Scorecard

Chertsey v Cookham Dean Cricket Club Friendly 1st XI on Sun 15 Aug 2021 at 1pm
Cookham Dean Cricket Club Won by 29 runs

Match report Following a run of 5 defeats in 6 matches, culminating in the humiliating loss to ‘Four Candles’ two weeks ago, Cookham Dean Friendly XI returned to action away at Chertsey on Sunday. Those who walk the corridors of power at Cookham Dean Cricket Club are clearly enjoying a summer recess, as inexplicably captain Isaac Richardson remained in post for this latest encounter. The match suffered a late start, as there was a colt’s match on the field, but this suited Cookham down to ground, because as its customary on Sundays, the side was litter with late arrivals. This could not be said of Yeshua Bhatti however, who had apparently arrived at Chertsey a day early, having got the Saturday fixture confused! Richardson won the toss and chose to bat first on a warm sunny day in the shadow of Thorpe Park.

Following long running negotiations Jake Richardson agreed to return to the fold and formed a strong looking opening pair alongside Rob Mettler. However, if the captain was hoping the traditional Sunday ‘bully boys’ would bludgeon his way out of trouble, then this plan was short lived as Mettler (6), Richardson (11) and Gay (6) all fell cheaply to reduce Cookham 35 for 3 off 9 overs. Debutant John Caen and Yeshua Bhatti then put together a mini partnership, before Caen fell for 6 to leave Cookham at 58 for 4 off 14 overs and staring down the barrel of yet another defeat. Captain Richardson then joined Bhatti, who put together a hundred run partnership to drag Cookham back into the match. The contrast between the batsmen was striking, with Bhatti’s classy, chanceless 89, full of wristy flicks and pulls, in comparison to Richardson’s agricultural 56, littered with dropped chances, plays and misses and a suspiciously tight run out appeal (turned down by his brother at square leg).

When Richardson finally hauled out Cookham had moved onto 186 in the 37th over. Bhatti followed soon afterwards, run out looking to get himself to what would have been a well-deserved hundred. Pande and Pateman scrambled some late runs to get Cookham up to 199 for 6 from their 40 overs, which looked a good score on a tricky pitch with a slow outfield.

In the second innings, John Caen and Peter Manchester (a new recruit with a flair for the dramatic arts) opened the bowling. Caen bowled accurately on his first senior outing, but Manchester stole the show, with a wicket with his first ball and impressive opening burst of 2 for 25 from his 6 over spell. Nonetheless Chertsey still moved along well and had passed 50 in the 12th over with opener F. Reisch still there and looking dangerous. However, the ever-reliable Mark Pateman soon saw to him following a bizarre dismissal where Reisch let go of his bat mid sweep shot, with the ball ballooning into the air and the bat landing not far from the same spot, thankfully Mettler kept his cool to take the catch.

In a similar style to the Cookham innings, Chertsey then looked to rebuild and started putting together a useful partnership. Dan Matthews bowled very tidily and managed to break the partnership, getting Lazer caught at gully by Mike Rosevear. This bought Fyfe to the crease to play second fiddle to Arthur, and once again Chertsey looked to get themselves back into contention. Adhrit Pande bowled tightly to tie down one end, but runs started to leak a little from the other end as Rosevear and then Bhatti entered the attack. Chertsey accelerated from 110 at the end of the 29th over to 153 at the end of the 34th, and were seemingly well in the game. After a wayward couple of overs, Bhatti redeemed himself by bowling Arthur for 66 and when the returning Peter Manchester dismissed Fyfe for 23 the game was up. Chertsey finished on 170 for 6.

Despite the victory, serious questions remain about Richardson’s future in the captaincy role, and with rumours swilling of mystery injury that will keep him out for the next couple of weeks, speculation is rife that this is the beginning of the end of his tenure. Next week Rob Mettler leads the side out again Middlesex Strikers.

Cookham Dean Cricket Club Friendly 1st XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 10w 4b  
for 7 wickets
18
199		        
Rob Mettler ct Fyfe 6 1
Jake Richardson ct J. Barnes 11 2
Jonathan Gay ct Connell 6
Yeshua Bhatti Run out  89 10
John Caen ct Reisch 6
Isaac Richardson ct Fyfe 56 4
Adhrit Pande ct Harrington 3
Mark Pateman Not Out  3
Peter Manchester  
Mike Rosevear   1
Daniel Matthews  

Chertsey Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Fyfe8.0035217.504.38
J. Barnes5.0021121.004.20
Connell4.0018118.004.50
J Reisch4.0016116.004.00
N. Barnes8.004000.005.00
M. Barnes4.002000.005.00
Harrington7.0035135.005.00

Chertsey Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4nb 8w 6b  
for 6 wickets
18
170 (40.0 overs)		     
F Reisch ct Mettler b Pateman 26
H Aishlgens b Manchester 0
J Harrison b Manchester 7
Arthur b Bhatti 66
Lazer ct Rosevear b Matthews 21
Fyfe lbw Manchester 23
J Reisch Not Out  1
M Barnes Not Out  1
   
   
   

Cookham Dean Cricket Club Friendly 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
John Caen4.011500.003.75
Peter Manchester8.0035311.674.38
Mark Pateman7.0316116.002.29
Daniel Matthews8.0123123.002.88
Adhrit Pande7.012800.004.00
Mike Rosevear3.002000.006.67
Yeshua Bhatti3.0027127.009.00