Match Reports 2011

Sunday 18 September

Club XI v Eastonians

Eastonians 184 – 8 (37.4) J.Moxham 2/23, D.Malleson 2/26, P.White 2/37, C.White 1/8

North Enfield 186 – 7 (36.4) J.Moxham 60, D.Sanders 26, D.Malleson 25*, D.Armstrong 21

Probably the most exciting game of the season against long-time opponents Eastonians, the return fixture from May. The contrast in weather conditions could not have been more different – hot and dry in May, dank and damp (and dark!) for this one. However, we got underway just about on time and in the second over a terrific catch from Graeme Brown at gully brought a wicket for Mally, followed not long afterwards by another catch from Peter at point. 2 for 20 something, with Del bowling economically at the other end. However, Eastonians skipper Geoff made good progress on his way to an excellent 71, but the game never went really away from us even with a quick 50 from Matt Dilworth, before being bowled by Peter. Moxy came on at the Fallow Buck end and picked up 2 wickets in 5 overs, which kept a score of under 200 on the cards. 3 overs from Charlie brought him another wicket, bowled  the number 6 through the gate. Joe and Darren struggled with length and line, but overall a decent effort.

The rain started as we went off for Tea (which was wonderful – thanks to Barbara, we really appreciate it). So we put the cover on which turned out to be a good move, as the light rain fell throughout the break but we managed to get underway again with only a short delay. An opening partnership of 40 from Delboy and Mr A was exactly what was needed, as the Eastonian bowlers found the damp ball hard to control. Nevertheless, Del fell for a rapid 26, and number 3 Chris Downie making his first (of many, hopefully) appearance for the club, and first game in 4 years played some lovely shots before getting out to a spectacular catch at gully, one of 5 taken by the same fielder. Graeme was momentarily blinded by the sun on one of its rare appearances and got bowled, but Moxy and Dan Vann (14) put on a very solid partnership and kept things ticking along. Dan fell to Matt Dilworth with around 60 required from 13 overs. Moxy played some lovely shots – drives and pulls and reached his 3^rd 50 of the year, and in doing so sealed the batting averages (baring some improbably score from somebody in next week’s game). He added another 10 to his score before falling to Geoff for an excellent 60. By this stage the run rate had gone up to over 6 an over, and solid over for just 1 conceded increased the tension. All 3 results were definetley possibly. A boundary for Peter from his first ball gave some hope, and by the start of the penultimate over, 18 were needed to win. Pete cracked a lovely four through mid on, and then ran a 2, plus another couple of byes and single to give Mally the strike for the final over. By this stage it was more than gloomy, and some great banter about ‘’obviously your floodlights are the retractable kind aren’t they’’ produced a good laugh. 9 needed from 6 balls…dot ball…followed by a big swing for 6. another dot ball, and then another legside swipe went for 4. a great game of cricket for both sides, and to have it go down to the last over still with all 3 results possible was fantastic. Eastonians proved to be a great opposition off the field too – cheers lads.

Sunday 11 September 

North Enfield Chairman’s XI v North Enfield Club XI 

Club XI 206 – 5 (40.0)   

Chairman’s XI 210 – 5 (38.3)  

The celebration of North Enfield’s century and a quarter (and, incidentally, the 82^nd birthday of our President, Alan Wood) took place after the original July date had to be postponed due to poor weather. Things were not looking all that encouraging the day before with rain forecast, but the skies cleared for all but the final part of the day. The Club XI skippered by Kieran Jones batted first, and after a slightly shaky position at 20-odd for 3, Delboy taking 3/14, and 1/30 from the Colonel, recovered to post a decent 200+, the bulk a superb knock of 129 from the skipper, but well supported by Gillers and Simon le Bon. Darren’s 0* from no balls in the last over was also a highlight for the spectators, which by Tea filled the pavilion and the temporary grandstand in front of the lavender bushes… 

A sumptuous Tea provided by Anna followed, and then the presentations. Firstly, a magnificent cake in the form of a replica of the Strayfield Road ground was presented to Alan, followed by 125^th anniversary ties to the assembled Life Members and Vice Presidents by Alan and James – Bob White, Dave Etteridge, Anna Drummond, Gary Orton, Richard Sanders, Tony Bishop, Dave Gandy, Mike Hall, and Mike Hislop.  

The second innings began under somewhat more gloomy conditions, as a solid opening stand between Malcolm and Stuart, which the opening and first change bowlers found tough to break down. It came down to Pete and Richard to make the breakthroughs, but the runs kept coming from Steve G despite some solid overs which kept the run rate down. Mally snared Steve caught behind to sharp catch from Ralph to leave things pretty tight, but Del finished it off with a huge straight 6 off Alex Williams in the penultimate over. 

After the post-match BBQ, the man of the match award was presented to Kieran for his knock and in the finest North Enfield tradition, a good few pints were sunk into the evening. 

Thank you to everybody that helped make the day happen – umpires Alan Jones and Tony Bishop, Bob White for scoring, Anna Drummond (and Clare) for preparing a lovely Tea, Richard and Del Sanders for many hours of work on the wicket and to everyone who played, spectated and drank beer afterwards. It was a great day in the Club’s history.

Sunday 4 September

Club XI v Nazeing Common IIs

Nazeing Common 16 – 0 (4.4) RAIN

Match abandoned at 3pm after a 1pm start.

Saturday 3 September 

2nd XI v Waltham Cross Rosedale II 

Waltham X Rosedale 187 - 10 (48.0) D.Atkins 7 / 51, R.White 3 / 50 

North Enfield 189 - 5 (45.5) V.Kanumuri 58*, O.White 33, D.Armstrong 32 

The win that the 2s desperately needed (if anything just complete a game of cricket after the last two washouts) which secured Div 8 cricket for 2012. A highly effective all-round performance with bat and ball including an unbeaten 60 from Varma, contributions from Owen, and Dave Armstrong. After a steady start with the ball from Jacko and Delboy, Darren and SLB found some form and bowled unchanged, Darren taking 7 wickets in a 14 over spell and SLB the remaining 3 from 17 overs. A couple of bizarre umpiring moments included the bails been ''blown off in the wind'' when in fact the ball had rolled back off the batsman's pad and knocked them off, which to his eternal credit he accepted right away and walked off.  

The batting depth of the side meant that even with a slight wobble at the start, losing Delboy early, Mr A and Varma steadied the ship with Varma batting through to the end, supported by Owen (including a 6 which hit the garage door!). Some minor skirmishes whilst umpiring proved amusing. Apparently Mally was 'sent out to umpire again so he can call some more wides''...this in reference to a ball called wide earlier in the innings that hit the tramlines and was well beyond the batsman's reach...Mally can clarify that he resisted a second umpiring stint with the greatest possible argument...

Saturday 3 September 

1st XI v Northchurch 

North Enfield 147 - 10 (37.3) S.Gandy 39, C.Gillman 29, A.Williams 28

Northchurch 150 - 2 (28.3) K.Jones 1/24, S.Gandy 1/33

The 1st XI needed 6 points to ensure safety from relegation, ended up with 4 but other results went their way and so Div 3 cricket will be back for 2012. It has been a very tough season for the batsman. Steve G had another excellent game, finishing the season with over 500 League runs and 44 wickets, and good knocks from Gillers and BGA, but Northchurch proved too strong.

1^st XI v Botany Bay – Jack Cass Cup

Details to follow

2^nd XI v Botany Bay II – Percy Collins Cup

North Enfield 124 – 10 (34.3) V.Kanumuri 62*

Botany Bay II 64 – 10 (29.4) D.Sanders 4 / 8, J.Coningsby 3 / 9

The 2s retained the Percy Collins Cup, this year presented in person by Mr Collins’ son and daughter in person. It is also the highlight of the year to see J.Dent, Esq taking the field, and performing admirably with bat and ball. The North Enfield innings got off to a reasonable start before Del was bowled for 16. A succession of wickets fell fairly cheaply before a potentially innings-saving partnership of 46 between Varma and dead-bat Mally over the course of about 16 overs. Mally eventually fell to Mr Dent, playing across the line. The tail wagged gently, a couple of useful boundaries here and there and some singles from the Colonel, but the real star was Varma, topping 100 runs for the club over the weekend not out.

A combined Tea from Mrs Ricketts and Mrs Drummond was wolfed down, not much remained after Ricky did an impression of the Edmonton Green tower blocks with his sandwich stack. This clearly had an effect on the Bay batsman, as after 16 overs they were 19/7, a ferocious opening spell from Delboy (missing out on a hat-trick again) and some military medium from Jacko (including a peach of a slower ball to dismiss the number 3 Deano). Bay skipper Hicksy and Dave Patt managed to consolidate a bit, and then Mr Dent entered the field of play to occupy the crease and hit a couple of well time boundaries. Spencer also found time to give 2 batsman out LBW when they had big inside edges, so were called back. His judgement may have been affected by the previous night’s liquid intake, some of which threatened to appear on the boundary line in the first innings…thankfully it didn’t.

Cup retained, great tea and cheese on toast, beer and all-round good afternoon.

Mally

Saturday 27 August

1^st XI v Rickmansworth

Rickmansworth 124 - 10 (47.1)

North Enfield 125 - 3 (32.4) A.White 70*

A splendid win for the 1s, ending a run of three defeats in Div 3 and giving survival hopes a great shout. Bowling must have been good as Rickmansworth bowled out for under 130, but the performance of the day surely courtesy of Whitey batting up the order to smash a personal best of 70* and see 30 points home.

Saturday 27 August

2^nd XI v Letchworth IV

North Enfield II 155 - 6 (45.0) V.Kanumuri 45*

Letchworth IV 5 - 0 (2.0) Rain

A second consecutive rain-affected fixture which meant the side could have potentially secured Div 8 cricket 2 weeks ago. This was the 5^th rain-affected game of the season. 50 points from 5 games could have been a lot more…but on the plus side several other games played by teams around us didn’t finish either, so a few teams are in the same boat.

Sunday 21 August

Club XI v Goodwill Wanderers

Goodwill Wanders 125 – 10 (47.2) J.Murphy 4 / 17, C.McKenna 3 / 11, J.Moxham 3 / 13, D.Vanniasingham 22

North Enfield 117 – 10 (39.2) J.Moxham 52

Quite how we managed to lose this game by 8 runs takes some explaining. We got off to a fantastic start, with Ken bowling a quality opening spell, 6 overs, 3 maidens 3 for 10 inc. 2 in 2 balls. Lee backed him up with a 6 overs spell and a wicket from the pavilion end. This left Wanders 29 for 4 off 12 overs. Joe then began his spell from the bottom end…taking a career best 4 for 17 from 9 overs including 2 spectacular catches off his own bowling including Simon P (assisting the oppo). This was now 60 - odd for 8. Smithy then rolled out 6 overs for just 15, unlucky not to take a wicket with a great effort at short leg from Ken. All the while, Dan Vann (again helping the oppo who were 2 players short) was batting well and finished up on 22, before being adjudged LBW by Moxy, who then took the final wicket in the next over with a catch from Mally. 125 – very gettable. Bowling 47 overs on a hot day in two and a half hours was a great effort.

A solid start from Malcolm (13) and Garth (15) was a good foundation for a quality knock from Moxy, his second Sunday 50 of the year. Well done mate. Some reasonable efforts in the middle order partnerships from Mally (adjudged LBW for 6), Lee (bowled for 11) and Ken (bowled for 9) but not quite enough to get in range left a lot of work to do. 13 runs needed with Moxy and Ralph at the crease. Moxy runs a 2, then holes out to mid-on. Joe snicks one behind for 2, so 9 left to win. Unfortunately, as last week, our final 3 wickets fall in the same over. A real shame considering how well everyone bowled. The game was played in a great spirit throughout. 125 was very gettable, we just needed one batsman to hang around for a bit longer and get 20 or so and we would have been home.

Saturday 20 August

1^st XI v Met Police Bushey

Met Police Bushey 183 - 8 (41.0)

North Enfield 96 - 10 (30.4)

North Enfield 56 – 1 (11.5) RAIN

Sunday 14 August

Sunday Club XI v Aspenden, Standon & Puckeridge

North Enfield 149 – 10 (38.4) M.Partridge 72, J.Moxham 21

Aspenden, Standon & Puckeridge 150 – 4 (30.2) D.Malleson 2 / 13, C.White 1/ **, A.Smith 1/ 32

A batting collapse from 145/6 to 149 all out put paid to any chance of winning this game, on a slow and low pitch with next to no bounce. Malcolm and Mark got bowled by balls that barely got off the ground before Sparky and Moxy launched a recovery, taking us to 80-odd before Moxy holed out on the boundary. Jim kept finding the field with some nice shots. Mally hung around for a while, and Ken slapped a nice leg side four. But the last 3 wickets fell for no runs in the 38^th over. Not all that great…tea, however, was very good.

The opening bowler had mixed fortune, Ken continued his penchant for four-ball full tosses, despite a few good balls in there too. Smithy bowled an excellent spell, the wicket suiting his flight and the opener holed out to Sparky in the deep. Amusingly, calls of ‘’shot’’ from the boundary as the ball was hit straight at Mark…no it wasn’t was the reply…Charlie found his early overs a bit hard but eventually found his line and length, bowling the number 4 bat for a duck. An excellent stumping from Moxy behind the stumps off Mally followed, but a couple of catches went down and edges didn’t carry to leave Aspenden quite comfortable winners.

Saturday 13 August

1st XI v Stevenage II

North Enfield 150 – 9 (53.0)

Stevenage II 151 – 9 (46.5)

2^nd XI v Cockfosters III

North Enfield 245 – 7 (53.0) D.Sanders 71, D.Armstrong 58

Cockfosters 160 – 9 (47.0) I.A.Aziz 4 / 30

In many ways an excellent game for the 2s, frustrating not to be able to take 30 points rather than 19. Having lost the toss and being asked to bat, Del and Dave set the tone an opening partnership of 105, Del hitting his 3^rd consecutive League 50 in the 2s. Amusingly, the Cockfosters opening bowler having been his for 3 fours in an over to Del’s favoured leg-side ‘shot’ was overheard to say ‘what sort of a shot is that’, only to repeat the same shot when he batted himself…Dave batted solidly for 58, am excellent anchoring role. The middle of the innings slowed a bit with SLB keeping things ticking over as we passed the 200 mark, and headed towards what was going to be a decent total. A couple of good overs resulted in some boundary action, including three 6s. 245 while a good score on the short boundaries of Holtwhites’ second pitch could well be gettable.

Sunday 7^th August

Sunday XI Southgate Compton II

North Enfield 156/6 (38.0) D.Fitzgerald 63*, P.White 47, L.Hibbert 14*

Southgate Compton 116 – 10 (36.2) P.White 3 / 17, D.Malleson 2 / 10, C.McKenna 2/24, C.White 1/12

Saturday 6^th August

1^st XI v Bishop’s Stortford II

Bishop's Stortford II 173 - 8 (53.0)

North Enfield 145 - 10 (44.1)

Saturday 6^th August

2^nd XI v Northampton Exiles II

Northampton Exiles 261 – 7 (49.3) J.Moxham 3 / 19, J.Coningsby 2 / 31, D.Malleson 2 / 66

North Enfield 200 – 5 (50.0) O.White 74, R.White 40, R.Barber 31* (ret hurt)

Story of dropped catches that probably cost us this game. Hardly worth writing much about it, batting was good – OW hit some nice boundaries inc. a straight 6. SLB batted well. Ex-Chairman Barber suffered a nasty injury when he edged the ball into his face, which summed up everyone’s feelings about the game really. Jacko bowled well at the start, and Moxy took some late wickets.

Sunday 31^st July

Sunday XI v County Hall

County Hall 260/5 (40.0)

North Enfield 116/9 (40.)

A waste of time and energy against a side way too strong for our team, not helped by the antics of one of their players who strutted around the field with his shirt off, clearly imitating the gorilla house at London Zoo…if that wasn’t enough, various comments on and off the field didn’t help for a harmonious game. Gorilla Man took 4 wickets in 4 balls, which nobody really cared about. He also found time to text his mate while on the field, and take a picture of the stumps…anyway, another fixture not to renew for next year.

Saturday 30th July

1^st XI v Northampton Exiles

Northampton Exiles 165 - 10 (49.2)

North Enfield 148 - 9 (49.0)

Hatfield II 246 - 6 (48.4)

North Enfield II 186 - 9 (51.0) D.Sanders 89

2nds clung on for a draw thanks to some dogged batting at the end from Neilsy and The Colonel, set up by Delboy’s second consecutive personal best. Otherwise, not much detail emerged.

Sunday July 24

Club XI v Holtwhites IIs

North Enfield 78 / 10 (30.2) D.Sanders 15, D.Webster 13*

Holtwhites IIs 79 / 3 (13.2) L.Hibbert 2 / 22, D.Sanders 1 / 22

Not a great deal to write home about. The batting was pretty rubbish, all but 2 wickets falling to catches within the inner field. The Holtwhites bowling was pretty good, and the track a huge amount harder than what we have been used to, so the bounce took a lot of people by surprise. We had a reasonable start with the ball, they were 40-odd for 3 at one stage with a caught & bowled and a played-on from Lee, and a very low one-handed catch from Mally (to quote Ozzie “it looked like you were bending down to pick the milk up off your doorstep”), but a couple of their batsman just let fly and finished the game quickly. Rather a shame as we had a pretty decent side out. Ah well, least it wasn’t raining. And the tea was nice.

Saturday July 23

1^st XI v Hatfield

North Enfield 117-10 (40.0) B.Conway 53*

Hatfield 90 – 10 (32.2) A.White 6 / 31, K.Jones 2 / 8, S.Gandy 1 / 19, A.Andrews 1 /24

Quite an amazing result for the 1st XI. Not many teams can be 117 all out and still win. The pitch was being cut as the 1s arrived, and it turned out they had cut the wrong one and it hadn’t been rolled. Which accounted for some unusual bounce! Ben played a brilliant undefeated 53 batting at number 3, but only three other batsman just made it into double figures (Kieran 13, Alex Williams 12 and Andy White 11).

Hatfield's innings was going well at 50 / 0 when Andy White had some of the luck that he has been missing all year, picking up the batsman doing all the damage and the No3 in the same over.  Shortly after this Alex Andrew got in on the act and with a perfect in swinger, catching the No4 LBW playing no shot. The fourth and fifth wickets went down to the White/Jones (second slip) combo, in quick succession.  At this point Hatfield where 5 down with 50 to get,  NECC started to see a glimmer of hope in pulling off the win.  This looked even better when Gandy trapped the No6 LBW.  Who looked to take his frustration out on the pitch with his bat, but could have been smashing down one of the mountains in the pitch for the in coming batsman.  I say batsman, but the No7 did seem to have a fluffy tail and long ears.  After playing and missing a lot, he did catch hold of one off Andy and promptly smashed it straight to Alex Williams who caught it low to the ground.  Next came a great bowling change by Kieran "I love bowling at left handers" Jones, to bring himself in to the attack, removed the new left hander within the next few ball, followed by a caught and bowled two balls later.  This left the last wicket to be removed in the next over by Andrew White.

Great all round fielding effort by NECC to pull a win out the bag after a disappointing innings with the bat, on a particularly bad pitch!

Steve G

Saturday July 23

2^nd XI v Codicote

North Enfield II 193 – 6 (53.0) D.Sanders 85, V.Kanumuri 39, J.Coningsby 23, D.Armstrong 18

Codicote 195 – 6 (44.5) D.Sanders 4 / 66, R.Sanders 1 / 24, D.Malleson 1 / 39

14 points gained against the side placed 3^rd in the division is an excellent effort, even more so when missing SLB and Mike de Villiers from the batting line up. Codicote won the toss and put us in, and the first twenty overs or so were pretty hard work. Dave A batted very well for 18 with support from Varma, we reached 70-odd for 3 with plenty of overs in hand. Derrick began his knock slowly with some uncharacteristic defensive-ish looking shots, but once he got going the ball travelled a long way. He moved from 20 to 50 odd very quickly, and kept going with support from Jacko until he reached a new personal best of 85, including a massive 6 which vanished in the direction of the St John’s churchyard. A very lost ball…Jacko did some good moo-ing, hitting a 6 and 4 in consecutive balls. We could not quite squeeze over the 200 mark for 10 points, but 193 was an excellent return.

Tea provided by Sue Ricketts was fantastic – the oppo made a point of telling us how good it was. Thanks very much Mrs R!

The Codicote innings started slowly, with Derrick taking 3 wickets in a lengthy opening spell, including a middle-stump bowled, and super catch from Joe Murphy running in from mid-on and backed up by another economical spell from ‘Little Dick’ Lee (10 overs 2 maidens 0 for 33), who deserved a wicket. The Colonel and Mally came on first change, each taking a wicket to leave the game very much on with 4 an over still required. Jacko couldn’t make the breakthrough but a great comeback spell from Delboy, picking up his 4^th wicket still gave us a chance, bowling their skipper for a good knock of 70 odd, but we couldn’t keep the runs down despite some great fielding. But a highly credible effort – well done to everyone.

Sunday July 10

Club XI v Buckhurst Hill ‘B’

North Enfield 185 / 5 (41.3) B.Conway 78*

Buckhurst Hill 189 / 8 (35.1) Ali 4 / 33, Garner 1 / 37

An interesting game at Buckhurst Hill, the North Enfield batting probably being the highlight. A solid opening partnership of a shade under 50 from Armstrong (21) and Garth (15) was then followed up with a patient series of overs from Benny and Mally (14) who batted for over an hour together, picking up 1s and 2s and Ben hitting the odd boundary. Mally was out with about ¾ hour of the innings remaining, with a bit of batting to come and 130 on the board, a score of 200 was looking on the cards. Neil came in at 5 and batted really well with an aggressive 18, before a very nasty injury to one of the Buckhurst fielders when sliding to stop a boundary led to an early end to proceedings.  Of course we wish him a speedy recovery. Tea was a very satisfying affair on several fronts.

The second innings had a tough start with the openers hitting the ball well, and Lee and Mally struggling to find line and length. A couple of near-miss catches didn’t help things but once John and our guest player Ali from Buckhurst came on, the run rate slowed and eventually we got the breakthroughs. Ali pegged back the middle order, and we reached the 20 over mark at 6.15 (taken early due to time lost in the first innings) with the game still on. The introduction of Simon P proved to be quite successful, dropping in a couple of maidens and bowling a decent 6 over spell for less than 20 runs. The game came down to the last over with 1 run needed, which they got with a boundary. A solid game, lacking a bit on the bowling front but the batting was excellent with everyone who got in making a contribution.

Mally

Saturday July 9 

1^st XI v Harpenden III 

Harpenden III 143 – 9 (46.0) A.Andrews 5 / 55, K.Jones 3 / 52 

North Enfield 144 – 1 (28.4) S.Gandy 98* 

Having found out that we would be taking on bottom of the table Harpenden on their main ground was a real bonus, and we were not disappointed.

A hard track, lush outfield, on a hot sunny day this would be every batsman’s dream, however with leaden skies, pregnant with rain our resident meteorologist Meerkat Andrews correctly predicted that it would rain at some stage.

On arriving at Harpenden’s well appointed ground we were greeted with the customary champagne and canapés, as Harpenden opening bowler Mr Jason Guest had happily tied the knot to his beautiful lady wife that morning - CONGRATULATIONS to them. She must be every cricketers dream as he was then allowed to play in the game, ON HIS WEDDING AFTERNOON - good effort that man.

So on to the cricket.
The track proved to have the look of an absolute road, and on a hot dry day 250+ would be par - here with a bit of weather about still 220 would be par. Having seen Harpenden’s results their batting looked a little hit and miss, toss made - and Skipper Jones finally called correctly - and duly invited Harpenden to bat against a full strength NECC side.

Harpenden Bat first

Andy White opened up and produced a fine opening spell of hostile quick bowling, regularly passing the edge as well as softening up the openers with some chin music, but fair credit, Harpenden’s opening pair hung in and saw off the new ball. Slowly growing in confidence, the opening partnership passed 50 in the 15th overs as drinks appeared. Alex Andrews came on and applied some breaks to the scoring with some very tidy away swingers, coupled with spin from Kieran Jones, eventually drying up the scoreboard as overs drifted past. 91-0 represented a solid batting start after 30 overs but two quick wickets from Andrews changed the complexion somewhat LBW and a catch behind, just as the leaden skies were beginning to cast their damp spell on all below.  The weather was now looking a bit ominous as early spots of rain blew became a downpour and so the players were taken off for a rest and a cuppa. The rain varied from a monsoonal haemorrhage to that grotty drizzle what looks insignificant but you end up drenched. Eventually it cleared allowing the game to restart with 14 overs lost (7 for each side). This meant that with 13.4 overs left and the score at 103-2 Harpenden would have to score at about 8 an over with wickets In hand to set a tough score. Alex continued his excellent spell, removing the Arnold the Harpenden opening bat for 42 in the second over after the restart.  Wickets continued to tumble as Harpenden went on a run chase, Alex took two more quick wickets to complete his first 5-fer in what was becoming a superb spell, (5 out of 5 wickets)

Before Kieran collected three more including a steepling catch at long off from Phil Mac, despite Chris Gilman climbing out of his hobbit hole at mid on and moving off in the opposite direction. An excellent fielding display from the Strayfielders was concluded with a suicidal run out matters as Harpenden finished with a total of 143-9, Alex Andrews finishing with a superb 18 overs 5-55 and Kieran Jones 16 overs 3-52

North Enfield Run chase.  With one eye on the still dull skies some adjustments to the batting order were made. Steve Gandy was moved in to open with Stuart Halley, with Phil Mac and Andy White sitting with pads on if things went wrong.

But they didn’t.

Pancharatnam and Guest opened the bowling for Harpenden and produced a fiery spell of quick bowling however Steve and Stuart saw them off, with Steve in particular regularly finding the boundary with a series of cuts and drives. The score was rattling along yet all the while dark clouds scudded their way around the ground, nearby Luton looked like it was getting its share of the damp stuff. The opening partnership was growing rapidly as Steve continued his assault on the bowling, punishing anything remotely short. Spin proved equally to his liking as the ball was deposited into the nets via long-on on a regular basis as the partnership neared three figures. Harpenden finally made the breakthrough at 103-1 as Stuart edged behind for 15, but was this to be too little too late.

Andy White joined Steve although having been promoted from No 9, clearly anticipated not being about too long as he took his phone with him. Calls of stop batting like a no 3 were heard as an impeccable forward defensive was followed by the deftest of glances thru third-man. Bright sun started to show its face - but carnage was on the horizon. Steve continued his assault on the bowling moving to 98, with 11 to win. "Get it over and done with" was the call, so Andy White duly did - three crunching drives past wide mid-off left Steve stranded on 98 not out, but represented a superb batting display Andy White finishing 15 not out also batting really well. Having come desperately close in the last three games to securing victories it was excellent to finally get over the line all be it so emphatically.

The Strayfielders move to 6th from bottom, but in touch now with the sides in mid table, whilst Harpenden face a difficult season ahead and are 32 points adrift at the bottom.

Phil Mac

2^nd XI v County Hall II

North Enfield 214 – 7 (53.0) M. DeVilliers 94*, R.White 35

County Hall II 161 – 4 (42.2) R.White 2/26, P.White 1/15, M.Ricketts 1/26

14 valuable points gained for the 2^nd XI in a good game played in excellent spirits. North Enfield batted first after losing the toss. Mike batted for the whole innings, compiling a patient 94 not out and supported by SLB with 35 after some middle order wickets went down quickly. 200+ again on the board represents a great effort.

Richard Lee opened the bowing with the most economical spell of 8 overs, 5 maidens, nought for five, unlucky not to get a wicket. Even more unlucky given that Ricketts managed to get on the wickets list, some unlucky County Hall man falling victim to the Pie Chucker extraordinaire (though presumably it pitched, turned and did everything). The rain ended proceedings after 42 overs, which represented a fair result. The last 2 games have seen an excellent 44 points gained and some ground recovered from the bad defeats to Botany Bay and Offley – Bayford await this weekend.

Report a joint effort from Bob White and Mally

Sunday July 3

Club XI Bentley Heath

Bentley Heath 317 – 5 (40.0) L.Hibbert 2 / 27, C.McKenna 1 / 50

North Enfield 58 – 9 (19.4) *only 10 players

A complete waste of time, apart from Lee and Ken’s bowling which was excellent. The opposition skipper seemed to be on a different planet when it came to the ‘Spirit of the Game’ and how to treat a friendly between sides 10 mins down the road from each other, who have enjoyed several good games in recent seasons. Several Anglo-Saxon phrases unprintable on a family-orientated cricket club website were used to describe him after the game. His 10 minute tirade about how far he was/where the ball pitched after he was given out LBW was very funny however. We all thought it was plumb… Tea was very good...Credit to Foz, the Bentley Heath Fixture Secretary who contacted Mally to apologise for how the game turned out. And best wishes to Trevor from BH on his suspected Achilles injury. 

Mally/Smithy

1^st XI v Wheathampstead

North Enfield  193-8 (53.0) A.White 49*, P.MacMurdie 36, S.Gandy 26

Wheathampsted 158 - 8 (47.0) A.Andrews 3 / 34, S.Gandy 2 / 24, A.White 2 / 48

A newly laid square is a huge financial outlay for any club, and represents a significant investment in providing much improved facilities upon which a club can develop and expand. So on arriving at 2nd bottom Wheathampsted and hearing about a newly laid square, new pavillion etc great expectations were established. In light of our recent performances, this was a vital match in our quest to stay in Division 3. With batting woes hightened with Keiran unavailable - due to some "take that"  thing or other….Arriving at Wheathampsted, the new pavillion, electronic scoreboard, superb nets etc are a great credit to the club, but once the track is looked at things went down hill somewhat. Physically hard enough, no doubt, but the long cracks, just outside the right handers off stump, which were about a foot long would make for an interesting time when batting, not to mention the other "filled" areas plus some other strange geological structures resembling a chess board - google the word tundra polygons (or see the link http://www.superactiondog.com/horton/pages/frost%20polygons%20aerial.htm).

So "low and slow" was the comment from the opposition. And yes it certainly was. A track you could quite easily bat out a draw on, but to chase down a decent score - very difficult. Mmmmmmmmm

Par was estimated at about 160. Another good toss to win and in line with expectations, LOST again. Wheathampstead inserted us for first dabs.

A promising start with the ball keeping very low in some instances. Halley S and Ben Conway opened before Stuart was bowled thru the gate for 12. Chris Gillman joined Ben and the scoring continued, 41-1 from 12 overs represented good going, until - Ben swished at a straight one, suddenly things went horribly wrong - 41-1 soon became 56-5, and within 5 overs the wheels had well and truly fallen off. Steve Gandy joined Phil MacMurdie and sought to apply some blue tac to the ailing dust cart that was our batting.  Wheathampstead’s slow right arm spinner doing most of the damage as he regularly found the crack (to coin a phrase) with the ball deviating off the track to all parts. With all the new facilities at Wheathampstead HAWKEYE was thankfuly not installed, as even its technology cannot predict balls travelling along or under the ground so low was the bounce on some of the deliveries. Steve and Phil slowly repaired the damage, with some solid batting, grinding out a vital partnership in the middle of the innings, adding 60 in 18 overs, before Steve was excellently caught by the diving fielder at cover. Darren Atkins joined Phil for another vital innings, but Phil finally fell LBW for 36 in the 42nd over, with the score now up to 135. Cue Andy White, with time on his side and a platform now to build upon, Andy launched a furious assault to the excitement and glee of watching mum."is that my boy andrew" as the ball sailed over the boundary for 6 rather close to also watching children, followed closely by another thunderous straight drive into the sightscreen. Wheathampstead were in serious danger of completely losing control of a match that they had by the throat earlier as Andy White continued his assault on the bowling. Darren eventually was caught having mistimed a big straight hit, the ball went into orbit before a diving fielder who had already summounted the hill in the outfield to take a superb catch on his elbows.

Credit where credit is due - well held that man ! White was joined by Alex Andrews, who with an impeccable off drive forced the score up to the dizzy heights of 193, which all agreed was going to take some getting, provided we bowled straight.

Having tea’d well – on what was without doubt  - “TEA OF THE YEAR” including lots of choccie biscuits, + strawberries & cream in merringue’s – 10/10

Chasing 193 – On a full stomach…

The Wheathampstead innings soon hit the rails as Alex Andrews opening burst yielded 3 quick wickets all with big in swinging deliveries, bowled, LBW, bowled tells its own story – 23-3 soon became 50-5 as Andy White put his recent bad luck with the ball behind him capturing 2 more wickets both caught behind. Wheathampstead’s middle order dug in though to get them out of trouble, but with overs drifting past both sides chances of winning the game seemed to be passing by. “Drinks brings wickets”, and so it proved as Steve Gandy got in on the act with a vital wicket followed by a sharp catch at backward point. 7 down with 10 overs to go and a run rate of 6 an over difficult to see a winner here. Wheathampstead eventually limped to a draw losing one more wicket on a track that didn’t deteriorate as such but remained unpredictable and tough to bowl a side out on, whilst also being difficult to chase runs on.

Final points tally of NECC 16 to Wheathampstead 5. Excellent hospitality through out and after that game in their well appointed bar (although a bit short of bitter I must add!!!). Moves us up 2 places to 6^th from bottom, with a visit to bottom club Harpenden to come next week. Summary - Facilities – excellent, Teas – best in class, Track – I’d call up the company that laid it and get them to level it out.

Phil Mac

Saturday July 2

2^nd XI v Old Owens II

North Enfield 212 – 5 (53.0) M.Ricketts 89*, R.White 88

Old Owens II 191 – 10 (39.5) D.Sanders 4 / 49, D.Malleson 1 / 15, J.Moxham, 1 / 26 R.Sanders 1 / 30

From my vantage point (the interior of the disabled WC), view of play was obstructed, but I gather that Del Boy bowled quite well, and that even Moxy and Ricketts took a wicket apiece…the partnership of  190 between Ricketts and SLB is possibly a Club Record for any wicket in any XI…

30 points well won and much needed. Up several places in the Division which is good news. 

Mally

Sunday June 26^th

Club XI v Southgate Compton XI

North Enfield 139 – 10 (40.1) D.Vanniasingham 28, D.Webster 26

Southgate Compton 95 – 10 (30.3) A.Smith 4 / 6, L.Hibbert 2 / 32, C.McKenna 2 / 42

A terrific recovery by the Sunday XI to record our second win in succession. It was quite a different story at the beginning, when we found ourselves 8 for 3. The middle order hung around for a while, Robbo (14), Mally (15) and Neil (13) all making contributions, but the real stars of the show were DVD and Slim, with a 9^th wicket partnership of 47, followed up by Smithy who got 14* for the last wicket as they added 20 odd before DVD was out for a career-best 28. Well batted Dan. 139 gave us something to bowl at, and we knew we had a chance with Ken and Lee being on good form. Once again, it was the opening bowlers that got us off to a great start, Ken and Lee each turning in a 10 over stint and picking up a brace of wickets each. But the icing on the cake was a splendid effort from Smithy, 6 overs, 5 maidens, 4 for 6. Brilliant stuff, with 2 stumpings from Robbo, and a run out to add into the bargain. Talking of cake, another excellent tea was provided, it was almost a shame we had to go out and field as some of the team would have quite happily sat and polished off what remained of tea all afternoon.

Compton had a Herts Cup game which meant a number of their regulars were not playing – we expect a tougher game at Strayfield Road later in the season, but another good game between the sides, an ideal Sunday afternoon’s cricket.

1^st XI v Eversholt

North Enfield 158 – 9 (53.0) S.Gandy 83*

Eversholt 135 – 8 (43.0)

Our run of tough games continued as we welcomed 2nd place Eversholt, a side that had chased in 5 out of their 8 games to date.  On arriving and being amazed that any form of game was possible after the overnight deluge, a look at the track confirmed that it would be a good toss to win.T he track had been covered overnight but somehow rain water had seeped under to make one end very damp - right in an area just short of a length outside a right handers off stump challenging, especially early on. 

Coin suitable to be tossed at the correct altitude and with enough revolutions to be in compliance with Alex Andrews new toss directive, ugh, toss lost and an unwilling Eversholt duely inserted us.

Sure enough the track proved challenging although the pace of the antipodean opening bowler was not the issue despite hitting the damp patch regularly, it was the slow medium from the bottom end that was doing the damage, as he extracted irregular bounce on a drying deck. 23-1 became 51-5 with 20 overs gone- O.M.G. here we go again. Darren Atkins (13) and Steve Gandy rescued a desparate situation with a fine partnership of 65. The change bowlers offered more run scoring opportunities as the partnership built up, Darren playing a fine anchor role, restraining the big shots, while Steve took the bowling to task at the other end. Eventually Darren went for 13, but an innings worth x3 the runs scored. Alex Andrews joined and added more support to Steve G, as the runs continued to come, eventually the innings closed on 158-9 from the 53 overs, Steve G amassing a superb 83* including 4 6's. 158-9 was seen as about par and far more than anticipated earlier.  

Goes to show if we can keep wickets in the bank, regular scores 200+ are more than possible every week, even if the first 20 odd overs yield only 50 odd.

The Eversholt innings started brightly (for the fielding side). opening with the old ball, Keiran Jones extracted extravagent turn across the left hander, while Andy White from the bottom end passed the bat at monotonous regularity, keeping the close fielders very interested. This brought the legendary statement from Andy Flower to the batsman ‘’you’ve had more misses than Henry 8^th mate!’’ The fifth over brought the breakthrough Jones bowling the left hander 1-1, No 3 soon set about redressing the balance, clearly the sightscreen was ill positioned, "you done have to worry about that its me you need worry about". great statement of intent or fool hardy. Inside edge for 2, dot ball, bowled off stump pegged back. - fool hardy was the answer - 8-2 9 overs the runs had dried up and wickets were coming. Eversholt were creaking at this stage, the introduction of Gandy and Andrews soon turned creaking into full scale panic - at 40-5. A recovery was on but the runs were not coming afast enough, 5 an over to win the game was always going to be difficult as 2 more wickets went.  But as so often at this level, batters at 7-8-9 are never mugs and this was no exception. 9 even stated to the fielders, that big shots were not his strong suit, but batted well for his 25*, in unison with the aforementioned Aussie, they took the score to 130 with 3 overs left, but a maiden from Steve G, then Kieran bowling the Aussie ended any hopes the opposition had of a victory, but with a batting point there for the taking, the innings petered out to 135-8.

So 4 batting points and 8 bowling points a reasonable return, but a superb display from the lower order again and with the ball and in the field, meant we had competed well.

Eversholt ended up with only 4 points for their effort and slip from 2nd to 6th.

Phil Mac

2^nd XI v Offley & Stopsley

Offley & Stopsley 233 – 6 (50.0) R.Sanders 5 / 35

North Enfield IIs 79 – 10 (35.1)

Problems for the 2^nd XI continue, albeit against the top of the league side. The openers put on 192 for the first wicket. The 2s bowling was generally OK, with a few loose balls that got put away, but no catches went to hand and no chances behind the stumps or for run outs. Enter the Colonel who came with about 10 overs to go and collected his second 5 wicket haul of the season. Well done Colonel.

The batting never really got going, the highlight being a partnership between Jacko and Glen who batted pretty well, but otherwise not much to write home about. Hopefully things will pick up next week.

1st XI v Old Albanian

Old Albanian 193 – 9 (50.0)                         

North Enfield 5 – 0 (2.5) RAIN

A frustrating day with the weather for both League teams this weekend, the 1st XI bowled well to restrict Old Albanians to under 200 with the Meerkat taking another 4 wickets, on a great run of form. The North Enfield reply was barely 2 overs old when the final burst of rain ended proceedings. To get any cricket in at all when a number of matches didn’t even get started was a tribute to the hard work of The Colonel and some of the players before the match with the sponges and roller.

2nd XI v Luton Town & Indians III

Luton Town & Indians III 204 – 9 (47.3) D.Malleson 5/59, D.Sanders 2/66

North Enfield II 36 - 1(10.2) RAIN A.Williams 18*, M.Ricketts 12*

Much the same story at Luton, 2 breaks for rain during the first innings including taking an early (excellent) tea. Mally bowled an unprecedented 18 overs. The fielding was excellent, with some great catches from BGA, Moxy, Rich Earney and The Colonel. Del was on a hat-trick for about the 4th time in his career after a great catch at wide gully from The Colonel (moved there at Mally’s suggestion) and then clipping the off bail with an uncharacteristic touch of delicacy. The rain ended things 10 overs into the second innings – shame as it was turning into an interesting chase with Ricky and Alex starting to play some shots.

Hopefully things will dry out this weekend.

Sunday June 12

Club XI v Nazeing Common II 

Match cancelled – rain. Return fixture scheduled for September.

Saturday June 11

1^st XI v Letchworth II

North Enfield 108-10 (37.2) M.Partridge 46*

Letchworth II 111-5 (26.3) S.Gandy 3 / 25

The first very disappointing result for the club, on a pretty miserable weekend. The highlight was Mark’s knock of 46. 5 wickets taken in reply defending such a small total was more than credible.

2^nd XI v Botany Bay II

Botany Bay II 183-8(53.0) D.Sanders 3 / 39, J.Moxham 2/38, R.White 2/38

North Enfield II 74-10(32.5) R.White 26

Pitching up at the other side of the valley, with a changed team from the previous week missing Varma (cut hand) but with the added bowling strength of Richie Lee, the 2^nd XI felt like we had a good chance to build on last week’s win. Choosing to bowl first, the Bay started slowly with some excellent overs from Richie, and wickets at the other end from Del. Fielding was good, especially from Gleno and late call-up Neil, who were near faultless all afternoon. Mally and The Colonel bowled some reasonable overs but without managing the breakthrough despite a couple of chances. Moxy and SLB came on and had immediate impact, but a couple of lose overs towards the end probably cost us 30 runs. A excellent tea followed, of note the scones and cream were deemed to be particularly good… 

The batting was pretty much a disaster, as 74 all out would indicate. SLB played another captain’s innings (hampered by his bad knee), but few others managed to really get in for any length of time, despite a bit of resistance from Mally (9) and a last wicket stand between Neil and The Colonel. Botany’s opening bowlers produced some swing and movement off the wicket, and the North Enfield reply never got going. 

Hopefully better next week.

Sunday June 5^th

Club XI v Walthamstow ‘B’

Walthamstow ‘B’ 112 – 10 (31.5) P.White Jnr 3 / 4, D.Malleson 2 / 14, Dan Vann 2 / 15, C.McKenna 2 / 30

North Enfield 114 – 4 (33.2) D.Fitzgerald 74*, D.Malleson 12, P.White Jnr 9*

The first win of the season for the Sunday XI, and done in style. Somehow we managed the unusual trick of scoring even fewer runs than last week and still managed to win…The first few overs were s mixture of some cracking shots from the Walthamstow opening pair, who then got themselves out hitting through the line early, Peter taking an excellent catch off Lee (1 / 24) and Neil taking an even better one over the shoulder off Ken. Ken bowled an excellent spell, picking up his second wicket with a great catch from Dave Armstrong diving forward at point. Peter came on at the Pavilion End and reeled off 3 consecutive maidens, at the same time as Mally bowled 2 wicket maidens at the Fallow Buck end, leaving Walthamstow stuck on 57 / 5 for 5 overs. We wondered whether this was a dream and we would wake up, look at the scoreboard and read 157 for 1 from 15 overs...Peter eventually finished with figures of 8 overs, 5 maiden 3 wickets for 4 runs. Great effort when the last couple of pairs were looking to push the runs a bit. Dan came on at the end and bowled well, picking up the last 2 wickets including an LBW.

Smithy’s tea had a fairly heavy tuna theme, and a distinct absence of pork-based snack products which made a nice change.

The North Enfield victory was sealed after 33 agonising overs. Dave A and Garth got a reasonable start until the latter ran himself out, then Dave A got bowled. Fitzy had only faced a few balls when poor Neil suffered his second golden duck in a row, and third this duck this season (you can bat lower down next week, I promise!). Mally went in for the second time this season on the hat-trick ball…and survived! The bowling was fairly tight and with a couple of narrow escapes, the total slowly began to creep upwards. Drinks was reached without further loss. Dave then began strike the ball really well, a using his feet to the spinner and some terrific straight drives. Conditions for the bowlers were deteriorating all the time as the rain continued. Mally was finally caught behind with the score on 90. Pete Jnr and Fitzy finished the job a few overs later, to complete a brilliant win – well done to everyone. As Smithy said, we dropped no catches, the fielding was good and everyone bowled well. June hopefully will be a better month than May! Much improved all round from previous weeks.

Mally

Saturday June 4^th

1^st XI v Totteridge Millhillians II

North Enfield 203 - 6 (53.0) P.MacMurdie 65*, S.Gandy 34*

Totteridge Millhillians II 204 - 8 (45.3) A.Andrews 4 / 54, S.Gandy 4 / 45

A match played out in a fine spirit throughout. We were about 45-4, then 48-5 as Gillers bowled by left arm spinner. Phil and Darren (29) ground out some time and took the score to about 130 before Darren cut onto his stumps, with 11 overs to go. Steve G (34 *) & Phil took the bowling to task running some mad 2's, before adding 50 in the last 5 overs to post at solid 203. Faced with a competitive total Totteridge got off to a shocking start, being 0-2 then about 30-4 with Alex Andrews taking 3 of the first 4 wickets before Hussain and Ali - chanced their arm and with a fair degree of luck dragged the game back to Totteridge - several quick wickets swung the game back towards NECC but no 8 Ali the pace bowler hammered some lusty blows to take his side to the brink of the finish line before holing out to Darren in the deep off Alex Andrews, who took 4-54 with 30 from the last 2 overs somewhat spoiling his figures. Totteridge eventually running out winners with 9 balls to go.

Phil Mac

2^nd XI v Knebworth Park IV

Knebworth Park IV 150 - 10(42.0) R.Sanders 5 / 45       

North Enfield II 151 – 3 (28.4) M.Ricketts 50, M.De Villiers 41

An overdue first win of the season for the 2s, which was a convincing performance with bat and ball. A solid opening spell from Del (1 / 30) and Andrew (2 / 44 put Knebworth under pressure in the first 20 overs, but it was the introduction of The Colonel, taking 5 wickets in the innings with a spell of great control and subtle variations to leave the batsman attempting to hit out but not getting very far. His figures were 4 / 19 off 6 overs until the final 2 took a bit of tap! De Villiers took an excellent diving catch, managing not to let the ball loose from his grip after his gut bounced and hit the ground about 10 seconds before the rest of him landed. Del, perhaps feeling the effects of a heavy night, made repeated trips to the water tap to splash his face and make curious blowing noises, on what was a fairly warm day.

Ricketts and the BGA made a solid start to the innings, not looking in much trouble until Alex was out bowled for 23. Mark went on to hit a terrific 50, despite batting with what sounded like a floorboard masquerading as a cricket bat. Mike batted well with a solid 41, before Varma and SLB saw the win through inside 30 overs. Varma batted with pretty nasty finger injury - hope it mends in time for next week. A welcome 30 points for the side.

And great teas thanks to SLBs entourage, cancelling the tour does have benefits doesn’t it!

Mally

Sunday May 29

Club XI v Crouch End

Crouch End 276 – 4 (40.0) D.Malleson 2 / 29

North Enfield 116 - 8 (29.0) (*only 9 players) J.Moxham 76

Pretty much a carbon copy of last week. We only had 9 players, but Crouch End lent us a fielder which was very decent of them. The ground is fairly on the small side and the outfield fast, and slopes downwards but all these excuses don’t really hide the fact that we are short of opening bowlers to get us into a position where the 2^nd and 3^rd change guys can come on and pick up a wicket or two. Moxy bowled well without reward, and Simon picked up a wicket too (after taking a splendid catch in the chest, and fielding like a lunatic all afternoon, which was a top effort). Tea, again, was very nice indeed.

The North Enfield reply was short of highlights except for Moxy’s personal best of 76, wacking the spinners for 4s using those little legs, and Ralph who stuck around for some time – well batted you two. Not sure quite how we address the lack of strength in the side – Saturday players cannot be expected to play Sundays due to other commitments, but the standard of opposition we are playing, despite pleading for weak fixtures, is just too strong for the players we have available. Having even one more established bowler, and a top 3 or 4 batsman would help, but not solve the problem.

Saturday May 28

1^st XI v Potters Bar II

Potters Bar II 215-8 (53.0)

North Enfield 107-7(47.0)

A game of cricket was played. Meerkat apparently batted 10 overs for 1 not out, and took 4 wickets. But that’s all I heard…

Saturday May 28

2^nd XI v Langleybury III

North Enfield II 204 – 4 (53.0) P.MacMurdie 57

Langleybury III 195 – 4 (47.0)

A fairly unremarkable game, but the third draw and 14 points accumulated by the IIs. The batting wobbled early on with the loss of Moxy, Ricketts and De Villiers but a partnership between Mr Potato Head and SLB (who cancelled the concert at the O2 to play in the game) and some late innings welly from Delboy (33*, and as he proudly told everyone who was listening or at least gave the appearance of listening, scored from only 33 balls), 200+ was a very good effort on a slow wicket that did a bit early on. The total was assisted by E.X. Tras, who scored 53, thanks to a proliferation of no balls and byes. This total of extras is a record for a match scored by Bob!

We tea-ed well, the Danish pastries going down a treat, as well as a solid sandwich selection. Ricketts also found time (again) to give it the chat to the tea ladies. Reports of poor teas previously at this venue appear unfounded. The sun made an appearance in the second innings, as rare on Saturday as a classic off-drive from Ken across his whole career…it was a pretty dull 47 overs. Del and Jacko bowled fairly well, getting wickets at the end (good catch by Ken in the deep). Moxy turned his arm over, as did SLB. Colonel and Mally rolled out some overs towards the latter part of the innings which kept the runs down to 3-ish an over and kept things tight. We also heard that Langleybury didn’t report the result in time, so ended up on -1 points for the day. Which for game starting at 1.15pm and not finishing till 8pm is most unfortunate.

Sunday May 22

Sunday Club XI v Upminster IIIs
 
Upminster IIIs 228 – 9 (40.0) J.Moxham 3/13 , A.Smith 2/60, L.Hibbert 1/30
 
North Enfield 93 – 9 (40.0) [*only 10 batsmen] D.Malleson 47, D.Armstrong 28
 
A brilliant start in the first 12 overs with the ball, the advantage of which was soon lost when the number 4 batsman was dropped a total of 7 times, and some pretty dire fielding lapses cost us 30 odd runs. Thus said, great spells from Moxy, Lee and Smithy were the highlights and, unbelievably, 2 catches from Mally.
 
Batting – best left unmentioned except for Dave A - well batted again.

Saturday May 21

1^st XI v London Colney

North Enfield 205 – 8 (53.0)

London Colney 203 – 10 (47.0)

A win off the last ball for North Enfield, apparently Colney needed 3 runs to win, but didn’t. Steve Gandy bowled somebody I gather. But nobody appeared at the club on Saturday night, apart from to drop the scorebook off, so got no idea what happened really. Ah well.

Saturday May 21

2^nd XI v London Colney II

North Enfield II 162 – 10 (48.5) R.White 37, V.Kanumuri 37, J.Coningsby 26

London Colney II 163 – 2 (44.1) D.Malleson 1/18, D.Sanders 1/30

Pretty abysmal performance with the bat from the 2nds, but a change of scene from the last couple of weeks where we lost at least one wicket in the first over. Perhaps coincidentally, Mark Ricketts didn’t play this week. Gleno and Moxy got off to starts but both got out leaving the 2s in a spot of bother at 32/2. Thankfully SLB and Varma rescued the scene, adding 70 runs for the 3^rd wicket to get to a much better position at 100/2. A good foundation for the middle and lower-order to use up the overs and aim for 170/180. Cue a variety of hoiks from Richie Lee and Delboy, and moment of madness from Jacko to run Mally out without facing a ball. Perhaps he had forgotten that not everyone can do 22 yards like Usain Bolt. But credit where it was due, he redeemed himself with a good knock of 26 which at least gave us 4 batting points.

The second innings was a fairly durgid affair, Colney never needed more than 3 an over which they got without too much bother. Tony, Jacko, Del and SLB all bowled economically, Mally picked up his second-ever 2^nd XI league wicket, but otherwise not a great deal to report. Hopefully SLB can hang around long enough to play the full game next week before no doubt taking the helicopter down to the O2 for the gig.

Sunday May 15

Club XI v Ricketts & Sanders Invitation XI

North Enfield 229 - 7 (40.0) D.Armstrong 38, G.Halley 37, G.Brown 31, D.Malleson 21*

Invitation XI 233 - 9 (40.0) David Vaniasangham 90, M.Ricketts 45

Quite the game on Sunday between two North Enfield teams, a result of opposition availability problems and the first time in quite a while that the Club has managed to get an almost-full 2 sides out on a Sunday. It's a great problem for the Sunday selection committee to have! As a result of some 1am player transfer activity, which took place in The Stag pub, the Invitation XI agreed to field 9 players with the Club XI having 10. The Club XI lost the toss (incurring a fine for Mally) and were invited to bat. An interesting opening partnership from Armstrong and Halley (who struggled initially but later started to hit the ball well) took the Club side to around the 80 mark before an excellent 31 from Graeme took the score over 3 figures. McKenna came in at number 5, and managed to pick out the only fielder on the off side square of the wicket (Garth)...who did not have to move to take the catch...another quality knock. Next time just hit the ball, it's usually a lot more successful, even with 7 fielders in cow-corner. A solid partnership between Lee and Mally, and an entertaining cameo from Bambi at the end gave a challenging total.

Tea was taken at length, with Blue Riband chocolate bars proving a popular choice. No complaints were received regarding absence of salad or any other food deemed to be healthy. Some lager also may have been consumed.

The Invitation XI reply began solidly with Blu-Ray hitting the ball well again, and Garth playing some tempting leaves. Lee H bowled a good opening spell as did Ken. Wickets then began to fall at fairly regular intervals but runs came too - Fitz getting in on the act before a rare caught and bowled from Mally. Ricketts and Blu-Ray (extended play bonus edition) batted on for what seemed like days before eventually Ricketts was out to a very good catch by Graeme at deep square, and Ken bowled Blu-Ray. The game had swung back in the Club['s favour with some lovely overs from Moxy who uprooted Smithy's middle stump and put severe pressure on the last wicket of DVD and Ralph. With one over to go, 11 were required, with Brown to bowl the last over. A very debateable no-ball was called by Delboy, followed by a dot ball and a single leaving DVD on strike. A full toss was despatched for 4, then a single. 2 required from 2 balls. Ralph played a trademark leg-side swat for 1, the Invitation XI needed 1 to win off the final ball...which DVD slapped over mid wicket for 4! 

Great game with everyone getting involved - at least one North Enfield team won a game this weekend!

1^st XI v Holtwhites Trinibis

North Enfield 138 – 10 (49.1) A.White 37

Holtwhites Trinibis 142 – 6 (30.1) S.Gandy 5 / 41

Not much to report from the game, the highlights being another wicket haul for Steve G.

Saturday May 14

2^nd XI v Holtwhites Trinibis IIs

North Enfield 294 – 8 (53.0) C. Gillman 120, M. de Villiers 75, D. Sanders 35

Holtwhites Trinibis IIs 233 – 5 (47.0) R.White 2 / 21

The 2^nd XI season continued to pick up pace with this at time entertaining game against near-neighbours Holtwhites. The first over began badly, Ricketts castled 2^nd ball for a duck – a repeat of the previous week was feared but two of the most talkative people ever to play for the club soon set about the Holtwhites bowling with the usual appetite reserved for a) tea and b) lager. Gillers scored his first 100 for the club, a brilliant effort, de Villiers an excellent 75, with shots all round the ground but a great deal from Gillers on the leg side. The bowling was fairly ordinary and the field placings bizarre at times. Time was also found time to have an argument which involved several handbags and toys out of the pram, about…the timing of drinks…this was interspersed with various people at the ground feeling rather unwell as a result of a) eating Jacko’s fruitella and b) drinking too much lager the night before. The second wicket partnership must be up there with the best for the Club for any wicket. Momentum was continued by Del with an entertaining 35, before Jacko and Mally compiled a solid 20 odd to set a tough total.

The temperature at Holtwhites while not quite of Northampton Exiles levels of Arctic chillness was not warm, Bob having to send for extra sweaters and possibly will need a re-supply of wine gums for next week. Tea was deemed to be a solid effort, with Ricketts seen charming the tea ladies (probably after more cake).

The second innings seemed to take forever, one of the openers was out fairly early on to an excellent diving catch from Moxy (who had emerged from the recess of his hangover by this stage) off a rank legside ball from Del. Tony bowled a great spell but could only pick up the one wicket from his overs. Jacko bowled tidily, as did Mally with a couple of chances for both. SLB came on with 8 overs to go and proceeded to be on a hat-trick, but then did a massive jug-avoidance and fired one down leg side. 15 points doesn’t quite reflect the input by everyone, but another solid performance.

Sunday May 8 

Club XI v Eastonians

Eastonians 258 – 5 (40.0) David Vaniasingham 3/41

North Enfield 134 – 9 (40.0) David Vaniasingham 60, D.Malleson 38, L.Hibbert 12*

Another frustrating afternoon for the most part for the Sunday XI. The bowling was for the most part reasonable, but the catches just didn’t go to hand (despite a couple of great efforts, and 2 very good catches from Ken inc. a last ball skier at long on, it was up for a very very long time!). The opening bowlers suffered a bit early on but found some consistency and the run rate decreased to a reasonable 4 an over (though it was impossible to tell what the score or total overs were at any given stage as the wind kept blowing the scoreboard numbers around. Lee bowled well for no reward, but Andy picked up a wicket and then Blu-Ray bowled a very good spell, 3 wickets for 41 from 7. Given the issues with the scoreboard, we thought we were looking at 270/280 so the 258 was a surprise given the quick outfield and short boundary on one side.

The tea was the best we have for some time, including a very nice homemade fruitcake. This fixture will remain in place solely for this reason! Webster in particular made it a 3 plate tea, with Ken not far behind, and Mally polishing off 3 slices of cake. It was a miracle we could move by the 2^nd innings but Blu-Ray and Malcolm got off to a good start, with the former hitting some lovely 4s and eventually reaching a first career 50 for the club. Great knock. The middle order unfortunately didn’t really get going, but Ken hit a sweet pull shot (self preservation off a fairly sharp bowler) and then Lee and Mally hung around to take the score to 130 before Mally hoiked at one in the last over and got bowled. As ever, a good-natured game with Eastonianss, but are lacking depth in batting and bowling at the moment against teams of this standard.

Saturday May 7

2^nd XI v Sawbridgeworth IIIs

North Enfield IIs 212 – 9 (53.0) D.Atkins 83*, V.Kanumuri 33, R.White 32

Sawbridgeworth IIIs 211 – 7 (47.0) D.Atkins 1/15, D.Malleson 1/37, R.White 1/41

Quite the game for the 2^nd XI on Saturday – after what can only be described as a dreadful start (4 for 3, and then 14 for 4) after Moxy, Del, Ricketts and de Villiers all succumbed early. The fielder at square leg (Herts U-15 spinner) commented 'is it always as bad as this?'... At this point a score of 90 or 100 would been a positive end, but Varma and SLB dug in and took the score to around the 80 mark. A superb knock of 83* from Darren, supported by the tail who held out for the full 53 overs gave us a great chance, from what was a terrible position to begin with.

The bowling got off to a reasonable start with Del Boy and Jacko turning out some solid overs, and later picked up by Atkins and The Colonel which left Sawbridgeworth well behind the run rate, but the breakthrough of wickets didn’t quite happen. The batsman accumulated steadily but SLB and Mally managed to roll off some fairly tight overs, and which eventually got one of the openers out. The last few overs were a quite a blur of some tight bowling, frantic running between the wickets and a four run outs! Sawbo eventually needed 11 off the final over from SLB, and got very close, needing 3 from the final ball to win. Luckily, the leg glance only produced one completed run, and the final run-out which gave 17 and 19 points respectively, and a very good game of cricket.

1^st XI v Southgate Adelaide

Southgate Adelaide 245 – 9 (53.0)

North Enfield 137 – 10 (44.0)

A day to forget for the 1^st XI, a bit of a let down considering the great start to the season the previous week. 9 wickets were taken but overthrows and fielding below the usual high standards cost runs.

Sunday May 1 

Sunday XI v Titanic 

Titanic 290 – 4 (40.0) J.Garner 2 / 27 

North Enfield 164 – 9 (40.0) D.Malleson 29, R.Lee 24*, David Van 24 

Bit of a mismatch on the field on Sunday, but some good performances with the ball from Bambi (who had Mowgli caught behind), and good use of the leg side boundary from Mally, Richie Lee and Blu-Ray. Titanic made even better use of the bar afterwards, purchasing 5 or 6 jugs of lager which adds up to a good weekend of income for the club. For a change, nothing particularly amusing happened to the North Enfield side apart from Bambi taking a huge swing at a ball from Woody and falling over, the ball then pea-rolled along the ground and bowled him! Craig also fell over in the outfield when he went to return it from long. Newman commented that ‘letting go of the ball is a fairly fundamental part of throwing it’ – can’t say fairer than that.

Saturday April 30

1^st XI v Hertingfordbury

North Enfield 231 – 10 (48.5) S.Gandy 114, P.MacMurdie 35

Hertingfordbury 90 – 10 (25.0) S.Gandy 4 / 13, A.Andrews 4/38

The 1s started their season with a resounding win at home to Hertingfordbury, picking up from a successful promotion campaign in 2010. North Enfield were asked to bat, and lead by Steve Gandy who recorded his maiden League century (114 from just 85 balls) – a brilliant knock and was well supported by Phil MacMurdie (35), North Enfield achieved maximum batting points with a challenging total of 231. The Hertingfordbury reply began with some very tight overs from Pete White Jnr and Andy White, bowling with the old ball, then with the new ball taken, North Enfield started to make inroads. Gandy continued his great form with 4 wickets for just 13 runs, including 2 in 2 and was backed up by a long unchanged stint from Alex Andrew, who finished with 4/38. Hertingfordbury were all out for just 90, an excellent start to life in Division 3.

2^nd XI v Stevenage IIIs

Stevenage IIIs 217 – 7 (53.0)

North Enfield IIs 113 – 10 (41.0)

The 2s did not fair so well in Division 8, going down to a defeat at Stevenage IIIs, which can partially be explained by Stevenage 1st XI not having a game so the opposition was probably stronger than it might have been. Two apparent chances to dismiss the opening batsman who scored 100 were not given by the umpire and a record number of LBWs given. Bowling and batting performances not available at time of writing, but apparently SLB got some runs, and somebody must have taken some wickets…

24 April – Sunday XI v Aspenden Standon & Puckeridge

North Enfield 151 – 7 (40.0) A. Williams 37, S. Halley 38, P. White 20*, D. Malleson 19

Aspenden, Standon & Puckeridge – 101 – 10 (39.2) A. Andrew 3/1, D. Vaniasingham 3/25, P. White 2/20

A well-taken victory for the Sunday XI, following up the solid performance against Bentley Heath the previous week. Thanks must firstly go to The Colonel who was up at the club at 8am to roll the wicket with the Allett, a certain person having experience a malfunction of the roller in the week. After the hour-long thunderstorm on Saturday, the wicket was still damp but the outfield dried out well and some moisture in the track made it a low-scoring but no less entertaining game. North Enfield lost the toss and were put in to bat, Disco and BGA putting on a very solid opening stand including two huge straight 6s from Al, who was caught on the boundary for 37. Armstrong and Blu-Ray got starts but were unable to convert into double-figure scores. A couple of hefty swipes from Mally, and another solid succession of nurdles from Simon P left the innings in reasonable shape for a decent finish on what was a slow track, not easy to score runs off largely tight bowling from ASPs, but DVD and Pete W Jnr finished the innings undefeated on 12 and 20 respectively.

The North Enfield bowling got off to a splendid start, with the Meerkat bowling 7 overs, 6 maidens for 3 wickets and after an interesting start from Ken, a solid 1/25 from 8 overs. Pete rolled off his customary solid spell, which ended with a brilliant low catch by DVD which was heading at a very rapid rate to the boundary, and really turned the screw, along with some unusually tight overs from Mally (1/18). The victory was completed by DVD with 3 wickets, and backed up by Blu-Ray at the end with a tight 3 over spell. 

Thanks to the ladies who helped tidy away the tea stuff whilst we were in the field – very much appreciated.

23 April – Sat Club XI v Botany Bay

Botany Bay 244 – 8 (40.0)

North Enfield 80 – 8 (rain)

17 April - Sunday XI v Bentley Heath

Bentley Heath 199 – 5 (40.0) J. Murphy 2/45, J. Garner 1/24, C. McKenna 1/30

North Enfield 177 – 8 (40.0) P. Duke 36, D. Malleson 29, S. Philips 24*, J. Moxham 24, C. McKenna 21

A very entertaining game for the Sunday XI, picking up from last season with a solid performance against a Bentley Heath side who were 2 short on Sunday morning, so were generously donated the services of M. Ricketts for the day. Bentley batted first and played out the opening dozen overs against Ken and Mally, with very few runs scored and Ken picking up a wicket – a good spell of 1/30 from 8 overs altogether from The Shovel. The first change bowling of Bambi and Joe did very well, Joe picking up 2 wickets including a rather ugly hoik from Ricketts snaffled in the covers by Robbo. Bambi (in his shiny new boots) bowled 7 overs for 24, and picked up his first wicket for the club. Robbo and Dukey had a bit of a hard time when the Bentley batsman got going, but to keep the total down to below 200 was a good effort given we only had 10 men, and Moxy was unable to bowl and so kept wicket.

The batting got off to a reasonable start with Garth carting Ricketts over to cow corner, but Robbo in his first bat since September hit a lovely cut, but then got a very good ball and played on. Dukey at number 3 played a lovely innings, the highlight being 3 consecutive boundaries off Ricketts and progressing to a club-best 36, ably supported by Garth (14). 2 wickets then fell in consecutive balls leaving the hat-trick ball to be faced by Mally, which luckily for North Enfield he survived, and then some dropped catches in the field led to escapes for Moxy and Mally. Step up Simon Phillips who hit a career-best 24*, and some good shovels from The Shovel led to a very respectable total of 177. As ever, Bentley Heath provided a great oppo and a game played in the right spirit for a Sunday friendly.

16 April - Sat Club XI v Crouch End

North Enfield 227 – 7 (40.0) M. Ricketts 59

Crouch End 215 – 10

A good first game and win of the season for the Club – some solid batting from Ricky, Steve Gandy and Delboy and then good work with the ball from Andy White, Steve G and Delboy to win by 12 runs, after Crouch End were going well at 140 – 3.