To Gents the honours as fours and sixes rain over Motspur Park

A feast of cricket in the spirit of the old President’s Cup saw 765 runs scored, including 59 fours and 19 sixes, on a cool but sunny day. The Old Tenisonians’ firsts had been rained off the day before as the run ups were too slippery, and since the Monday would see torrential downpours the players here were blessed with the weather. The competition was a round robin Twenty20, batsmen retiring at 50, bowlers limited to four overs a game and, for consistency, umpires under orders to wide anything down leg side. The net run rate concept was researched in the event of a two- or three-team tie but was not needed, to the chagrin of the researcher.

It promised to be a fascinating competition. Messrs. Wahed, Babar, Carroll and Young have added some oomph to The Gents in 2006. Would they and their Wombling mates perform to their undoubted ability? Would the pre-match banterings of their mentor H Bomb come true? Enterprise are old friends and it was with delight that we welcomed not only big Keith and his dad Bill, but other ex-Gents Graham Heap, now the proud father of five, and Chris Beaumont, Gent ’keeper in 1999 and early 2000 and a man for whom the word enigma seems inadequate. Every man has a special male buddy who is heartily disapproved of by the wife. It is natural and healthy. Loudon Wainwright sang about it in “I Don’t Think That Your Wife Likes Me.” Mr. Beaumont fulfils this important role in the Dimond household, as Ashton does in many others.

The Gent were beefed up by Beggars Chris Wright and Tommy Banter, Bangalore guest Madhu Ramaiah plus 12 Angry Men’s Luton Town supporter Dave Hylden. Dhruv, kit in his boot, drove off at 10am on one of his family errands, the paragon of which was the legendary four-hour detour to meet an aunt’s flight from India at Heathrow (on a West XI match day!). Thus was caused universal Gent consternation, but the pint-sized twirler reappeared within half an hour and game one got underway at 11am. Play finished on the dot of seven, so had all 120 overs been bowled (nearly 16 were not) it could have been a floodlit finish.

Wombles

Runs

Gentlemen of West London

Runs

N Husain, C Wright, D Patel, D Bender, †P Denton, S Snelling and D Hylden did not bat

This game would ultimately decide the competition. The Gents restricted Wombles on a wet wicket, which dried fast and became progressively easier for batting as the day wore on. Lloyd initially decided to bowl, then changed his mind (possibly because he only had seven chaps on the ground at scheduled bully off) and saw his talented top order become bogged down against tip-top Gents bowling, led by the fast men. Sean Carroll’s brave, patient 23 held the Wombles’ innings together but the first four (of only two in the innings) did not arrive until the 13th. over. Three batsmen, including Wahed, perished to run outs. Eighty-three looked a bit light but nobody knew what a par score was.

The Wombles’ opening bowlers were the best seen in many a moon, the ’keeper, standing a long way back, taking Spencley’s bullets at shoulder height. Gilkes cut to gully after a period of swishing, Buck was bowled and after eight overs Gents were 22 for two, the same total as Wombles had managed at the same stage. Moreover, Madhu Ramaiah was struggling with an injury and wanted a runner. But after Sanjay told him to stick it out or retire, Madhu looked increasingly composed and began to play beautifully. He would win The Gents’ Player of the Day cup for this knock. A Sanjay-led assault on Wahed (ten off his first three balls faced) kicked off a spate of runs, 56 coming in just 5.3 overs to win the game, Madhu driving Rob Babar’s only two balls for four and a behemoth six over long-on to seal victory. This violent late assault made the win look more comfortable than seemed likely for a while, with The Gents’ experience of Twenty20 perhaps being pivotal.

Enterprise went gung ho in reply to Wombles’ mammoth 197, itself perhaps an innings born of frustration, and were shot down valiantly, charging the guns. Wombles’ Player of the Day Sean Carroll took a five-for, some accomplishment off four overs. Keith, who did not bat in the first game, retired on 50, there were brutal knocks for Spencley, Young and Babar, while Wahed took only four scoring shots in his 18. Enterprise kept their shape and persevered, but were powerless to stop the assault, which ended with, for one game anyway, a record score in a Gents’ Twenty20 game beating 174, set by The Gents v. NBW in 2000, a game which Dimo, Heapo and Beaumontey should remember as they played in it. Before that the 159 mauling by NBW off a strong Gent attack in 1995 was the apex.

Funny things can happen in this form of cricket though and when Johnston smashed the first three balls of the second innings for four, two and four, accompanied by riotous applause, people sat up. Was an Enterprise win a possibility or a chimera? At 19 off 2.2 overs, we still did not know but alas for the outsiders Johnston was caught and their hopes vaporised. Big Keith smote four, four and six but the ask was too great and Enterprise subsided in 11 overs. An interesting phenomenon in this game was an apparent change of name from the Witless Wombles to the Urban Wanderers, though Lloyd’s men fell short of administering the sack to him mid-competition, a fate that once befell Mr. Buck in his FC Chad days.

Gentlemen of West London

Runs

Enterprise

Runs

R Bourne did not bat

Sanjay Patel kept the same batting order as game one, starting with those who had not batted. Furious knocks from Chris Wright (three fours and four sixes) and Nabil Husain (four fours and four sixes) was the basis of a record total in a Gents’ Twenty20 game, 119 of them coming for the fourth wicket, Snelling and Denton both posting pleasant knocks and running well. The innings included a 24 ball over from Enterprise’s poor Mr. Lilly. His triple bouncers and full tosses over the batsmen’s heads were soberly but correctly No balled by Mr. Toft. Big Keith, aware that he could ask for another player to complete the over, rightly let Lilly do so himself and he gamely completed his over with a dot ball, thus vindicating his skipper’s policy of tough love.

Tony Buck, bowling a superb spell of wobblers, and Dave Hylden then shared five wickets before a brilliant 50 from ex-Gent Beaumont, their Player of the Day, enabled Enterprise to depart with their self-respect intact. It delighted everyone who saw it. The margin of the victory was not important. The bonding over the course of day certainly was.