Jimmy Adams opens up on Hampshire Cricket.
It seems a while ago, as we've played a fair bit of cricket since, but we're on our way to Lord's. A battling win but we'll take it nevertheless - to be honest with the Friends Provident final over six weeks away and so much cricket in between, it hasn't really sunk in.
I'm sure that will change in the lead up to Saturday, August 18. In previous years, a September final has allowed anyone involved in club cricket to make the journey to St John's Wood as their club league season had come to a close. Unfortunately that isn't the case this year as teams might possibly be fighting for promotion (or avoiding relegation) with their fixtures still going strong. It's just an idea, and I'm not sure if it's possible, but maybe the Saturday fixtures could be moved to the Sunday.
In a low-scoring affair, John Crawley's 65 and a rescue operation from Pothas and Mascarenhas helped us post a defendable 206 for 7 from a precarious 138 for 6. Creepy then held two superb catches (one defying the years as he dived full length to his left) early on and the bowlers did a brilliant job as the wickets were shared around.
There was more to celebrate a few days later as Dimi was named in the England one-day squad - fantastic news for Dimi and the club - although he will be sorely missed over our Twenty20 campaign. It will be great to see Dimi playing for England and hopefully he can bring the same infectious enthusiasm and enjoyment to the England dressing-room as he has to ours since he arrived ten or so years ago.
The Twenty20 started last Friday evening with a nail-biting home tie against Kent. We bowled and fielded well but a rapid 46 not out from Ryan McLaren boosted their score to 153 when it looked likely that we might restrict them to 15 or 20 runs less.
In reply, we were greeted by a rapid opening spell from Morkel but it was Simon Cook's medium pace that threatened to derail us until Dimi (31) and Chris Benham (45) added 53 to keep us on track. We were back in trouble as we lost both in quick succession but a brilliant 42-run partnership between Nic Pothas and Greg Lamb (both had gone in when we needed over ten an over) took us to the brink of victory.
Unfortunately, needing a single off the last ball to win, Lamby ramped a bouncer from Morkel to third man and McLaren took an excellent catch. It was a great game and people could talk forever about that last ball but Lamby had batted superbly and deserved to be on the winning side.
However, it's a cruel game at times as we were about to find out in our next two matches which were rain affected and reduced to 10 and 12-over lotteries.
In each contest we struggled to manoeuvre the spinners and it arguably cost us both times. Against Surrey we lost 6 for 10 and at Southgate, on a sticky wicket, the spinners shared 4 for 26 off five overs. But shortened games are often pot luck and one good/bad over can have a huge effect on the game. On a positive note we bowled and fielded superbly, especially at Southgate in pretty poor conditions.
This week, we've been back at the Rose Bowl practising, when the weather decided to play ball. For me, training over this period is great fun as there is much more time available compared to the rest of the season. Fielders are diving around and hitting stumps, bowlers are mixing things up (bouncers, yorkers, slower balls) and batters are trying to hit into defined areas or as far as they can in some cases - hence there is a serious turnover of balls. You'll see them flying on to the golf course, into the woods and the groundsman's garden, sending his Alsatian into a frenzy.
The 2nd XI season changes a bit too with the start of the 2nd XI Trophy one-day competition - last week we played the last championship game for a few weeks at Bournemouth against Glamorgan.
With the dodgy weather, we turned up to find a rather green wicket and I was pretty sure I would be inviting the opposition to have a bat if I won the toss As it happened, I lost it and was soon walking out with Michael Brown to open the batting - a few play and misses later, we were 272 without loss! Eventually we declared on 387 for 2 (Brown 206 not out, Adams 115). James Tomlinson then produced a fine spell to reduce Glamorgan to 24 for 3 at stumps. The next day, Tomo got his five-for', we asked them to follow on, and this time it was Dave Griffiths who ripped through their top order taking six-for' and giving us a win inside two days by an innings and 50-odd runs.
Finally, and I realise that I've rambled on a while, but before I finish, a quick mention about my home club St Cross who somehow pulled off a miraculous win against Portsmouth in the ECB Premier League on Saturday. Six to win off the last ball, facing your first ball Stand up and take a bow Mr Perry-Lewis (I hope the house decorating brought you back to earth on Sunday).
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