Warwickshire Bears V London Sports

Warwickshire V London BCEW League Sunday 16th July 2006

WEAKENED LONDON TEAM TROUNCED BY THE BEARS IN SUSSEX

Report by Alan Humphries (WCCVI Vice Captain)

A blazing hot day in Stanmer Park, Sussex saw the Bears “home” game against London Sports take place with the match switched due to both clubs being unable to find a suitable date and venue in the Midlands that both teams could commit to. Our thanks to Ian Morris of Sussex Sharks for helping to organise the fixture and to Steve Field, also of the Sharks, for doing the scoring.

London won the toss and elected to field and were soon rueing their decision following an opening stand of 202 from Nathan Foy (80) and Andy Powers (101 not out) with the only other scoring contribution to the game coming from 48 extras. The one wicket to fall went to Rob McKenzie completed by a “cow” corner catch from Charles Ronayne. Mention should be made that London were missing several key players and had a noticeable lack of sight in the field but still made the effort to fulfil this fixture which is a great credit to the players that turned up on the day. The Bears innings was declared after 13.1 overs with 229 runs on the Board leaving London the unenviable task of chasing 230 off 40 overs.

The London innings started with some promise with Ishy and Ali Safder taking advantage of the Bears own lack of sight in the field and scoring some impressive boundaries. However, when Ishy fell lbw to Sugg the writing was on the wall and then when Ali fell to a shocking delivery from your correspondent down the leg side expertly caught off one bounce by the catching machine Foy, the end was in sight (forgive the pun!). The only other batsman to make a contribution was Charles Ronayne (6) with all the others failing to trouble the scorer. The Bears bowling was made up of Sugg (3 for 15), Humphries (2 for 8), Lee (1 for 4) and Powers (2 for 0).

Many thanks must go to London for turning up and fulfilling this fixture following their result the day before and the fact that they were so many key players short. As I said before, this was both a credit to the players that turned up and to the club as a whole.

So the Bears now sit joint top with the Sharks with both having important games next weekend which could put distance between all of the top four should any of them – Metro and Dragons included – get the right result.

I would like to mention here the fact that two games this weekend were played in a truly excellent spirit which is a credit to all clubs involved and to our League. On Saturday Sussex showed they are now a force to be reckoned with and but for a little bit of luck would have won the game which would not have been an unfair result. It’s never fun to ask batsman to do what our last two or three did – and it was me not Gav that asked them to do it – and you could tell just how gutted Andy and the Sharks were at the end – forgive the pun! Suffice to say beer a plenty was drunk afterwards and good luck to the Sharks for the rest of their season.

	Bears V London London Report \| Scorecard
	Warwickshire V London BCEW League Sunday 16th July 2006 WEAKENED LONDON TEAM TROUNCED BY THE BEARS IN SUSSEX Report by Alan Humphries (WCCVI Vice Captain) A blazing hot day in Stanmer Park, Sussex saw the Bears “home” game against London Sports take place with the match switched due to both clubs being unable to find a suitable date and venue in the Midlands that both teams could commit to. Our thanks to Ian Morris of Sussex Sharks for helping to organise the fixture and to Steve Field, also of the Sharks, for doing the scoring. London won the toss and elected to field and were soon rueing their decision following an opening stand of 202 from Nathan Foy (80) and Andy Powers (101 not out) with the only other scoring contribution to the game coming from 48 extras. The one wicket to fall went to Rob McKenzie completed by a “cow” corner catch from Charles Ronayne. Mention should be made that London were missing several key players and had a noticeable lack of sight in the field but still made the effort to fulfil this fixture which is a great credit to the players that turned up on the day. The Bears innings was declared after 13.1 overs with 229 runs on the Board leaving London the unenviable task of chasing 230 off 40 overs. The London innings started with some promise with Ishy and Ali Safder taking advantage of the Bears own lack of sight in the field and scoring some impressive boundaries. However, when Ishy fell lbw to Sugg the writing was on the wall and then when Ali fell to a shocking delivery from your correspondent down the leg side expertly caught off one bounce by the catching machine Foy, the end was in sight (forgive the pun!). The only other batsman to make a contribution was Charles Ronayne (6) with all the others failing to trouble the scorer. The Bears bowling was made up of Sugg (3 for 15), Humphries (2 for 8), Lee (1 for 4) and Powers (2 for 0). Many thanks must go to London for turning up and fulfilling this fixture following their result the day before and the fact that they were so many key players short. As I said before, this was both a credit to the players that turned up and to the club as a whole. So the Bears now sit joint top with the Sharks with both having important games next weekend which could put distance between all of the top four should any of them – Metro and Dragons included – get the right result. I would like to mention here the fact that two games this weekend were played in a truly excellent spirit which is a credit to all clubs involved and to our League. On Saturday Sussex showed they are now a force to be reckoned with and but for a little bit of luck would have won the game which would not have been an unfair result. It’s never fun to ask batsman to do what our last two or three did – and it was me not Gav that asked them to do it – and you could tell just how gutted Andy and the Sharks were at the end – forgive the pun! Suffice to say beer a plenty was drunk afterwards and good luck to the Sharks for the rest of their season.