Park Lane Succumbs to the Moles

It was 3rd (Llamas) v 4th (Moles) as the 2nd half of the season got underway at Park Lane with the Llamas looking to reverse the result from week 1 when East Molesey (154-3 in 25.3 overs) defeated Reigate (150 all out in 44 overs) with Moles 1st teamer Dom Reed doing most of the damage with 5-35. Very different team selections this time as the Llamas fielded just 6 and the Moles fielded just 4 players from the opening fixture.

Moles captain Keiran Burge won the toss and put the Llamas into bat as David Gent and Matt Crighton took on the fast bowling Porter brothers Toby & Harry. Toby had taken 1-24 against our 1’s a fortnight ago (14-3-42-0 today) and Surrey U18 Harry had recently appeared for Surrey 2nds; but it wasn’t the bowlers that brought the early wickets as both openers hit the self destruct button. Firstly Genty called for a single but was out to a direct hit from Jason Moore (1-1 in the 2nd over) and then Matt, who looked to have settled in having scored 5 fours in reaching 31, called for a single but the ball didn’t get past South African Dylan Marx who patrolled the covers like a Colin Bland & Jonty Rhodes, and Matt was 2nd wicket down (87-2 in the 18th over).

With a few play and misses Ant Ireland and Luke Sheridan put on a 50 partnership before Ant (27) was out lbw to Jack Miller (10-1-54-1) when height was not an issue with Ant kneeling to sweep (113-3 in the 32nd over). Another 50 partnership as Harry McInley’s 6 and 3 fours provided support to Luke before Harry became the 1st of Harry Porter’s 3 wickets when he was caught behind by Tom Phillippe for 23 with the Llamas now 170-4 in the 45th over.

With just 10 overs left of the maximum of 55, Matt Hutcheon gave the innings a boost with 3 successive balls going for 6,4,4. Meanwhile Luke had passed his 50 and was receiving plenty of advice from Surrey U18 Harry Porter who clearly has been receiving training at Surrey on the art of verbal diarrhoea; but it was Harry who got his 2nd wicket in bowling Luke for 81 (10 fours) and the Llamas were 191-5 in the 47th over. This was soon 202-6 as Fraser McGuiness (2) was bowled to become Harry Porter’s 3rd victim (14-3-58-3).

Just 6 overs left and 3 more 4’s from Hutch pushed the Llamas up to 222 before Hutch (32 from 21 balls) became the 7th wicket down when he was caught in the deep by Tiam Afshar off Jason Moore’s bowling. Jason Moore then got his 2nd wicket (10-0-34-2) with a caught and bowled as Jacob McLoughlin (12) skied one to have the Llamas 233-8 in the 54th over leaving Tommy Bates (9) and Connor Newbold (2) as the not out batsmen as the Llamas finished their 55 over innings on 240-8. The wicket was flat with good bounce and carry and 240 was perhaps under-par and apart from Luke’s 81, 4 of the batsmen got starts into the 20’s and 30’s without converting their innings to 50+ which would have set a more challenging target for the Moles, who would have 45 overs to reach their target of 241.

The Moles took 4 hours (12noon to 4pm) to bowl their 55 overs (no spin) and even allowing for a couple of ball searches and 2 drinks breaks and the temperature, this was a very slow over rate. The Tier 2 Playing Conditions (TPC4 Over rates and points deductions) allow for a 2 point deduction for each over the bowling team fall short of 17 overs an hour BUT the playing conditions do not apply unless Panel appointed Umpires are standing. For matches without Panel Umpires the Captains should ensure an over rate of 16 overs per hour with the start and finish times of each innings being entered in the comments box on play cricket.

The Moles innings got underway at 4.30pm and they suffered an early setback in their reply as Toby Briggs in his 3rd over had youngster Tiam Afshar (1) lbw to see East Molesey 14-1 in the 5th over. The Moles early scoring rate was very similar to the Llamas who were 57-2 in the 18th over; as the Moles lost their 2nd wicket at 57-2 in the 17th over as Tom Phillippe (19) hooked Toby Briggs (9-1-32-2) to deep fine leg where Jacob McLoughlin, looking into the sun, took a difficult catch.

From that point onwards the Moles took charge with James Cake (Surrey U18) outscoring his captain Keiran Burge in their stand of 63 before James, who had earlier survived a confident team appeal for a catch behind off Harry’s bowling, was out for 39 when he smashed a ball from Tommy Bates (2-0-13-1) to Hutch at mid on for the Moles to be 120-3 after 28 overs.

There was to be no further breakthrough for the Llama bowlers as Dylan Marx joined captain Kieran Burge as the pair kept up with the required rate (17 overs to get 120, 13 overs to get 95, 11 overs to get 81) aided by some untidy fielding which although never easy on the Park Lane outfield even included a double overthrow. Jacob (10-0-53-0), Macca (10.5-0-59-0), Hutch (7-0-44-0) and Connor (4-0-35-0) were all tried couldn’t break the partnership.

Over 41 saw 15 runs as Keiran Burge reached his 100 and Dylan Marx reached his 50; then over 42 saw 14 more runs as the Moles raced towards their target which was reached in the 43rd over (after 42.5 overs) as the Moles finished their innings on 241-3 which had taken from 4.30pm to 7.40pm which was a similar over rate to that bowled by the Moles. For those who like a calculation Moles bowled 331 balls in 240 minutes and the Llamas bowled 261 balls in 190 minutes.

This was a tough match against the always competitive (& combative) East Molesey team who ended the day moving into 3rd place (on 147 Points) and swapping places with the now 4th placed Llamas (on 135 points), largely thanks to a superb century from their captain Kieran Burge who has been top or 2nd highest scorer in the division in each of the last 4 years. Plenty still to play for as both clubs chase the top 2 of Spencer (on 175 points) and Wimbledon (on 166 points).