After the original fixture was rearranged due to a clash with the World Cup final and after Uxbridge pulling out, Belmont & Edgware travelled to the quaint village of Chipperfield for a Chess Valley League fixture.
On a muggy, humid day, when the outfield was brown, Belmont captain Jacobs won the toss and to many people's surprise, chose to bat first.
Jonathan Evans and Elliot Mayer continued their newly formed and fairly successful opening partnership. They ran brilliantly between the wickets, with Evans getting off to his now customary fast start and Mayer driving the ball beautifully, with an on drive for four possibly the shot of the day.
Belmont raced along to 36 after 4.4 overs, when Mayer went to turn a straight ball down the leg-side, only to get a thin edge onto his pad and for the ball to loop to the keeper who grasped a fine one-handed catch above his head.
Jacobs came in to join Evans who continued to find the boundary regularly and Jacobs was playing his way in, when he misjudged a delivery that swung back up the hill and was adjudged lbw.
This brought Scott Gerrard to the crease and he and Evans continued to build and find the boundary Evans smacked a chest-high full-toss from Price straight to mid-on for a handy 39.
Gerard followed soon after, pulling a long-hop to the man on the 45 for 22. Philip Mayer and Michael Blasebalk then had something of a rebuilding job to do which they did well. Although the scoring rate inevitably dropped, they played sensibly and mixed it with the odd swaggering shot. Blasebalk punished anything in the slot, whilst an attempt by Price to bowl around the wicket Bodyline style at Mayer saw him dispatched with an upper cut to the cover boundary.
The pair rescued Belmont and put on a fine 56-run partnership, before Mayer was caught in the covers for a well made 34. Goldman then also hit a long-hop to the man on the 45 for a duck. Mayer was then dismissed and when Blasebalk followed shortly afterwards for a fine 38, Belmont were teetering at 183-8 and in danger of not posting a competitive total and not getting close to batting out their overs.
Tom Hart and Bension Tilley, however, played sensibly and took the score to 222, before a combination of double Nelson and the commentator's curse struck when everyone on the boundary was commenting on how good Hart looked, only for him to nick one through to the keeper. This brought in Mendel for a rare innings. After getting nicely behind his first three balls, he got a little excited and aimed a big shot at a straight ball, only to hear the dreaded rattle.
Belmont were eventually dismissed for 223 off 42.5 overs. Although it was a score on the board, the Belmont team felt it was slightly under par. And so it proved.
Chipperfield started their reply, with Jacobs taking some tap from the big-hitting opener. Gerard opened from the other end and got his customary lift off the pitch, yet he was powerless as Chipperfield got away to a fast start. The hosts rode their luck, at times, with top edges falling between fielders and big shots falling short of a catch, mixed with some plays and misses.
After eight overs, Chipperfield were 53-0 and a desperate Jacobs turned to the spin of Evans. He had been hit for a towering six in his previous over but a change of ball saw Evans immediately put a brake on the scoring, conceding just 1 from a tight first over.
Gerard then made the breakthrough taking an astounding return catch off his own bowling, low, diving with one hand to his right. Evans then joined the party in the next over, getting one to turn back up the slope and pinning the no.3 on the back leg plumb in front.
When Evans then took his customary second wicket shortly afterwards, with the big-hitting Price well caught by Mayer, Belmont were right in the game at the first drinks break, with Chipperfield 82-3.
At this point, the game could have gone either way. Gerard bowled a Herculean spell bowling his 10 overs straight through. Desai charged Gerrard’s first three balls that he faced. He can count himself extremely unlucky not to take more wickets.
Evans was keeping it tight at the other end, beating the bat regularly and deceiving the batsmen in the flight. Gorham in particular was locked in a compelling battle with Evans. However, whilst last year Evans could not take a wicket, this year he cannot take three and it was not to be. Evans however finished with very tidy figures of 10-1-46-2.
Tilley replaced Gerard from the pavilion end and thought he had Gorham caught behind off the glove, only for the umpire not to give him out, much to Tilley’s frustration. After a shocking over in which Tilley bowled three wides, he finally got his man, taking a sharp caught and bowled.
Hart replaced Evans and bowled well, even if his figures did not reflect it. One ball from Hart was clipped towards Gerrard on the midwicket boundary. Gerard made up a lot of ground to reach the ball, only to promptly dive over the ball in at least three stages, drawing gales of laughter from both teams.
Chipperfield made easy work of the target in the end, with Desai in particular taking the game away from Belmont. A Belmont spokesman told JC Sport: "Although a defeat by six overs with more than 10 overs to spare may look like a one-sided game, that was not really a fair reflection of the afternoon.
"Whilst we had some unlucky dismissals, they got away with a lot with the bat and took wickets off their bad balls. At drinks in their innings we had every chance, but just could not take a wicket in the next crucial passage of the game. Onwards to Hayes."
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MATCH SCORECARD
BELMONT & EDGWARE BATTING
Elliott Mayer ct 15
Jonathan Evans ct 38
Adam Jacobs lbw 9
Scott Gerard ct 22
Philip Mayer ct 34
Michael Blasebalk ct 38
Greg Mayer ct 5
Sam Goldman ct 0
Bension Tilley not out 16
Tom Hart ct 17
Jack Mendel b 0
Extras 42 - 18nb 18w 6b
Extras 42 - 18nb 18w 6b
TOTAL 223 (42.5 overs)
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CHIPPERFIELD CLARENDON 224-4 (33.2 overs)
BELMONT & EDGWARE BOWLING
Adam Jacobs 4-0-33-0
Scott Gerard 10-0-63-1
Jonathan Evans 10-1-46-2
Bension Tilley 5-0-31-1
Tom Hart 3-0-27-0
Greg Mayer 1.2-0-21-0
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CRICKET SCOREBOARD
FRIENDLY MATCH
London Maccabi Vale 212-9 Adam Spooner 59, Danny Caro 49
Finchley 216-2
Vale lost by eight wickets
