Home
Up
About LNZCC
Honorary Officials
Club Officals
Match Managers
2008 Fixtures
2008 Match Reports
2008 Stats
Grounds
Club Stats
Sponsors

The Wimbledon Club - Sunday 25th April 2004

It was a glorious sun drenched afternoon that greeted the LNZCC cricketers for their first fixture of the year. An earlier than normal start to the season but some last minute negotiations, or a departing shot, from last season's chairman saw LNZCC extended an invitation to play one of London's most prestigious clubs during their 150th season.

Situated across the road from Wimbledon's centre court, first appearances quashed any thoughts of a departing shot, this was a fixture of note. As with any new fixture though, the first observation is always the size of the boundaries. This drew a muted response within the vehicle containing Perkinson and Burgess. Steady had laid down a challenge. True to fashion the LNZCC team pitched on mass with a good 5 minutes to spare. Having lost the toss, the red shoe clad Holden cut short the early season banter to inform the ten that were there, that they were straight into the field. It would be sometime before Bartle would be spotted running sheepishly toward the club house.

Always the professional, Gale had completed his warm up and was right on the mark from ball one. Reality set in  from the other end though, as Martin allowed his first ball to pitch on an adjacent wicket. The opening Wimbledon pair were forgiving, early on, of the wayward line and length from Martin's end and showed all the signs of preparing for a long season. However, it was Martin that drew first blood, trapping Wimbledon's burly opener in front and prompting Marty to signal the slowest death in the history of cricket. Although slow, this Wimbledon wicket was proving to be fairly true and wickets were scare. As the run rate crept up, the standard in the field began to slip. In an attempt to lead from the front, blue socks Holden threw himself around at mid off and in the process managed to snap himself completely in half. What proceeded to happen caused considerable confusion. Holden, clearly incapacitated, just strolled off the field in a zig zag pattern. Vancer mused he looked a goat meandering off to die, but it was unclear if he was on or off the field. It become quite apparent though that the damage was severe after the very next ball was hit down to the struggling Holden. The shout went out, by Burge, to field the ball. Although off the field, instinct took over and Holden's sudden movement was quickly followed by Burge stating "Oh no, he's gone down like a sack of sh*t".

Thankfully, before leaving the field Holden had been instrumental in bagging the wicket of Wimbledon's chief destroyer. This came by way of a stumping and was gladly accepted by Perkinson after observing Steady continually running in off the boundary rope, purposely avoiding having to try and catch the offender out. Further to the plight of the fielding side, Steady happily signalled these as maximum runs. Holden was worst affected leaving the field with 1 for 18 off 2 overs. Bartle toiled and bowled his normal tight spelt, but on a good pitch and fast outfield was unrewarded in his 7 overs for 45. Vancer attempted 57 yorkers out of the 10 overs he bowled and finished with 1 wicket for 55. Martin had slightly more success with his unpredictable approach and sneered 2 wickets for 57 off his 10. Gale finished as he started and on a good batting wicket finished with a very commendable 1 for 24 off his 10.

The result though, was LNZCC being set a very competitive 215 off 40 overs to win. After enjoying the tennis on the
surrounding courts at tea, LNZCC sent Foley and Burgess out to get things off to a good start. They didn't disappoint as Burge found the top of the site screen off his second ball and Foley displayed a series of cover drives and pull shots that saw him race to 46. An uncharacteristic slog sweep from Foley had him walking back to the pavilion and Burge followed shortly afterward for 21. A mini collapse ensued as Keyes, Stead and Tippen all departed cheaply. Stead providing perhaps the quote of the day, as he passed the author on his way back for 2, stating "Damn, it was just too easy out there".

Sitting on the brink at 98 for 5 after 16 overs, Perkinson and Gale set about the job of getting LNZ home. It was a well
timed effort with both batsmen taking advantage of the fast outfield, accumulating runs in all parts - even running 4 on more than one occasion. The run rate was maintained throughout and only a flurry of sixes and fours, once the hard work was done, saw Perkinson edge away from Gale (40*) and finish on 80*. So with 2 and a bit overs to spare and the loss of only 5 wickets LNZCC reached their target of 215 and began the 2004 season with a deserved ANZAC Day victory. Definitely a fixture to make note of next year. Well done Steady.

Scoreboard

Wimbledon 214-5 (40 Overs) LNZCC 215-5 (37.3 Overs)

Batting

                    Runs    Catches    Stumpings

Sam Foley            46   
Richard Burgess      21
Peter Tippen         14
Richard Keyse         0
Mike Stead            2
+Shaun Perkinson     80*         1        1

Aaron Gale           40*
Vance Thompson      DNB
Sean Martin         DNB
Philip Bartle       DNB
*Richard Holden     DNB

Bowling

                    O    M    R    W

Aaron Gale         10    2   24    1
Sean Martin, Sean  10    0   57    2
Vance Thompson     10    1   55    1
Philip Bartle       7    0   45    0
Richard Holden      2    0   18    1
Mike Stead          1    0    8    0