Middlesex County League Playoff, 10/08/2009


NMCC 76 all out defeated Ickenham 67 all out

C Hierons 13, W Armstrong-Fox 12, W Armstrong-Fox 4-0-18-3, Z Azom 3.2-2-6-2, K Pittman 4-0-13-2, N Friend 4-1-9-1


It was a dark & stormy night, & we won the toss & chose to bat. The less said about the batting, the better. Not enough committment to getting forward on a slow wicket & playing the ball straight. Also, not putting away the bad balls. 5 boys out playing across the line!!! Charlie Hierons on his return played a couple of nice shots for 4s  Will A-F battled it out. Much work is  required in the batting department.

However, we made up for this with a very good bowling & fielding display in wet, greasy & dark conditions. Opening the bowling with the mix of Nick Friend & Ben Varma. Nick was restrictive as usual and Bens pace was too much for the Icks & us sometimes when he found the edge but went for 4s. Unfortunately we didn't have quite enough runs on the board to go leaking boundaries, so on came the boa constrictors, Kyle & Will A-F. Off their 8 overs there were no boundaries & 5 wickets fell, including a bizarre catch/stumping which was a great piece of work by Charlie Hierons, who was excellent behind the stumps. Zulfy brought himself on & tightened the noose further, only going for 6 runs off his 3 overs & there were 2 run outs, the final wicket being a great piece of fielding from Ollie Turrell, an "indoor cricket" move of picking up the ball & sideways, underarm flicking to Zulfy to end the Ickenham innings 10 runs short. Special mention of some very good catches from Nick & Joe.

So, a very entertaining match, but much, much work needed in the batting department.


We are now in to the last 8 in Middx.

Our next match will be at home, and i believe against Bessborough. It has a play by date of Sat Aug 22nd. I will probably be offering the 18th, 19th & 20th. I will suggest we go for a 5.30 start as it starts to darken earlier.


Training, could the boys who are in town please try & get along to the seniors training on Tuesday nights from 6pm.


Report: Mark Pittman


League match V Hampstead 06/06/09


NMCC 228/1 (20 overs) Z.Azom 100 ret, A.Somerville 47 ret, C.Nurse 47 defeated Hampstead 64 all out,(13 overs) W.Cracknell 3-0-11-4, J.Bridgland 2-0-7-3


He's back, the Zulfy of old took to the Hampstead attack with 8 x 6s & a number of 4s. Retired in the 12th over (from memory) he cut and pulled the ball with his old confidence. Alisatiar played some nice shots after some time away from the cricket field. Connor, back from learning farming techniques at school in the country, looked in control & scored quickly till becoming the only wicket to fall. Jonny & Will A-F  & Gabriel & Joe all bowled well with Will Crackers mopping up the tail. All 4 of his wickets failed to score & gave the distinct impression they didn't like spinners.


SO, well done, we have finished our league unbeaten & now face the winners of West area 3, away, by August 5th. After that we should have 2 home matches before the finals day on the bank holiday in August.


Report : Mark Pittman


League  V Brondesbury

NMCC 138/5 defeated Brondesbury 81/5

Z.Azom 94, W.Armstrong-Fox 17, N.Friend 4-0-15-3, A.Gole 3-0-5-1, J.Bennett 3-0-6-1


A convincing win with Zulfy getting to spend some time at the crease. Dominating the bowling he was out trying to get to his 100 from 94 in one shot. A great knock. Our opening bowlers, Jonny & Ollie, once again restricted the batsmen only going for 22 off the first 6 overs, and that included 8 byes. They were replaced by Arjun & Nick who tightened the screw further & B/bury were only able to score 19 runs off the next 6 overs. Nick picked up 3 wickets, one an excellent stumping from Leo, another a catch at slip by Zulf. A good win.


Report : Mark Pittman



 League V North London, 12/06/2009

NMCC 111 defeated NLCC 88/9

C.Yorke-Starkey 37, J.Bridgland 4-1-10-4, N.Friend 4-0-10-3, J.Bennett 4-1-15-2


A mixed bag of a match with the batsmen giving the distinct impression that they didn't want to be out there. Boys closing the face and being bowled middle stump, 5 catches & 2 run outs. A real shambles except for Charlie who gave us a reasonable score. 

However, our accurate bowling from the night before continued, with 6 NLCC batsmen clean bowled & 1 LBW. Joe Bridgland clean bowling 3 of his victims in a spell of pitched up, late swinging, good, full bowling. Nick Friend, the NLCC nemesis, picked up his usual swag of wickets & Jonny Bennett bowled brilliantly again for his 2 wickets.

Much more application required when you get your chance at the crease. If the ball is full & straight then play it straight. There isn't often fielders behind the bowler.


Report : Mark Pittman



 Middlesex County Cup Semi-Final, 11/06/2009

NMCC 92/6 (20 overs) lost to Ealing  93/6 (20 overs)

W.Armstrong-Fox 32, A.Napier 26, J.Bennett 4-0-21-2, C.Yorke-Starkey 4-1-13-1, O.Turrell 4-0-15-1


We were on the back foot after losing Zulfy & Ben in the second over to some very good full bowling. Charlie Y-S & Will A-F took the score along to 23 when Charlie was bowled by the match winner for Ealing. Awan bowled 4 overs for only 7 runs. Ali Napier making his cup debut, put on a 56 run partnership with Will before being run out. Will & Leo then got the score up to 92. Tight bowling was the order of the day, and two can play at that game. Ollies first over went for four, & then Jonny Bennett produced a slow looping opening delivery that went straight through the Ealing batsman. Only 3 runs came off that over. Ollie continued to be hard to get away & picked up the other opener in his 3rd over. Jonny bowled the dangerous Podmore & Ealing were 3/31 after 6 overs. Will A-F came on for the 9th over & grabbed a wicket first ball & his first 3 overs went for only 12. charlie Y-S bowled very tightly and had the brilliant figures of 1/5 off 3 overs & with 4 overs to go Ealing required 28 runs to win. But.. Zulfys last 2 overs went for 11, Charlies last for 8 & Wills last for 8 which boiled down to Ealing requiring 2 runs off the last ball to win, which they did.

All boys were brilliant in the field once again & can hold their heads up high as the Ealing team consisted of all 15 year olds (2 county), where we were 8 X 14s & 3 X 15s.


Report : Mark Pittman



League Match V Hampstead, 01/06/09

NMCC 108/6 defeated Hampstead 62 all out

W Armstrong-Fox 25, A Lewis 24, L Kellaway 11, W Armstrong-Fox 3-0-4-3, Z.Azom 3-0-8-3, A Gole 3-0-9-2, O.Turrell 3-1-4-1


Now, this may sound a very convincing win, but, it could have been SOOOOO much bigger & better, which is always good/great against Hampstead. It started when Zulfy tried to "out village" the boys from Hampstead by playing some uncharacteristic shots & departing for 2. Will A-F opened with Zulf & played a cautious innings that could have quite easily been twice as many since we were in the middle on their main square & the boundaries to the limit. Leo lasted about 6 balls for 11 and then Arthur made me feel like Dickie Bird when Boycott was batting.However,  Arthur was the backbone as his partners came & went & did a fine job keeping the ball out & the scoreboard ticking over. It was a large ground but our score was about 25-30 runs shy as their bowling wasn't very strong.  THEN came the bowling/fielding bit where we were brilliant. Only 2 X 4s were hit in the Hamps innings. Zulfys field placings combined with really determined ground fielding was great.  The very accurate &  full bowling was accentuated with a couple of great catches from Arjun & Jonny Bennett. Will A-F returned superb figures simply by making the batsmen have to play every ball. Zulfy, Ollie & Arjun also returned excellent  figures & bowled very tightly.


Report : Mark Pittman



East Area Cup Final V Edmonton 03/06/09

NMCC 134/7 defeated Edmonton 117/9

B Varma 30, W Armstrong-Fox 21, C Yorke-Starkey 18, Z.Azom 18, A Somerville 17, J Bennett 4-0-9-2, N Friend 2-0-11-2, W Armstrong-Fox 4-0-24-2


Charlie Y-S & Ali Somerville opened up & got us off to a flying start with 24 off  3 overs. Things continued along nicely for another over until Charlie decided to change bats & was promptly caught next ball. Ben Varma came in & watched the first ball cautiously before despatching the next over the square leg boundary for 6. He & Ali put on 30 before Ali walked when the total was 63. Leo  came & went & Will A-F & Ben shored things up until  Edmonton unveiled their "county" weapon with 8 overs to go. He was much quicker than what we had previously faced  & yorked out  Isaac, Zulfy & Will A-F until Will Cracknell  (9 n.o.) came to the crease & pumped him through extra cover for 4, shot of the day.

Now, one for Wisden, the last ball of our innings went for 5, and then the first ball of their innings went for 5. Is that the first time 2 balls consecutive balls have gone for 5's???

Ollie was unfortunate. Due to an overthrow his first delivery went for 5, his next 17 went for just 11 for the one wicket. The previously unrewarded Jonny Bennett struck paydirt with a fine spell of bowling for 2 wickets & only 9 runs off his 4 overs.  Edmonton were on the back foot, 29/3 off 8 overs, & despite a 41 from Adam, none of the rest really troubled the scorers. A very good performance in the field considering the "footy in the winter" outfield & the very cold conditions.


We are now in to the last 4 teams in Middlesex. A great achievement. We will be playing Ealing, Away by June 17th.

The 2 other teams that make up the 4 are Stanmore & Wycombe House.


Report : Mark Pittman

18/05/2009

East area cup semi-final, NLCC 89 all out, W.Armstrong-Fox 4-0-13-4, N.Friend 4-1-4-3 lost to NMCC 93/1 (11.2 overs), C.Yorke-Starkey 51 ret, A. Sommerville 25.

NMCC won by 9 wickets


Clinical, the word used by Andrew Strauss to describe Englands wins over the Windies.

I’m sure if he had been at North London cc on Monday night, he would have said exactly the same thing to describe the NMCC Under 15s in their East Area semi final victory. With the usual “1 or 4” boundary on the tennis court side & a classic “English pudding” wicket, both teams decided to field. Once the mystery of the toss was sorted, WE (you had to be th ere) decided alone to field. Ollie Turrell & Ben Varma opened up & after their 8 overs NLCC were 63/2 with the openers back in the pav & the dangerous Rosson at the crease. Skipper, Charlie Y-S, then brought on Will Armstrong-Fox who struck first ball, Rosson stumped by Arthur, and over the next 8 overs, in tandem with Nick Friend, 7 wickets fell for just 17 runs. Arjun bowled the no. 11 and NLCC were all out for 89. Our catching was out of the top drawer, Will Cracknell diving forward at square leg to dismiss Greally, Joe Bridgland a good head high catch and Charlie Y-S making himself 8’ tall at square leg to snap up a firmly struck sweep from Connor Cameron. In reply, Charlie Y-S & Alistair Sommerville put on 81 for the 1st wicket, with Charlie retired on 51 off just 33 balls & Ali bowled on 25. Both boys played some great shots, Charlies in the air & Ali’s along the ground.

A fantastic all round performance.


Match Report : Mark Pittman



   19/05/2009

League V Brondesbury. NMCC 110/9, B.Varma 30, I.Baden-Powell 28 defeated Brondesbury 109/3, W.Armstrong-Fox 4-0-14-2, by 1 run


On the best batting surface we will get all season, we decided to find ways not to take advantage. Ben & Isaac played some good & interesting shots, but 4 run outs along with a number of balls lobbed into the air giving easy catches meant we limped to 110. However, in the field we made amends with some excellent running in the field to cut off runs, accurate returns to either end and great stops. Special mention must be made of Isaac, Johnny Bennett, Joe Bridg & Will Cracknell who all put their bodies on the line & sped around the outfield. Leo was great behind the stumps as the ball was flying off the artificial with plenty of bounce from Ollie Turrell, Johnny Bennett & Charlie Y-S. When the Brondesbury openers connected, the ball went, but a lot of the time they played & missed. Will A-F made the initial breakthrough removing the dangerous Akash who had just played a magnificent shot for 6 back over Charlies head & once the other opener was caught & bowled by Nick with the score on 75, Brondesbury started to limp. Special mention of Johnny Bennett who bowled a magnificent wicketless spell. In the last 8 overs he bowled his 4 for only 9 runs, INCLUDING a no ball 4 off the first ball. Only 4 more runs off the next 3.5 overs. So a nice close 1 run win. Aaaaaah!


Match Report : Mark Pittman


NMCC Under 15s


Cup match V Winchmore Hill, @ NMCC, Weds May 13th


WHCC 87 all out lost to NMCC 90/4, NMCC win by 6 wickets


We won the toss & chose to bowl, backing ourselves to knock 'em over & chase the runs quickly before the rains come.

Tight, restrictive bowling from Ben "the machine" Varma (4 overs, 2 for 10) & the desperatley unlucky Ollie "buckethands" Turrell (4 overs, 0-16), followed up by Will "Strong Fox", his Native American name (4 overs 2 for 11) and Zulfy "the bad ass" Azom (4 overs 4 for 12) , plus some very good work in the field by all, we stopped the Hill from putting too many on the board. Arjun & Isaac also picked up wickets. Catches to Ollie, Zulfy 2  & 1 each to Leo "Herschelle Gibbs" Kellaway & Arjun. Also, some good glove work from Arthur.Strong-Fox & the Bad Ass opened up & after 4 overs we were on 30 for no loss, then Zulf (26) was out & Ben Varma pumped a couple of 4s into the side of Steve Nurses car on his way to a majestic 28. Joe came & went & Isaac "the windmill" Baden-Powell hit the winning runs in the 15th over. We were by far the better team and i personally thought we played very well & Ant & I think this squad can go a very long way in the ECB National Champs this year.


Match Report : Mark Pittman


North Middlesex cc Under 15s

 

Friday May 1st, League V North London

NLCC 114/4 lost to NMCC 118/2


A good start to the season defeating our strongest opposition in the league. NLCC won the toss & chose to bat. Teddy Greally closed his eyes & swung his bat to 58 & top scored in NLCC’s total of 114. Charlie Y-S & Zulfy opening for NMCC put on a partnership of 62 when Zulf=2 0 (17) was out caught. Charlie played some majestic drives in his 75 & we passed their score in the 18th over. Our quality of fielding was very good for the first match, especially the backing up in the field.


Match Report : Mark Pittman


Sunday May 3rd, Cup V Holtwhites Trinibis


NMCC 125/7 defeated Holtwhites 106 all out


Batting first, Charlie Y-S was dismissed in the 2nd over but Zulfy batted beautifully for his 50 retired and William A-F continued the good work with a steady 38. C Y-S bowled with pace finishing with 3 wkts for 9, Nick Friend 2 wkts & 1 each to Jonny Bennett, Max Orange & Will A-F.


Match Report : Mark Pittman


Wednesday May 6th, League V Hornsey


NMCC 154/1 defeated Hornsey 53 all out


New opening partnership of Charlie Y-S (75 not out) & Alistair Sommerville (63) played a number of great shots on their way to a 132 1st wicket partnership. Alistair was 20 runs behind Charlie at one stage but beat him to 50 by 1 ball. 8 bowlers were used & the spinners came up trumps, Will Cracknell took 3 wkts for 12 & Nick Friend 3 for 8. Ben Varma 2/1 removed the openers Arjun 2/2 deceived with mixtures of pace. Fielding in general was very good with Will Crackers & C Y-S the stand out performers.  


Match Report : Mark Pittman

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