On arrival at Southgatem it became clear to all that, due to the overnight rain seeping under the covers, bowling from the top end was going to cause the batsmen the most problems. Clear to all except that is, Teddington’s strike bowler, Jack Sever, who prefers to challenge himself and opted (much to the delight of Ali Pollock) to toil up the hill into the breeze!
Nonetheless, both seamers bowled miserly opening spells and barely let the run rate creep above one an over. Pollock in particular made good use of the conditions picking up 3 wickets for only 8 runs in his 7 overs.
Armstrong and the Keightley brothers picked up where they left off and when lunch was taken Southgate had crawled painfully to 76 for 6 from 33 overs. Southgate’s opening bat was particular pleased his club had not made a similar scoreboard investment to Eastcote, such that his strike rate of 26.6 was not on display for all to see!
Sadly, this was the last of the cricket to be played as just as we were about to go back out after an exceptionally good lunch, the heavens opened and delivered a downpour from which the pitch didn’t recover.
Being the second abandoned game in a row, this has resulted in a measly return of only 2 points in 2 weeks. Such is the new bonus point scoring system, this is 2 less than a possible 4 had we had lost both games. A somewhat bitter observation perhaps, but for a team that has a genuine chance to win this league, let’s hope the weather gods look upon us more favourably going forward!