Decade

1997 Season

Results

Appearances, runs, wickets and catches totals

The Final XI...

The Gents side which faced FC Chad in the 144^th game of its first decade contained three founder members (Ashton, Burman and Richmond) and two others, Todd and Burville, who first played in 1991 and 1993. The ten members who played in that game notched 138 appearances between them in the season, a vivid illustration of the squad’s commitment.

1997 – New Gents settle in

espite being ravaged by injury and damp weather, The Gents had another winning season, but it is to the appearance statistics that the casual reader should be directed, for it is there that the clues reside for explaining just what a fine season this was. In short, Season No.10 totally vindicated the recruitment drive of the winter. Morale was consistently high, the club played some very good cricket indeed on occasion and both guest appearances and the total number of such players used were the lowest since 1990, when only nine games were played. As a result, responsibility was shared around more and several players added new dimensions to their game.

                The five new members fitted like a glove, being friendly and reliable, the Bob Ashton Trophy was retained after a good May victory (and reinforced with a superb batting display in Brentford), and although the President’s Cup was lost, there were enough positive memories to illuminate the darkest winter of the soul. It was generally a low-scoring season, no surprise after the heavy early summer rain, which uniquely caused the cancellation of two matches in succession in June. The first half of the season was notable for finger injuries to Ashton, Burman and Murphy. Mark’s just had to be the most dramatic and as he typically deferred going to the hospital, immediate surgery and a lay-off for six matches was the inevitable result. His last game before the break was a good victory against a West XI side beset by late arrivals, The Gents’ first convincing performance of the season. The Bob Ashton Trophy was therefore retained, a wonderful start to the season. That game followed an easy win over Lager Louts and defeats in a friendly against West XI, in a bleak Perivale park hard by the roaring M40, and in a tense struggle against Urbans. Both Gents sides were one short.

                Chris Mitchell’s maiden fifty against 12 Angry Men was cheered to the rafters. The classy Sanjay Patel, headhunted by the unrelated Dhruv, gave him good support in an 83-run stand, an excellent spell from Dhruv Patel, in which Gents nemesis Neil Hadfield was caught Hughes in the slips for nought, providing the killer blow. Dhruv then ran through a weak Wandham batting line-up a week later in an ill-tempered fixture. An easy victory under the captaincy of The Headmaster against the mesmerised Saints then followed, the action recorded forever on video (the Wandham game was also taped). The Gents were playing very good cricket and enjoying themselves too. Four wins on the spin might have been five, Victor and Burvo smashing the seventh wicket record after some turgid early batting at Berrylands, but the experienced hosts chased the target with ease. After two games were called off as Southern England entered a brief nuclear winter, a weak batting side including three guests was rolled over at Sunderland, but at least had the satisfaction of bowling out a good side. Absent from the six games after the first West XI clash was skipper Mark Ashton, who had poisoned a finger in an innocent-looking collision with his own Vice Captain in the Urban Associates game. This sequence of matches was crucial in that it showed the club was no longer over-reliant on its main all rounder and mentor. All season, Dhruv, new recruit Sanjay, Jimmy Wright, Snarler and the rest shouldered the extra responsibility.

                Masher came back for the Enterprise game. The Golden Quartet, Ashton, Wright, Patel, D and Patel, S, scored 170 runs between them in perfect conditions, a total they would beat by four seven days later. The game was one-sided, but a fixture against Enterprise is always a good time and the hosts got their confidence back when the teams were mixed about for a beer match. In perfect, sunny conditions, The Gents then squared up to West XI at the hoodoo Boston Manor ground. At the halfway point of 20 overs, the inserted Gents were 62 for two. What followed was the biggest carnage in this series for years as 147 flowed from the final 20. Masher hit 56 in 37 balls, but all the batsmen scored heavily. West XI fought bravely with the bat but were undone by excellent slow left-arm bowling from Nick Boddington, floating the ball up, and tight off-spin from Dhruv Patel. The Gents had won the Bob Ashton Memorial Trophy 2-0, a Gentwash!

                Three similar games followed, in which average first innings totals set up three tense finishes. The Urban Associates return was the most disappointing day of the season. The Gents had a strong team out, but four batsmen took their lead from Mr Ashton, who got nought, and Dhruv Patel was left stranded. This game came in the middle of two good performances, one won one lost. Accurate seam bowling supported by excellent catching undid The Weasels, while a strong Virgin Casuals side toughed out the damp conditions to record a deserved first win against The Gents. The visit of London Saints saw Snarler Snelling record a personal milestone of a hundred wickets for The Gents. Although the twelve-man Gents won easily enough in the end, thanks to a gritty Ashton/D Patel partnership project, this game will forever be remembered for its sensational catching, Tony Buck obliging twice in the slips (he became the club’s record slip catcher with five in the season), including a blinder off Snelling, and Burvo once, one-handed over at deep gully.

                After an easy President’s Cup win against a Chad side fielding Prakash Patel and Phil Hill, which had nearly pulled off a shock win against The Weasels in Game One, The Gents were put to the sword in the final. Bowlers, incapable of bowling to defensive fields, and batsmen, who simply panicked, all underperformed and The Weasels took full advantage, thoroughly deserving their victory. Had FC Chad won that first game, The Gents would have retained the Cup which, frankly, would have been a travesty. The loss did, however, put into perspective just what a great achievement the 1996 Double was. An improved Enterprise had The Gents in trouble at 61 for five, typically sensible middle-order batting after a 49-run opening stand between Buck and Todd. Sanjay Patel’s maiden fifty turned the game, well assisted by Dhruv and Andy Burman. Dimond and Heap set a new tenth wicket record in Gents’ games. A sun-blessed Gala Game against FC Chad, with a strangely similar plot, ended the season, and the decade. The Gents, with Chainsaw Mitchell on blistering form with 51, were cruising at 107 for two. Minutes later they were 116 for seven, thanks to a superb spell from the Meopham CC guest, fourteen year-old Master Collings. A patient Masher fifty enabled a good total, including a record ninth wicket Gents’ stand with the indomitable Snarler, to be posted. Snelling then moved on to a record 40-wicket haul before the Patel Brothers cleaned up. A fine end to a vintage season which represented a triumph for team spirit.

©The Gentlemen of West London Cricket Club 2006