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Second XI Reports 2009 29th August 2009 Lost - NMCC (home) 213 - 4 (53 overs) Hemel Hempstead II 214 - 8 (45.3 overs) - Top of Division Matches between teams at the top and bottom of the league are not always close affairs but the penultimate league game of the season saw Hemel Hempstead 2s visit Home Farm with both sides needing a win for very different reasons. North Mymms won the toss and decided to bat first on a wicket which was damp due to Friday rain but only in peripheral areas. They got off to a solid start with Hemel opting to open with the off spin of Brian Davies. Simon Clements, opening the innings, continued his excellent form from the previous week with some determined resistance and when joined by his son Ed they put on an excellent 133 for the third wicket, setting up Mymms to vitally take full batting points. Thanks in the main to this partnership Mymms ended their innings on 213-4 from their allotted 53 overs. The Hemel batsmen in reply were put under early pressure thanks to the some excellent bowling from Dave Searle and youngster Tom Kight but it wasn’t until the introduction of seamer Steve Thomas that the breakthrough was made. In fact it was Thomas who took the first three wickets to fall and maintained the early pressure so much so that Hemel were rarely up with the run rate required. As the pressure built Mymms were able to pick up wickets at regular intervals particularly with the aid of some excellent support bowling from Dan Boucher and Simon Clements; it was Boucher who picked up the wicket of the dangerous Neil Morgan for 46. The mainstay of the Hemel innings was provided by skipper Graham Clark whose sensible innings of 62 not out was to prove decisive in a Hemel victory. They eventually reached their target for the loss of 8 wickets with just over two overs to spare. The most successful of the Mymms bowlers were Steve Thomas (3-41) and Dave Searle (3-53). A close game but one in which a win for Mymms was a distinct possibility until the end but which requires them needing 5 points from their remaining fixture to be certain of avoiding relegation to Division 4.15th August 2009 Lost - NMCC (away) 178 - 8 (53 overs) Rickmansworth 179 - 6 (45.4 overs) - 13th in division. An important bottom of the table clash took place at Rickmansworth CC where North Mymms 2’s were the visitors. Based on the premise that a slow almost underprepared looking wicket which wouldn’t get better to bat on plus the current league points structure, Mymms won the toss and elected to bat first. Whilst no batsmen looked in too much trouble, the wicket was so slow that scoring runs was always difficult due to lack of timing. Having reached over 30 for the first wicket, openers Jon Mather and Nick Gilbert (23) followed each other to the pavilion in quick succession thanks to two excellent catches. Howard Cornwell (50) and Ian Cheeseman (23) managed to stabilise the innings somewhat but it was a case throughout the innings of batsmen getting in and, with the possible exception of Cornwell, not going on to establish a match winning score. Mymms eventually mustered 178 – 8 off their 53 over allocation with Dan Boucher ending on 27 not out. The Rickmansworth bowlers, obviously familiar with the wicket, bowled well to the conditions and whilst their bowling had nothing to be aggressive about their fielding certainly was. Encouragement slipped all too often into open sledging of the batsmen which when unchecked by captain or umpire leaves an unpleasant taste. The spirit in which such matches should be played was sadly not present. Mymms claimed the early wicket of the dangerous Hussein to Dave Searle which bought Chris Lyons to the wicket who quickly demonstrated that he is a classy player with a tremendous array of shots and was merciless on any wayward bowling. A key point in the game was to be the dropping of Lyons off the bowling of Jon Mather when he was on 20; he went to score what turned out to be a match winning 75 before being caught at slip off Searle. The dismissal of Lyons opened up the game once more and some good Mymms bowling from Jibram Azam, Jon Mather and Dave Searle eked out some wickets and Rickmansworth began to wobble. After some lusty blows and sensible running they eventually reached their target losing six wickets but with only 8 balls remaining. 8th August 2009 Lost - NMCC (home) 90 (48 overs) London Colney 96 - 6 (25.4 overs) - 6th in division The start to this fixture, which both teams needed to win, seemed almost surreal as under a cloudless summer sky and hot sun the teams and umpires debated whether the game should go ahead such was the state of the wicket and surrounds from the previous Thursday’s rain. It was however decided that play should start on time but it was also apparent that the team winning the toss could have a distinct advantage. It was London Colney who won the toss and as expected asked Mymms to bat. Conditions for batting were not easy from ball one and survival was paramount (as opposed to run scoring) in the first 10 overs. Mymms didn’t fair too badly as far as wickets were concerned for the first half of the innings but had to cope with the loss of Jon Mather to hospital with a cut lip. Runs seemed very precious and difficult to come by and as conditions got slightly easier the middle order tried to up the run rate which seemed only to accelerate the loss of wickets. Mymms were eventually all out in the 48th over for 90, Howard Cornwell the main contributor with 23. The pick of the bowlers for Colney was off spinner Matt Bristow (4-7 off 8 overs), Andy Cole (22-7 off 14 overs) and Tim Fretter (2-20 off 6 overs). Mention must be made of some excellent catching at short leg from Colney skipper Scott Hadley who accounted for three of Bristow’s victims. Colney in reply found the going just as hard thanks to excellent opening bowling from Dave Searle and youngster Tom Kight. Searle bowled through from one end maintaining excellent line and length and the Colney batsmen didn’t ever look comfortable against him and his three wickets were well deserved. The bulk of the overs at the other end came from an excellent spell from Jon Mather (complete with three stitches to his lip). Colney were never able to get on top of the Mymms bowling and wickets fell at regular intervals. Colney eventually won by 4 wkts but Mymms only have themselves to blame as no fewer than six catches were dropped making their total of 90 very nearly enough to win the match.
1st August 2009 Abandoned rain NMCC (away) 187 (52.5 overs) Wheathampstead 80 - 3 (20.5 overs) - 17th in division The weather forecast did not look promising for a weakened North Mymms 2s as they arrived at Wheathampstead for a crucial bottom of the league clash at Nomansland Common. The Wheathampstead skipper did not hesitate in inviting Mymms to bat on winning the toss given the rain affected, interesting state of the wicket. Mymms innings could not have got off to a worse start losing John Tiley to the first ball of the innings but recovered somewhat in testing conditions through Jon Mather and skipper Nick Gilbert. With the untrustworthy surface it was not surprising that wickets tumbled at regular intervals but given the conditions Mymms were able to post a decent total of 187 all out. This was in the main due to some dogged batting from Gilbert (73), Ian McCarthy and newcomer Dave Jeffrey (45). The skies were beginning to close in as Wheathampstead started their reply which commenced with some positive batting from Martin until he was unfortunately run out by Mark Hassell. Wheathampstead continued in aggressive fashion and lost two further wickets in a couple periods of interrupted play. It became clear to all that the weather would ultimately be the winner and after 20 overs with the Wheathampstead total on 82-3 the game was abandoned. 25th July 2009 Lost - NMCC (home) 183 (45.3 overs) Abbots Langley 250 - 3 (50 overs) After heavy rain prior to match day, North Mymms 2s took a gamble when winning the toss to insert their opposition, Abbots Langley, in the hope of early wickets. It was a gamble that didn’t pay dividends as Abbots Langley piled on the runs despite a relatively early breakthrough from seamer Adam Davies. The classy Australian Chris Chellew (90) and Warner (76) played aggressively to put on a stand of 118 for the second wicket and the Mymms bowlers were unable to extract any control with the notable exception of David Searle (2-91 from 24 overs). The arrival of David Carlisle (66 no) to the wicket saw no loss in momentum and Abbots Langley were able to declare 3 overs early with the score on 254. The Mymms reply got off to a brisk start mainly due to some wayward early bowling but still suffered the loss of Howard Cornwell in the fourth over. Nick Gilbert and Ian Cheeseman steadied the ship a little until both were lost in similar fashion to seamer Aidan Byrne. The most substantial partnership of the innings then followed from the bats of Ed Clements (75) and Dan Boucher (32) who realised 79 for the fourth wicket but after the dismissal of Boucher, Mymms were unable to stem the flow of wickets. The dismissal of Clements after an excellent display of controlled aggression signified the end of all hope of winning the game for Mymms and they were eventually all out for 183, four overs from safety. Abbots Langley seamers Byrne (5-46) and the hostile Chellew (4-44) were the pick of their attack. 18th July 2009 Lost - NMCC (away) 131 (50.2 overs) Redbourn 135 - 3 (23.2 overs) - 3rd in SHCL Division 3 North Mymms 2nd XI continued their win/loss cycle away to third in the table Redbourn last Saturday. A crucial element on a damp but not saturated wicket was always going to be who won the toss and the coin came down in Redbourn’s favour. Mymms were asked to bat first. Their innings could hardly have got off to a worse start, losing both openers Cornwell and Gilbert with the score on 4. The going thereafter got very tough as the accurate Redbourn attack took control in the favourable conditions. Dan Boucher and Ian Cheeseman provided some stubborn resistance to try to build a total but wickets fell at a steady rate until Mymms were all out for 131, the highlight of which was a dogged 55 from Boucher. Pick of the Redbourn bowling was Ahmed with 5-33, ably supported by Fleming with 2-45 and Khan 2-9. In reply, Redbourn got off to a reasonable start through Osman and Yorath putting on 32 for the first wicket until Osman was excellently caught by Ben Howell off James Oram for 6. Yorath and captain Dan Roe batted in their customary aggressive way until, with the score on 75, Yorath was lbw to Steve Thomas for 33. Root then carried on with similar intent until reaching their target seemed inevitable. The only surprise was when Roe holed out to the only boundary fielder with only a handful of runs left to get, for 37 off the leg-spin of Mark Hassell. 11th July 2009 Won - NMCC (home) 232 - 7 (53 overs) Waltham Cross Rosedale 117 (30.4 overs) Having lost the toss and been asked to bat against Waltham Cross Rosedale, North Mymms 2s got off to a solid start with a 50 opening partnership for the second week running between Jon Mather (18) and Captain Nick Gilbert. There then followed a series of good partnerships throughout the Mymms innings which always bodes well for a decent end total. Firstly a partnership of 48 between Gilbert and ex Suffolk stalwart Simon Clements followed by 54 between Gilbert and Ed Clements (31) set a good base for some expansive hitting in the final 10 overs. Prior to that Gilbert was dismissed for 103 setting up Ian Cheeseman and Dan Boucher to increase the run rate in the final stages and this they did to great effect with a partnership of 48. Cheeseman eventually being dismissed for 26 and Dan Boucher for 31 enabling the Mymms total to reach a healthy 232 – 7 off their 53 overs. Having previously successfully chased a total of 250, Waltham set about their chase in confident mood but on this occasion lost wickets at regular intervals to shots which were not all together appropriate given the time available to reach their total. An excellent opening spell from Adam Davies (2 -27) put early pressure on them. The first concern for Mymms, having gained full points (10) from their batting and having picked up four quick wickets, was whether the game would last long enough to enable all their points to count. If the game had not lasted 20 overs of the Waltham innings then 10 points only would result from the abandonment. The weather although gloomy and at times drizzly held off long enough for this hurdle to be successfully negotiated. The wickets continued to come for Mymms particularly with the introduction of slow bowler Dan Boucher. The question now became whether Mymms could secure victory before the inevitable rain came and once again this target was reached just in the nick of time, Boucher taking the last wicket to finish on remarkable figures of 5 for 8. Waltham were all out for 117 securing a fifth season win for Mymms by 115 runs. Mention must also be made of some excellent catching from Mymms particularly 17 year old Ben Howell who took three good catches, the last of which was an excellent effort to a low hard chance. 4th July 2009 Lost - NMCC (away) 168 - 8 (53 overs) Letchworth II 169 - 1 (29.5 overs) Against league leaders Letchworth, North Mymms 2s won the toss and elected to bat in what turned out to be a one sided match at Whitethorn Lane. North Mymms got off to a solid start with Captain Nick Gilbert (22) and Jon Mather (35) putting on 50 for the first wicket before Gilbert was caught by the diving Bridge. At this point Letchworth Captain, Marsh took any pace off the ball and runs became really hard to come by and whilst the bowling never appeared to be threatening, the overs ticked by and the projected total diminished. With the exception of a patient 67 from vice captain Howard Cornwell there were no other significant contributions in the Mymms innings and it closed on what turned out to be an inadequate 168-9 off 53 overs. Mymms decided not to take the new ball to start the Letchworth innings and started with the dependable Searle and took a gamble with the leg spin of Mark Hassell playing his first game of the season. The gamble didn’t pay off. The normal approach of the Letchworth batsmen is a very aggressive one and they look to chase totals in a positive manner and despite the fact that they were missing some of their biggest hitters, poor bowling and accompanying below par fielding meant that the total posed little problem for them. An opening stand of well over a hundred put the game in little doubt and Letchworth reached their target comfortably in the 29th over during which time Mymms employed the services of seven bowlers, the pick of which was Jon Mather who picked up the only Letchworth wicket to fall. 27th June 2009 Rain NMCC (home) 35 - 4 (13.0 overs) Stevenage II 165 - 9 (53 overs) - 14th in Division 3. On a hot and sweltering day North Mymms 2s were forced to play their home Division 3 fixture against Stevenage 2s at their second ground at Bushey Sports Club due to the 1st XI also being required to play their fixture at home. After a scenic stroll to the playing area it was Stevenage who won the toss and elected to bat. Early breakthroughs from Dave Searle and Adam Davies put pressure on the Stevenage batsmen as well as the normal excellent tight spell from Searle that is becoming a feature of the Mymms bowling attack. Steve Thomas then replaced a tiring Davies and bowled a disciplined but luckless spell beating the bat on many occasions but managing to pick up a wicket before off spinner Ben Howell was introduced. He then produced his tightest spell of the season and deserved his 1-24 from 8 overs. At no stage did the Stevenage batting dominate and wickets fell at regular intervals particularly towards the end of the innings when the pressure came to set a decent target. They eventually reached 165-9 from their 53 over allocation with the chief wicket takers for Mymms being Searle and Davies with 4 and 3 wickets respectively. In reply Mymms had a disastrous start losing their first four batsmen with the score only on 18. The ship was being steadied by Steve Thomas and Ian Cheeseman when the heavens opened forcing the game to be abandoned without a result possible. 20th June 2009 Won - NMCC (away) 121 - 3 (20.5 overs) Eversholt 117 (43.5 overs) (18th in Division 3) A second consecutive victory for North Mymms 2nd XI as they travelled to the Bedfordshire countryside and Eversholt CC last Saturday On winning the toss the home team elected to bat on a damp and under prepared looking wicket which didn’t look as if it would improve over the course of the game. Once more the Mymms bowling got off to a solid start due to the accuracy of Dave Searle and given the nature of the wicket he became even more difficult to score off than usual. The first wicket of the day however was from a run out in the first over when Man of the Match Steve Thomas hit the stumps directly from short fine leg. Thomas himself then bowled an excellent spell exposing many of the demons within the wicket including three wickets in one over to reduce Eversholt to 21 for 5 at one stage. Eversholt were then able to stage a short recovery with a brave innings of 54 from Luke Singleton but in the light of the excellent bowling of Searle and Thomas he received no support from the other end and after a short break for rain, Eversholt were all out for 117. Both Searle and Thomas ended with 4 wickets each but Thomas also added to his earlier run out with three catches. Having seen the way the wicket had played, the Mymms game plan centred around a bold approach particularly given that they were chasing a small total. They lost pinch hitter Trevor Smith to an excellent delivery from Avis but effective (if a little uncultured) hitting from skipper Nick Gilbert (52) and Dan Boucher (23) added 79 for the second wicket to place the game firmly in Mymms favour. It was left to Steve Thomas (24 not out) to finish the game with some powerful striking ably supported by a solid Steve Tilley bringing about a 7 wicket victory in the 21st over. 13th June 2009 Won - NMCC (home) 151 - 2 (34.1 overs) Sawbridgeworth II 150 (52.5 overs). A very welcome victory came the way of North Mymms 2’s last Saturday against Sawbridgeworth 2’s on a muggy afternoon at Home Farm. Having won the toss and elected to bat, Sawbridgeworth found runs hard to come by against the increasingly impressive Adam Davies and the miserly Dave Searle. It was Davies who made an important early breakthrough removing Sawbo Captain Lloyd for 18 just he was looking to expand his game. With the score still on 25 Mymms picked up their second wicket and from that point on wickets fell at regular intervals until they were all out for 150 in their final over of their allocation. The only real resistance was a dogged 32 from Foster and a last wicket partnership of 49 between Mann and No 11 Bouvaird who hit an impressive top score of 36 not out. David Searle bowled a wonderful spell for the second time this season with 5-73 from 26.5 overs (unchanged) but was ably supported by Steve Thomas (2-17 off 8 overs and whose two wickets came in the same over. All the bowlers were well supported by a much improved fielding display. In reply North Mymms were given an early scare with the loss of two wickets in consecutive balls with the score on 28, to the chinamen of O’Donovan. Steve Thomas and Captain Nick Gilbert were able to progress the innings to a winning total without further loss but with a few scares along the way. A very dogged 36 not out from Thomas and with Gilbert finishing on a tantalising 99 not out, Mymms were able to ensure the win in their 35th over with an unbroken partnership of 123. 30th May 2009 Lost - NMCC (home) 143 (40.3 overs) County Hall 277-3 (52 overs) County Hall won the toss and chose to bat first on a hot day at Home Farm against North Mymms 2nd XI. Some good early pressure from Dave Searle and Adam Davies meant that runs were not flowing despite the good condition of the wicket. Although North Mymms bowled well early on, they were unable to take early wickets with the exception of Bartlett who fell for 16 to Jon Mather. The County Hall innings progressed sedately to about the 30 over mark at 3 an over for the loss of a single wicket. At this point it became more and more difficult for the Mymms attack to contain the County Hall batsmen and runs came very quickly particularly in the last 10 overs of the innings where 103 runs were added to the score. The chief contributors to the County Hall total of 277-3 from 52 overs were R Hale (57), A Devine (72), J Schaepfor (80 n.o) and A Szemiako (43 n.o) Set an almost impossible task, the Mymms batsmen were careful not to throw away their wickets in a futile attempt to reach the mammoth target set by County Hall. Some excellent early bowling particularly by M Batchelor (4-53) in taking the first three wickets meant that the Mymms innings never really got going with the exception of a fine 67 from Jibram Azam and a useful 23 from Ian McCarthy who put on a partnership of 82. After Azam was dismissed wickets fell at a speedy rate (the last 5 wickets were lost for 6 runs) and North Mymms were all out in the 41st over for 143. Nick Gilbert 9th May 2009 North Mymms Cricket Club 2nd XI v. Shenley CC NMCC 2nd XI won the toss and elected to bat in their Division 3 encounter against a Shenley team containing two excellent cricketers and it was these two individuals who were to have a massive effect on the result of the match. Ex North Mymms overseas professional Wendell Roberts consistently ripped through the defences of the North Mymms batsmen not allowing partnerships to develop and ending with a well deserved 7-35 off 17 overs. He was well supported by some tight bowling at the other end and North Mymms ended on 119 all out with the major contributions coming from Howard Cornwell (34) and a particularly gutsy 33 from Steve Thomas. In reply Shenley didn’t look in any bother due almost entirely to an aggressive, hard hitting 75 from ex Watford CC opening batsman Anuj Choudhry. Despite some decent bowling from Mymms he was able to take the game quickly away from them to seal their second victory in as many games. 2nd May 2009 NMCC v. Hatfield CC NMCC 2nd XI won the toss and elected to bat in their first Division 3 encounter of the season against Hatfield at Home Farm. A tight accurate spell from one of the Hatfield bowlers picking up 3 early wickets reduced Mymms to 64-3 before jet-lagged Australian Ben Langford came to the wicket to make his debut for the club. After a slow start a partnership developed between Langford (100 n.o.) and Captain, Nick Gilbert (120 n.o.), which ultimately realised an unbroken 198 before the declaration came upon Langford reaching three figures and bringing the total to 262-3. In reply Hatfield were always at the correct run rate and were able to forge good early partnerships getting themselves in an excellent position to attack the required target. Some good accurate bowling however wore down the Hatfield batsmen and they collapsed to 227 All out, losing their last 6 wickets very quickly. The pick of the bowlers were Dave Searle with 6 wickets and 17 year old debutante Ben Howell (1-24). |
Updated: June 25, 2009 - Chris Cook |