tim from Dom’s bowling. Brad bowled well for no reward, I replaced Dom and again went unrewarded, although at least some of the balls turned! Nick Allum took up the baton and bowled his usual tidy stuff taking two wickets to remove the rather stubborn opener and his slightly more aggressive third wicket partner. It looked highly unlikely that we could lose until P (Paul I think) Randall arrived at the crease and took a liking to both of the Allum boys’ straightish line and bludgeoned a very rapid 60 including six sixes. Steve Meggs helped to break the tense mood on the field by tumbling spectacularly over a low boundary wire fence and into a dense thicket head first whilst chasing the sixth six. Luckily he sustained no injury! Dan, the Hadley Wood skipper had just uttered the words “We’ve got them worried” when Rob broke through to send him on his way. The dangerous Randall P was eventually dismissed by Rob, caught by Nigel, and with his departure the game swung back towards Chigwell. Dom returned to great effect, sending two more Hadley Wood Greensters on their way, but neither he nor Tim could break through to take the final wicket and the home side hung on defiantly to what in all fairness was a deserved draw. We bowled 54 overs in a little less than 3 hours, which spoke volumes for our desire to win. We were left with the memory of a great game of cricket, 487 runs and 18 wickets and the thought that we were but a thin edge away from winning a game from a position of 8 runs for 4 wickets.

Skipper’s Double Jug Avoidance Plays Second Fiddle to Brilliance of Chigwell’s New Freddie (Thaxted 11/7/04)

Date: July 12, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

This is the match report from Brad, (Sounds like an enjoyable romp)! [Image: Thaxted CC] http://www.zen37914.zen.co.uk/chigsite/images/thaxted2004.jpg What do you do when you have a strong all round side against relatively weak opposition in a 40 over game? Bat 1st, get loads of runs and you do what the hell you want in the field, and no I don’t mean bowl loads of overs! After a pre arranged toss with their karaoke skipper we bat first on a greenish pitch. Rob A is promoted to open with Ross and they put on 45 at around 4.5 an over until Ross is bowled. Tim H is out fairly quickly and Nigel is brilliantly run out by a direct hit from the boundary when starting to look good. At this point Olly, Chigwell’s new Freddie (thought he was Boris – Ed) enters the fray to devastating effect. In a superb display of stroke play he races to 50 in 23 balls almost overtaking Rob on the way! Rob goes on to make an excellent 50 before being bowled trying to up the pace for 63 off 74 balls. Olly goes on to make a magnificent 86 off 43 balls including 3 huge sixes and 12 boundaries before being run out in the last over, Nick finishing with 16 not out as Chigwell close on 243 for 5 off their 40 overs. Dominatrix and Mitzy open the bowling for a miserly 20 odd runs of their 10 overs, 2 wickets for Tim and 1 for the dominator. Owen takes over from Dom bowling very well and beating the bat several times before finishing unrewarded with only 15 runs from his 5 overs. The skipper takes over from Mitz and bowls tidily without joy until achieving a most unusual dismissal as the batsman gets a very thin edge which whacks him on head and flies into the air where is superbly caught one handed by Tim H running round from gully. The next delivery bowls the batsman off his pads and we have a hatrick ball which the skipper only manages to bowl well outside the leg stump! The 3rd wicket arrives shortly afterwards at which point I was going to come off but was persuaded to go for the elusive 5 by the experienced duo. The 4th wicket is taken in the next over much to the skip’s delight with his best delivery, but the skip fails to achieve the goal as he puts down 2 catches off his own bowling, both of which were very takeable according to Mr and Mr experienced! At the other end Nigel bowls a lively spell without taking a wicket and Tim Hall bowls like Shane Warne with 3 wickets one of which is the perfect leg break beating the batsman all ends up. Rick finally holds onto the ball behind the sticks and the skip brings down the curtain on a great day’s cricket by clinging onto a dolly! I would like to add that I think we had a terrific vibe out their today, long may it continue, the opposition really enjoyed it as well and want to make it a regular fixture. Nigel, if you can make Sunday that would be great, that 50 is going to come this season! I look forward to the honour of skippering you again next week; roll on Sunday!!!!!

Ritchie Charlton Waxes Lyrical

Date: July 14, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

I had to publish Ritchie’s superb e-mail, which relates to Olly’s destruction of Tim Mitzman’s bat in the game at Thaxted. A work of purest genius. Dear all Sung to the tune of The Streets “Dry your eyes mate…” the ginger german, a firm man batting in your position the thing stunk to high heaven to despair you were driven veins poppin’, muscles ripplin’ your bat he was weildin’ wot was to come we was guessin’ but you could see he weren’t messin’ dry your eyes mate, staring at your toe end will just make things worse you’ve got to walk away now, it’s over the buffet was open assorted pastries were chucked by this time we knew that your bat was f\*\*\*\*d someone said “don’t mention the war” boris, bristling, drove the next one for four the kraut now feeling bold was driving yorkers untold defensive shots took divots your bats life in the balance dry your eyes mate, it’s only a bit of salix caerulea it’s time to walk away now it should be you, not him your patience wearing thin shackled to the bench olie’s thirst yet unquenched your blood ran cold as bully boy schwartzfold enjoyed his feast your bat now deceased dry your eyes mate, there’s plenty more bats left in the shop it’s time to walk away now as you blubbered boris uttered “this is more fun than a poke in the cupboard” by this time ross’ bat was in the fray yours by your side had had it’s day dry your eyes mate 200 pounds will buy you a pristine thunder hammer walk away now it’s over dry your eyes mate, thinking about your mjolnir will only make things worse there’s plenty more left in the shop dry your eyes mate if you think adolf will stump up the quids, you’ve got another think comin’ walk away now it’s over

Strength and Honour to the fore as Chigs last pair tough it out for a draw (Coopersale 18/7/2004)

Date: July 18, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Brad writes: As we were pre warned by the new Poet Laureate this fixture was always going to be tough, in comparison to last week’s stroll in the Essex countryside! In fact, it has been tough all week with the game almost being cancelled and the skipper having to enter the fray with 4 ringers who need to get some sort of game including 3 players not even coming close to matching his age between them! This difficult task is not helped by the withdrawal of Rickie with a back injury. Skip manages to persuade the home side to bat first on a pitch so green you can barely tell it from the rest of the ground, 1st objective achieved. We start extremely well and have the home side at 49 for 5. 1 wicket for Harvey and 3 for Rob A including the very dangerous Graham Hancock who plays on for a duck. However, as we know only too well Coopersale are not a one-man side. Skip comes on to bowl and removes the left-hander who has been ruining his so-called field placings! There follows a top 4 over spell from young Reece who looks a very good prospect, let’s hope we can snare him before F & H! James bowls well and is rewarded with a catch by Owen who takes it by changing his hand position at the last possible moment and clutching the ball to his chest! Nick is brought on to bowl on what is really a seamers wicket and suffers badly as both the skip and his leading spinner lose the plot to allow the opposition to make 185 for 6 when they should have been restricted to a maximum of 160. The target is not out of the question but the skipper is only too aware he needs runs from his top 4. Harv and Nick are looking good until Harv is bowled by a beauty that he leaves as it pitches at least a foot outside his off stump and hits middle! Guess who the bowler is, oh yes, “it’s our Graham” we wish! Gary and Nick keep the score ticking over until Nick is bowled by a ball that rolls under his bat off a length for 24 and Gary is bowled off his thigh pad. Our middle order then collapses to its knees like Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office with 5 ducks! What do you do if you are watching these proceedings from the other end; well I suppose throwing your bat down in disgust is one option! The skipper comes to the wicket with 11 overs left and the asking rate now in excess of 10 an over. The draw is achieved with surprising few alarms as Rob A expertly plays out the penultimate over from Graham and the skip survives the last over. Rob finishes with 30 and the skipper with 20 in a total of 126 for 9. Special thanks go to the Hanna family without whom this game could not have taken place and Rob A for contacting them. To James for replacing Ricki at the 11th hour and fielding superbly, he is an example to us all and Owen for recruiting him, and also to Phil for taking the gloves at the last minute and doing a top job.

Deja Vu for Fives as Chigwell Grind Out Another Draw

Date: July 26, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

There was an air of bemusement in the Chigwell camp as the skipper, returning from 2 weeks off, exhibited more erratic decision making than a deluded prime minister with dodgy intelligence. At least I won the toss, and definitely got the decision to bowl first just right. Dom was awesome, deserving of at least five wickets, suffering several drops off his highly belligerent bowling. The problem is he bowls so fast, nobody can hold the edges! Dom ended up with three wickets and had the opposition muttering about “facing bullets”. So who did the skipper elect to partner Dom as opening bowler? Well Owen, primarily because the conditions seemed right for a bit of left arm in-swing. After a mixed start Owen found a good line and length, bowling a maiden to our customary bete noire Norman, whereupon he was swiftly removed from the attack! Rob A was wheeled into the attack, but seemed to struggle to find the right length and line, although in mitigation he was bowling into a stiff breeze. Nick bowled a few tidy overs, but I followed a hunch that the area outside the right-handers leg stump was so poor that a left arm spinner (me) over the wicket would make life difficult for the well set batsmen, and passed the keeping gloves to Phil. With the innings approaching its conclusion Brad was somewhat belatedly brought into the attack, but bowled far too short and suffered to the tune of 35 runs in 2 overs. Dom was brought back to replace him, all too late, and despite a direct hit by Tim to run out one half centurian Fives strode to a total of 242 for 5. This was not a memorable display in the field, with a general lack of concentration and a few very half-hearted attempts to stop or chase the ball. Dom deserved much better support. The captaincy was, I confess, erratic, and I take my share of the blame for the loss of control. Fives are a good team, and it’s difficult to get everyone into the game and remain competitive. Perhaps sometimes the best way to keep everyone interested is to keep things tight; it was always likely that everyone would bat, so it may be that the tightest bowling, including a much longer spell for Dom, should have been employed throughout. Ho hum, such are the trials of captaincy! The Fives opening bowlers, whilst not as fearsome as the Dominator, enjoyed more success and soon put an end to the slim chance that Chigwell had of winning the game. James displayed his batting potential with a sparky 21, including his first ever six, before heaving across the line to a straight one and falling to the Fives five wicket hero. Brad and Tim started the staunch resistance, their partnership highlighted by the unlikely sight of an all run 4! Eventually it was a farcical piece of running which saw the end of Brad; a shame when he was looking in good form. I joined Tim at the wicket and, with the opening attack at last rested, we dug in and progressed well into the last 20 overs before Tim was adjudged LBW. Owen arrived at the crease and fought his way to his favourite score, 0 not out, as the last pair secured a draw, yours truly finishing on 47 not out.

Haringey Libraries Lose Their Sport Section

Date: August 02, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Haringey Libraries failed to appear for the fixture on Sunday, which was extremely annoying, not least because it had been such a pain in the posterior getting a team together in the first place. Thanks for that go to Brad & Ritchie, who between them produced Matt Sutton from Fives, who would, I’m sure, have played a major part in the game. In the end we decided not to completely waste the day and had a little competition batting in pairs, won by Tim Hall and Harvey. This alternative entertainment for the ten players was only made possible by the generosity of spirit of Steve Meggs and Kate Brown who umpired and scored respectively. It was good to know that in a dispiriting situation such as we found ourselves everyone pulled together and made something of the day. Before condemning the Librarians we need to get to the bottom of what presumably is a frightful mix up. I can’t believe that they wouldn’t have let us know they weren’t coming if they had the fixture down correctly. Someone will have to look into it, possibly Nick on his return from foreign climes. Better luck over the next couple of weeks guys, I’m off on my hols.

Colts shine as Chigs fade away

Date: August 12, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Sunday 8th August: Frenford 291 for not many, declared. Chigwell 108. Frenford win by 183 runs. Match report by Linda Wiskin… Sorry about the delay! Whatever came over me: offering to do the Frenford match report? Brad did look dubious…perhaps he thinks I can’t describe the field positions and perhaps he is right!! Frenford put out their normal hot side and we were put into field in the midday heat. Suffice to say it was a long hot afternoon with Rallum leading the attack backed by Owen, Brad and Olly, who showed some interesting effects of the sun. Can’t remember much else except I had a chat with Mark on the boundary, nice to see him back at last. Hannah did a good turn bowling and one of the most exciting moments was when Gra took a one handed catch from her bowling giving her a well deserved wicket. Good attempts from the next generation in fielding accuracy. It was good to see the addition of Luke Sutton, who unfortunately did not get much of a game this time, but I certainly hope we’ll see him again. It was remarkable that we achieved over 100 after tea. They looked very nippy and accurate, ( You notice I didn’t say much about our bowling, fielding etc.) Our openers Mark and Rob, hit out when they could, Graham looked like he might still be able to beef it, but all went for a handful of runs. Cometh the hour cometh the man! Phil Bannocks decided he was the man to turn the fortunes of the ailing Chigwell. Well done Phil, top scorer on 27, always a highly underrated batsman in my opinion and much improved from the Chris Barr days!! Owen was also remarkable, mainly for his staying ability: his innings had an N.Allum ‘of old’ quality. Finally as Owen supported the 12 year olds…the ring moved in Hannah hit a couple of spectacular 4’s, and Tom overcame his drastic groin strain( I’m cynical and I’m his mother!) to put in 7 not out. Never underestimate the kids. Well, Frenford, despite retiring batsman who reached a ton, seemed to appreciate that we’d tried to give them a decent game with possibly the weakest side of the season. So the feeling was good. Well done Brad for the effort and enthusiasm holding it all together. Sorry guys for the lack of technical detail. It is now too late for me to book a bouncy castle for Bank Holiday Monday, so I’ll assume the sub committee has every thing sorted. (is this relevant?! – Ed.) Good luck for the rest of the season and next time Brad says do I want anything for scoring, somebody remind me my husband is unemployed and the answer is not ‘Not interested…’.

Kick this ass for a man!

Date: August 13, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

An apology: Haringey Libraries CC is entirely blameless in the farrago that occurred on 1st August at Old Chigs when we had no opposition to play. It was all my fault. Sorry! Sincerely, Artie Fufkin (http://spinaltapfan.com/atozed/TAP00191.HTM) .

Chigs lose the Plot, and are Battered into Submission in the Gloom

Date: August 17, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Bradley Davis reports exclusively for the blog : I lost the toss, and we were invited to bat on a pitch which was very different from that of the week before. The rain during the week had made it slow with variable bounce, and although the ball was swinging their opening bowlers were wayward and we never scored at a fast enough rate. Rob A was promoted to open with Harvey and was out to a shot he will want to forget, other than to remember never to play it again! None of our big guns fired and it was left to Tim H to anchor the innings with a patient and well-deserved half century. Harvey went in the mid twenties and James stuck around supporting Tim for a while before he and Dom both fell cheaply. Nick played a responsible and at times fiery knock and he and Tim held the innings together with Nick finishing on 55 not out. The pace of the innings meant I had to bat through to 5.00 pm, and we finished on 197 for 9 off 54 overs. Dom and Owen opened the bowling and I was wary of making sure I kept the opposition in the chase as, although their openers looked comfortable, they were not scoring many runs. Owen bowled 5 overs for only 8 runs! Owen was replaced by Hannah and Dom by Nick who finally achieved the breakthrough with a stumping by James. Hannah bowled 3 overs and was replaced by Charlie leaving the new spin twins leading the attack. Charlie bowled an excellent spell, deservedly taking a wicket – another stumping by James! They reached the last 20 overs needing 6 an over, but still with 8 wickets in hand. By this time the right-hander really had his eye in and Charlie had to be replaced after an expensive over. Nick’s last over also proved costly and we needed to stem the flow of runs and take a couple of quick wickets in the fading light. Rob A replaced Charlie and Dom was brought back for Nick. We had a chance to dismiss the slogger when he mistimed one and there was a very poor misunderstanding between myself and Tim, for which I take full responsibility, as the ball fell harmlessly to earth between us – much to Rob’s displeasure. The wicket just would not come until it was too late and as the fielding disintegrated they hit the winning runs with 3 overs or so to spare. I would like to thank James for taking the gloves and doing a top job, it is never easy for anyone to keep to the dominatrix especially when very aggressive and in very poor light. There was a clear run out that was not given early on and a run out missed when the ball went to the wrong end and James missed a difficult hat-trick stumping chance off Nick, if a couple of things had gone our way it could have been very different as I don’t think they had that much batting to come and it would have been difficult for any new batsman coming in against Dom in that light, we might even have won. On such small margins can matches be won or lost. We can bat and field a lot better, and there are many lessons to be learned from yesterday for future games particularly for the skipper!

Photos

Date: August 23, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Stevie Meggs took some good photos (http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=fuy2i01.31ndbnb5&x=0&y=sygxd6) of the game against Hainault and Clayhall.

Four Wickets for Charlie Leaves Everyone Smiling (South Woodford 22/8/04)

Date: August 24, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

On the 26th June this year Chigwell played host to South Woodford Sunday A team, and were soundly spanked. All out for 69, if you care to remember. Personally I would much rather let the events of that day slip to the darkest recesses of a confused mind. So before arriving I imagined things might be a little awkward. As it transpired South Woodford were fielding their B side, including several colts, and on winning the toss I luxuriated in choosing to bat first. Tim and Nick were chosen to open on the back of their fine performances of the previous week, but Tim obliged the bowler by edging one back onto his stumps. I replaced him and began a rather turgid partnership with Nick that was a testament to the fine bowling by Neicho Snr. at one end, and obscenely flattering to the rather looser stuff coming from the pavilion end. I perished for 24, trying to accelerate, and Nick was finally put out of his misery for eight – all singles – in about an hour and fifteen minutes. As he left the combat area he was heard mumbling something about how the clock running slow had put him off. Time did seem to stand still while he was batting. Rob Allum and Tim Mitzman benefited from the withdrawal of Neicho from the attack and showed their class, Tim smashing a quick-fire 40, and Rob accumulating Graham Thorpe style a tidy 60 not out. The batting revelation however was James, who compiled a sturdy 33, sprinkled with expansive boundaries. We declared on 192 for 5, which in retrospect on a slow pitch with a slow outfield, was slightly too many. It was a difficult declaration to judge, having no real idea of the batting talent available to South Woodford. A splendid tea was devoured and we took to the field after a team huddle and the playing of the club anthem – “don’t stop til you get enough” – Ritchie and Phil opened the bowling. It was Ritchie’s first spell of the season for Chigs, and he bowled tidily enough, but for no reward. Phil bamboozled one opener with his “nip-backer”, and kept things very tight. Brad disposed of another batsman, comprehensively bowling him, and politely bidding him farewell in the middle of the customary fist clenched celebrations. Enter Charlie Rudkin. Excellent bowling saw him first rewarded with a stumping by the wicket keeping revelation that is James Leycock, and then by two catches at deep backward square by Tim Mitzman, both juggled, but the second of which was brilliantly judged, as it swirled and dipped over his shoulder. Another wicket went to Charlie as I clung onto one at mid on, and he finished with figures of 11 overs 4 for 37. I asked him to pledge his Sunday cricketing future to Chigwell, only excused if he’s playing in a test match. Nick bowled well to add a couple more scalps to his collection and Rob A tried manfully to extract some life from the old ball on a dead pitch but, despite Neicho Jnr surviving the plumbest LBW call this decade from the last ball, Chigwell never quite looked like wrapping things up, and the game was drawn. For those who weren’t at the match there was a highly comedic moment when Brad, fielding very close at mid off to Nick’s bowling – an unpleasant place to be, even with a twelve year old batting – saw the batsman shape to strike one hard at his skull. Taking evasive action Brad threw himself onto his back, and was lying on the ground as the ball, having been badly mis-hit, gently arced over his prostrate body. Ever game, Brad attempted to push/wiggle his way backwards along the deck, with arms and legs flailing like a turbo charged threshing machine, or a daddy longlegs with epilepsy. Needless to say he never quite made it into position for the catch, and as Nick looked to the gods, the rest of the fielders, the batsmen and the umpires collapsed with uncontrollable mirth. We were not laughing at Brad, we were laughing towards him.

Chigwell Almost Get the Runs at Bank Holiday Barbecue (WG Gracefully 30/8/2004)

Date: September 02, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell’s last home game of the season was the visit of WG Gracefully, and was followed by the now traditional club barbecue. WG gracefully conceded the right to field first at my behest, on the grounds that we needed to bat second in order to prepare the barbecue. Dom thundered in and snaffled an early wicket, courtesy of a sharp catch at short leg by Joe Rudkin, making a very welcome return to the side. A good start, but the next two wickets put on about 140 runs, with the highest scoring batsmen both surviving catching chances that we would normally hope to take. Joe took another catch close in, but when bowling struggled to find the right line and length. Matt Sutton, guesting from Fives and Heronians, found it hard to keep his balance running in to bowl, and asked to be taken off. Brad and I were thus thrust into the attack, and were immediately rewarded, Brad striking first ball. From this point on the momentum swung back in Chigwell’s favour. The standard of fielding improved greatly and fine catches were held by James, Harvey, and Dom. Nick replaced Brad in the attack to great effect, his truncated spell returning four wickets. Charlie delivered the coup de grâce, claiming the last wicket via my regulation catch, and WG Gracefully had subsided somewhat to a total of 209 all out. Chigwell looked, on paper, to have a strong batting line up, but were a little short of openers; Rob Allum gamely agreed to start things off with Harvey. He may well have wished he’d declined, when his off stump was knocked back before he had scored. Joe joined Harvey, but after a few lusty blows Harvey edged to the keeper and was out for 19. Matt Sutton joined Joe and assumed the role of anchor man. Joe smashed a straight six into Matt’s dad’s car, but soon afterwards perished for an impressive 49 whilst attempting to hit the ball over the M11 and into the solarium at what used to be Buckhurst Hill School. James added some tidy runs, then Dom smashed a quick fire 38 to reduce the asking rate to under six per over. Once Dom had departed Ritch joined Matt, and this pair had taken us to the point of victory (10 required from 2 overs) when disaster – only 3 off the penultimate over, and then further disaster – Matt skied an attempted heave and was caught, having notched a patient 50. Ritch was left on strike, having crossed, and we needed 7 from 5 balls. Ritch couldn’t get a bat on either of the next two deliveries, then smashed a four though wide mid off to leave us needing 3 from two balls. A fine piece of bowling, a yorker on middle stump, proved too good for Ritch, and Nick had to come to the wicket to face one ball, needing 3 to win. He managed to keep out another good ball, but couldn’t get it away for any runs, and the game ended in a draw. Of course when a game is so nearly won there are always a thousand little things that could have made a difference, but on balance I prefer to think that everyone played their part in an exciting game; any match that has so much hanging on the last over must be a good one. The barbecue was a resounding success, thanks to the food contributions made by everyone, but mostly due to the massive amount of effort put in by Linda, Kate and Angela to ensure the meat etc. actually got cooked. I personally can’t thank them enough. It was great to see a few faces that don’t get along to the cricket so much these days, like Doug & Diane, Si Thorpe, Rita Wiskin, Flacky etc. and I reckon we should make sure that we maintain the barbecue tradition – although the committee, of which I am of course a member, need to organise the event a little better in future!

Giddy Heights at Gidea Park (Gidea Park and Romford Away 5/9/2004)

Date: September 07, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

As summer finally put in an appearance Chigwell produced a season’s best performance to snatch an unlikely victory in a match full of surprises and delights. Having won the toss I had little option but to elect to bat first in 30 degree heat; although, with the team looking quite strong in comparison with some of the recent line-ups, it was a pleasure to feel that we had every chance of setting a challenging target for Gidea Park & Romford. Short of a customary opening bat once again, Tim Mitzman boldly took up the potentially poisoned chalice of joining Harvey in the middle for the start of play. It does seem recently that, through no fault of his own, Harvey has witnessed opening partners depart early. Sadly for Tim the jinx continued; as he swivelled to pull a short ball away in the opening over the ball cannoned off several parts of his body and finished resting gently against the leg stump, having just enough strength to dislodge a bail. Somewhat ahead of schedule, clutching a bat borrowed from Nick, I joined Harvey in the middle. The pitch was lowish, and, if not exactly slow, certainly not fast. “What’s the bowler doing mate?” I asked Harvey. “Well he’s swinging it away” “So in to me then” “No, away from you” “Oh, swinging in to you then?” “No, he’s swinging it away from me outside off stump” “So in to me then?” “No he’s swinging it away from your leg stump!” Our understanding grew however, and in addition to the free scoring extras we began to construct a partnership largely based around making sure that every possible run was called for and taken with the minimum of fuss. I can’t really explain how, but after a season or two in the batting doldrums I finally recaptured some form. Phil was probably correct in noting that the bowling attack favoured a left hander, there was certainly plenty of scope for my favoured shot, behind square on the leg side. Harvey was eventually tempted down the pitch, beaten by the useful left arm spinner and stumped for 36, having helped put on 114 for the second wicket. Rob Allum strolled at no great pace to the wicket, but batted pragmatically and comfortably, scoring 44 off only 40 balls in a stand for the third wicket of another 114 runs. During this partnership I clocked up a century, my first in at least 7 years, a special moment for me after so much navel gazing about my batting. James came to the wicket and bashed the four balls he faced for eight runs, with four byes thrown in for good measure. We declared at 242 for 3, made in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I finished on 113 not out. We took to the field around twenty minutes later, unburdened by full stomachs – the tea seemed to amount to half a sandwich and a chocolate biscuit – pondering how to bowl at Olly, who having turned up to watch, had been drafted into the GP&R side. He had smashed a rapid 23 before the Dominator produced a killer ball to bowl him. By this time the ball had become rather scarred, and despite fine efforts and reasonable line and length, Phil and Brad could not do much with it. Nick had replaced Dom, spin seeming the best option with little prospect of seam movement or swing. Nick bowled a superb 16 over spell, conceding only 51 runs and claiming 2 crucial wickets. I persisted with the spin theory; 4 overs for Ritchie – resurrecting his leg-spin – then 5 overs of left arm spin from me, all to no avail, at least in terms of wickets. During this period the GP&R number 3, Montgoner, steadily improved and began to look very likely to win the game. I played my last cards, bringing Dom and Mitzy into the attack. The opposition suddenly broke free, Montgoner blasting three sixes in one Mitzy over, and all at once they were favourites to win. They had 5 overs to go, seven wickets in hand, and needed only about 25 runs. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Dom tempted the bludgeoner, now on 97, into playing at a wide one, the ball took the edge and Dom was celebrating before the catch had even been taken. He had every right to his pre-mature ejaculation as the ball stayed securely in the gloves of James, as we have come to expect. James’s catch was soon to be bettered by his next, exquisitely pouching the ball as it rose from a left-handers top edge, again from the aggressive bowling of Dom. Three catches behind for James, who just keeps getting better! Tim showed great strength of character to readjust his line and length and join the party with 2 wickets, both bowled. Dom remained however the undoubted star of the day. Harvey shrewdly moved himself to backward point and could hardly believe it as the ball was guided straight to him, again from the Dominator’s bowling. In the blink of an eye and with an over and a half remaining, Dom’s searing pace beat the opposition’s skipper’s wild flay, and unbelievably the last wicket had fallen, with Dom finishing with a match winning analysis of 6 wickets for 23 runs. Cue wild celebrations and a prolonged session in the bar. It was great to win after such a long time, but the extraordinary manner of the win made it a game that will be long remembered.

James Hits Maiden Ton in 49 Balls as Chigwell Overwhelm Ingatestone

Date: September 14, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

Remember the home game against Ingatestone earlier this season? We lost on the last ball of the game, having mounted a spirited fightback from a pretty hopeless position. This time it was all to be a little different. The Ingatestone skipper very kindly granted our request not to play a limited overs game, and having won the toss decided to put us in to bat first. At first it appeared that he had made a very astute choice as Myers struck, dismissing first Tim Hall, then, next over, Harvey who top edged to a shortish fine leg. Having arrived in the middle at the fall of the first wicket, I chatted with Dom (who was umpiring) while we awaited the arrival of our number 4 and we agreed that what was required was for Rob A and myself to steady the ship. The ship however began to list alarmingly as Rob perished to an off cutter through the gate to register a golden duck. Tim Mitzman arrived at the crease, the bowling was changed, and Tim and I began to score a little more freely. We had taken the score to 103 when I gently guided an innocuous full toss into the hands of the man “on 45”, and departed for 37. James, £70 Lilywhites bargain bat in hand, strode confidently to the middle, glad of the chance to bat for a little longer than the four balls he was allowed last week at Gidea Park. James has been showing increasingly aggressive intent recently, but today something clicked into place and the various bowlers available to Ingatestone were systematically bludgeoned into surrender. Tim Mitzman does not exactly have a reputation for slow play, indeed he eventually fell to a catch whilst on 71, scored off only 61 balls; James however made Mitz look positively pedestrian. After only 29 balls we were applauding James’s first half-century for the club. It took him only 20 more balls to turn that into 102 not out. 49 balls for a ton! If that isn’t the quickest ton in the club’s history, I’d be very surprised. Since joining us James has become a vital member of the side for his wicket keeping alone, but now we have a classy wicket keeping all rounder – we are truly blessed! Ingatestone seemed rather dispirited after tea, and the loss of early wickets made a nonsense of the possibility of them chasing 284 to win the game. Dom and Nick bagged three wickets apiece and I was able to spread the bowling around, bringing Dom back for one over to rid ourselves of the troublesome top scorer, who at least had a go. The win was too comfortable, nay, overwhelming, for the game to be remembered as a great one, but none present will ever forget the awesome power of James’s shot making.

Chigwell Five Hold the Fort as Stragglers Straggle (St. John’s Billericay Away 18/9/2004)

Date: September 21, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

As the 50p coin spun from the St. John’s skipper’s thumb I called tails, and prayed to the gods of cricket. Win and we bat; lose and we might be asked to take the field with only 5 players! A tangle of circumstances had led to 3 separate cars, each with two Chigwellians inside, speeding across the Essex countryside, hopelessly late for the one o’clock start. Tails. We’ll bat. Then came the logistics of batting first: Two batting, two umpiring, one padded up, and scoring. Should an early wicket fall, the outgoing batsman would be required to strip off his pads, and immediately assume umpiring duties, while the out-going umpire would have to attempt to pad up and score at the same time! It can be appreciated that as Tim and I went out to bat the initial priority was to avoid losing wickets at all cost. Tim had seen the arrival of Paul and Hannah before he cut at a wide one, and was caught at point. Nick joined me in the middle and we negotiated a nervous opening to share a partnership of 80 runs. The outfield was awfully slow, the grass length more suited to rugby than cricket, but after my departure for 47 things began to pick up. Nick remained solid, mixing patience with the odd flashing drive, while at the other end first Nigel, then Olly, and finally Tim Mitzman, biffed the runs at a rather faster lick. Nick finished unbeaten on 62, and the Chigwell innings closed with the score on 203, worth at least 250 given the slow pitch and outfield. During a jolly nice tea, the highlight of which was a superb chocolate cake, (“Oh Aggers, stop it”), I laid my fiendish plans for the St. John’s innings. I decided to attack with Dom (now recovered from chasing Tim’s car up the A10) at one end, with Brad providing temptation towards indiscretion at the other. Before long Dom had bowled the useful looking opener, and then Brad took over. Firstly the batsman skied one to Nigel at mid-wicket, who took a great catch at the end of ten yards of furious back-pedalling. Next ball was driven at Owen fielding at extra cover. It must have been chest high, because it hit him in the chest, making a hollow thump, before he clutched it gratefully back to his bosom. Brad was on a hat-trick, but failed to make the new man play at the hat-trick ball, it being three feet outside the off stump. There followed a quiet period, Dom having been replaced by Owen, Brad fearing being taken out of the attack with each successive wicketless over. I was just clearing my throat to ensure correct enunciation of the phrase “Take a blow there Brad”, when the batsman lost patience and hit a straight-forward catch to me at mid on. As the rain clouds gathered, and a steady drizzle began to fall, a battle royale took place between a sturdy and capable batsman, and Brad, on three wickets and sensing his chance for his first ever “5 for”. After smashing a good few boundaries in quick time the batsman gained confidence. Brad began his 9th over. First ball 6 over mid-wicket. Second ball 6 over mid-wicket. Third ball 6 over mid-wicket. Paul shrewdly passed comment from behind the stumps: “I reckon you could do the six sixes in an over here mate”. He went for it. He failed. Olly on the mid-wicket boundary made the crucial catch look easy, not even put off by the helpful shout of “It’s yours Olly” from the skipper. Four wickets to Brad. As he punched the air he informed us that “nobody hits me for 4 consecutive sixes!” Hannah bowled a good couple of overs from the other end, especially given the soaking wet ball, the game now taking place in the annoyingly persistent rain. We left the field for a while, but in the end continued the match when perhaps good sense might have dictated an abandonment. Good on St. John’s, who could have chosen to claim a rain induced draw, but instead insisted the game continued. Sadly Brad, although bowled for 15 overs unchanged in total never got his fifth wicket. Tim Mitzman combined twice with Paul to effect run outs, and then without Paul’s help bowled two more tailenders to finish the innings. St. John’s finished on a creditable 150 odd, Chigwell winning by 50 runs or so. A fine couple of hours at the local tavern followed. Apart from the regrettable late arrival of over half the team, everything had worked out perfectly, with everyone contributing to Chigwell’s third consecutive victory.

Rallum the Five Wicket Hero at Fives and Heronians (25/9/2004)

Date: September 28, 2004

Author: Nick Allum

I arrived at the Paddock at about 12.10 for the final game of the season to find only one other car in the car park. It was Tilly’s; she had brought Dom and he had insisted on getting there early after noting Brad’s stinging e-rebuke for the late arrivals last week. “I just wanted to make sure I didn’t incur the wrath of Brad” he explained. A wise principle to live by. It transpired that Fives and Heronians had the game down for a 1.00 start, so Dom and I and progressively more of the protagonists had plenty of time to soak up the cold drizzly atmosphere, before Chris Rotsey led me to the middle to toss up. Our dressing room was divided in opinion between batting first or second, so it came as a relief to lose the toss. F&H had a pretty good team out, especially in the batting department, so it was no surprise when Chris decided to “have a bat”. Chigwell had won its last three games batting first, so it made a change for the opening bowlers to have a new ball with which to weave their magic. Dom, as always, looked threatening, and none of the F&H batsmen took too many chances against him. Rob Allum opened at the other end and summoned up all his guile and experience to bowl really effectively on the ground he knows so well. He removed a number of quality batsmen, and Sooty, finishing with an impressive haul of 5 for 61 in 12 overs. Unfortunately the rest of the bowlers found wicket taking altogether more elusive, Joe Rudkin having the only other success, although the fact that his victim was the F&H skipper had a certain delicious irony about it. Ian Rotsey batted well for his hundred, surviving the odd chance, and when he tucked a single away to bring up three figures Chris declared the innings with the total on 227. Given the batting potential at our disposal, and the prospect of facing an over or two more than F&H, I felt we had every chance of winning the game. Tim Hall was dismissed early on, somehow managing to deflect the ball onto his wicket with the back of his bat, having played too early, or late, or something. Joe and Harvey then joined forces to take the score, at a reasonable pace, on to 95. Harvey was then brilliantly run out with a direct hit from square of the wicket, and when Joe was bowled next over, the score unchanged on 95, Chigwell’s apparent advantage began to ebb away. Nigel, James and Rob Allum all departed cheaply, the wiles of Steve Poulter proving too much for them. Dom struck a spirited 22 before being bowled by Sooty, leaving me at the crease to welcome Owen, and later (but not much later) Brad, to the fray. I hit as many balls as I could behind square on the leg side, but couldn’t score at the required 8-10 per over, and the season finished with me and the vice-captain batting out the last two overs to secure a draw. Chigwell’s innings closed on about 210, which was good, but not good enough. We stayed chatting at the Paddock for a couple of hours, although the evening was dented somewhat by the F&H bar running out of firstly all keg beers, and then all bottled and canned beers. When Rob’s jug appeared as a jug of Pimms we knew it was time to move on – I never stay out after Pimms o’clock. Great season everyone, lots of exciting new talent coming through, and a bit of raging against the dying of the light from the more mature members. Some seasons finish with an audible sigh of relief from the skipper, but I was really sorry to see this one go. Still, nets in January, and only seven months to go until the new season! May strength & honour prevail!!!!!

Hey, you bunnies…

Date: March 22, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Happy Easter! The season is approaching quickly and this year I have managed to publish the fixture card even before April has arrived. Didn’t I do well?! To all of the clubs that are playing us this year and who may be looking in: please check the fixture list and your ground locations and let me know (mailto:fixtures@chigwellcricketclub.com) if there are any errors or omissions. Thanks! Nick

MacGregor traps rabbits and Chigwell are skinned (Chingford 24/4/2005)

Date: April 26, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Chingford proved much the better side on Sunday and in the end a five wicket defeat probably flattered Chigwell. There was at least evidence of some fighting spirit from Chigwell, who battled through 60 odd overs to post a score of 177, Tim Mitzman looking the class act to finish on 69, although he was dropped early on at square leg. Olly will be pleased to know that Mitzy’s new bat is shaping up well! Rob contributed a hard-working 40 not out, and Hannah notched up a couple of runs and defended well until she was last out. Chingford’s main weapon was the impressive MacGregor, who finished with 6 wickets, including four plumb LBWs. Chingford batted at a far higher lick than Chigwell, and although Chigwell remained committed to the cause it soon became apparent that defeat was extremely probable. Dom bowled with admirable pace, and had a chance or two go begging, but the pitch was never lively enough to suit him, and in the end his only wicket came from a slower in- swinger which trapped the left-hander in front. Harvey and Rob Allum had brief spells without success and it looked like a nine wicket defeat was on the cards until Brad, ever the partnership breaker, bowled Chingford’s top scorer, and later saw Rob Allum take the first of two excellent catches. Skipper replaced the luckless Nick, and copped another couple of wickets, the Chingford batsmen becoming careless as they already had the game in the bag. So defeat but some positives to be drawn: Tim M in fine form, Rob batting and catching well, Brad bowling very nicely thank you, but most of all good weather and a nice run around with your mates. Running around and winning would be even nicer though!

Heavy Weather Chasing Chaseville (8/5/2005)

Date: May 09, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

A day of showers, one of them meteorological, saw Chigwell finish 3 runs short of the winning post, and Chaseville 1 wicket short of a dramatic victory. It was good to see so many of the Chigs arrive in good time for a change although Nigel achieved the ultimate in lateness by never making it to the ground. Luckily Charlie was on hand to ensure Chigwell fielded a full complement of players as they took the field having won the toss. Rob Allum struck early, removing C Callen for a duck, but then the wickets became a little harder to take. Dom bowled very well as usual, but despite beating the bat or finding the edge on numerous occasions finished wicketless. Some team soon is going to suffer a Domolition when he gets the luck he deserves. Rob and Nick continued to keep things tight, Rob removing the other opener to a fine catch from James “standing up”. Charlie came on for four overs, but was probably bowled from the wrong end, although he did have a chance put down by the luckless Tim Hall. I decided to give myself a go from the pavilion end and soon took a sharp return catch, which added to another catch from a Nicholas Allum delivery took me up to 3 catches, and jug territory. The latter part of Chaseville’s innings provided cheap wickets for myself (3-19) Nick (3-45) and Brad, who buried the ghost of last week’s wayward bowling with 2-6. Chigwell dismissed Chaseville for 156, below par really for an Old Chig’s wicket, but looked very laboured at times in the field, conceding too many cheap singles, and twos that should have been ones. As it transpired this was to prove very costly. After tea Chigwell batted cautiously in the main, although Harvey attempted to batter the opening spinner and was caught for 8. James perished in a similar fashion, leaving Ritchie and Tim Hall slowly accumulating runs. Heavy weather was being made of chasing the total, and heavy weather was fast approaching as Dom, replacing Tim, arrived at the crease to biff a few sturdy blows before the storm broke just after Ritchie’s demise, and Old Chig’s was given a severe dousing over a twenty minute period. The combination of lost time and an invigorated pitch made things difficult, although only 3 an over was required for the last six overs with 4 wickets in hand. Rob A spooned one to extra cover and I was left with the tail of Brad, Owen, and Charlie to try to sneak home. Tidy aggressive bowling from the indefatigable R. Laney proved sufficient in the end to secure the draw for Chaseville, indeed but for stout resistance from Charlie they might have won a game that really should have been Chigwell’s for the taking.

“The Cobbler” Nails Coopersale

Date: May 17, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell stormed to a first ever win against Coopersale on Sunday, with three Chigwellians putting in performances of strength honour and a high degree of skill. Boosted by the late inclusion of Stan, a guest from Fives & Heronians, and Joe Rudkin, taking a little time away from his revision schedule, Chigwell showed plenty of application when, having lost the toss they took to the field on a glorious late spring afternoon. Dom and Rob Allum opened the bowling and were unlucky to take only one wicket between them, Rob holding a skied catch off his own bowling, made doubly difficult by his fear of tripping over the stumps as he manoeuvred into position. Dom’s luck again deserted him, but he maintained pressure on the batsmen, and ensured they were unable to score freely. Joe and Ritchie replaced the opening bowling duo, and soon the wickets began to fall. Ritchie – the Cobbler – eager for a long spell after being used sparingly so far this season, volunteered to change ends to facilitate Joe bowling with the slope to assist his leg-spin. His decision was to lead to him producing his best ever return, snaffling 7 for 54 off 15 overs, his magnificent bowling ably assisted by willing fielders taking good catches, none better than Joe’s fingertip clutching of a ball that no one else could have got remotely close to. Joe himself extracted turn and bounce from a tired pitch (this was the sixth consecutive game played on it in three weeks!) and claimed two wickets, including the much prized scalp of Graham Hancock, so often the executioner of Chigwell aspirations. Ritchie led the team off for tea happily knackered, with Coopersale amassing 179 all out. I thought that the pitch’s vagaries made that a par score, and with Graham Hancock and Tony Fraser opening the Coopersale attack that opinion looked justified as Chigwell ground and slumped their way to 30 for 3. Down to bat at six I was full of pessimism, and hoped that Joe and Rob Allum might hold them off for a while. The partnership for the fourth wicket was however quite simply magnificent. Joe played as stylish an innings as we are likely to see from a Chigwellian this season, with Rob continuing his scintillating batting form, highlighted by his superb six off Mr. Hancock, the ball homing in on the same pavilion window he broke two weeks ago. Perhaps it was that physical and psychological blow that established Chigwell as likely winners of the contest. Runs began to flow and cheers from the boundary greeted first Rob and then Joe passing 50. Joe eventually fell on 78 having, with Rob, added 137 for the fourth wicket. It was nice as skipper to be able to perform the last rites to bring Chigwell home with 8 or 9 overs to spare, with Rob finishing on 52 not out. Great team performance, great individual performances – and Chigwell still unbeaten at fortress Old Chigs.

First Away Win? I’ll Have Some of That!! (Willingale 22/5/05)

Date: May 25, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

The day started strangely for me. A dash to my deaf 94 year old Nan’s house – she’d pulled the emergency cord and was not responding to the intercom – where I found her fully ok – and naked – in the bathroom. Shocked and relieved I headed to Willingale. Charlie had had to pull out in order to play for Essex under 11s, so we were one short and that, coupled with a complete lack of knowledge with regard to the likely strength of the opposition, having never played them before, meant that I was happy to lose the toss and have to field first. Phil had not yet arrived as we took to the field, being lost in darkest Essex, so I tossed the new ball to Rob Allum and Owen, freshly shorn and newly turned 28 years old. Owen set the theme for the Willingale innings by inducing one of the openers to play on, before deceiving the other with some useful left arm swing bowling. He finished with 2 for 24 off 7 overs, most of the runs coming from his last, slightly wayward over. Rob joined the party with a ball that clipped and broke the off bail, and things looked well under control. Ritchie bowled well, but couldn’t quite reproduce last weeks magic, finishing with none for 28 off 8 overs. During this time Mr. N. Copper, who had arrived at the crease after Owen’s second wicket, began to wield his bat like a member of the SPG might wield a police baton, taking a particular fancy to Nick’s uncharacteristically wayward bowling. He hit a peach of a shot through the pavilion window – much to the alarm of the tea-ladies – along with three or four more sixes to the leg-side boundary. Feeling Nick had suffered enough punishment I decided to bring myself on to replace him, although I must say I feared I would suffer similar treatment from Mr. Copper. After the aperitif of a gift wicket where the batsman played on, the ball scarcely having enough energy to reach the stumps, yet somehow dislodging a bail, my main course of bowling to Mr. Copper arrived. He was obviously full of confidence, but he tried to smash the wrong ball and to my delight and surprise I saw the ball turn through the gate and bowl him! “HAVE SOME OF THAT” I yelled, sounding like the lovechild of Mike Reid and Delia Smith, and punching the air in best Brad Davis fashion. How embarrassing. My mum had turned up to watch too. Oh dear. It was a decisive breakthrough however. With their top scorer finally removed for 77 and time running out, Willingale huffed and puffed to a total of 181 all out, Phil Bannocks doing particularly well to take two wickets and a catch (off Brad), and Owen effecting one of the two late run outs. Who to open the batting? Tim Hall was a natural choice, but could I risk Nick partnering him; would that run the risk of too slow a start? I decided to chance it, but after 8 overs there were only 11 runs on the board, and questions were being asked on the boundary. Then Nick and Tim began to accelerate, initially by taking tight singles, and turning ones into twos, and later by striking the ball to all parts of the ground. By the time Tim fell on exactly 50 runs the total had reached 134 from 26 overs. Nick was eventually out for 75, leaving Rob and Olly to bring home the Chigwell victory. It was a really good team performance from Chigwell, with a fantastic vibe to the team on and off the field. And now the tour beckons. I gather from the Beamers’ blog that they feel confident after a couple of victories over (no doubt) inferior sides. Beware Beamers, the Dominatrix might teach you a painful lesson in humility…

‘Rudderless’ Beamers hit rock bottom (Brighton Beamers 29/5/05)

Date: June 01, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Match report from Niall ‘Grandpa Potts’ Chafey… The Beamers juggernaut, possessed of huge momentum from the unbeaten start to the season, jack-knifed horribly on Sunday against Chigwell CC, shedding its load of London Pride and Mr Kipling’s Country Slices all over East Brighton Park. After hours of post-match analysis over their tear-diluted pints the elders of the Beamers Jedi Council concluded that we hadn’t score enough runs or taken enough wickets. This nugget of wisdom was later whittled down to: it was a bad toss to lose. Well, in the immortal words of Professor Yaffle, ‘Fiddlesticks and flapdoodle!’ We were well and truly chiggered, outplayed in every area of the game, and only clawed back a modicum of pride through a nice tea and some quality quaffing in the Battle afterwards. Toss, schmoss – the better team won. In a most un-Beameresque manner there was mutinous talk from some quarters that the skipper had left the Beamers ship of state ‘rudderless’. It might have been kinder, perhaps, to say that the rudder sheared off in the skipper’s hand as he tried to steer HMS Beamer away from the rocks of a 9-wicket defeat. A loss of such magnitude cannot be blamed on the limitations of one man. The Chiggers bossed the game from the outset. A combination of hostility from the Dominator and guile from Rob ‘The Beat’ Allum was more than a match for the Beamers top order and by the first change we were reeling on 30-odd for 4. But the skipper had made plans for such a contingency in the stately, plump form of Frank ‘Insurance’ Rigby being held back at number 6. He was the Beamers Praetorian Guard, charged with the task of stemming the haemorrhage of wickets. While those around him lost their heads he stood firm, his bat and armguard metamorphosing into an impenetrable Frankish shield. Alas, only Siddo, resolute in defence, dashing in attack and suicidal in running between the wickets, was able to prosper alongside Frank. So thornlike was Siddo’s resistance in the booze-soaked side of the Chiggers that the Dominator had to bring himself back on and resort to attempted murder with a bouncer. Eventually, tea came and HMS Beamer, with her mainmast blown away but with Frank still standing on the burning deck 57 not out, limped into port at 140-8. Quick wickets were the order of the day if the Beamers were to have any hope of victory and so it was that Musso and J were let loose with a cordon of slips and gullies to make the first incisions. But the breakthrough proved elusive, not just for the opening pair but for every other bowler who followed in their wake. Richard Mussett has, no doubt, been called many things in his time but ‘Muss the Toothless Dragon’ will surely rankle with him. Jeremy Cakeheart provided plenty of sponge but the icing and the cherry on top were sadly lacking. There followed a succession of puff pastries, fondant fancies and fairy cakes from the Beamers bowling attack all of which Ross and Tim, the Chigwell openers, tucked into like a couple of third-formers on an afternoon exeat to a village teashop. Nothing seemed to go the Beamers’ way. Everyone seemed to bowl all right and there was plenty of playing and missing, but the three half chances went begging, the runs mounted up and as the first hour ended without a wicket we entered the Bowldrums. It all went eerily quiet, what little banter and sledging there had been dried up, and the Beamer mariners huddled together in their ragged whites on the Raft of the Medusa, lips parched, delirious through lack of wickets: Chiggers, Chiggers everywhere And all the Beamers think, Chiggers, Chiggers everywhere I really need a drink When the wicket eventually came it was sadly symptomatic of the whole afternoon. A weary long hop from the skipper, an attempted pull by the tiring batsman and a dilly-dolly-dandy dollydrop to Dave at slip, who had time to tuck a red gingham napkin into his whites and rub his hands together before completing the catch. Celebrations were as muted as the Beamers had been all day. After that, Siddo managed to put some decent overs together as Ross inexplicably refused to perform the coup de grace, but it fell to Tim, that stout yeoman of East Coker, to finally put the Beamers out of their misery. After a few pints, it didn’t seem that bad, but Monday morning brought both headache and heartache as the enormity of the Chigwell victory sank deep taproots into the skipper’s brain. In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Grandad philosophises that ‘From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success’. It remains to be seen whether this captain will be there to smell them.

Strength And Honour Sends Strollers Into Submission

Date: June 08, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

(Ditchling Strollers 28/05/05) The opening game of our annual tour to Brighton literally had everything, writes Brad Davis . I won the toss and chose to bat. We were playing on a different ground to last year and I anticipated a much harder battle than our stroll to a convincing victory a year earlier, especially without Newers my secret weapon of a strike bowler! I expected the opposition to be stronger and fight a lot harder and the batting conditions were extremely difficult as we were playing in a gale force wind. However, we were going for our 1st ever 100% tour and that was the target. The plan was for quick runs and a generous declaration allowing everyone to get into the game and still come out victorious, with this in mind I elected to open with Ross and Rallum. They started well enough putting on around 40 until Rob was dismissed. Thereafter apart from a gallant 39 from Ross only Ollie was able to hit the dizzy heights of the 20’s and as wickets steadily began to fall I found the team in the dubious position of 125 for 8 as I came out to bat at number 10 with about 45 minutes still to go. I said to Nick that 170 would be a challenging score and that’s what I was after. Nick suggested that we take it in small targets at 10 runs a piece and make sure we use the time – wise words indeed. Nick and I somehow managed to conjure up a partnership of 43, although I was dropped very early on, all the more remarkable as we scored 12 and 11 respectively! I eventually swung across the line of a straight one and was bowled in the last over and Ritchie perished the same way 1st ball for a tour golden grill – surely worth a jug! So 170 it was and I hoped that our partnership would prove valuable. After the usual scrumptious tea of cranberry and brie we set out to defend our total. Dom bowled his usual aggressive spell but once again went unrewarded. I paired Dom with Nigel who was managing to swing the ball miles from outside the leg stump and bagged the opener in his 3rd over. I replaced Nigel with Ritchie who although bowling very well was taken a particular liking to by one of their batsmen. At 85 for 1 in swift time I reluctantly had to take him off and called upon the wizard of experience in the form of Rallum to replace him, having opened the batting Rob was only to be used in an emergency but the Chigwell Samaritan phones were ringing off the wall! Rob bowled a quite magnificent spell of guile and control especially considering the extremely windy conditions and only conceded 16 runs in his 10 overs taking 3 wickets. When I removed my wicket less genuine strike bowler from the attack he remarked to me that we had been ambushed, but I never lost faith and suspected that if we could remove these two then they may not have that much more to offer and that we had every chance if I could stem the run rate and keep us in the game. Dom was replaced by Nick who obliged by removing both batsmen as Rob piled on the pressure at the other end. There was now some hope but a Chiggers victory still looked no more than a speck of light at the back of the skipper’s mind. The strollers needed 38 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand at less than 3 an over. Suddenly wickets began to tumble as Nick wheeled away working his magic. The fielding was tight and fast and the batsmen suddenly seemed under pressure. We held all our catches taken by Mitzy behind the sticks, Ollie, a caught and bowled for Nick and of course Rob superglue Orange. With just 3 balls remaining and Rob bowling the last over all results were still possible with 12 runs required and 8 wickets down a Chigwell victory still looked as likely as a sane person with more than 2 brain cells entering the big brother house. With a boundary needed to keep the strollers in the hunt the ball went straight to a fielder but both batsmen set off like two straight guys realizing they had entered Madam Jo Jo’s on the wrong night and the lightning run out was executed by Tim chicken Kebab Hall. The penultimate ball was bang on its target by Rob but the batsman just kept it out. As Rob ran in to deliver the final ball of the match I allowed myself to wonder whether history could repeat itself and Chigwell could repeat our most famous victory when Ritchie took a magnificent caught and bowled at WG to win the final game a few years ago. As the Chigwell fielders gathered around the batsman like vultures I thought maybe he will dolly it up to me, nooooooo, I will probably drop it and ruin the tour. I need not have worried as the ball honed in on its target catching the edge and shattering the stumps!!!!!! Chigwell went into a huddle around Rob after a famous victory that will live in the memories forever. Ironically it was their GC who was the villain whilst our very own BGC was rightly the hero of the hour! So for this skipper strength and honour and spirit had prevailed as we headed to East Brighton Park on an absolute high to deliver to Beamers their ultimate humility!

Chigwell More Ruthless Than the Aussies! Report from a Scalded Scyld Berry (Newman International 12/6/2005)

Date: June 16, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Last Saturday the Australians played their first serious game of their tour, and thumped Leicestershire out of sight. Last Sunday the Chigwell All-Stars XI played Paul Newman’s International No-Stars XI and thumped them out of sight. Both the Australians and Chigwell batted first and ran up totals above 300 in similar vein. Chigwell wobbled a little at 90-5 but the right-handed Dominic scored a century in partnership with the lefthanded Rob to take them past 300 without losing a further wicket. All the bowling came alike to Chigwell’s sixth wicket pair – fast or slow, swing or spin, male or female, all the bowling was treated with growing disdain. The fielding of the Newman International No-Stars creaked a little. Once the practice had finished and play started, it creaked even more. Both Rob and Dominic were missed, but perhaps it was more surprising when a catch was taken, by Mr Philip Newman, a cousin of the impressario no less, who had not played cricket for 30 years. He took a good catch to dismiss opening batsman Tim, and did not appear to catch another ball cleanly all afternoon. This contrasted with the fielding of Pete Mitchell who caught everything except the early slip catch offered by Dominic, when Chigwell were reeling just before lunch. Cricket coaches might learn from the above experience. For better the man who only takes the important catch than all the super-fast fielders who stop everything except for the crucial chance. The No-Stars’ pursuit of Chigwell’s total was as vain as Leicestershire’s and they never looked like coming close. It was virtually a two-and-a-half-man show. The portly Mitchell rolled back the years to make a very fine hundred (he was the one-and-a-half man), while his only support came from Richard Copeman with 65. In his more sylph-like prime Mitchell was the wicketkeeper-batsman for Cape Town University, and the class showed in the strokeplay off the back foot, none more so than his hook off the fiercesome paceman Johnny Wilkinson. Chigwell had the game won for certain with some ten overs to spare, if not long beforehand. When Ms Newman came in, her strokeplay was not to be readily distinguished from that of her father. Perhaps it was therefore a case of mistaken identity when the fielders crowded her bat and ran her out when taking a harmless single. The Australians would never have been quite so ruthless.

CHAVWELL HELD….. WG 157-5 Chigs 154-6 Match drawn (30/5/05)

Date: June 17, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Skipper for the day Ritchie Charlton reports: Awoke to reasonable weather in Brighton but the prospect of a non-starting car was rather upsetting in my hungover state. However, Rallum called upthe RAC and they got us fixed up. Steamed down to Isfield in progressively worsening weather trying to call Nick on his mobile to see if we could procure some brunch – sugar/glucose was much needed! After a glass of the black doctor and steak & kidney pie, chips and vegetables I went to the ground for a recce. I arrived to find a man with a moustache and a lawnmower preparing grass and mud. Things didn’t look good. After some negotiation it was decided that a 3 oclock start would be best (half an hour late). I returned to the pub, rounded up the troops and ongetting back to the gudges I won the toss and unsurprisingly inserted the opposition. We bowled like drains. We fielded like sieves. I think probably myself and Owen were the worst culprits. We were massively hungover. Mr. Loverman was clearly shaky over the dusty memories of distant conquests (victims) and I dropped two catches. Mind you at one point with Dom berating me for not chasing a ball to the cover boundary (I thought I’d put a fielder there!) I had delirious visions of the Palm House at Kew and a rather large sack of half bricks. We didn’t gain any control until I put on the new spin twins even though for the previous year I’d been thinking that my tactic against WG would be to open with spin. Unfortunately I won the toss and convention dictated that I should put seamers on. Anyway with the opposition somewhere in the region of 80 for no wicket I had no choice but to call on our version of Laker and Lock or is it Rhamaddin and Valentine? Rob O bowled the opening batsman and that bought to the crease a certain hersuit assailant that kind of looked familiar! From this moment in the 24th over WG started thinking of the draw. We settled into a long period of reasonably dull cricket, covering the boundaries one end and surrounding the moustache at the other. This was quite nice for me as for the first time in the game I could relax. In my minds eye, my captaincy is usually full of aggression and self belief. ButI was so bloody hungover that I had no belief whatsoever and come to thinkof it, no self either! Eventually after 31 overs of quality spin from the dynamic duo I bought on Tim M from the top end for 2 overs of declaration bowling. With a fixed tea, this isn’t usually necessary but we did it anyway! Tea was the usual WG feast. There was a bit of a tear up when the dandy highwayman – who’d been slighltly unsettled all day – was spotted necking ham sandwiches and quaffing tea. Fortunately, at the moment he told the entire team to go forth and multiply, his girlfriend turned up and all was right with the world. Elected to open with our previous sterling partnership – Mctagget andMitzman. After an early boundary Ross got a little bogged and was caught at the wicket. This bought in Diggins. Boris must have found something else in that broom cupboard because he now seems to want to sweep everything and a stumping seems to be the somewhat predictable result. Rallum came to the crease. Mitzman left the crease, I think succumbing to his favoured pullshot, for 33. Repeated patterns of behaviour being a somewhat repeated pattern on the day. The man of experience provided some much needed imputus with James. They had an excellent stand that got us right in the game. No one was really playing the leg spinner Bain with any certainty and it was generally felt on the boundary that he was gonna get the better of us. However, after he had taken James’ wicket LBW for 23, they took him off as we piled on the pressure with the Dominator to the fore. There was then a period of seam bowling with all boundaries covered. This led unfortunately to rob being run out on 39, bringing Nick to the crease. On came the legspinner again and the dominator holed out after a quick fire 22. We needed 3 off the last 2 balls with Orange facing. But in a strange symmetry with the home game last year; Orange captain, Charlton batsmen; we just failed. And the match was drawn. Really excellent second half of the first innings/batting performance and a pretty good day considering the horrible weather in the morning and the extent of the hangovers! Maybe next year…..

BEAMERS THUMPED AS CHIGS SHOW TOUCH OF CLASS (29/5/05)

Date: June 17, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

The Dominator Gives the Chigwell Version of the East Brighton Park Massacre: T’was a grey and overcast afternoon upon arrival at East Brighton Park but the usual annoying cross wind funneled up from the South coast was, I’m happy to report, not evident. Also not evident were the Beamers team, however after a few minutes mulling around in the spartan changing rooms a shouldered cricket bag came into view so I made my way outside to introduce myself as Chigwell skipper for the day. ‘Pleased to meet you, I’m Frank’ said the Beamer. ‘shall we go and choose a wicket for todays game’ he continued. Slightly taken aback that we had a CHOICE of tracks I agreed and followed Frank out to the middle. The wickets were a carbon copy of each other except one was approximately half a nautical mile form the other so I plumped for the one positioned nearest the pavillion to allow the predicted large crowd the best vantage point to watch the days play. Niall, the Beamers skipper, arrived as Frank and I were walking off the pitch and as time was pressing on a coin was hastily tossed landing on my call of heads so I chose to insert the Beamers. I opened the bowling with the tried and tested new ball pairing of Rob Allum and myself. The wicket was true to form of previous years providing a lot of assistance to the bowlers early on and it didn’t take long for Rob to be rewarded with the first wicket. The next three wickets followed in suitably quick fashion and after 12 overs the Beamers looked unsteady on 30 for 4. I decided to take myself out of the attack and give the still relatively shiny & new ball to Richie to see if he could work his swing magic. Richie looked relatively happy at the prospect of bowling. I say relatively as Richie looked a little bemused to actually be on a cricket pitch in the first place with him still 3/4 pissed from the previous nights session. I think the other 1/4 of his brain was still waiting for a single malt at The Hilton Metropole bar. Neverthless he swerved in with gay abandon scorching the turf as he went with toxic vapour trails. After a slightly untidy start he overcame his double vision and took a couple of wickets in a rewarding spell. At the other end I continued with Rob Allum despite his claims of having a slight pull in one of his hamstrings, a neat trick I asssumed to be taken off bowling duties in the hope of attaining a lofty position in the batting order. The Beamers run rate continued to be restrained by tidy Chigs bowling and exceptional Chigs fielding, particularly from Oli Diggins who’s ‘body on the line’ approach set a very high standard for the rest of us to match. Rob and Richie were eventually replaced in the attack by Nick and Brad with about 20 overs reamaining before tea. I felt sure this move would tempt the Beamers into more expansive stroke play and perhaps result in the fall of a few more wickets. The wickets did indeed fall; two for Nick and one for Brad (Brad unlucky not to bag a second after Mitzy’s fresh air stumping attempt) and after a brief return spell for myself the Beamers finished their innings on 140-8. All in all a very disciplined bowling and fiedling performance. Well done Chigs! So after a fine tea the target was set at 141 for victory. For those unfamiliar with East Brighton Park this may seem somewhat of a stroll in the pre-verbial park but the ever present WISDOM of Rob Allum assured me there was no such thing on this particular ground. Having taken his advice firmly onboard I stuck with the batting order I had in mind and sent Mitzy and Ross off to the middle to start our challenge. The wicket continued to provide a mixed bag of tricks and both Chigs openers had to be on their game to counter an early onslaught from the Beamers opening attack of Musset and Jeremy. There were a few play and miss shots from the pair but nothing more than a couple of half chances were offered up to the fielders. After a very controlled and applied spell of getting themselves in both Mitzy and Ross started to increase the scoring rate and over by over we approached the target. Mitzy was the first to tuck into his bag of tricks pulling and driving the bowling attack with ease. It was his his trademark pull shot that was his eventual undoing as he got onto one a bit qucikly and top edged a chance taken at slip. Neverthless he contributed to the cause magnificently with 62. Tim Hall replaced him at the crease and the inevitable waltz to victory was put on ice for a few overs as maiden followed nail biting maiden. Ross deservedly hit the winning runs and finished with an unbeaten 57, an excellent and hard earned knock which for me summed up the Chigs team performance. Well done fellas! After the game, there was the constitutional visit to The Battle of Trafalgar where many a jug was sunk and points of view on the game were swapped. Here’s to next year fixture and hopefully another victory!

Hairy Love Monster the Hero as Chigwell Pull Off Yet Another Dramatic and Magnificent Victory! (South Woodford 19/6/2005)

Date: June 20, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Brad Davis, Captain of Vice, reports from the top of the world: I arrived at the ground which was bathed in glorious sunshine to contemplate whether I could risk batting first with what looked like a rather weaker team than usual with 11 players unavailable! I had been advised by Rallum, Nick and the president that I should not take the risk and had to bowl first even in these conditions for the sake of the match although the rest of my team did not seem to agree! However, their skipper successfully called tails and inevitably chose to bat much to the delight and excitement of some of his teammates. I opened the bowling with Dom and Rallum but there was no early breakthrough as two difficult chances went begging. Dom as always bowled fast and with a lot of heart and was once again unfortunate to only take 1 wicket when his spell deserved 3 or 4. Rallum as ever bowled a tight and accurate spell, which was extremely long especially in the conditions, but my options were limited and he did finish with 2 wickets. I replaced Dom with Nick but things did not go according to plan as by now their overseas paid player was at the crease and hit him for 4 huge sixes. Nick was not happy but there was little I could do to protect him and I asked him to persevere, he was finally rewarded with a wicket. I kept Rob toiling at the other end whilst I considered my options. I contemplated both Owen and Olly before deciding to try my own luck. It proved to be a good decision for me as I firstly managed to get the only LBW of the day before grabbing 3 clean bowled including the danger man as they increased the tempo and looked to reach 250 before the close. I replaced Nick with Mitzy and Dom volunteered to go behind the timbers. Mitzy also received the treatment and was replaced by Rob for what proved to be the penultimate over. I thought Dom kept really well only conceding one bye. The Chigwell fielding was excellent and we kept on going right until the end for almost 3 hours never wilting in the searing heat. There were also 2 catches for Owen, one of them at short mid on! They finished on 231 for 8, which we could achieve, but it required runs from the top six and a solid start. With this in mind I decided to open with Mitzy and Nick. The start could not have been better as they built an opening partnership of just over 100 in very good time. Nick batted really well and very positively scoring 39 at a run a ball before being bowled going for a big shot. Mitzy hung around and played some glorious shots to put us in a strong position to hit 75 off 60 odd balls before going to a catch. Last week’s hero Dom had been promoted to number 3 and was looking good for his 15 before playing the same shot as Mitzy and perishing in the same fashion. Rob had been dropped down to 4 as he was batting with a fractured hand. He showed tremendous grit and bravery whilst in great pain as he nudged and nurdled the ball around like Javed Miandad for 21. Rob did manage to hit two 4’s that were pure timing, and avoided a third attack on the pavilion window and disturbing the dancing teenagers who were oblivious to the building tension outside. When Rob was out Olly came to the wicket and when Tim H followed cheaply I came out to join Olly with 30 required at about 5 or 6 an over with 8 overs left. We took the score to within 8 or 9 of victory when Olly was caught at slip for a cameo, quick fire 18, but we had a big over before his dismissal with Olly hitting his 2nd and 3rd boundaries before his demise, runs that were to prove crucial in the final analysis as we were almost home. With Olly gone we now needed 7 runs from 11 balls but we had some unknown batsmen to come and time was running out. I was surprised and relieved to see Owen coming to join me, who had volunteered to bat at number 11 to allow his 2 friends to come in before him. However, as the most experienced batsman left Owen had taken an executive decision to come in next and what a good one it was to prove to be. We reached the last over needing 3 to win and with me on strike. We ran a sharp single off the 1st ball leaving 2 runs required off 5. Owen failed to connect with the next one but then played a glorious leg glance off his glove as we scampered home for 2 and a memorable victory! Special thanks go to Reobyn and Dave for turning out at such short notice and fielding really well in the true Chigwell spirit, I hope we will see you both again, also to Steve Drabwell who on his first outing this season managed to get in the way of anything that came anywhere near him and almost held on to what would have been a top catch early on. Also, to our twelfth man in the form of the guys and groupie girls who roared Owen and myself to victory from the boundary edge. In true AC DC style for those about to win we salute you! It was an absolute pleasure to skipper you guys today for this great club and I can’t wait for the next opportunity, I thank every one of you for making it a memorable day. May strength and honour go with you!

Cobbler Swings Chigwell into Contention (North Park 26/6/2005)

Date: June 28, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

It was a race against time: would I work out how to fasten the seatbelt in Nick’s “classic” style Rover 3500 before we arrived at Woodford Wells? No. In the end I just held the infuriatingly counter intuitive pieces of steel together and hoped that my grip would prove sufficient to prevent me flying through the windscreen in the event of a head on collision. Nick and I arrived at a half-filled Wells car park and soon discovered that, with North Park vs. Chigwell the only game scheduled at the Wells that day, we had been promoted from the “Postage Stamp” to the recently re-laid main pitch. This made the subsequent winning of the toss less important, but made the decision of whether to bat or field more difficult. I had, and still have, no idea how many runs represent a good declaration on the batsmen’s blank cheque that is the postage stamp. Their skipper told me that in Wells cricket week Woodford Wells had scored 378 runs their allotted 45 overs, and North Park in response had ended 3 runs short of victory! The new square in the main arena was a different kettle of fish, and I took the safe option of bowling first to get a look at how it would perform. Word was that it was keeping low, and word was correct! Dom and Rob bowled their customary tidy spells, highlighted by Dom dismissing their opener. There was a chance early on to run out the North Park No.3, but the skipper missed the stumps from 5 yards. This was to prove expensive, as was the earlier dropped catch at backward square by Brad, although to give him his due he did well to get under it. Both batsmen went on to record scores in the 70s, the remaining opener taking a particular liking to the Orange pies served up by the skipper. Eventually Ritchie and Nick restored order, taking 9 wickets between them. Ritchie in particular bowled magnificently, probably as well as I have ever seen him, and finished with 5 wickets – including both half-centurions – in addition to only going for around 3 runs per over. The last 8 wickets fell for about 50 runs and North Park posted a total of 209. Special mention should, and indeed does, go to Tim Mitzman for his excellent keeping on a very difficult pitch. Tim Mitzman’s batting however does not warrant special mention on this occasion, as our classiest wielder of the willow found himself taking an early shower after playing round a straight one for 4 runs. Rob and I dug in for a while, trying to remember our mantra for the innings; “Get forward to anything straight, it’s keeping low”. Still, after playing with an almost unprecedentedly straight bat for 10 overs or so, my other mantra of; “swish across the line; paddle it behind square on the leg side” won the internal battle and I was bowled by one that kept horribly low. Dom replaced me and all too soon holed out to mid-wicket from a top edged pull. Phil accumulated 5 runs before departing (I missed how he was out, being in the shower at the time), and the last hour arrived with Olly and Rob A needing 7 or more an over for a Chigwell win. Some lusty blows were struck, mostly by Olly, but once he had gone it became increasingly unlikely we would pull it off. Rob perished going for glory after a grafting 77, Brad tried to keep the dream alive, but perished for not very many, and in the end Nick and Owen steered the good ship Chigwell safely into draw harbour. Not one of the more glorious finishes, but the day will be remembered for the superb recovery in our fielding innings, led by Cobbler and Plant, and for a fine knock by Rallum, bettered only by his post match performance, following buying his jug of Stella with buying a massive round in the Nightingale. Marvellous.

Chigwell De-railed Just Outside Hadley Wood Station (Hadley Wood Green Away 3/7/2005)

Date: July 08, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell suffered badly at the hands of Hadley Wood Green on Sunday, with only Dom and our two lady players coming out of the debacle with any honour. It was miserable and drizzly when the skipper inconveniently lost the toss and with it pretty much any chance of winning. Chris, the HWG skipper had no hesitation inserting Chigwell and with a combination of precipitation, poor light, no sight screens, a lively pitch, and excellent bowling, the top order crumbled. Adam Randall bowled particularly well, ably supported by the skipper. Indeed Mr. De Villiers, another pace bowler was not even called into action as Chigwell slumped to 44 for 8. When Adam wasn’t having batsmen caught he was hitting the stumps direct to effect a run out. Dom, no doubt remembering his heroics from this fixture last season, remained defiant and smashed 60-odd runs, including 2 or three clean hit sixes. He was able to do this because Chigwell finally found a batsman who could stay in: Hannah Newman. With excellent technique and determined application Hannah kept Dom company in the middle for about half an hour, during which period Dom accumulated the bulk of his runs. It was a mature display from the young Newman, and gnarled old Chigwellians nodded their approval from the boundary. Sally was eventually called on to replace Hannah and lasted a lot longer than her husband Karl, who had earlier bagged a golden duck. Sally, under instruction not to move from her position in front of the stumps took this advice literally and remained resolutely in place even when the bowling was coming from her end. Dom eventually holed out to Jim, having drawn a fig-leave over Chigwell’s naked inadequacies. Tea arrived (early) and as we feasted the drizzle stopped and the conditions became altogether more benign. Hadley Wood Green scored the requisite 87 runs for the loss of three wickets, one each for Rob A, Tim M and Brad, the other notable feature the superb keeping of Newers, and the body-on-the-line approach to fielding of Sally, who had become some sort of ball-magnet for the day. We congratulated the opposition on their well deserved victory, apologised for such a limp display, then went to find a bar wherein to drown our sorrows. Great to see Karl and Sally again: Sally is, and always will be “Not Out Newman”.

Chigwell gain comfortable bore draw against confused opposition (Aztecs 7/8/2005)

Date: August 08, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Vice Captain Eggly Cressvis reports: I arrived at the ground at 1.30 to an empty car park full of euphoria and anticipation after the extraordinary events at Edgbaston in the morning! Sadly, the rest of the day was not to live up to expectation. Nick had warned me that I had to make sure that the opposing skipper was sure of the rules of a time game as they were used to playing 40 overs games and seemed a little confused. After about 10 minutes I thought he had the picture and had reluctantly agreed, he correctly called heads and after some deliberation chose to bat. Maybe I could have become a rocket scientist after all! We did not start until 2.20 and to be fair to them I did say to him that they should expect around 45 overs if he looked to declare around halfway by no later than 4.45. We did only bowl 42 overs in 2 hours 50 minutes, which was painfully slow. In saying that that they batted 10 to 15 minutes too long, in fact 2 of our players attempted to leave the field an over early, when their skipper at 4.40 for some reason only wanted to know how many overs had been bowled, he was told 39 although in fact it was already 41, c’est la vie. Guest player Adam Peters opened the bowling with Phil and we got off to a good start with a smart piece of work from James as he threw down the stumps with the opener standing a yard out of his crease. We had to wait a while for the next wicket but Adam then took 2 in 2 balls! Owen bowled well to begin with before being hit out of the attack. Our fielding today was very poor and we probably gifted them the best part of 40 runs. The notable exceptions to this were Nigel who fielded superbly all day culminating in a lightening run out when facing the wrong way and Nigel’s mate Dave who was filling in as we waited for Rob to arrive from LA. Dave fielded really well on the boundary all day, so well in fact that he ended up breaking his hand! To steal a line from Niall how can you expect to win a game of cricket when 2 of our 3 recognised bowlers bowl poorly and your fielders drop 8 or 9 catches? After Nigel’s run out we had to endure a very long stand although both batsmen were dropped at least twice and although Nick, Ritchie and myself were far from at our best we did create some opportunities and we should have had them out earlier or at least restricted their scoring. I admit that I did not have my best day today and that hindsight is a wonderful thing in cricket. When I belatedly brought Adam back he took a wicket it straightaway to end up with a well-deserved 4, but I was short on bowling today and my options were always limited. Another great display by James who took 2 catches, a stumping and a run out. After a leisurely tea we went out needing 234 to win and having to score at over 5.5 an over from the off. We started well enough if not slightly slowly which meant the run rate was always increasing. Rob made 22 in even time having arrived from the airport and we reached the final 20 needing exactly 7 an over but with 9 wickets still in hand. Unfortunately, as always happens in these situations wickets began to fall as we tried to keep up with the asking rate. Adam fell for 38 and Hamad shortly after for 35. Nigel was looking good for 24 before being triggered and after Phil and Nick went cheaply I came out at number 8 with the rate now over 8 an over and only James who could give us a realistic shot at an unlikely victory. There were easy singles available and I managed to keep him on strike at 2 or more a ball until he was unlucky to play on and our hopes departed with him. Ritchie came to join me and I was out to a horrible shot soon after. Charlie had been promoted to 10 as I could not get him on to bowl and batted very well as he and Ritchie saw us through to a comfortable draw even though they brought the opener back at end. We finished about 50 runs short with 8 down. The opposition had all disappeared just leaving their tea money before I was even out of the shower. Whether their complete lack of grasp of the concept meant they were annoyed they had not won or they are just completely unsociable we may never know. Overall a disappointing performance by the Chigs with our guests proving the stars. We can all do much better. There seemed a distinct lack of strength and honour today, which was surprising after England’s heroics in the morning. Not my best day in the chair either after the glory of South Woodford on my last outing! Let’s make sure we go all out to win our penultimate home game next Sunday.

Rob Allum Hits Maiden Ton in the Grand Manner! (Hainault & Clayhall 14/8/05)

Date: August 15, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell, much like England a day later at Old Trafford, were unable to complete victory in a game they dominated. I lost the toss with consummate skill, saving me from making the decision, which is always tough, when our team has strong batting: bat first for fun or insert the opposition for the best chance of winning. After all you don’t need to take 10 wickets to win batting second. Anyway, as I said previously we lost the toss and batted for fun. Not all that much fun for Tim Hall who departed early for a duck, the venerable gentleman at slip showing surprising athleticism to hold the catch. This brought together our Fives and Heronian guests Nick Rotsey and Matt Sutton, and for a while it looked as if Nick would threaten the Chigwell quickest century record, adding numerous boundary fours to the six hit from the first ball he faced. His fun was short-lived on this occasion however and he perished mis-hitting one to mid off come extra cover for 22. Nigel was a little unlucky that the bowling had become much tighter by the time he arrived and he joined Tim in the duck house before too long. This brought to the crease Rob Allum, who hit a series of frightfully short deliveries to the boundary to get underway, and was looking good on 25 when the rain intensified and the covers were called for. While the more astute but less noble players shot into the pavilion to watch the gripping test match, four brave souls struggled with the sail-like covers in driving rain. The fact that they were the next four in the batting order was surely not their motivation. Eventually the boundary marker flags secured the cover and the drenched quartet joined their less committed friends in the bar. Tea was taken early and for a while it seemed that no further play would be possible. Eventually however the rain did pass, and all were summoned to help remove the cover in a way that would minimise spillage onto the wicket. The flags were taken out and the wind took charge, removing the cover with no problem at all! Luckily the pitch, though suffering patchy wetness, played OK for the rest of the game. So Rob and Matt resumed their excellent partnership and added well in excess of 100 runs before Matt departed the scene with a score of 44. During his partnership with Rob he had played mainly a supporting role, and a mighty fine job he made of it too. Meanwhile Rob had accumulated runs at a frenetic pace, the declaration always looming on the horizon. Shouts from the skipper on the boundary alerted him to the fact that he was on 91, and approaching the century that has eluded him since he first wielded the willow many years ago. No nervous nineties for Rob – he knew he had no time to get there in singles. He baffed another four and, on the 59th delivery he faced, smashed the ball straight back over the bowler to bring up his glorious maiden ton. Brad, who was the bowler’s end umpire, shot his arms aloft, the momentum lifting him several feet off the ground. Rob conversely sank to his knees and then lay on the pitch, scarcely able to believe that his 20 years or more of waiting were over. Personally I’ve got enormous respect for his achievement because it rewards him for the sheer hard work and determination he has put into improving his batting over the last five to ten years, and he now stands as one of the teams most talented batsmen. This will not be his last century. Rob’s exciting achievement meant a slight delay in the declaration leaving Hainault and Clayhall a target of 198 in an hour plus 20 overs to win, which proved a few too many to really give them much chance, although I was aiming at 190 notwithstanding Rob’s landmark score. They lost an early wicket (from Ritchie’s bowling) to a good catch from Chigwell’s newest centurion, and with Owen bowling well and snaffling another victim the signs looked good. Nick Allum replaced Ritchie and bowled for the rest of the innings, taking 3 good wickets. Brad replaced Owen and in a rather truncated four over spell weaved his magic to claim two victims. The only batsman who looked as if he was capable of scoring quickly enough to challenge the target set by Chigwell rather carelessly ran himself out, with Ritchie, now keeping wicket, hitting the stumps direct having retrieved a fumbled take. From this point on H&C dug in for the draw and despite the skipper claiming a somewhat unpleasant wicket with a beamer that dipped enough to drift over the ducking batsman and strike the stumps, and despite the hero of the day having one over at the last pair, we were unable to take the last wicket, and the match was drawn.

Skipper Acts Like Headmaster as Chigwell are Punished with the Best of Sixes (S. Woodford 21/8/2005)

Date: August 22, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Giving up fags was never going to be easy, and my mood was already grim before I received the call from Brad that over half the team were going to be late. I snapped, barked a few sharp words at Brad down the phone and set off seething for the South Woodford Ground. On arrival I had to spend an uncomfortable few minutes explaining that the early start required by the opposition (to prevent a clash of teas with the game taking place on the adjacent pitch) was not going to happen. I then had to talk the opposing team out of making the game a limited overs affair. We eventually started (a couple of men short) about half an hour late, but the South Woodford Batsmen were in the mood to make up for lost time. One opener in particular treated all Chigwell bowlers with more or less equal disdain, flaying them far and straight, the ball often clearing the rope by 30 yards. He finally departed, to our immense relief, for an amazingly quick 84, stumped smartly off Nick’s bowling by Paul Newman who had by then arrived with Hannah to take his place behind the timbers. Paul at least had had a very good excuse, nay reason, for being late as his interview with Adam Gilchrist had been delayed by the Aussie keeper insisting on extra batting practise beforehand. Fat lot of good it did him! Before Paul’s arrival the one bright spot for the Chigs had been Dom tempting the other opener into an indiscretion with a wide ball that the skipper as temporary keeper had caught off a thin edge. The scoring rate did slow down for a while but the damage had been done and a huge total of 281 was made in very good time. Dom bowled very well and took 3 wickets in all, Nick (2 wickets) and myself, liberated from keeping duties managed a degree of control for a while, but 281 in 46 overs was too many to give away. We were short of batting really and the tail was lengthened by a concussed Owen having to drop down the order after bashing his head on the deck attempting a catch. I could write many more sentences that contain the word “Owen” and the word “drop”, but that would be senselessly cruel. Tim Hall and Brad opened the batting and closed up shop simultaneously. There was never any prospect of Chigwell realistically attempting to scale the run mountain that lay before us, but we tried to play a few shots, and after the openers departed Paul and I shared a decent partnership, becoming so close that I even allowed him use of my helmet. This helped to stop him drifting too far towards leg when facing the fast bowler, but proved no help in preventing the useful off-spinner turning one through his gate and Newers innings ended on 24. Dom zonked a few before the fast bowler bowled him, then Nick arrived to share a long slow partnership with me that realised 52 almost incidental runs. A tiring skipper reached 52 before scooping one politely to not-at-all-deep mid-wicket and a mini collapse ensued, the wickets of Nigel, Ritchie and Charlie falling in rapid succession. Hannah looked technically excellent in blocking one end while Nick suddenly came to life and smacked the quick bowler for 2 delightful fours in the last over, which meant we finished only 103 short of the South Woodford total. Jugs and banter flowed after the game and I made sure I sat close to the smokers to savour the benefits of passive smoking. Shame it had been preceded by passive cricket!

WG at The Paddock!

Date: August 22, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

For those that haven’t yet heard…our game against WG Gracefully next Monday (29th Aug) is being played at F+H’s ground: The Paddock (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Chigwell,+Essex,+IG7,+UK&ll=51.628334,0.085981&spn=0.002366,0.006635&t=h&hl=en) , Green Lane, Chigwell, IG7 6DN.

Chigwell’s Disgraceful Catching Means Laycock Ton is not Enough ( WG Gracefully 29/8/2005)

Date: August 30, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

WG Gracefully put Chigwell’s bowlers to the sword yesterday, but the worst wounds were self-inflicted as catch after catch was spilled. We are well aware of the potential of the top order of WG and giving them several lives is really not a very good idea. C. Smith finished the innings with 150 not out; a colossal performance, but in the end WG spent a little too long batting to a massive total of 291 for 3, and the game was almost certainly destined for a draw by tea. Joe Rudkin was the only Chigwell bowler who caused any trouble, his leg-spinners bowling two victims, whilst he also managed to cling onto a difficult catch off Nick’s bowling. Even Joe dropped one later on though, as the fielding malaise spread throughout the team. Thankfully the batting innings was somewhat more enjoyable, although at 20 for 3 things were looking decidedly wobbly. Nick had opened with Rob and a brotherly disagreement about a run was the highlight of the partnership, Nick soon departing having stretched to tickle a wide one to gully. As umpire I had to bite back the call of “wide” and change it to “Why did he play that?”. Joe and Olly quickly came and went; two of our quickest scoring players out for 2 between them! Our chances of scoring 292 did not seem good. From this point however Rob A and James shared an initially steady and increasingly free-scoring partnership of 126, Rob finally bowled for 55. I joined James and after surviving a confident LBW appeal first ball, set about trying to give the established James the strike, the asking rate being about 12 per over. James asked Brad how many he thought he was on, Brad thought about 80. They had both missed the fact that Ritchie, alone in the score-box, had been displaying James’s score for the last 10 minutes! Actually James was on 95. In blissful ignorance James smashed the next ball straight for six to bring up his ton in what for him was a rather tardy 66 balls. For a while it appeared possible that James might be able to score quickly enough to challenge the imposing total, but finally he had to depart, LBW for 106 magnificent runs. Graham joined me at the crease, and we tried our best to keep the total within reach, but after a few beefy blows rustiness prevailed and he was bowled for 14. The game was now up, and a draw was all we could play for. Owen did just enough and fell in the last over, leaving Tom Wiskin to stoutly defend the last four balls and secure a share of the spoils. Chigwell finished on 241 for 7, not a bad score, although we faced 3 more overs (47) than WG. It’s always difficult to take 10 wickets on the flat track of the paddock. It’s impossible to do so if the team spills eight catches! In the end an honourable draw was the most, if not more, than we deserved.

St. John of Billericay: Patron Saint of German Truck Drivers.(17/9/05)

Date: September 17, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Saturday 17th September was a good day in the glorious history of Chigwell CC. Winning is pleasant enough, but a club stalwart achieving one of his cricketing ambitions in the process puts a particularly satisfying rosy tint to the memory. Everyone arrived with decent promptness and the toss, being won by the chigwell skipper – or “me” as I prefer to call myself – provided the first record breaking moment when I finally chose to bat first, after refusing this dubious honour since the first day of the season. Ill fortune was soon to shine upon Rob Allum who was out for a golden duck, his defensive shot edging a hugely swinging ball gently to slip. After his dismissal I told him that before this canard d’or he had been averaging over 50 runs. “I wish you’d told me” said he, “I would have tried harder!” How you try harder than defending one ball is a lesson only “The Judge” can teach. Next to fall with the score on 31 was Tim Mitzman, cruel victim of the sort of run out where the bowler gets a finger to a straight drive and deflects it onto the stumps at the non-strikers end. Luckily Joe, he who hit the straight shot, did not let Tim’s demise affect him, and, with me edging, leaving, and scampering at the other end, compiled a sturdy 76 before finding St. John’s best catcher at deep mid-wicket. With the century plus stand that the third wicket had realised releiving the pressure, Chigwell eased to 229 before declaring, with Nigel scoring 24 and James 36. Their ideosyncratic running between the wickets caused much mirth on the boundary, but ultimately cost neither their wicket, Nigel caught and James trapped LBW. St. John’s had obviously got word to the tea ladies that the home team had fielded first and an extra large and extremely delicious tea was awaiting us upstairs. Twenty minutes later, filled with all manner of tasty delights, we waddled gamely onto the field and set about our business. The excess ballast ploy failed, Joe springing athletically to his left to cling onto the edge induced by Dom. Rob made the slip catch that soon followed off Ritchie’s bowling look easy and St. John’s began to crumble. Dom maintained his high standards, claiming two more victims by re-arranging the five pieces of wood they sought to defend. Now came the history. Brad has never before claimed twenty wickets in a season, although he came agonisingly close two seasons ago, clocking up nineteen wickets with two games to go, both of which failed to provide the magic twentieth victim. Now he began the day with eighteen under his belt. Things did not go too well initially, the first chance he provoked slipping from my usually safe hands at mid-off. James made sure that the batsman didn’t survive long afterwards however, his stumping giving Brad wicket nineteen. Charlie had been introduced at the other end and in his third over he claimed a wicket courtesy of an outstanding catch at mid-wicket by none other than Brad. The celebrations were exuberent and Ritchie was almost moved to tears by the ballet of delight Brad and Charlie enjoyed, framed by a reddening dusky sky. Fired up by his catch Brad began to bowl tighter lines and fuller lengths, and soon his landmark wicket arrived – again a stumping by James. Brad celebrated by leaning back slightly, spreading his arms wide and nodding repeatedly. He told me later it was in tribute to Freddie Flintoff, but to me it had an air of the Churchill Dog about it. Brad deserved his celebration, and his joy was only to increase. Next over his first ball was struck high to mid-off and this time the captain made no mistake. So perished St. John’s top scorer (Brown) for a valient 53. Next ball Brad bowled the best delivery of his spell to clean bowl the St. John’s number nine. Finding himself “on a hat-trick” for the third time in two seasons Brad concentrated this time on making the batsman play, but – spoilsport that he was – he defended it comfortably. Ultimately it was Joe who claimed the final wicket, with James notching his third stumping of the match, which might easily have been four but for the sun blinding an umpire at a crucial moment a little earlier in the innings. Celebratory jugs followed and Brad was to continue his celebrations into the wee small hours throwing shapes up on stage at a discotheque I believe. History written, ambition achieved, who could blame him?

Tremendous Hits From Oliver! (F&H 1/10/2005)

Date: October 01, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

The game started with an arranged toss, F&H wanting to bat first. I’d agreed to this for three reasons: Firstly the F&H team would have preferred a 40 over a side format, but were prepared to have a timed game if they could bat first. Secondly because the pitch was quite damp and looked helpful to the bowlers, or at least as helpful as the Paddock strip is ever likely to get. Thirdly because I would have put them in under virtually any circumstances anyway. One problem was that I had planned to open the bowling with Dom and Mitz, both of whom were stuck in a traffic jam, caused by the partial closure of the North Circular. So with nine in the field I decided to opt for “containment” at one end with Nick and “seeing what happened” at the other with Owen. It all worked beautifully. Nick immediately found a tight line and length, while Owen, bravely trotting in despite breaking his toe playing computer games the previous evening, discovered the Paddock ridge and induced many false shots. Within the blink of an eye Owen had two wickets, one a catch off his own bowling, the other a smart stumping by James. Russ Beckett, who played for Chigwell at Ingatestone a few weeks ago, continued to score freely until the late arrivals combined to dismiss him for 42, caught Mitz, bowled Dom. By now Nick Rotsey had arrived in the middle and was batting like a monster. Chigwell now having a full complement of fielders made no difference to him, as practically every ball he faced was dispatched to the boundary. Several times a replacement ball had to be found, its predecessor flying into unfriendly territory beyond the Paddock. He did enjoy the odd lucky break; one that he sent high towards cow dropping just short of me as my feet flew sideways from under me on the sodden patch of outfield. The scoring rate accelerated alarmingly; Mitz bowled four perfectly decent overs, but was smashed for 42 runs. By now I was thinking, “Who will buy me a wicket?” I decided my name was the next on the list, and I marked out my run, fully expecting to suffer similar ignominy. By now however Fives were getting a little complacent and I was in the right place to cash in. First Graham Neary was bowled off his pad to one that I got to turn. This brought in Mr. Ballard at number 6. “Consider yourself in for it now” said Nick Rotsey, “He hits it like me!” “Well, let’s hope he’s not so lucky” I somewhat cheekily replied. Ballard smashed the first ball he received from me for six and the scene did look set for utter devastation, however Nick regained the strike and was suddenly out, stumped James. He was out for 93, but he didn’t look too bothered. I’m not sure if he deliberately got out, but he was deliberately reckless, dancing down the pitch to one that turned. This pushed the door open a little for Chigwell and we surged through. James and I combined twice more to get rid of Ballard and Britten, one stumped one caught behind, and then an unexpected “five fer” was completed when Ian Rotsey was caught by the reliable hands of Olly. Charlie replaced the luckless Brad at the other end, who had maybe been trying too hard to claim Sooty’s wicket – he finished unbeaten on 25 – and the innings ended when Dom took another good catch at mid on. The ten man Fives team had lost all nine of their wickets for 252 in 38.5 overs, an amazing recovery by the resilient Chigwell, who were led from the field by a proud skipper and sat down to flagons of tea and food – glorious food as it happened, with hot pizza a particular favourite. The Chigwell innings started badly when Mitz top-edged one high in the air and was caught with the score on 3. Oliver Diggins joined James Laycock and this pair had a careful look, then, after reviewing the situation, took the bowling apart. In their 18 overs together they scored 117 runs (6.5 per over). James finally departed trapped in front for a jug-avoiding 48. Mind you with three stumpings and a catch under his belt he owed one already. Graham Wiskin joined Olly, already past 50, and batted with much guile, nurdling the ball around to give his batting partner the strike. And why not, with Olly’s increasing belligerence taking him ever nearer to his first century for the club? The ton duly arrived, to the unconfined joy of his team mates, but the boy wanted more. As I sat with Brad in the score box we observed another meaty blow, but lost the flight of the ball. “Where’s that one gone?” asked Brad, just before the ball smashed into the front of our hide for yet another six. Graham, sensing that the game was almost won departed after a few lusty blows for a well earned 31, sharing a partnership of 96 for the third wicket. The mighty Diggins was next to go for a sumptuous 131, and was applauded and cheered all the way back to the dressing room. After a long wait on the sidelines Nigel was destined to be back soon, falling first ball – Sooty’s fourth victim – whilst offering no shot to one that turned. Any hopes Fives had of a revival were dispelled by a brutal knock by Dom, scoring 33 in around 15 balls to see us home. The last shot of the season was Dom creaming a six over long on to win the game. Sometimes it’s a fine life, isn’t it? Heavy drinking soon followed in the bar, resulting in drunken revelry including enthusiastic head-banging to rock standards, and the lip-synching and Gallic shrugging of Owen to some French chanteur whose name eludes me for the moment. I’m sure Linda Wiskin’s attractive colleague was suitably impressed! Dom will, I hope, assume the captaincy next season; I will of course be happy to offer help and advice for as long as he needs me to. However as last games of the season, (and last games as captain), go this was about as good as it could possibly get. I’d do anything to be able to re-live it.

End Of Season

Date: October 03, 2005

Author: Nick Allum

Here is a photo of the ‘working party’ moving the sightscreen back to the shed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/) on the last day of the 2005 season. For a taste (or reminder) of Saturday’s victory party, have a look at this high quality piece of video reportage (http://www.zen37914.zen.co.uk/chigsite/images/endofseason2005.mp4) .

New Season

Date: April 03, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

The new season is nearly here and our fixture list (http://www.zen37914.zen.co.uk/chigsite/fixtures1999.htm) is now published. Fixture cards to follow soon. If you are reading this as fixture secretary of a club that we are due to be playing this season, please check that the dates and times of our matches are correct and let me know (mailto:fixtures@chigwellcricketclub.com) if there are any errors or omissions. Thanks and see you on the field!

HARVEY’S HAUL ALL FOR NAUGHT AS MIDDLE ORDER MIS-FIRES

Date: May 06, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

(Chigwell vs Chingford at Forest Side, 30/4/06) Chingford 176-8 Chigwell 148 Chigwell finally got their season underway at Chingford on Sunday, writes skipper Dominick Addison . As I walked out to the middle for the toss, Mike, the Chingford Captain ominously told me that they had already played 2 and won 2. Not wanting to show any sign of dejection or weakness at this news I confidently called heads and was rewarded with the luck of the spin. Remembering how difficult we found it to accumulate runs batting first on this pitch last season I decided to reverse the order and bowl first. Opening the bowling with Rob Allum and myself, we got off to an encouraging start. The opening Chingford batters found it difficult to score and as my radar finally began to behave I beat both openers in consecutive overs helped by conditions which offered a little bit of swing and movement off the pitch. Rob followed up with 2 quick wickets of his own, just reward for consistent line and length, and after the first 20 overs Chingford were struggling on 32-4. Not wanting to open up to Chingford too early I decided to stick with the first ball pairing for a few more overs and Rob in particular provided a great spell of 18 overs 2 for 50. By the time the first bowling changes were effected, Nick replacing me and Phil replacing Rob, Chingford were establishing a pretty solid 5th wicket partnership between Rashid and Shawler which eventually accumulated 84 runs; however Nick Allum finally broke through the defences to bowl Rashid. The remaining Chingford batters didn ‘ t provide as much support for Shawler although he did go on to make a creditable 79 not out. Nick took the last 3 wickets with the help of easy catches from both Robs; Orange and Allum, and Chingford were surprisingly called in by their Captain to declare on 176-8. All in all a very good first fielding and bowling performance from Chigwell, with honorary mentions for Nigel who marshalled the long boundary with ease and for James who kept extremely well, especially to Rob Allum, standing up to the stumps from his second over. After a hearty feed, Chigwell ‘ s openers, Hall and Brown eventually took the field to start our chase. As they walked to the crease talk amongst the rest of the team was that a target of 177 was always achievable but Chingford have always proved to be difficult opponents especially with the now notorious bowling of Macgregor. As it turned out we got off to a steady start although we were unfortunate to lose Tim early on and James followed soon afterwards. This brought together Rob Orange and Harvey. Bearing in mind Harvey hasn ‘ t played competitively since this time last season he was playing freely and exploring his full repertoire of shots, including two garden bound sixes. He was ably supported by Rob who was happy to play out overs and rotate the strike in Harvey ‘ s favour which in turn enabled us to move closer and closer towards the target. Mutterings on the boundary were now growing more confident and as we approached the last hour we found ourselves 102-2 leaving us a more than manageable run rate under 4 an over to win. Even when Harvey ‘ s innings came to an end, finishing with 67 and handing Macgregor his second wicket, it did nothing to dent the confidence of the rest of the Chigwell batsmen, and why should it? Thanks to Harvey ‘ s great knock we had the game under control with plenty of batting still to come. What a rude awakening we were in for! Nige was next to the crease and soon became the next victim departing for 1. This brought the two Robs together and a flowing cover drive for 4 off Rallums 3rd ball was enough to restore some of the frayed nerves on the boundary. These were soon unravelled again as he attempted to take the attack to Chingford and was bowled. I joined Rob Orange in the middle and after adding no more than a couple of runs watched him fall to Macgregor caught behind from a decent, full length ball that reared up at him. Our collapse was now in free fall and from our strong position of 102-2 we now found ourselves 134-7 with less than 10 overs remaining. Nick was the next and last recognisable batsmen to the crease and he and I continued in vain to keep the run rate under control whilst trying to protect our wickets. This approach failed as I tried to attack Macgregor (never advisable) and found myself pirouetting out of my crease and ended up stumped. With Brad next man in and the overs running out, the opportunity for victory seemed to be slipping away so the approach changed from attack to one of consolidation in an attempt to bat out and save the game. Chingford obviously sensed the same change in fortune and brought their field in to unsettle our lower order batsmen, this made absolutely no impression on Brad as he resolutely set about his task. Unfortunately he was dismissed after 9 balls LBW although he swears the ball never touched his pad. Nick battled on with Phil for a few more overs raising our hopes that the draw was achievable, however he was soon stumped which brought together Charlie and Phil ..the last line of Chigwell defence. The field now completely surrounded Charlie but his sound technique never let him down and he stuck to his task admirably and kept the Chingford attack out for 8 balls. Hopefully later in the season Charlie will be afforded the opportunity to bat a little higher so we can see more than just his forward defensive, I ‘ m sure given that opportunity he has the ability to push fields back and contribute runs, lets face it he can’t do much worse than some of the rest of us! And so it fell to Phil to see out the last over of the game from Macgregor. Phil obviously thought the best line of defence was attack and slashed at the first two wideish deliveries taking 2 from each one. The next ball brought loud appeals from the Chingford side as the ball carried to slip for what looked a like a catch, however Owen was now installed as umpire and the appeals fell on deaf, slightly hairy ears allowing Phil to survive but not for much longer; the penultimate ball of the game striking him on the pad and this time the appeals resulted in the slow finger of death from Owen. Although it was disappointing to slip from a strong chasing position, it was good to get back on the field and get the season underway. The obvious highlights of the day were firstly Harvey’s return to the fold and displaying such fine form with the bat and secondly Rob Allum defying the years and turning in a fine spell of 18 overs. Well done Chigs. Good luck for Hadley Wood Green!

Lord Snooty and his pals PLANT seeds of doubt into Hadley Wood Green as Chigwell NICK thriller in final over

Date: May 11, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Hadley Wood Green 215-8 dec. Chigwell 216-6 at Old Chigwellians on 7/05/06 Following a dreadful run of luck regarding the weather, along with a 12-hour downpour the day before, the stand-in captain arrived early to check the possibility of play, writes stand-in captain Owen Evans . Finding himself amidst glorious sunshine and a nearly dry outfield, there was no doubt that the game was on. The despair of missing the Hollyoaks omnibus was no more. Having rung around to confirm play and get everyone to help erect the screens, we were ready to go. My reputation as a supreme tosser was justified and I decided to insert. Five minutes before start, however, it had become evident that I had, in my eagerness, forgot to confirm with Charlie, who was by now out shopping in Enfield. We were down to 10 men before kick off, which didn’t bode well for either the game itself or my future captaincy aspirations. Taking to the field, in the absence of the Dominator, who was on char duty, we opened up with Rob Allum and Mitzy, who both found their rhythm quickly and bowled well. Rob was very unlucky with a number of false strokes landing safe and one leading edge fell tantalisingly between Olly and Nige around the cover point area. From the far end, the young fop bowled over after over of accurate swing, removing both Jim and the number 3 lbw to end with figures of 13-6-24-2. After an hour or so, we saw the first sight of spin, with Rorange coming on for the BGC (as he doesn’t like being called Rallum), then a few overs later, Nick replacing Tim to turn in down the slope towards the exceedingly short boundary. I was wary of this, but the good doctor insisted that was his end and who am I to disagree, to quote a Scottish tranny. The spin twins bowled good lines from the off, with a number of balls turning or bouncing prodigiously, but for a while no wicket was forthcoming, as Messrs Blake and De Villiers took the attack to the Chigs. Having put on nearly 100 in around 15 overs, Nick got one through the gate to bowl Blakey (I hate you, Plant). Shortly after this moment, receiving a call due to the mix up over Charlie, Graham entered the fray, cutting short his golf © to help out in the field. Looking rather red and with a few pints already inside him, Boiled Beef set about his task admirably, arguing with himself whether a ball he could have caught on the boundary went for 6 or 4. By this time, Mr De Villiers had declared “you can have another two fielders if you like”, then immediately chipped a half volley to Mitz at point, from the bowling of Rob O. Upon this dismissal, Hadley Wood decided to attack the remainder of their innings, to some degree of success, although Rob and especially Nick kept things tight enough and the wickets tumbled with enough regularity to persuade me to keep things as they were. Taylor went to Nick, caught behind by James, then, after a quick 60 partnership, the same combination removed Turner, this time via a stumping. Groves was sent on his Byker shortly afterwards to another James stumping, this time from the bowling of Rob, whom I then decided to remove from the attack after a sterling 15 over spell. Brad replaced Rob and helped support Nick who took the eighth wicket, again a Laycock stumping (for which no jug was purchased), bringing about the declaration at 215-8, from 49.4 overs. After the standard fare of an Old Chigs tea, which would have gone done a treat at White Hart Lane, we set about chasing the target. Looking around, there were not too many options for higher up the order, so I turned to the Tims, despite Mitzy’s gargantuan efforts with the ball not two hours previously. Bad luck and a good ball saw Tim Hall back early, so Tim M was joined by Nige, pushed up the order to play a few shots and get the scoreboard ticking, knowing the big hitters were still in the locker. After eyeing a few and working the strike to Mitz, Nige hit a ferocious straight drive to the only place that stopped it being a boundary – the bowler’s hands. A great catch from Turner, who ended up with figures of 19/3 off 10 without being quick or able to move it. Mitz was then joined by the ginger forearms at No. 4, with Olly landing a couple of lusty blows before getting underneath one to a fine running catch at backward square leg. Rob A was next in and combined sensible shot selection with good running to play himself in and let Mitzy get the strike wherever possible. After a very good lbw shout, given not out by the very neutral umpire, Tim played over the top of one and Chigs were struggling at 41-4, of which Tim had scored 32. In came James who attacked from the off, but seemed to have the unfortunate knack of picking out the fielders. After being dropped by De Villiers, James was unlucky when a meaty drive was held well at mid off by the same fielder. Now, Chigwell were 51-5. In came Rob O to partner his namesake. Despite the level of “experience” at the middle, the target was still a long way off, but it was decided that we should still go for it rather than get a draw in a style not ill-befitting the opposition. The two Robs went at their work with relish and gusto, slowly going through the gears and running together smoothly. Even so, at the turn of the last hour, we were 62-5, requiring a sizeable 7.7 runs per over. As these two progressed, however, aided by some sloppy fielding and bowling changes at both ends, we dared to dream. With the run rate fluctuating around the 8-an-over mark, the target was still on as long as the wickets were in hand. With Nick and Graham padded up to come in later, this allowed the batsmen the security to play their shots, which they duly did. Keeping the scoreboard ticking over at nearly the required rate, Rob A reached his 50 from his 47th ball, which was then followed by two thunderous strokes for four. After a partnership of 117, at over a run a ball, Rob A finally holed out for a vital, season-leading innings of 68. Rob O was then joined by Nick, who carried on in the style of his little brother. Sensing trouble, the captain turned to our friend Mr De Villiers. We then took great pleasure in seeing his bowling being dispatched by both left- and right-hander, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend on the bench next to ours! As the target grew nearer, with 36 required from 30 balls, the captain brought himself back, but to no avail, as our valiant heroes kept on chipping away at the total, culminating in 14 from the penultimate over, including an extremely popular delivery that went for five wides past fine leg. This brought us to within one run of the target and on the final ball of the over, Rob O chipped the ball delightfully to silly mid-off for a single while three fielders seemed to leave the dolly catch to each other. This brought up a solid, invaluable and well-deserved 50 for last season’s skipper and tied the scores. The game was won on the next ball with Rob beautifully guiding a leg bye behind square for a win that was cheered vociferously and joyously from the sidelines. Nick finished 33 not out from only 24 balls, which, allied to his bowling figures of 11.4/0/40/4, just give him the edge over Tim M for the man of the match award. Thanks to Kate, Harv, Ritchie and Kerri for your support, along with Dom, who’d ab’scone’ded his duties in Norfolk to watch our innings. Also thanks to Graham for turning up at short notice and making up the numbers. A fantastic start to the home season and a game played in a great spirit. An honour to fill in as captain for a game like this, and I’m glad my tactics of not letting myself do anything meaningful seemed to pay off. Let’s hope the momentum can roll on to next week against Coopersale.

COOPER SALE SET ‘MINI’ TARGET FOR CHIGS

Date: May 23, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

14/05/06 Coopersale 129 Chigwell 133-7 After a superb victory against Hadley Wood Green the previous week, Chigwell’s spirits and confidence were riding high. The weather was somewhat gloomy and grey as the team assembled in good time and began their fielding practice in the outfield; a fine discipline to assume before any game. Ollie was the man with bat in hand, crashing balls high into the sky and careering along the deck for his assembled team mates to snaffle up like hungry seals catching pilchards at feeding time at the zoo. As feeding for the seals continued I went to prise the Coopersale captain from his dressing room to get the match underway. After a successful 3rd toss of the season I opted to bowl first and see if we could once again chase down a score with only two changes to the successful batting line up from the previous week; myself in for Tim Hall and Ross coming in to replace Mitz. Rob Allum and I took the new ball and with conditions overcast and muggy I was sure we’d be able to make the ball talk. Rob indeed stepped up to the plate and had the red orb weaving, dipping, seaming and swinging all over the place, however conditions did little to aid me and I had to be content with beating the outside edge on the odd occasion. Robs canny ball charming soon resulted in the first wicket as he induced Dipple into a hurried defensive block which looped straight back to him for an easy catch. Rob and I kept exerting the pressure and I eventually chipped in with my only wicket of the day which saw the left handed Armstrong chopping a straight delivery onto his own stumps. After Rob had taken his second wicket I removed him and myself from the attack having shared the first 20 overs between us. With Coopersale trying to consolidate on around 30-3 I opted for the spin twins; Rob O replacing Rob A and Nick replacing me. The tale of fortune couldn’t have been more polarised for the two turn meisters; Nick seemed a bit out of sorts struggling to find the right length, and when he did, the batsmen seemed to play and miss with no reward, or connect only for the ball to be dropped or fall tantalisingly close to one of our fielders. Our pre-match catching practice had yielded the usual results of giving the whole team a case of The Dropsies. Nick’s disenchantment with the fine art couldn’t have been in starker contrast to Rob’s mirth at the opposite end, as he seemed to be taking wickets for fun! His first victim, Charlton (not Ritchie), had wriggled off Nick’s hook on a few occasions but Rob pounced with a well taken chance driven back to him. The flood gates opened from here with Rob taking 2 wickets in succession, including the prized scalp of Hancock, caught by Ross at backward point. Hancock was anchoring the Coopersale innings well, so to see the back of him with a score of 35 was a real breakthrough. With the Coopersale tail now exposed and their run rate still stuttering I thought we might see their remaining batsmen batten down the hatches in an attempt to frustrate us, but nothing of the sort; every new batter that strode to the crease seemed to continue the attack. This attacking spirit combined with Robs unusual left arm round the wicket action and good variation in pace delivered him another 3 wickets meaning he finished with the first 5 for of the season; 9 overs 5 for 39. Nick eventually gained some reward from his frustrating spell as a chance was gathered in by Owen who also chipped in with a run out; hitting the stumps directly from mid wicket. Brad was brought on for Nick for the penultimate over and Coopersale were eventually all out for 129. Our reply to the modest total began with Harvey and Ross, who established a good early platform. My main concern in chasing the low total was complacency, resulting in the loss of quick and careless wickets. However Ross and Harveys cautious approach steered us through the early overs until Ross was bowled with the score on 25. Ollie was next to perish after only adding another 13 runs to the score in his brief partnership with Harv. Then Harv himself fell, caught and bowled to Hancock leaving us 46 for 3. Coopersale were obviously buoyed by their regular strike rate and felt as though they were back in with a shout. The fall of Harvey brought James and myself together at the crease and before long James nudged at a straight one from the wily spinner Hodgson and was caught behind. Nige was next up and looked in confident mood after smashing a four from his sixth ball; however this was to be his last as Hancock, now bowling leg spin, pushed one through quickly which whistled through Nige’s defence and bowled him. 67-5 ALARM BELLS! Surely we can’t lose chasing 129 at Old Chigs? The sight of Rallum readying himself to join me in the middle eased my concern a little bit and with two of last weeks heros; Rob O and Nick still to come, I was confident we could still win through. Rallum proved to be just the clotting agent we needed and he and I put on 40 for the next wicket. Rob seemed to revel in his role of Boycott to my Gilchrist, by defending and prodding away whilst I was swinging the willow at the other end. He accrued a total of 10 runs from 43 balls illustrating zen like self control in shot selection, before falling lbw with the score on 107. A different kind of innings from ‘The Wise One’ showing the rest of us mere mortals what true greatness really is. With Nick next in I felt secure enough to continue in cavalier fashion, however one extra heave ho proved one too many and I skied one to mid off and was out caught for 49. A 50 in my last home game would have been sweet, but getting the win was more important. This arrived in due course as Rob Orange scythed away a pull shot to the boundary for four leaving him and Nick both on 5 not out and happy with the early season polish applied to their averages. Lets hope we can provide Owen with the perfect birthday present next week … another win at Willingale

Beamers unearth diamond, retain silverware, but fall short of crock of gold

Date: June 07, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs Brighton Beamers, Sunday 28th May 2006 There must have been a smile of satisfaction on Caveheart’s face as he stepped into the East Brighton Park showers on Sunday afternoon, writes Niall Chafey, Beamers skipper . Perhaps he even started humming a jaunty little Bacharach number to himself as he lathered up and reflected on a job well done. True, he’d failed to heed the skipper’s exhortation to stay there to the end, but he’d compiled a patient 31 to complement Randy’s classy 67 and they’d combined for the third wicket to put the Beamers within twenty runs of a rare victory against the Chiggers. Shower over, as he towelled his hair and sauntered back down to the huddle of onlookers, Caveheart must have felt that he’d somehow been transported to a parallel universe. This looked like the same game of cricket, the same familiar faces, the same early summer sunshine, but rather than reading 122-2 the scoreboard now read 136-9. Half an hour earlier the skipper had had to dampen down triumphalist talk from the waiting Beamers middle order as Randy treated us to a masterclass in controlled brutality and raced to a glorious half-century on his debut. The Dominator had made short work of Chafey and Smith, but when he went for three boundaries in an over he must have wished that he was already serving Earl Grey and crumpets in Miss Tiggywinkle’s Norfolk Teashop. Indeed, the once-feared Dominator was renamed the Percolator as Beamer runs flowed from his bowling like so much Costa Rican Arabica. But games between these two great teams are seldom one-sided and when Randy and Caveheart fell in successive overs Chigwell realised they were still in with a shout. When the Beast and Siddens fell three runs later, the biggest Wobble since the Weebles had begun. [Image: image] http://www.zen37914.zen.co.uk/chigsite/weeble.gif By the time the skipper had found a “6” to update the wickets column after Siddo’s departure he had to turn it upside down as Marlena, Waynage and Musso all fell in the meantime. And so the Beamers found themselves still seven runs from victory with the Dominator back on in all his terrifying pomp, Allum N dealing up deadly dob, and just Jonners and Arthur at number 11, nursing a strained meta-arsal, the folorn hope left to deny them. But deny them they did for ball after ball. Then a couple of singles were gleaned and, praise be, a full toss allowed Arthur to punt a boundary down to fine leg and the scores were tied. Now the pendulum was swinging back towards the Beamers, but as it reached Jonners he gloved it to short leg and the scores were left tied on 142. So, ultimately, we snatched a tie from the jaws of victory from the jaws of defeat from the jaws of victory. Much credit must go to Chigwell for coming back from the dead like that. Well bowled Dom (career average v. Beamers, 6.57!) and well batted Rob Allum (51 in the face of good bowling and even better sledging). Inevitably there was much beer-fuelled post-match analysis as individuals searched their souls as to where a run or two might have been saved when we’d fielded. For some individuals the search was quick and fruitful, but a tied match is a thing of rare beauty and should be cherished as such. Chigwell CC 142-5 (Allum R 51, Lowe 3-42, Musset 2-18) Beamers CC 142 all out (Ebert 67, Cave 31, Addison 6-49, Allum N 4-29) Match tied, Beamers retain the Ashes

Newers is Warned

Date: June 08, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

‘Naughty boy’ nets for Newers after a barren tour… (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/162446837/)

Falcons Grind Out Unambitious Draw

Date: June 13, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Firstly and most importantly I won the toss. 30 degree heat and threats of severe violence from various Chigwellians compelled me to go against type and bat first. The opposition, (Loxford Falcon), late substitutes for South Loughton, were a man short but soon Zarghum arrived to even up the sides. Not often you play against your new team on debut! Harvey & Rob Allum opened the innings and got off top a bit of a slow start, byes racing ahead of them both initially. Rob was dropped fairly early on, and I think it is fair to say that Geoff Boycott’s granny would have caughtit in her pinny. Harvey however perished to a great catch in the gully, the fielder diving forwards to take it at ankle height. Olly joined Rob and immediately set about the attack, playing all manner of fine shots to all parts of the ground. e raced to 50 in quick time, hitting 10 fours in the process. He departed shortly afterwards when the elder Barker clung on to a good catch off his own bowling. Enter Charles Rudkin, promoted to number 4 to show us what he could do. He did. After a calm period both Rob and Charlie began to take the sort of risks commensurate with having 45 minutes to go and 8 wickets in hand. Rob perished on 58 having played the anchor role necessitated by recent Chigwell team batting failures. Nick kept the charge going gamely, losing his wicket for 20 from 11 balls. James took his place and managed 20 off only 7 balls, including a massive 6 off what became the last ball of the innings, the skipper declaring on 219. Charlie remained 25 not out and all watching were very impressed, and maybe a little envious of what the future might hold in store for this very talented lad. The Falcons innings was a strange affair. The skipper, Mr. Bhatty was dropped by me off a hard chance from the first ball Phil bowled. He went on to finish 87 not out, but from the point of losing their first wicket (a gloved bouncer from Dom’s hostile bowling) the Falcons gave up trying to win the game and dug in for the draw with more than 20 overs remaining. They must have had very little faith in the batting at their disposal, and it did not make for much of a spectacle. One positive point was being able to try out a few lesser used bowling arms, with Olly showing great promise taking 2 wickets with his relatively pacy off-spin. The game fizzled out, Loxford finishing on 163 for 6, and special party rate jugs were purchased from the tiny backroom section of bar we are permitted when such events as a children’s party are in full swing in the normal Old Chigs bar. The Falcons proved to be a very friendly bunch, and both the game and the post-match drinking were carried out in the right spirit. Man of the match this week: Oliver Diggins, 53 runs and 2 wickets.

Surprise Guest Not Enough as Chigwell Roll Over the Newman International XI (18/6/2006)

Date: June 20, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

I was at Lords on 1st August 2003 when Nasser Hussain came down the steps to bat for the first time since relinquishing the captaincy of the England Cricket team. I will always remember the prolonged and deeply heartfelt ovation he received from the crowd; recognition for all that he had done to help turn the national team around. It was he, along with Duncan Fletcher, that set us on the path to Ashes glory. Nasser played his final innings in first class cricket against New Zealand at Lords in May 2004, scoring a match winning century, and also hitting the boundary which took England over the winning line. Since that day he has become an incisive member of the Sky cricket commentary team, and has shown no inclination whatsoever to play any form of cricket. It says a lot then for the friendship he shares with Paul Newman that he was persuaded to become Newers’ surprise package in the Newman International line-up, taking on the might of Chigwell CC on 18th June 2006, a full two years since his retirement. It is reported that he said “Paul over the years I must owe you 100 favours… this repays 87 of them!”. As for the game… well, first priority was to win the toss, both teams eager to bat first on a warm summer’s afternoon. Paul called tails and we both chased the coin as it landed on its edge and careered off towards point. It was tails, dammit! Those Chigwellians who needed to slunk off to the changing room to remove shorts and pull on whites, mumbling about the substandard tossing skills of their skipper. Five minutes later we were in position and ready to start the game. Except we didn’t have a ball. I fetched one from the dressing room and the game began. Dom fired one down the leg side of a left-hander and a bye was called, much to my consternation as wicket-keeper – it felt like a wide to me! Another delay – no scorebook! I raced off again and fetched it from the dressing room. At last everything was in place… except Joe Rudkin who had not realised it was an early start and would eventually turn up about 2 hours into the innings, and immediately replace me as keeper. Dom found his line and before long had the classy-looking left-hander in trouble. Late swing at pace is never easy to play and after surviving a confident shout for LBW Gordin was bowled next ball by a very similar in-swinging delivery. Dom went on to claim the wicket of the other opening batsman and finished with 2 wickets for 10 runs from 7 overs. We may not be seeing a lot of Dom, now that the Norfolk Nosherie is up and running. He has been such a valued member of the side and such a top bloke we will miss him terribly. He knows he is welcome to a game anytime. I’d have liked to have kept him on a little longer – maybe to go for a “five-fer”, but in the Chigwell spirit I had to spread things around as best I could. Rob was having very little luck at the other end. He did claim one wicket, a mis-timed pull arcing gently to Brad at square leg, cuing Brad’s customary dramatic high celebratory throw into the air. Gary Field, number 4 for the International XI, rode his luck and made the most of several extra lives offered to him by fielders dropping catches and the stand-in wicket-keeper missing an easy stumping. Gary passed 50 in his first knock for 2 years, but departed soon after for 54, victim of that classic partnership-breaker Brad, who bowled well once he had found his line. The dismissal was all the more enjoyable for Brad’s full throttle appeal for LBW to a startled umpire who pointed out that the batsman had in fact been bowled. Brad claimed his second wicket courtesy of a smart catch by Harvey; after 2 earlier drops I’m sure it was a relief for Harv to pouch that one. Zarghum bowled well in his debut performance for the Chigs, imparting a disconcerting (for the batsman) wobble on the ball. He claimed his first Chigwell wicket in slightly controversial fashion, the batsman adjudged to have taken an edge which many didn’t see. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to be able to tell one way or the other, so I couldn’t really call the batsman back. Paul Newman himself came in at number 8 and Zarghum claimed a more authentic wicket by inducing a light inside edge onto the stumps. Time for spin. Nick produced a hugely spinning delivery to bowl the unfortunate Hannah, who seems to have developed the unwelcome knack of receiving the best ball of the innings. So as Hannah left the field we noticed a familiar figure making his way to the middle. Paul had kept Nasser’s presence as secret as he could, and it was only then that I knew for sure that he was playing. Nick bowled the remaining two balls of his over to Nas, and saw them both dispatched for four through extra cover. I had already decided to replace Zarghum at the pavilion end, and as luck would have it I bowled all six of my first over to Nasser’s batting partner the excellent Master Gymer, a youngster who was steadily accumulating runs. Nick had Nasser on strike as he began his third over. I’d moved myself to patrol the boundary at extra-cover, trying to save any fours. Nasser had obviously decided he would attack every ball and swung into Nick’s slightly flatter, quicker one, once again directing it towards extra-cover. This time it was an aerial shot and the ball flew on a flat trajectory towards me. I didn’t have much time to think about it, instinct took over, and I pouched the catch! Blimey! Nasser Hussain, caught Orange bowled Allum N. for 8! “He’ll dine out on that for a while” Nasser is reputed to have said as he rejoined the throng on the boundary. He’s right about that. As time goes by the shot will be hit harder and harder, the catch become more and more spectacular. A special moment for Nick and me, but a shame to see Nasser dismissed in some ways, rather than seeing him smack a quick 50 or 100, with all Chigwellians given a chance to bowl at the England legend. The game would certainly have benefited from a higher first innings total, the Internationalists finishing on 163, the last wicket, that of a dancing Mark Jeffries, claimed by my 11th ball – and it was plumb Mark, honest! Master Gymer finished with 54 not out, having batted with the care and skill which eluded many of his team-mates. Nasser signed a shirt for him after the game, which was a really nice touch. A leisurely lunch was enjoyed by all, there now being no pressure of time on the game. I was uncertain as to the quality of the bowling we would be facing, so I settled for our normal opening pair, Harvey and Rob A. After a steady start Mark Jeffries was replaced at the pavilion end, this year not by a girl, but by the former captain of England. Nasser bowled some steady off-spin, although I was a bit puzzled as to why both he and Gordin (the left arm spinner at the other end) were given the task of trying to turn it up the slope, rather than swapping ends and using it to their advantage. Chigwell progressed steadily towards their target, with just 4 hiccups along the way. Harvey contrived to get himself out top-edging a full toss and departed for 25. He was happy enough though to have hit a boundary 4 off Nasser’s bowling. Joe Rudkin was Chigwell’s number 3 and he took to the crease like a man intending to be there at stumps. Rob A probably felt like that too, but was adjudged LBW to Nasser and left the arena bewildered and shaking his head. Dom (the umpire) maintains that he was plumb, Nasser apparently was less certain… Nigel entertained us with a swashbuckling 25 before playing on with the reverse side of the bat, having got through his shot a little early. James crashed 18 smart runs before falling victim to the advanced dibbly-dobbley of skipper Newman. Joe progressed serenely to his 50 and beyond, finishing unbeaten on 63. He was ably assisted by Dom who was on 9 when Joe hit the winning runs with the first 6 of the day. A comfortable 6 wicket win for the Chigs. The barbecue followed a little later, and many drinks were drained to the incessant sound of the Chigwell skipper reliving the glory of “The Catch”. So what was in it for Nasser? Let’s face it the guy has absolutely nothing to prove as regards cricketing credentials. All that was in it for him was the pleasure in doing a good mate a favour, and giving everyone else the opportunity to say that they shared a cricket pitch with him. It was fun to do so; I hope he’ll consider making further appearances in future years, after all, 13 favours to Paul remain unpaid.

Dandy Highwayman Victorious On Debut

Date: June 21, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Sunday 4/6/06 Ingatestone 215 Chigwell 216-3 Having just about recovered from a tiring and mostly fruitless tour, it was a pleasant surprise to have a beautiful summer’s day to play cricket at Ingatestone. As acting captain, I decided that a day’s cricket was not necessarily the best course of action and tried to lure the Ingatestone captain into a Chav version of the Highland games. Unfortunately, he won the caber toss and we decided to play cricket instead of donning sporrans and Burberry. We fielded first. With Dom taking early retirement and Rob Allum still struggling with illness, I thought the best course of action was to open the bowling with Owen and The Highwayman. I started well enough with a nearly maiden ruined by the last ball that was sent over the short boundary for six. This was to set a trend of easy runs scored through the short boundary with some shocking fielding at times. Owen started at the other end and struck first, bowling their number one. The highwayman took the next two wickets; one caught at gulley by Tim Hall and the other, a stunning catch by Newars, at long on. Game on. Brad and Tim replaced Love Monster and Dandy to good effect with Tim taking the prized wicket of number three, A Speller dismissed LBW for 56. UK Garage Sensation bowled a tough spell and was rewarded with a wicket in his last over, caught by British Beef. Tim finished his spin spell with a straight bowled wicket. Graham and Nick completed the bowling line up, Nick bowling their number ten and Graham proving himself with three wickets, one caught by Nick, one bowled and an LBW. Ingatestone eventually finished on 215 which was probably 30 short of a formidable total considering the short boundary. After a simply pathetic team talk by the captain, Ross and Rob Allum were sent to the crease. Ross was first to fall on 14 trying to generate runs through the short boundary. Nick joined his bro and the runs started to flow with both batsmen running and calling very well. Rob reached fifty after an awesome display of batting, especially considering he was very ill. Nick reached his fifty soon after, which contained a great straight batted six. Nick was out soon after. Graham got a good ball straight away and was dismissed LBW. Then I was out for 1, bowled middle stump. Oh dear!! Time for the Uzi to be released! James didn’t mess about cracking everything out of town scoring 30 off 17 balls and partnering Rob successfully to victory. Rob finished on 79 and combined with Nick provided the backbone to our innings. Man of the match – Rob Allum

Mitz Blitz Hits North Park (2/7/2006)

Date: July 05, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Anyone familiar with my previous ramblings will know that I vowed never again to bat first on the “postage stamp”. Woodford Wells’ second pitch, loaned to North Park on occasions, has yet to reveal a defendable first innings score, and I have formed the opinion that, given the opportunity, I would leave the decision on when to declare to the opposition skipper. A blasting hot July day wilted my resolve however, together with the collective will of the rest of the Chigwell XI, and I reached tossing point with the intention of giving batting first on the postage stamp one last go. Fortunately the North Park skipper had reached the same heat based decision and further proved capable of spinning the coin to his supposed advantage (heads). North Park chose to bat first. Chigwell set about their task in the knowledge that a score of 300 or more was by no means unlikely, and collectively we knew not to be down heartened by the concession of a good many boundaries. We weren’t expecting to drop catching chances however and we had to re-stiffen our resolve as the opening partnership began to bloom amidst a rash of near misses. Zarghum, opening the bowling for the first time , bowled excellently, although ultimately for no reward in the form of wickets. Rob suffered most from chances dropped, but oak-hearted as ever persisted ultimately bowling both openers, each departing with their score in the mid-twenties. I replaced Zarghum, liking the look of the slope on the pitch, which should in theory help me to turn the ball away from the right-handers. I think I bowled well, certainly to begin with, but was guilty of over-indulging myself with a 15 over spell (3 wickets, 80 runs). Phil enjoyed a good spell, but unfortunately no wickets. Nick took over from Phil and started with a wicket maiden, Harvey taking a fine running catch on the final ball of the over. By now the standard of fielding had improved, Nigel catching the North Park top-scorer for 60 to give me my third wicket, and Imran giving a lesson in ground fielding in the covers. As we neared a quarter to five North Park began to swing the willow to greater effect to the detriment of Nick’s and my bowling figures. I belatedly took myself out of the attack and Brad immediately struck, Russ stumped as Tim half dived, half collapsed onto the wicket. Next over Rob A took an outstanding catch on the cow boundary, having to step a foot in from the line and catch the ball at full stretch behind his head. The North Parkonians, who had been cheering the ball on its assumed flight over the line were stunned and impressed at this superhuman feat. It was at this point, 4.45pm, with their score on 226, that North Park declared. Chigwell had performed really well to restrict them to a well below par score, although I was surprised that they didn’t make use of their two remaining wickets and, say, another 10 minutes to give them a more realistic chance. Tea was heartily enjoyed by all and the opening partnership for Chigwell was negotiated and bartered, ending up with Tim M at number one, and Rob A at number 2, having swapped his allotted number 4 spot with Harvey, who was happy to extend his tea-break. Tim and Rob faced a naggingly accurate opening attack, but the pitch was so docile progress seemed just a matter of waiting for the odd loose ball, and dispatching it. Just as I was thinking of passing on my umpiring duties the square leg fielder noticed an increase in Tim’s aggressive intent and asked me if he was about to unleash. I replied “I hope so”. Imran replaced me as umpire, to be greeted with a vociferous appeal in his first over – not out – and so it was from the boundary edge that I saw Mitz hit top gear. First there were some lusty pulls over mid-wicket, Mr. Brown’s slow loopy spinners not given the chance to bounce before being dispatched. Then the awe-inspiring straight hitting started. Ball after ball was launched over what I presume to be the squash courts, sixes big enough to clear the straight boundary on any ground, definitely big enough to have carried twice the distance required for a six on the postage stamp. Search parties were sent into the car-park on the other side of the squash courts, while those who had earlier parked their cars assuming them to be perfectly safe frantically sought their keys and pondered the advantages of parking in Monkhams Lane. In the blink of an eye the game was ours. Tim eventually departed for 120, with the score on 174. Olly kept the momentum going with a brisk 22 before being caught by Mr. Brown, off his own bowling. Harvey, whose tea break had been extended rather further than he had expected, was on a hiding to nothing and was duly stumped for two – another wicket for the loopy spinner. Nigel arrived armed with his railway sleeper and finished the match by clouting a straight ball to square leg for four. All this time Rob had been gathering runs and finished one of his less fluent, but none the less vital, innings on 74 not out. A grand all-round display by Rob who has become the backbone of our batting. Man of the match however has to go to Tim Mitzman for his exhibition of clean hitting. He hit 9 sixes and 10 fours – 94 out of 120 in boundaries – and to my surprise revealed post-knock that this was his first ton for the club! Tim’s such a classy batsman I could hardly believe it. He told me it was his first century since he was 19. My admiration turned to jealousy somewhat when he further revealed that this was only 7 years ago…

Draw after Hadley Wood Green “Bloody Murder” Chigs

Date: July 11, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Hadley Wood Green pummelled a lack-lustre Chigwell, only for Chigwell to escape with a barely deserved draw. If anyone arrived at the ground not wishing they had taken the option to stay at home and enjoy the Wimbledon Men’s final and the World Cup Final, five or six hours of turgid dross from Chigs soon put a stop to that. Of course it was only 3 hours turgid dross for Nigel who overslept and spent a fortune on a cab to join us late. Zarghum bowled very well and deservedly took the first wicket. The ploy of trying Owen as an opening bowler failed badly on this occasion and his hangover pies were smashed gaily to the fence and beyond. Two overs for 33 says it all really. Zarghum went for 32 in 10 overs. Mitz bowled well and only his status as key to our batting line up prevented him extending his 10 over spell. The spin twins didn’t really exert much control, although Nick didn’t suffer quite as much as myself at the hands of the now expansive batsmen of HWG. Brad replaced me and failed to prosper in a similar manner. Only one more wicket fell, a stumping by James off Nick, and the quality of catching was as poor as I can remember – although there was a strong wind blowing. Rob A belatedly joined the attack, but by now the horse had bolted, galloped 50 miles to the coast and swum to France. The innings closed on 237 for 2, and Chigwell ate their tea trying to console themselves with the thought that they chased down a big total last time we played HWG. Not this time. Batting-wise credit goes to Mitz, who looked good before edging one behind, Rob A who was similarly well set before falling caught & bowled, Steve Drabwell who batted extremely well for his 20 and Brad & Owen, the doughty last wicket pair who survived something like 10 overs to secure a draw, Chigwell finishing on 125 for 9. Unfortunately, due to the World Cup Final being in progress and there being no TV in the Hadley Wood clubhouse, everyone shot off and no post match beers were sunk with the opposition. Perhaps our collective sound spanking hastened the departures. A few of us gathered in “The Wagon” to drown our sorrows, and to witness Zidane end his career with a bullet header. Man of the match: Zarghum

Zoom…

Date: July 25, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

… lens (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc) . (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc)

Chigs waltz to easy victory over weakened Woodford Green

Date: August 02, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

(Chigwell vs Woodford Green, 30/7/06) Chigs 251 for 6 Woodford Green 120 View scorebook (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/202135426/) I arrived at Old Chigs on another glorious summer’s day, writes Brad Davis . There was no sign that the threatened overnight and early morning showers had materialised to dampen the wicket and put something in it for the seamers. This was a new fixture for us so I had no idea of the likely strength of the opposition. Our batting looked pretty good but we were a tad short of seam bowlers. The Woodford Green skipper told me that both of his opening batsmen were away as well as one of his opening bowlers and described his side as medium, weak. He called heads, the coin landed on tails and I opted to bat. Harv and Rob A opened the batting and the Woodford Green opening bowlers struggled badly to find their length and line. We found ourselves at 30 for 0 after 2 overs, most of the runs coming in extras including 2 consecutive deliveries which resulted in 5 wides! The 100 came up after around 15 overs but by now the opening bowlers were off and the spinners were on. The spinner who was bowling from the pavilion end was bowling particularly well, extracting both turn and bounce. He took the 1st wicket of Rob as he beat him in the flight and bowled him. Harvey followed shortly afterwards for 38. This brought Joe and James to the crease and potential fireworks as both have been in very good form recently. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Joe received one that stopped on him a bit giving an easy catch and James could not find his timing today perishing shortly afterwards. This brought John to the wicket. John played an excellent innings, mixing solid defence and sound technique with some dashing stroke play to finish on 50 not out. Nick looked good before edging one and there was a very entertaining partnership between John and Imran. Imran somehow managing to regain his ground after running down the wicket and missing! However, he escaped making a cameo 16 and giving John good support as we accelerated towards 250 and a declaration. Imran was eventually out allowing Charlie to come in and see John home to his 50 which he just achieved in time! It was a good of effort by the Chigs batsmen with contributions from all of the top 5 against a painfully slow over rate, especially considering that they had the spinners on for 2/3rds of the innings. John now has an average of 91! Joe had told me that his Sunday average is now over 700 having been out only once all season before today although not many of those knocks have been for us, it was a shame that he was unable to improve on that today! As we munched on another poor value and dry Old Chigs tea I considered my tactics. It was tempting to open with a spinner but I resisted this and decided to go with Zarghum who has been bowling well and took 5 wickets last week, paired with Owen. Despite the view of some of my team I was FULLY AWARE that it was not a seamer’s wicket but I was wary of keeping them in the game and not ending up with a bore draw. If this happens it is always the skipper’s fault! Zarghum was not able to produce the form of the previous week and went unrewarded. However, Owen bowling seam up took 2 Wickets! The 1st crucial blow was not a great delivery, but Imran took an excellent catch as he ran round for the ball having to make up a lot of ground. Owen then surprised the batsman bowling him with a quicker, straighter one, albeit it may not have been the greatest shot in the world! By this time I was receiving a constant ear bashing that the spinners must be on now, it was now all of 10 minutes past 6! Although I would not expect anyone to admit this there was clearly paranoia at this very early stage that we would fail to win the game, as the previous week the opposition had been 29 for 6 and out of the game when we had taken our foot off the pedal and they had held on for a draw. With 2 quality spinners at my disposal in Nick and Joe I never felt this was a danger. I was intending to hold them back but brought Nick on to replace Zarg, but I stuck to my guns deciding to have a look at Imran’s bowling from the other end although not expecting him to be able to extract much from the lifeless seamer’s wicket! Imran bowled perfectly well but after just 1 over the whinging started again. In my view it should have been obvious to the experienced player concerned that just looking at the way that numbers 4 and 5 were batting there was never a problem, we were still not into the last hour! I took Imran off after 2 overs and replaced him with Joe. What happened next was exactly was what I expected as Joe and Nick took the remaining 7 wickets between them in virtually as many overs, finishing the game at around 6.45 with 15 overs still left! If the Woodford Green batsmen had been a bit more disciplined and determined then I am sure that they could have made life much more difficult but this never looked very likely to be case The result was that I sacrificed my own game and was unable to bowl Charlie as Nick bagged 3 wickets in 1 over just as I was about to bring Charlie on! If I was Steve Waugh and we were Australia I am sure I would have been delighted with a professional job well done, but it just felt that we were perhaps a bit too ruthless and efficient as this was meant to be a Sunday friendly. I am confident that Charlie and I could have taken most of the wickets with Nick and Joe available to finish the job if needs be, c’est la vie. The catching and fielding was very good today and John and Imran were both excellent. I hope we will be seeing a lot more of them and that they will both become members next season. John also tells me he can bowl a bit! The highlight of the day for me was a magnificent piece of fielding by Charlie who chased the bowl down to a longish boundary just stopping it on the line. He picked up the ball as the batsmen turned for what they thought would be a straightforward 3rd run. Charlie then put in an inch perfect and very powerful throw to Joe right over the bails to run out the batsman by a good 2 yards. For me these are the moments why we play cricket and what Chigwell Cricket Club is all about. Be assured that next time I am skipper I will go with all of my 1st instincts and the whingers will be ignored! Owen, it’s over to you.

Rudkin heroics fail to stop Chigwell clinching an ignominious defeat from the jaws of victory

Date: August 14, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

(Sunday 06/08/06 at Old Chigs) INGATESTONE 207 CHIGWELL 184 Having spent considerable time over the previous few days attempting to get eleven fit bodies onto the field, it was, once this was achieved, with trepidation that I walked out to toss up with the opposition skipper. It was a warm day and it was tempting to bat first on a typical dry, flat Chigs wicket, but, looking at the players at my disposal, I made, on winning the toss (tails never fails), what I felt to be the sensible option: to put them in and then chase whatever they set us. Looking around, my new ball options were none the less limited. Due to an evening engagement, Rob A had to leave sharpish so was going to be opening the batting later on, but he was also our best bet with the new ball, and he opened up at the Pavilion End, with Zarghum his partner from the other end. Neither managed to get the breakthrough and after six inconsistent overs, Zarghum was replaced by Pete, a new recruit reined in by the Wandering Fox. By this time, Ingatestone were already past 50 but neither batsman looked totally secure. Pete ran in at a fair lick, swinging the ball up the Old Chigs slope at will. The change seemed to work and the next over, Rob induced a top edge from their opener Kirby, well watched and safely gathered by John just behind point. After another couple of tight overs, their number three Myers followed suit, chipping a dolly to Brad in close on the leg side. Upon competion of this over I replaced Rob with Ross, who’d stipulated his desire to have a bowl in his e-mail earlier in the week. Ross bowled with a nice shape but couldn’t seem to find his line regularly, but at the other end, Pete got a deserved wicket with a plum lbw decision removing Brailey, their other opener. After a couple of fruitless overs against the new batsmen, a change was needed. Charlie came on to spin the ball down the slope and immediately struck, with Rob A snaffling another dolly after the batsman was drawn into a false shot. Brad came on at the other end and kept things tight for the prodigy to weave his magic at the other end. Charlie’s third over producing two wickets, firstly bowling their key stroke maker Batchelor with a beauty then removing the new batsman two balls later, again knocking over the off bail. A double-wicket maiden for our youngest member, the first for the club since the author opening up against F&H last season. After a couple of non-eventful overs, Charlie tossed one up a bit more, tempting the batsman to come forward to him, who never got to the pitch. A clear stumping for Laycock despite the umpire’s apparent reticence in making the obvious decision. Brad got the eighth wicket with one that moved late and at 164-8 we were on top. After a brief tail-end slog, the ninth wicket fell as had the seventh, Charlie beating the batsman in the air and James finishing things off. A first ‘Michelle’ for the young whippersnapper and thoroughly deserved. Brad was removed from the attack for no reason other than to bring Flacky Panesar on, and the wily old pro was soon bamboozling us all with such incredible variances in flight all seemingly landing on or near a length. After a few lucky swings took the Ingatestone total over the 200 mark, their number 11 hit a shortish one from Paul straight to long on, which was taken with Jagger-esque nonchalance by Rob to finish things off. All things considered, considering the perceived weakness of our bowling attack, I would definitely have settled for chasing 208 at Old Chigs. After the usual limp, poor value tea, we set about our target. Rob A, as stated earlier, had to leave early-ish so he opened up with Harvey. We scored steadily from their opening pair but then Harv skied one down the fielder’s throat and were 24-1 after six overs. John, fresh from his debut half-centrury joined the BGC at the middle and both looked comfortable until Rob lauched a kamikaze effort straight to mid-off to hole out for 22. Next up for the legal eagle was the wandering fox, who played himself in patiently by smashing the first three balls he faced to the long off boundary. At 76-2 things were looking promising, then John very uncharacteristically played around a straight one and was bowled, bringing his average back down to a meagre 52.5. At 5 came the Legend, batting in the middle order to facilitate Rallum’s early departure. A partnership was developing until James seemed to take his eye off it and was out bowled for 31, unbelievably our top score of the day, to be followed in by our new recruit Pete. After a few nice shots and a couple of lovely fours, the Boss Man holed out to what he himself described as ‘the worst shot I’ve ever played’, and Pete, getting his eye in and obeying my instructions to ‘Swing, Lowe’, was joined by Brad. We were five down and still 76 runs short, but, with some 12 overs to go, our minds were focused on chasing down that total. Shortly after Brad’s waddle to the middle, Rob A returned from a fruitless visit to his other engagement and unable to do anything to change our predicament, apart from maybe retiring hurt instead of getting out in the first place. Pete holed out for 17 trying to hit the ball too hard and Brad was joined by the mannish boy of the moment, Chas. After getting off the mark with a boundary, Charlie succumbed for six, bringing Zarghum to the wicket. A few festival shots here and there hadn’t prevented the target creeping up towards the 10-an-over mark. With only four overs left, however, and three wickets in hand, I felt it was still worth a punt. Brad holed out chasing the impossible dream and the skipper walked to the crease purposefully in his intent to score freely, as an attacking batsman of some renown. Having got off to the mark with a mis-hit slog that landed over the infield, I perished wafting Chris(tal) Gayle-style at a wide one, offering a thick outside edge to the keeper. This brought in our talisman, Mr Paul Flack, who, under instruction to in no way attack the ball, carried out his duties manfully, despite a couple of idiosyncratic run out attempts between Zarghum and himself, out-sledging the fielders (now all nine around the bat), and even dancing down the wicket as the bowler was running in. Unfortunately, having survived until the last ball, Flacky fell unluckily to a ball that was bottom edged onto his foot then ricocheted onto the off stump. A horrible way to lose a game, but in all fairness our batting did not justify victory. All of the top six got starts, but only two scored over 20, and no one close to a fifty. On a flat Old Chigs wicket, if you can’t chase 200 then you don’t deserve to win. I was happy with my bowling changes, and although I was a bit quieter than usual in the field, we fielded much better than we have been in past weeks. Thanks to John especially for his vocality in the field whilst I was silently plotting, thanks to Paul for turning up at short notice and likewise thanks to Pete for playing and I hope we’ll see more of you on the pitch in the future. Man of the match: Charles Rudkin (5-47)

Dashing Davis Derring-Do Delivers Defeat to Hainault & Clayhall

Date: August 25, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

After cocking up the team selection for the season’s penultimate home fixture I was hoping for an easy ride against Hainault and Clayhall, and thanks to an outstanding team performance this is exactly what transpired. On a dry day in the midst of many wet ones the toss looked a good one to win; the pitch was almost certain to be flatter and better behaved later in the day, once some of the moisture had disappeared from the juicy surface. At the appointed start time we were short of two players however, one of whom was an opening bowler, so losing the toss and being put in to bat was not the disappointment it may have been. Harvey and Rob A were well underway by the time the late-arrivals arrived. It would have been possible to note exactly how many overs had gone when they arrived, because as scorer I had decided to alert the batsmen to exactly how our run rate was progressing by displaying both the score and the number of overs bowled. This information was not regarded as necessary by Rob, who like his brother is always at full awareness. Rob and Harvey did what they had to do, batting through the very tricky first 10 overs, taking the sting out of the attack and the aqueous venom out of the pitch. Each survived a chance, but Hainault and Clayhall were unable to complete the dismissals and a very valuable stand of 78 had been realised before the first wicket fell, Harvey gone for 29. John joined Rob just in time to see the slow pitch induce a false shot from the Chigwell number two and Rob departed for 37. James and John then put on 44 for the third wicket, James wielding his Uzi like the terminator at a Sarah Connor convention until one stuck in the chamber and he was bowled for 34. Paul, or Newman Senior, tried to maintain the fast scoring, but was caught having acquired 7 runs. Nick was next up and his partnership with John was progressing well until a crazy mix up – John yelling “Yes” and Nick yelling “No” – ended with John suffering the supreme irritation that is being the victim of a run out. Nigel, myself Brad and Zarghum came and went, the only highlights between us being Brad’s two scoring shots, for 3 and 4 together with his final dismissal, LBW, where he seemed to walk around the stumps half a dozen times before seeing James’ raised digit. Hannah held up one end well allowing Nick and extras to add a useful 13 runs from the final over, inducing a declaration at 196 for 9. This was a good score for the conditions we had batted in, but things had begun to get easier, and we feared it might not be enough. Tea was okay, a ripple of excitement ran through the room when some mustard was detected in a ham sandwich, but otherwise it was uneventful. The Hainault and Clayhall innings was torn to shreds by a scintillating team display from Chigwell in the field. Zarghum set the ball rolling, sending the H&C captain on his way LBW. His next wicket came courtesy of a simply breath- taking catch by Brad, one handed and completely airborne, at square-leg. It was the finest catch I have ever seen him take, and definitely the best catch of the season so far. Words fail to capture the sheer brilliance of it, and it further inspired the whole side, so it was no surprise when James, having a day off from wicket-keeping, executed another great catch at extra-cover to give Zarghum his third wicket. I had granted myself the other opening bowling slot, and “joined the party” with a wicket of my own. Hannah replaced me and bowled her best spell under my captaincy, claiming two wickets, one bowled and one well caught by Zarghum. I had a feeling that what with “The Catch” it might well be Brad’s day and he certainly did not let the team down with his excellent spell of 5.5 overs 4 wickets for 17 runs. 3 of these wickets came courtesy of slip catches by Rob A, one in particular standing out as another high class catch – a low swooping dive to a dying ball to the right and in front of him. The last wicket fell as a top edge flew high towards a number of potential catchers in “the cordon”, Harvey realising that if Rob took it he would be “on a jug” for three catches, wisely left it for him. Sadly the scorebook does not reveal the final score for H&C, but I think it was about 78, the value of our opening stand. What a pleasure the whole event was, and a very easy game to captain. Our mettle may be more tested next Monday by WG, but with Strength Honour and Davis we will surely prevail. Man of the Match – Cheesely Bratwurst

Charlie Rudkin: UK Garage Sensation (Gidea Park & Romford 3/9/2006)

Date: September 07, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

What a switchback of a game this proved to be – more twists than Chubby Checker’s back catalogue. The day started with the familiar late-season, early-start, lateness of arrival. Not good for the captain’s nerves. Chris the GPR captain won the toss and put us in to bat, which at least meant we had enough bodies to start the game, albeit eighteen minutes or so late. An all Allum opening stand was dramatically ended by the first ball of the second over, Rob adjudged LBW, his large stride down the wicket insufficient to save him. Olly replaced him and immediately began to swish the borrowed skipper’s bat with gusto. A mixture of meaty blows and wild air-shots accelerated the scoring and soon he was on 32, all in boundary fours. With the total on 59 Olly was unfortunate enough to step on his wicket, and good enough to take the wicketkeepers word for it, with no umpire noticing the indiscretion. Personally I would have blamed the wind, which had already blown the bails off several times, but Olly has more class than that. The Chigwell middle order did not cover itself in glory. After Nick’s dismissal to a stunning slip catch the wickets fell with both depressing regularity and inappropriate recklessness. Numbers 4,5 and 6 (James, Nigel and Imran) contributed a solitary run between them, all perishing to over-ambitious shots. Owen looked to be taking the sensible cautious route until on 9 he tried to play a big shot to a good ball and was caught. At this point we were on 92 for 7 and looking distinctly “village”. Charlie joined me in the middle and after a few runs had been added he beckoned me halfway down the pitch and explained to me the importance of batting in partnerships, setting an initial target of 50 runs for ours. My usual limited range of scoring shots (pull, pull, pull) was supplemented by some pedigree batting from the prodigy. It was when the pace bowlers were reintroduced that Charlie really caught fire, turning many a full ball on leg stump to the backward square boundary, and gracefully guiding his cut shots into space. Soon our target was revised and we looked towards a century stand. An increasingly restless GPR were seemingly powerless to re-impose their earlier dominance as we passed this second milestone and advanced past 200. As we approached declaration territory word was passed to me that Charlie’s score had moved into the forties, so the emphasis of my innings changed to making sure Charlie saw as much of the strike as possible. Charlie did not disappoint and with a perfectly executed square cut for 4 his maiden half-century for Chigwell was achieved and the innings closed on 230 for 7. Charlie has already had a five wicket haul for us this season, and run someone out with a throw from the boundary. He surely has a big future; let’s not forget he is only 11! For the record I finished on 80, and had even hit one or two balls in front of the wicket towards the end – in the air of course! The GPR innings followed a similar course to our own. Zarghum, now dubbed Zig-zag in tribute to his ability to move the ball either way with late swing, was expensive, but kept taking wickets. Chigwell in general fielded better than GPR, no better examples than James’ superb one handed catch to a ball that was deflected off the back of the bat in bizarre fashion, and Imran’s unbelievable one handed stop at point to a ball that changed direction wickedly at the last second, following a rogue bounce. Zarghum took 4 for 55 in 8 overs and with a crazy run out of the skipper the GPR innings stood at 72 for 5 at one point, a Chigwell victory looking likely. Olly had opened the bowling and bowled well, but together with Rob A, Brad, Nick and myself, proved unable to break the 6th wicket stand and gradually the momentum swung back towards Gidea Park and Romford. They needed 6 runs an over during the course of the last hour and were pretty much at this rate when I turned to Rob Allum to have a second spell, now with the aim of saving the game. I also chose to push Zarghum back into the attack, in the hunt for a 5th wicket for him, and because he had looked more likely than anyone to induce false shots from the batsmen. Rob bowled three extremely canny overs, the ball continually thudding into the pads of the frustrated batters. These 3 overs (for only 6 runs) did as much to save the game as anything and it meant that GPR needed 12 to win from Zarghum’s final over. The nerves were jangling on both sides. A couple of twos were hit, including a chance to point that Nigel ran in a little too far for, then a wide a single and a boundary 4, conceded by me whilst trying to execute a catch that really would have been irrelevant, when run prevention was the only requirement. I suppose there must have been another single after that and the score with 2 balls to go was 229 – 2 more runs to win. The field now up, the left-handed Mr. Patient hit one towards me at mid-on and set off for a single. Luckily my gather and throw were clean and accurate and he was run out well short of his ground. So the century making Mr. Evans was left with the task of scoring 2 from the last ball to win. The field spread to about one-and-a-half run distance and Zarghum bowled. It was a good length delivery that was propelled via a bit of a mis-hit to Olly at extra-cover. He ran in with the ball and removed the bails at the non-striker’s end, running out the GPR number 8 by a yard or so as he struggled in vain to complete the second run which would have given GPR victory. Phew! So the result was a draw with the scores level, definitely a good game of cricket. Man of the Match: Charlie Rudkin

Catches Go West, But Chigwell Give it a Damn Good Go (West Essex 10/9/06)

Date: September 15, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

Working on the principal that if the match report isn’t done before the next game, it probably wont get done at all I hereby give somewhat truncated details of the match last Sunday. Won the toss, inserted the opposition. I decided to try out Owen as opening bowling partner for Rob A. Owen took a wicket, rather fortuitously with a pie, but the second wicket pair added over 200 runs, benefiting from Chigwell’s total inability to hold any chance that was offered. John Clifford suffered most as his admirable first bowling spell for the club went unrewarded. Charlie and Imran suffered at the hands of the increasingly confident batsmen, and the scoring raced out of control. Willing to take my own share of the punishment I brought myself on and was delighted to trap the West Essex number one LBW, 4 runs short of his century. The poor number four had been waiting for 90 minutes for his chance, but perished first ball, playing on. The skipper thus arrived and gave a spirited swish at the hat-trick ball, but failed to make contact. In my next over the other tormentor departed, well stumped by Paul for 94. First ball of my fourth over produced a looping edge from the skipper, which found the secure hands of Rob A at deepish slip/gully for the first (and last) successful catch of the innings. West Essex declared on 244 for 5 after only 32 overs, one over from Brad enough to convince them to get the hell out of there, while the going was good. John’s luck did not improve in the Chigwell innings; he received the ball of the day, cutting in a foot or so to bowl him. Olly suffered a rare distinction – triggered out (caught behind) by the skipper, when the noise was, apparently, that of bat on pad. Sorry Olly! There followed a spirited 3rd wicket partnership between Rob A and Paul, Rob in particular lashing some wayward bowling to all parts. Paul departed to a leading edge, and first Brad and then Imran tried to keep the momentum going, but perished in the attempt. I had only been out there a few balls when Rob was bowled for an impressive 74, the score now 126 for 6. Owen, armed with Nigel’s railway sleeper, batted with intent, the high point of his innings his first boundary 6 for the club. He departed for 19 fun-filled runs, while I remained struggling for touch at the other end. Charlie joined me and we took comfort from our unbeaten 138 run partnership of the previous week. We managed 66 this time and it was beginning to look as if we might steer the team to an unlikely victory when we reached the last 3 overs needing 23 runs to win. Sadly this was not to be as first Charlie (25) was bowled and then, despite encouragement towards heroic deeds from the boundary, my own wicket was shattered (33), both with no further addition to the score. Hannah and Nigel comfortably saw off the last 11 balls between them and an enjoyable match ended in a draw. West Essex were a good side to play against, and were extremely well skippered: a good declaration and sensible bowling changes – I look forward to playing them again. Chigwell put up a good display with a not-so-strong team, and who knows where we might have got to if a few of the catches had stuck. Better not drop that many at the Paddock next Saturday…

Nightmare on Stock Road (St. John’s Billericay 24/9/2006)

Date: September 25, 2006

Author: Nick Allum

What a terrible nightmare! First I dreamt I was mad enough to choose to bat first on a pitch cut only 2 minutes before the game started. Then I watched in despair as a procession of Chigwell’s finest departed for next to nothing. When I finally went in to bat I found the attack moderate and the pitch so slow there was time for a fag break between the ball pitching and reaching the batsman – my perfect pitch! 13 untroubled runs later I was left stranded with the score on 61 all out! I can imagine I must have been crying out in my sleep at the pain of watching all our batsmen loop the ball carelessly into the air, and squealed in a kind of envious agony to see a team which was capable of pouching every catch offered. It all seemed so real when we took to the field and managed one wicket and 3 dropped catches before St. John’s Billericay completed the rout with a six over square leg. Thankfully I woke up this morning and realised it was only the disturbed nocturnal workings of a frazzled mind, and I still had the joy of taking on St. John’s to come. Better ring Nigel, make sure he’s ready to be picked up… Hang on… the paper – it’s the Guardian… that’s not published on Sunday. Oh my god!! It’s Monday! Which means… AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHH!

Winter Ends

Date: April 03, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.zen106943.zen.co.uk/chigsite/uploaded_images/fred_pontin-726475.jpg) The closed season has all but passed. Easter weekend is the perfect time for snorting linseed oil and scraping off the remains of September’s St John’s Billericay pitch from your boots. No doubt Sir Tim Rice will be ironing his flannels, but we shall proudly iron that sticky stuff around the hem of those nylon slacks that kept falling down last season and prepare for our 2007 curtain-raiser: South Loughton, away, 2.00pm, Sunday 15th April. Book Early!

Cruising; Then a Bruising (South Loughton 15/4/2007)

Date: April 23, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Summer arrived early, the cricket season arrived bang on time; suddenly we weren’t talking about cricket related issues anymore, Chigwell CC was playing the first game of the season. The team assembled on time, the captain arriving twice, the second time with his shirt and match ball. Thus having proved myself a tosser, I proceeded to apply my skills further. A difficult discussion followed with the South Loughton coin spinning executive, his side wanting a 40 overs a side game, me having to explain that with Chigwell fielding a weak team, a timed game would suit better. Reluctantly, but magnanimously Andy agreed and bore the brunt of South Loughton disgruntlement. At least they were happy with batting first on a scorching April afternoon, inserted by me in time honoured tradition. Rob A was entrusted with the first over, and Frank, on debut, with the second. After the first 8 overs the South Loughtonians were 35 for no wicket and I chugged through a few bowling alternatives in my mind. A further 8 balls later the score read 36 for 3. Rob started the party with an LBW, Frank then announced his Chigwell arrival with a wicket, Brad taking a very good catch at mid-off. In case we hadn’t heard the first announcement Frank then castled the S.L. number four. It was very soon after this that I denied him a third wicket by failing to even go for a very simple catch at mid-wicket – sorry Frank! Rob claimed a second wicket courtesy of a near wide being somehow deflected onto off-stump by the hapless batter, a deserved reward for some effective bowling. I changed the bowling at both ends after eight overs a piece, Nick at Rob’s end and Alex, also on debut, replacing Frank. Nick repaid me by immediately dismissing the guy I had neglected to catch out earlier, and went on to produce the kind of quality display that sees him atop the “wickets taken” table year after year. He finished with 4 for 35. This included the final wicket to fall, that of the estimable T. Henman out for 58 in a total of 142, top scorer by 45 runs. Alex struggled a little to find the right length, but showed promise. Brad, honed by his single net session 2 months ago, bowled an economical and effective spell; 8 overs for 22 runs and 2 wickets. Assisting in this was the excellent Charles Rudkin, adding wicket-keeping to his impressive cricketing CV. He took two catches, the second, off Brad, a particularly smart piece of work down the leg-side. The Chigwellians stepped up to the paper plates at tea confident of victory, but wary of the early season nature of the pitch – slow and a little variable in bounce. Rob A and John opened the batting, starting with due caution, eking a run an over for the first eight overs. John played the shot of the day, an exquisite extra-cover drive, but was bowled by a good ball on 15. Alex dug in for a while, but unfortunately was caught going after a full toss. Owen scored a couple before being bowled and things were looking decidedly dodgy. Nigel, showing purpose and maturity, added 60 with Rob to seemingly right the ship, but once Rob had perished for 47, to Mr. Baker, things fell apart dismally. From 102 for 3 Chigwell capsized and sank without trace, ultimately dismissed for a total of 130, losing the game by 12 runs, the aforementioned Mr. Baker claiming 5 wickets for 4 runs in 6 overs. Thus ended an enthralling game with which to start the season. A great shame for us to lose of course, but there are plenty of positives to focus on: The bowling of Frank, Nick, Rob and Brad; the batting of Rob and Nigel; the keeping of Charlie. Chigwell man of the match – Rob Allum

All aboard for Chigwell Village! (Broxbourne 22/4/2007)

Date: April 26, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

It all started so well with the Broxbourne skipper generously agreeing to a timed game, after the now ubiquitous debate. They normally enjoy a 45 overs a side game and it soon became apparent that they were well suited to that, or frankly any other form of cricket. Rob and Frank opened the bowling, but the openers for Broxbourne weremerciless and Frank in particular suffered a mauling – 4 overs for 50 runs -ouch! To add insult to injury he had had to watch a presentable chance go down at point early on in proceedings. Richard was brought on as first change and was also put to the sword, as the opening stand raced to 134 in the 16th over. At this point Richard claimed his first wicket for the club – a catch in the covers for James – which marked a watershed in the innings. As captain I turned to spin in the form of Allum (N) and myself to hopefully stem the ludicrous flow of runs. I had replaced Allum (R) who under the circumstances had bowled economically (6 overs for 32). Taking the pace off the ball worked well, and several of the supposed better batsmen of Broxbourne perished carelessly, safe in the knowledge that a big score was virtually inevitable. Brad took a routine catch at backward point, and then swooped in a manner reminiscent of Collingwood at his best to execute a direct hit to run out Broxbourne’s number 3. All in all Chigwell performed very well in this period of the game; Imran saved a boundary and ran into a thorn bush, suffering several nasty cuts and scratches for his devotion to the cause. He then took a fantastic catch at mid-on, sprinting from mid-wicket to dismiss the Broxbourne opener who clearly had his eye on a ton. Nick proved the class bowling act, taking 5 wickets including 2 in 2 balls at the end, leaving him on a hat-trick for next week. The penultimate wicket featured a remarkable catch at “cow corner” by James; as the ball was arcing towards him a stray tennis ball from a game of boundary cricket rolled in front of him, followed by an oblivious fielder from beyond the rope. James stood firm and pouched an excellent catch, despite the distractions. One ball and one wicket laterBroxbourne made a very fair declaration on 236 for 9 in the 40th over. Tea was taken, it consisting of some delightful hot pizza, bread, cheese and cake – and eventually, when the milk arrived, tea. It is probably best to gloss over the Chigwell innings, but the details were; all out for 74, Rob A scoring 30, next best Charlie on 8. There were many soft dismissals, none softer than my own, batting at number 11, a full-toss gently guided back to the bowler, via a leading edge. A shame we batted so poorly after such a spirited fight-back in the field. I hope that next year we might take a slightly stronger batting line up to this fixture, and show the good people of Broxbourne that we can do a lot better. Chigwell man of the match: Nick Allum 11.2 overs 2 maidens 36 runs 5wickets (and not out batting) – just enough to make up for the dropped catch!

The Wandering Fox Stumbles into Chingford (29/04/07)

Date: May 03, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

A good start to the day and my skippering career was had by winning the toss. With a strong batting line up, a short boundary, and the recent warm spell I was tempted into having a bat. My decision was, in honesty, swayed by the fact that we had made a pig’s ear of chasing in our previous 2 games, so why not have a bat. What’s the worst that could happen The opening pair of Harvey and the cheating wotsit looked comfortable enough and whilst runs may not have come freely, neither seemed to be in too much discomfort out in the middle. The terror of WG then begin to open his arms to carve a few away nicely before getting trapped by one that seemed to keep low. With kidneys now seemingly in full working order but with an ageing body creaking under the exerts of Saturday cricket, Allum, R. strode to the crease and it was soon business as usual, solid defence with scoring opportunities pounced upon. Harvey looked good until he picked out the fielder whilst attempting to pull one to the boundary. Next came the welcome return of Mitz for his first game of the season together with the familiar sound of leather on garden fences. In typical style, Snooty progressed briskly and with a blossoming partnership beginning to develop, Chigs were still in with a good chance of setting a competitive total. However, after holing out for a jug avoiding 45, today’s debutant skipper stepped out knowing that a captain’s innings was needed to settle the listing ship. Unfortunately, facing the wily McGreggor, I had the usual problem of how exactly to deal with proper line and length bowling. Solution, pad up and go after the other guy. Fool proof. After departing following the unusual experience of a mid-innings explanation to the boundary of the benefits of sitting in a wooden box to write down numbers, my worst fears of choosing to bat first were beginning to be realised. Nick fortunately provided some much needed ballast to the innings but perhaps lacked the security of knowing there were many more to follow and was a little hamstringed on what was already a wicket that had so far proved difficult to score off. Thankfully Chigwell rallied and whilst our total may have been a lowly 156 on a day when somewhere around 240 was required, we had at least salvaged some pride by batting our time and we even enjoyed a touch of bun smearing by our prodigal son. After a typically splendid Chingford tea, the skipper now realised that after having completed the task of picking a batting order, he now had to choose his bowlers carefully and work out how to set a field. Without wanting a volley of sweet northern dialect, I threw the ball to Miss Milly to open the bowling and hoped and prayed for a devastating opening spell. Not far off! The opener’s middle stump was soon disturbed and the fox hoped that the bugles that he had heard earlier in the afternoon had been a false alarm and the hounds would be avoided for another day. No such luck unfortunately. Dom continued to bowl well with accuracy and pace and Paul cleared up nicely behind the sticks. However, on a day where luck and slip-catching avoided him, Dom was left with his solitary scalp. Frank bowled well, and whilst not claiming any wickets, went for a relatively economical 28 off his 5 overs and showed a great deal of promise for the rest of the season. However, with such a small total, bowling changes had to be made for fear of letting the game drift away. Mitz and Rob found no assistance on what I should have realised wasn’t a seam-up wicket. Whoops, oh well. Remembering at least that spin works, Nick halted the run rate and turned the match once again into a semi-competitive occasion. Brad, in turn, immediately repaid faith by claiming his wicket and was unlucky not to take a second. However, once the young lad Peek had decided that he had seen enough he polished off the game, and Nick’s figures, to ensure that Chigs were finally put out of their misery. How do I remember the first time? Was it the worst time? No, I hope not. Simply, we did not set a high enough total against a strong team and were stuffed from there on in. Lessons have been learnt but hopefully, with time to lick its wounds, the fox will be able to venture out of its den once again some time this season to lead us, next time, to victory. Man of the match: Rob Allum

Chingford Snaps

Date: May 09, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Robbie O took some pictures (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/sets/72157600193922783/) of the Chingford game.

Chigwell Home and Hosed by 6.30 (Hadley Wood Green 6/5/07)

Date: May 10, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

There’s no place like home… there’s no place like home… there’s no place like home… Chigwell CC clicked its heels together three times last Sunday, and the team was transported back to the land of victory. After three defeats, the last two sound spankings, Hadley Wood Green were beaten by six wickets with the whole of the last hour to spare; even the christening party which occasionally spilled onto the field of play couldn’t dampen the reignited spirits of the Chigwell XI. Ironically things started badly, with the toss being won by HWG. Their skipper chose to bat, much to the irritation of many Chigs, whose “bat first” lobby had been in keeping with my own opinion. We appeared to have a strong batting line up, and HWG seemed to be a little short in the bowling department; certainly no sign of A. Randall, a thorn in our sides all too often in the recent history of the fixture. Rob Allum and Tim Mitzman were entrusted with the new ball and claimed an opener apiece. To Tim fell the prize wicket of Mike Davey, a quicker ball rifled through the gate, the extra velocity perhaps generated by the disappointment of seeing him survive a difficult chance (to Oli at second slip) the previous ball. Jim Wallace departed after Charlie took a good low catch at point off the BGC. Around this juncture we witnessed the start of the Rob Allum catching master class. His first catch was probably his best, at slip to Brad. Great positioning and reflexes, a steady hand and eye combined with a seemingly telescopic arm to dismiss Blake. Rob went on to take three more excellent catches; the rest of the team took a further three – at last a good catching day for Chigwell! Not too much resistance was realised by Hadley Wood, Chaddha alone shone with a quick-fire 36 before Brad induced a drag back onto his stumps; two important wickets for Brad in an eight over spell for 34 runs. Just one somewhat less important wicket for me, Oli making good ground to a ball scooped to mid-on. Nick did what he is so good at doing – tied the batsmen down, then got them out. He finished with 4 wickets for 16 runs in 6.5 overs. Charlie was brought into the attack two overs too late, and showed my mistake up for what it was by bowling a wicket maiden first over. Nick’s last wicket and Rob’s last catch brought enforced closure to the HWG innings and Chigwell “enjoyed” their poor value, unimaginative tea, contemplating a target of 141. John was surprised first ball by a delivery that lifted alarmingly at him, but relieved sighs went up as the ball looped short of any fielders. Harvey began to show signs of talented stroke-play, before he failed to get on top of a cut and rather chipped it to gulley. Enter Oliver who was in no mood for a marathon innings. He had crunched 30 runs from 16 balls when he fell trying to repeat the mighty six he had smitten the previous delivery. He was well caught by Coburn off his own bowling from a shot that went straight up into the air and took a long time to come down. John continued his love affair with the Old Chigs pitch until he perished in an action replay of Harvey’s dismissal. Seventy-seven for three might have caused the jitters, but Mitzy, extremely ably assisted by Nigel who seems to be improving with each innings, steered us to within sight of the promised land of victory. Tim’s lapse on 38 caused no problems for Chigwell, indeed it gave Paul the chance to cream a couple of fours through the covers to end the game an hour or so before the scheduled close. Nigel scored 17 not out, a mixture of sensible defence and clinical clouting. An easy win then in a game where everyone played their part, victory achieved without the need for compromise on our preferred cricketing methodology. Chigwell man of the match: Rob Allum – I can’t remember anyone taking 4 catches in a match as an outfield player before!

Not a Winning Draw, not a Losing Draw, but a Drawing Draw. (Ingatestone 3/6/2007)

Date: June 07, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

A glorious summer’s day provided the canvas on which was painted the most sporting of drawn games, neither side showing quite enough control at some times, and not enough adventure at others. With the toss conveniently lost, Ingatestone got stuck into the opening attack. Frank displayed signs of an indulgent Saturday night as his first two balls pitched somewhere near his feet and drifted gently wide. After an expensive first over Frank steadied himself and bowled well, but alas no wickets. Rob A was harder to get away at first, but steadily the runs scored from each over increased and things began to look ominous. There was a massive contrast in style between the Ingatestone openers, the right hander spanking all and sundry to all compass points, the left hander prodding a defensive bat at most offerings. Ritchie – great to have him back – replaced Frank and bowled 2 maidens at the prodder, then went for 14 in his next over to the tonker. So the opening stand was at 73 or so, with tonker looking imperious. Who you gonna call? The partnership-breaker. Brad bowled one ball to the lefty, which went for a bye, then struck first ball to the right-hander! It did require the help of an amazing athletic one-handed catch by Imran at deep square-leg, but Brad produced once again when it mattered. Imran set a fantastic standard in the field, one particular dash around the boundary to prevent a four equalling the catch in its excellence. With tonker gone the run-rate fell dramatically, the prodder in particular finding it hard to score. Wickets fell too, and the game was suddenly transformed, with Chiggers holding the upper hand. Brad completed a fine spell, a catch from Richard securing a second wicket for (in Nigel’s words) the “Relationship-breaker”. I took 3 wickets, which was enjoyable in itself, but included the left handed opener and opened the way for more aggressive batsmen to smash my bowling, and that of Richard (who had one caught and one dropped by the skipper at deep mid-off), to the boundary and beyond. This also coincided with panicky fielding which yielded a few over-throws and mis-fields. Eventually the innings was declared on 212, probably about par. We bowled 43 overs in 2 hours and 50 mins, which isn’t an impressive rate notwithstanding the heat and the frequent ball-hunting in the nettles or bushes beyond the boundary. The young ladies in what Rob described as “the peanut gallery” did nothing to help. A slightly prolonged tea was followed by a brief opening partnership between Rob A and John, the latter departing to the ball of the day, jagging back to wriggle between bat and pad. Never mind John, Old Chigs next week! Alex was once again stylish and graceful, and looked set for a big score before misjudging a second run and departing run out. The decent opening bowler continued to weave his spell, which finished with four consecutive maidens. Nigel and Rob formed a doughty pair, and when the ball was hit it always seemed to go to a fielder, or in one instance was smashed (by Nigel) into the arm of his batting comrade at the non-striker’s end. Thus the first 22 overs produced something like 50 runs and it was a daunting rate of about 8 an over that was required in the last hour. With the opening bowler out of the attack the runs began to flow, but progressively virtually the whole fielding side was pushed out to patrol the rope, and boundary scoring became difficult. Nigel eventually perished for 23, victim of one of the few catches that stuck – at least 8 were dropped – and James joined Rob in a spirited chase for the line. Rob finally fell for 83 hard-earned runs, and Imran came and went, perishing in the sort of run out that desperate run chases engender. I joined James, but by then the game was up, with 24 required from the last over, all fielders still on boundary patrol. The innings closed on 200, scored from 42 overs, James on 42 not out. In all 412 runs were scored for the loss of 10 wickets during the course of the game and it was by no means a boring draw. Man of the match – Imran for his superb fielding display, especially the catch that put some fire into our bellies.

CX n.o. for FCC (Woodford Green 10/6/07)

Date: June 14, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Woodford Green at home (of course) on 10th June 2007. A fixture that will live long in the memory of the most excellent Mr John Clifford, for it was this game where he scored his first ever century; a magnificent innings of timing and subtle touches on his favourite old Chigwellians pitch. Alan of Woodford Green surprised me when, on winning the toss on a warm summer’s afternoon, he chose to field first. I was relieved not to have to face the irritation of the Chigwell troops, but aware that this reflected a lack of confidence on the part of Alan. Next step was to decide on a batting order, the side replete with talented willow-wielders. After much consideration I gave the openers’ slots to Rob A and John. Rob had performed well on difficult pitches and deserved a crack at an innings on the Old Chigs shirt-front; John had had no luck so far this season, but has been batting well and similarly deserved his opportunity. Of course I could have made a case for Alex, Harvey, James, Oli or Nick too, but that’s captaincy for you. I was not disappointed with my choice. Rob and John settled in, then tucked in to the bowling. The odd ball bounced a bit early on, but with this storm weathered, and a very difficult chance off John to backward square survived, progress become smooth. A century stand was achieved by the 24th over, and half-centuries were soon posted by each partner, Rob winning the race by an over or so. On 57 Rob fell to a juggled catch at square-leg having picked out the fielder with a well hit pull. 129 for the first wicket was an encouraging start! Harvey entered the dance-floor and looked pretty good, especially his straight six, a beauty into the car park. While he was whistling his way to 37 in 27 balls, John was retaining his composure and continuing to accumulate quality runs. The 55 run stand for the second wicket ended with Harvey sending another attempted heave high into the air, to be taken by the keeper. Alex took the bull by the horns and continued the assault, scoring 10 off 5 balls before hitting one in the air to mid-off, the third wicket falling on 200. As Oli joined John in the combat zone, all thoughts on the boundary turned to the possibility of a ton for John. It seemed likely as the now mud-streaked opener (he had dived to avoid a run out a little earlier) was showing no signs of fatigue, and seeing the ball like an over-inflated fluorescent football. As the moment neared the comrades around the scorebook prepared to acclaim their hero, but John, apparently, was unaware of how close he was. When he pushed the single that took him to three figures he had to ask Rob, the bowler’s end umpire why we were all cheering. “That’s it mate – that’s your ton!” exclaimed Rob. John sank to the ground at first. We thought he might kiss the Old Chigs turf, but after holding his arms and bat aloft he rose and leapt on Rob clinging koala-like to the BGC for what seemed like minutes. What I didn’t realise at the time was that this was not just his first century for Chigwell, but his first century for anybody! Hard to believe, given his talent, but there you are: a life ambition achieved, and in such style. The innings closed on 253 for 3, Oli hitting 24 in no time, including 5 boundaries. A powerful batting display from the team, with plenty in the tank, lets keep it up for the rest of the season! It was certainly a long way from the nadir of our batting performance at Broxbourne! The quality of the tea at Old Chigs seems to have improved a little too, thankfully. The teams took their time over eating it and the benefit of a slightly early declaration was squandered. Ultimately the second innings was an anti-climax, with Chigwell unable to extract 10 wickets from the Old Chigs feather-bed. Tim Hall opened the bowling, with me at the other end. We tried to keep Woodford Green interested, but they never really got near the rate. Brad and Nick bowled well, Brad taking a wicket thanks to another stupendous catch at slip by Rob, Nick taking 3 after an early struggle to find his length. In all 5 wickets fell and the game petered out. But what did that matter as we sat supping from the jugs of John and Rob, watching the sun set over the Buckhurst Hill horizon (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/542364204/) ? John had achieved his ambition, and now he revealed his next; for Chigwell to appear in the village cup final at Lords! Might need a bit of work that one… Man of the Match…. Rob Allum for his unstinting support of John during his celebrations. Oh, all right then – John, obviously, 110 not out!

Hadley Wood Grin – Then Groan (10/7/2007)

Date: July 12, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

T’was a happy band of Chigsters who arrived in sunshine at the Hadley Wood Cricketing Arena. Everyone was on time and all were eager to make up for the loss of our previous two fixtures to the June Monsoons. I won the toss and reverted to type – bowl first. HWG are notoriously difficult to bowl out, so I considered our best chance of winning was to chase a score, not wickets. Considering the weather of the previous 3 weeks the pitch looked pretty good too. Mike Davey and Jim Wallace opened the batting with Zarghum and Adam Peters having first go with the ball. Both bowled well, with Adam in particular finding a degree of swing and the edge of the bat several times. Jim seemed to be living a charmed life as the ball whistled through the slip/gulley area on several occasions, but never to a fielder. The HWG openers scored at a reasonable rate, a run a minute for the first hour, until eventually Mike’s wicket fell, bowled by a corker from Richard “scar face” Hannan in the middle of a decent spell. Jim, having ridden his luck, made the most of his opportunity and took his score beyond 50. Mike De Villiers, aka (to us) Cruella, batted steadily but never quite got going. Pete claimed his wicket in the end, Nigel pouching the first of two catches which helped to make up for his earlier drop. There followed a productive spell for Chigwell as wickets fell and runs were scored slowly. Brad had Jim caught at gully for 70, while Dan, HWG skipper went for a duck, unable to cope with the drift and turn of his Chigwell counterpart. I finished with 3 for 19 from 9 overs, which was flattering, but I’ll take it! The tonk was on for the last few overs; HWG clearly had a target of 200 in mind and declared on that score. Some Chigwellians thought the innings had gone on an over or two too long, but subsequent events made Dan’s decision seem justified. The usual fine tea was scoffed, and we contemplated scoring 201 in about 40 overs. “Five an over, we can do that…” was the vibe of the eager Chigwell leather-beaters. Before long however victory seemed extremely unlikely; John departed to the first ball of the innings, Mr. Turner doing his stuff as usual. Rob A followed, out to an ugly swipe across the line. A short innings for the BCG, and I’d not asked him to bowl either, so an unusually quiet game for him. Nigel followed for a duck and the score was 14 for 3. We’d been here before! The fourth wicket pair was Adam and James, a lot rested on their shoulders. They bore the weight superbly and gradually but unmistakably the balance of power began to shift. Both posted half centuries in a stand of 108, it taking a marvellous piece of fielding by MDV to end the partnership, Adam run out for 60. 122 for 4 became 122 for 5 when Pete joined John and Nigel in the duck pond. The run rate was still at 5 an over thanks to Adam and James, and as I joined James we felt positive about our chances. To my relief I found that the ball seemed to be finding the middle of the bat, and that the bowling offered sufficient opportunity to score at the required rate. Dave Turner returned and I did find that he was reasonably quick, and could indeed move the ball, one or two jaffas seaming away from my groping edge. James mixed prudence with bludgeonry, while we both survived the odd chance that, if taken, might have exposed our tail, although I think we had enough talent in that tail to finish the job. So it came to pass that we needed 3 more runs to win from 3 overs and one ball. I saw that one ball out with a strange nothingy shot, but as the field changed the thought occurred to me for the first time that James might be within reach of his century. He struck the first ball of the antepenultimate over through wide mid-off; we ran hard, wanting to finish the game on that delivery. We thought the excited shouts from the boundary were solely in anticipation of our excellent victory, but no! They were also in celebration of James registering his 3rd Century for the club – 101 not out; a really fine innings, and a matching winning effort. I scored 33 in our unbroken stand of 79 for the sixth wicket, captain and vice-captain bringing home the bacon. So the mood was jolly as we exposed our pants to the Hadley Wood air, changing back into our civvies on the outfield. Nobody could quite be bothered to shower at the tennis club where we go for drinks after the match, so we were home, but not hosed on this occasion. Hadley Wood were gracious hosts as always. A pleasant bottle of beer or two were quaffed, many as part of James “jug”, which must have been expensive. I only hope being awarded man of the match for his dazzling ton helps compensate him.

Adam the Rock as Chigwell Stodge a Draw (Coopersale Away 22/7/2007)

Date: July 24, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

A nice day, but the game was rather poor due mainly to the “village rules” that removed 30 minutes from the game and discouraged a sensible declaration from Coopersale. Village rules mean that the first side bats for 2 hours 30 mins, the second side gets an hour and then “the last hour” – almost invariably 20 overs – to bat. I suppose it is possible for the first side to declare, but that doesn’t usually happen, so whereas a side getting to 250 by, say, 4.30 in a normal timed game would declare early and have longer to get the wickets, Coopersale had only 36 overs to get us out, and were unable to open up the game sufficiently to keep us interested We were set 246 to win, and once we had made a slow start we clearly had no chance of winning, and stodged it out. Graham Hancock wasn’t best pleased with our game plan, but what can you do when it’s impossible to win? It was a bit like the good old days of Coopersale, when the team seemed to be totally dependant on GH – just as well he isn’t quite fit to bowl or he might have added a few wickets to his 91 off not many balls, including 20 off the only over I bowled. He did have support from Coopersale’s number three, who had set the ball rolling earlier with a meaty slogging session, surviving at least two presentable chances which were shelled by Richard and myself. Indeed our fielding was generally poor, and we really are capable of much better. Perhaps we should arrive early for the Woodford Green game and practice. Notable Chigwell performances came from Richard, who was given free rein, and used it to smash 36 runs, and Adam, who despite cat-calls from the boundary urging a more aggressive approach, followed the captain’s preferred route and left the wide ones, of which there were many. Adam was finally out seeking 9 runs from the last over to get to 50. Nick and I consolidated our averages and we finished on 179 for 7. We enjoyed the warm hospitality of Coopersale, and the cold lager of their fridge, whilst mulling over the rather inadequate nature of the day’s cricket. Still, after all the games we have lost to the weather this summer it was a pleasure simply to take to the field. Man of the match: Adam Peters, our new member!

Hey-Ho Me Cricket! Woodford Green is the Place….29/7/2007

Date: July 31, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

After all our years of local cricketing endeavour we finally got to play on the oldest cricket ground still being used when Woodford Green CC welcomed us to their historic home. A cricket field since 1735 the venue will have seen few more comprehensive victories than our 9 wicket win, and not many more frustrated batsmen than Richard, the Chigwell number 4 who never got to build on his swashbuckling effort of the previous week. The suggested early arrival for fielding practice never quite materialised, leaving Frank and I to make the most of the opportunity to fling the practice ball about, and bruise each other’s hands. Unsure of the standard of the opposition and the reliability of the pitch, I won the toss and chose to field. We were rather short of batting, and were down to ten men as Imran had called at one o’clock to report a hamstring injury, suffered that morning playing football (vile game!). I planned to give Rob a fairly short spell as opener, supported by Frank at the other end, but Rob bowled well and justified his 10 overs. Frank was unlucky in that he continually bowled to the more aggressive batsman, who swiped a couple of sixes over the short offside boundary. He might have holed out had I placed myself right on the boundary rather than 10 yards in, or if I were a few inches taller. Alan the Woodford Green skipper perished to a catch at slip by me, a real rarity, and the result of canny planning by Rob. With the ball and the conditions right for swing bowling, Ritchie replaced Frank, and caused problems straight away. It took a while for the second wicket to fall however, and the score had progressed fairly rapidly into the eighties before the BGC finally got to bowl to the aggressor, who almost immediately fell to a well taken return catch. This wicket seemed to break open the floodgates and Chigwell began to claim regular victims. Rob finished his 10 over spell with 3 wickets for 27 runs. Ritchie claimed two victims, the second a superb piece of work by James to stump an overbalancing batsman. Brad bowled an economic 5 overs for 16 runs, his one wicket (a smart slip catch by Rob) prompting Monty Panesar like celebrations. He was unfortunate to be taken out of the attack, but I figured the pitch looked good for spin, and the slope meant that Nick had to have that end. Nick probably didn’t bowl at his best, a few short ones being dispatched to the square leg boundary, but he did claim the important wicket of the Woodford Green number three, who through the carnage, had racked up a respectable 77. He was bowled, beaten in the fight by a floated delivery. Having seen each of my previous two overs – one bowled to Joe Rudkin and one to Graham Hancock – dispatched for 20 runs each, I was delighted to find a responsive pitch and less talented batsmen when I started my spell. The innings ended with me taking successive wickets, one with a long-hop (LBW) and one with a ball that was so wide the umpire still signalled it despite the batsman somehow managing to hit it back to me for a caught and bowled. The umpire changed his signal and the innings closed on 161 – a good recovery by the Chigs, and a distinctly gettable total. In the end it was a very comfortable Chigwell innings, Rob and Adam putting on a stand of 133 for the first wicket. Adam true to form was the more cautious of the pair, but eventually was out for 46. Rob progressed to 87 not out at the close, with James, the only other Chigwellian given the chance to bat, making a comfortable 14, including the winning hit for four. Woodford Green were amiable hosts, and a few beers were sunk in very good company. A good performance from the ten man Chigwell team; most catches were held and the bowlers exploited the conditions well. Man of the match: Rob Allum – 87 not out, 3 wickets for 27 and 2 catches…

Chigwell Crawl, Three Caps Soar (Home 12/8/2007)

Date: August 15, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Paul asked me how we did against Three Caps on Sunday 12th August. This was my reply… Terribly! I think our performances are steadily declining, and there was a definite defeatist feel to the aftermath. We need to bounce back and quickly from this mire, and I hope to begin that process next Sunday. We did score 190, but it took 3 hours – albeit only 42 overs were bowled in that time. Three Caps won by 9 wickets and no catches were taken. A series of what transpired to be duff decisions by me as captain didn’t help either – especially not bowling Adam enough, which will be corrected next time That will have to serve as the match report – It’s always great to play cricket, but some games are best forgotten.

Chigwell dazzle in the drizzle (Hainault & Clayhall at Home 19/8/07)

Date: August 22, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

The prospects were not good. Heavy rain overnight showed no sign of relenting, although the forecast had been for showers, albeit prolonged and heavy. After a typically late Sunday breakfast I toddled down to Old Chigs to survey the damage. The rain grudgingly stopped as I arrived and with the possibility of Jim cutting a strip near the higher and drier end of the square, I took the decision to “give it a go”. The unlikeliness of any play had had its effect on the team. Owen had completed a monopoly board pub-crawl – 26 pints from Mayfair to Whitechapel (he missed Old Kent Road). This led him to text James on Saturday night saying he would be in no fit state for Sunday, and that he was “on a promise”. Sadly for Owen his excessive consumption of alcohol made whoever it was withdraw this promise; no doubt Owen would have asked if he should stop touching her at that point. Meanwhile Dom, the ex-bun butterer, having completed the sale of his and Tilly’s café, led the normally retiring Tim M wildly astray, until they eventually crashed at 6.00am, confident that the rain had ensured Sunday would be cricket free. How they must have enjoyed my text at 11.30 advising them that we were still going to play! At least they made it, albeit on the cusp of lateness, a feat not attempted by the Hairy Love Monster. I won the toss and after wide consultation decided to bowl. The pitch was damp, but actually held up pretty well considering; the bounce was generally consistent and there was no extravagant lateral movement. A rather ashen Dom opened the attack, Adam firing the bullets at the other end. A brave but mis-timed pull by the H&C opener, E. Alexander, soon brought the first wicket, Charlie comfortably catching him at mid on. This was Dom’s first wicket, but despite his usual classy bowling no more came for him in this spell. M. Shinn, the number three bat, showed attacking intent, but picked out Tim with a slap to extra-cover, to give Adam a wicket. The classiest looking batsman was undoubtedly the number 4, F. Alexander. He played some lovely shots and looked good enough to take the game way from us, but thankfully on 25 he decided to advance down the wicket to Mitz, yorked himself, and was bowled. Rob A replaced Dom at the plum end, but for once went unrewarded for his efforts. The day before he had claimed 6 wickets for a single run (which he claims was actually an unsignalled leg bye) when playing for the F&H thirds, so his wicketlessness came as a bit of a surprise. Even more surprising was the fact that Nick wasn’t given a bowl, instead Brad and Charlie in tandem claimed 2 wickets apiece. Brad broke a blossoming relationship between the remaining opener, B. Hoskins, and P. Shinn, the latter caught by me at mid off when I dived forwards and just got my fingers under the ball. Two steps forward when the ball was in flight might have made it easier! Brad’s other wicket was B. Hoskins, finally departing for 39, caught behind by James. He nobly walked, (it’s good to walk), although the umpire was in the throes of turning the appeal down. Lucky he went or there might have been an eruption. Charlie’s first wicket was from his first ball, a wide one outside off. S. Glasse did extremely well to reach it at all, and again prevented a lot of controversy by walking, the umpire mysteriously claiming that he had called a wide before the batsman hit it! A routine stumping for James secured Charlie’s second wicket and H&C stood at 103 for 7. A period of quiet cricket followed as a necessary reconstruction was attempted by our opponents. I replaced Brad, but proved ineffectual and by the standards of the innings, expensive. Fearing they might extend the innings to compensate for the low score I brought back Dom and Mitz, who efficiently polished off the innings . Mitz bowled Mike, their skipper for a hard earned 22, and Dom took the last two wickets, the batsmen by then trying to hit every ball. U. Shafiq tried tracking him, but sent a catch to me at mid off. The innings closed courtesy of a fine catch by Nick at third man off a skied slash outside off stump by D. Austrey, who had also grafted well for 22 runs. Nick’s catch rounded off a much improved display in the field; hopefully this improvement will be sustained until the end of the season. We experienced a really dreadful tea – it has become so embarrassing to have to ask for £35 from the opposition for the dried unimaginative excuse for decent tuck; we will have to raise this issue – again – with our landlords. An all Allum opening pair were first to reply for Chigwell. Nick having missed out on a bowl was delighted to receive the ball of the day, which uprooted his off stump; at least I think he was, as he thanked me profusely on his return to the gallery. Enter Richard, and the entertainment commenced. An innings which combined swish and swashbuckle, interesting buttock swaying (avoiding the leg side deliveries) and exquisite hand eye co-ordination, produced six fours and a glorious 6 before he was caught at deep mid on. He had scored 35 by then, and had entertained us all royally. James was unable to match this feat and perished caught & bowled attempting a back foot force. Rob had assumed the anchor role and was happy to see Tim arrive at the crease. Despite Rob taking the majority of the strike for the early part of his innings Tim went through the gears and chalked up an imperious 50 before Rob made an unfortunate call and ran him out. By this time however the game was up, and Adam and Rob finished things off without further drama – except a slight confusion as to the point at which the H&C score had been exceeded, which resulted in us facing one more delivery than was strictly necessary. Rob finished on 39 not out. The innings closed with some 14 or 15 overs to spare in a persistent drizzle, which rather dampened the victory celebrations. A fine team performance by ten man Chigwell, and a victory by 6 wickets. Richard’s innings was superb, but man of the match goes to Tim for his 2 wickets, his catch and his excellent half century.

Wanstead Haven’t the Heart to See it Through 26/8/2007

Date: August 29, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Wanstead 26/8/2007 Won the toss and inserted Wanstead on the grounds that they were likely to be a stronger team than us. This proved to be an unpopular choice with some. I’m not sure if their score of 271 for 8 after 2 and three-quarters hours made it a wise call or not. I took 4 wickets, which ameliorated my boredom if no one else’s. In reply we faltered badly at the start of the innings, which soon left us with no chance whatsoever of winning the game, so we had a bit of fun – Harv scoring 31 not out – until Wanstead grew bored and offered us the draw with 4 overs to go and 6 wickets down! I’ve never seen that before, but a very Wanstead move. It caused dismay and dis-harmony in our dressing room, Nick upset that Harvey had accepted the offer. I don’t think Harvey was at fault excepting that he should really have consulted Nick as his batting partner, however if repeated in any future game, I think the offer should be rejected as a matter of principle. So Bore draw…

GPR Settle for Draw after BGC Ton 2/9/2007

Date: September 03, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

Gidea Park & Romford 2/9/2007 A decent batting line up, so I decided, on winning the toss to bat first (for once). John and Rob faced a decent opening attack, and with John’s favourite spot at backward point astutely blocked after one crashing boundary a slow but steady start was made. After 19 overs John fell for 28 with the score on 60 and Rob was joined by DaRee, our Caribbean guest. After a period of trying to swing Nigel’s railway sleeper DaRee called for a lighter bat, and reluctantly I had to proffer my own underused blade. So mixed feelings for me as the scoring rate suddenly exploded. From 73 for 1 off 25 overs we eventually reached 245 for 3 in 42 overs, taking 2 hours 50 mins. Rob finished on 122 not out, Daree smashed a brutal 58, with a short break mid-innings when he felt unwell. It was a superb century by Rob, who more than made up for a careful start by smashing 4 sixes and numerous fours towards the end of his knock. Some GPR players felt we had gone on too long, but I was keen to exceed last years total which brought us a draw with the scores level in a game we had looked like losing. With Rob having batted through our innings I couldn’t really open with him, and with Adam carrying an injury and Zarghum fresh back from a 2 month holiday, our opening attack lacked penetration. Zarg did take a wicket eventually, but only 3 wickets were to fall in total as GPR initially raced away, then inexplicably stopped trying to win, ending up only 20 or so short of our total. Their opener scored a century too, 121 not out, but refused numerous singles and went through a long period of not attempting any aggressive shots. We bowled 42 overs, which was the same number as we had received; an asking rate of 5.88 per over, which is not excessive on that flat track. Still, at least we didn’t offer them the draw…

Borrowed Seamer Stitches up West Essex 9/9/2007

Date: September 11, 2007

Author: Nick Allum

West Essex 9/9/2007 It was a shame for the batsmen that I failed to win the toss, as I would have batted first. Colin the West Essex skipper elected to instead and I envisaged a difficult few hours chasing the ball over the sizable outfield. I had reckoned without Roger Braithwaite, a guest from F&H, who wiped out 4 of the top 6 in an aggressive spell yielding only 12 runs in 6 overs. Rob pinned the aggressive opener, A. Ali, LBW just when it looked like he might smash a very quick and large score. After that things were always under our control and I was happy to spread the bowling around as West Essex recovered to 119 all out from being 68 for 8. John’s impressive double growl appeal secured a positive LBW decision against 80 year old Stan to close the innings. After another tea that put Old Chigs to shame, we addressed the task of scoring 120 in a maximum of 38 overs to win. No need for rushing, but Daree is a pinch-hitter and so is Richard, and both found the pitch unsuitable for such methods, particularly Richard who got a straight on that didn’t bounce much. Enter James who played a great knock, his partnership with Rob realising 100 runs to win the game. The Uzi was certainly firing and James used it sublimely to score 60, even having the nous to pick out 80 year old Stan for the one chance he offered. We won by 7 wickets with 13.3 overs to spare. Rob finished on 37 not out, a well judged anchor role given the low total required. After the game Rob Allum was presented with the president’s cup, which he won last season. The absence of a club dinner robbed him of a more formal presentation, but his sheer weight of runs and excellence at catching, not to mention his parsimony with the ball made him a deserving winner.

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud (South Loughton 13/4/2008)

Date: April 18, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell and South Loughton’s pitch were the losers as twenty-two determined men ignored all good sense and saw through a bizarre game of cricket. “Oh boy!” we thought as the morning showers made way for a brightish start to the season opener. South Loughton won the toss and wisely decided to bat first, the odds being that the game might not go the distance. The openers hung around for quite a while, but scored at a modest pace, the slow pitch and outfield seemingly not conducive to an aggressive approach. Although it had started bright enough one of the heavy showers promised soon arrived, and the teams left the field as heavy hail began to sting their faces. No one seemed keen to call the match off, so shortly after the rain stopped the still intact opening pair took to the field, followed by the umpires clutching a decidedly small looking bag of sawdust. Brad and Nick bowled extremely well in their spells which spanned the hail-break. Nick bowled through his eight overs for a mere 15 runs, and saw his brother drop a tricky running chance into the bargain [ It was a dolly – Ed. ]. Brad went for just ten in his first five overs and took a wicket, our first of the season when Mr. Farthing misjudged a full toss, skying it to Nigel, whose safe hands held a fine catch, which was the icing on the cake of his dedicated fielding. Brad’s sixth over cost as many as his previous five, and it was clear that having preserved wickets in hand South Loughton were now poised to attack. I continued the wicket taking trend in inducing a top edge from a full toss, James holding on well at square leg. The South African middle order, and in particular Mr. Obendaal drove the score upwards. He hit five 6’s and no 4’s, which showed how hard it was to score with ground shots, the wetness compounded by the lush outfield, mysteriously longer than the grass beyond the boundary. Frank eventually dismissed the doughty Mr. Henman for 56 with, yes, a full toss – this one dipping just enough to clip the top of leg stump as Frank stifled an apology. In the last over I broke the trend by bowling the number 5 with one that pitched! The innings finished on 184, a fine total given the conditions. Tea was well timed as the heavens re-opened and it looked extremely unlikely that play would resume. Sadly for Chigwell’s dignity the sky became less grey, while the pitch was becoming Les Gray, plus all the other members of Mud. We batted poorly, for sure, but the conditions were ludicrous. The area around the crease was awash, and foot movement, usually such a vital component of a batsman’s skill, became unwise, it serving only to cause skidding and destabilisation. We probably needed tiger feet rather than spikes to bat properly on that. Suffice to say we were all out for 63, extras top scoring with 17, me next with 16. Was it worth it? Just about in that it was good practice in the field, and great to see some of the non-netting faces again. So; onward and upward to league cricket. We will need a lot of strength and honour for that!

First League Win!

Date: April 28, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.zen106943.zen.co.uk/chigsite/uploaded_images/leaguewin-753406.jpg) (http://www.zen106943.zen.co.uk/chigsite/uploaded_images/leaguewin-702897.jpg)

An Epping good win for Chigwell 27/4/2008

Date: April 29, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

27th April 2008 marked an historic day in the history of Chigwell Cricket Club as we chalked up our first league win. (The previous week was no less historic for being our first league fixture, but as we were soundly spanked on that occasion, a lot less enjoyable). We had a strong looking team, which made looking at the weather forecasts through the week more painful than normal, as they were unremittingly awful. It was only on Sunday morning that they began to change, and suggest there was a chance that at least some play was possible. Various members faced with long journeys contacted me to try to avoid a potentially pointless trip, but the rain held off until we all arrived, at which point it decided to get going. The weather radar at the Met. Office had predicted that the rain would be short-lived, and by golly, for once, they were right! No heavy shower was going to prevent our planned fielding practise and we went through our paces, mindful of how poor catching had stymied a good start last week. The umpires set a start time of 2:15 and I planned our strategy, based mainly around fielding first. When the coin landed the wrong way up I feared the worst as Epping decided to let us bat. Now I know I have always preferred bowling first, even in friendlies, but the league rules really do seem to favour that strategy, especially if the game loses any time to the weather, which was a distinct possibility. On the other hand, in our previous two games we bowled first, conceded a large total, and failed with the bat, so perhaps losing the toss wouldn’t be too bad . A lot depended on us getting off to a reasonable start, and that task fell to Rob and Tim. It wasn’t long before hope started to rise, both openers looking comfortable at the crease. They did a great job of keeping the scoreboard moving, mixing the odd boundary with smart running. It’s not always possible to achieve, but it gives the whole innings momentum when we don’t stall at the start – particularly in a 40 over game. Rob fell LBW, a tight looking decision, but one more likely to be given by a neutral umpire than the batsman’s team-mate we would normally have standing in a friendly. The score at this stage was 39, Tim doing the majority of the scoring. John joined him at the crease and was happy to play a supporting role to the star turn that Tim’s innings was becoming. Tim batted beautifully. I remember his big ton against North Park on the postage stamp at Woodford Wells, but this innings eclipsed even that as he combined touch, timing and power, batting like a latter-day right-handed David Gower, to bring up a majestic century to the delight of his team-mates. Eventually he was to fall – to a mistimed pull shot – in the 30th over for 113, with the score on 154. Many of the opposition made a point of shaking his hand as he left the field, and of course the congratulations from his team mates knew no bounds – or not many anyway. The batting order was re-jigged and the more powerful stroke players were sent in. John had to retire from the fray with a pulled calf muscle and James, Oli, Dom, me and Nick did our best to keep the runs flowing. We finished on 210 for 5, a very respectable total, but with only 56 coming in the last 10 overs perhaps fewer than it might have been. A proper quality league tea was scoffed by all as I considered my bowling options. John was unable to take the field but fortunately Charlie had been brought along to watch, and was willing to take the role of substitute fielder. The plan was for Dom’s searing pace and Rob’s nagging accuracy to leave Epping well behind the run rate, taking a couple of wickets or so along the way, leaving it clear for the rest of the bowlers to finish things off. I had been reckoning without the clean hitting of an outstanding opening partnership for Epping. Mr. Whiting showed particularly aggressive intent, while Mr. Singh was not too shabby either. Four overs into the innings and the score was 31 for 0. Dom had gone for 23 in 2 overs and I had no choice but to try plan B – take the pace off the ball Nick had expressed a preference for the other end, so I replaced Dom, while Rob persevered at the other. The partnership continued apace, and now what seemed like crucial chances were being dropped. At 100 for 0 from 13 overs the game was disappearing fast, and all Tim’s great work with the bat seemed wasted. The team was sick and needed a doctor. Enter Nick. His first over saw the first wicket, as J. Whiting missed with his swipe and was well stumped by Paul. “OK, let’s turn this juggernaut around” said Dom. “OK, this is where it starts” said I. We’ve both seen the “Chigwell Burn” before and memories of miraculous comebacks against W.G. Gracefully, Brighton Beamers and Gidea Park & Romford dared to creep into my mind. Next over from Nick and suddenly Mr. Singh was gone, falling to a great catch, held millimetres from the turf by James diving forward at mid on. The juggernaut was slowing. While I toiled through the rest of my spell and gave way to Brad, Nick claimed wicket number three, Tony Clarke raising the finger to a confident LBW shout. Nick’s fourth over was merely a maiden, but he made up for it with two wickets in his next over, another LBW and a dollied catch to James off a full toss, J. Newman departing first ball. In the excitement I didn’t even think to bring the field up for the hat-trick ball, although my mind wasn’t too confused to realise that Nick now had 5 wickets in as many overs, and would be buying beer for us. By the end of his allotted 8 overs he had claimed another victim and his figures read 8-2-21-6. An outstanding, astonishing performance. The juggernaut was now partway down the exit slip-road, approaching junction 27. Young Mr. Tatlow and Mr. Butt now began to dig in, and from 144 for 6 the score inched forwards, there still being plenty of time for the Epps to win the game. Brad, Frank and Rob were unable to break through, but thanks to the earlier (forced) decision to take Dom out of the attack we still had 6 overs of something fiery to offer and before long Tatlow’s patient vigil was brought to an end as leather missed willow, and hit ash. 182 for 7, with 7 overs to go. The satellite navigation system in the juggernaut was giving unclear directions: “Rejoin Northbound for Epping take the Southbound exit for Chigwell ” And then, in Dom’s next over, came the moment. 199 for 7 became 199 for 8 following a concerted and upheld appeal for LBW and we had won! Bit of a surprise to hear that Epping had not found an eleventh man, and that one of the original 10 had had to leave early due to illness in the family; I hope it was nothing serious. So victory to Chigwell, joyously celebrated by all twelve Chigwell players, together with Owen and Nigel, who had nobly arrived to support us. Team pictures were organised, once Tim had been dragged from the toilet, and after showers, jugs and laughter filled the Epping air, while the older members thought of how far we’d come from the days of Low Hall Farm. And the juggernaut? I can’t be bothered to pursue that tortured metaphor anymore. Come to think of it Dom might have said “OK, let’s turn this tanker around” Men of the match: Tim Mitzman and Nick Allum. Never was finer service given in the pursuit of strength and honour.

Draw Draw, Not War War (Hadley Wood Green 4/5/2008)

Date: May 08, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Having told the team to assemble at 1.00pm for sight screen duty, I arrived at 1.30pm to genial and well deserved abuse. I trotted into the changing room after handing over the cable ties to a band of trusty men, who headed across the pitch to the rusty sight screen, thankfully already roughly in place at the plum end. In the time it took for me to hop into my kangas the sheet had been fixed wrongly to the frame of the sight screen, it requiring my attendance and superb management skills to detach it and rotate it through 90 degrees. Thereafter in a trice the grey-screen was fit for service. Next task, duly accomplished was to win the toss. Tradition has it that in this fixture it is always wise to field first, but despite the risk of being unable to bowl the opposition out later on I chose to bat, thinking us the stronger team. Dan, the HWG skipper, was pleased to get his preferred option without having to win the toss. Harvey was not keen to open, so in the absence of Rob, I promoted Nick to join John as opening pair. The innings started as I sped to Mace in Chigwell to buy a battery for the match clock. It soon became apparent that Hadley Wood were a little under-strength, and their bowling was a bit limited. Nick and John settled in, but the slow pitch and mostly slow bowling didn’t make it easy for them to score quickly. After 20 overs we had 71 for 0 on the board and really needed to kick on. John grew unhappy with his bat and called for a replacement. I risked him using my blade, but after finding the middle with his first two shots it betrayed him and he spooned one to Jim Wallace at cover and was out for 42. Nigel had been promoted to number three and he didn’t disappoint, soon overtaking a frustrated Nick. It was during this partnership that a delighted crowd witnessed an all run 6, which must have had the batsmen puffing! Eventually Nigel perished for 42, with the score on 139. Charlie took his place, but with so little pace on the ball he too struggled to score quickly. The opening bowler returned, which seemed to suit Nick for a short time, two boundaries lifting his score to 43 before one sneaked through his defence and toppled the timber. Harvey joined Charlie and kept things ticking along, but after 40 overs we had only 173 on the board, which I felt was way below what we might have expected given the gentle attack. On 22 Charlie holed out to square leg and departed with his usual good grace. James and Harv had taken it to 217 from 47 overs when James was bowled for 19, at which point I declared the innings closed. Harv finished unbeaten on 25, having shrewdly picked out the same fielder with successive pulls for successive drops. Tea was supplemented by gratefully received contributions from Richard (scones with cream and jam), Linda (fruit cake) and Nigel (spicy noodles) and for the first time in Old Chig’s history drew compliments from the opposition. Perhaps it was the excellence of the scoff that led to a 30 minute tea break which deprived us of ten minutes in the field, which may in the end have made a difference to the result. Mike Davey never seems to fail against us, but he and his partner Mr. Bolt showed little urgency to attack the total set, although that wasn’t easy with Dom firing on all cylinders, and Frank keeping it tight at the other end. The lack of ambition, driven apparently by poor totals in their previous fixtures, soon made the game unwinable for HWG and by the time Brad took the first wicket we were in the 22nd over with a paltry 34 on the board. The Chigwell bowlers couldn’t get past the stonewalling, and instead merely improved their economy rates. Mike fell in the 32nd over for 39 runs, my arm ball hitting the stumps. Towards the end of the innings the prodigious spin I was finding started to make inroads, but it was too little too late. Dan was sent on his way thanks to a superb catch at slip by Dom, and James completed two more stumpings to add to his earlier one off Brad. The HWG innings closed on 103 for 6 from 45 overs. I finished with 5 for 21, which was a source of slightly muted pleasure for me, given the game overall had been rather dull. But never mind! Alex, back to Old Chig’s for the first time since the disturbing events of last summer supplied a couple of jugs courtesy of his mother, which was a great gesture, greedily consumed. James bought another following his 3 stumpings, and mine for 5 wickets was held over until next week – honest! Man of the match? Nigel for a good pacy knock when it was badly needed.

Chigwell Fall Short, Despite Glorious 123 from Tim (Stallion 11/5/2008)

Date: May 14, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Our league adventures continued on 11th May with us playing hosts to Stallion. Once again I managed to arrive later than most of the team, but was able to palm a little of the blame onto Nigel, whose homemade pizza was just about to finish its spell in the oven when I called to pick him up. I won the toss and made the usual league call of fielding first. Our team had a strongish look to it and I was confident we could compete. During the week I had made the schoolboy error of failing to confirm the availability of a schoolboy – Charlie – and we were fortunate indeed that Roger was able to fill in at short notice. Adam was back in the team too, so happy days! Stallion’s openers were of the normal league variety; impressively powerful hitters. This type of batsman seems to enjoy the pace that Dom generates, and once again Dom was unceremoniously carted. After 5 overs the score was on 49, 43 of them from Dom’s 3 overs. Roger meanwhile was proving more difficult to get away. He saw both batsmen dropped off chances that would normally be taken (except the one I dropped, which was virtually impossible!). In Roger’s third over A. Rahman was pinned in front and, to Chigwell’s immense relief, his gun-slinging partner, B. Mehmood, was bowled by the same bowler in his fourth over. By now Nick had taken over from Dom and was no doubt delighted to have more restrained batsmen at whom to bowl. Roger bowled through his eight overs, his final analysis 2 for 25 even better than it looks. I bowled in tandem with Nick for a while and things were relatively quiet. In my first over Adam executed a superb run out, hitting the stumps from the boundary to leave K. Shazad stranded. Nick trapped W. Ahmed plumb in front in the next over and the score was 101 for 4 in the 19th over. The next two wickets to fall were both good catches by Nick on the boundary, both from my bowling – thanks Nick! Brad and Frank were tried, but neither seemed to give the batsmen much trouble and the run rate picked up as Stallion approached the last quarter of their innings. F. Shazad batted well and made sure their good start didn’t go to waste, surviving one difficult chance to Nick off Brad’s bowling. Dom returned to bowl his remaining five overs and finally dispatched him for 65 crucial runs. Rob A only got to bowl 3 overs (1 for 16), and as the innings finished on 250 for 9 I had to confess that perhaps I should have given him a full 8 overs. Nigel’s reheated pizza was the star of another improved tea, after which Rob A and Tim M girded their loins and strode out to the pitch knowing we needed 6.25 per over to force a win. Whilst not achieving the pyrotechnics of the opening of the Stallion innings the Chigwell openers made an encouraging start, Rob scoring a good 18 before trying to force the pace and edging one behind. Tim, joined by Adam, began to ease through the gears and the second wicket pair added 87 before an untimely run out saw Adam return to the hutch, 30 to his name. Roger was rather unfortunately given out LBW first ball, and the innings was in danger of petering out… but not with Tim at the crease! He had now reached top gear, and was going into overdrive. We needed more than ten per over from the last seven, but when one over went for 20 it looked possible Sadly it was not to be. Tim departed for 123, a second successive league century, another innings full of grace and power. He’d added a little Pietersen to his Gower of the previous knock, and one and all applauded him loud and long as he joined the throng outside the pavilion to see if the lower order could bring the win home. No. I was out first ball and those behind me crumbled, our last five wickets going for ten runs. The crowd were still in good humour as the game ended with Chigwell 37 runs short, players and spectators alike agreeing that it was a fine game of cricket. What our total might have been without Tim I shudder to think, but at least we are proving that we can compete in this league, and that we can have fun in it too. Mitz of the match: Man!

Chigwell go West Against South Woodford 1/6/2008

Date: June 03, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

South Woodford once again proved too good for Chigwell in a mismatch at Old Chigs. Their “Sunday drinking weak-medium” side proved that when it comes to a description of team strength their evaluation differs significantly from our own. Having won the toss and put us in to bat they were merciless in dismissing us for 44, only easing back once we were 16 for 7. At least Brad was given the chance to build an innings and he and Frank provided the only Chigwell fun in a stand of 20 for the 9th wicket. Brad was last man out for 15. Frank took the only wicket in their reply, South Woodford passing our execrable total within 10 overs. A couple of chances went down, but it was difficult to be too cross, as it clearly didn’t affect the result! Tea was consumed after the game, after which South Woodford slipped away, leaving us to debate how we go about finding an enjoyable conference fixture next time. Perhaps we will have to admit that, shorn of our best batsmen, we are weaker than weak-medium – just plain weak. Flickering away however is a small but steady flame of strength and honour, which will be nurtured over the coming week, ready to fire our hearts for the next game; Asian, and a return to our first ever venue – Low Hall Farm. Man of the match: Alex (scorer) Or Brad if he really wants it – he was certainly our best player. vice Captain Rob Allum gives a more considered and optimistic view… It was a poor result of course, but in defence of our little gang I think it was just one of those days… I walked out to the toss with Rob and the oppo skipper and having then seen the pitch close up, had we won the toss Rob would have inserted SW and things would’ve looked pretty different. The track was actully wet at that point, and the new ball seaming and swinging would’ve brought us wickets too.. and with the undeniably slow outfield I think we would have done ok by tea. It gradually dried and calmed a little so conditions would have been easier after tea, and although it’s true we had a fairly weak batting line-up this week, we would have made significantly more than 44 in reply…. All in all, we didn’t get the breaks – and shit happens. Silver lining is Brad and Frank had a good chance to get some time in the middle and practice for when they’ll need to score the winning runs for us sometime soon – Harv got a first chance outing for his new bowling style (shame He won’t be on tour to get some more overs in!) – Graham got to bowl! …and was swinging the ball on a full length comfortingly remiscent of early days Garden CC and bodes well for a spell or two on tour. Forget ahbbadd it.

Well done Chaps! A Damn Good Try. (Asian away 8/6/08)

Date: June 09, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

An untypically glorious Sunday afternoon found us taking the scenic drive through the lower end of Walthamstow, leading to Low Hall Farm, scene many years ago of the earliest games in our earliest incarnation as Aural Sculpture. While we have moved on from the 20 over cricket we played then, the rest of the cricketing world has begun to focus more and more on the shortest (unless you count our game with South Woodford last week) form of the game. Asian were our hosts, this being the team that plays on the ground to the other side of the pavilion to the stark multi-pitched field where I cut my cricketing teeth. The ground is much more pleasant, although the pitch was not topographically flat, which was a bit worrying. The trials of getting an eleventh man were only resolved with fifteen minutes remaining until the scheduled start, Imran Ali the late volunteer. Notwithstanding this the team looked a little fragile, and with last week’s debacle in mind I was dismayed to lose the toss, certain we would be inserted. Fortunately the Asian captain, Iqy, eased my pain by deciding they would bat first. Rob had arrived uncharactaristically late, falling victim to a dizzy spell just before he was due to set off, and he was clearly nowhere near the best of health. It was certainly out of the question for him to open the bowling, so Frank took the new ball at one end, with Tim supporting him at the other. Frank was a little wayward to start and was smashed for 6 when he dropped his second ball short, but after this he increasingly found his line & length and was very unfortunate to finish his (7 overs for 33) opening spell wicketless, a couple of very tough chances not quite being taken. Meanwhile Tim slotted straight into a Jimmy Anderson style swing bowling groove and claimed the wicket of Iqi, the sole league umpire raising a positive finger in response to our claim for an LBW which was dead in front, if a fair distance down the wicket. Tim bowled his eight overs straight through, he and I mindful of making sure he got some sort of rest between bowling and opening the batting later on. Rob felt well enough to bowl and replaced Frank, Zarghum replacing Tim who finished with the excellent figures of 8-2-26-3 – and the 3 were the top 3 in the batting order. Wickets began to tumble with Richard pouching 3 catches, including a stunner at mid-wicket from a long-hop from Zarghum. At best we had Asian at 120 for 7 and 131 for 8, but the crucial moment was to prove the not out decision to Jamil, who, we are certain, under-edged one to James behind the stumps. Alex heard the nick from the boundary, but the umpire was unmoved. Rob’s figures then suffered a bit (final analysis 8-0-49-3) as some powerful batting saw Jamil accumulate a quick 56 before I dismissed him rather fortuitously with one that kept low, hit bat and pad and rolled onto the stumps. An annoying last wicket stand ended with a stumping to leave me with figures of 8-1-30-2 and the Asian innings closed on 180 from 38 overs. Tea was a delightful mixture of sandwiches and biryani, enjoyed picnic style by Chigs as we contemplated chasing a good total given the cloying mixture of long grass and grass clippings of which the outfield was composed. Tim and Rob were unsurprisingly asked to open, James accepting the responsibility of batting at 3. We were undeniably short of batting depth, but hopefully a good start would carry us to victory. Tim again looked the class act, but sadly the vaguaries of the pitch were to see his demise on 20, when Iqi bowled him with one that kept very low indeed. James departed shortly afterwards LBW and from that point on only Imran, apart from Rob, could manage double figures. Rob kept things ticking over, but the required rate was climbing fast and my presence at the wicket only made it worse. I frittered time away, unable to connect with virtually any shot with aggressive intent. I was finally put out of my misery by one that kept low, whereupon Richard arrived to blast 8 quick runs before he was excellently caught on the run by mid on. The game could not be won by this time, so the revised target was to add a batting point or two to our 5 bowling points. Sadly we were unable to achieve the 125 required, Rob the last man out for 58 in the 39th over, with the score on 121, or 120 as it was to become after a post-match scoring adjustment. Man of the Match: Rob for battling on despite feeling so rough.

Axminster Carpeted by Chigwell (Tour 15/6/2008)

Date: June 27, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Captain Addison Reports: Having set off early from Lyme Regis with the intention of having a walk around “quaint and charming Axminster” before the game Mitz and I arrived at the ground well in advance of the 2pm start, and well in advance of the remainder of the Chigs bleary eyed mob. Our 5 minute wander around the town seemed to take in all the delights of Axminster that our hung over brains could handle so we despatched ourselves early to the picturesque ground. On arrival we collapsed on a grassy bank overlooking the first team pitch to watch Axminster under 13’s finish off their game against some local rivals. Tim and I agreed that the standard of cricket for these youngsters was high enough and shuddered to think what their senior club mates might have in store for us. We were soon to find out as three likely looking members of our oppo came into view on their walk around the boundary. They certainly looked fresher than the majority of the Chigwell line up, which wasn’t difficult considering 2 games in 2 days in addition to a months alcohol consumption in 2 nights, but other than that I was confident we could raise ourselves for a competitive game. As the junior game came to a victorious end for the home side, we rolled down the grassy bank into the club house and I introduced myself to the opposition skipper. We decided to get the formalities out of the way and after winning the toss I decided that we would have a bowl, for no other reason than I thought it might allow us to blow away some of the booze induced cob webs and get us into a match mentality as soon as possible. Their skipper informed me that “they were a mixture of 1’s and 2’s regulars supplemented with 4 or 5 youngsters” I duly passed this information onto the now assembled Chigwell ranks and the lethargy etched across their faces was enough to tell me this could be a difficult task. Nevertheless we took the field and I opened the bowling with Rob Allum coming from the pavilion end. Before the game had started I had discussed the right hand cover boundary with their skipper, he ensured me that the rope would be moved back to allow a more accommodating out field to an already cosy ground, nevertheless this hadn’t happened and the ease with which Rob’s and my first overs were despatched to said boundary indicated that this could be a high scoring game. The Axminster openers were pretty relentless in their aggressive start helped along with some ordinary and tired bowling from myself and Rob, and afore mentioned short boundary. A couple of forced fielding changes helped shore things up a bit but Axminster had notched up 58 off 10 overs before the first wicket fell to me; a ball which held its line to sneak between the openers bat and pad to rattle middle and off. “Basher” the remaining opener, was joined at the crease by “Burly” and the run fest seemed destined to continue, but Rob had other ideas and had the number 3 caught behind after he nibbled at one outside off, James completing the catch behind the stumps. Wary of more first and second team regulars to come I decided to bowl Rob and myself through our 8 over allotted spells in an attempt to try and keep things as tight as possible. As it materialised their number 4 batsman was one of the youngsters and after some brave, swash buckling stuff he was bowled by Rob to finish off his spell with a deserved 2 wickets. Mitz replaced me and Nick, with a tentative glance at the short boundaries as well as at the free flowing “Basher” still at the crease, reluctantly took over from his younger sibling. The reassurance I tried to offer Nick about potentially being carted wasn’t necessary as he and Mitz both bowled very tight spells to keep the run rate well within check. Nick gathered 4 wickets in his 8 overs, the best of which was “Basher” caught behind to a neat low catch by James. After Mitz’s spell of 4 overs I replaced him with Wiskin Jr, who in the previous 2 tour matches had bowled well exhibiting prodigious swing reminiscent of Wiskin Sr in the good old days. Despite bowling well in the Friday and Saturday games, Tom hadn’t had much return but I thought if he could keep the same shape in this game on a small ground he might get his reward. Sure enough his reward came in historic fashion as his victim, confused and frustrated by the swing he was creating, lashed at a full length ball only to sky it towards mid on. Wiskin senior was on guard and the usual wobbles under the high ball were banished as Graeme took an extra wide and sturdy stance to steady himself, being sure not to ruin the possibility of a proud family moment. One can only be grateful that Linda hadn’t arrived at the ground yet, or if she had, at least wasn’t watching this magical moment unfold on the field as her unbridled excitement would surely have resulted in Graeme shelling the opportunity. Graeme pouched the red nugget without hesitation and an enthusiastic celebration was enjoyed by all; Bowled Wiskin Caught Wiskin, Bowled Veal Caught Beef, Bowled Go-Cat Caught Whiskas however you want to put it, the moment is part of Chigwell history. The Axminster innings was mopped up with another wicket for Tom and the final wicket going to Brad who had replaced Nick. From a fast and furious start Axminster had been bowled out for 147 within their allotted 40 overs. With a surprisingly small target to chase and after a hearty tea was gratefully consumed, I tore up my original batting order and considered the opportunity to bat those who wouldn’t normally spend too much time in the middle; accordingly Tim was joined by Brad for the opening partnership. Unfortunately Tim was soon trotting back into the clubhouse after delaying over a debatable second run in the first over, despite his nimble sprint to make up the ground he couldn’t quite do it and without even breaking stride to check for the umpires decision, he knew his fate and accelerated straight over the boundary and in for an early shower. Nige strode out to the middle to replace him and doggedly hung around with Brad for another six overs, unfortunately for him without accruing a score before being skittled. Graham was next to the crease and Brad warmly accepted his next victim, er I mean partner. Despite some tutelage on clear and concise calling from Graham, Brad was guilty of ball watching on the few occasions that the ball left the square, late and confused calling ensued and a few near misses from scrambled singles were agonisingly witnessed at the boundary. Inevitably, as Graham was trying to push the run rate on, another tight single was attempted and he met his end. James was in next and I was sure that he would provide the boost to the run rate that was needed, this didn’t materialise and James fell cheaply. Rob A joined Brad in the middle at a time when the score wasn’t so much of a concern, however the dwindling number of wickets and overs was. Rob and Brad continued to scratch around with the odd single coming here and there but no real inroads were being made. Eventually Brad’s valiant resolve came to an end as he was bowled for 30. Contributing to his score were some proper cricket shots and he did a great job; I think if one of our recognised batsmen had stuck around with him for a bit longer he could have indeed gone on and surpassed his personal best of 38. Nevertheless, well done Brad! Rob O joined Rob A with some 60-70 runs still required off around 12 overs, we were making heavy work of chasing the low total! Rob Allum admittedly batting out of position was experiencing whatever the opposite of vertigo is batting so low down the order, the dizzying effect obviously contributing to his downfall as another connoisseur of the willow fell without reaching double figures. I joined Rob O in the middle hoping to provide the steroid injection that our innings needed. Up until now we had batted poorly but in doing so hadn’t really threatened our chances of a win so I was still upbeat that the victory could be secured especially with 3 wickets still in the hutch. Rob and I started steadily building towards the required 5/6 per over required to get us over the line, Rob constantly assuring me that if we stuck it out we’d be ok. Things were on target and I was trying to apply myself as per Rob’s advice. With about 6 overs to go “Basher”, the Axminster half centurion hero, was tossed the ball by their skipper to try and wrestle the initiative back into their favour. If his bowling was as explosive as his batting then we could have been in trouble, fortunately “Basher” became the “Bashed” as he bowled right in the preferred slot of Rob O; short and wide down leg side. Rob duly obliged and turned the first 2 balls of the over down to fine leg for four. “Basher”, slightly peeved at Rob’s treatment of his leg spin, decided to try a new approach for the third ball of the over; no run up. This brought immediate results as Robs off stump was pinged from the ground, fortunately for us Rob was still staring at the crease so the ball was adjudged void. Basher continued with the no run up approach, but this time Rob was on duty and normal service was resumed; the 3rd, 4th & 5th balls of the over were guided down to the fine leg boundary for 4, the only the respite to save Bashers Blushes was a dot ball on the last of his over. Consequently Rob had scythed our required total in 5 balls leaving me to edge one for 4 and VICTORY! Always good to have a win to finish off the tour and what a great tour it was. I thought the opposition teams were really friendly and hospitable and I hope the talk of re-visiting next year comes to fruition. COMMENT: AUTHOR: Nick EMAIL: nallum@gmail.com IP: 82.71.63.186 URL: DATE: 07/06/2008 11:22:47 PM I am testing the comment feature kjhkkkkjkjhkjhjk

Familiar Old Faces in the Newman XI Make It A Special Day (Newman International 29/6/08)

Date: July 13, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Speculation had reached fever pitch on the Chigwell mail group, with ever more wild and even metaphysical suggestions as to who would be the “Very Special Guest” in Paul’s team for the Newman International. Two years earlier Nasser Hussain had been coaxed out of retirement, but even he couldn’t prevent a Chigwell win, and with last year’s fixture cancelled I wondered how 2 years of networking might help Paul in getting a strong outfit together. So who could the VSG be? Another ex-international? Someone from Chigwell CC’s past? Only time would tell Paul and I both arrived at the ground at least twice, me having to return home to get my bat – doh!- and Paul disappearing to ferry people to the ground from the station. When I returned Brad told me “It’s Gus – Angus Fraser.” Thinking the mystery of the VSG solved. I can understand why; ex-international bowler, TMS commentator and ICC Cricket Committee panel member seemed like a very special guest indeed until Paul arrived with Mr. Graham “Patto” Patterson, Chigwell legend, all the way from New Zealand, looking pretty much the same as ten or so years ago, when he was striking fear into the hearts of Garden CC’s opponents. I can remember one batsman at WG Gracefully’s home ground pleading for mercy, citing his children as the reason why Patto should avoid doing him serious injury happy days. Once at Ray Park I set a field with not one person in front of the bat, and Patto still bowled a maiden. What makes him such a VSG however is that he’s simply a fantastic bloke. It was a great surprise to us all, but Tim Hall’s double-take reaction and joyous cry of “Patto!” summed up the pleasure we all took from seeing him again. Paul had pulled together a very strong side, whereas Chigwell were looking a little below their optimal strength. With visions of Gus and Patto blowing our innings apart, not to mention Ricky Elcock as first change plus god knew who as second, I won the toss and practically screamed “We’ll field!” at Paul, who, having a degree of cricketing nous about him, was grateful to achieve his own desired outcome from the toss without having to go to the trouble of calling correctly. Mr. A. Akram (a first XI player from Wanstead) batted at number 1, his partner M. Gymer a familiar face from the previous running of this fixture, it being he who had scored a patient 50, including a spell (albeit brief) of batting with Nasser during which he managed to avoid being run out, a rare honour. Dom was given the cherry, with which he was reasonably economical and occasionally threatening. It was however soon obvious that the Old Chigs pitch was playing to type – a feather bed, a shirt front, a batsman’s paradise. Frank was the first to suffer, his 4 overs going for 34. Rob replaced him and saw his first ball disappear for 6, young Mr. Gymer showing that, 2 years on, he had added strength to his excellent technique. 3 balls later Rob had his revenge when Dom took an excellent low slip catch that was in his hands before I had even realised there had been a snick. In strolled Patto who set about reminding his erstwhile team mates that he wasn’t just a great bowler, he was also more than useful with the bat. The Wanstead opener was meanwhile moving through the gears and between them the second wicket pair added 68 before Patto holed out to Dom in the deep; another great catch fully appreciated by me as captain and bowler. An even better catch in my next over saw the demise of A. Akram for 91 (out of a total of 139), and once again it was Dom in the deep who pouched the ball which seemed to stall in the wind, having at first looked like another maximum. If 139 for three wasn’t a great position for Chigwell, things progressively got worse as the strong Newman middle order took command. D. Wilson scored 56, G. Marcus, hopefully a future Chigwell player, finishing on 58 not out. Only Nick was able to cause any problems, taking 3 wickets (one bowled, one LBW and one excellently stumped by Adam) for 63 in 11 overs. Brad never quite got line and length together and went for 42 in 5 overs and Zarghum was spanked for 21 in 2.2 overs before the declaration came, with the score on 302 for 6 from 42.2 overs. As we neared the end I ventured that this could be the most one sided match since Australia played the under 12 paraplegic XI, which wasn’t in the best of taste, but reflected my rather pessimistic prospects of Chigwell getting anything out of the game. During tea I cheered up a little as Rob, far from being cowed, relished the chance to see what he could do against the potentially fearsome Newman attack. He was paired with Adam to start our batting effort and immediately they were confronted by a Fraser/Patterson opening attack. Both may have lost a yard or two of pace over the years, but it was still awe inspiring to see Rob spank them both around the park. It seemed too good to last, and eventually Rob fell to Rick Elcock, Patto making the extra-cover catch look easy. By this time Rob had reach 54 and had every reason to be jolly chuffed with his knock. Inevitably the run rate declined from this point and the very faint possibility of a win become a rock solid impossibility. Nick scored 11 before playing over a straight one. Dom joined Adam at the crease and I assumed umpiring duties. It was an interesting umpiring spell to say the least. The first shout was for a run out, which I gave not out, Adam just making his ground. Paul later agreed with me, but it seemed to inspire Gus Fraser to assume the role of comedic sledger, with me rather than the batsmen as the primary target. Next up a massive appeal for a ball that clearly hit Dom’s pad. More rye comments from slip. Then an LBW going down the leg side, whereupon it was suggested that a fully sighted umpire might improve Newman XI’s chances of winning. I wasn’t the only one to suffer: following 4 byes off his bowling a ball was hit gently to Hannah at square leg whereupon Gus applauded her and said “Well done Hannah – at least there’s one Newman here who can get behind the ball!” I was relieved when the drinks break arrived and I was able to prematurely pass the white coat on to Owen. Almost immediately wickets began to tumble. Adam was caught behind for 23 off the left arm spin of Mr. Marcuis; Richard played across a straight one and departed for 4, a score matched by Nigel who was caught, both off the bowling of A.Akram. I was now at the crease and as I was about to face my first ball Gus chirped up “Shouldn’t take long to get this one lads – he can’t see!” In the end Brad and I managed to stonewall for 8 or 9 overs. Angus declared that there was more life in W.G. Grace than in Brad’s bat. It was a nice retort when Brad called a single saying “There’s one there – there’s always one to Gus”. The game petered out to a draw and as we left the field I told Gus that it had been a pleasure to be sledged by him – which indeed it was. Angus Fraser finished with none for 24 off 8, Patto with none for 26 off 5. Chigwell managed 181 off the same number of overs that the Newman XI had scored their 302, but we had earned an honourable draw nonetheless. While most of Paul’s team slipped away we enjoyed a few beers and reminiscences with Patto; what a delight it was to see him again. Good on Paul for raising with him the possibility of a surprise visit to Old Chigs when he was on tour with England in New Zealand. Paul mentioned that in the whole history of the Newman International fixture he had never won, and that he had considered retiring from playing the game if he had emerged victorious from this one. That made me doubly glad we had avoided defeat. The day wasn’t really about the result though it was about sharing the field with some great ex-pros and spending some time with our great friend Graham “Patto” Patterson. COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patto EMAIL: graham.p@onefinance.co.nz IP: 125.236.231.110 URL: DATE: 07/14/2008 10:29:08 PM Hi Guys, Sensational to catch up again after all these years, seeing all the old faces again it was as though I had never left, felt a wee bit rusty after a long lay off however age does that to you! As Rob says it was more about enjoying the moment and I will live off these memories for the next 13 years when I turn up again in 2021. Cheers Patto

Jerry’s Jurassic Coast Home

Date: August 04, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Jerry Hayes’s Jurassic Coasters recorded an exciting victory against a strong Chigwell side in the opening match of this year’s Lyme Regis tour. There had been a number of mishaps in the arrangements for the day already and defeat at the hands of the Coasters completed the set ( writes match skipper, Nick ). Well, it was Friday 13th. First the eagerly anticipated gig featuring The Wilsons and Airport Contention at Jerry’s local hostelry, the Talbot Arms, was double booked with a teenage disco and then the original venue for the match, which is adjacent to the pub, became unavailable due to a strop by Bayleaf the Gardener – or whatever the Uplyme groundsman’s name is. However, Axminster Cricket Club (http://www.cloakhamlawn.co.uk/id1.html) came to the rescue with an offer to host the match at their splendid ground, which nestles amongst gentle hills on the outskirts of the Devon town. Si Thorpe and I caught a train from Waterloo at O’Christ.00 and were disembarking in Axminster by 11.00am. Despite the gig being cancelled, Si had decided to come along for the ‘craic’. I swiftly recruited him to the team, as we were one short, which gave him an excuse to give his very smart golf shoes a run-out. Others of us began to gather at the ground by about 12.30 and the Jurassic Coasters too gradually turned up. They were a couple short so some local lads, practicing in the nets, were quickly recruited. Jerry had deputised the captaincy to his work colleague Mark and I went out to the wicket with him to toss up. We had pre-arranged that the touring side would bat, but went ahead with the toss to please the photographer. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/03/p6130188.jpg) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2008/08/03/p6130187_2.jpg) I had been led to expect that the Jurassics would be a little uneven in batting and bowling talent, so the swaggering Londoners were to dictate the pace of the game. This is indeed how it turned out – to begin with. Rob Allum and Owen Evans opened the Chigwell innings. The idea was for us to very slowly build a prehistoric sediment of our own, on which numbers three and four, dashing blade James Laycock and, err, me, would build at a quickfire pace later in the afternoon. The first over was bowled by our old mucker Mark Jefferys. Owen was bizarrely off the mark in this first over. That alone was bizarre enough, but the fact the he opened his account with a 5 was probably a first. When Owen duly closed his account after being bowled by the useful skipper Mark, James was next in, being watched from the grandstand by his proud WAG, Cindy. No doubt wanting to impress, the Wandering Fox nervously scratched around the Jurassic chicken-shed while Rob started to poach boundaries. As both James and Rob upped the pace, Jon Hunn was brought on. It was good to see his action in action again, and the batsmen thought so too. A wide was followed by a bouncer that Rob flat-batted to the long-off fence. Three overs later the spell was finished, having produced 30 runs. When Rob reached 50 he dutifully ran himself out as I had given orders that it was to be a ‘50 and out’ tour game. When James reached his 50, he too made every attempt to get himself out, banishing all defensive shots from his repertoire. In doing this, he suddenly began to time the ball brilliantly and didn’t manage to fall on his sword until he had amassed 39 more runs. Meanwhile, I was caught out by someone who appeared to be no more than 8 years old. However, Rob Orange, Dominick and Richard all gaily biffed away, and I was able to declare the innings closed at 4.20pm on 220-5, foolishly before the very excellent tea was quite ready. From snatches of overheard conversation, the Jurassics didn’t seem to be hopeful of victory, and I must admit to being quite confident that we were well and truly in control of the match. When a director wants to disown the cut of his movie that the film studio releases, the pseudonym ‘ Alan Smithee (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000647/) ’ is always found in the credits. I can only assume that Nigel too was happy for history to attribute his spell of bowling to someone else. The scorebook records a ‘Mr Bathwood’ opening the bowling for Chigwell when play resumed. Mr Davis was his partner and, with fields set in attacking style, the Jurassics were allowed to score freely for the first hour. With more than 50 on the board and no wicket, I turned to Tom Wiskin and Rob Orange who both bowled tidily but without success. Now seriously worried, I turned to the big guns. Regular opening pair Dominick and Rob Allum could do little to stem the flow of runs although wickets began to fall. Even Jerry managed a boundary from Rob’s bowling. I fared no better and quickly reinstated Dominick to the attack. With three overs left in the match, the Jurassics needed 13 to win, with 5 wickets still in hand. We weren’t going to win, but a draw looked vaguely possible. When Rob had Jurassic’s opener caught, by now with a fine century to his credit, things began to get interesting. Or so we hoped. In the penultimate over, though, we gifted the Coasters a boundary at fine leg. That 8-year old again (who turned out actually to be 14). So with the final over to be bowled by Rob, 2 runs were all that was required. They were collected without fuss with four balls to spare. So, one could say that we stage-managed a close match for the opening of a great tour, and that cricket was the winner… but I suppose Jerry might see it differently…!

Essex Sunday League – 3 Caps at Old Chigs

Date: August 14, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

[Image: image] file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/nallum/My%20Documents/Pictures/30072008243.jpg Sunday 3 August With the clouds gathering over Old Chigs, I arrived for my first outing as captain in a league fixture in apprehensive mood, writes James Laycock . On the one hand, I took heart from the fact that we were putting out a very strong Chigs side with plenty of batting and bowling and some solid fielders to back us up. On the other hand, 3 Caps were challenging for the top spot in the league and we were, by contrast, challenging for the wooden spoon after a difficult first season. Winning the toss, and with the drizzle turning to heavier rain, I felt bowling would be the solid option. Having learned from previous games where we have had a tendency to give away early runs, I decided to start with Russell and Nick in an effort to keep things as tight as possible. Russell bowled well and was unlucky not to get any reward after finding the edges of the 3 Caps’ openers on a number of occasions. With conditions continuing to favour slower bowling, I was keen for Nick to see out his overs. This was one of the easier decisions of the day, given the doctor had kept the 3 Caps batsmen in his pocket, ending his master class on guile and containment by conceding only 15 runs and picking up the wicket of the opener for good measure. Joe was keeping on the pressure from the other end and was doing well in his opening spell, bagging the number three along the way. As we approached the 20 over mark, 3 Caps were still scratching around the 100 run mark and it was felt that the game was very much ‘on’. The fielding was sharp, and the policy of youth on the boundary and experience in the ring was paying off. Having Imran back in the fold truly felt as if we had 12 men on the field and at times he mustered a passable impression of Walthamstow’s finest as he tore round the off-side boundary on numerous occasions to turn 4’s into 2’s. As spin was clearly working, I brought on young Platt to do a job at one end with the king of the contacts at the other, on instructions to ‘give it a tweak’. Dan extracted both turn and bounce out of the damp track, the batsmen poking and prodding their way to 33 runs off the allotted 8 and neither they, nor I, can tell you how Dan failed to put any bunnies back in the hutch. With the Highbury panther back on the prowl, nobody felt safe and Tim duly sent back three of the middle order to complement the scalp of the other opener that was taken earlier in his first spell. Things were going very well indeed but having intimate knowledge of what we are capable of doing to ourselves, I was becoming increasingly anxious as we approached the final 15 overs where I felt the game could either be won or lost. 3 Caps also seemed to sense this was a crucial period of play and steadily moved through the gears. I turned to the Dominator to see how the 3 caps bats would fare against a bit of pace. As with Russell’s opening spell of the day, the pitch still offered bounce and the ball continued to come through despite the inclement conditions. 34 runs came off Dom’s 6 overs and he was unlucky not to be more wholesomely rewarded. The 40 over mark arrived with 3 Caps finishing on 234. We had let them get away from us in the close but all told, it could have been a lot worse. Tea was as expected, and the Chigs batsmen looked forward to making an impression on what was a difficult but attainable target. However, to cut a long story short, the 3 Caps bowling was more than decent, with each change of bowling bringing in another accomplished young player. With an air of inevitability, we unfortunately collapsed and it was again a matter of setting our sights on the batting points where we also fell short, finishing on 109. The standout performances of the day were those of Dan Platt, who complemented his impressive bowling with a well constructed 56 and Nick’s bowling, which was accurate and miserly.

Chigwell Cough & Splutter to a Draw Against Hainault & Clayhall

Date: August 21, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

Blessed by weather which was far better than the forecasts had suggested Chigwell revved up for their final league game with a friendly fixture which we have often won in the past and optimism was high enough for the skipper to consider batting first. The toss was lost however and I could rest easy that batting first, as we were required to do, was not my fault. A top three of Rob A, Adam & Charlie is unlikely to get the pulses racing and we settled in for a bit of a grind. Adam, fresh from the David Lloyd Jacuzzi smacked his second ball for four, then called a sharp single and looked as if he was in uncharacteristically aggressive form. This proved to be short lived when he was run out when Rob called a very tight run which resulted in a surprising run out, the perpetrator in baggy grey tracksuit bottoms hitting one stump from 20 yards despite looking like someone who had been recruited from the gym half an hour before the game. Charlie joined Rob and the expected slow pace was now realised. After an hour and a quarter’s play the score was on about 60 for 1 and as I left my umpiring position for a well earned rest on the boundary I mentioned to Charlie that it was time to kick on. Chas flicked a mental switch and went ballistic. In one over he smacked four fours, his best shot a sublime off drive along the ground for four. Unfortunately he fell one short of a deserved half-century, leaving the field cursing the decision, his dignity and sportsmanship not yet the equal of his batting. James had been promoted to number four, and hit some good (and some not so good) shots in his 35. He eventually top-edged one to point and had to go. Rob A was dismissed for 39, caught by Master Trackie Bottoms off a full-blooded pull to the square-leg boundary. The ball initially bounced out of his hands, but was coolly pouched on the rebound. Tahir and Nigel went cheaply, as did I, bowled through an enormous gate. Angela, not sure if I was bowled or stumped, said “What was that?” as I neared the boundary, a question echoed by Rob A for different reasons. We were well short of a competitive total with 3 wickets remaining. It was looking as if we would have to bat for at least 3 hours, but one amazing over brought us back towards a reasonable rate. Nick had already begun to look in the mood when suddenly he launched a straight ball over the head of the man at mid-off for a maximum! It was the first six I can remember him hitting since his golden period in the early 90’s and the Chigwell faithful roared their approval. He ran a single and then it was Brad’s turn to wallop the ball, his rather more agricultural shot clearing the fielder at “cow” and registering his second ever six! The first was at Low Hall Farm in 1989. This feat was greeted by a strange mixture of cheers and stunned silence. Brad perished trying to repeat the feat – caught by the lad in trackie bottoms – and after a few more added by Nick and Owen the time was right to declare, the score a barely passable 193. After the interval Chigwell did not perform well in the field. Frank and I opened the bowling but although we were not being taken for many runs by the cautious batsmen we never looked particularly threatening and after 5 overs apiece we turned to Nick and Charlie. After six more overs nothing much had changed, so I turned to the relationship breaker. Brad is cursed this year as the bowler who has had most catches dropped off his bowling; this day was no exception as Chigwell contrived to drop at least four chances. By now things were beginning to look grim, so I tried the pace option of Adam and Rob. Adam had an immediate effect, but not the one we really wanted, the H&C skipper top edging one into his cheek. Dr. T led him from the field, recommending ice and a dressing as Mr. Shinn took his place. A wicket finally fell in the27th over, Adam hitting the pad of the surviving opener in front. It took another 7 overs for the next wicket to come, that to a run out well executed by Tahir. By now the pace of Rob and Adam had pushed the asking rate up, and wickets began to fall – Adam bowled Mr. Hoskins and Rob ran out Mr. Sharif. Glory be, we even took a catch when Mr. Shinn, forced to up the scoring rate, flayed one to extra-cover where I was patrolling. We arrived at the last over with a draw seemingly secured. Adam bowled the last over knowing that they needed 20 to win, while we needed 4 wickets. It was not Adam’s best over. First ball was a wide no ball which scooted to the boundary. After a dot the third ball was a wide. Then he accidentally let slip a horrible beamer (called no ball) which Mr. Trackie Bottoms pulled off his face for 6. With one ball to go 3 were required. The ball was hit to Frank at deep mid off who to his credit returned the ball well enough to prevent a third run and the game ended as a scores level draw – phew! It was quite dark by the end and in retrospect it would have been sensible and sportsman-like for me not to have fast bowlers on, especially from the end with no sight screen. A black mark to the skipper there – I hope the opposition won’t hold it against me. Man of the match: Unusually it goes to one of the opposition, M. Bullman. 2 superb catches, a dazzling run out and a spirited last over that nearly won his team the game – all done in tracksuit bottoms.

Hadley Wood Green Sports Celebrates 100 Years

Date: October 13, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

(Southgate Masonic Centre 7.30pm on Saturday 11th October) On Saturday evening, Rob Orange and I attended the Centenary Dinner of our great friends and cricketing rivals Hadley Wood Green Sports (http://www.hadleywood.org.uk/pages/clubs_cricket.htm) . It was a privilege to be invited and a pleasure to be there. We caught up with skipper, run-machine and general Chigwell thorn-in-the-side Dan Blake, ‘Big’ Mike Davey, off-spinner and thespian Graham Sawtell and a host of other familiar faces including, of course, Jim Wallace. Jim announced his retirement from active playing service at the end of this season, after finally scoring a century for the club (although that is, apparently, coincidental in the decision). No one seems to believe he’ll go through with it, but whatever he decides to do next April, the players, friends and families gathered at the Southgate Masonic Centre (http://www.middlesexfreemasons.org.uk/pages/centres/southgate.htm) paid grateful tribute to Jim’s work for the club over the years. The formal entertainment was provided by Geoff ‘Dusty’ Miller (http://www.geoff-miller.co.uk/) . His after-dinner speech recalled events from his playing days with Derbyshire, Essex and England to hilarious effect. His impression of Goochie was up there with Mike Yarwood and, er, Dermot Reeve. Rob and I also had some discussions about a new, informal league with some of the HWGS players and the South Loughton boys who were there as guests. There was some interest in the idea, which we said we would take forward. Summary: a splendid evening had by all. Nick

Paul Flack

Date: October 20, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

One of our club’s great characters, Paul Flack (http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/news/efnews/3778907.EPPING__Artist_dies_suddenly/) , died in his sleep yesterday. We are all shocked and saddened. It was a complete surprise. He was only 47. Paul hadn’t played much over the past few years, but was a legendary figure at the club and very much further afield too. He was a sculptor, painter, stonemason, film-maker, conservationist and all round gentleman of the arts. And his left-arm spin bowling described the tallest parabolas ever seen above a cricket pitch! In time, we will organise a fitting cricketing tribute to Paul. Please get in touch or watch this space if you’d like to take part. COMMENT: AUTHOR: Matt Munford EMAIL: munfords@ihug.co.nz IP: 118.93.66.75 URL: DATE: 11/03/2008 09:31:45 AM I have just seen the news about flacky, what a shock, my thoughts are with you all at this time. He was a lovely man, with as they say say hear in NZ”mana”.Please keep me posted about a tribute, best wishes matt COMMENT: AUTHOR: Pete Major EMAIL: petermajor79@hotmail.co.uk IP: 82.34.75.36 URL: DATE: 02/20/2009 02:46:52 PM I’m really shocked and saddened to hear the news about Flacky. My memories of him are that of a softly spoken man who enjoyed playing cricket and being in the company of his team mates on a Sunday afternoon. I knew that he was involved in art but had no idea of the other areas he worked in, all of which are now the lesser upon his passing. My thoughts are with his family and the whole Garden/Chigwell family at this sad time. Paul, where ever you may be, may your left-arm spin cause havoc to any unsuspecting batsman you may face. Be at peace, Pete.

Club Clobber

Date: November 26, 2008

Author: Nick Allum

After a rigorous and exhaustive design process, the Committee has finally authorised production of the inaugural club tie – only 20 years late! (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330105361b9928970b-pi) Club member Dom Addison has produced these top quality Suffolk silk items at his Sudbury sweatshop. If anyone would like one, please contact him directly, or via the club Secretary (mailto:secretary@chigwellcricketclub.com) .

The King is Dead. Long Live the King.

Date: January 26, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

At the AGM on 16th January Rob Orange stepped down as Captain, with Rob Allum taking his place. Brad Davis and James Laycock make up the the Vice-Captain team. Graham continues to count the beans while Nick moves back on to the Committee as lay member responsible for tour fixtures and the exciting new Sunday League set-up that will be trialled in 2009. Five clubs have signed up for the experiment: Chaseville Chigwell Hadley Wood Green Mayfield South Loughton More on this later. In the meantime, club nets are taking place at Forest School on Wednesday evenings at 9.00pm. All members and potential new members very welcome.

How long is a piece of string?

Date: February 22, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/3300310811/) Last Sunday, Rob O and Nick went up to Old Chigs to measure up the sightscreen in preparation for a new sheet of wind-permeable material to be fitted before the season. Exciting stuff! COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patto EMAIL: graham.p@onefinance.co.nz IP: 125.236.231.110 URL: DATE: 02/26/2009 12:28:52 AM Make sure it can absorb those sixes Captain Allum will be peppering it with this coming season…

New fixture list published

Date: March 21, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

Fixtures for 2009 are now here (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) on the website. More details of the new League to be announced soon.

New Season – New Players

Date: March 22, 2009

Author: Rob Allum

Well, here we are on the brink of a new season and enjoying some lovely pre-season sunshine! I’m looking forward to taking on the captaincy from the other Rob and hope we can continue to have fun and achieve good results as we have done in previous years…cheers Bob! Firstly I’d like to welcome new members Graham and James Sibley to the club and hopefully Ahsan will decide to join us permanently in the next couple of weeks too. If anybody out there knows of any potential new members please pass our details on…. we can always do with new members and the occasional guest player too. It would be great for the captaincy team if we can get good availability from our members this year so we’re not scratching around still looking for players come Fri/Sat! It’s been a decent turnout at nets and everyone is looking good – it will be excellent to turn that enthusiasm and talent into solid performances and a positive atmosphere on the field:-) I hope that we’ll all enjoy doing our best to achieve the best for the team as a whole and get some early wins under our belt too!! I believe our first match is a league fixture so we should do our best to hit the ground running – let’s get there early to harden those hands up with some catching practice etc…. Catches win matches!! Ok, enough crap from me. I’ll see you all soon and I’m taking availabilities in advance for all matches so let me know asap. Looking forward to it! Rob.x

A win vs Hadley Wood Green!

Date: May 04, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/3500688268/) The Squad (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/3500688268/) Originally uploaded by Chigwell Cricket Club (http://www.flickr.com/people/chigwellcc/) A picture of the winning squad (+ a couple of little extras). There are one or two more new photos by Rob Orange in the Flickr gallery too.

Early season report… Top of the league!

Date: May 08, 2009

Author: Rob Allum

Chigwell’s Cricket season has well and truly started… and we’re currently top of the league! We’ve played 2 friendly matches and 2 league matches already with no problems from the weather so far. Ok, so we started the season off with our first Middlesex & Essex Invitation League match against South Loughton. This lot always seem to be a bit difficult to beat and this time was no exception. We lost the toss and were inserted by SL on an overcast afternoon and began our innings with, for me at least, a sense of early season unpreparedness. Anyways, we perhaps under-achieved as a batting unit as we mostly seem to do on the SL ground and only managed to post 128 by the end of the 45 overs (I felt little chance of gaining a win by batting on over the 45 – and risk losing our 2 batting points in the process). SL duly knocked the runs off and the win was theirs… We managed a couple of bonus points out of it. Showers were not working!!! 2nd match we were on our way to North Mymms (just north of South Mimms;-) a charming ground very well appointed and looked after beautifully. Lovely outfield to dive around on if necessary! Very nice tea also. I lost the toss and NM decided to bat. Wrong decision for them I’m pleased to say as some tidy bowling (props to Richard) kept them out of the runs for long enough to make them forget how to score any and the scoring moved extremely slowly. Owen was also brought into the ‘attack’ later on and notably took 2 wickets (caught by RobO and the sadly missed Imran). NM had to declare on 130 as time was moving on and, after stuffing ourselves on the fulsome spread we had no real problems achieving the win. Dave got a half-century and Chas a breezy 20 odd… The showers were working well!! Next up was Pacific – a team I play for regularly so I hoped we would be able to put up a good battle! We won the toss and I decided to bowl as I thought the chase would give us the best chance of winning. As a team I would say we didn’t bowl our best but Pacific had some very good batsmen out that day so we did well to do as well as we did! They declared on 248 for 8, squeezing us a little for time. Tea was a rustic affair served from the galley and eaten outside on the benches. No cup of tea available!!! We went about the chase with intent and all in all we did pretty well as a unit (I made a punchy ton, ensuring some free beer for my team-mates!) finishing up on 200 for 9. Now here’s the thing……. if we hadn’t gone for 56 extras including 39 wides we could very easily have won the match. 39 wides???!!!!!! Ridiculous. Get a grip Chigs. Which brings us on to our 2nd League match and season debut on our home ground – the beloved Old Chigs. We were playing Hadley Wood Green and hoped that this match could provide us with the league win we desperately needed after our loss to SL. …. It did! I won the toss and had no hesitation in putting HWG in to bat (as they have been known to stodge the draw on more than one occasion;-) on a decent looking wicket. It all went nicely to plan with all our bowlers doing the business and keeping any runs at bay. In fact, we did so well that HWG decided to bat over the 45 overs as they hadn’t reached the 125 required for the first batting points. I’ve only ever seen that once before in a league match… RobO took a decent 5-for (ensuring some free beer for this week!). After another crap Old Chigs tea, myself and Dave bashed out the 133 required without much drama (apart from a bit of a comedy catch attempt apparently?). It was a shame no one else was required to bat as we had both Harvey and Ross in the side for a nice change, and we still haven’t had a chance to really see what Ahsan can do yet. The showers stayed hot just long enough, and beers at the Chigs were followed by beers at the Nightingale (which were followed by beers at Bipasha …and a very fine Vindaloo strength Dhansak). This match, win, and social was, and is, dedicated to our cricket and football buddy Imran, who’s not around anymore….. Strength&Honour R.x COMMENT: AUTHOR: Guy B EMAIL: guybowden@hotmail.com IP: 90.211.22.110 URL: DATE: 06/22/2009 10:46:26 PM As a friend of Imran’s it was a pleasure to play at Chigwell against you guys for the first time yesterday. Looking forward to the return match! Guy (Mayfield)

League news

Date: May 11, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

South Loughton recorded an emphatic win against Chaseville on Sunday. They must be stopped! Report by Andy Battle on the Middlesex and Essex Invitation League website here (http://meil.play-cricket.com/content/view.asp?id=10235951&cid=218&tid=14&referer=&fixture=&team=10105436) .

It’s a fair cop….. but the batsmen (not society) were to blame.

Date: May 12, 2009

Author: Rob Allum

Sunday 10th May 2009 Chigwell v Met Police. It was a lovely sunny day (check out the new pics from the camera of RobbieO in the gallery area) as I pulled up at the Met Police ground on Sunday and most of the chaps were already gathered at the little changing room in the hope of another nice day out and another win for CCC. Hmmm…..well, at least we got the nice day out. The pitch looked its usual uneven surface when I went out to toss up with the Met skipper. He fancied a 40 over match, which I didn’t really resist, so we made an agreement as he wanted to bat first and I wanted to chase (not knowing what’s a good score on that pitch). The Met batted pretty well for their home conditions , although weirdly they didn’t look that good but the final total of 181 was totally decent. Roger and James S took the new ball and after James settled they both bowled nicely (as did most of our team – only Richard (the sun god) and Adam (the keeper) didn’t bowl!) Highlights were Zarg’s return – right on the money after a long winter, Owen once again in the wickets …and Graham S bowling late on taking 3 wickets for 7 off 2 overs!! Welcome to Chigwell, G! Overall we did the bowling right and fielded well and energetically and we all seemed to have a nice time:-) Onto the batting: To summarise, I would say we didn’t really adapt our batting to the local conditions and paid the price. Several of us fell early on playing the way we would on a good surface (this strip was very two-paced and the bounce extremely variable) and gradually we slipped further behind the required rate, lost more wickets and finished 50 short of the total. It was fun to watch the late order playing some aggresive shots as there was no draw possible. 181 was a completely realistic target so it’s a shame that as a batting unit we didn’t really have our act fully together. If I hadn’t tinkered with the basics of the batting order (as someone suggested) we might have done better, but it’s also clear that us in the top order should have employed a more sensible shot selection given the conditions!! I reckon that we could have pushed the field much more than we did too and picked up more singles? Anyways, the Met were a decent bunch and it was good to see lots of supporters on the boundary…… and we had an interesting tea – deep-fried sausages and chips! Seeya. R.x

Tour match II – Chardstock

Date: July 05, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

13th June 2009 After about 30 minutes of driving around in one of Dagenham’s finest (http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/OnlineResources/X20L/Themes/1376/1073/) , Dave and I found the Chardstock ground, writes Nigel Barfoot . The pitch was pitched at around 10 degrees from leg to off and had a pretty short boundary. Nice. After a quick toss with the opposition’s captain, he informed me of their weak batting line up and suggested we bat first to get more of a game. We batted first I faced, with the Chigwell talisman Rob Allum dropped to number 2. Frustration at not scoring an early six on the short boundary caused Rob to hit one straight to a fielder at mid off which was subsequently dropped. I did the same thing the next over then something strange happened. The score board showed 116 for no loss of wicket? Seagulls started talking to me saying there was no trawler to follow. Then the BGC was bowled making 56. Steve Drabwell padded to the hilt entered the fray with a nervy start to then hit a couple of fours which settled him down. I hit my fifty then decided to go for a big six and got stumped. Richard joined the crease then departed before his Marlboro red was extinguished which caused a fracas in the changing room as Nick had to rush his box in. Steve was in hitting mood and managed to crack a huge straight six into the field next door. Very nice. Dave came in next with Graham and Brad following in quick succession after Nick had scored 9. Adam came in after Graham and managed to score a quick 22 with three fours and a six. We finished on 215 for 8. Dave the Kiwi rave opened the bowling with Ricardo Hannante and it wasn’t long before Dave bowled the \#2 bat. Once the second wicked fell there was a huge Chardstock collapse with five ducks in a row, a few golden too. Nick had a huge amount of W’s and one M so had to be taken off so everyone got a game. With 16 overs gone, we didn’t have much of a game to play with the score at 53 for 7. Rob O bowled 3 overs collecting 2 wickets and was replaced by Brad. Graham was brought on with everyone hoping to see the legendary swing that the Wiskas can produce. We didn’t have to wait too long with Graham beating the bat virtually every ball. At one point we had 4 slips and a gully due to the swing which was especially useful as Graham bowled one straight to 3rd slip. Owen replaced Beef and picked up an amazing wicket caught by Ricardo at cow corner. Nice catch mate. They finished on 106 all out so we could have an early beer which was jolly kind.

Tour match III – Axminster

Date: July 05, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

‘Scoop’ Hannant’s (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1188387/Help-Ive-hit-memory-pause-Jackie-Clune-poor-husband-menopause-does-womans-mind.html) match report: 14th June 2009 Well, Sunday was upon us. After two wins out of two the opportunity presented itself of making a clean sweep and winning all three tour games, a feat never previously achieved. Unfortunately there was a new captain on duty with absolutely no idea how to set a field other than to say “can you stand there, please”? The captain, me btw, fortified himself with a hearty breakfast and another bracing swim. All was well with the world, nothing could go wrong. And it didn’t. The Axminster captain and I didn’t have a toss, we just shook hands on the format (40 overs) and who should bat first (them). The previous year they put out a team of varying ages but the victory we earned was quite tight so i was expecting the same this year, even though their team was made up of mainly colts. One thing they didn’t anticipate, and whoever could, was the way our opening bowler could swing it. The ruddy cheeked, bespectacled mass that is Graham Wiskin trundled in from the pavilion end to take the wickets of the opening two batsmen, two fine looking stroke players but in the end quite incapable of coping with Mr. Wiskin’s unplayable swinging balls. Because of the loss of the early wickets my job as captain was made considerably easier enabling me to shift the bowling around without too much anxiety of them making an unexpectedly high score. In dispatches I’d like to mention young Mr Wiskin who, after a bright start, fell to earth in the middle of the wicket with a seeming dislocation of the shoulder. Thankfully it wasn’t and with a few beers down his neck after the game he soon forgot all about it. And I’d also like to mention Owen, just because I would. Their innings was not without contention however. Two blinding stumpings by the poor man’s Aussie were cruelly denied by the umpire, who was clearly blinded to them and by them, which did make the game at one point seem a little niggly but by the end of their innings a not impossible total of 168 was set for us to chase. After another lovely, fresh tea Bradders and Nige were sent in to intimidate and frighten their opening bowlers. After that failed the cherubic seraph that is the poor man’s Aussie was sent in to try and avenge for the umpire’s previous indiscretions, and this he duly did with a blinding and belligerent ton, three cheers for the Ocker. But even in batting contention followed us, or was it just Dave the Kiwi that contention followed? Towards the end of the ton there was some very unsportsmanlike behaviour from one of their bowlers. With our score rapidly approaching theirs the opportunities for the ton were receding rapidly, especially since their ‘bowler’ deliberately bowled wides and no balls to try and stymie keeper Dave’s chances. Lots of grumbling and heckling ensued but this in itself could not aid Dave towards his ton, but we had a much better weapon. The crafty, wily, and sportsmanlike BGC was batting at the other end and as wide as the ‘bowler’ tried to bowl the ball was batted back with the BGC at some point having to stretch six foot on his off side so to do! By the end Dave needed four for his ton but we only needed one to win. Thankfully a nice young man gifted Dave a ball that he could despatch to the boundary. The ton was his but more importantly the victory was ours. The team could return home with victory ringing in its ears, a hundred per cent win for the team and a 100 per cent win for me. This captaining lark…..it’s all quite easy really, isn’t it? Rich Strength and honour

Time For Another Bottle

Date: August 01, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs Coopersale at Brickfield Road, 26/07/09 Hi everyone, (writes Richard Hannant from France) It’s a little odd to see a team being scraped together without me in it. Eh well, tant pis! I will spend six weeks in France…anyway about my report I did start it last week but ran out of time at the internet cafe and got completely bored with my own rhetoric, so I’ll try again now, slightly worse for wear but with a bit more time and hopefully with a little more succinctness than I had shown myself capable of last time, he writes without any kind of irony… Well we won the toss and I decided to bat; we were waiting for two players of varying abilities, but each important to the collective, and we didn’t know what time they were due so hence the decision to bat. I got out for 8 (2 fours off Tony in the same over but he got his revenge with a superb off cutter that i took a nibble at), Nigel held forth for a miserly return of one and Ahsan displayed his usual panache tempered by impatience so too was dispatched before his innings met its proper conclusion. Dave on the other hand, everybody’s favourite poor man’s Aussie, came good, just as I knew he would. A week of badgering, hectoring and cajoling paid dividends for me and the team with another magnificent ton. Can’t remember much about the rest of the batting other than to say the youngsters that were coerced into the team batted really well and fluently, especially young James, each doing as was asked of them, keeping the scoreboard ticking over. We managed a not unreasonable 215: despite the fact that there over rate seemed at best tardy and at worst f\*\*king slow! Their innings got off really quite badly. At one point they were 26 for 5, in no small part to some excellent bowling, lazy batting and the debut of a superb, new, and exciting young wicket keeper. Their stalwart of a giant, Graham Hancock, kept his end up well however and started to mash our bowlers into the adjoining gardens and fields. He was aided and abetted by a batsman who should have been out on 2 to the most blatant lbw ever witnessed but the clueless umpire said it was bat first! [ Steady on old boy – Ed ] Anyway he got out caught behind by the fantastic, new and exciting prospect of a wicket keeper (have I already mentioned him), even though he didn’t actually touch the ball. It was a fair cop even though he did make an extra 46 unfairly. Anyway, their tall but friendly giant was finally dispatched for 99, joy never knew such sublimity, and from then on it was not so much as a run chase as just sticking out for an undeserved draw. And even though with one wicket following another, despite one bad umpiring decision following another, they did until the final ball of the innings. Let it be said now that to get to this point in the game we had been called off the field twice for rain, once rather prematurely and the other rather fortuitously because it meant that we could all marvel at the wonder of nature as it put on for us a spectacular light show in the form of a rainbow that we saw the full curve of with one end in the middle of the cricket pitch, quite wonderful, and the light that had been so bad so as to nearly require cocoa and bedtime stories . Despite all that, at the end of the game we needed one wicket from one ball to claim victory. The bowler Mr. Allum of the BGC variety, the batter who cares, just a body to pad the ball back for a draw. The ball came in, Rallum deciding earlier that the batsman was not capable of playing a slow full toss, the great team of Chigwell surrounded the bat, watching, concentrating and willing for a catch or the tumble of wicket, oh that the wily Rallum’s strategy proved to be pitch perfect. The batsman played across the line of a perfectly straight ball and the off stump fell. It was joy and sublimity in quantities unimaginable, the team rose as one and the joy and relief on those Chigwell players’ faces could have sourced the national grid enough for break time during Corrie! It was that kind of moment. I’d like to give the captain some credit at this point for having the tactical acumen to have Rallum taking the last over. Btw, did I mention that the captain was the same handsome young, imperiously talented, new wicketkeeper that I mentioned earlier? No? Oh well, tant pis! Time for another bottle! Strength and honour!

Chigs vs Hainault & Chigwell – 16/08/2009

Date: August 17, 2009

Author: Nick Allum

It was an interesting day for the Chigwell Boys this week… ( writes Adam Peters ) After winning the toss on Saturday night, before seeing the pitch, conditions, team or the oppo we inserted ourselves on a dry and true looking chig’s wicket. It seemed as thought someone had bothered to cut the grass this week, although not still up to the recent years of Old Chig’s standards. Ahsan and Dave opened the batting in glorious sunshine and with high spirits we eagerly awaited the inevitable onslaught. We weren’t disappointed. Whether it was down to enthuasism, bad bowling or just lack of talent, Ahsan immediately set the tone for the day dispatching H&C’s opening bowler for 13 in his over peppering the deep square leg boundary as he strangely attempted to bounce Ahsan out. The flurry of boundaries continued from the pavilion end as Dave joined in with the hooking feast on offer again sending the ball to all parts. Ahsan survived an early caught and bowled chance which seemed to phase him… if only for a few seconds, again playing aerial and surviving. Dave seemed in a more content state at the other end as Ahsan reached his blistering 50 with the score on no more than 75, Dave continued with waiting for the bad ball. Eventually departing for a well played and well paced 78, playing another ridiculous LATE CUT! Ahsan left Dave to steer the innings towards a needed 250+. (130-1) Ross entered at 3 but by this time H&C had learnt from their earlier mistakes and were in full spin mode with off spin from both ends. He came and went for 12 caught and bowled skying an attempted lusty blow (184-2). Mr Rudkin, fresh from tour then took over and after a slightly hesitant start settled in knocking several ones and two with Dave to keep the run rate going. Dave eventually fell short of a well deserved century, bowled for 94 looking to push on (203-3). Nigel, in an interesting state, strode to the crease and again, although struggling at first with the two spinners, found his feet and was able to push some 1’s and 2’s mixed in with some inevitable swipes over cow corner. A generous bowling change then allowed Chas and Nige to accelerate just enough to declare on 260-3 (49). Mixed feelings at tea with our eyes being set on 270, we settled for our 260 but time was an issue as the late declaration was always going to put us under pressure. General feeling around the camp was to get out there and bowl some overs quickly. Maybe get a spinner on early, as the only 3 wickets of the day had fallen to spinners. Spinners 152-3 (23) Seamers 101-0 (16). A surge of excitement followed us out from tea as Brad, captaining the side, selected his bowlers and set fields… mind you no one actually knew who was bowling apart from the bowler until we reached the middle. An interesting gamble opening the bowling with our opening batsmen was met with some raised eyebrows, especially as we had only lost 3 wickets and many hadn’t played any role in the game so far apart from scoring and umpiring, but Ahsan and Brad silenced any critics was a first ball duck for their opener, nicking a cover drive straight to Dave at 1st Slip (0-1). New boy Steve opened from the other end and struggled to find a consistent line and length. The pitch didn’t help him much as length balls were driven down the ground and anything slightly short was immediately pounced upon, a carbon copy of our opening half, hours earlier. Steve eventually settled down and was gifted the wicket of the other opener after attempting to sweep a leg stump half volley and succeeding in only skying a gentle dolly to Adam behind the stumps (29-2). Ahsan, bowling well at the other end, swinging the old ball nicely then gained the prize scalp of their number 3, whom we knew was the key man, skying an attempted lofted straight drive to Charlie who took a a good catch at mid off, making up several backpedalling yards. (29-3). It was all down hill from then though… Ahsan and Steve were left on too long and, with Chigs not being active enough, the run rate steadily climbed to well above 6 an over, the Chigs deck getting slower and slower. Surprisingly another seamer was brought in to the attack. Frank began his bounding hop, skip and jump run up and apart from a slight nightmare second over bowled a good line. We finally saw some spin the next over with Chaz entering the attack giving it a tweak… No Nick and Rob yet; Brad saving them for the final push. The run rate continued rising with Charlie going for 25 from his 4 overs but bowled better than his figures suggest. Frank then picked up a much needed wicket as their left handed No.4 slapped a half volley to Ahsan at short extra cover… Chigs back in the game (107-4). Brad replaced Charlie at the pavilion end and proceeded to bowl 4 waist and head high fall tosses before drinks in his first over and Chig’s were beginning to dig a hole for themselves… was 260 enough? A quiet drinks break found us on the sidelines with H&C needing 120 and us 6 wickets from the final hour. Brad was confident and keeping Rob and Nick back was obviously in his plan to squeeze them in the last 20. After drinks Brad realised that pitching the ball might be to his advantage and when presented with a loopy length ball, H&C’s No.5 helped it on its way… straight down Dave’s throat at deep mid on in the first over after the break, again a much needed and prize wicket (143-5). Rob and Nick finally entered the attack and with immediate effect! Rob O getting No.6 caught at first slip by Nick off the outside edge trying to turn the ball in to the legside against the spin (170-6). Tension grew on the field as H&C sent out more batsmen who found it too easy to score boundaries. A couple of catches went down and words were said by Adam behind the stumps as the game started to shift back to H&C’s favour. We weren’t on the ball! Field placing became sketchy and 2’s were too easy to come by in the outfield. Ross worked his socks off at the bottom of the hill stopping some 2’s and 3’s mixed in with some missed pick ups, but all round did a good job for us down there and saved some runs. It took the metronomic arm of Nick Allum to break the deadlock in the middle trapping H&C’s No.7 LBW (210-7). H&C continued to hit their way through the overs though and when Nick’s final over of his spell included another 2 boundaries the needle of fate was swinging this way and that with every ball bowled. With 41 needed off the last 4 soon becoming 20 off 2, Brad took another gamble replacing a weirdly out of touch Nick with Dave’s darts from the School End. Dave’s one over proved to be the decider though skittling H&C’s No.8 for a fantastic 43 (243-8). With his over only going for 5 H&C needed 15 off the last and Rob O was to bowl… ‘Vettori’s Dad’ stepped up to the plate, bowling their No.9 trying to aim for the tennis courts (248-9). As their No.11 walked to the crease, Chigs surrounded their prey looking for that last wicket to gain victory… but it wasn’t meant to be as the batsmen watched the first of his 2 remaining balls safely past off stump and the second missing off stump after beating the bat from a loose forward defence. A hard effort from all the boys today. Brad, a quiet captain throughout the day, played his cards close to his chest and although not marshalling his troops well enough in the middle period in the field, remained confident throughout and almost steered the ship to a slightly undeserved victory. It was certainly a game of two halves and a draw was probably a fair result for both after a good run chase by Hainault & Clayhall. Well done Brad… so close but so far.

Happy New Year

Date: January 02, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell Cricket Club wishes friends and foes a Happy New Year… 22 years in the cricket business, luvvies!

New Season, League Awards Night and Pre-Season Social

Date: April 04, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

The first match of the season is a friendly vs South Loughton on Sunday 18th April. All the fixtures for 2010 (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) are now published. To get into the swing of the new season, and to celebrate our victory in the League in 2009, please come to the League Awards and Pre-Season Social hosted by Ravi Sondh and co. at the Mayfield Athletic Club (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Mayfield+Athletic+Club&sll=51.617192,-0.093301&sspn=0.001492,0.004128&ie=UTF8&hq=Mayfield+Athletic+Club&hnear=&ll=51.617594,-0.093287&spn=0.001492,0.004128&t=h&z=19&iwloc=A) on Friday 16th April at 8.00pm.

Chigwell Raises Curtain On New Season With A Win

Date: April 20, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

18/04/2010 South Loughton 98 Chigwell 99-4 Chigwell recorded a first-ever win against South Loughton in the opening match of the 2010 season. Scorecard here (http://bit.ly/92ZIYB) . Match report to follow, if we are lucky.

Chigwell up and Winning

Date: April 23, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs South Loughton 18th April Chigwell began the season a man light, writes Rob Orange , but enjoyed a stress-free victory over South Loughton, a team never before vanquished by the brigade of strength & honour. In previous seasons we have either been soundly spanked, or lost from a dominant position, so without reference to the make up of the South Loughton side I made up my mind to bowl first, given the option. Having called correctly and got my way I began to notice that we were taking on a side made up predominantly of colts. Terry ventured that the game might not last too long. Richard and Ahsan opened the bowling, Ahsan slightly reluctantly as I pressed him in to bowling seam as we were pretty short in this department. He bowled really well, but never caused the scorer to rotate the wicket wheel in the score-box as the numerous edged deliveries refused to fly to Chigwell hands. Richard meanwhile struck the most significant blow of the match as he had Terry Heman, a man who usually clumps many a run against us, coolly caught by Nick at gully. There followed a quiet period as the highest partnership of the innings tentatively prospered. Richard was punished for a couple of loose deliveries and left the attack with figures of 5-2-17-1. Ahsan bowled 9 luckless overs for 28 and was replaced by Nick, Charlie under captain’s orders, bowling seam at the other end. Young Rudkin produced a beauty to claim the second wicket and finished his short but impressive spell with 6-1-13-1. Nick began the season in ominous form. The South Loughton colts became his playthings as he ripped through the middle order, taking 3 wickets in 4 overs. He was so effective that I was forced to stop him at this stage as the chances of getting the whole team involved were rapidly receding. Brad took over from Charlie and showed the value of not netting by grabbing three wickets of his own. Admittedly two of them were from not –so-good deliveries, but the third was the result of a well executed plan of pushing the ball a little wider and forcing a false shot from the South Loughtonian batsman. In general Brad bowled a tidy line and length finishing with accomplished figures of 8-2-17-3. Ahsan’s cousin, Kash, bowled five overs, which after a wonky start improved noticeably. He joined the party with a wicket of his own before giving way to the return of Nick, and the inevitable wicket that closed the South Loughton innings on 98. We certainly had plenty of time to get the runs, so after a prolonged tea Nigel and Charlie settled to their task. Nigel was facing some very tight bowling from Dave Smith who racked up three consecutive maidens, bowling exclusively at Mr. Barfoot. Inevitably as soon as Nige got to the other end he was bowled for a duck. Charlie fell (after a prolonged umpiring change) to the same bowler an over or two later. Ahsan departed to a false shot while trying to have a bit of fun, but as we were facing such a small target it was easy to consolidate and between Russell, myself and Adam we cruised in with 15 overs to spare. It was satisfying to have been able to give everyone a game, and of course to win. I always prefer to bowl first in the first fixture of the season – I think the team rediscovers its bonds better that way, but perhaps next year I should take a closer look at the composition of the opposition (before deciding to bowl anyway…) Man of the Match: N. Allum 5 overs 2 maidens 4 wickets for 5 runs (and 1 catch) Full scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11026423)

Chigwell vs Pacific

Date: April 25, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Pacific reached 222 at tea. Chigwell 26-1 after six overs. Update: Chigwell lost. Scores and report to follow.

Tense atmosphere…

Date: April 25, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330133ecf0974f970b-pi)

Eclectic tea the highlight

Date: April 27, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs Pacific at Wray Crescent, 25th April In a game that had seen a relatively even contest during the home side’s innings, Chigwell were, ultimately, well beaten by Pacific CC (see their match report (http://www.pacificcc.co.uk/display-items.asp?intTypeID=1&intItemID=1481) ) in what was still an enjoyable early season fixture against Rob Allum’s \`other lot’ – writes Frank Gough . The day began with the unfortunate news that Charlie had joined Ahsan on the unavailable list for the match, which had the double impact of considerably weakening our batting and leaving us a man short for the match itself; Owen having managed to draft in the much appreciated services of his friend Clive in the absence of Ahsan, but Charlie’s withdrawal coming too late for a replacement to be found. A touch of drizzle for the first time in several days lent these developments a portentous feel as we began our journey over to Hornsey. Upon arrival, Rob Orange, skipper again in the absence of Rob Allum, lost the toss, but, having explained the brittle nature of our batting line up, requested that we be allowed to field first, a request to which the Pacific captain kindly agreed. We also shook hands on this being a timed match rather than fixed overs, although in this case I think that acquiescence rather than agreement on the part of the opposition might be a more appropriate way of putting it. I opened the bowling at one end with Richard at the other. The combination of a lovely new cherry, a bit of moisture in the air and some decent bowling meant that life was tricky for the Pacific openers, with some prodigious swing and slightly variable bounce from the artificial pitch in evidence, eliciting a fair amount of playing and missing and the occasional edge that would not go to hand. After a couple of overs, the Pacific no.2 was beaten by some late in-swing and could only succeed in cannoning the ball into his stumps via an edge and his pad. I wore a large smile in the realisation that I had just equalled 50% of my 2009 haul of wickets in a somewhat shorter timescale. The no.3 was also dismissed quickly; chopping onto his stumps whilst attempting to cut a ball that was a shade too close to him for the shot. At this stage, we were feeling in the ascendancy, although the sight of a purposeful looking 6’4″ antipodean batsman striding to the crease did cause a certain degree of trepidation, quite rightly as it transpired. I was the first to suffer, one over disappearing for 17 with four consecutive boundaries being crashed to a variety of points on the field, with Rich then being clumped mercilessly for a four and a six. We then had a slice of luck; the six was so monstrous as to lose the ball, which had ceased to swing having absorbed the moisture from the outfield. The replacement, however, did swing; a fact that Rich exploited by bending one in to make an almighty mess of the brute’s stumps to the relief of all concerned. A successful spell was rewarded with another wicket, lbw, as Rich profited from largely maintaining a full length; his final figures reading 9-0-47-2. Enter Nick. Picking up from the previous week, he quickly settled into a rhythm; realising that the wicket was not offering much turn, Nick instead used flight and clever changes of pace to deceive the batsmen, with three of his eventual five victims either being bowled or stumped to full deliveries that caught them at the crease. The one exception was an excellent off-break that climbed and turned on its way through to Russell, who took a very good catch behind the stumps off the edge to claim the scalp of Pacific’s no.6. Rob settled on keeping Nick on for a marathon spell, eventually returning the impressive figures of 16.2-1-46-5. At the other end, Rob took over from Rich, bowling tidily and picking up one wicket (8-1-21-1) before deferring to Dan and Brad for short spell prior to Nick closing the innings with a lower order heave finding the hands of Rich at mid off. In truth, Pacific had scored more than we would have liked, with 222 their final score as the game entered a slightly subdued phase, but c’est la vie. After an eclectic tea – I cannot think of another way of describing a mix of frozen sandwiches, pimento stuffed olives, guacamole, onion rings, Milky Way bars and Jaffa cakes – we set out to chase down the total, with Dan and a psyched up (and, even by his standards, spectacularly hairy) Owen entering the fray. It was at this point that events went on the slide as Pacific turned the screw with an extremely disciplined bowling performance from their seamers. After a couple of pleasing leg side shots, Dan was the first to perish, lbw for 11. Rich then sauntered out for one his more outrageous displays, mixing attack with well, attack. Nicks, edges, you name it; it was all happening, just not for very long, as everyone’s favourite Lancastrian had his stumps splattered for 21. Nigel was the next to go, the victim of a full length inswinger that caught him on the crease for 0, with giving him out lbw or cheating horribly being the only options available to yours truly. Owen had, up till this point, being batting sensibly and began to free his arms with a 2 and a boundary being scored through backward point as he began to exert some authority. Sadly, he then tried to be a little too expansive and joined his long haired brethren back in the hutch for 13, his stumps cartwheeling merrily. Russell went quickly after, leaving the scoreboard showing a distinctly unhealthy 46 for 5. Rob and Nick then joined forces, first stopping the rot and then suggesting the start of a rebuilding operation before Rob, trying to be positive, edged behind for 6. Clive did not last long against a spirited attack, which then brought Brad to the crease, striding out from the pavilion with belligerence and with his hair bouncing under his cap, neatly positioned on top. He was clearly in the mood to save the game as we entered the final twenty overs and, as darkness closed in, the number of overs dwindled and he and Nick looked increasingly confident, it began to look a real possibility. Sadly Nick, not wanting to stodge a drawer in a game that had been played in a good spirit up until that point, then missed a straight one and was comprehensively castled for a fighting 33. I came out as last man and could only last two balls before bowing to inevitability and an offcutter that was simply too good for me. So, a loss, but a good workout before HWG come to Chigwell in the league next Sunday where we will be looking to start that season in positive fashion. It was just good to get back out there. Full scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11035800) Allum of the Match: Nick, by default.

Match vs Hadley Wood rained off

Date: May 02, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Soaking. Hadley Wood laughing all the way to the bank with their six points. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330133ed1f2988970b-pi)

Pub / Dinner

Date: May 02, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Btw-Richard will be in the Nightingale pub, Nightingale lane Wanstead from 2:30 today… A few more of us will join him and perhaps take a curry later too.. Stay in touch. Sorry about the rain!! R.x COMMENT: AUTHOR: Rob Allum EMAIL: IP: 79.78.68.44 URL: http://profile.typepad.com/1237745962s18292 DATE: 05/02/2010 05:04:39 PM Pub now….indian half seven…ish!

Beamers post 251-6. Chigwell 49-2 after 45 minutes in reply

Date: May 09, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330133ed6c5b68970b-pi)

Beam me up Scotty!

Date: May 17, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Adam Peters Writes: A long ‘trek’ was had by all the Chigwell faithful as we descended down the A23 towards to coast to yet again defend our honour! Upon arrival, which was very premature for most as the journey was smooth… the Brad-Mobil head straight for the sea and some fish and chips! Returning to the ground the rest of the team had arrived and were ‘warming up’ used very loosely; although ironically a proper warm up would have been greatly approved by most as the warm journey in the car had not acclimatised us to the chilly south coast wind. Ron lost the toss on a very green wicket but to our amazement was forced in to the field, much to the delight of the Chigwell Team. Confidence rippled through the team as after a low scoring encounter the previous year, the chance to bowl first on a slow, damp, green track had us licking our lips. Richard started us off from the Petrol Station End with some inconsistent and stiff bowling. No swing surprised us all and the pitch seemed to be okay. The latter thought was soon dismissed as Richie got one to literally crawl along the floor from a bowl pitched half way down and trapped the opener, Bailey, plumb in front (6-1). Rob A opened from the Sea End and although bowling well again failed to swing the ball and again the pitch seemed to have less demons in it than we all thought with some straight blows over the top proving to be main retaliation of the Beamers Batsmen. After some ‘dodgy fielding’ and a couple of chances going down Chigwell heads seemed to drop and as Rich continued to struggle, returning figures of 3-0-22-0 from his opening spell, Rob A turned to spin early trying to regain control of the game. Rob O struck early in his spell dismissing Smith for a lusty 19 (44-2) but the game was still moving at a great pace. Rob A toiled away for a couple more overs but runs continued to flow from both ends and Chigwell were forced to deploy Nick ‘Granddad’ Allum, fully equipment with thermals from head to toe under his whites. Nick bowled well slowing the game down both in runs and pace but failed to take a wicket. Rob O was struggling for line and length at the other end and the Brighton Pitch looked better and better with every over. Rob O eventually struck for the second time forcing Beamers No.4, Hewitte, to drag on with the bowl again coming slow and low off the pitch (117-3). Beamers continued to accelerate despite losing wickets through the middle overs. Nick got in to the wickets with a Allum one two after Rigby skied one (143-4) and then a brilliant one handed, diving forward, caught and bowled from Nick dismissed Nicholls, firmly cementing the theory that Nick only fields well off his own bowling (162-5). Beamers again rallied though dispatching Rob to the fence again and Nick, losing his length also felt the pain of the continuing onslaught of Brighton’s Opener who blasted his way to a fantastic century. It was only when Bradley Davis entered the fray that the Beamers centurion lost his cool. After chasing a couple of wide balls outside the off stump and eyeing up cow corner again and again, Brad got one spot on and a little outswinger was B Rigby’s undoing as he ran passed the ball trying to use his feet and was stumped by Adam (186-6). Another partnership soon emerged as again Chigwell were unable to turn one wicket in to two, Brad was able to sneak another cheeky wicket towards the end as Chaffey went for one shot too many and again ran past the ball and was bowled off stump (242-7). When Rich and Rob both returned for the last overs of the innings, the extra pace on the ball only seemed to helped the bowl find the boundary and Beamers ended on an impressive 251-7 (43 overs). Tea was not a joyfull occasion for our boys but discussions on our batting line up and strategy lifted the mood when we realised that anything they can do we can do better. Plus a draw would again leave the ‘Mini Ashes’ trophy in limbo between the city and the coast. Francois and Rob A opened the Chigwell account playing some nice shots and both batsmen looked comfortable on a wicket that had looked to promise so much for the bowlers. Francois got a good delivery and was caught on the crease, bowled for just 1 leaving Chigwell 18-1 with just 3 overs gone. Adam came in at 3 and looked to rebuild with Rob. Again some clean stroke play and big hits got Chigwell moving again until Rob A took a quick single to extra cover and was run out by the fielding move of the year so far with a one handed pick up and throw, crunching the one visible stump leaving Rob in no mans land. A run 9 times out of ten but Rob’s number was up leaving Chigwell to rebuild again from 29-2. Adam escaped a good LBW shout the next bowl as he received one that shot along the ground from short of a length. Aqeel came in at 4 and played some nice shots. Some talks of playing straight and in the V were had and seemed to work as Chigwell passed 50 and hit one of the Beamers openers out of the attack. Some sweetly timed shots from Aqeel were moving us along nicely but unfortunately a nothing shot left his stumps in pieces as Lowe claimed his 2nd wicket of the innings (58-3). Enter BOOM BOOM Richie. We all new that Richie had it in him and this pitch seemed to suit him perfectly as the pace allowed him to pick and choose were to send the ball flying with great ease. Dispatching his first ball for 4 of mid wicket, Richie even left the ball outside the off stump, showing great control and raced along to 54 in just 33 balls. Some helpful bowling on an already slow pitch allowed Adam to sneak a boundary and rotate the strike back to Rich who in turn blasted it all round the park until Rich got some of his own medicine and was bowled by the rolling ball (151-5). Adam passed 50 and looked good, striking the ball cleanly through the covers and down the ground with relative ease. Dan came and went for a run a ball 12 (165-6) and all hopes of Chigwell chasing the huge total were lessening as the 10 an over target began to grow. Owen came in and was told to swing for the tree line with Excalibur (Richie’s Bat) but was unable to connect with the tree trunk wrapped in gaffer tape. The last couple of overs descended in to nothing as the field was brought in to force something to happen, perhaps 5-8 overs too late. Owen was eventually bowled by a good yorker from the returning Lowe and Adam swatted away a couple more deliveries to end on 82 not out off 94. A draw perhaps… but a fighting display from the Chigwell faithful. A special note to Owen for his excellent fielding and to Richie for his maiden Chigwell half century! Scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11063324) A brief discussion in the pub ended with a promise that the Beamers would enter in to the valleys of Chigwell in 2011 for a final battle for the urn. With some changes to the game format favouring a result instead of the bore draw which has consumed 4 of the 5 fixtures. Willingale next boys…. To Victory!

No to Willingale (‘s lack of ambition…but a good tea as usual;-)

Date: May 17, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Captain Rob Allum writes: A potentially rainy afternoon was in prospect as we rocked up to Willingale’s ground on ‘The Street’ yesterday. I had a plan to win the toss and bowl first, getting everyone on to bowl and then chase down whatever they managed to post. Reality struck as I lost the toss and Willingale skipper was very quick to say they would have a bowl…. hmmmm. Plan B didn’t start quite so well as Adam and Myself failed with the bat this week – both playing bad shots and we lost a succession of wickets for not many until Ross and Robbie O steadied the ship with a nice partnership, laying the foundation we needed to get up to some kind of competitive total. Everyone else chipped in (including Roebyn who batted well and I think eventually was the not out batsman!) to get us up to 150 in the alloted 2.5hrs village rules format. An excellent tea was enjoyed including a disc of ‘cheese straw’ – these would have gone well with a beer if there had been any left over after the match but hey ho! Onwards to the next innings. Robbie O opened the bowling at the top end with Rich at the other. Rich having been literally walking sideways the night before was not in the best form and felt that he could contribute better in the field (which he duly did with full commitment and success. Rob O adds: I’d like to add a mention of the catch that Richard took off Dan’s bowling, fielding at short mid off. The ball was blasted directly at him by one of the few aggressive shots played all innings. He managed a half turn before the ball was crashing into his abdomen, eliciting a strange noise somewhere between a grunt, a gasp and a squeal from our hero. This was followed a split second later by the cry of “Yes!!!” as he completed the turn and thrust the ball aloft in triumph. The bruise already showing below his ribs had become a badge of honour…. ) and I took over at the bottom end to try to stem the flow of seamer based runs. Rob bowled very tightly and I picked up wickets from my end but the Willingale boys were never particularly behind the rate or very far away from what was only a modest total to chase. However, after a rain break (just at the 20 overs to go mark) and with about 42 on the board with only 3 wickets down they just pulled down the shutters and shut up shop. At this point everyone had a go at bowing as we tried to tempt them to play shots and go for it with the field in etc…they lost a couple more wickets and the guys coming in at least wanted to try to hit the ball around a bit but it was too little too late for Willingale and for us – so the game dwindled into a bit of a nothing draw.. Shame that it didn’t get closer but at least we got a full game in amongst the rain (and I finally got Nige on to bowl for the first time in ages and he took 2 wickets!!)…. see you for the next thrilling installment of CCC’s cricketing adventures soon folks.

Salute the Magician – Nick shines again against STM

Date: May 26, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Vice Captain Rob Orange writes: Ramesh, the debutant, keen to impress, was at the ground a full 75 minutes before the scheduled start, having phoned me for directions, so I trundled down to Chigs a little early myself arriving a minute or two ahead of our skipper. The rest of our somewhat unusual team had assembled by one thirty. Two other debuts were to be made: Sarah, and Jonathan. Three others including Sarah’s charming straw hat. Or four including the much awaited long-sleeved tops and jumpers, which had abused the privilege of irony by arriving in 28 degree heat, following two games played in thermals. So lots of arrivals, but not that of the opposition – STM – who finally rolled up at somewhere considerably nearer three than two o’clock . Rob negotiated a 40 over a side match, the best we could manage against a definite preference for a 30 or 35 over game by the STM skipper. STM won the toss and would bat first, so after a few more minutes delay whilst umpire coats and the Chigwell scorebook were unearthed Ramesh and Richard opened the attack. Richard returned to the bowling form he had shown in the first two matches of the season and while Ramesh was suffering from edges that never went to hand, Rich was able to claim the first wicket; a juggled but well pouched effort from Nick in the gully. Notwithstanding Richard’s strike the score was rattling on, and there was a seemingly ominous period where no wickets fell. Please excuse any vagueness in the detailing of events in this innings as STM may not have an experienced scorer to hand and the book was in a bit of a state in terms of readable data by the time we got it back at the tea interval. Rob asked Richard to take a blow, replacing him with Nick – very much our ace up the sleeve this season. After a couple of overs of bedding in he proceeded through the STM upper order, aided by good catching from Rob A, Adam and himself – another juggled effort. During this spell I replaced the unlucky Ramesh at the “Bell” end and soon had his help in taking a wicket; a good catch at cow corner. Rob A took a catch at slip for me too, but then I dropped a straight-forward return chance offered by the opposition skipper (who went on to score 50) and this drop seemed to infect the team to the extent that I soon after saw three consecutive chances go begging, a fate customarily reserved for Brad’s bowling. Speaking of which Brad replaced Nick at the “plum” end but struggled to bowl the line dictated by his skipper. At least he took a wicket with a stumping that was so obvious nobody appealed – until it suddenly dawned on us that the batsman might not actually go without this formality. Ramesh came back for another luckless over, but Nick’s return brought about the end of the innings with two timely wickets, one bowled the other LBW. Fine figures of 7.3 overs 5 wickets for 39 tell their own story, as indeed do Nick’s figures for the season; something like fifteen wickets at about eight runs apiece. STM were all out for 207 (9 wickets as they only had 10 men – a problem with which we are well familiar) a crucial 3.3 overs ahead of the 40 over mark. The Old Chigs tea showed no signs of improvement and moves are now afoot to arrange something better. Brad stepped up to the plate when asked to open the batting with the skipper and helped see the shine off a new ball in a sturdy partnership of 60 for the first wicket. He left on 14, walking like a man when thinly edging behind. Adam joined Rob and took this partnership took the score beyond 100 before Rob rather wastefully ran himself out for the second time in three games. Enter Jonathan Stephenson, friend of Sarah and all round good egg, for his first bat in about three years. After a few early nerves he calmly accumulated runs, eventually falling on 31. Adam had departed in the meantime for 45, having popped one back to the bowler. The victory had looked secure at 174 for 3, but two wickets fell in rapid succession to give us a few jitters. Nigel (who had replaced Sarah towards the end of the STM innings) had been one of those to go, but had at least registered his first runs of the season (6). Sadly Ramesh holed out for a duck, but we know enough of him to be confident of many runs (and wickets) in the very near future. Eventually Dan and Richard saw us home with 2 overs to spare in a short but commanding partnership. A special mention should go to the redoubtable “extras”, who contributed 57 runs but as usual declined to buy a jug. Nick however got to the bar in quick time (just as well as it was closed seconds later), but not quite quickly enough to see any of the opposition, who left with far more urgency than they had shown in arriving… 😉 Captain Rob Allum adds; It was great to have Tim Hall playing and hopefully he’ll make it for a few more this season too.. What with Ross and Tim both being available already this season could this mean we might get to see Graham out on the field soon? R.x

Nil Desperandum

Date: June 01, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs South Loughton, 30th May 2010 Frank Gough writes: Following the cancellation of the season’s first league fixture against HGW due to the poor weather, we approached the encounter with South Loughton in determined fashion, appreciating the importance of claiming an early win against our ubiquitously tough opponents. At the final analysis however, having restricted the visitors to 167, Chigwell subsided to a hugely disappointing defeat, ultimately being dismissed for 141 to finish 26 runs adrift. It was an exciting cricket match, one in which the initiative ebbed and flowed throughout. Having won the toss, Rob chose to bowl on a green and mossy pitch, the kind of conditions that have frequently produced springy surfaces at Old Chigs with a fair degree of lateral movement. With Ramesh in the ranks, Rob was keen to see how his additional pace would fare and he opened the bowling from the car park end, with Dave nominated to share the new cherry. It has to be said that neither were at their best; a strong wind blowing across the ground not assisting either and the pitch being a great deal more placid than we had anticipated. Both Ramesh and Dave were perhaps guilty of bowling too short, with the lack of pace in the wicket meaning that they ended up delivering too many boundary balls. After four overs I took over from Dave, with Rob A taking over from Ramesh four overs later, but only succeeded in marginally reducing the run rate as the SL openers raced to 93 without loss from something like 13 overs. At this point Rob A, recognising that the wind, pitch and indifferent form were rendering our seamers ineffective, brought on the spinners at both ends, Nick replacing me and Rob O coming on at the car park end. Not for the first time, the effect was both immediate and dramatic; Rob claiming the scalps of both openers with his first two deliveries (the first, Farthing, to a good high catch by Ramesh at long off, the second, Baker, to an LBW). I must confess, as one of the four seamers whose bowling had left something to be desired earlier on the piece, I was ever so slightly grateful that Rob did not completely put our inadequacies into perspective by completing a hat trick. As it transpired, this was the start of a supreme spell by Rob, bowling at his best with changes in pace and the ball gripping and turning; predominantly accurate throughout. His final analysis was 12-2-25-6 and he was not flattered by those figures. At the other end, Nick was not quite up to his usual high standards, even sending down two double bounce deliveries in his spell (one of which was nearly hit straight back to the bowler, leaving me chuckling at mid on at what would surely have been one of the most diabolical wickets in recent memory had the catch stuck). Nick was never collared however, his 12 overs going for 32, and he did claim the important wicket of Tredgold for 3, who had the look of a man that would have made us pay had we allowed him to stay in for long . After Rob had run through the majority of the batting order, I came back on in with Brad at the other end and managed to clear up the last three wickets relatively quickly to close the innings at 167. After another soul destroying tea, Dave and Richard set out to begin what we hoped would be a comfortable march towards a target that we felt was probably below par. South Loughton responded with a strong fielding and bowling performance, hitting the correct length straight away and proving tenacious in the field to prevent easy singles (arguably a sour note at the start of our fielding performance which had also been pretty good on the whole). Dave was struggling a little to get the ball away and watched as Rich, Rob A, Aqeel and Jawed were all dismissed for single figure scores leaving us in all sorts of trouble at 34 for 4 from around 15 overs. It was around this time that the visitor’s opening bowler, Oliver, was unfortunately taken out of the game with a dislocated shoulder suffered in the field and, with the bowling perhaps a touch subdued after that event, Dave and Ramesh managed to get us back into the contest with an increasingly determined stand of 53 until Dave was stumped for a fighting 43(87 for 5). Ramesh followed soon after for a strong 35 and our chances were rapidly receding. Dan got a start but was soon on his way for 14 (112 for 8) and Nick was quickly sent back for 3 leaving us at the brink. A defiant partnership between Rob O and Brad got things moving again, but a bad run out claimed Brad for 11 with us still over 30 in arrears and the overs dwindling. There then followed some contentious moments as close appeals were turned down for LBW against me and a caught behind from Rob, accompanied by some posturing by the opposition. Anyway, after receiving instructions from Rob to remain a positive I did what I do best and allowed my stumps to be sent somewhere in the direction of Abridge, so that was that. After the game, it was good to drink Rob O’s jugged beer and proceed on for more beer and a decent curry at the Bipasha. A painful defeat given how winnable it was, but in the fielding, bowling of Rob and batting of Dave and Ramesh there were positives to be had.We still have the return match against South Loughton; there will be both points to gain and to prove in that one. Scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10890286)

Lyme Regis Tour Photos

Date: June 14, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Some pics from the tour are already up on fb from Brad (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=181302&id=724368170) and Kate (http://www.facebook.com/\#%21/album.php?aid=59990&id=1518490506&ref=mf) . No doubt more to follow, along with match reports.

Chigwell Well on Top, But Mayfield Field Better

Date: June 25, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Knowing that the Old Chigs pitch tends to play well, and that taking 10 wickets can be tough going, Rob chose to bowl first without hesitation on winning the toss. A mixed bag of a fielding performance however saw virtually all of the Chigwell side making mistakes, costing us runs which were eventually proved to be of no consequence, (but were nonetheless irksome). Charlie and Richard started the bowling; Mayfield got off to a sound start before a couple of maidens by Richard stemmed the flow. Charlie was rewarded for an aggressive spell when he claimed the first wicket with the help of Dave behind the sticks – 43-1 after 9 overs. Adam replaced Richard, the memory of his excellent bowling at Uplyme still fresh in our minds. Unfortunately Adam developed a bit of a niggle and was unable to replicate that performance, so Rob took over after only three Adam overs. Rob O replaced Charlie and the change of pace soon brought results with Guy Bowden, who had looked in good nick, stumped – the result of taking guard beyond the crease on a turning wicket. Martin Bentley departed bowled by Rob O and things were looking back under control. Rob A added to the sense of well-being by taking a wicket with his first ball, a gentle half-volley guided into the grateful hands of mid off to leave Mayfield 77-4 Steve Copus and Ray Victor then forged an increasingly assured partnership which began to wrest the initiative back to the visitors. It was during this stand that, under pressure from the cool running of the batsmen, the fielding became increasingly ragged with fielders slow to stop ones, gifting overthrows, and missing easy run-out opportunities. After the partnership had doubled the score to 154 salvation was found by Chigwell in the form of Ahsan Kaleem who replaced the faltering Rob O to almost immediate effect. Steve Copus departed for 41 to a marvellous catch by the bowler and with one end now open Ahsan proceeded to harvest the Mayfield middle-late order with wicked late in-swing. His figures of 5-26 were in no way flattering and we look forward to many more 5 wicket hauls from him this season. Charlie had a few more overs but in the end Rob O returned to dismiss the Mayfield number 11, although not before being dispatched over his head for 4 by the tail-ender. The innings closed on 222 all out, one and a half overs short of the customary cut-off point. “Wiskin Teas” delivered a sumptuous tea, so far removed from that dished out by their predecessor that it was hard not to overindulge. Rob and Dave were more careful than most as they had to open the batting, although no one was exactly keen to share the burden of opening with the skipper, causing him to assert his authority and insist that Dave joined him. Oh happy decision! Rob and Dave batted superbly against a decent attack, defending the best balls and dispatching anything else with increasing aplomb. Rob raced ahead to reach 50 first, Dave following soon after. Eventually the partnership realised 204 runs, the 200 partnership mysteriously greeted with total silence by those gathered on the boundary. Rob was well caught in the deep having scored a magnificent 117, surely the best he has ever batted. The only real drama left in the day came when Mayfield went up for a catch behind, claiming an edge from Dave. As umpire at the time I can only say that I heard no noise, saw no deflection and that however vociferous the appealing it is impossible to give someone out under such circumstances. Having experienced a similar incident last year, (at a time when it was actually significant to the result) Mayfield were incensed. Perhaps a largely fruitless day in the field added to their ire. Unfortunately the incident rather spoiled the atmosphere of a good game played in a friendly spirit. The bar being prematurely shut by Steve meant that we were unable to rekindle that spirit over a beer or two, which was a real shame. (Do we get a discount from Old Chigs if we have no bar facility after the game?). Overall a commanding performance with the bat by the openers and a skilful display of bowling by Ahsan more than made up for our fielding indiscretions and Chigwell finished the day looking like the reigning champions of the league (at last!)

STATUS: Publish

Date: June 27, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Chig beat South Loughton by 60 runs

Date: June 27, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

A victory for Chigwell with 2.5 overs to spare. Dave Colwill 50 and wickets shared around all the bowlers.

Tour Report – Chardstock

Date: July 03, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Chardstock reporter Stephen Drabwell writes: Following a very hearty breakfast for most of the touring squad in Lyme Regis, Chigwell convened on a glorious summer’s day at what must be one of the most picturesque grounds in the country for an early start (to accommodate England’s opening game of the World Cup) against Chardstock. The breathtaking views of the rolling Dorset/Somerset/Devon countryside from this quaint little ground are offset a little by the fact that the ground is on a slope that would rival a Black Run at Val d’Isere. Brad even complained that when fielding at Deep Square Leg on the low side, he couldn’t see the stumps! Captain for the day was Adam and following last year’s somewhat one sided victory a confident Chigwell Captain was ready to offer the Chardstock captain the opportunity to bat second ‘to make a game of it’ but the olive branch was rejected and the host’s captain correctly called and took the chance to bat first on a good looking wicket. Maybe Chigwell’s confidence was a little misplaced! Bossman and Rob A opened the bowling and Rob A was on the money from ball one and managed to make a couple of early breakthroughs using the ‘slope’ to get the ball to nip back from a dangerous length. Adam replaced Rob A (2-11) and Dave came on for Ross to offer a variety of spin from each end, off spinners from Adam and leggies from Dave. The Chardstock middle order batted steadily and looked set for a good score until Adam was replaced by Richard who took two quick wickets and Dave had the ‘soaring’ Rocket expertly caught by Brad to reduce the score to 138-5. Wickets fell steadily including another one each to Dave ( 2-24 from 9) and Richard who finished with 3-17. The skipper, in the spirit of the tour, introduced the very part time slow right arm bowling of Nigel (1-16)and Stephen (2-14) in an effort to ‘extend the game’ but they managed to pick up the last 3 wickets leaving Chigwell to chase 177 for victory. Nick and Rob O opened the batting for Chiggers and made a slow but steady start with the aforementioned ‘Rocky’ Rocket bowling with a bit of pace and getting the ball to nip back down the slope. Rob O (11) tried to up the ante but in going for a hook shot could only to top edge through to the keeper. Brad also perished to the ‘Rock’ without scoring and following a bright and breezy 17 from Russell Chigwell were rocking a bit at 33-3. Stephen (20) and Nick managed to add 44 for the 4 th wicket before Stephen was run out, once again, from a direct hit. Nick was starting to get into his stride and hit the shot of the day with a glorious front foot drive lifted over the covers. Nigel joined Nick and batted well for his 16. Enter Richard ‘Boom Boom’ Hannant who hit a huge six over long but was out for 11 with 3 scoring shots! At 136-6, the position may have been perilous but fortunately we probably had the strongest tail in Chigwell’s illustrious history. Nick was also still there and made a faultless and well deserved 55. Rob A (22no) and Dave (14no) saw us home with plenty to spare to win by 3 wickets in a little under 37 overs. Then it was off to the Tytherleigh Arms for beers, dinner and England. Thanks go to Chardstock CC for arranging with the pub to section an area off for the two teams to watch the football. The beer was great, the food outstanding, the company excellent and the football……dire. Nick managed to find the only spot in the pub where the TV couldn’t be seen and quite honestly we’d all wish we had afterwards. Then it was back to Lyme for a few late night beers. Man of the Match: Nick Allum

Soccer Bad, Cricket Good!! Chigwell v South Loughton

Date: July 03, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Reporter Dave Colwill writes: SL won the toss and invited Chigs to bat on a pitch that had a good spread of moss and plenty of ridges and bumps – looking like a difficult pitch for any batsman used to batting at the Old Chigs! A good toss to win on the hottest day of the year, temperatures in the 30s and a large (on one side) and very slow outfield also ensuring scoring big runs would be difficult. Rallum and Dave opened up with Rallum perishing quickly, caught behind for just four attempting a similar shot that had been successful minutes prior. The initial overs showed plenty of seam movement and awkward bounce – both high and low, which meant targets of a 230 score were quickly revised. SL’s opener, Dave Smith, bowled an immaculate 12 over spell of length bowling (0-24) and used the pitch to good advantage, landing it every ball and extracting sometimes unplayable movement. Dave watchfully faced a fair few of his overs, adopting a safe approach to ensure the middle order wasn’t exposed early. Ashan in the meantime was playing positively against the somewhat too full bowling at the other end, getting a few boundaries away although did have some luck sky-ing one early on just past square leg, and having a regulation catch by the WK dropped, much to Smith’s obvious anguish. Dave and Ashan put on what would turn out to be the p-ship of the match, 75, at a reasonable clip. After Ashan departed for 33, Richard came and went quickly for 6, a lack of respect for the slow, slow left arm of Pearn. Adam joined Dave and after a brief P-ship, an exhausted looking Dave was bowled by Pearn for 56, looking for another boundary, clearly sick of running twos! Nigel joined Adam and the two batted well, until the soccer (yes it’s called soccer, as football can mean rugby, celtic, soccer, league or gridiron!!) intervened with a few overs left in the innings. The less said about the England match the better, but upon the resumption, Adam had ‘exited’ the game, leaving Chigs 2 players short and another wicket down. The lower order batted until the 45th, with new man Stephenson collecting a well compiled 21\* & Vettori’s dad a run a ball 19, the final team score being 194 – a very good total by the account of one of SL’s top order. Our adopted northerner and Ashan opened up, with Rich getting the early wicket feathered through to behind the stumps. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with SL struggling to score or survive on the inconsistent wicket. Chig’s put in probably the team display of the season so far, with all catches bar one held, and a diligent fielding effort, especially with a man down. Special mention to Sarah, who fielded the entire innings – our esteemed skipper even made her field deep fine leg to fine leg for the duration. Wines still owed on that account I believe… The last SL wicket fell at 124, a win by 70 runs with Ashan having a good all round game, claiming 3-30 (12), Nick Allum 3-16 (8.2), Rallum 2-19 (8), Rich 1-27 (7) and the effervescent Rob Orange 1-22 (6). Maximum points for Chigs and confidence will be high for HWG next week. Cheers to SL for a hard fought game played in good spirits.

Chig lose toss and are inserted at Botany Bay

Date: July 04, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Rural idyll. (Enfield) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330134853235a1970c-pi)

Another Chigs win…. remarkably!

Date: July 05, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Chigs make great recovery from top five disaster after being inserted and go on to win the match emphatically… what a buzz!! My favourite match of the season so far. R.x

Saucisses et des hommes nus dans les vestiaires

Date: July 14, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Reporter Nigel Barfoot writes: Another league match with one of Chigwell’s favourite foes was greeted with great weather and a distinct smell of smoked bacon. Rob Allum tossed the coin and lost meaning Chigwell had to bat first. We batted Dave and Rob went out to bat against the might of Adam Randall and Matthew Taylor. Adam bowled very admirably but it was Matthew who took the first wicket with Dave Colwill who used a pitching wedge with backspin into the par 3 of mid on’s green hands. This was unexpected. Ahsan came to the crease with his new Mercedes smile but perished soon after. Here starts the Chigwell collapse. We were really in trouble – could have been all out for 80/90 odd. The changing room was a bustle of pads and box application at this point. Chigs were 72-6 when super-spunk Hannant was told ‘No Mercy’. Richard scored a quickfire boom of 32 – a power of 2. Next time 64 mate! Aqeel had stayed around and managed to get 60 – he was the backbone of our innings and chose to turn down many a smackable ball. Nick contributed a very healthy 24 to add to our total. HWG came to bat after a delicious tea with Jon and Richard at the crease. Ahsan came to bowl very well and claimed 2 early wickets of Jon Butler and Mike Davey. After quite a slow start, the HWG batsmen fell quickly apart from Adam and Nee Wijesekara who put on some decent runs. Rob Orange took 6 wickets to close off play. Chig’s won with HWG putting on 90 all out. In the changing room afterwards, Francois produced a French sausage plus vino in the midst of half naked men. This was a lovely touch to a great game of cricket and not in any way a double entendre. Man of the match – Aqeel for sticking around when it mattered (sorry Rich – I know you wanted it)(sorry Rob – 6 for is damn good) **.,.**\_ COMMENT: AUTHOR: Green Tea Weight Loss EMAIL: kingofworld789@yahoo.com IP: 59.161.184.91 URL: http://green-weightlosstea.blogspot.com/ DATE: 04/12/2011 04:31:24 PM nice posting very informative and useful , love your site, looking forward for more COMMENT: AUTHOR: HCG Diet Drops EMAIL: alarm-once@msn.com IP: 206.225.11.114 URL: http://www.jphcgdietdrops.com DATE: 06/28/2011 09:30:42 PM I have known great bloggers and the one thing that distinguish them from other bloggers are their abilities to catch reader’s attention. This, you’re able to do effectively. Nice post! PING: TITLE: Jamar Brister URL: http://email-optin-secrets.com IP: 97.74.86.127 BLOG NAME: Jamar Brister DATE: 12/04/2011 08:14:16 AM Im thankful for the article post.Thanks Again. Fantastic.

Chigs v Craven

Date: July 14, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Another nice win for us at the Old Chigs on Sunday v Craven CC – contributions all round to produce a deserved win (chasing down 186) after strawberries and cream… sadly no spiced cured meat & vin rose in the showers this week;-) R.x

Jackie Clune (Richard’s Mrs!) Soho Theatre This Thur-Sat (15-17 July)

Date: July 14, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Richard’s Mrs, Jackie Clune is playing 3 nights at the Soho Theatre this week. She is an entertaining performer so should be a nice night out if anybody fancies it. Onstage 9.30pm. Richard is going on Thursday and Saturday and I’ll be going along with Kylie on Saturday night too….anyone else fancy coming down to Soho for a social? Get your tickets at www.sohotheatre.com (http://www.sohotheatre.com) R.x

STATUS: Publish

Date: July 22, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Brad gets awarded the ‘Cock Hat’ by the chaps at Coopersale for holding up the game by being on the phone while he was the standing umpire… The first time this has been awarded to a member of the opposition. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330133f2788e04970b-pi)

Winning etc!

Date: July 30, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Coopersale was a weird match but nevertheless another win for Chigs …..and we had a tie v Orsett apparently! Well done Chigs.. if anyone fancies writing match reports for any of these then go right ahead. R.x

Vintage tour shots

Date: August 02, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Sally Engelbrecht posted some old Chigwell CC tour photos (http://www.facebook.com/\#%21/album.php?aid=195379&id=826834167&ref=mf) on FB (http://www.facebook.com/\#%21/group.php?gid=33936971639) . Everyone is thin and has lots of hair that isn’t grey. Thanks, Sally!

Ramesh debut ton!

Date: August 16, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Congratulations to Ramesh who scored a massive big hitting ton today for the mighty CCC as he and Chas dismantled the Hainult & Clayhall attack in a blisteringly entertaining assault… another good result for the Chigs following on from last week’s low scoring win v Old Effectuals. If we can keep this form going into the last two league matches then we’ll be in the box seat! R.x

Imran Memorial Match

Date: August 20, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

Coming up is our annual match in memory of our friend and Chigs member, Imran Khan. We are doing battle again with Imran’s old Chambers, 9 Kings Bench Walk, led by John “Ooh ‘Ello!” Clifford. The match is at the Paddock on Bank Holiday Monday, 30th August. Please come along, drink Pimms and remember with us the fastest whippet of an outfielder in the history of the club. Fives and Heronians CC (The Paddock) (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=fives+and+heronians+chigwell&ie=UTF8&hq=fives+and+heronians&hnear=Chigwell,+United+Kingdom&z=14&iwloc=A) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330133f332a13d970b-pi)

Congratulations to Brad (thanks to Imran!)

Date: August 31, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Congratulations to Brad on scoring his maiden half century today! This was a fantastic milestone achieved during what was a really good day out at the Paddock to remember Imran and give a little to charity along the way. Owen’s Chigwell XI managed to triumph over 9KBW (led by JC) in what was a much closer match this year. Looking forward to next year’s re-match already…. R.x

Chigwell make a good start vs Mayfield

Date: September 05, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

We need 6 points to win the League. Rob and Charlie are going well. Blog posted here. (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=51.535141,-0.152029)

Chigwell Retain League Title

Date: September 06, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833013486f78ac4970c-pi) A win today at Mayfield sent Chigwell back up to the top of the table with no more matches to play. We won the toss and really had to bat to to maximize our points (even though it looked like a good wicket to bowl on). It was fairly tough going at first with the ball swinging and some tight bowling from the Mayfield boys coupled with a very slow outfield, but we eventually made our way to 160 odd (charlie scoring 90 something) – giving us 4 batting points and leaving us with 5 wickets to take to get up to the 6 points we needed from the game to finish on top of the table. After some yummy sandwiches and hot tea (and a rather belated chicken leg!) we got out on the field and set about the job. Starting with a tidy run out, Mayfield lost most of their wickets very quickly which handed us the points we needed, however, we wanted to win the match too rather than draw as we did last year. The best batsmen seemed to be saved ’til last and we had a minor doubt as we could see these big hitters potentially making the modest total required in the last twenty.. we carried on plugging away and finally removed the last man as the light was beginning to get a little murky. Beer, wine, saucisson, chorizo, olives… and a game or two of pool were enjoyed back at the Mayfield Club and a pleasant end to a good day was had by all 🙂 Congratulations to everybody who played in these league matches this year or supported the team along the way…… Strength & Honour. R.x

Ex Chigwell Captains in the Long Room at Lords

Date: September 13, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/4988172176/) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/4988172176/) (http://www.flickr.com/people/chigwellcc/) Paul, the “Two Robbies” and I recently enjoyed a splendid evening at Chris and Stuart Broad’s Charity Dinner at Lords – for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

End of Season

Date: September 27, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

The season came to a melancholy close at Woodford Green on Sunday, in dreary, damp weather that clearly signalled the onset of autumn with nothing but vile football in prospect. We played a 40 over match, with WG batting first and making 240 all out. Chigwell eventually subsided to 155 all out in the 38th over, with Rob O stranded on 48 not out after a cheerful half-century partnership with Brad for the 10th wicket. Other than this, the only other batting of note was 31 from Charlie, before he was carted home by Angela shortly after getting himself out. Whether this was because he had a social engagement to attend or whether it was a punishment for letting off some ‘colourful’ language in earshot of the genteel Woodford Green spectators is currently unknown. Earlier, Rob O and Nick finished the season with 45 wickets apiece, after Nick bagged five in the match. Brad finished with 25 for the season after an excellent three wickets in this game. Full season statistics are here (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/teamStats.asp) . The club Dinner is on Friday 8th. See you there!

Music and cricket – the life of Riley for Rob

Date: October 04, 2010

Author: Nick Allum

From the local rag… (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833013487f7238e970c-pi) Music and cricket – the life of Riley for Rob (http://www.ilfordrecorder.co.uk/what-s-on/music/music_and_cricket_the_life_of_riley_for_rob_1_658259)

Awards 2009/2010

Date: October 11, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

Congratulations to all who won awards for the last two seasons cricket at our annual dinner last Friday at Aurora Soho. If you weren’t there to enjoy the fun, the awards went like this: 2009 Champagne Moment (re-classified to a Cava moment due to the double-dip;-) went to James Sibley’s catch which took us to league victory in the nailbiting decider v Mayfield last year. The booze was awarded to the whole squad who quaffed it without delay even though it was room temp! 2009 President’s Cup was awarded to Mr Dave Colwill for scoring a billion runs when it counted! Champagne moment for 2010 was awarded to Bradley Davis for his hard won debut half century v 9KBW in the bank holiday Imran memorial game. This years President’s Cup was awarded to Robbie Orange for his excellent contribution as part of the formidable ‘spin twins’, as well as for his solid and dutiful vice captaincy, decent batting and superlative catching! Well done to all who won and all who played or supported or enjoyed the club in any way over the last few years…. Bring on next season! Strength&Honour R.x

Pay Up Please…

Date: October 26, 2010

Author: Rob Allum

New Year Statistics

Date: January 03, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

After seeing Hans Rosling’s brilliant BBC 4 programme, The Joy Of Stats (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/dec/08/bbc4-the-joy-of-stats) , I thought I’d try my hand at charting some Chigs batting stats. Here is the result. Each player is represented by a blob. The size of the blob represents the total runs scored by the batsman during the season. The colour of the blob shows how many 50s the batsman scored, ranging from none (dark blue) to four or more (red). The vertical axis shows a player’s batting average, while the horizontal axis shows how many matches the player played in a given year. There are only two years of data at the moment – 2009 and 2010. You can view each year by moving the slider or clicking the play button at the bottom of the chart. Rolling over the blobs reveals the name of the batsmen; clicking on them keeps them highlighted. Clicking on a player and then pressing the play button will display a trail from earlier to later years, showing how a player has developed. Click and drag to select an area for zooming in. You can also play around with the chart, changing the statistics on each dimension as you wish. COMMENT: AUTHOR: Jono EMAIL: jono@lyndhurstcc.co.uk IP: 81.178.238.101 URL: http://www.lyndhurstcc.co.uk DATE: 06/03/2011 06:25:02 PM This is incredible! Greetings from Lyndhurst C.C.!

Islington cricketers banned after smashing the window of a Porsche

Date: February 11, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Our cricketing friends, Pacific CC, have run into a spot of bother… Islington cricketers banned after smashing the window of a Porsche \| Metro.co.uk (http://www.metro.co.uk/news/855207-islington-cricketers-banned-after-smashing-the-window-of-a-porsche) . We hope they will be able to overturn this ridiculous decision by Islington Council before the new season.

2011 Fixtures

Date: March 24, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

The forthcoming season’s fixture list (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) is now published. Woo! For any of our opponents who may be reading – please check that your details tally with ours and let me know if not.

STATUS: Publish

Date: April 15, 2011

Author: Rob Allum

Here we go people.. Cricket begins! I wonder what this season has in store for us? Don’t forget to comment or update me with your availabilities etc as the season goes on. Good luck Chigs!! Rob.x COMMENT: AUTHOR: Patto EMAIL: graham.p@onefinance.co.nz IP: 222.155.178.141 URL: DATE: 04/19/2011 01:13:00 PM Best of luck for the season lads, I watch with interest from the Shaky Isles.

Results Round-Up

Date: May 03, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Chigs have won their first three matches. Russell is top run-scorer so far. In the first league game, we beat Hadley Wood Green on Sunday by 8 wickets, while Orsett beat Pacific. So we are joint top. Hurrah! Chig results and scorecards here (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp?seasonID=&fromForm=1&quickSearch=&startDay=&startMonth=&startYear=&endDay=&endMonth=&endYear=&type=&team=) . League tables and results here (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/meil/tables-and-results.html) .

Chigwell lose toss and batting at Patcham Place

Date: May 08, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Rob and Adam are opening the innings in the Beamers Ashes match. 12 without loss after 4 overs. And the sun has just come out. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301538e5b8f68970b-pi)

Chigwell wins the Ashes

Date: May 08, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell crushed the Beamers today at Patcham Place. After posting what seemed like a less than par 182, Chigwell bowled out Brighton Beamers for 65, to win the Ashes trophy after four years without a result. Cunningly, Niall Chafey left the urn on his mantelpiece, so we didn’t actually get our hands on it. Put it in the post, Niall…

League Match Reports

Date: May 10, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

May 1st reports here (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/meil/2011/05/latest-results.html)

Russell’s Wagon Wheel is a Treat for Chigs

Date: May 17, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell maintained their 100% winning start to the season thanks to a magnificent hundred from in form Russell and persistence in the field, despite the spilling of a few catches, writes Rob Orange . The day did not start well. Calling tails was, on reflection, a mistake as the coin obliged Adrian Clarke, Willingale skipper, and with not much hesitation Chigwell were inserted. Discovering that the match ball hadn’t made it to the ground added to the misery, but fortunately the home team was able to supply a ball and the match got under way. It was the first time I can remember the Willingale pitch being something other than green and Adam and Russell navigated their way through a probing opening spell of bowling, particularly from Willingale’s skipper. As our openers acclimatised the run rate rose from 3 per over and the ball was sent to various thickets surrounding the playing area. This was to prove the downfall for Adam when the match ball was lost in a massive area of brambles and the replacement ball declined to bounce, leaving him trapped in front. Still, 59 for the first wicket was a good start and Russell was well set. Nigel played some useful shots before swinging across the line and being bowled by another of the many Clarkes appearing for the opposition. Richard was promoted to number 4 which seemed a good plan as he pulled his first delivery for a boundary, but not so good when he spooned a catch to gully second ball. Aqeel was next to come and go after advancing down the track to a well flighted delivery, missing it and being easily stumped. Will, batting at six, proved a worthy partner for Russell, the pair scoring at 10 per over to push Chigwell to an impressive 235 from the 36 overs the two and a half hours of batting time allowed. During this belligerent partnership Russell cut, pulled and drove imperiously, bringing up his maiden ton for Chigwell to the acclaim and delight of his team mates by the pavilion. Virtually chanceless and characterised by a beautiful tempo it was impressive to watch. Century in the locker, Russell straight drove Adrian Clarke for a towering six and continued to bat for the team to finish on 124 not out. Will finished on 31 from only 18 balls and gave a good indication of how useful an addition to the Chigwell ranks he will be. The Willingale tea was up to its usual standard, i.e. sumptuous. Of course we are used to Wiskin Teas © now so it did not have quite the impact of former years. Bloody delicious though! With an hour followed by 20 overs the meagre allocation for Willingale to score 236, or for us to take 10 wickets I decided to open with spin (me) at one end and Gremlo at the other. After 2 or 3 balls from Gremlo Adam brought to the attention of the umpires that the ball we were using was not the original match ball or a like for like replacement. Somehow we were left with this obviously older and swollen ball which had probably sat in a boundary hedge for at least a week. Gremlo couldn’t make it swing and I couldn’t find much turn but we managed a wicket apiece, the first of which heralded the arrival of A.Joy, batting at 3. Always ready to chat, but rarely ready for the bowler Mr. Joy began to club my full toss pies to all parts of the ground. He raced to 50 (out of 61) but fortunately his batting partners proved less durable and steadily perished, 2 wickets falling to Dan’s wily spin including an excellent catch off his own bowling, and 3 to the impressive Alex, including a useful catch from yours truly. Richard was only given 2 overs (sorry Rich), this while Dan’s spinning finger was recovering from an injury sustained while taking his catch. On returning however he found Mr. Joy in excellent form and Dan never rediscovered the form of his first spell. Francois was given no chance to bat or bowl, a victim of the short format of the game. (Sorry Francois). Chigs were running out of time and as a last throw I returned to the opening attack, but from different ends. There were 3 overs to go and 3 wickets required, but then Gremlo struck, clean bowling the Willingale number 9, then, crucially, taking a caught and bowled chance from Mr. Joy who had by then recorded the second century of the match. With 2 overs to go skipper bowled at skipper and Adrian looked comfortable. From the last delivery he was determined to retain the strike, having the opinion that the number 11 would stand no chance against Gremlo. Unfortunately for Willingale he hit the ball straight to Gremlo at shortish mid-wicket and fortunately for Chigwell Gremlo’s rather effeminate throw reached me just in time to run Adrian out and seal the win for Chigwell. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833014e887a34d5970d-pi) After the match we enjoyed the beer Russell bought to mark his excellent century and marvelled at the wagon wheel courtesy of Dan’s cricket scoring app (http://www.hyperglobalmegadan.com/SqLS.htm) . It showed scoring all around the wicket, demonstrating what a good knock it was. Well done on your first century for Chigs Russell; here’s to many more.

Picturesque Chardstock

Date: June 21, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/5856589112/)

Chigwell’s Batting Goes South (Loughton)

Date: June 29, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs South Loughton Sunday 26th June The sun had its hat on for sure, writes Nigel Barfoot . We started well with Rob Allum winning the toss and consulting the team on what we should do – bat/bowl? The vote was 7/4 to bowl first which we did, with SPF 0(Richard) to SPF 50(Rob O). Gremlo started with his usual panache of in-swing with Ricardo at the other end swinging the other way. Hedge took a catch at point which kicked off a McFlurry of wickets – we got them down to about 55-6. They scored 101 in the end which was kind of us having not finished them off with our bowlers for 70 odd. They scored 101 all out. Rob A and Dave opened up the batting and we all sat back in the glorious sun watching an imperious duo of batsmen pick off the runs. Well, they got 2 runs and Dave took his Mizuno loft wedge from his caddy, chipping in for a birdie. The Highway man came to crease and looked to stay out all day – we had hours to get a tonne. Accurate bowling brought an appeal for LBW which was turned down by Will but an over later, the same ball got stuck in Nige’s LBW hole. The next wickets fell to the same bowler, mostly LBW apart from Aqeel who edged to slip. Uh-o – Romeo and Juliet, Money for Nothing – we were in Dire Straits with two drummers. Soon to be one drummer after Rallum got bowled. Rob Orange and Nick had to go out and stodge out about 3 hours of cricket. They did well but Nick flourished to gully. Rob joined the golf fraternity by chipping one straight to a fielder. Brad did well and was joined by our nuclear submarine from up north, Ricardo Hannanto, who was \#11. First ball – 4 runs. We hadn’t seen much of that and being about 35-9, it was something to cheer. Then something very strange happened – Richard blocked a ball at his stumps. Wait a minute, could he do this for a while? Could the super-boomer win it? Quite sensible, then bonkers whacking of the ball put Chigs back in contention again. 20/20 stuff now. Rich hit the ball bloody hard and got us to 60 very quickly but he was caught out being sensible, boo. Well done in the field and for the guys who saw out the accurate bowling. We’re 400% better than that though. Full scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/results.asp?seasonID=24&fromForm=1&quickSearch=season24&startDay=&startMonth=&startYear=&endDay=&endMonth=&endYear=&type=&team=)

Orsett to Provence

Date: July 04, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

The only decent weather for weeks and the whinging Poms thought it was too hot for cricket, writes Nigel Barfoot. Well we had a Kiwi and an Osbourne for company plus an army-supplied cool-bag full of necessary ingredients for a Moulin Rouge after-party. Enough hyphens? Cricket was the game and Mark was the name to start the bowling. He displayed a good front to Chigwell’s attack with carefully placed balls that tempted the swinging batsmen. Swinging the other way was Richard who surprised the oppo with balls that did something else. The sun shone and work was hard in the field – Gremlo kept bowling and eventually tickled a stump – sounds odd but it got the batsman out. Orsett had started well with sloggers but once they were out, the total to follow should have been no more than 140 – Orsett got 175 and credit to their youngsters who were very impressive in staying in and getting runs. Tea followed and was plentiful much like the random selection of music played thru the PA system. Rob A and Dave opened the batting. Dave perished for 1 without blaming the sun or the whinging Poms which is to his credit. Aqeel strode forth and looked very good when playing shots – a lot of them going straight to fielders but some of them going through and scoring runs quick. At the other end was Rob A who, without any Irn Bru, was dehydrated with a lack of ginger. It was like he had survived the Normandy landings at Omaha but then needed a drink – Rob A scored a good 50 Never the shy one, Richard swung with the gravity of Jupiter but missed, everything, we all thought, but then Richard smashed 20/20 balls in a timed match, through the roof at one point, in Provence. 2x50s – Rallum and Hannanto – 12 overs each by Mark and Robbie O – Amazing C&B by Grem – Good to win guys – S&H

Guess Who’s Back…

Date: July 22, 2011

Author: Rob Allum

James’s contribution to Chigwell’s run tally continues… x (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833014e8a0c33b8970d-pi)

Winter Nets

Date: November 15, 2011

Author: Nick Allum

Nets will begin at Forest School on Tuesday 3rd January from 9.00pm – 10.00pm. We have one lane, and sessions will continue each Tuesday until the end of April. That’s the only cricketing news at the moment, as we slide into bleak winter. More information on social events to come soon.

2012 Fixtures!

Date: March 18, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

The fixture list for 2012 (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) is now published. The first three matches are league skirmishes, beginning on 22nd April against Mayfield. So let’s exhume those old spikes from the bottom of the wardrobe, oil up and get ready to perform. Oo-err missus….!

Rain

Date: April 23, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Our first match, away against Mayfield, was cancelled due to the wet weather. On the plus side, each side receives 8 points, under the new league regulations (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/meil/laws-and-playing-conditions.html) .

More rain

Date: May 04, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Last week’s league match against Pacific was cancelled and so is the one this Sunday against Hadley Wood Green. That is the news.

North Weald Went West

Date: May 17, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell 167-6 North Weald 65 Chigwell won by 102 runs Full Scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11550958) Well, cricket, writes Nigel Barfoot . The waiting for mother earth to allow nuclear activity through the thin layer we call atmosphere lasted three weeks – it was sunny at last! Chigwell were put into bat which with a hot-ish day and soggy pitch looked ominous for our openers. Robbie Allum and brother of Wayne, Tom Kerr, started off proceedings. Tom faced the first ball and hit a huge-ish shot from way outside leg which caught the wind and was caught out. 135 last year and golden duck this year. Ok. Ah yes, that’s cricket. Unlucky mate. Aqeel was next to the crease and was stumped by the lack of bounce as was Rob who found it very tricky to hit the ball off the square. At this point we all though 60/70 was a total that would be ok to get to. The score crept up slowly and Aqeel lost his wicket to bring in Adamski. At this point I retired my umpire’s jacket and went to pad up which meant I stopped paying attention to our game and now paid attention to the vile football scores. Rob scored 64. Arsenal got 3, which is poor in cricket terms. Adam scored, who knows, 3.4 billion or so? We scored a very respectable 167. North Weald’s tea was full of all the proteins and nutrients most people need to play sport, except for Gremlo who needs his hit of sugar to bowl. Gremlo opened the bowling with great gusto. Owen was at the other end for a legendary spell that lasted a few more balls than a traditional over. Alex was to replace Evans above and bowled pretty well, grabbing a wicket. Gremlo straight bowled two batsmen and took a caught and bowled which was hit hard. Rob Orange bowled well but was unlucky not to nick one. Nick on the other hand didn’t buy a jug so I won’t mention his bowling. 5-for and 2 plane crashes. North Weald were a good fun team to play, with plenty of quality banter to entertain us all. It was a good day.

Switch of opposition this Sunday, 20th May

Date: May 17, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

We are now playing Maylands Green this Sunday, 20th May, at Hylands Park, Hornchurch (http://g.co/maps/333j9) (not to be confused with the one in Chelmsford that hosts the V-Festival).

French Cricket

Date: May 28, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Francois hit the winning run at the end of a dramatic chase in a low scoring match at Old Chigs against Woodford Green on Sunday. His skipper looks rather pleased too. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330168ebe3a469970c-popup) Earlier, Chigs had lost the toss on a hot Sunday afternoon but dismissed Woodford Green for 135 before enjoying a splendid Wiskin tea. After this feast, the top order batsmen failed, leaving the innings on the edge of the abyss, at 18-5. Aqeel and Nick manage to scrimp runs at the modest pace required until the last hour. Richard and Gremlo contributed some solid biffing until Francois joined Nick with a handful of overs left and nine runs needed. A pressure-relieving boundary, a brace of twos and a final scramble over the finish line meant that Chigs next week begin their belated league campaign unbeaten. Allez! Scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11466717)

Rain Men

Date: June 07, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Just in case we play, here are the teamsheets for the weekend. West Country Tour 2012 (.pdf) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/files/chigwell-cricket-club-tour-2012.pdf) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301761518792c970c-pi)

Chigwell Cricket Club in Weather Forecast Shock

Date: July 13, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Whatever next? (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301676876b28a970b-pi)

Change of venue

Date: July 21, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

The match against Coopersale tomorrow (Sunday 22nd) is now taking place at Old Chigs. Coopersale’s ground is still unserviceable after much rain.

Two games this weekend

Date: August 24, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Two games are taking place this weekend. A league (http://meil.play-cricket.com/leagueTables/divisionTable.asp?id=10057814&seasonid=25) match against Old Parks at Old Chigs on Sunday and the Imran Memorial Match on Monday is being played at Buckhurst Hill Cricket Club (http://buckhursthill.hitscricket.com/location/default.aspx) , Roding Lane. The weather doesn’t look too bad either.

This Sunday’s Match

Date: September 05, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

We are playing Galleywood (http://galleywoodcc.play-cricket.com/home/aboutUs.asp) away on Sunday 9th September. Their ground (https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=galleywood+cricket+club&hl=en&ll=51.704398,0.465197&spn=0.002653,0.008256&sll=51.702118,0.465057&sspn=0.010612,0.033023&t=h&hq=cricket+club&hnear=Galleywood,+Essex,+United+Kingdom&fll=51.704607,0.465031&fspn=0.002653,0.008256&z=18) is at Slades Lane, Galleywood.

Essex Cricket And Beer

Date: September 09, 2012

Author: Nick Allum

Galleywood 210-5 Chigwell 213-4 Rob Allum 67 Gremlo 76 (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330177449e6aa8970d-pi)

Nets

Date: January 05, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Nets have begun. Wednesdays, 9 ’til 10 at Forest School (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=51.5861,0.0093&spn=0.01,0.01&q=51.5861,0.0093 (Forest%20School%20%28Walthamstow%29)&t=h) . Aqeel and Nick turned out last Wednesday.

2013 Fixtures Published

Date: March 11, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

The fixture list (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) for our 25th season (1988-2013 – 25 Glorious Years) is now available. Nets continue at Forest School on Wednesdays from 9 ’til 10. There is a pre-season drink and meal at the Cuckfield (http://www.thecuckfieldwanstead.co.uk/) in Wanstead on Thursday 28th March (the day before Good Friday). That is the Chigwell news.

New Old Chigs 2013

Date: April 14, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833017d42ca06af970c-pi)

25 Glorious Years of Chigwell Cricket Club

Date: April 18, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

We open the 2013 season celebrating our 25th year. Who would have thought that those tennis ball matches in the garden (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/about.html) would lead to a quarter century of cricketing fun including 23 tours – to Sussex, Devon and Dorset, with the 24th planned for Spain this October? In recognition of these fabulous achievements we have produced a very special 25th anniversary cap,which is available to members for just £25. That is just one pound per year! Please pay in cash or by bank transfer to the club account. No one will be issued with a cap before paying!! (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301901b6014f1970b-popup) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833017d42e93216970c-popup) (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301901b6014f1970b-popup)

Pacific? More like the Arctic

Date: April 30, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

A thrilling scores level draw is becoming the norm for games against league rivals Pacific, writes Rob Orange . Following their agonising nearly-but-not-quite effort in the probable “title decider” last season, Pacific will take more from the draw on this occasion, scoring more points and having been staring down the barrel when Chigs needed 2 to win from the final over with 2 wickets in hand. Chigwell won the toss and took to the field a man and an opening bowler light as Dave was struggling through traffic, having turned up at the wrong ground. In a game of such tight margins being a man down for half an hour was probably the single biggest difference between a draw and a victory. Rich bowled well and took his 2 wickets in successive balls to finish with 2 for 46. Umpire Fred raised his finger for the second of those, despite the batsman claiming he had edged the ball into his pads. (In the umpire’s defence no one on our side noticed what must have been a thin touch). Alex couldn’t get his radar going and conceded a fair few wides before being replaced by Nick, who bowled well despite a short legside boundary. A couple of difficult chances were spilled off his bowling, and – as these thing often go – he was then punished with a couple of maximums in his final over. Skipper Rob O replaced Rich and was surprised but delighted when Mr. Webley chipped one to Dave in the covers to end his firecracker innings on 44. A great catch by Rich gave Rob his second wicket and with Dave now allowed to bowl and chipping in with a wicket, things were looking rosy before a well timed knock from Mr. Gleadow (42) ensured that Pacific reached a very respectable 217 for 8. The last 2 balls of the innings involved a badly missed run out and a dropped catch by the skipper, costing Chigwell a bowling point and a crucial run or two. Ah well After tea, during which a batting order was finally thrashed out, Chigs got off to a very shaky start with Aqeel departing LBW and Dave unexpectedly missing a full toss to leave us on 14 for 2. Will – who has opened in both games now – and Russell then constructed the main partnership of the innings, a magnificent stand of 91 before Chassaud claimed them both in quick succession in an eventful 3 over spell of 2-29. Will made an excellent 44, Russell an equally attractive 50. Rich and Nigel were next up, Nigel looking comfortable before getting a good away swinger to depart for 9. Richard made 34 very quick runs before falling to the catch of the day in the deep. This quick scoring enabled Nick and Jonathan to set themselves at the crease before pressing the accelerator as the innings neared its climax. Jon hit successive boundaries to swing the game in Chigwell’s favour. Sharply run singles kept things ticking over until a direct hit run out ended Nick’s innings (17) with Chigwell 7 runs short of victory. Jonathan managed a 4 and a single to leave Chigwell in the envious position of needing 2 to win from the last over with 2 wickets in hand. Pacific changed the bowler for this last over and were extremely fortunate that his first ball was not given wide. It surely would have been at any other stage of the game, it being outside the return crease. 2 balls later Jon feathered a catch to the gleeful keeper and suddenly Chigwell were 1 run behind with 9 wickets down. Alex saw 2 balls scuttle through, evading his bat, but managed a single off the last ball to leave a wonderful game drawn with the scores level. Analysis of the scorebook after the game had Chigwell at 218, and the score for Pacific not reaching 217 by batting or by bowling, but without official scorers the book rarely adds up, so no problem with accepting that a really great game ended with honours even. It is to be hoped that when the teams next meet on September 1st we enjoy similarly exciting cricket. And a significantly higher temperature, it was bloody freezing! Full scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11752885)

Chigwell Carrion Dismembered By Crows

Date: May 07, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell lost on Sunday to a very strong Wandering Crows (http://wanderingcrows.hitscricket.com/) XI. Everyone had a splendid time in the sunshine and the game was played in excellent spirit. Linda’s teas went down a storm with opposition and home team alike. The pitch played well too. Shame we couldn’t manage more than 138 on it – but never mind. A very entertaining match report (http://wanderingcrows.hitscricket.com/scorecard/fixtureID_309396/1st-XI-v-Chigwell-CC-05-May-2013.aspx) can be found on the Crows’ website. Full scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11788041)

League Founders XI vs South Loughton Today

Date: July 05, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

A Middlesex and Essex League Founders XI is playing South Loughton in their 75th Anniversary Cricket Week at Roding Road this afternoon, Friday 5th July, starting at 2.00pm. Please come along after work to catch the finish and drink their barrel of Doom Bar. The league team is: Rob Allum Ren Bhairo Ray Victor James Fitzgerald + Richard Hannant Mike Steele Jonathan Steele Sarj Patel Sam Oestreicher Rob Orange Nick Allum \*

Draw against 64

Date: July 12, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Summer threatened to come along last Sunday and it did, writes Nigel Barfoot . Chigwell warmed up with a chill down of whatever liquid was available. Luckily anti-freeze has been banned for human consumption. Pernod was still allowed. Chigwell started bowling at a 64CC XI replete with old friends (Adders, Stiff, JT, Bolsy and more). Gremlo passed on the usual jumper-fetish. At the other end was Ricardo who could never turn his collar up at that invitation. He wanted a better tan. The batsmen started well and continued to score a fair few runs until they stopped at 242. Fielding was hard work. Rob O took a one handed catch which brought the cries of – show off! Nope, he’s got a broken hand. Chigwell came out to bat with Francois and Will. Francois was caught out early. A collapse happened but, then, Gremlo arrived without a jumper or tiffin. The guy managed to put on a few runs with Prof N Allum and we looked in the race again. Gremlo fell for 80 which was a decent score. Rob Orange stepped up to the plate and hit a lot of balls including a massive six. Nick was positive with grace all the way through and hit some great shots. We finished 25 short of winning and two wickets short of losing. Gremlo – 80, Nick Allum 51, Rob Orange – 36. Scorecard here (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11816691) .

Marathon Session Ends in a Draw

Date: August 14, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs Hadley Wood Green 11/8/13 Chigs lost the toss, writes Dave Colwill . Will hit 2 nice fours but left an incutter. Rob wished there was DRS. Russ and Dave put on a few before a very honest decision saw Russ LBW. Dave and Jonathan put on close to 100, until Jonathan could run no more and Dave brought up tonne No.2 for ’13. Chigs declared at 206/3 off 29.4 at a rate of 6.95 on what was a good batting wicket. HWG openers prodded around for a while. Many LBW shouts, and two bowleds later, the ocker brothers came into the attack and picked up two each, Jonathan taking two good catches. The game then meandered for some 20 overs with HWG only losing a wicket and got to the last 5 overs still with 3 in hand, and a win in sight. Despite giving back 60 overs, Chigs still offered generous fields and run scoring opps but only one of the batsmen was interested, and even then, only every 2nd over. Last over HWG held on for a draw 9 down and looked delighted with the result. Jugs were bought and the mosquitos feasted as the sun went down. An interesting game that had everyone confused at times. Scorecard (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=11752867)

Rained Off

Date: September 14, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Sunday’s match (15th Sept) against Gidea Park & Romford has been cancelled because of rain.

Stevenson Wins Glittering Prize

Date: October 19, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec168833019b002351ab970c-pi) Jonathan Stevenson has won the 2013 President’s Cup. Honourable mentions also went to Will McFarlane and Dave Colwill (who also was awarded the Champagne Moment for his boundary to bring up his century and a big win vs Old Parks). Jonathan scored more than 400 runs and bagged a string of wicket-keeping dismissals. Tim Hall presented the coveted prize at last night’s Annual Dinner, at Bodean’s Restaurant, Tower Hill. Jonathan made what is widely regarded as one of the finest acceptance speeches in 25 years of Chigwell Cricket Club. No one can remember now what he said, but he stood on a chair to say it.

Sun Goes Down on Old Chigs for 2013

Date: November 03, 2013

Author: Nick Allum

Nice photo and frame of the team from the last home match of the 2013 season from Dave Colwill. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/10646948455/)

2014 Fixtures

Date: April 07, 2014

Author: Nick Allum

The new season is nearly upon us. The fixtures list (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) is now available. First up is Mayfield on Easter Sunday, 20th April.

Chigwell lose at Highgate Wood

Date: April 28, 2014

Author: Nick Allum

Chigwell vs Black Rose at Highgate Wood, 27/4/14 We lost a low scoring match on a damp pitch ( skipper Rob writes ). We scored 165 (Nigel top-scoring on 38) and they chased it down emphatically. We bowled pretty well though – but just couldnt hold them. Six points to us, giving us fourteen points in total after two league matches.

2015 Season

Date: April 07, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

The new season is just around the corner. Here’s looking forward to a happy and successful 2015 for all. Get your availabilities in early and get involved 🙂 R.x

Fixures published

Date: April 09, 2015

Author: Nick Allum

Here they are (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) . We may or may not get a fixture for 19th April. More information nearer the time.

First league match looms

Date: April 21, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

Enjoyable start to the season on Sunday v F&H. So now we move onwards to our first league match this week v Black Rose. Don’t forget that we have two remaining net sessions at Forest booked and paid for so hopefully we’ll have a good turn out. See Y’all soon 🙂 R.x

Early Season Update

Date: May 11, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

Hi Everyone, We’ve had a very enjoyable start to the season so far. We’ve now had 4 matches; a limited overs friendly v F&H at their place. We came second but not by much! Then into the first league match at Black Rose of Highgate. Draw 5 points. Decent bunch of guys but they really need to sort their catering out;-) We then had our first home match at Old Chigs with a seamless changeover from Linda to our new tea girl, Kizzi. Tiffin was taken and all were happy… We also swept Coopersale up as heartily as we did the tea and won with 8 balls to spare with Richard smashing a debut ton off about 3 balls. Tonkington Village!! Drinks and curries were taken later on and all was grand. Yesterday we arrived at Havering Atte Bower for the first time. Great ground overlooking the Thames estuary from on high. Remarkable, as I had no idea how we got that high up without noticing… Anyway, they proved to be a nice bunch of guys who delivered an awesomely abundant tea and a positive brand of Sunday 40 over cricket. We had more edges behind the wicket in this game than we did all last season combined! We dropped a few and caught a few but everything turned out well as we cruised to a win after the aforementioned tea with Daniel in control bringing the batters in to land (our excellent bowling unit having set up the win). Some beer and some entertaining darts and pool finished off the evening very nicely. Look forward to playing over there again next year. Okay, that’s it for now folks, apart from a reminder that the next home match is the bank holiday weekend so we will have a social that night… Any suggestions welcome but maybe the Cuckfield or George might work as we can get some food there as well as Hefewiezen 😉 Be seeing you… R.x

Monday Catch-up

Date: May 25, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301b8d119b1ba970c-pi) After last weeks great tight match with Willingale (a hard won Chigs win) We moved onto this weeks home fixture v a new oppo – Roving Reporters – a great buch of guys and very sociable. RR batted first and scored 218 declared. Good tight bowling (as has been the theme of this whole season so far) from all Chigs bowlers. Marlon, Richard, Nick, Alex, Lewis, Adrian all bowled very well picking up wickets against what was a strong looking RR line-up. For me, Roger was the toppermost of our bowlers on excellent form.. best I’ve seen him for ages. A superb tea was produced by Kizzi – Phenomenal millionaires shortbread, choc brownies, rocky road etc all home made and dangerously good 😉 After tea our batting was largely Marlon (80) and I (98). A little wobble near the end to keep things interesting as a few wickets tumbled meant some late innings nerves from yours truly, but we got over the line with Rich and Nav sensibly doing the job. Excellent beers and social was enjoyed, followed by further fun back at the Nightingale with a sociable line-up of characters…. and shots! Happy Days 🙂

A chill wind and damp start compound Chigs disappointment at Ally Pally

Date: June 02, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

Chigs day out at Alexandra Park v Pacific was a disappointing affair for the visitors. We had a delayed start due to rainy conditions and we lost the toss. Were duly inserted. I fell early (chopping on) and the rot had sadly started there… We lost wickets regularly with no one digging in and making an innings of any note other than another decent innings from Boom Boom Hannant (a quickfire 38 or thereabouts?) to continue his good season with the bat so far. Chigwell all out for 124 so not even a batting point. Serious under-achievement from the Chigs batting unit :'( After an okay tea (French Fancy-gate) we went out to bowl knowing we needed desperately to hang on to any chance that came our way. Mark bowled extremely well to the Aussie overseas but to no avail as a difficult early chance gloved behind ultimately didn’t stick. Another gloved chance later on went down too but by that time it was already probably too late. Robbie O grabbed a couple of late wickets and Tom nabbed one also, meaning that at least we didn’t end up pointless… scant consolation in a very disappointed dressing room. Onwards and upwards, Chaps! R.x

Abridge This Sunday

Date: June 09, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

There is a change to the previously advertised fixture this Sunday, as we welcome Abridge CC to Old Chigs for the first time. 1:30pm start or thereabouts. R.x

2nd in the league.

Date: July 30, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

We’re all to play for in the Sunday league as we’re currently in 2nd position… keep going well, Chigs! R.x

Change of Oppo 2nd August

Date: July 30, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

Hi Chaps, We have a change of oppo this coming Sunday with a fixture at Harlow CC. Last time I played at this ground early this season I ended up with a smashed window on my trusty red Golf… I won’t be parking there again 😉 R.x

STATUS: Publish

Date: September 29, 2015

Author: Rob Allum

Our big hitting all-rounder shows us the secret of his success… and all this time we thought it was Guinness.

2016 Fixtures Published

Date: April 03, 2016

Author: Nick Allum

The fixture list for the upcoming season is now online (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) . Our first match is on 17th April vs Gidea Park and Romford at Gallows Corner. Woo!

League website updates

Date: April 03, 2016

Author: Nick Allum

The Middlesex and Essex Invitation League website (http://www.middlesexandessexleague.org.uk/) has been updated with the complete fixture list for 2016, as well as updated playing conditions. The only significant difference to previous years is that all league games will begin at 1pm with last hour starting at 5.30pm. More time for everyone to patronise Rusty’s Bar.

The Nightingale Wanstead

Date: April 06, 2016

Author: Rob Allum

Our new sponsors – The finest pub in East London. Period. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301b7c82f5840970b-pi)

Abandoned match, Caribbean tea. Yum!!

Date: August 14, 2016

Author: Rob Allum

(http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301bb092a443f970d-pi)

2017 Season

Date: March 25, 2017

Author: Nick Allum

A toast to the coming season from some of the Chigs glitterati. (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec16883301b8d26e7c3f970c-popup) The fixture list is out (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) . Also some slightly modified Middlesex and Essex League playing conditions for members to study (particularly those with a proclivity for late arrival at matches) are now on the league website (http://www.middlesexandessexleague.org.uk) , along with the full league fixture list.

A Tribute to Brad Davis

Date: July 09, 2017

Author: Nick Allum

(https://www.flickr.com/photos/chigwellcc/4682138554/) One of our oldest and dearest friends, Brad Davis, died last month. Brad was a Chigwell founder-member and purveyor of the slowest non-spinning bowling on record. We are staging a memorial match for Brad on Sunday 16th July at Old Chigs. All welcome to come along and celebrate Brad’s life and unique batting stance.

2018 fixtures!

Date: March 30, 2018

Author: Nick Allum

The fixture list for the 2018 season (aka the ’30 glorious years’ season) is now live (http://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) . Woop!

Exhume your flannels

Date: December 30, 2018

Author: Nick Allum

Winter nets are starting on Wednesday 2nd January at Sylvestrian Leisure Centre (https://www.sylvestrian-leisure.co.uk/) , aka Forest School. So get your whites out of the garage/cupboard/garden shed and come along between 21.00 and 22.00 each Wednesday night between now and the end of April. We are always on the look-out for new players so please send an email or just turn up at a net session.

Fixtures published!

Date: April 11, 2019

Author: Nick Allum

With little over a week until the curtain-raiser with Ardleigh Green & Havering-atte-Bower on 21st April, the fixture list is finally published (https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) .

Chigs vs Galleywood, 12/5/2019

Date: May 14, 2019

Author: Nick Allum

Report by Dan ‘Scoop’ Lewis Form Guide: We came 4 runs short of our chase against Galleywood last year – was history going to repeat itself? Location: Slades Lane (https://www.google.com/maps/place/Galleywood+Cricket+Club/@51.7040871,0.4648309,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xc99bfb1c63bd67a9?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiF34m29ZriAhWCUhUIHTAXDKwQ_BIwJXoECCUQCA) , Galleywood Format: Timed game. Toss: Chigwell, opted to field. Outfield: Hedgy. Weather: Pleasant if cool. Result: Scores level draw Galleywood: 197-9 dec (38 overs), C Murray 64, Z Hicks 41, P Woods 40, R Hannant 6-0-26-3, N Allum 9-2-28-3 Chigwell: 197-9 (40 overs), D Lewis 39, R Allum 38, R Orange 35, S Wicks 3-0-26-2, D Walton 9-1-33-2 Link to full Scorecard: http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/website/results/4048624 (http://chigwell.play-cricket.com/website/results/4048624) Galleywood started strongly with Murray hitting a number of (mis-timed!) one bounce fours. He was eventually undone by Rob O’s ‘flipper’. Hitchcock fell to a curious dropped-catch/stumping innovation behind the stumps. Woods helped up the pace until he was felled by Ade’s slower ball. Hicks renewed the attack as wickets fell around him until Hutchinson cleaned him up and the tail stodged a few overs before the declaration. With Nav (ankle) and Owen (life) injured it looked like Chigs were starting with 2 already back in the Pavilion. R Allum and Hutchinson kicked things off, Mark racing off to a run a ball 29, dismissed top-edging to the keeper. Rob (38 off 72) remained stoic as Abbas, Nick and Rich (S/R 200) came and went. Lewis (39 of 31 balls) and Orange (35\* at a run a ball) put on a partnership of 62, before, at 183-6, Lewis holed out to Long Off to set up a tantalising conclusion. With 13 required off the last 3 overs the tail failed to wag (Evans and Clunes all registered blobs). Nav, with his badly twisted ankle, limped out, pads over jeans, and hobbled through for a single leaving Rob O needing 5 to win off two balls. A dot and a four (piercing a packed leg-side field) lead to a scores-level draw in a thrilling game of timed cricket. Notes on Opposition: Felt like a Under 15/Over 40 game, although a little closer to Under 18/Over 60. The youngsters provided the bulk of the runs, the elders bowled awkward nagging lines on a slow and low pitch. Social: Galleywood has a nice bar in nice surroundings. Shame this reporter had to rush off to see his fictional girlfriend. Images: Rob A after his pre-match warm-up. [Image: image.png] https://groups.google.com/group/chigwellcricketclub/attach/204e0690d3cd7/image.png?part=0.3&view=1&authuser=0 Gremlo “back in natural territory” and the Gidea Park Predator [Image: image.png] https://groups.google.com/group/chigwellcricketclub/attach/204e0690d3cd7/image.png?part=0.4&view=1&authuser=0 Abbas in full flow. [Image: image.png] https://groups.google.com/group/chigwellcricketclub/attach/204e0690d3cd7/image.png?part=0.5&view=1&authuser=0 WhatsApp highlights: Owen: “I’ll be there. I might be a bit tired.” Ade: “Who said Dads Army? ??” Dan: “When you tie a game you end up with so many coulda, woulda’s. You can always find that one run somewhere…” Personal Highlight: The look of fear on James face as a high catch came his way: [Image: James at Galleywood.gif] https://groups.google.com/group/chigwellcricketclub/attach/204e0690d3cd7/James%20at%20Galleywood.gif?part=0.6&view=1&authuser=0

Winter nets in full swing

Date: February 23, 2020

Author: Nick Allum

(https://images.app.goo.gl/5GmHW5pGxCyjpyBYA) Nets take place at Sylvestrian Leisure Centre (https://goo.gl/maps/DbXGDS6i13npC1J59) (Forest School) every Wednesday evening from 21.00-22.00. New members welcome! Please contact captain Rob Allum if you would like to come along. captain@chigwellcricketclub.com (mailto:%20captain@chigwellcricketclub.com)

Update

Date: May 21, 2020

Author: Nick Allum

These are melancholy times for cricketers everywhere, and Chigs members are grieving the tragic waste of some of the most spectacular and sustained fine spring weather we have had for some years. We were looking forward to working closely with our friends at Fives & Heronians (https://fivesandheronianscc.hitscricket.com/) playing our Sunday games at their beautiful ground, the Paddock (https://fivesandheronianscc.hitscricket.com/location/default.aspx) , although this will need to wait a little longer than we had anticipated. We are hopeful, although perhaps not optimistic, that at least some cricket may be able to take place later in the year. There is no immediate prospect of matches restarting until at least July 1st but the committee is monitoring the ECB guidance and taking regular part in discussions with other clubs and leagues. If there comes a time this summer when cricket can restart, we will be ready to recommence – with appropriate measures in place. In other news, skipper Rob Allum is on the wireless this evening on the splendid 98 Not Out (https://www.phoenixfm.com/category/98notout/) cricket show on Brentwood’s Phoenix 98FM Radio (https://www.phoenixfm.com/) . The show starts at 18.00 and Rob is on at around 19.00 – talking about cricket, music and other assorted nonsense.

Cricket restarts

Date: July 12, 2020

Author: Nick Allum

Our season is finally getting underway with a game at The Paddock vs Fives & Heronians on 12th July. The pavilion has been adapted for distancing and we are following the ECB guidelines (https://resources.ecb.co.uk/ecb/document/2020/07/09/f20adb12-c1d2-4cdc-b2e3-80b0c7873fe4/ECB_return_to_cricket_plan_for_step_4_July_2020.pdf) for play. Please check the fixture list (https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) for any changes to our schedule of matches.

STATUS: Publish

Date: July 12, 2020

Author: Nick Allum

(https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55374ec1688330263e955fc75200b-pi) Summer has begun….

2021 Fixtures

Date: January 12, 2021

Author: Nick Allum

The new fixture list (https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) has been published. Let’s hope we get started before July this year.

New Season

Date: April 13, 2021

Author: Nick Allum

Our first match is this Sunday, 18th April, against Ardleigh Green and Havering-Atte-Bower at HAB’s ground next to the water tower (https://www.google.com/maps/@51.6159274,0.1854823,632m/data=!3m1!1e3) . Great to be starting the season on time this year.

Time cricket at Chigs

Date: April 05, 2022

Author: Nick Allum

For teams playing us at home: see our new guide to time cricket at Chigwell (https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/time-cricket-at-chigwell.html) to see how it works if you are not so familiar with the traditional form of the game. Fixtures published here (https://chigwellcricketclub.typepad.com/chigwell/fixtures.html) for the 2022 season!