Evening League Match Reports
Wednesday 22 July
A keen Abberton side (minus skipper Whitfield) had to wait for the opposition captain to arrive on a drizzly evening at The Brow. Steve Bulger of the Real Oddies proceeded to win the toss and chose to bat.
Pettit and Huxley opened up for the home side with two excellant spells of pace bowling. Chris claimed three of the top four and Hux bowled ideally to plan, picked up two wickets and bowled a maiden (no mean feet in the Evening League). The bowling, supported by a faultless fielding display, reduced the oddies to 49-5 off of the first eight overs. Ryan Savill came on at one end and the stand in captain at the other with the hopes of rabbit hunting. Savill however had other plans and scooped three wickets in an over to spin out the Oddies' tail leaving the visitors 77 all out.
With little pressure on the batting laiden home side, Pete Johnson and Tom Sawdon opened up and did a sterling job against a quick and talented young opening bowling pair. However both were both dismissed in the third over to Batt. Parker-Wilson and Berger then put on 29 for the third wicket with the former making a fine 20 off of 23 balls before being caught by an absolute blinder. Beefy was bowled by Cherry just as he was getting into his flow and it was left in the safe hands of Moxon and Savill to ease to victory with more than three overs to spare.
An excellent win for Abberton; onto the final at Elmstead next week. The more support we can get up there the better. DDD
Wednesday 8 July
On a cooler evening than previous weeks, birthday boy Steve Whitfield (38; years not runs) won yet another toss and chose to bat (not personally thankfully). Last week's hero Richard Moxon opened up with Ryan Brown. Three balls into the game after some scratchy shots Mr 'Pleasant' moxon asked if someone would mind awfully moving the sightscreen to behind the bowlers arm as he was stuggling to pick up the ball. The opposition duly obliged and Richard signed his thanks by hitting the next ball for a huge straight six over the road. The two Lions batsmen formed an excellant partnership scoring at ten an over with some aggressive running putting pressure on the Police's fielding which was found lacking. The pair put on 138 by the 13th over when Moxon was dismissed for an awfully nice knock of 67 including three 6s and three 4s. Brown continued running hard but only managed to put on a further 13 runs with a progression of young partners (Sawdon, Desborough, Pettit). The model finishing with a striking and well possed innings of 58* and Abberton managed a well constructed and competitive total of 151.
Quick young thing Gregan Savill opened up from the Mersea Road end and unusually struggled to find that nagging spot in his first over. Not so young Dangerous Digby started from the other end and managed to pick up a wicket in his first over with the help of an excellent running catch from specialist fielder Parker-Bowles. Savill then settled into his usual fast and accurate spell and Diggers' swing and nagging lines [bullshit - Ed] restricted town police to 61-3 of off the first eight overs, other wickets going to an LPW run out and a birthday present wicket for skipper Whitfield.
Abberton's bowling was backed up by some high quality fielding from the aformentioned LPW, Marcus Christensen and Desborough. Whitfield bowled a typical spell of nagging left arm round finishing with 2-20 and Digby 1-29 (including 12 runs off of edges, not that I was counting!). A solid innnings if 36 from a Sargeant and a good start from Garnham had kept the bobbies in with a chance and when the bowling honours were handed over to Pettit and Desborough, number 6 Gates stepped on the gas hitting ten boundaries in his knock of 57* and taking the visitors very close. However Dessy's cool head and well flighted leg spin held strong leaving Abberton the victors by a solitary one run.
A good team performance of hard running between the wickets, excellent fielding (including a direct hit run out from Tom 'The Sausage' Sawdon) and level headed bowling made for a great game played out in front of somewhat subdued Ray Clay family enclosure in wonderful spirits. With the round robin over we have secured a place in Div 1 for next season and will have a knockout semi next week. DDD
Tuesday 30 June
Following on from last week's defeat against the Oddies, the Lions were looking to get back to winning ways against second in the table University Staff. After winning the toss, Junior decided to bat first and Richard Moxon and Aaron Trussler opened the batting. After two overs things were not looking the best as we were two wickets down with only ten runs on the board; Aaron being bowled for a duck and Ryan Brown being caught and bowled for four.
At this point, Moxy started to entertain the huge crowd in the 'Ray Clay Terrace', with a superb array of shots, hitting the ball to all parts of the ground. He quickly raced to his fifty as we reached 73-2 at the half way stage of the innings. The next eight overs were a joy to behold as Richard and with excellent support from Ben Huxley and Mike Abrey added 133 runs. Ben was out in the 10th over, when he was bowled for a fine 25 and then Budgie came in and made use of a short boundary on the pavillion side of the ground in scoring quickfire 36. Richard carried on with his onslaught of the University attack and reached his century, which brought the whole of the huge crowd to their feet. The innings finally finished with Richard being not out on 127 and the Lions total being a massive 206-4.
We knew that a couple of tight overs at the start of the University innings would put the pressure on them and in the second delivery of the first over, Gregan Savill bowled Williams for a duck and in his second over he bowled Duncan for four. After seven overs, the University had reached 39-2 with Gregan having excellent figures of 2-18 from his alloted overs.
Dangerous Digby and Ben Huxley then took four wickets in as many overs, Diggers having dangerman Murtaza and opening bat Angad both trapped LBW followed by Ben bowling O'Shaugnessy and then Murray caught at mid-off by a surprisingly alert Chris Pettit. The rest of the innings gave the chance for Matt Desborough to show his guile with his leg-spin. Not frightened to give the ball plenty of air, he then caught and bowled Fox for 21 and impressed everybody in his two over spell. The end of the innings came with the University reaching 113 for the loss of 8 wickets, with the Lions winning by an excellent 93 runs.
This was a superb all-round performance of which there was many excellent individual displays but of course the evening will be remembered for that fantastic innings from Moxy!! JW
Tuesday 23 June
On a lovely sunny mid-June evening, a very young looking Lions went to the exotic plains of the Mile End Sports Stadium to try to get back to winning ways and pull away from the drop zone. Captain Junior won the toss and decided to bat first. Ryan Savill and Aaron Trussler went out to the middle looking to give the team a solid platform. Opening bowlers Fairfull and Bhat bowled well, Bhat certainly getting large amounts of swing and, after seven overs, we were 53 without loss and hopeful of posting a large total. In the tenth over, Ryan was bowled by Cherry for 39 and two overs later Aaron was out for 34. Some late blows by Chris Pettit with 20 and Ben Huxley with 14, pushed the Lions total up to 120-6. Highlight of the innings was Lloyd Parker-Bowles striding to wicket in a long sleeve jumper on one of the warmest nights of the year.
In reply, Gregan Savill and Huxley opened the bowling and in the fourth over, Hux took the first wicket by bowling Tim De Fish for 15 and two overs later, Pettit took an excellent catch at mid-off to remove Aitkin for 15 and in the next over, Gregan clean bowled Cherry for 15. At this stage the Oddies were 50 for 3 wickets after seven overs and we were hopng to tighten the screw and claim an important win. However, Oddies batsmen Fitton and skipper Bulger went after the bowling with an array of strong hitting but, with four overs to go, they still needed 44 to win. At this stage the Lions fielding went a little bit astray and some misfields that went to the boundary and dropped catches put the home team on the front foot and, eventually, the Oddies won by six wickets with seven balls to spare. Bulger ending up on 35 not out and Fitton unbeated on 24.
Perhaps with a bit more composure and luck in the field, we would have won but with two homes to play before the season ends, hopefully we can get enough points to keep the team in the first division. JW
Tuesday 16 June
Following on from the recent victory against the Real Oddies, the Lions had to face a much tougher opposition in the form of top-of-the-table Lloyds Bank. After winning the toss, the captain chose to bat first and opening batsmen Aaron Trussler and Pete Johnson looked to try and get the team off to a good start. In the third over Trussler was bowled by Manning for three which brought Chris Pettit to the wicket and he went on to top score with 27. Pete Johnson managed 15 and Lions' debutant Yashi scored a quickfire 19 at the end of the innings, which took us to 107-6. Matt Bibby was the most successful of the Lloyds bowlers by taking 3-29 runs off his three overs.
In reply Gregan Savill and Yashi opened the bowling and, in the first over, Gregan had opening bat Wilson clean bowled with the score on four. At this stage, we were hopeful of making more quick inroads into the Lloyds line-up and put some pressure on them. However number three batsman Simon Barlow had other ideas and hit his first delivery clean out of the ground. He continued this onslaught throughout the innings, hitting four sixes and eight fours as he ended up on 75 not out. He was ably supported at the end by Steve Starling, who contributed 22 not out. An eight wicket victory was secured by Lloyds in 10.2 overs.
We are still third in the table with three games to play but only a single point seperates us from the bottom. Next week we go to the Mile End sports ground to play the Real Oddies. JW
Tuesday 2 June
After a gap of two weeks due to the wet weather, the Lions returned to action against the Real Oddies. After the opposing skipper won the toss, he asked Abberton to bat first. Opening batsmen Mike Abrey and Craig Scott walked out to the wicket with great purpose and were looking to set a big total and also get in some good batting practice. In the second over Scotty (still 31), played a square cut which went to the furthest part of the ground and they managed to run four (both needed oxygen afterwards)!!. The next ball with Craig still puffing, he went to play a big shot and got bowled. Pete Johnson then came to the wicket and was looking to carry on his good form from the previous game. In the next five overs the pair scored 53 runs with a mixture of good shots and clever running. In the eighth over Pete was dismissed for an eyecatching 26. This fall brought Marc Fox to the wicket and with Budgie put on another decent stand of 43 before Foxy was bowled by Pearson for 22. In the 14th over Mike reached his 50 and and in the last over really set about the bowling with three big sixes to finish on an excellent score of 71 not out and a final team score of 143-5.
In reply the Oddies were soon under pressure with an excellent display of quick and accurate bowling from Gregan Savill and when Chris Pettit made the first breakthrough by having opening batsman Fairfull caught and bowled for 11 the score was on 49. The other opener Fitzgerald was also soon out for 36 and then a steady fall of wickets resulted in the Oddies being bowled out for 99, the last wicket was originally put in the scorebook as an LBW decision. A few minutes later it was decided that the batsman had edged the ball instead and mode of dismissal was changed to caught behind by wicketkeeper Abrey. Wickets were shared between Whitfield 3-10, Chris Pettit 3-22, Dangerous Digby picking up 2-12 off 1.2 overs and Gregan Savill taking 1-26 off his four overs.
The final result being Abberton Lions winning by 43 runs and therefore picking up their first win of the season. At the halfway stage in the season, we stand in thirdrd place with four points from our five games. Next week, we host bottom of the table Ardleigh and hopefully will be able to record another victory. JW
Tuesday 12 May
The Abberton Lions lost their second game of the Evening League season at a very windy and cold University of Essex, when they took on the University Staff. After losing the toss, Abberton were invited to bowl first and Chris Pettit picked up an early wicket when Rob Simpkin took a brilliant diving catch at point to remove one of the opening batsman for a duck. Batsmen Williams and Whitworth then set about the bowling with Williams scoring 32 and Whitworth being exceptionally forceful through the legside in hitting 38, every run being a boundary. Chris Pettit was the pick of the Lions bowlers with his 1-23 runs off four overs. Lions debutant Richard Moxon took 2-29 runs in his two overs. The University Staff eventually scored 139-5 at the end of their innings.
In reply, Ryan Brown was bowled in the second over and Pete Johnson came to the wicket for his Lions debut. He, along with Aaron Trussler, started to make slow progress in reaching the required total. In the ninth over with the score on 54, Aaron was run out for 22. Richard Moxon then came into bat with the Lions needing an improbable 86 runs off 6 overs to win in a fast fading light. Richard then set about the University bowling with a superb array of shots and with the help of the quick running between the wickets with Pete, the two batsmen reduced the required total to 22 off the last over to win the match. Unfortunately this was too much of a task to be achieved and despite scoring an excellent 15 runs in almost darkness, we ended up on 133-2 wickets. Richard ended up on 58* and Pete scored 31*.
Another good effort from all of the team and next week, we are off to Ardleigh, where hopefully we can record our first win of season. JW
Tuesday 5 May
The Abberton Lions started their first season back in Division One of the Colchester Evening League with a visit to a cold and windy Elmstead CC to take on the force of the Town Police. Due to a couple of call-offs earlier in the day, the skipper had to make a few late phone calls and messages to get the team back to its full quota.
After winning the toss, we elected to bat, Mike Abrey and Ryan Brown got us off to a good start with a 59 run opening partnership before Mike was caught on boundary for an entertaining 23. Aaron (FB XI) Trussler then joined Ryan for an excellent second wicket stand of 62, full of good running and clean hitting, before Aaron was out in the last over with his score on 20. Ryan was not out at the end of the innings with an excellent score of 65; the Lions final total being 124-2.
Chris Pettit and Dan (Mr Grumpy) Woodrow then opened the bowling, hoping that a few early wickets could set us on the road to victory. However, these wickets did not materialise, although there was a few stunned faces when batsman Cooper was not given out when he edged the ball to wicketkeeper(?) Abrey off the bowling of Pettit. Budgies' remark of "he middled it" were a bit over the top, but there was certainly a big edge. The two bowlers' managed good spells without having any reward.
Spinner Craig Scott's first over went for a bit of tap but then he showed all of his qualities in fading light by bowling Cooper for 47, Moon for 27 and Sparrow for a duck. Skipper Whitfield then unleashed his version of the 'Fosker Slower Ball' to have batsman Coyles caught by Aaron Trussler at mid-off. Unfortunately these wickets came a bit late as the Police reached the target required with six wickets and 1.7 overs to spare. The fielding performance of the team was excellent, espically the young and very quick Reife Marangou.
All in all a good effort by all and we are already looking forward to next week, when we will be pitting our brains and cricketing ability against the University Staff. JW
