The final day of my tour started off with a meeting with the tour manager, who let me know the fine body of athletes I would be skippering on the day after much speculation on who would actually be turning up!

Rain threatened in the morning as the tourists made their way to their customary pints and pub food before the match. However, it brightened up as it was negotiated that Mount would be fielding first for the 3rd time this tour! I put on my keeping gloves for the 2nd time this week as Richard Hair and Shaayan Akhtar opened the bowling.

Controversy came early on as the batsman undoubtedly gloved the ball off one of Shayaan's first balls straight to myself at keeper... Not out, the call! The first wicket came a few overs later, however after some tight bowling which frustrated the batsman led to a dolly catch for gun fielder Max Dunn off Shayaan's bowling. The second wicket came off Max's bowling after the batsman decided a reverse sweep would be the best shot to play which the whole team saw a mile off! I expertly palmed the ball to my trusty slip Shayaan for an easy catch! Another wicket fell, the batsmen, clearly frustrated by the slow run rate, attempted a risky single which was snapped up and thrown in quickly by Jacko Jnr, leading to a run out.

It was then the turn of the youngsters, Jacko and Lambo Jnr to bowl at some very capable batsmen. Toby bowled 3 overs with no wicket but only 16 runs against batsmen who were approaching their half centuries. Proud brother here! Jacko Jnr did the same at the other end with 2 wickets, one of them being the opener who shot one straight in the air to Max Dunn (never in doubt). The other (who was on 49 at the time!) swung for the ball as he charged down the wicket but missed completely as I collected and stumped him. My heart stopped as I saw DT at square leg hesitate on the decision before finally giving it out!

By the 30th over I had 3 bowlers with injuries so Richard Hair capably stepped in and bowled with Jacko Jnr to finish off the first innings! 173-5 after 35 overs. A great achievement with 10 players!

Captaining our batting innings was a slightly easier ride! Max Dunn and Shayaan Akhtar opened for me and put up the entire target for no wicket. The highest ever Mount opening partnership with both batsmen not out (since records began!!) 176! Max with 101 and 58* for Shayaan.

A great win for the Mount making it 2/3 for the tour! It was a pleasure captaining the side and I hope the first of many! Special thanks to John Sherwin and Tom Willis for stepping in also!

We then went back to The Windmill for food, pool and darts and it was a lovely way to end the tour!

See you next year!

Please keep the above date free and let me know if you are available for the Terence Hair 6 a side tournament. This will be a fantastic day of cricket and fun for all the family to celebrate a Mount legend.

Mount are looking to enter 2 teams of 6 so we do need a good response – Alleyn Court will be putting up a team and we hope to be joined by a side from Westcliff too.

More details to follow but do keep the date free if possible.

Our next fixture is a trip to Felsted to play the Robins. Due to holidays, we are currently well short of an XI so please make yourself available if at all possible. If you can make the fixture and would like to play at this fantastic venue, please let me know asap.

Tour

Congratulations and thanks to all those who contributed to a fantastic tour. 2 comfortable wins and a single defeat are the headlines, but the real story is of a thoroughly enjoyable and very funny few days spent in beautiful surroundings with good friends, new and old. Well done DT and I wish you all a safe journey home.

Website

The website is now fully up to date and all your stats are available, including those for the tour – well done Clarissa for deciphering our attempts at keeping a scorebook! I recommend a look at the batting stats – where we have a 3-way battle for top run scorer of the season. That might help with availability for the remaining fixtures!

Do please let me know if you can make the game on the 5th August.

Ding destroys Dunster delight despite Duffin and Dunn double act

Eleven against one would usually result in a comfortable victory for the numerically advantaged side – that did not prove the case yesterday though as the tourists visited Bagborough. While both teams fielded 11 players, it often felt that it was Mount vs one chap called Dingle or “Ding”. His extraordinary performance of power hitting proving conclusive on the day.

Skipper Mark Smith negotiated that Bagborough would bat first, giving the tourists their second consecutive day chasing. Young Pete Shaw and Toby Duffin opened the bowling for Mount. Bagborough opening batsman Dingle, looked like he might be a threat - well built and obviously hugely strong as he was wielding a bat that looked as though very little had been taken off the tree stump in its manufacture.

After 2 overs Pete Shaw was withdrawn from the attack through injury. A severe neck strain enforcing an early rest. The cause was possibly his obsessive viewing of the orbiting International Space Station the evening before - I learned a lot from him and fellow space fan Toby Duffin and their fascinating conversation certainly helped me get off to sleep. However, it was also suggested that watching ball after ball sail back over his head was more likely the root cause of this problem. At the other end, Duffin was on form, and turned in his performance of the season. “Ding” however was filling his boots - his 50 came up in no time and he was enjoying the fare served up to him.

Duffin continued to bowl well and with Dunn taking the other end, we began to make inroads. Duffin struck first. His variation and bounce causing the batsman to top-edge one to the youthful John Sherwin – guesting for us from Holford CC. Soon he added the Bagborough’s skipper, caught by his opposite number, the Stetson wearing Smith stooping low to conquer with an excellent catch. Better catching was to come – Duffin inducing an edge to stand in ‘keeper Nigel Marsh who held on expertly. The piece de resistance however, again off Duffin’s bowling, was a diving one handed catch by Dunn. Duffin concluded his spell with figures of 4/29 off 7 overs – an extraordinary performance on a day when the attack took such punishment. Dunn began well too, taking 2 wickets early in his spell – one a routine catch to Foley to remove a small child, the other a delightful off break to further confuse a gentleman of advanced years.

We were doing ok now – apart from one thing, or should I say Ding. On he went bludgeoning the ball to all corners – reaching his century out of a total of 130. Lambert J took over bowling duties from Dunn and bowled very well – unlucky not to get more than his 1 wicket with a number of catching opportunities created but not held or just dropping shy of the fielder. While wickets had tumbled at the other end, Ding battled and battered on. Aktar had replaced Duffin and took some punishment before finding his line and length and being rewarded with a wicket. Ding reached his 150 and decided that we had suffered enough and retired. Phew!

Foley came on to replace Jamie as we sought the final wicket to close things out – once again paired with DT on umpiring duties, who made it perfectly clear that any appealing would be fruitless regardless of its merits! John Sherwin came on at the other and set his usual field – “a long on and a long off - the rest doesn’t matter”. And so it proved, his first ball fired straight down the throat of Jamie Lambert at long on who held the catch comfortably. His stats then 0.1-0-0-1 – where was he earlier?! Bagborough all out for 242. 35 overs to chase that down at, near as dammit, 7 runs per over.

The reply began well. 14 off the first over, 13 off the second. Dunn and Aktar looked set before the latter picked out the man at point with a mistimed cut. Dunster hero Lambert J came in next and he and Dunn looked to have us just about on top – adding 85 for the second wicket. The first part of their partnership featuring boundaries galore before a couple of bowling changes tightened things up for our hosts. Jamie was eventually caught in the deep for 42, Dunn following soon after as the result of a tremendous one-handed catch.

With the run rate climbing, Sherwin and Marsh were next. Sherwin hitting some lusty blows before falling for 18, Marsh failing to trouble the scorers. William Wilcox replaced Marsh, David Jackson soon joining him. David approached the task in the right way hitting a delightful boundary before falling on his sword whilst chasing the runs needed. Wilcox, was pinned down by the bowling for a time before hitting a quartet of 4s in one over. Running out of overs and partners, it was time to swing the willow. Foley the first to try. After adding 3, his agricultural attempt to hit the space station and knock it out of orbit was unsuccessful and instead he missed the ball and was bowled. Shaw came next to join Wilcox but William was soon out for 28, Duffin replacing him. Shaw fell in the final over but by then the game was long gone. 204 all out the final score – a 38 run defeat. How different it may have been but for the mighty Ding. His shirt bore the number 333 on the back but he proved to be more than half a beast!

That concluded my tour but I wish the remaining tourists all the very best for today’s fixture at Timberscombe and the rest of their visit to this beautiful part of the world.

Duffin’s delight as Dunn stars at Dunster – before Lambert J blows the bowling away!

Tour got off to a great start with victory over Dunster yesterday. In picture postcard surroundings, Dunster were gracious hosts to the tourists who were captained by Toby Duffin. Dunster won the toss and elected to bat with David Jackson and Mount debutant “Young” Pete Shaw opening the bowling. Both bowled well with Jackson the first to strike, breaking up a promising opening partnership, snaffling a caught and bowled opportunity. Shaw weighed in with the wicket his bowling deserved towards the end of an excellent spell – a good catch behind the wicket for Lambert J.

Max Dunn came into the attack against his regular side replacing Jackson, and produced a spell of spin bowling that bamboozled the opposition. Wickets began to tumble 1,2,3 4 wickets to Dunn, each batsman less pleased than the last to be sent back to the hutch by their erstwhile colleague. Foley replaced Shaw at the pavilion end - unlucky that David Thomas had chosen that end to umpire. The first lbw appeal was not convincing and looked too high – not out the correct decision by DT. The second was much more convincing – possibly hitting the top of the stumps, the umpire , seemingly shaken by the ferocious appeal, immediately raised his finger – perhaps a little fortunate for the bowler. The next delivery, a yorker, struck the new batsman on his toe in front of middle, deep in his crease – the ball was missing off and leg and there could be no doubt about the decision – NOT OUT! It all comes out in the wash apparently!

Meanwhile, Dunn continued to take the game away from Dunster – so much so that the skipper decided to give him just one more over to allow our hosts to post a reasonable total. Max was not to be denied however, and picked up his 5th wicket off his last delivery – a routine catch to Mark Smith, taken with aplomb. Old Boy then turned his arm over for a couple of overs before DJ replaced Max and struck with his first ball to close the innings of 10 man Dunster on 128 all out.

Father and son pairing Jamie and Clive Lambert began our reply and were just getting into their stride when Lambert Sr nicked an excellent delivery behind to the keeper. Jackson came to the wicket and instantly settled in, happily playing a supporting role to Jamie who was playing beautifully. Amongst an array of excellent shots, the pick was surely an effortless clip off his legs for 6. As bowlers came and went and the target drew ever nearer it was clear that these two would see us home. With almost 14 overs to spare Jamie struck another boundary to see us over the line. 68no for Lambert and 48 no for Jackson.

A great win for the Mounties. Congrats to the skipper and a big thank you to our hosts Dunster – I’m sure we will look to make this new fixture a regular tour feature.

Next up is Bagborough this afternoon – we will endeavour to keep you posted.

Apologies for the delay in getting this weeks report out – a hectic few days ahead of the start of tour - anyway, an abridged version as I was not there last week.

First a big thank you to Ilan for stepping back into the Captains’ shoes and for doing such an excellent job.

Batting first, Mount made 245 for 6 – many good performances and many landmarks reached too. Ged Williams made 65 taking him past 5,000 runs for the club – huge congratulations to Ged, a fantastic achievement. Paul Offord was made a rapid 46 to take him past 500 runs for the club – well done to you Sir. He was joined late on by Vijay Vayalveettil who made an even quicker 71 not out. That’s 4 consecutive 50s for Vijay – you can consider your probation period successfully completed!

Richard and Will Green opened the bowling and Will showed Dad the way with 2 wickets in his first over! He went on to return figures of 3/35. Richard Hair (0/40) and Anish Lukose (1/32) all bowled well to keep St Aidan’s run chase in check ably supported by the President. Vijay joined the attack late on taking 2/33 as he and Will saw Mount home to a 39 run victory.

Well done everyone.

I’m heading off to Somerset shortly and will do my best to keep you up to date with our efforts on the tour.

Go (West) Mounties!

We look to be a little short on numbers for Sunday’s game – please let me know if you are available. It should be noted however, that with the possibility of England making the WC Final, there is a chance that the opposition will struggle to get a side together. I have proposed an earlier start (noon?) and shorter format (20/25 over) to tempt them but it is likely that the outcome of tomorrow’s semi-final will be the deciding factor.

I will keep you posted.

At present we have the following:

Confirmed * J. Montellier * P. Offord * I. Frankel * G. Williams * A. Lukose * V. Vayalveettil

Possibles * S. Jackson * R. Green * W. Green

Once again, if you can help, please let me know asap.

Captain’s Drop Ends Unbeaten Run!

Friday saw us visit Great Wakering for our first ever evening T20 fixture – it also saw us defeated for the first time this season, some great performances with bat and ball, a little controversy, proof that catches win matches and, most importantly, another highly enjoyable and successful experiment for Mount.

A shorter format will result in a shorter match report ( I can almost hear the sighs of relief!) Wakering won the toss and elected to bat. Occasional Mountie Noel Smith opened for the opposition and set about his work with his normal aggression getting after the Mount bowling from the outset. In the third over he sent a thick outside edge spiralling into the air between cover and extra cover – the skipper called for it, made up the ground and seemed to have pouched the catch. However, the spin on the ball sent it up his arm, across his chest and over his shoulder before dropping to safety. This failed display of ball juggling was to prove costly. Smith went on to make his 50 before retiring, an agreed protocol of the match. Wakering were set fair and a sizeable total looked likely.

Mount fought their way back into the match with an excellent team effort in the field, surely one of their best bowling and fielding performances of the season. Anish Lukose and the skipper replaced our unlucky openers, Vijay and Duffin and their bowling quickly saw results. Anish returned figures of 2/43, including a stumping to Matt Renvoize standing in at wicketkeeper. Foley, made a little amends for his drop with 2/25 from 4 overs. The game was starting to turn but the run rate was still a little too high for comfort. Justin Montellier and Dave Summers then turned their game completely on its head. A combined 5 overs yielded 4 wickets for just 17 runs - one wicket, an almost face-saving catch for the skipper off Summers. Monty returned 2/10 off 3 overs and Summers 2/7 off his 2. Mount were now in the ascendancy. Then controversy. With wickets falling, and overs running out, Wakering’s remaining opener retired suffering from fatigue. Retired “tired”. This allowed the previously retired Smith to return. Duffin and Vijay returned to the attack to bowl the “death” overs and whilst they performed very well given the usual hurly burly, keeping things relatively tight, undoubtedly the Wakering total would have been lower without the onset of exhaustion! Smith added 16 to close 66no out of a total of 156/9.

Mount’s reply started badly! Paul Offord, was bowled first ball, bringing Anish to the crease to join Matt Renvoize. Anish performed well on his first knock for Mount making 16 of a 40 partnership with Renvoize. When he departed he was replaced by the in-form Vijay, who carried on where he left off making his third consecutive 50 before having to retire. Renvoize had departed earlier – unlucky to have a chest-high delivery not called a no-ball before being caught and bowled off the next delivery – this should have been a free hit! Anyway, great to see him back playing for the Mount and making a spirited 20. Well done Matt. Billy Taylor, who had put in a great shift in the field came and went fairly quickly, replaced by Richard Green who made a quick 13 before also departing. Vijay’s retirement brought father and son, Dave and Jack Summers together – a pleasing first for them. By now the run rate had gone above 8 per over and with the field back, boundaries were hard to come by. Some spirited running kept us in the game, these two adding 25, before eventually costing Dave his wicket – run out chasing a third. Foley came to the crease - a chance for redemption? It would have been nice but proved too big an ask – Mount closing on 148/6, 9 runs shy of victory.

All good things must come to an end, and so it is for our unbeaten run but as I said at the top, this proved to be another successful experiment. All those involved agreed that home and away fixtures next year were in order – a glowing endorsement! Thanks to everyone for making themselves available and for Wakering for being such great hosts.

Details of this weekend’s game coming soon.

I’m off for some catching practice - Go Mounties (still unbeaten on Sundays!)

Apologies for the delay in getting the match report out, but it was a hectic start to the week.

Sunday was a glorious day, the weather was hot and the cricket enjoyable and played in the right spirit. A huge thank you to President Jackson for organising such a fantastic day and to the First Lady and daughter, Grace, for putting on such a spectacular tea.

Having won the toss, the President put Mount in and our opening pair of Ilan Frankel and Ged Williams made a solid start in an enthralling contest with the excellent bowling of Andy Gould and Simon Mather for the President. One powerful, uppish drive from Frankel struck Williams in the shoulder before he could get out the way but these antipodeans are built of strong stuff and, thankfully, he was able to carry on. Eventually, Gould’s spell got the wicket it deserved with Frankel departing for 26, bowled by a good ball that did just enough to deceive the batsman and clip off stump.

Next to the crease was Steve Johnson looking to build on his heroic century of last weekend and he did enough to see off the opening pair scoring a steady 11 before becoming the first of David Jackson’s two victims. Next in was Richard Green, who made a quick fire 12 before falling to an excellent catch by David Cox. Vijay Vayalveettil joined Williams at the crease and seemed instantly at ease – so much so that the skipper soon elected to call for a “Powerplay”. This experiment was agreed by the captains beforehand and would allow each captain to choose 3 consecutive overs where the runs scored would be doubled. This was to prove both a huge success and pivotal in the outcome. In our powerplay (overs 22, 23 & 24) Vijay and Ged set about the bowling amassing 29 runs to add 58 to the total. Vijay went on to make his second consecutive 50, with 56 off just 34 balls before being adjudged out LBW to the excellent bowling of young Josh Frankel.

With overs starting to run out Justin Montellier came to the wicket and added important runs playing with style, aggression and panache before being bowled by Gould when trying to up the run rate. David Hewitt came to the wicket and also fell chasing boundaries. At the other end Williams stood firm but, with the strike seeming suddenly to evade him, he looked set to carry his bat but fall short of the century his innings deserved. His next partner was vice-skip, Dave Summers, who managed to get Ged the strike for the last ball of the last over. On 96 not out, he was able to find a gap in the field , scoring the 4 he needed to complete his well deserved century – his 10th for the club. A vital knock that enabled Mount to post 252/6 from their 35 overs.

The President’s XI innings started with 4 maidens shared between Dave Hewitt and Will Green, who both bowled beautifully. Will in particular exhibiting a consistency and maturity well beyond his years. Opening for the President were Davids, Cox and Kilpack and once off the mark, the runs started to flow and despite the slow start, the scores were tied at the 17 over mark although Mount had been 2 wickets down at this stage. Toby Duffin finally made the breakthrough, trapping Kilpack LBW shortly after he had reached his 50.

No 3 David Mackay strode purposefully to the wicket – a Mount and WOSCC legend, a giant of a man, with a look of determination on his face. He went straight to work, sending the first three balls faced to the fence. Cox had been accumulating nicely with some well placed shots and some big hitting. This combination convinced the President to call for the powerplay at over 21. Debutant Anish Lukose was just finding his range with his tricky spin bowling and Vijay was brought into the attack from the Pavilion end. These two bowled beautifully, restricting the opposition to 13 runs from their 3 overs, adding 26 to the total. They also combined to send Cox on his way, Vijay taking a good catch to give Anish his first wicket for the club.

As a result of the shortfall in the powerplay, the run rate had climbed – 114 required from 12. The President replaced Cox and, despite his recent excellent form, found Vijay particularly hard to get away, eventually falling to him, caught and bowled. Anish dispatched the unlucky David Jackson shortly afterwards before Vijay claimed his second c&b, his victim this time Josh Frankel. Mackay continued to attack – combining powerful hitting with impressive pace between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Eventually, he fell to an extraordinary one-handed catch by Lukose in the deep, giving a wicket to Summers and all but sealing the game for Mount. The skipper was so confident he even gave himself a few overs at the death. The captain/vice combination saw us home with a wicket apiece, the President’s XI closing on 206/8.

A lot of match detail there but the overriding memory is of a hugely enjoyable day, with everyone contributing to a great game and a lot of smiling faces.

Thanks again, Mr President.

Next game Friday! – details shortly.