THE TOUR

Friday. The Blacksmith's
We were on our sixth tour of Battle and as usual we were booked in for the tour meal at the Blacksmith's restaurant, 100 yards from the George Hotel, our base for the weekend. Of course a fair amount of drinking was to be done before dinner with the Lenihan's, Nelson's and Browns meeting in the 1066 at lunchtime, Anuj and Sameer along with Gary played the local ladies at pool, and Ken, Brad and Paul met in the Kings Head at 7pm before being joined by the others before leaving for the restaraunt at 8.30 The meal was up to it's usual standard and owner Martin was his usual welcoming self.
Saturday.
Everyone does their own thing on saturday morning before meeting at the hotel around 12.15
for the drive to the pub at Brightling Park for lunch. Crazy golf in Hastings was on the menu for Anuj, Lee, Kelly, Gary and Brad with a three way tie at the top between Nuj, Brad and Lee.
The Cricket.
Sameer taking a break from the captaincy gave the responsibility to Alan with Anuj to skipper on sunday. Alan won the toss and Myddelton batted. Rohan and Lee opened the innings, Lee was given out lbw in the third over bringing Arthur to the crease. He struck a lovely boundary before being dropped at cover by "pony tail man", an absolute dolly!! Arthur was bowled soon after for 6 and Brad joined Rohan and together they put on 87 for the next wicket with some good shots off some ordinary bowling. Rohan made 66 in 26 overs and was bowled by Mutter who had been hit for 26 in his previous 3 overs. Brad reached his 50 shortly before Rohan was out and Paul Faiers made his first appearance for Myddelton this season. Brad hit 22 off an over from Mutter before reaching his century and Paul hit 3 consecutive sixes off the off spin of Gasson before being caught for 33 just inside the boundary attempting another. The partnership was worth 83. Brad was stumped off the penultimate ball trying to slog and Sameer ran a single off the last ball. MHCC finished on 221-5
Sameer and Terry bowled just five overs each, but they were more than enough to win the game for MHCC with both taking 3 wickets, Sameer knocking over off stump on three occasions before almost knocking over an "8" year old with a bouncer (he was actually 15). Anuj bowled an unusual mix off leg spin, off spin and anything else he could think of in an attempt to offer the home side an opportunity to score some runs and John bowled at the other end, with both taking 1 wicket before Alan and then Lee tidied up taking the last two wickets between them.
Unfortunately, Brightling's batting was even worse than their bowling, although the 3 victims of Sameer's yorkers may well say that those deliveries would have got many a batsman out, i might agree with that myself!! Brightling were unusually weak this year which was a shame but it did mean that we were able to get back to the hotel for a shower and still be ready to eat back at Brightling by 8.30.
MHCC 221-5
Brightling Park 120

Individual Performances;
Batting:
Rohan 66, Lee 0, Arthur 6, Brad109, Paul F. 33, Ken 2*, Sameer 1*

Bowling; Sameer 5-2-10-3, Terry 5-0-25-3, Anuj 4-0-27-1, John 6-1-26-1, Alan 4-0-10-1, Lee 2-0-20-1

Catches; Brad, Sameer 2, John 1

Fines; Lee £2 (duck), Arthur £1 (catch), Paul F. £1 (catch)

Sunday; Rained off - heavy rain through most of the night and into early afternoon.
Darts for a couple of hours - killer to be exact - Mark and Sameer appeared to be playing as a team, something they may have regreted in the next game as they were "taken out"" very early on. John and Alan won the money. The Bateman's went home and a trip to Hastings was planned and after sunday roast in the 1066 we made our way to Hastings. A couple of hours later we made our way back to Battle for dinner, Lee and Kelly and Gary went home. The Nelson's and Brown's visited the Bistro? and Ken, Brad, Paul, Sameer, Anuj and the Lenihan's went for a curry.
I think a good time was had by all. Same again next year without the rain?

Battle Tour - Pictures

Rohan shields his eyes from

the glare of the sun off Brad's head.

Rohan plays a late cut on the way to his half century

Alcohol plays a part on saturday night

"MHCC READERS WIVES"
Thanks to Rohan for these photo's

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OR PUT THEM ON A DISC AND THEY WILL BE POSTED HERE.

Met Police Match Report

Met Police Chigwell won the toss and chose to bat. Old foe Mark Sanger opened the batting and played a couple of nice flicks off his legs before becoming the first of Sameer's four victims on a lively Dame Alice Owen's pitch. Anuj bowled another good spell and was unlucky to finish with just the one wicket. John took two wickets with his usual mix of swing and changes of pace, while Alan was unusually expensive, going at four an over!! Brad replaced Alan and bowled an unusually tight spell taking 1-14 in 10 overs. Surely the scorer mistook Brad for Alan.
MPC finished with 165-9 in 50 overs.
Myddelton started poorly when Mark was caught behind for ten, the score 10-1. Brad joined Rohan and it wasn't long before both players were scoring freely and both playing some lovely shots mixed with a few hairy moments brought about by the pitch rather than the bowlers. Brad was first to reach 50 and shortly after Rohan reached his half century, Brad was bowled by one that bounced twice before hitting the stumps, Brad playing over the top of the ball before the second bounce. Rohan then played a couple of big shots back past the bowler and the game was won. Brad made 71 and Rohan was named man of the match for his unbeaten 68.

M.P.C. 165-9
MHCC 166-2

Individual Performances;
Bowling: Sameer 12-4-30-4, Anuj 9-1-26-1, Alan 8-2-34-1, John 8-0-31-2, Brad 10-5-14-1, Fitzy 3-0-26-0

Batting: Mark 10, Rohan 68*, Brad 71, Lee 0*

Fantasy Cricket Update

Individual Stat's

MHCC Stat's up to and including Met. Police Chigwell

Sunday 17th July

Individual Stat's

Sameer is top wicket taker so far this season

and will be hoping his trophy cabinet will be as full as the one at Old Owens

Up to and including Chingford 14/7

Bowling;

Wickets:

1. Sameer Patel 22 @ 11.22
2. Alan Lenihan 21 @ 10.71
3. Anuj Bhardwaj 21 @ 15.05
4. Brad Williams 13 @ 13.85
5. John Nelson 12 @ 21.33
6. Terry Bateman 10 @ 12.40
7. David Fitzgerald 3 @ 37.33
8. Mark Bateman 1 @ 22

Batting;

Runs:

1. Brad Williams 578 @ 52.55
2. Sameer Patel 254 @ 36.29
3. Mark Bateman 198 @ 49.50
4. Lee Stevens 154 @ 17.11
5. Anuj Bhardwaj 142 @ 28.4
6. Rohan Patel 129 @ 16.13
7. David Ludlam 104 @ 104
8. Alan Lenihan 32 @ 16
9. Ken Mottram 29 @ 16.13
10. Phil Anderson 25 @ 6.25
11. Arthur Brown 23 @ 5.75
12. John Nelson 14 @ 7
13. Terry Bateman 5 @ 5
14. David Fitzgerald 3 @ 1

Catches;

1. Mark 9
2. Lee 8
3. John, Anuj 6
4. Rohan 5
5. Alan, Brad, Sameer 4
6. Arthur, Fitzy, Ken, Terry 2
7. Luds, Phil 1

Run Outs; Lee 2

Stumpings; Rohan, Brad 2

Chingford match report

Chingford won the toss and chose to bat on a hot and humid afternoon. Sameer and Anuj opened the bowling with Nuj taking the wickets of three of the top four in another top spell. Run out specialist Lee took care of opener Joslin with a direct hit and Chingford looked in a bit of trouble. Alan took over from Sameer whose seven overs hadn't been up to the standard he has set himself this year but Alan was soon into his stride with both batsmen finding it hard to get Alan off the square, before having Behling leg before although as usual the batsman found it hard to believe the descision and told the umpire on his way back to the hutch that it had hit his bat, Myddelton plyers thought otherwise. Alan finished with 2-29 from 12 overs having beaten the bat on numerous occasions and Brad - a little suprised - replaced him at the clubhouse end. Brad was driven through the off side for four and next ball tempted the batsman with an outswinger and Rohan took his usual smart stumping. John bowled a good spell against the slope but finished without a wicket from his 9 overs. Nuj was brought back and took two more wickets to finish with 5-44. Chingford 153 all out.
With two players turning down the oppotunity to open the batting (bah humbug) Sameer took on the responsibility himsef but the destroyer of mid innings bowlers failed to make too much of an impact although he did manage to lose the new ball with a six into the gardens over the mid wicket boundary, before the same bowler, 14 year old Piper clean bowled him with a yorker in his next over. Brad joined Lee and seven runs were added in the next 5 overs when Lee was caught behind off Rashid - 35-2. Rohan joined Brad scoring 5 in a partnership of 36 before he too departed bowled by off spinner Thorne. Anuj found new confidence with the bat highlighted by a gorgeous off drive off the off spiner, but with the new ball being retuned from the gardens at that point Anuj was bowled three balls later through the gate. A change of bowling, a change of fortune for Myddelton. First Brad, off a wide full toss, then Mark off a wide long hop and then Arthur in the same fashion all holed out to the same fielder off the same bowler at cover point. The same fielder, attempting a fourth catch a couple of overs later diving forward dislocated his shoulder and left the field. Alan's cameo of 14 which included a lofted drive to mid on of high quality put us back in the running before he was stumped off the next ball. John came to the crease and found the leg side boundary with "that" shot again. Alas Myddelton finished 7 runs short but a moral victory was claimed as Chingford batted until 4.55 and 51 overs while MHCC received just 39, a difference of 11 overs.

Chingford 153
MHCC 146-8

Individual Performances
Batting; Lee 10, Sameer 16, Brad 40, Rohan 5, Anuj 15, Mark 2, Arthur 3, Alan 14, Ken 12*, John 7*
Bowling; Sameer 7-1-25-0, Anuj 16-5-44-5, Alan 12-3-29-2, John 9-1-29-0, Brad 6.2-1-19-2
Catches; Mark 3, Rohan 1, Brad 1, Lee 1.
Run Out; Lee
Stumping; Rohan

Fines; Rohan 1 catch, Sameer 1 catch

London Maccabi Vale match report

Anuj Relaxes with the score book after his

half century almost saved Myddelton from defeat.

Man of the Match Anuj with a bud.

With club captain Sameer Patel unavailable vice captain Anuj Bhardwaj took over the captaincy and produced a captain's performance with the bat although the match ended in defeat. Vale were asked to bat on a damp Dame Alice Owen's pitch and built a useful partnership with the first wicket falling for 50 in the 19th over, Alan having Cantor caught by Lee Stevens just as Myddelton were thinking a wicket was becoming a must. Alan took the next two wickets before John Nelson got into the act with Lee taking his second catch of the game. Feigenbaum decided it was time to open his shoulders and began to take Fitzy on hitting high into the mid wicket area on his way to an unbeaten 36. John made a catch at deep mid wicket off Fitzy look very easy and rumour has it that John and Lee will be holding "catching masterclasses" on tuesday's at 7pm. Alan finished with a much deserved 5 wicket haul as Vale declared on 148-7.

Myddelton's innings started brightly with Rohan Patel hitting 11 off 10 balls before being adjudged lbw 3 balls later. Brad Williams joined Ken Mottram and two overs later Ken was caught behind and Lee came to the wicket. Brad started well with a series of on drives off full tosses and he built a partnership of 34 with Lee before Lee was bowled playing back to one that nipped back taking the off stump. Brad was out shortly after, bowled through the gate gate for a useful 42 but came off feeling yet again, that he had got out with "only half the job done." Arthur was bowled first ball by a similar delivery and MHCC began to fear the worst but never fear Anuj is here. Anuj began by nudging a couple of two's and three singles before running out Fitzy trying to pinch the strike bringing John to the wicket and awakening memories of their partnership at Brightling Park. Alas this wasn't to be another miracle parnership with John being caught for a spirited 7 including the trademark pull / drive through mid wicket for four. Alan was lbw for 0 and Terry joined Anuj needing 57 from 14 overs but with only one wicket left. Despite calls from the now watching Sameer for Terry to run 2's and 3's despite the fact he is 63 years of age in just over a month, Terry backed up Anuj well with controlled batting allowing Anuj to keep the strike. Anuj, with a mixture of lusty blows including seven boundary 4's and 13 singles reached his 50 despite the scorer refusing to add his score for fear of jinxing the batters, but was unfortunately caught three balls later for 53.

London Maccabi Vale 148-7------- Myddelton House 134

Individual Performances

Batting; Rohan 11, Ken 3, Brad 42, Lee 3, Phil 2, Arthur 0, Anuj 53, Fitzy 0, John 7, Alan 0, Terry 4*

Bowling; Terry 9-3-14-0, Anuj 8-3-30-0, John 11-3-33-1, Alan 14-3-37-5, Fitzy 3-0-26-1

Catches; Lee 2, John 1

Fines; Arthur - Duck, Fitzy - Duck, Alan - Duck, Arthur - catch, Rohan -catch, Fitzy - catch

Stanmore Jaffries Match Report

By Rohan Patel

A potentially tantalising encounter between two well matched teams failed to materialise due to a torrid pitch. Having suffered a last ball defeat in their previous encounter Myddelton were eager for revenge. On winning the toss MHCC Captain Sameer Patel could be seen licking his lips as he put the opposition into bat. In took less than an hour for him, along with Anuj Bhardwaj to skittle Stanmore out for 43. But both would agree that the wicket was more than helpful.

MHCC openers Brad Williams and Rohan Patel strode out to wicket confident that the runs could be knocked off quickly. However, even a batsman of such technical ability as Williams struggled with the inconsistent bounce of the wicket and was soon put out of his misery by the opening bowler. With the danger man out of the way the fielding side picked up its tempo looking for more early wickets with some aggresive bowling. Patel was forced back and onto his toes to defend one particularly ferocious bouncer. And when the next ball was also slammed in short few people were expecting it to be dispatched high over cow corner with the laid back authority of Viv Richards in his hey day, but that is exactly what happened. After that, there was nothing much to excite the crowd as wickets fell at regular intervals with David Fitzgerald eventually hitting the winning runs to the slight disappointment of his partner at the other end, a certain Anuj Bhardwaj, still looking to break his duck of never having scored the winning runs in a match in his life. Made slightly worse by the fact that this was the third time this season he has been in the middle when victory has been achieved.

A 20 over bash was played after tea with Stanmore winning comfortably.