Teddington unfortunately lost another close game this weekend against Indian Gymkhana.
4s captain, Matt O'Toole, had (somewhat controversially) packed the 4s with seven talented colts to give us some pace and agility in the field (something the 4s aren't generally renowned for), as well as plenty of bowling and batting options.
Having turned up a few minutes late, Tooley ignored the opposition captain's request to claim the toss and threw a coin in the air and actually won (for only the second time this season). It was probably one of the warmest days we've had this year and the deck looked flat and a good one for batting, so Tooley stuck us in.
Once he'd managed to remember to ask someone to fetch a match ball (doh!), Tooley opened the batting with Joe Woodcock, who had looked in good nick in recent weeks. Unfortunately, Joe got an underedge and departed for a duck and Tooley managed only 19 before stupidly falling into a rather obvious trap the opposition had set for just 17. However, Bobby Woodcock showed a maturity beyond his years to quietly pick the right shots, move the ball around and rotate the strike with Faz who was being his usual beligerent self. Bobby ended with a very credible 36. Our run-rate wasn't the greatest, though, as the oppo had a few slow bowlers bowling a really good line and their leg spinner was turning the ball both ways. When Tooley gave Faz out LBW for a ball that Faz reckoned hit him in the chest, it came down to some of the colts to pick up the run rate. The highlight of the whole innings was a superb partnership from Ed Lord and Elliot Harmer. Ed managed to quickly accumulate a classy confident 52 and Elliot added an unbeaten 36. Both managed to demonstrate what great cricketing talents they are, often charging down the wicket to loft the ball for 6 or 4 and scampering between the wickets like cats that had just spotted an open tin of tuna 22 yards away. A quick flurry from Taus and Elliot towards the end helped us to a very reasonable looking 235, as Tooley decked in a bid to force a result.
Indian Gym got off to a flyer, it has to be said and were racing along at the required run rate for the first half of their innings. It all came down to fielding or more specifically catching, though, as chances kept on bouncing out of hands. One particular player who shall remain nameless probably had one of his worst games as he managed to spill at least 4 and take one. "Catches win matches" is a cricketing trope, but it proved very apt for this game. Still, we managed to take enough wickets to make it another close game with them, as they only managed to reach the total with 8 balls left. Elliott returned figures of 8-0-46-2 for us, so he was the pick of our attack that weekend.