Math Report: North Enfield

North Enfield 212 for 3 off 30 overs, Mandarins 76 all out. Lost by 136 runs

It is difficult to put much gloss on this one. Only seven Mandarins could be persuaded to  play at this attractive ground with good transport links and against very friendly and welcoming oppo. It is not the first time we have struggled to get a team out and We should really make a greater effort to field a strong team here. The positive from this was that four youthful North Enfield players got a game for us, and were great ambassadors for a club with a healthy colts set up and lots of family involvement. They had over thirty players available to play, and somewhere a North Enfield Sunday 2nds was in action at the same time as this game.

A dire weather forecast was countered by the decision to play a shortened game of 30/30, which, as it happened, probably help limit the extent of our defeat.

It was the Guest players Tom Munt and Cameron Kennedy who spared the Mandarins new ball blushes with good tight and slightly unlucky spells. Although Cameron got a bit of stick on this second spell, altogether the Guest players bowled 15 overs for 73. It follows that the Mandarin bowlers had 15 overs for 139, although nobody bowled poorly. The executioner was K Jones, who came into the game averaging over 300 and scored 119 not out. His eight big sixes resulted in numerous lost balls deep in the brambles at square leg. The two Pearsons, F. and A. missed out, aggregating just 8 and falling to Munt and Healey respectively (great C&b skipper), But we were then punished by D Saunders, usually a fast bowling nemesis, but today a slogger of the old school who hacked and smeared his way to 64 via a very difficult overhead chance to Baxter and an easier one off Arvind before Paul snared him.

Facing seven an over and deprived of a relaxing tea in order to beat the weather we never got the start, built the platform or pressed the accelerator. The bowling was decent but unthreatening and we just pressed self-destruct in the face of the run rate and tight fielding. They hit loose balls for six, we bunted them for one. All told we hit fewer fours than Jones hit sixes. Completing a red-letter day for the Jones family, Josh dismissed all four of his N Enfield chums for 5 runs on his way to a career first 5- fer, and our heaviest defeat of the season.

At least the rain held off, and cricket, if not the Mandarins, was the winner.

Chris Baker