WE IS DA CHAMPIONES....

With the 1987 League 5th Division league title on the line - the mighty 4's took on local rivals North London in a crunch title deciding game in E17.

The ladder had us equal on points with fellow title contenders Richmond coming into the final round of the league - the Mid needing maximum points to ensure that  the trophy

would be winging its way up Park Road in 2008.

Winning the toss and batting first to secure 25 points and leave the other contenders in our wake looked to be vital in the mid week discussions and it was with this ringing in his ears that our fearless leader tossed the coin hoping to continue his great tossing form. Another loss later ( 1/12 for the season) mattered little as the Mid were sent in on what looked to be a feisty E17 track and with overhead conditions conducive to attacking in the field.

Never fear - the 4's top order had it covered.....  An excellent opening stand of 117 between new Mid recruit Andy Roberts and the not so new vice skipper got the Mid off to a flying start against some good but erratic bowling by the North London team. Andys innings was composed and controlled with some fine strokeplay and solid defence when required to blunt the new ball attack and set the tone for the Mids innings. Outscoring your opening partner by a length is not on though Mr Roberts - Kam and I have a reputation to protect don't you know!!!

The fall of the first wicket only served to further increase the run rate with Kam launching and aerial attack for a quickfire 40 and Andy going on to post a fine century and get the Mid within touching distance of the 250 the skipper had targeted off 40 overs.

A swift declaration and a cup of tea later the Mid boys were ready to play.

From the outset, the determined nature of the Mid 11 could be seen in their performance with Rajiv and Josh toasting the North London top order through some aggressive bowling showing discipline and great skill plus being ably supported in the field for a change, with the first few catches by Andy and Sean setting the tone in the field.

It was then left to the skipper and young spinner Moshin to do their bit and perform they did. Pete's quality line and length bowling snagged him 1 wicket but it was the star of the show Moshin who did the real damage. Mo bowled with flight and turn to take advantage of the variable nature of the track and was simply too good for the opposition batsman - all 5 wickets where classic off spinner scalps - 2 leading edges carrying to Josh at mid off , drawing the number North London no. 7 forward with flight, only to beat the outside edge and  Glazer had the bails off in a flash and 2 catches off his own bowling - the second of which secured the league title for the Mid and sparked wild celebrations by 11 happy guys in E17.

Our commiserations go out to Osterly who despite accounting for 2nd placed Richmond in the final round, the captain incapable of securing enough points for his team to gain promotion for the 2nd year running. 3rd place for them - a worthy performance to be the best of the 'other' teams in the division.

A well earned week off ( friendly game ) this weekend boys before we start the assault on the Cup. Bring on the Double...

Report : Seano

NMCC UNDER 13s WIN THE HOME COUNTIES REGIONAL PLAYOFFS TO REACH THE LAST 8 IN THE ECB "SPIRIT OF CRICKET" UNDER 13S NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Our goal at the beginning of the season was to get to the National Championships, and now 9 matches later we are there.

We will play 7 matches over 3.5 days (Aug 5th to 8th) against the other 7 teams representing areas of England,Wales & Scotland.

Squad to be announced. We will be taking 13 boys who will all get a match.

19/07/2008, NMCC def QUEENS PARK cc (BEDS CHAMPS)

Queens Park cc 81 all out, NMCC 84/2 NMCC win by 8 wickets

C..Nurse 33, J.Bridgland 10 n.o.

N.Friend 4/16,Z.Azom 2/9

23/07/2008, semi-final

NMCC DEF FINCHAMPSTEAD CC (BERKS CHAMPS)

Finchampstead cc 118/7, NMCC 119/4. NMCC won by 6 wickets

Z.Azom 2/28,K.Pittman 1/13, N.Friend 1/17, W.Armstrong-Fox 1/18

C.Nurse 30 ret, Z.Azom 30 ret,J.Bridgland 31 ret, C.Yorke-Starkey 16

23/07/2008 FINAL

NMCC 127/6, Aston Rowant cc ( oxfordshire champs) 61 all out

NMCC win by 66 runs

C.Yorke-Starkey 31 ret, W.Armstrong-Fox 27 n.o. J.Bridgland 21,

J.Bridgland 2/5, W.Armstrong-Fox 2/7,C Nurse 2/11

A magnificent achievement by the boys of which there have been many stand out individual performances. But the most impressive part of their game is their team work. The backing up in the field, the positive chat on the field and their mateship all make this team stand out from any others. Also our depth in batting & bowling is exceptional. For example in yesterdays final we had our star batsmen, Connor & Zulf back in the pav with only 20 runs on the board but Charlie Y-S batted beautifully, as did Will A-Fox & the stand out batsmen of both matches Joe Bridgland, all dug deep & got us up to a very respectable score of 127 which was way too many for our opponents.

This is a great reward for their positive attitudes.

Report : Mark Pittman