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Sunday: Denham Cricket Tour 2006

July 2006

James Nicholas's Report: Almost A Clean Sweep

Denham's tour began with a game against Shanklin. Shanklin batted first and were soon a wicket down as Jeff Simpson forced an edge with his first ball. However Shanklin were still able to score a commanding 226/5 from their 40 overs. Lucy was the main contributor scoring 100 and Hall also made 50*. James Nicholas took 3 wickets at the end of the innings for Denham. In an exciting run chase Flash scored his first half-century of the season as did Joe O'Hara. No-one else made over 20 but everyone seemed to chip in with something and this was enough to take Denham to victory with 2 overs to spare. Shot of the day (and tour) was undoubtably Jack Grover's six over extra cover which bounced through the open pavillion french windows. A diving Bobby Rai just managed to save the lives of two elderly pensioners sitting directly in line with the on-coming ball!

After a good evening's swill, Denham made the short trip to Ryde for their second game. In blisteringly hot weather, a strong Ryde side rattled up 244/5. This could have been more had James not taken an excellent catch on the mid-wicket boundary to remove the dangerous number 6 batsman who will remain nameless as I can't read the writing in the score book. Joe was the pick of the bowlers taking 3-35. An excellent start was made by Denham thanks to Akhil (22) and Flash who made another 50. Jack went for just 6, but this brought Russell to the crease. He was looking in fine form and kept the run rate going. However Denham lost both Pete Schembri (7) and Bully (18) and were still a long way from their target when James joined Russell at the wicket. Eight an over was required from the last 10. Both batsmen played beautifully in a brilliant run-chase against the best bowlers Ryde had to offer. Russell (108*) reached his hundred and also hit the winning runs as Denham reached their target with 8 balls of the game remaining. James finished on 26*. The victory was rounded off with a nice barbecue, kindly put on by the hosts. But even more satisfying was the comment that was heard from one of their players as we were leaving: 'How on earth did we lose to that lot!' COME ON DENHAM!! Played 2, won 2.

Day three saw Denham travel to Braiding for a 20 over game played on the site of the infamous 'Buckingham in a Ditch' incident of 2001. Although you could no longer get down the ditch as it had overgrown, there were plenty of craters and cracks in the outfield to cause enough problem for a fielder not looking where he was going. This reporter's size 11 cricket shoe could actually fit inside one of these many canyons, which goes some way to explaining their vastness! Anyway, someone didn't copy the scorebook up properly so I'll have to go by memory as to what occurred. 'That would never have happened if I was on tour,' Phil Dickson said. It looks as though Braiding got about 100-120 from their 20 overs. I remember Joe O'Hara knocked a stump out of the ground and may have taken 3 wickets in all, and I think Flash may have had a bowl. Denham won the game comfortably with Bobby Rai scoring 51 not out and Martin Keneely playing well for a surprising and entertaining 36 not out. The best memory of all however was the tea afterwards. A fabulous spread included freshly made Bombay Aloo along with a range of excitingly filled wraps. And these were just some of the culinary delights that Braiding had to offer. Well inside the top 5 teas that Russell had ever had. High praise indeed. Apologies to the tea lady whom I told would get a mention on our website much earlier than she has done. Lets hope you do get to read this. Not the best game of cricket but a first rate tea. Well done Braiding! And well done Denham. Played 3, Won 3.

The heaviest night of the tour followed and many members of the already small squad were feeling worse for wear. Jeff Simpson was unable even to make the trip to Plessy, stating that he would 'never be drinking with Mr Nicholas again.' A previous night's diet of gin, beer, port and sambucca being too much for him. To be fair it was probably too much for Mr Nicholas as well. He opened the batting and was soon out for a three-ball 2. He could easily have been out caught on each of the other balls he faced but was spared by poor fielding. Bobby Rai made another half century as did Russell as Denham made 205/9 from their allotted overs. James redeemed himself with a good opening spell of bowling taking 1-27 from 7 overs. Joe took another two wickets and so did Akhil and Bobby. Russell was the pick of the bowlers and took three wickets as Plessy crumbled to 165 all out. A huge electrical storm accompanied the singing on the team bus back to Ryde, as Denham celebrated after improving their record to 4 out of 4.

The following day, a depleted and tired side took to the field against Ryde Cavaliers. Four members of the squad had left, leaving the remaining 9 plus The Prof to contest the final game. Denham bowled the Cavaliers out for 172. Joe, Jack and Russell all took 2 wickets each. Bobby took 3. Denham were cruising to victory after a fine century from Russell, but with 13 to win and 5 wickets remaining Denham collapsed to lose by 3 runs and just miss out on a perfect record of 5 games and 5 wins.

Russell was the batsman of the tour and Joe the bowler, but it was an excellent team effort considering the lack of numbers.