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Cricket
“Keep me from the snares they have put to catch me. Keep me from the traps that people have hidden for me”.
Psalm 141
Howzat! The All Saints Fulham cricket team will be in action over the summer - and we are always interested in new players. We have a number of matches arranged for the 2010 season and are looking forward to playing some new teams and meeting up with old friends.
We play locally in Barnes and the emphasis is very much on a relaxing, fun enjoyable afternoon rather than a win at all costs mentality. Everyone from beginners to more experienced players is warmly welcome to come and join us. We will be holding net sessions over the summer to get into the swing of things so why not come along to find out a little more?
All Saints Fulham vs St. Mary's Ethiopian Orthodox Church, 24th July.
Over 400 runs scored in an afternoon, and All Saints emerging victorious with a few balls to spare against their new friends from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. A perfect days cricket followed by a social evening where the finer points of Ethiopian and Anglican liturgy were compared and contrasted and a pint or two sunk and friendships made.
Invited to bat first, the Ethiopians, or to give them their full name, the Reese Adbarat St Mary of Debre tsion Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church set about our bowlers with gusto. With Carribean swagger and flair we were despatched to all corners of the ground and the score mounted rapidly. All Saints fielding standards had sadly slipped on the day and a number of catches were dropped. Young Jamie Downes who bowled valiantly, on another day could have had four of five wickets if we had held all our catches. Anthony Shewell was the pick of our bowlers. The Ethiopians finished on 202, although we fielded with only 10 players for most of the afternoon, as Simon Brewer’s vintage sports car burst into flames as the game was about to commence and a fire engine was called to extinguish the fire.
In reply, All Saints were soon in trouble at 19 for 3; their opening bowlers were accurate and bowled a nagging line. However we soon rallied, and McColm (27), Brewer (22) and Downes (19) soon got the scoreboard ticking over, helped, in fairness, by a very large number of extras. The star of the show though was Ben Watson who smashed a rapid 38 to see us home to victory with a few balls to spare.
For calm batting in a crisis, powerful hitting, shepherding the tail and last but not least having to deal with his car bursting into flames, the man of the match was Simon Brewer. Our opponents were generous in defeat and we are going to arrange a re-match. You can find out more about them and their church here.
All Saints Fulham vs St Luke's Chelsea, 19th June.
A busy weekend of cricket for All Saints resulted in two good wins, friendships made and renewed and a pint or two consumed as the finer details of the matches were mulled over.
On Saturday 19th June, All Saints entertained St. Luke’s Chelsea at Barn Elms. Batting first, All Saints posted a solid score of 170 with great contributions from Harry Gostelow (41), Ian Wootton (37) and Ben Watson (35). In reply the All Saints bowlers were too strong for St. Luke’s and niggled them out for 87. Fortunately for us Rev. James Heard did not repeat his heroics of the previous season: it was great to see him back. This reminds me of the old story which I can’t resist telling here..... James, a good Christian man, always played cricket on Sunday. This troubled his wife Clare, who asked the vicar “Is it a sin for him to play on Sunday?”
“It's not a sin” replied the Vicar ”'The way he plays, it's a crime!”
All Saints Fulham vs St Martins-in-the-Fields , 20th June.
On Sunday 20th June, we played St. Martins-in-the-Fields at Battersea Park. They batted first and our bowlers were on the money and restricted them to 78 runs. In reply we managed to reach the target in ten overs without losing a wicket. We enjoyed spending time with them after the game putting the world to rights. They will, I’m sure, be back with a vengeance next season.
All Saints Fulham vs All Souls Twickenham, 5th June.
All Saints came a convincing second as All Souls Twickenham chased down a reasonably modest total of 125 runs and won with 6 wickets down and six overs to go.
Playing at the Old Deer Park, Richmond in sultry weather, All Saints batted first and a fairly typical collapse saw them in deep trouble at 45 for 4. Gostelow scrabbled a useful 14 and then Fryer (43) and Downes (19) got the scoreboard ticking over. Simon Brewer batting down the order also got some heavy hitting in as we inched our way to 125.
In reply, All Souls, despite losing regular wickets, were never in any trouble and cantered their way to victory with overs to spare. The All Saints bowlers were, in truth, pretty average and too many of their balls were short and wide; as Boycott would call it “Buffet Bowling “ – in other words “Help Yourself”. The only real incident of note concerned poor Tom McColm (again!) who, fielding close, was spectacularly clobbered on the head by a powerful rising drive, the ball ricocheting of his head to square leg where alas, we contrived to spill the catch!. Tom thankfully was ok albeit with an almighty bruise and a bit of blood.
Adjourning afterwards to the London Apprentice: a fine hostelry on the river in Isleworth, both teams swapped stories over a pint or two and some very tasty sandwiches and we are going to try to arrange a re-match later on in the season where hopefully All Saints will put up a stronger performance. For some lusty blows and two good wickets, Ed Fryer is the All Saints man of the match.
All Saints vs. St. Peter’s Notting Hill, Barn Elms 15th May.
All Saints enjoyed a welcome return to winning ways with a comfortable win against their old friends St. Peter’s Notting Hill on a lovely spring afternoon at Barn Elms.
Both sides struggled to get a side out and All Saints “lent” them a couple of our players. Batting first, All Saints ran up a useful total of 171 with Harry Gostelow (43), Ian Wootton (42) and Kevin Couchman (40) being prominent, although in fairness the bowling was gentler than that experienced last week against St. Stephen’s Twickenham. Most batsmen scrambled a few welcome runs with the exception of Downes who very cleverly managed to run himself out for a duck without facing a ball!. We were helped by some new players coming on board at the last moment to help us get a side out so special thanks to Matt Lord, Joe Davis and Hugh, Oli and Tom Meddings.
In reply, St. Peter’s collapsed to 15 for 4 with some tight accurate bowling from Oli Meddings (3 wickets) being chiefly responsible. Some lusty hitting towards the end of their innings most notably from their friendly skipper Rev. Mark Hargreaves (the vicar) got them past 50 but wickets fell steadily and they were eventually dismissed for 72 to leave All Saints the victors by 99 runs.
An excellent tea and a pint or two were had afterwards and we are grateful, as always to St. Peters, for the effort they put into getting a team up and travelling over to our place. I’m sure next season will be a tighter match.
All Saints Fulham vs. St. Stephen’s Twickenham. Marble Hill, 8th May
All Saints started their 2010 cricket season with a pretty average display, if truth be told against some powerful opponents in St. Stephen’s Twickenham. A bitterly cold afternoon in the beautiful surroundings of Marble Hill, Twickenham promised much. On winning the toss our captain Andrew Downes invited St. Stephen’s to bat in the hope that we could restrict them to a gettable score and start the season off with a gentle win under our belts. A forlorn hope.
Their batsmen were stylish and powerful hitters. A bad day looked to be on the cards when their number three strode to the pitch wearing a cricket sweater with “OUCC” emblazoned over it; yes, indeed, he was a full cricket blue for Oxford and proceeded to cart our bowlers all around Twickenham. Despite some good restrictive bowling from our openers Donnie Masters and John Miles they were soon piling into our attack and eventually helped themselves to 171 for four wickets off 25 overs. Not helped by some – at times – sloppy fielding from All Saints that added at least 40 to the scorecard; this is an area that we need to work on. Poor Tom McColm collected an almighty whack on the knee that could be heard in Richmond while trying to stop a fearsome drive and spent the rest of the match hobbling.
In reply. All Saints were not helped by the fact that their opening bowler was very fast and hostile. And wild and inaccurate. This ensured that all who faced him were hopping around nervously, double checking with their wives that more children were not required and hoping their life insurance was up to date. Donnie Masters was hit a very painful blow at the top inside of his thigh which forced him to retire hurt. The rest of their bowlers were less of a threat but sadly All Saints were below par from a batting perspective and too many of our batsmen got themselves out to poor shot selection. Only Gostelow (14) and Downes (11) getting into double figures. The innings was meandering out into a pitiful low score when in strode a new member of the side – Anthony Shewell – who proceeded to carve their bowling to all corners of the ground for a valiant 32 and give the All Saints innings a thin veneer of respectability. Eventually we were bowled out for 114 falling short by 57 runs.
A pint or two was had afterwards and hatchets buried and friendships made. They were great opponents and we look forward to a re-match when hopefully we will be able to give a better account of ourselves. A beautiful ground, a poor result for All Saints but we were very appreciative of the wonderful chocolate cake they kindly provided for us at tea. Our next opponents are our old friends from St. Peter’s Notting Hill. For some great low-order powerful hitting the All Saints man of the match is Anthony Shewell.