WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

5 WINS OUT OF 5 MATCHES PLAYED MAKE OUR BOYS THE CRICKET CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND & WALES

Superb cricket played by North Middlesex over the 3 days when cricket was possible, has taken us to our final goal, National Champions 2008.

After the first days washout we then won all the rest of our matches. We finished equal with Yately from Hampshire but our superior run rate got us through.

Results:

Match 1: Hatherleigh washed out

Match 2: Yately washed out

Match 3:Old Northamptonians 146/7, NMCC 147/6 (19.2)

Z.Azom 4-0-17-4

W.Armstrong-Fox 4-1-13-1

C.Nurse 30 retired

Z.Azom 33 "

C.Yorke-Starkey 30 retired

N.Friend 30 retired

    O.N put a good score on the board, but it was a tiny ground. Zulfy with an inspired spell of bowling clean bowled all 4 of his victims. Will A-F also bowled an extremely tight spell as other bowlers were going for 10 or more an over. In reply, the top 3 all posted 30s and after 10 overs we had 90 on the board. It then took us another 4 overs to get to 100!!! Charlie Y-S saw 3 partners come and go cheaply until Nick Friend was promoted from his usual no.11 position to NO.7 and with Charlie they put on 43 runs to take us within 6 runs of victory. Nick hit his first ever 6 in his innings and modestly suggested that the boundary was in his favour, short. In one of the many emotional moments of the week Nick reached his 30 hitting the winning runs.

Match 4: NMCC 151/7 defeated Barton-under-Needwood 138/7

C.Nurse 30 retired

Z.Azom 33 retired

C.Yorke-Starkey 30 retired

K.Pittman 3-0-16-2

Z.Azom 4-0-18-1

N.Friend 3-0-22-1

    Once again Zulfy & Connor laid the foundations with a 54 partnership in 8 overs when Zulf was retired. Connor was retired in the next over and Charlie Y-S scratched around for 10 balls  before finishing an over with 4,4,6,4 off their diminutive leg spinner. He was ably supported by Joe Bridgland who scored 27 and Nick Friend promoted yet another batting position to no.6 scored 16 not out which included one of the most dismissive 6s i have seen, Nicks 2nd career 6. So, a nice intimidating score was on the board. Under 11 Mathew Cracknell, cruelly run out without facing, got his revenge when one of the Barton openers took him on in the field and was run out first ball of the innings. Bartons next 3 batsmen posted 86 runs between them and after 15 overs were just ahead of our score at the same stage of the match. However, an inspired spell of bowling from Kyle slowed them up and 2 good high catches were taken as they tried to hit him down the ground. The Barton innings ground to a halt at 138.

Match 5: reduced to 10 overs

Wakefield Thornes 67/9 lost to NMCC 71/4

A.Gole 2-0-20-2

C.Yorke-Starkey 2-0-9-1

C.Nurse 2-0-11-1

C.Nurse 18 retired

C.Yorke-Starkey 15 retired

Z.Azom 14

We ventured "down the road" to the no.4 pitch. It is used by Leicestershire 2nd team as their home ground. However, the rain kept coming & going and after 1 attempt to start a match it was abandoned. When it fined up we were reduced to a 10 over match. Once again an early run out (2nd over) of one of their openers, then 2 good catches from Will A-F of Arjun. Charlie Y-S & Connor bowled tightly. In an exciting & gripping run chase we passed their score with a ball to spare when William Cracknell turned the bowler round the corner for 4 when we needed 1 to win.

Not to many more finishes like this i hope.

Match 6:NMCC 126/5 defeated Leamington 101/10

C.Nurse 30 retired

C.Yorke-Starkey 30 ret

Z.Azom 25

J.Bridgland 14

N.Friend 4-0-16-2

C.Nurse 3.2-0-14-2

The weather cleared in the afternoon as were to play our first match on the main square against another undefeated team. Connor & Zulfy once again got us off to a great start with a 56 partnership. Connor was magnificent, hitting everything along the ground on the much larger outfield. It was a joy to watch him continually find the gaps and run Leamington ragged. Charlie Y-S came in and played a beautiful innings with some magnificent drives for his 30 and we finished on the highest score that had been posted on the larger no. 1 pitch. The previous was 101. Once again an early wicket with Connor picking one up on the 3rd ball of the first over. our fielding was magnificent as we ground the opposition down. Nick  & Charlie Y-S bowled well, with nothing more than a 2 hit off them. It was just a joy to watch this performance in this wonderful setting.

Match 7: NMCC 123/6 defeated Sherringham 84/8

C.Nurse 31 ret

Z.Azom 30 "

W.Armstrong-Fox 31 ret

C.Nurse 4-0-12-1

O.Turrell 4-0-14-1

Z.Azom 3-0-10-1

A.Gole 1-0-1-1

Now it was down to 2 undefeated teams, Yately and us. We had to make sure we won and with a good run rate. Connor & Zulfy going along at 8 an over with Zulf being retired in the 6th over! Connor once again batting maturely and retiring in the 8th. Then the wobbles, Charlie Y-S failed for the first time, then Joe ,Nick & Arthur went cheaply. Will A-F, after being dropped from his customary 5 slot to 7 then played a brilliant knock with the tail, putting on a good partnership with Arjun and Kyle getting his first bat of the week scored a handy 8 to get us past the 120.  A run out wicket first ball of the 2nd over and in no time Sherringham were reeling at 23/3. A great spell of bowling from Oliver Turrell with swing & movement of the seam kept the run rate down. There were 4 run outs in total and 1 boy was retired. Job done, 5 wins out of 5.

Yately defeated Leamington but couldn't match our run rate, so the Ken Barrington trophy was ours.

Thank you to all the parents who helped out with washing, minding, driving and all the other bits that made our week so much fun. the boys were exemplary in their behaviour and a credit to themselves, their families and NMCC.

NMCC Under 13s

Here is the squad for Oakham-National Championships

W.Armstrong-Fox

Z.Azom (c)

J.Bridgland

M.Cracknell

W.Cracknell

N.Friend

A.Gole

C.Hierons

A.Lewis

C.Nurse

K.Pittman

O.Turrell

C.Yorke-Starkey

    A further e-mail will follow with travel arrangements up on Monday August 4th.

Congratulations to all boys chosen. We are hoping that our 1st team overseas player, Tarun Nethula will also be joining us as trainer.

Lords Photoshoot

    Our victorious Home Counties winners have been invited to Lords this coming Tuesday July 29th. We will be photographed for the Middlesex ccc website & the National Champs. Can we meet at the Grace gate for 11.45 please. The Army are playing the Navy & we will be able to watch this as well. ALL BOYS MUST HAVE THEIR NMCC WHITES & CAP.

You don't have to wear the whites to the ground. I will organise somewhere for you to get changed.

League result

Middx County League 1st play-off

V Islington on July 25th

NMCC a whopping, 242/2 (20 overs) defeated Islington 102/9

Well, just when you are having the best week of your life so far because you have qualified for the Nationals, you go out and celebrate by scoring a few runs. Stand up Captain Zulfiqar Azom who scored 152 not out!!!!!!!!!!!! 24 x 4s & 5 x 6s, fantastic to watch. I know the rest of the team enjoyed watching. I've never seen them so focused on the boundary.

He was supported by Charlie Y-S with 34 & Joe Bridgland with 22 not out.

We opened the bowling with Kyle & Nick Friend to give them a good workout. Kyle bowled their captain with a "peach" as described by Arthur & finished with 2 wickets while at my end Nick friend bowled some very fine left arm spin & finished with 3 wickets. Will cracknell also picked up 2 wickets.

We move on to play the winner of Eastcote & West Harrow, away, next week.

Training

We would like all boys going to Oakham to be at training next saturday, but also we could fit in another one or two sessions during this week while on holidays.

I can do tuesday afternoon, say 3.30 and thursday afternoon. If you would like to come along for a couple of extra sessions in the nets and the field then please reply A.S.A.P.

regards

Steve Nurse 07850055479

Mark Pittman 07951035417

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

League Match V Hampstead cc 26/06/08 @ NMCC

Normal business resumes. Once again we won the toss & chose to bat, & bat we did. 201/3 in 20 overs, fantastic!! Terrific batting from Connor (82 n.o.) & Zulfy (76) & Charlie H (15) did the damage. A mixture of beautifully driven 4s & 6 x 6s and then once the field was all on the boundary, a number of well run singles. Hampstead were run ragged. Despite the cold, fire alarms & coaches driving into buildings our bowling & fielding was back to normal & we restricted Hampstead to 105/7 with Carl scoring 61 of those. Arjun (3/17) was the pick of the bowlers with Jonny Bennett beating the bat of the openers many times in his 4 overs, 1 for 15. As well he took a good catch to dismiss the dangerous Akil.Kyle & Charlie Y-S took a wicket each & there was a run out.

A very entertaining match & a good warm up for Mondays Final. 

Report : Mark Pittman

League match V North London cc, 20/06/08 @ NLCC

It had to happen sometime. Our unbeaten run has come to an end. Despite our top 3 Zulfy  (35),Will A-F (33) & Alistair a blistering 39 off just 15 balls, the rest of the boys who were to bat didn't keep the scoreboard ticking over. Our score of 142 is usually good enough but a very flat performance in the field & some good batting from the North Londons boys saw them pass our score in the 18th over.

Report : Mark Pittman

Middlesex County Cup semi-final, 13/06/08

NMCC 145/6 defeated Sunbury cc 93 all out

From the ridiculous (Hornsey) to the sublime. Sunbury have always been one of the strongest colts clubs in the county, & the feeling at the scorers table, (as i was relieved of umpiring duties by the county umps) was that they still fancied themselves quite a bit. That was until Zulfy & Connor had been at the crease for a short time & had us racing along at 8 runs an over after 9 overs. The Sunbury opening bowlers both went for 26 runs off their 4 overs & the first change for 26 off his 2 overs. Both batted beautifully with Zulfs 33 retired coming of just 21 balls & Connor, 33 retired off 27. Charlie Y-S & Alistair Napier saw off the spinner, Haroon who was the only bowler to tie us down. Charlie (17) eventually out to a mistimed HOOK shot. Alistair (15) was just starting to look dangerous when cruelly dismissed in a yes/no run out. Will A-F (14 n.o) also played some nice shots. An imposing total for the opposition to chase down.

At one stage, after 4 overs, Sunbury were going along at a better run rate than us. But once again they were foiled by Zulf & Connor with fantastic direct hit run outs to dismiss the openers. After they were out only the number 3 got in to double figures and wickets continued to tumble. Some excellent fielding by Joe & Charlie H as well,along with 4 catches held and Sunbury were all out in the 18th over.

Job well done.

We now play the winner of Ealing & Bessborough in the Middx Final, away.

Report Mark Pittman

NMCC Under 13As

League match V Hornsey 10/06/08

Hornsey 110/7 (20 overs) lost to NMCC 111/7 (20 overs)

After a run of relatively easy victories the boys decided it was time to get pulses racing. Losing the toss we were put in the field, and from there it all went a bit pear shaped. The Hornsey batsmen chanced their arms & hit a number of 4s. Arthur, standing up to most of the bowlers was continually beaten by the atrocious Hornsey pitch. A piece of rolled outfield that would turn any budding young cricketer OFF the game of cricket. Oliver Turrell bowled well only conceding 8 runs off his 4 "pitched up" overs & Kyle & Charlie Y-S picked up 2 wickets each & there were 3 run outs.

On the batting side, skipper Arjun Gole (46) played a brilliant captains knock to steer us to victory after we found ourselves 9/3. The Hornsey bowlers were extremely generous donating 21 wides to our cause. Arjun was finally caught on the 2nd last ball with the scores tied which brought Ollie Turrell to the crease who played a deft edge past the keeper for us to take the lead on the last ball of the match.

Report Mark Pittman

NMCC Under 13s

Middlesex East Area Cup Winners 05/06/08

Winchmore Hill cc 63/6 (20 overs) lost to NMCC 65/4 (11 overs)

A very thorough performance restricting WHCC to this low total. Good tight bowling from Kyle, Arjun,Nick,Charlie Y-S,Zulfy & Connor backed up by some good stops in the field, resulting in 2 run outs & some fine keeping by Arthur. We played around with the batting order with Alistair Napier hitting 27 with another 6 into his favorite "kindy korner".

Job well done.

We now play the winner of Richmond & Sunbury by June 18th, away!!!!!

Winchmore Hill cc 64/6 (20 overs) lost          NMCC  65/4 (11 overs)

C.Yorke-Starkey  3-1-9-2                             A.Napier 27

C.Nurse              3-0-12-1

N.Friend              4-0-15-1

K.Pittman            4-1-3-0

Report Mark Pittman

13s East Area Cup Semi-Final

NMCC 13s         156/6 (20 overs)         defeated   Nth London cc  87 all out (19.5)

C.Yorke-Starkey 31                                             Z. Azom    3-1-5-3

Z. Azom             30 ret                                        N. Friend   4-0-14-3

C. Nurse             26                                             K.Pittman  4-1-16-2 

J. Bridgland         24

22/05/2008, League match

NMCC 13As 140/2 (20 overs)  Defeated     NMCC 13Bs   53/7

C.Hierons  59 n.o.                                   J.Bridgland 3-1-5-2

C.Yorke-Staarkey 33                               J.Bennett   3-0-11-2

A.Gole  23 n.o.                                        O.Turrell     3-1-5-1

K.Pittman  18

NMCC Under 13s

Cup result, 2nd round V Cockfosters

I have seen some big 20/20 scores in my time but our 191 on sunday morn is easily the 2nd best. (My Under 11s scoring 243 in 2001 on a very dry Victoria Park).

Runs to Connor (30 retired), Alistair Napier (33 ret, finishing with a big 6 into "kindy korner"), Joe Bridgland (31 ret) & Will Armstrong-Fox (25). 2 wickets each to nick Friend, Arjun & Zulfy who was also given out LBW first ball, without the bowler appealing. It went "that's out, middle stump, you did appeal bowler didn't you" so said the Cockfosters coach.

Report : Mark Pittman

Sun May 18th, Under 13s Cup match

NMCC 191/6         defeated Cockfosters  43 all out (13.4 overs)

C.Nurse 30 retired              Z.Azom 2 wickets

A.Napier 33 retired             N.Friend 2 wickets

J.Bridgland 31 retired          A.Gole   2 wickets

W.Armstrong-Fox 25

NMCC Under 13s

League result 13/05/2008 V Hampstead cc

NMCC 177/5 (20 overs) defeated Hampstead 101/8

A very entertaining match with Connor Nurse (98) falling 2 short of a 20/20 hundred. Supported by Charlie Y-S (38) we put a very good 20 over score on the board of 177.

Hampsteads innings revolved around Akhil (71) as Kyle cleaned up nos 1 & 3 before cleaning up teammate Will Cracknell with an awful collision in the field going for a catch. Both players went off but hopefully only suffering bruised knees. Alistair Napier cleaned up the tail with 4 wickets in 2 overs & Arjun & C Y-S 1 each. We also took 6 catches to impress former Middx player Paul Weekes, my fellow umpire. He was seriously impressed.

Report: Mark Pittman

NMCC Under 13As League match, 08/05/08

NMCC 90/8 (20 overs)   defeated NLCC   63/6

C.Nurse  35                                       O.Turrell    3-1-5-1

J.Bridgland 25                                  M.Orange   3-1-6-1

                                                            K.Pittman   4-2-4-0

An excellent win at NMCC last night in our first league match against North London cc. (we were washed out against Hornsey last week) On what could only be described as a wicket cut in a cow paddock, we put 90 runs on the board with excellent contributions from Connor (35) & Joe Bridgland (25). Our bowling & fielding to restrict North London to 63 was excellent with Kyle only conceding 1 run off the bat in his 4 overs when opening the bowling with Nick F who was also frugal. Wickets to Ollie Turrell, Charlie Hierons & Ben Magnin who also pulled off a brilliant piece of fielding to run out one of their openers.

Match Report : Mark Pittman

22/04/2008 

U13s Cup match V Finchley

NMCC 95/4 off 15 overs         defeated  Finchley 38/7 (15)

C.Yorke-Starkey 30 retired                   K.Pittman 3(overs)-2(maidens)-4(runs)-1(wicket)

A.Napier 30 retired                               Z.Azom    2-0-5-2

                                                          A.Gole     3-0-8-1

                                                          C.Hierons 1-0-2-1