Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Highgate CC, Middx - 2nd XI - Saturday 8th July 2017

Considering it was the day after the Friday of the Lord's test match, the 2s gathered at a hot dry Bushy Park in fine spirits, perhaps due to the uncharacteristic Harris Garden absences of the usual firestarters Kemp and Frewen.

Skipper Baggs lost the toss and TCC were inserted. Buoyed by a rare full night of sleep, Baggs placed himself at No 3 and set about watching Pryde and Gardiner open the batting.

Gardiner, on half an hour's sleep post cleaning loos at Wimbledon, missed a straight one in the first over and Baggs entered the fray.

After an uncharacteristic swipe straight to gully from Pryde and an unlucky drag on from Smith, Wade joined Baggs to set about a small rebuilding job. Baggs timed the ball well and Wadey made it look very easy as they rotated the strike and the partnership moved past 50.

Wadey fell caught behind trying to force the pace off one of the slower spinners we will face this season and Hicks joined Baggs, who went to his 50 shortly after. Hicks plonked the spinner down the ground three times before having to depart after being given LBW.

Stef came and went for 7 and then Baggs uncharacteristically missed out on a cut shot and plinked one to point. With us at 146-7, Highgate would have had hopes of finishing the innings quickly. Hannah and Bennett had other ideas and played both sensibly and aggressively to milk the spinners and put away the bad balls. Bennett went for 22 and Thorndyke provided some late innings fireworks to finish 18 off 11 and Hannah a well made 40 off 43. 230-8 declared off 54 - very much chaseable with a decent deck, fast outfield and short Pav side boundary.

The Highgate chase did not get off to the best start with the all rounder Hannah picking up two wickets in his first over, the first caught by Smith at first slip and the second bowled the next ball. With Harris steaming down the hill at the other end the scoring rate slowed to a crawl. The introduction of Thorndyke brought another couple of wickets in the same over, one well caught by Baggs standing up and a swirling high catch well caught by Wade. At 29-4, the scoring rate slowed to a standstill. Hannah finished a marathon spell with 12-24-2 and Thorndyke got the fifth wicket caught and bowled. Big Sam Harris took the sixth clean bowled, far too quick for the Highgate no 7.

What followed was very dull, with Highgate blocking on what turned into a slow and docile wicket. Even with aggressive field settings and innovative encouragement, Highgate stood firm as Baggs shuffled his bowlers, Stef taking the only further wicket to fall to a good stumping.

Highgate finished a pedestrian 166-7 off 47 overs. A dull 5 point winning draw for TCC.

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Ealing CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 1st July 2017

Apologies for the shortness of the report this week - due to a combination of Wimbledon, the first test at Lords and James Blunt's new album being a surprisingly good listen.

So, Ealing at home. Captain Baggs and Ealing captain David Holt, strolled to the middle, the coin went up and the coin came down. Heads was the call, heads was the fall and Ealing chose to field. Who would have thought?

Back from Uni with a vengeance, Rob Gardiner took the first ball with vet Nick Pryde leaning on his handle the other end. A great opening partnership from the two put 67 on the board at a controlled tempo, before Rob Gardiner lost his pole to the bowling of Faraz. Smith came and went, leaving Pryde still leaned on his handle at the other end. Andrew Rennison came in at 4 and looked a million dollars as he and moved the fielders around with singles. Prydey fell for 42 after being caught in front of all three. The score stood at 97-4. Johnnie Smith looked good for his 11, but got caught in the covers driving on the up. Not the worst thing to happen however as it meant that TCC could get coach Josh Knappett into the middle to mock the Ealing attack. Him and Renno looked set, before Josh hooked one to long leg for 56. Baggs came and went and Renno wasn’t quick enough on a single, so left shortly after. Some might compare it to a clubs lights coming on and the bouncer asking people to leave as the tail was failing to wag. After a few chants of one more song, in came the mixologist, Jack Sever to blast the total to 231-8 off 52 Overs. A score TCC 2s were very happy to take.

Tea was beige, but it was clear someone had said something as I might have had some red onion in a Tuna salad, but I can’t be sure. Keep up the good work Chef!

The E-Men following tea set about chipping away the total, but before long Sever was back in his rhythm and hitting a length and getting his usual sharp bounce. Some fantastic catching in the slips from Rennison and the pressure applied from both ends kept Ealing at bay with the run rate ever rising. Arthur Godsal, the young Middlesex player batted well for his 60, however, the bowling of Bullon and Thorndyke strangled Ealing's run rate and put them well behind the pace. Unsure whether they were still in the race or not, Ealing tried to keep the scoreboard moving, but soon realised it was time to shut shop. Only 6 down, Ealing had wickets in hand and on a flat deck were able to hold off the bowling of Sever, Swan to hang out for a draw.

5 points to TCC. Currently sitting 3rd in the league.

Author: CBB

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Acton CC, Middlesex - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 24th June 2017

It was an early and disappointing start to the day, with The Lions losing their first Test 30-15. Hopefully the cricket would bring more joy to the table. 

TCC 2s were playing Acton away and on arrival to the ground it would appear obvious that their groundsman was also away. Long grass and lively wicket set the scene for what was going to be a difficult day to bat. Acton won the toss and inserted TCC, not to anyone's surprise. Pryde and Baggs, who on the back of a few runs felt he deserved a swing at the top, opened the batting and put on a quick fire 30, before Baggs played at one which did everything, caught his edge and sent him packing. Pryde and Osmond battled the swinging and bouncing ball with grit. Pryde was next to fall for a well made 25, again by a ball which he did well to get anything on. Rennison came to the crease next to blast a few, however as per previous weeks got another stinker of a decision, caught down the leg side of his shirt. Following the misguided instructions from the captain to take advantage of the short straight boundaries, on the basis that the pitch had played horrifically and it was likely he'd get a good ball eventually, Alex Smith came and went. Rory Osmond fell next to a low catch in the slips, and bringing Johnnie Smith and Stefan Bullon into the frame to steady the ship. Smith batted brilliantly for 58, which was worth 90 on a good wicket, before again edging one to the grips. Welcome the Elliot Hannah and Dan Thorndyke Show! 8x4's and one mixer from the pair helped give TCC's score the much need boost required! The captain pulled the plug after 51 Overs with a score of 208. Actons Josh Burrows bowled very well for his 7fer. 21 overs, 4 maidens, 96 runs and 7 Wickets. Well bowled Sir. 

With the total set and 49 overs to bowl, TCC gave the new ball to Matt Swan and Elliot Hannah. Swanny used the ridge and inconsistent pitch to his advantage, getting one to lift of a length from his first ball, giving the keeper Baggs an easy catch. 1-1. The TCC boys then had to wait a while before the next few fell, with Actons's captain Dan Waddell batting very well for his 51. The scoreboard read 89-2. Then it began. The David Keightley and Alex Smith show. Smith catching, DK bowling. 90-3, 90-4, 90-5, 109-6, 114-7, 124-8, 137-9......48 overs gone. 1 over to go, one wicket needed. The result tells the rest of the story, but for those that don't know....David Keightley is a wizard. TCC beat Acton by 57 runs and took home 12pts. Brucey bonus! 

TCC 2s are now sitting 3rd in the league, 10 points behind North Middlesex who are at the top. On to week 9 vs Ealing CC. 

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Author: Chris Bennett-Baggs

Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Brondesbury CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 17th June 2017

On seeing a brand new, flat looking wicket with a lightening fast outfield, a short boundary towards the Pavilion and the forecast of blazing sun and 32c, Baggs did what any horrifically hungover skipper would do if he won the toss - FIELD!

With E Hannah playing his record equalling 4th consecutive game and Swanny fresh off an 8fer, TCC started tightly, with stand in umpire Frewen giving one of the easier LBW decisions to get TCC on the board and give Hannah the first of his 3 wickets. After the other opener dragged on, also to Clive, Tendulkar JR came to the crease and immediately played positively, capitalising on anything wide.

After Johnnie Smith didn't quite get things right, Baggs turned to the slow mediums of Bullon and Hicks to tie things down. he was rewarded when Tendulkar Jr slapped a length ball to a cleverly positioned hovering mid off.

After Bennett took 2 wickets with his off-breaks, it became clear that Bron would be batting the full 55 overs. What followed was a slow, turgid nudge towards an acceptable total. Swan returned to take 2 at the death and Clive took his third caught at long off.

Bron declared 237-9 off 55 - very chaseable, given the aforementioned playing conditions.

Elliott and Pryde opened up to face the charged up Tendulkar. Pryde played him with ease, pulling off the front foot into the pav. Elliott was slightly less elegant, top-edging a hook into his lid and causing a break in play to clear up the resulting claret.

After serene progress Elliott called Pryde through for a tight single and Prydey was well short to a good direct hit. He took it very well and his annoyance was barely obvious.

Smith and Meek chipped away at the total while Elliott looked increasingly fluent at the other end. Smith was bowled by the leg-spinner and Meek skied Tendulkar JR to be well caught by the keeper.

Captain Baggs, now sufficiently recovered, walked out to join Elliott with 6 per over needed and immediately got to work, making it clear that running would be at a minimum.

Elliott was eventually dismissed for a well made run a ball 93 by the returning Tendulkar.

Hicks joined Baggs to be told 'we can do this all in boundaries' and he walked the walk - 6x4's, 2x6's and a fair amount of running later, the exhausted captain was bowled for 48 off 28, barely able to lift the bat, walk or really talk.

The remaining 6 runs were ticked off without fuss and TCC won in the 43rd over by 5 wickets. A potentially challenging chase made to look very easy.

On to Acton next week.

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Hampstead CC - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 10th June 2017

When one has had a good day at the office it's preferable for their team mates to write the report so they can heap lavish praise on said performance. However, everyone is hard at work (and I am not) so here goes...

We had spent all week talking about Hampstead's rooftop bar AKA 'the best beer garden north of the river' so it was a surprise when the captain and Elliot both turned up with cars. Baggsy proceeded a full meltdown when the team told him about the excellent public transport access to the ground and the £2 pints. 

We won the toss and elected to field after some good run chases in the last couple of weeks. Elliot and I took the new ball and there was little assistance early on but we kept them to 30-1 off the first 10 overs. Hampstead had set a solid base by drinks and were 66-1. I swapped ends to come down the hill (and wind assisted) and with the keeper up, tight bowling and some extraordinary catching (A Smith and R Osmond in particular), we took 7-63 and had them 129-8 with Yours Truly taking all 8. Surely I couldn't take 10 wickets in an innings? It was on the cards until Baggsy produced a classy legside stumping off Stef for the 9th and then the final pair took a suicidal second run - I did my best to mess up Elliot's run-out but by then the dream was already over. 

Hampstead bowled well with 3 of their bowlers having played against our 1st XI the previous week, but we chased it 6 down with plenty of overs to spare. Rory and Prydey both top scored with 26. 

A great win capped off with a chaotic party to carry the Chimp into his 4th decade. 

Author: Matt Swan

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Richmond CC, Middx - 2nd XI - Saturday 3rd June 2017

The 2nd XI welcomed rivals Richmond to Bushy Park for the hotly anticipated local derby.
With both sides sitting on 15 points after an indifferent start to the campaign, a vital 10
points was up for grabs.

Having chased successfully the previous week, Teddington won the toss and inserted
Richmond. After Matt Swann (1-36) had used up his full allotment of beamers in his first
over, him and Elliot Hannah (1-40) set about tying up the opposition batsmen. Hannah
picked up one early, with a delivery full of both flight and guile that was edged through to
the keeper Baggs. Rennison also produced a champagne moment in the field with a very
casual direct hit run out. In what were very good conditions to bat in, the side did well to
restrict the opposition to 245-8 after their 45 overs. Johnnie Smith produced a particularly
good spell of bowling at the death to pick up 2-45 in his 9 overs whilst Thorndyke also
carried on where he left of the week before with 2-53.

The response started well for Teddington, with Pryde and Elliott settling in well. Elliott (46)
was then trapped low on the pad, deep in the crease and right in front of all three, giving
the umpire no option but to send him packing. This did nothing to deter the run chase as
Osmond (30), Rennison (24) and Baggs (15*) played in an aggressive fashion to ably
support the imperious Pryde, who carried his throughout the innings for yet another
hundred. In the end the side won comfortably by 5 wickets with 11 balls to spare and have
now started to build some good momentum going into the middle part of the season and
the change in format. With plenty of room still for improvement, the side should be very
excited about reaching its full potential and making further positive strides up the league
table.

Author: Tom Elliott

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Eastcote CC - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 27th May 2017

On a beautiful summers day the 2nd XI headed to Eastcote in search of a much needed win to kick start the season. With a much changed bowling attack, and having lost the last three games batting first, skipper Baggs won the toss and elected to bowl.

Middleton and Thorndyke started well, giving the batsmen very few scoring opportunities. Their hard work was rewarded when Middleton (2-45) trapped the French International in front of all three and in truth Eastcote never really recovered from that moment. Bullon (1-32) continued to apply pressure, racing through his 9 over allocation and was well supported by the spin twins of Smith J (2-44) and Bennett (0-38). Despite a couple of batsmen getting themselves in in the middle overs, Teddington did very well to limit the runs on what was a very fast scoring outfield. Thorndyke (4-36) returned with a brilliant spell of death bowling, taking four wickets in the process to restrict Eastcote to a nice round 200-9 from their 45 overs.

After the ‘best tea on the circuit’ the established opening pair of Pryde and Winter went about their work in their usual manor. Both batsmen passed 50 with ease, while the Teddington middle order of Smith x2, Wade and Baggs went back for more tea as they realised this was the only way were going to get a return on their £12. At this point Pryde (55) must have comprehended what he was missing out on as an uncharacteristic loss of concentration led to his downfall. However, Winter continued on his merry way and the only question that remained was would he reach his century. Osmond made a quick fire 38* that kept the race interesting, but then much to the surprise of the crowd, he blocked the last few balls of an over to allow Winter (103*) through to a chanceless century, completing the 9 wicket victory with 8 overs to spare.

This was the complete performance that we had been threatening for a few weeks and is hopefully a sign of what is to come. If we play like this every week we will certainly be up there competing for the title come September. Bring on Richmond!

Author: Alex Smith

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North Middlesex CC - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 20th May 2017

A long and ultimately frustrating day at North Middlesex began with losing the toss and being put into bat. After 2 days of rain parts of the outfield were waterlogged causing the 3s game to cancelled and with more of the wet stuff forecast it would have been a useful toss to have won.

Another solid opening partnership from Winter and Pryde was interrupted first by a downpour and then thunder and lightning which led to an early tea. We were now playing a 39 over match. Pryde was the first to fall with the score on 77, the first of two outstanding stumpings off leg side wides. Alex Smith and Winter put on 50 for the next wicket before Smith was neatly caught at cover off some tidy leg-spin bowling. When Winter fell shortly after reaching his 50 the pressure was on the middle order to up the run rate and post a big total. Unfortunately the "Murder Squad" didn't quite fire and a flurry of wickets led to Teddington finishing on 184/8. A little disappointing after having so many wickets in hand so deep into the innings.

This was put well behind us following the opening spells of bowling from Hannah and Ladd-Gibbon. Elliot took 4/22 from his 8 overs in what should have been a match winning performance. He has helped by fine catching behind the stumps from James (after inspired captaincy), J Smith and the skipper. The ball boy Munday also took a good one at point, displaying Jordan-esque airtime. Meanwhile JLG bowled his 5 overs for a miserly 10 runs. At 47/4 North Mid were under the pump but their skipper began building a partnership with the no. 6 and slowly started digging them out of a hole. He did provide one opportunity but an outstanding effort at slip by Kennedy couldn't prevent the ball hitting the deck. The partnership continued to frustrate and began to accelerate until with only 50 needed the wickets began to come. Swanny got rid of their skipper with the help of a regulation catch by Tom Kennedy which he made look more difficult than it was. Euan bowled another great spell and had the no. 6 stumped by Baggsy. Willis took his first wicket of the season and then Swanny took another. However in the meantime their no. 8 was starting to hit big and he managed to drag them over the line to win the game by 2 wickets from the last ball of the match.

We finished (at 8pm) desolate but had fought hard in an exciting game of cricket. The first win is close and will bring a run of them.

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Finchley CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 13th May 2017

The Second Weekend of the Natwest Middlesex Second X1 League One saw TCC take on Finchley – a game the TCC needed to win after a disappointing opening weekend to their campaign. Skipper Bag unsurprisingly won the toss and elected to bat in overcast conditions on a used, green and damp deck. Winter and Pryde made a very patient start, taking the team to 90-0 after 20 overs.

Winter was dismissed for 41 off 85 balls in the 27th over allowing Osmond to come to the crease. The pair continued to build nicely, with momentum gathering from the 35th over. Some big and innovative shots from both batsman allowed the score to accelerate comfortably past the 200 mark.

Osmond was caught for a quickfire 35 while Pryde continued to exert his dominance to a masterful 119* off 130 balls and TCC ended on 220-3 off their 45, a defendable total but hard to not feel as if the side left 20-30 runs out on the field.

Unfortunately, Finchley’s reply began confidently with the visitors racing to 70-0 after just 12 overs courtesy of some poor bowling and some good clean hitting from the opener. Munday made the first breakthrough, trapping the Overseas LBW with a clever change of angle. This didn’t do much to change the momentum and TCC struggled to keep the visitors below the scoring rate. Another wicket for Munday and three quick wickets from J Smith threatened to give TCC an unlikely victory. In fact, had A Smith held onto a rego chance at slip and Finchley number 7 walked after hitting a catch to point, the game might have gone the other way, but neither prevailed and TCC lost by 3 wickets.

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Highgate CC, Middx - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday 6th May 2017

With a powerful and youthful line up for a round one clash, the Teddington 2nd XI had high hopes for a strong start to the season against a newly promoted Highgate side.

Winning the toss and electing to bat on a very low wicket a bright start was made reaching 1-114 (Pryde 55 & Osmond 43) by the 30th over. Despite some tight bowling from the Highgate spinners, the score ticked along at a steady rate & with serious fire power still in the sheds, a score of 220+ was still in sight. Unfortunately, this was where our grip on the game ended. Both established batsmen fell within a couple of overs & a loss of 7-28 crucified our innings. Poor shots, runs outs, and clever bowling, were all to blame for the collapse. Some lower order hitting from the two skippers (Baggs & Swan) got us to a respectable total of 188 all out (Baggs scored a run a ball 32). We were at least 30 runs below par though and we needed something special from our bowling & fielding.

Knowing we needed early wickets, Swanny delivered in the first over with a ‘jaffer’ to remove the openers off stump. Highgate’s senior pair then batted sensibly to put on a partnership of 77 to have the game in complete control. Robin Willis bowled his 9 overs straight, constantly beating the outside edge but without luck (0-25). With a couple more consolidating partnerships throughout, Highgate were never really in danger. However, some late overs panic ensured we had ‘half a sniff’ in the final two overs. Needing 11 off 12 and 5 off six, we weren’t far off snatching a lucky victory. However, Highgate hit the winning runs with 4 balls to spare and 4 wickets in hand. In addition to Robin, Swan and Euan bowled very well with figures of 2-35 & 3-38 respectively.

The focus for this week will no doubt be to turn up (on time) & be ready to show the competition why we are a title contender, particularly in our batting innings.

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Oxford University Club CC - Authentics - Saturday 29th April 2017

The 2s' pre-season preparations continued on the 2nd pitch at Bushy Park on Saturday. There were some encouraging performances in what was a close and hard-fought game of cricket, but Teddington ultimately lost in the last over.

After some good negotiation which resulted in a 40 over game (10 overs max per bowler), stand in captain Johnnie Smith lost the toss and TCC were asked to bat. The innings could not have got off to a worse start as we lost the ever dependant Nick Pryde to the first ball of the game and we soon found ourselves reeling at 29-3. With the odd ball popping off a length, Rennison (92) and A Smith (53) set about building a partnership. Rennison was the chief aggressor with some brutal straight hitting as the TCC pair combined to put on a stand of 150 from as many balls. This put TCC in a good position to push towards 250. However, after Rennison was dismissed looking to up the rate, the rest of the batting line-up couldn’t get going and TCC ended up with 219 from their 40 overs.

With only 3 frontline bowlers and a stand-in keeper, TCC knew they would have to perform well to maintain their 100% start to the season. Swan (2-58) and Thorndyke (0-4) began well and kept on top of the opening pair. Unfortunately, Thorndyke was forced out of the attack through injury after only 4 overs, meaning TCC needed to get 6 overs out of the Pryde (0-34). Despite the setback, TCC maintained the pressure with J Smith (2-60) chipping in with two wickets, keeping them behind the required rate for most of the innings. Munday (0-57) bowled well with no luck, but TCC were eventually left to rue a couple of dropped catches in the field. TCC just didn’t pick up enough wickets throughout the innings and The Authentics, led well by their skipper, Clements (106*), ultimately edged home with 5 balls to spare to win by 5 wickets.

Although it was a shame to come up short, most players have now had a good run out over the two pre-season games so should be ready to hit the ground running in the league next week at Highgate.

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North Middlesex CC - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI

The 2s arrived at a sunny North Midd ground to be a confronted with a flat deck and a very short boundary down the hill on one side as well and straight. The returning captain Baggs won the toss (for a change) and decided to field.

After the warm up of the season JLG and Swan took the new ball. It quickly became clear that anything beating the infield on either side of the wicket would be 4. Swan came around the wicket to their left handed opener and the pressure started to build. After one near miss run out he pushed the ball into the covers and set off. Hicks swooped from point and threw down the stumps at the non-strikers end to get TCC on the board. The pressure continued to build and the other opener slapped a good length ball from Swan to the tumbling Munday, fresh from a month long sabbatical looking after Andy Murray, who took a good catch for the second wicket.

Swan continued to bowl around the wicket at the left handed no 3 and went passed the outside edge over and over again. After many plays and misses and 4s through third man, one very close call (and convincing appeal from the cordon) and in the 30c heat, Swanny was ticking. When the edge finally came, Smith at 1st slip was celebrating before the ball had even reached Baggs and this perhaps contributed to the subsequent uncharacteristic fumble. Smith regained his composure sufficiently to palm the ball up and caught it at his second, and the team’s third, attempt. If this had been dropped, Swan’s swede would have popped.

The innings then settled into a pattern. Sweepers went out and the bad balls were put away with conviction but the game never got away from us. The scoreboard was ticking but considering the short boundary and flat pitch concerns were limited. R Bennett bowled tightly from the pavilion end their captain hit a very clean ball in scoring a rapid 56 before JLG took a good catch to get rid of him. With Munday finding the bottom end tricky to bowl from Baggs turned to Hicks’ mediums and a well spread field. Combined with Bennett a few tight overs brought a waft at a short wide one and a well taken catch by BB standing up. Smith replaced Hicks and Bennett wheeled away, snaring their no 4 for a well made 68 thanks to another good catch by JLG.

With the field well spread North Midd started swinging from the hip, Bennett/JLG combining again for his third. After another half pitch run out to Hicks at third man attempting to get the set batsman on strike North Midd surprisingly decided that 270 wasn’t enough and batted on past 50 overs. After 5 dots balls in the 50th over JLG took the final wicket. Given the short boundaries and good pitch, a strong display in the field.

In his first game with more than half hours sleep, Gardiner was LBW early. After promoting himself to 3, Baggs and Austin started to get the scoreboard ticking, Austin picking off the short ball with aplomb, including one huge mixer. At 73-2 ambition got the better of him when aiming a lofted on drive off the opening bowler. Poles splattered for a boundary filled 33. Smith continued to keep Baggs company, playing risk free cricket to add another 60, staying well up with the rate before a good ball from their opening bowler held its line to clip the off bail. Another 40 partnership with the incoming Meek followed as the required runs ticked down, the tiring Baggs starting to play more freely and finding the boundary with ease. With North Midd literally putting every fielder on the boundary, Meek plinked one to long off.

After spending almost every ball on the field in the heat and with a hundred nearing, Baggs aimed a swipe over the pavilion and was castled for a superb run a ball 91. Hicks joined Bullon at 206/5 with 7s needed and they calmly picked up singles to add another 30 before Hicks holed out to long on. JLG came and went first ball thanks to an unlikely over the head one handed grab at mid wicket.

The tension rose as Bennett arrived with victory still the target. Bullon continued to pick up singles and a streaky Bennett 4 through the vacant slips brought cheers from the watching 3s. When Bennett was castled with 25 needed Munday strolled out with the target adjusted firstly to reaching the 265 needed for the winning draw. He was trapped LBW as Stef watched from the other end and despite a trademark straight Swan 6, he too was trapped in front with us still requiring 16 with 10 balls left.

Thanks to Ealing drawing at Richmond we remain top of the league by 4 points with 2 timed games and 4 limited overs games to come. Bring on Eastcote next weekend…

Author: Simon Hicks

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Finchley CC - 2nd XI Vs Teddington CC - 2nd XI - Saturday, 9th July, 2016

TCC started the second half of the season with an away trip up North to Finchley. Having dispatched the opposition by 10 wickets in the first round of fixtures, confidence was high that the 9 point lead over Ealing at the top of the table would be maintained.

The mood for optimism was somewhat wavering as the eleven started to turn up at the ground, culminating in the self-proclaimed ‘most successful captain at the club’ walking out to do the toss in last night’s gears. Having been told how fruitful his night time exploits had been, you’d have hoped he would have carried this form into his tossing ability. Alas, captain Baggs lost the toss…again. Fortunately for the rest of us, the Finchley captain thought it wise to stick us in so we retired to the pavilion to discuss how strenuous a warm up we fancied this week.

Some 30 minutes later Austin, fresh off finishing two crosswords before the start of play, and Gardiner strolled to the crease. The pair got off to a flier before settling down into a more sedate style of play. Austin was eventually dismissed when nearing 50 which brought Johnnie Smith to the wicket. These two continued to play steadily until Gardiner reached his 50. After a week doing the nightshift at Wimbledon this was a quite superb effort, and clearly he thought so too as he was bowled next ball…his work was done for the day. Alex Smith came and went – caught in the gully however he still assures us all it was a bump ball. Chin up.

TCC then lost a flurry of wickets, including captain Baggs who once again thought it best to drop himself down the order. Unfortunately this week it did not work as the captain was bowled by the oppositions overseas who at this stage was approaching his 20th over. This left debutant Krishan Sachdeva and Pollock with a bit of rebuilding to do at 150 – 6. Sachdeva played well for his 20 until he was caught at long-on and after a few lusty blows from Pollock the scoreboard sped up to 220. Pollock was out for 44 of 29 balls in the 50th over, Swann then followed which left TCC 220 all out off 50.4.

Having bowled out the opposition cheaply last time around, it was felt 220 should be just about enough. It soon came apparent that it was certainly enough as TCC stalwart and vice-captain Swann ripped open the Finchley top order with two quick wickets. Pollock then bounced out/burgled down the leg side the other opener for a swift 30 which left TCC in the driving seat. A period of calm followed as Sam Harris continued to beat the bat and Swann got a bit tired. Captain Baggs gave the signal for Sachdeva to warm up which did not go down well with Swann who begged for another over. After Harris bowled the number 5, Baggs, reluctantly, gave into Swann. Fortunately he did not let his captain down with two wickets in the over. Rather unfortunately this secured Swann another 4/5 overs as he attempted to get that allusive 5fer. The Finchley wicket-keeper took a fancy to Swann’s bowling and blasted him out of the attack which left the opening bowling to retire to the boundary to lick his wounds.

Then came on the spin twins of Sachdeva and J.Smith. A wicket for Sachdeva and Smith got Swann excited as Finchley were now 8 down, way off the target, with cumulative ages of the batsman in amounting to 30 tops and the remaining batsman being 3 times this figure. Smith then grabbed one of the young-guns. 9 down. Baggs gave the call for Swann to warm up however as there were 4 balls left in the over there was no guarantee it would last that long. Swann made sure it would, now circling around mid-on begging Smith to throw a few wide ones in so he could have another. A kamikaze single ensued, straight to Swann at mid-on, not that you’d have known it though. Swann casually sauntered round, picked the ball up and lobbed the ball into Baggs on the 3rd/4th bounce. Even with this blatant slowness the batsman was still out, however, not given…well played Swanny.

Swann then cleaned up the number 9 second ball which left him with figures of 5-51 – well bowled Swanny. TCC had won by 91 runs – a good team performance. All that was left now was to celebrate the victory and celebrate Swann’s 5fer. The team toasted success thanks to Swann’s jugs and then descended on the Anglsea to celebrate into the night.

Next week brings a top of the table clash with Ealing with the winners likely to be firm favourites for the title. On the back of the Lord’s test a win next week a win would surely go down well. 

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs Richmond CC, Middx - 2nd XI, 11th June 2016

Despite putting in a good shift in the Harris Garden on Friday, The Dinks juggernaut marched on with a hard fought and highly satisfying victory at home to Richmond. 

Captain Baggs won the toss and set his bowlers to work in what were helpful overhead conditions. Hannah and Pollock, fresh from the Shepway Station White Tie Ball, were given the responsibility of leading the attack. Both started well, offering very few scoring opportunities to the Richmond opening pair. A couple of early opportunities went array but the bowlers patience was rewarded when Pollock (1-26) made the breakthrough in the 9th over. Hannah (2- 29) then responded quickly and found himself on a hat-trick after two gorgeous away swingers were edged through to Bennett-Baggs, leaving Richmond at wobbling 29-3.

After finally making a bowling change, Richmond threatened to take control before Munday entered the fray. Richmond's Number 4 had already taken 20 off the over but decided he needed one more. Munday had different ideas. He picked up cleanly at mid on and thew down the stumps at the non-strikers end, allowing the batsmen to continue his run back to the shed. From there Teddington never really took their foot off the gas. Harris (1-41) and Munday (1-37) picked up a wicket a piece, before Austin rolled back the years with a second direct hit of the day. Finally, after 32 overs, Captain Baggs decided he should give the part timers a bowl and threw the ball to Swan (3-21). Unsurprisingly, Swan, who had been told in the 31st over before that his services were not going to be required, angrily mopped up the tail and Richmond were dismissed for 160 from 44 overs. 

After tea, Teddington looked to carry their momentum into the second innings and started brightly with Austin (13) crunching a few early boundaries though backward point. However, once the Richmond attack found their rhythm, batting became tricky. With the ball hooping both ways, Teddington found themselves 40-3 and in need a partnership. Meek (19) offered some resistance before Kennedy (23) and Pollock (24) looked to counter attack against Richmond's very own Andre Nel. Richmond's self proclaimed "quick bowler" decided to test Pollock out upstairs and when he awkwardly fended one away, the red mist descended. After a heated exchange, Nel called for a short leg and Pollock called for his tennis racquet. Pollock proceeded to fly swat the rest of the short pitched bowling back over the bowlers head for three boundaries of as many balls, much to the delight of the Bushy Park faithful. 

With tempers flaring, Richmond wrestled back the initiative with a few quick wickets, leaving Teddington staring down the barrel at 110-8. However, with two old heads at the crease, all was not lost. Bennett-Baggs (34*) and Swan (11*) took the sting out of the occasion and began chipping away at the target with some measured batting. With victory getting closer, Swan was getting more expansive. Captain Baggs therefore decided it was best to do the work himself and began declining singles. Then, with just two needed Swan found himself  back on strike and calmly edged the winning runs straight through 1st slip, sparking wild celebrations and cries of 'well bowled big lad' on the boundary. 

While the Dinks continue their title charge next week at Acton, this might not be the last Bushy Park sees of Andre Nel this month. He admitted after the game "I'll probably play 1s next week" which so happens to be away at Bushy Park again.

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Teddington CC - 2nd XI Vs North Middlesex CC - 2nd XI, Saturday 21st May 2016

Things didn’t start well when a groggy stand-in captain crawled out of bed in North London with 'jet lag' 1 hour before the meet time. He duly pulled himself together and won the toss, choosing to bowl on a day when rain was likely to intervene. 

1st team veteran Hannah was given choice of ends and he decided that taking on a Force 7 from the bottom end would be a good idea because he 'always bowled from that end’. It didn’t take Elliot long to regret his decision but he bowled well in some of the worst wind seen at Bushy Park. The run rate was low and North Midd were struggling at 43-4. 

In came their skipper, Mills, who I can only assume has played at Teddington before. He knew exactly where to go and got stuck into anyone bowling up wind - the 3rd team fielders needed hard hats! JLG and Niall took the brunt of the onslaught and it was the spinners, Euan Munday and Johnnie Smith, who steadied the ship after a tense few middle overs when it felt like the game was about to be dragged away from us. We eventually bowled them out for 218 in 42 overs – Munday and Swan both taking 3 wickets. 

The batsmen were full of confidence in the new Teddington motorway and the North Midd bowlers struggled early on. They used 4 bowlers in the first 4 overs and conceded 44 runs in the process, Smallwood and Gardiner tucking into everything with apparent ease. Jasper was caught behind once the bowlers started to find their areas, and we found ourselves at 90-3 after Rob had made a run-a-ball 45. However, the rain came down and the umpires brought us off, which changed the momentum of the game. We were just on the rate but had to maintain it when we went back out, which was not easy as the wicket became more lively. Johnnie Smith and Rich Bennett put on 65 of the 5th wicket, with the former doing an excellent job at keeping to the required rate. They both fell in quick succession (Johnnie 59) leaving it to the ‘finishers’, JLG and TK (Tom Kennedy), to score the last 50 to see us over the line. They moved the ball around well and ran the fielders ragged with 2s all over the ground. We ended up winning comfortably by 5 wickets with 5 overs to spare.

A very confident chase in tricky conditions to maintain our unbeaten run and position at the top of the table. 

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Teddington 2nd XI vs Ealing 2nd XI, 14th May 2016

Second game of the season and another strong 11 for TCC 2’s. The captain was faced with two concerns Saturday morning when he woke up - 1st the batting order, and 2nd Matt Austin's text at 2am saying - "We’re on the Gin Tram". Later it was revealed his autocorrect had overruled his intended message which was - "we’ve a gun team”

TCC won the toss and chose to field. It was quite clear from the off set that their wasn’t a lot in the wicket for seamers; however, Matt Swan and Niall Burke did a great job to keep the Ealing XI at bay and relatively boundary free. TCC’s side was packed with spinners, supported by the odd over of Ben Williams’s medium short. 

Euan Munday, Tom Kennedy, Jonny Smith, Richie Bennett all bowled well, picking up wickets along the way. TCC dismissed Ealing for 176 all out. 

Further from Matt Austin’s text and explanation, it was clear he was battling a hangover. He made the request that he didn’t open, which was ignored by all. Wickets fell quickly from one end, with a couple of lads not picking Murtaza Khalid quicker ball. As collapses go, it was a fairly big one. However, the scoreboard kept ticking, 66-3 to 119-8. All through this Ben Williams stood firm and watched it all at the other end, playing a very very calculated innings, controlling the speed of the run chase with ease. Ben finished 100* and led TCC 2XI to victory against its rivals in the last over. A fantastic win!

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Teddington 2nd XI vs Finchley 2nd XI, 7th May 2016

In the first game of the 2016 season TCC 2nd XI played Finchley CC at home in Bushy Park. Some new faces and some old had been selected and the side were in good spirits following a surprisingly good warm up performance. With Finchley's top 6 stuck in traffic, TCC's skipper negotiated a bowl and a prompt start. 

Fantastic opening spells from Pollock (9 overs, 4 for 16) and Swann (9 overs, 2 for 15) got TCC of to a flyer and let Teddington control the speed of the game from the start. The 2s' seam attack was too much for Finchley, who were bowled out after just 35 overs for 76. Needless to say, tea wasn't ready. 

Chris Bennett-Baggs and Rob Gardiner opened up the batting and looked to impose themselves on the Finchley attack immediately. Boundaries flowed and the total to chase was reduced to just 50 going in to tea, with all wickets still in hand - an early finish was looking likely. After tea, the two openers continued to swing the bat and knocked off the Finchely total in under 20 overs, winning by 10 wickets. 

Tendington CC's season has started well.

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