2nd XI Cricket Report 2006
We had a fun season (again). I am sure our opponents appreciated the brand of positive cricket we tried to play but a final placing of 11th did not do us justice. Ultimately our final position was based on our batting performances. Jeff Spencer topped the Fullers Division aggregate with 484 runs @53.78 but only Ray Shinners cleared two hundred plus runs (259 @32.38) in the season. Our bowling was far stronger and we finished the season with an intimidating opening pace attack of youngsters Asim Ashraf and Bobby Sharp. Ray Shinners had a best ever season finishing second in the Fullers Division totals with 38 wickets (@16.24) and his economy record for 220 overs of under three an over created considerable pressure to opposing batsmen. Zeshan Murtaza was our most improved player and finished in the Fullers Division top 20 places with 19 wicket @16.84. We certainly missed spinner Simon Howarth and will continue to try to overcome this issue next season.
Another issue was player availability and we suffered for problems at 1st XI level. A staggering 37 players played over the summer with Shinners playing in all 15 matches completed. He was supported by Tom Humphreys in 13 matches, Spencer and Mike Wadsley in 11, Neville Phipps in 10 and Ashraf, John White and Murtaza in 9. Again we will be working at improving this for next season.
Club availability on the first league day of the season in May against eventual League winners Croydon MO made life very difficult. Ian McGillavray, James Lowe and Tom Humphrey all played for the First XI to allow Adeel Ahamar, Alex McDonald and Doug Cooper to make their 2nd XI debuts in a team one man short. We lost a match our opponents didn't expect to win. In a low scoring game expensive first overs tipped the balance, as did our failure to compile any significant partnership through-out the innings.
Our next match was started but abandoned at Guildford City due to rain and Blackheath failed to raise a side the following week.
In June we all felt the season got properly underway as we started in glorious sunshine with a winning draw at home to Worplesdon & Burpham, A possible win turned into a fair winning draw as we chased and fell just short. Positive aspects was Jeff Spencer (94 – his highest score of the season) spending the whole 95 overs in the field on such a hot day without collapsing ! Young Simon Rivers long spell of 11 overs of spin was very welcome as was a pleasing bowling debut from colt Bobby Sharp.
The following week we earned our first win of the season against Old Tenisonians in more glorious sunshine. Tom Humphreys bowled off-breaks from the old pavilion in an unbroken stint of 18.5 overs to finish 6 – 36 as we limited our opponents to 115. A second wicket stand of 83 between Jeff Spencer (76no) and the returning Neville Phipps (21) secured the 20 points.
In even hotter condition we went on to win our second game of the season away to second in the league Old Hamptonians with a second wicket stand of 177 between Richard Maysey (66) and Gary Lomas (87). This was properly our best performance of the season as we chased down 202. The platform had been set by an outstanding first innings bowling performance on a very unforgiving batting track and some very smart catching – Ray Shinners gaining his first of four 5 wicket hauls in the season. Against Old Hamptonians winning the toss proved decisive on a good track and over the season this was lost only twice.
At the end of June we came up against the best side we were to face this season – Haslemere were a very young side who batted all the way down the order, were very competitive in the field and bowled with lots of variation – left and right hand over the wicket with an effective leg spinner. We had only 10 players but Ray Shinners finished with 6-67 in 21 continuous overs up the slope. At 97 for 2 Merstham had slowly set themselves up to chase down the last hundred in 20 overs but the dismissals of Jeff Spencer (29), Tom Humphreys and Shinners proved crucial. A solid platform had been made with Gary Lomas (28), Richard Maysey (24) and Charlie Webb (19) but only some spectacular hitting from Doug Cooper (a personal best 34) and Alex McDonald (11) got us close. With only five overs to go another batsmen might have allowed us to avoid defeat.
We started July with our third win from four matches to move into a seasons highest 5th place in the league with a controlled performance with both bat and ball against Hampton Wick Royal at home. Asim Ashraf completed his first 5 wicket haul for the 2nd's while Neville Phipps (53) made his highest score for the 2nd's in several years. While Spencer and Ray Shinners both made positive contributions it was pleasing that we won without either player dominating the game.
We enjoyed a spectacular win with another successful run chase away from home at Ewhurst, opener Jeff Spencer the batting hero with six different partners in making an uncomplicated 84. Again we rose to a pressure situation in chasing down a challenging 220 in 47 overs, winning with six balls to spare. The ball rarely deviated as 440+ runs were scored for the loss of only 12 wickets. At 220 for 5 after 48 overs the decision by Ewhurst to declare was a positive one and we tackled our response in the same way with a mixed and flexible batting order. Our 5th wicket stand of 67 between Spencer and Humphreys (40) set up the win. A cricket ball in the bedroom awaited a local resident as a Humphreys pull smashed through an upstairs window and it was this acceleration which set up the opportunity. When Spencer was bowled with 47 still needed the game could have gone either way. A run a ball 7th wicket stand of 38 between deputising wicket-keeper Andy Rivers (26) and skipper Shinners (19no) pressurised the opposition fielders. When Rivers was out with 14 balls remaining Zeeshan Murtaza came out with nine needed to win. He faced four balls without scoring but when he did connect he smeared the ball an awesome distance past the bowler and on beyond the pond a long way away !!! A clipped shot of the last ball of the over for four square on the leg side won the match. We had a very enjoyable evening !
On paper Westfield away was a game we should have won but with the majority of the 2nds were playing our 1st XI. We certainly had an excellent days cricket with over 480 runs scored in 90 plus overs as we came up against a collection of players making up the numbers for the day. After winning the toss they elected to bat and then sprayed the ball to all corners of the ground in amassing a total of 254 in 49 overs !!! Having chased down large totals before and despite reaching our highest total of the season we were 21 runs short with our last two batsmen run out as the over rate climbed.
Ottershaw arrived with only nine players but rain before the start saw two delays before the game got underway with ten overs lost from the match. We properly conceded 30+ more than we should have - Shinners got 5-56 in a challenging Ottershaw total of 169. On a drying pitch Merstham's reply was again anchored around a patient Jeff Spencer. His 77 not out was shared with six partners. At 101 for 5 and the opposition smelling an opportunity the game was secured in good time with an unbroken 6th wicket partnership of 72 between Spencer and Ray Shinners (29no).
Still in 5th place August was a poor month as again availability issues bit deep. We almost pulled of another outrageous win in an excellent match against a competitive Southbank side. Reduced to 56 for 5 when batting first (for once) we recovered to 143 for 7 only to loose the last three wickets in 5 balls. With 140+ on the board and overs remaining we had hopes of reaching 160 – even 180, but missed out on setting a competitive total. With Southbank cruising at 64 for 1 Mike Wadsley's leg spin (4-31) came into play and turned the game round into a big finish, Ray Shinners and Asim Altaf creating real pressure at the end with eight overs for 11 runs as our opponents carefully crawled past the target.
Away to Merrow we lost heavily. In the scorebook 20 wickets fell and no player from either side reached 50 as the new ball did damage to both sides opening orders. In our case batting second it proved terminal as we wobbled on 9 for 4 and later 39 for 7 in a big run chase. Despite Ray Shinners clearing through the tail to claim another five wicket haul we were left 43 overs to reach a large target of 215. After the early collapse Ray Shinners finished 48no as he looked to shepherd the last two batsmen to claim a draw. This nearly happened, Zeeshan Murtaza (10) did well in a 9th wicket stand of 25, surviving some aggressive bowling from Tyler before Chandra Lal (9) gloved to gulley with 12 balls remaining.
After two successive defeats we returned to winning ways with a good win against fellow middle of the table Long Ditton. In reality beating the weather was the significant achievement. Rain beforehand, two further rain interruptions and then completing the last ten overs in extremely dark conditions under heavy threatening clouds caused considerable anxiety for a potential winning captain ! Long Ditton won the toss and decided to bat. With eight wickets down they made the bold decision of declaring five overs early to set us a teasing 156 to win in 44 overs after Zeshan Murtaza finished with personal best figures of 6- 55. After a positive start Jeff Spencer accumulated with no great alarms but reduced mobility and tight bowling increased the run rate. When out for 74 and 23 still required Bobby Sharp was joined in the gloom by the skipper. The need in bad light to hit and run was ignored as Sharp (21no) crashed three boundaries in two overs ahead of the impending storm to seal the 20 points.
After last week's win and with a full side we traveled with some optimism to local rivals Horley. As at Merrow our batting capitulated on a green wicket and we never recorded enough runs to pressurise our opponents when batting second. Despite heavy showers during the week and a gloomy forecast the match started promptly with the skipper losing an important toss. We were put in and coped very well with formidable pace at one end but succumbed at the other. Defending just over a hundred we needed to pressurise our opponents at the top of their innings and despite an early wicket Horley won the match with their positive batting. Two late wickets never opened any doors and promotion chasing Horley deservedly went on to win the game.
In a tight contest at home to Stoke D'Abernon we went down to promotion chasing opponents after setting up a wonderful platform with a great first innings bowling performance. Our opponents fell from 50 for no wicket to 122 all out as Shinners took 6-33 on a drying pitch with movement in and away from batsmen. All out in 32.2 overs Merstham now had 60+ overs to win the match. Any club is only as good as the team it puts out on the day but the appearance of any one batsmen from regulars Jeff Spencer, Richard Maysey, Mike Wadsley or Gary Lomas should have made a significant difference. We fielded a number of colts but it's to Stoke D'Abernon's credit that excellent bowling and tight fielding got them back in the match.
In our last match of the League season in September we arrived at Old Sutts with a depleted side but made a committed effort to compete in extreme weather conditions but, as in previous weeks, were unable to meet the demands when batting. We again won the toss and nervously inserted the opposition with only eight players. That soon became nine but was a handicap that we struggled manfully to overcome. Without a gully or fine leg it did not cost considerable runs but it stopped the skipper applying pressure at key moments in the innings. Zeshan Murtaza gained 5-68 in two spells. Their declaration target of 180+ gave us an outside chance and with the score 73 for 3 a tactical decision was required. We had 20 overs still to chase down 100+ and made the decision not to wait for rain to save us but to go for it. None of the remaining batsmen reached double figures other than the hard hitting Murtaza (10) as accurate bowling put us behind the run rate and Old Sutts ran out deserved winners.
