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Sat 21 Aug 2021 · Premier Division - 2nd XI
Guildford CC - 2nd XI
2nd XI
141
145/6
Rain, Run-Outs and Rotsey
Reigate Priory Cricket Club26 Aug 2021 - 21:19
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Report by Dick Belcher
The 2nd team visited Woodbridge Road to play Guildford in the last of this season’s timed matches.
With Guildford needing the points to avoid relegation and the Llamas needing points to maintain their slender lead at the top of the league, it was frustrating waiting for the light rain to stop. Had the game already started then play would have continued in this light rain, but Guildford were keen for the rain to stop before considering play. There is no law in cricket that says you can’t start playing in the rain, it is merely cricket convention as the laws surrounding fitness for play (2.7) includes “Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal. The fact that the grass and ball are wet does not warrant the ground conditions being regarded as unreasonable or dangerous”. The rain did eventually stop and play got underway at 1.30 with the match reduced to 80 overs with the side batting 1st getting 44 and with Smudger winning the toss and deciding to field, it was Guildford to bat.
Will Brewis had 2 chances go down in the slips (6-1-30-0), both let-offs for Jonathan Hedges; but it was his opening partner Kiwi Jaedyn Bartosh-Short (18) who was the 1st wicket to fall when in the 11th over Toby Briggs changed to bowling round the wicket to the left hander and was rewarded when Tom Massey took the catch at 1st slip for Toby to complete a wicket maiden and for Guildford to be 38-1.
After just over an hour of play the rain came and the teams retreated but not for long as very little time was lost and each team only lost 1 over from their initial allocations with the match becoming 78 overs with a 43:35 over split. BUT...as the covers were being removed we than our very own “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM ? moment when a gentleman (& we really didn’t know who he was but later learned he was Lee Fortis the Head Groundsman at the Oval and also the man who looks after the Woodbridge Road ground) came onto the ground and insisted the pitch was unplayable; and this despite the fact we had already played about 18 overs without incident. While we are thankful to the work of the groundsmen, and particularly our own, and while not exactly telling him to “sling his hook” it was pointed out that the Umpires were the sole judges of the fitness of the pitch for play (Law 6.2) and thankfully the game got underway.
Just to temporarily go off script you might like to know that this isn’t the 1st time a Guildford Groundsman has tried to stop a game. Back in May 2001, which was the last year Guildford won the Premier Division, Guildford were due to play Banstead but the match had to be controversially abandoned at 10am as Bill Clutterbuck (Guildford Groundsman at the time) parked his roller just off the square to ensure play could not take place. The event even made the front page of the Times and was known as Rollergate as Bill took rather extreme measures to protect what he saw as “his” square.....but to return to the action...
Tom Massey (4-1-10-0) gave way to Connor Newbold but not before Toby claimed his 2nd wicket (13-2-39-2) when Benjamin Garrett (12), who had spent most of the season in the Guildford 1st team, pulled a ball to Advaith Bali for Guildford to be 72-2 in the 21st over. Ben also opens the batting for Epsom College with our own Will Hodgson.
Having assisted with 4 catches last week, Connor was keen to get some wickets of his own and he did just that in his 2nd over. One ball went for a 6 and another ball should have got the same treatment but George Stephens (8) only succeeded in finding Nick Rotsey at backward square for the 3rd wicket to fall at 86-3 in the 24th over. Connor’s 3rd over (the 26th) saw him get his 2nd wicket bowling Jonathan Hedges (top scoring with 42 and the beneficiary of 2 dropped catches off Will Brewis) and Guildford were 95-4. Seth McDowall then dived forward and just failed to get his fingers under the ball in an attempt to get Connor another wicket, but in doing so damaged his finger but continued to field one handed. Connor then got his 3rd wicket when Genty caught wicket keeper Andy Parker (0) and Guildford were 103-5. Not done yet as in the 32nd over Connor got his 4th wicket when Guildford Captain Tom Bancroft (21) was bowled attempting to sweep for his team to be 114-6.
Fellow spinner Harry McInley then dived low to his left to take a sharp caught and bowled to dismiss Tom Greene (8) for 120-7 after 35 overs. Harry’s next over sees him get his 2nd wicket (8-0-27-2) when he dismissed Joe Morse (5) caught behind by Ashwin Bhat and Guildford were 125-8. Connor then gets his “fifer” when he caught and bowled Callum McLean (0) and Guildford’s innings was stuttering at 129-9 in the 38th over and finished in the 1st ball of the 42nd over when Connor (10.1-2-29-6) had Henry McMillan (13) caught at deep long off as Guildford were all out for 141.
The Llama innings got off to a slow start and in the 4th over with the score on 7 David Gent (7) steered a ball from Callum McLean (4-1-10-1) into Jaedyn Bartosh-Short’s hands at gully. Ben Shaw’s 11 overs 0-29 was keeping the run rate low as Advaith Bali joined his captain Jon Smith and whereas Jon struggled to score, Adi was settling in and finding the gaps and the pair took the Llamas to 65 in the 21st over when Jon (20) in attempting to increase his and the team’s run rate came down the wicket and got an edge to keeper Andy Parker off spinner Joe Morse (6-0-29-1).
The Llamas then hit the self destruct button in the form of 3 run outs. The 1st was Adi who called Harry Mac for a run and then said no but they had crossed and Adi was out for 41 in the 24th over and the Llamas were 80-3. Next over sees the next run out as Tom Massey (1) plays a shot behind square on the leg side and calls a run but can’t make his ground when sent back by Harry and the Llamas are 81-4. Next over saw the 3rd run out in the space of 3 overs as this time it is Harry McInley (15 off 12) who can’t make his ground and the Llamas are 90-5 in the 26th over.
Despite bowling Guildford out in less than the allotted rain reduced 43 overs, the Llamas still only had the 35 overs to get the runs and with 5 wickets left and 9 overs remaining still needed another 50 runs and would need to up their current run rate of 3.5 to nearer a run a ball but as the saying goes “cometh the hour cometh the man” and he duly arrived in the form of Nick Rotsey. Nick was a late call up from the 3’s to replace George Elliston and with the help of Seth McDowall who had been patched up by our very own Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon (Ashwin’s Dad Murali), they proceeded to score at the required rate.
Seth heaved a six to mid wicket which had it not been for the high fence would have found its way onto Woodbridge Road but was out in the 32nd over for an almost a run a ball 21 when falling lbw to Henry McMillan (12.4-0-70-1) for the 6th wicket to fall as the Llamas were now 128-6 with 3 overs left to get 14 runs. All 3 overs proved unnecessary as Ashwin Bhat (0 no) joined Nick Rotsey as Nick took the Llamas to victory scoring 31 not out from 30 deliveries to see the Llama home at 145-6 with 8 balls to spare.
The days of Fraser MacDonald opening the innings for the 2’s and getting the team off to a fast starts are long gone but despite our slowish starts and sometimes scoreboard pressure we seem to find the wherewithal to get over the winning line.
The 24 points was matched by 2nd place East Molesey who are next weekend’s opponents at Park Lane in the penultimate game of the season as we return to the 50 overs a side limited overs format so there has to be a winner. This game could well decide the title although other challengers in 3rd (Esher) and 4th (Sunbury) are still in the hunt as they are our own and East Molesey’s opponents respectively in the last game of the season. So all still in our hands we but can surely expect a tough challenge next week.
With Guildford needing the points to avoid relegation and the Llamas needing points to maintain their slender lead at the top of the league, it was frustrating waiting for the light rain to stop. Had the game already started then play would have continued in this light rain, but Guildford were keen for the rain to stop before considering play. There is no law in cricket that says you can’t start playing in the rain, it is merely cricket convention as the laws surrounding fitness for play (2.7) includes “Conditions shall not be regarded as either dangerous or unreasonable merely because they are not ideal. The fact that the grass and ball are wet does not warrant the ground conditions being regarded as unreasonable or dangerous”. The rain did eventually stop and play got underway at 1.30 with the match reduced to 80 overs with the side batting 1st getting 44 and with Smudger winning the toss and deciding to field, it was Guildford to bat.
Will Brewis had 2 chances go down in the slips (6-1-30-0), both let-offs for Jonathan Hedges; but it was his opening partner Kiwi Jaedyn Bartosh-Short (18) who was the 1st wicket to fall when in the 11th over Toby Briggs changed to bowling round the wicket to the left hander and was rewarded when Tom Massey took the catch at 1st slip for Toby to complete a wicket maiden and for Guildford to be 38-1.
After just over an hour of play the rain came and the teams retreated but not for long as very little time was lost and each team only lost 1 over from their initial allocations with the match becoming 78 overs with a 43:35 over split. BUT...as the covers were being removed we than our very own “DON’T YOU KNOW WHO I AM ? moment when a gentleman (& we really didn’t know who he was but later learned he was Lee Fortis the Head Groundsman at the Oval and also the man who looks after the Woodbridge Road ground) came onto the ground and insisted the pitch was unplayable; and this despite the fact we had already played about 18 overs without incident. While we are thankful to the work of the groundsmen, and particularly our own, and while not exactly telling him to “sling his hook” it was pointed out that the Umpires were the sole judges of the fitness of the pitch for play (Law 6.2) and thankfully the game got underway.
Just to temporarily go off script you might like to know that this isn’t the 1st time a Guildford Groundsman has tried to stop a game. Back in May 2001, which was the last year Guildford won the Premier Division, Guildford were due to play Banstead but the match had to be controversially abandoned at 10am as Bill Clutterbuck (Guildford Groundsman at the time) parked his roller just off the square to ensure play could not take place. The event even made the front page of the Times and was known as Rollergate as Bill took rather extreme measures to protect what he saw as “his” square.....but to return to the action...
Tom Massey (4-1-10-0) gave way to Connor Newbold but not before Toby claimed his 2nd wicket (13-2-39-2) when Benjamin Garrett (12), who had spent most of the season in the Guildford 1st team, pulled a ball to Advaith Bali for Guildford to be 72-2 in the 21st over. Ben also opens the batting for Epsom College with our own Will Hodgson.
Having assisted with 4 catches last week, Connor was keen to get some wickets of his own and he did just that in his 2nd over. One ball went for a 6 and another ball should have got the same treatment but George Stephens (8) only succeeded in finding Nick Rotsey at backward square for the 3rd wicket to fall at 86-3 in the 24th over. Connor’s 3rd over (the 26th) saw him get his 2nd wicket bowling Jonathan Hedges (top scoring with 42 and the beneficiary of 2 dropped catches off Will Brewis) and Guildford were 95-4. Seth McDowall then dived forward and just failed to get his fingers under the ball in an attempt to get Connor another wicket, but in doing so damaged his finger but continued to field one handed. Connor then got his 3rd wicket when Genty caught wicket keeper Andy Parker (0) and Guildford were 103-5. Not done yet as in the 32nd over Connor got his 4th wicket when Guildford Captain Tom Bancroft (21) was bowled attempting to sweep for his team to be 114-6.
Fellow spinner Harry McInley then dived low to his left to take a sharp caught and bowled to dismiss Tom Greene (8) for 120-7 after 35 overs. Harry’s next over sees him get his 2nd wicket (8-0-27-2) when he dismissed Joe Morse (5) caught behind by Ashwin Bhat and Guildford were 125-8. Connor then gets his “fifer” when he caught and bowled Callum McLean (0) and Guildford’s innings was stuttering at 129-9 in the 38th over and finished in the 1st ball of the 42nd over when Connor (10.1-2-29-6) had Henry McMillan (13) caught at deep long off as Guildford were all out for 141.
The Llama innings got off to a slow start and in the 4th over with the score on 7 David Gent (7) steered a ball from Callum McLean (4-1-10-1) into Jaedyn Bartosh-Short’s hands at gully. Ben Shaw’s 11 overs 0-29 was keeping the run rate low as Advaith Bali joined his captain Jon Smith and whereas Jon struggled to score, Adi was settling in and finding the gaps and the pair took the Llamas to 65 in the 21st over when Jon (20) in attempting to increase his and the team’s run rate came down the wicket and got an edge to keeper Andy Parker off spinner Joe Morse (6-0-29-1).
The Llamas then hit the self destruct button in the form of 3 run outs. The 1st was Adi who called Harry Mac for a run and then said no but they had crossed and Adi was out for 41 in the 24th over and the Llamas were 80-3. Next over sees the next run out as Tom Massey (1) plays a shot behind square on the leg side and calls a run but can’t make his ground when sent back by Harry and the Llamas are 81-4. Next over saw the 3rd run out in the space of 3 overs as this time it is Harry McInley (15 off 12) who can’t make his ground and the Llamas are 90-5 in the 26th over.
Despite bowling Guildford out in less than the allotted rain reduced 43 overs, the Llamas still only had the 35 overs to get the runs and with 5 wickets left and 9 overs remaining still needed another 50 runs and would need to up their current run rate of 3.5 to nearer a run a ball but as the saying goes “cometh the hour cometh the man” and he duly arrived in the form of Nick Rotsey. Nick was a late call up from the 3’s to replace George Elliston and with the help of Seth McDowall who had been patched up by our very own Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon (Ashwin’s Dad Murali), they proceeded to score at the required rate.
Seth heaved a six to mid wicket which had it not been for the high fence would have found its way onto Woodbridge Road but was out in the 32nd over for an almost a run a ball 21 when falling lbw to Henry McMillan (12.4-0-70-1) for the 6th wicket to fall as the Llamas were now 128-6 with 3 overs left to get 14 runs. All 3 overs proved unnecessary as Ashwin Bhat (0 no) joined Nick Rotsey as Nick took the Llamas to victory scoring 31 not out from 30 deliveries to see the Llama home at 145-6 with 8 balls to spare.
The days of Fraser MacDonald opening the innings for the 2’s and getting the team off to a fast starts are long gone but despite our slowish starts and sometimes scoreboard pressure we seem to find the wherewithal to get over the winning line.
The 24 points was matched by 2nd place East Molesey who are next weekend’s opponents at Park Lane in the penultimate game of the season as we return to the 50 overs a side limited overs format so there has to be a winner. This game could well decide the title although other challengers in 3rd (Esher) and 4th (Sunbury) are still in the hunt as they are our own and East Molesey’s opponents respectively in the last game of the season. So all still in our hands we but can surely expect a tough challenge next week.
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